All Things Holland

Full Article Here . (I will now summarize. Sorry for the delay. I have been away on a ski trip.) The question. Why are some nations happier and more satisfied than others? 8 ingredients of prosperity. Economy, Entrepreneurship, Governance, Education, Health, Safety, Personal Freedom, and Social Capital. Adding up each countries rankings on their performance in these areas and you get the Legatum Prosperity Index. Legatum ranks 110 countries and their overall level of prosperity. The article goes into much more detail as to why each country attained the ranking it did. After looking at the lists, odd how most of the countries I want to visit are in the first list. Obviously, the Netherlands are 8! Whoo hooo! Surprisingly they're only ranked 1 above the USA. On another side note. It's interesting almost all of the Scandinavian countries rank in the top 10. Time to move, or at least visit. Below are the top 10 happiest and saddest. The photo gallery shows more. Happiest 1) Norway

So I figured I'd test my blogger app this morning. Yesterday the article I've been looking for was on the front of a website I frequent. I'll elaborate more on this on a more lengthy post later this weekend after finals but for right now I'll give the 30 second tour. Forbes listed the most happiest and saddest countries. I only looked through the top ten happiest and noticed a few things. The Netherlands came in at a strong 8 and the US came in with # 10. With a majority of the Scandinavian countries in the top happiest. More to come later.....

You may have noticed that many words in English directly come from Dutch, although it may be deeper such as the German root. You may also know that the Netherlands and other northern European countries love their pickled herring. So, what you are probably guessing is true, the word pickle comes from the Dutch word pekel . Or does it? Upon my research I have come to hear of a dutchman by the name of William Beukel or Beukelz. So what does William Beukel have to do with pickles? Well, William Beukel was a 14th century Dutch fisherman. Some say that the word pickle is a form of his last name Beukel. Although he was known for his pickled fish the word to pickle has come to mean pickled cucumbers. As for being "in a pickle" meaning that someone is in plight, the word also comes from Dutch origins. However, this pickle is spelled pekille or pikkyll which means to be in a plight, scrape, jam, fix or bind. Just because a pickle is a pickle in English, doesn't mean

First off, an update on Fisherman's Friend from the last post. They come in a tin box similar to Altoids. They are little brown oval shapped waffers. Not very appetizing looking to be honest. But if you are a fan of Halls mints, this is for you. They have the almost overpowering nose cleansing and clearing power of a Halls lozenge. The other blog writer thought this would help her sickness but she is not a fan of the intensity. I took them home with me and use them as candy! Second. My aunt and uncle sent me a link to this neat store in Holland. The Frozen Fountain. They sell a range of different furniture items; mostly focusing on Dutch creators. LINK . More on the hippy side if you ask me but very very neat stuff. I especially like some of the lamps. This site has more Dutch stores as it focuses on Shopping while traveling. I'll post more about the other ones sometime. Meanwhile my Holland trip is still in the works.... Enjoy your weekend reader... whoever you are.

So, feeling miserably sick I will write about a subject I find very interesting. Dutch cold and flu remedies. Did you know that the English word "sick" comes from the Dutch "ziek" and "drug" comes from the Dutch word "Drogge"? Many Dutch remedies are homemade using herbs, tea, and vinegar. One of the most popular over the counter Dutch remedies is Fisherman's friend, the lozenge pictured to the right. It comes in many flavors; and supposedly tastes very good, I have heard of people buying it for candy instead of a cold suppressant. One old dutch remedy for when you are klien rot jongen sick, is to fill a small glass with hard liquor add a raw egg, a little sugar, and a touch of water. Drink that mixture all down and go sweat off your illness in bed. Another tested and proven Dutch method is to eat a large breakfast. The study showed that a large breakfast will produce more virus fighting proteins. Here is an old Dutch remedy from 'Dr. Cha

How would you build a bridge across a 17th century moat that wouldn't take away from the moat's original purpose aesthetically? Why, build a bridge 'in' the moat of course. Click this for Pictures and details RO & AD Architects of the Netherlands recently designed a bridge that 'parts' the waters of a moat surrounding a 17th century Dutch fort. Yes, like Moses from the bible, this bridge appears to split the waters in half allowing you to walk 'through' the waters as the water line is level with the top edge of the walkway. A series of Moats and Fortresses was built over the West Brabant Water Line region of the Netherlands during the 17th century to provide protection from Spain and France. The particular fort Fort de Roovere was too deep to wade across but too shallow to boat. Until now! The bridge begins lying flush with the ground then defends into the slope using treated wood to prevent rot. I looked up Fort de Roovere on the map an it's in

Read this . 2 reasons why I clicked on this link and thought about posting it. 1) I follow sports closely and 2) Rotterdam was one of the places I wanted to visit some day. In case you don't have time to read the above article, allow me to summarize. Greg Halman is an outfielder for the Seattle Mariners. This is just further proof that there are more Dutch influences and people around the USA that you would never think. But the story goes; Greg Halman was stabbed to death in Rotterdam early Monday morning. There aren't many details but it seems that Halman's younger brother has been arrested and questioned by police. Greg Halman was playing baseball and running clinics in his native country during the offseason. Here is the official Associated Press Release: Rotterdam Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels says police were called to a home in the Dutch port city early Monday morning and found Halman bleeding from a stab wound. The officers attempted unsuccessfully to resuscita

Since my last post was very very long (and maybe boring) I decided to shorten it up a bit today. Yes, you read that correctly. Thursday November 17 is Dutch Heritage Day! Countless cities and websites will be having special ceremonies today. How will you celebrate? Personally, I'll just wear Orange. I would list all of the different sites but there are too many. Type in Dutch Heritage Day 2011 and you'll see what I mean. From Delaware to Ohio. Something is going Orange somewhere.

This morning I was linked to a page about a crazy guy dangling himself from the Tappan Zee bridge. You can find more of his story here . Here is my summary; around 10:40 am, Michael Davitt, 54, of West Haverstraw, NY staged a protest on the bridge. Davitt drove his van onto the center of the bridge and lowered himself off the bridge using a rope ladder. Davitt had a sign, which said "Rockland Executive Legislative Cover up Retaliation" along with food, hanging at the midpoint between the bridge and the Hudson River. This protest was in response to his wrongful firing when he worked for the county in 2008. Davitt "was separated from the County service in 2008 because he was no longer able to perform his essential job functions as a Substance Abuse Counselor 1" as stated by the Rockland County Executive's Office. Davitt was employed from 1991 to 2008 by the Department of Mental Health in Ponoma. As a result of the protest, traffic came to a slow to a standstill. T

Who's up for some Dutch hiphop? Here you go. The song title is "Tijdmachine" which means, believe it or not, Timemachine. Similar,no? Dio is talking about how he wishes he could change things that he had done in his relationship. The featured Sef does not always harmonize with Dio but Dio gives this song such a strong forward force that feels like a wave carrying you along with the song. But enough with that, It is very exciting to find some real Dutch music and I hope to start posting some more. PS. By the way if the girl in the music video looks familar, she is from the music video "Animale" by one of my favorites Dragonette. Where she similarly breaksup a relationship...hummm.

Time for a post that actually tries to teach something. It's has been pointed out to me that I need to at least attempt to put Dutch words on here. Especially conjugating verbs, everyone's favorite part of learning other languages. I figured that I will start with the most used verb. To Be. In Dutch. To Be is Zijn. (Zijn sounds like zane almost, type it into Google translate) Starting easy today with Present tense. I ik ben you u bent he hij is (hij sounds like hey) we we zijn you jullie zijn (jullie almost sounds like Jolie) they ze zijn (ze=zey) Some of those words look familiar right? So I believe reading down the Dutch side it goes. I am, You are, He is, We are, You are, and They are. I recognize u, and we and is.... Side note. I've started working on my novel that I've put off many a time. It applies here because I am focusing on the main character's (my) family heritage. website here . Also, I've probably said it before but for a real Dutch bl

As you might have noticed on the last post, one noticeable fact about the netherlands is that the people there are very tall. I have started researching why this is the case. To begin, Dutch people have "tall" written in their genetics. 2000 years ago Dutchmen averaged 5'9", quite tall for that time. This fact was recorded beacause Roman officals used these "Dutch giants" as bodyguards. So, obviously if tall people have children those children will be taller than their parents. But, what else could make Dutch people so tall...? First theory, When the median between the rich and the poor is narrow, care pre and post natal is much better, resulting in better nutrition. As an American this is very interesting because 25 years ago the average American was 3 inches taller than the average Dutchman, although this is not the case anymore. Actually the average height of Americans has not increased at all. The Dutch theory As the Dutch would have it, it is the

I should be studying for a test I have in about 3 hours but the other author on this site is giving me a hard time for not posting as often as I should. I had a neat idea about the happiest countries I read somewhere but that will take some time to put in order. Instead I found some neat little Netherlands fun facts. One big caveat, I've lived in Indiana my whole life and haven't (although I plan too) visited the Netherlands. I'm going off someone elses notes and opinions on these. Although most were taken from a website called discover the Netherlands which I'm guessing means it's fairly truthful. Enjoy. I added my personal comments after each.... + People in the Netherlands eat raw herring with onions on top (It sounds weird but I bet it tastes great!) + Amsterdam has 1,281 bridges (I believe it. They have enough water to go around) + When Dutch schoolchildren pass their exams, they hang a Dutch flag and a school bag outside their homes (Time to celebrate! Hopeful

Lets look at the Netherlands outside of the Netherlands, shall we? Well sort of... Now we all know that the Netherlands and France have something in common. They are both amazing. Now what would ever happen if someone mixed these two cultures? WHAM! BAMM! I give you "The Narcoleptic Dancers", a Franco-Dutch brother sister indie duo, comprised of Melody Van Kappers & Anton Louis Jr. Yes, you might say "this is too good to be true!" until you have heard some of their songs. I like the description that Music Week gave of them, " Should Juno ever be re-made in France, Narcoleptic Dancers will have a shoe-in for the soundtrack...»" Now you might ask how is the brother French and the sister Dutch? Well, it follows a pretty complicated family dynamic. Their father was a famous Dutch soccer player who was nick named the narcoleptic dancer for his hairstyle and his soccer skills. This famous father, while playing in France, had a passionate mee

Recently I tried Gouda cheese like I posted about a while back. So here is a quick post and a quick non expert review of Gouda cheese. I'm not confident enough, and I don't think we have one anyway, to go into a fancy cheese place. So I went into our local supermarket to look for Gouda cheese. There were about 3 or 4 different brands and prices of Gouda. My thoughts on that is the more expensive, the better quality. I bought (I forget the name) a brand that was wrapped in black wax which I believe is a way of showing the age. Black being a longer aged cheese. I took it home and got ready to enjoy, hopefully with my crackers. Just like Wallace would have liked. First, reaction upon unwrapping the cheese. It STINKS! Then again I guess all cheese has a funk to it. After a bit I realize it wasn't as bad of a stink as I thought. I've smelled much worse and heard of cheeses being worse. I'm just used to classic cheddar or swiss. The cheese is white and kinda flaky onc

Once again I've fallen into the black hole of no posts for months. But today I've been going through my old emails and found some ideas that I can post. Sorry about my slacking. I'm actually writing this sitting an hour from Blauvelt NY having attended a seminar about the history around this area Wednesday night. My brain is humming with ideas. (you can probably tell I borrowed this from Wikipedia) Dutch Language Distribution in the United States. (LOOK Indiana is dark Blue!) There has been a Dutch Presence in America since 1602, when the government of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands chartered the Dutch East India Company with the mission of exploring for a passage to the Indies and claiming any uncharted territories for the Dutch republic. The rest of the story I've written about how the English took the colony away from Holland. Dutch was still spoken in many parts of New York at the time of the Revolution. For example, Alexander Hamilto

As you are no doubt are aware by now, I won't be sticking to my 2 posts a week schedule I set for myself way back when. I hope to do at least 1 a week or, one when I find something really interesting or on my mind that pertains. Today, I have two things to talk about. One I've held back on you guys for selfish reasons. As you may remember, a majority of my ideas come from an official dutch blog ( http://www.transparent.com/dutch ) which I have referenced several times. A little over a month ago they had this posted ( click ). A dream come true! A free trip to Holland riding bikes..... The problem was, I had scheduled through the month of May, 2 weeks of training for my job. So, I showed it to my sister who I would have submitted my video with. Her friend and her put together a steller application video. I would have done a little less self-degradation but it wins votes! (She's going to kick me for taking so long to rally support for her but she's the only one who reads

I've been looking into the different national products of Holland recently and, if you've been reading this from the beginning, you remember the articles on the different beers. There seem to be 2 major brands of cheese that are native to Holland. I plan on trying these all one day. The first I've been warned isn't to my liking and the second, which I'll put up later, I actually heard about from Wallace and Gromit. My friend said Gouda was made with goat milk, LIAR. So, cheese # 1. Help for this post came from www.cheese.com . (I didn't know there was an entire website dedicated to CHEESE!) GOUDA Named after the Dutch town of Gouda, just outside Rotterdam. It accounts for more than 60% of the cheese produced in Holland and it has a very long history. Gouda is a traditional, creamery, hard cheese. It is round with very smooth, yellow, waxed rind. The flavor is sweet and fruity. As time passes, the taste intensifies and becomes more complex. Mature Gouda (18 month

So so so so sorry my one viewer. Seems I took a 5 month vacation to get my head straight. I don't have anything Dutch today but I promise there will be something in the next week. I've been collecting some interesting things.... stay tuned.