All Things Holland

Although I would have loved to be at this years tulip time festival sadly I was not. However, to lessen the pain, a friend was able to enjoy the event and pass down the news. It seems that this years tulip time was lacking in tulips! This March temperatures rose to the 80's which started the growth of the tulips too early. When these temperatures hit, the tulip time committee decided to label the upcoming festival as stemfest; knowing in advance that the March heat would force the tulips to bloom too early. So the festival was pushed to do things differently. They used greenhouses for tulips which were brought out for tulip time , they revamped an old french organ, and they had a flash mob. Very nice job Holland! I'll post the flash mob video next.

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...

Depending on where you are from, people make automatic assumptions about you. I've been thinking about this and it is true with countries as well, maybe more so. So are unfounded, most are out of date but they are there non the less. Canada = maple syrup, hockey, "ay?" Britain = bad teeth, drive on the wrong side of the road, BBC, Queen France = arrogant, "french girls", fancy food Russia = vodka, cold, supermodels, communism USA = "everyone should speak english", fast food, sports Germany = Hitler, blonde haired blue eyed Why am I doing this article? Here is the tag line. Netherlands = accepting (look the other way), tulips, wooden shoes, windmills, color orange, (recently) soccer. Here are a few facts about the Netherlands. 1) You already know they are known form their Beer. Heineken and Amstel. 2) Cheese. A county full of cows has good cheese. They are known for Gouda cheese. The cheese is named after the region it was made in, hence Gouda. 3) Flowe...

My parents went on a trip to California recently. They talked to people about my interest in Dutch things and the man they were talking to mentioned that I should look up Holambra, Brazil. So I did. This is an excerpt from a website I found ( http://www.v-brazil.com/tourism/foreigner/holambra.html ). Add this to the list of places that speak Dutch outside of the Netherlands and places I would like to visit. The town is on the South-East side of Brazil near Sao Paulo. Holland, in Portuguese, is Holanda. A city built jointly by Holland and Brazil should, then, be called Holan + Bra = Holanbra. However, Portuguese orthography requires that, before a "b", an "m" must be used. Hence, Holambra, a piece of Holland in Brazil. Or Hol land- Am erica- Bra zil. In 1948, after World War II, Holland was not so rich as today; many families, particularly from the countryside, didn't have bright perspectives in their country, and wanted to emigrate. Brazil was the option for som...