Culture post #2: Postcodeloterij

I've been wondering about this one for a loooong time so here goes.

The Sunday-evening extravaganza called Postcode Loterij Miljoenenjacht, where it is possible to win 5 million Euros. It consists of a series of mini-games and culminates on one person playing the mega-deal or no deal game for a maximum of 5 million Euros. That is a ginormous amount of money! And what is more, whatever the person wins on the live show, someone playing along at home also wins. Awesome, right? Right!

But now for the reason of this post: why is it that when they go to the person's home - the one playing at home - to surprise them with the amazing amount of money, that they're always home and (AND!) they always have family members visiting and (AND!!) they're never in an apartment building, 5 floors up? Well, the last one is easy, really, there aren't that many multi-storey apartment buildings proportionately - only in the bigger cities. And even in the bigger cities the rijhuizen are the respectable norm. But what about the other two? How come they are at home and have guests? How come they're never the guests at someone else's place and aren't home when the cameracrew arrive? or, how come they always (and I mean ALWAYS) have 7+ people in the living room and those usually from at least 3 different generations? they have to be family members, come to visit, right? And why are they still there at 11:30 on a Sunday evening? that's school/worknight....

Anyone?

The other Harry Potter

I haven't been paying much attention to Dutch politics, really. Overall it just kind of flows around, no major ups or downs, it just is. Or so I thought.

The current Dutch Prime Minister (or Minister-President, as they call him here) Jan-Peter Balkenende looks quite a lot like Harry Potter, only he's infinitely less cool. Since I got here 2 years ago, I kind of missed the elections and the bruhaha right before it and had better things to do (read: learn Dutch, not get lost in Amsterdam, find a job etc.) than get immersed in the fine print of Dutch politics.

Now though, it's becoming increasingly clear that Balkenende is doing something that in Dutch terms is radical conservative politics. Apparently, over the last 30-40 years the liberals have been in power, forming te Netherlands into the (lefty)liberal paradise it is, with as little as possible intervention from the government, lots of personal freedoms, legalised cannabis, prostitution, increased incentives for businesses, better integration for immigrants and so forth. But apparently two years ago it became apparent that people were becoming less and less happy with the results of some of these policies. Results such as second generation immigrants who don't really fit in and form gangs or results such as increased drug-related crime... So they voted for the Christian Democrats without actually thinking it through.

And now small changes are starting to seep into people's everyday lives. Yesterday, paddo's (magic mushrooms) were made illegal. Balkenende also wants to make abortions illegal and have more women stay home and have babies which in general is, of course, a commendable idea (the staying home, not the abortions) but... there are already much too many people living in the Netherlands. It's the 26th most crowded country in the world (see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_density) note here that China, for example, is 75th in that list. Also, as has been proven on counless occasions, banning abortions does NOT make them not happen. It only makes them take place illegally by inferior doctors with inferior materials and resulting in more serious and permanent damage.

Even more, what has been my pet peeve ever since I got here - the fact that nothing is ever open. General clothes-boots-books stores even on Kalverstraat close promptly at 6 o'clock, food stores generally stay open until 8, in very rare cases until 10 and I know only one store within 20 min walking distance from our place (and that is in central Amsterdam) that stays open 24/7. If you happen to work then when on Earth will you ever buy anything? On the weekend? yes, that would explain the ginormous masses thronging the tiny streets of Amsterdam on Saturday (because, of course, on Sunday most places are closed again). Now, the inteligent people in the government though that they would alleviate the situation and created "Koopzondags" - literally translated as "Buying Sundays", which are not always Sundays. These are days, in every town different days - in Amsterdam for example, Thursdays - when the stores stay open until 8 o'clock. *gasp* so that once a week the working person can delay on dinner to have a "beat the clock and other frantic working people looking for stuff marathon" in order to buy a pair of pants or whatever.

Apparently though Balkenende finds this too lenient and wants to reduce -yes, you read that right REDUCE - the amount of Koopzondags. Er... because the economy is doing much too well right now and needs to be brought down a notch or five? And besides, all god-fearing people should stay home at all times when not working.

I know, I know, most of these things will probably never go through, the society here is much too used to the liberal freedoms they have. But... nevertheless, it's a bit scary to find out what the guy on top really wants to do.

National particularities

When I first got here, it was easy to see and feel the uniqueness of the Dutch as a people. Now that I've lived here a while, I don't really notice it any more, people have become individuals instead of representatives of a particular nation.

I've noticed this happening before as well, for example with Americans. From afar they seem a very distinct people (yes they do, go put your melting pot where the Sun doesn't shine) but whe you get to know the individuals, you lose sight ofthe bigger picture. Plus, when you get to know lots of individuals, they start seeming normal and then it's YOU that's weird.

So, what is so particular about the Dutch? Well, usually you can tell they're Dutch just by looking at them. There's two main types: one is medium to tall height and has that rosy-cheeked buttery glow that some people have (never mind that they're actually skinny, they just look so... well... chubby). The second is extra-tall and usually thin often with curly hair.

The Dutch are usually considered very forward and frank but at the moment I can't think of a good example except the fact that (this particularly for the Dutch males) they come off extremely rude in any kinds of (business) conversations. Personally, I prefer this lack of "soft talk" to the American version of business lingo. The Americans keep talking but they have absolutely no idea what about, everything is fine as long as they use all the right big words. So when a Dutchman says something along the lines of: "no, we cannot do it the way you want because you don't understand what I've been explaining to you for the past 2 days at all" then, obviously, the poor American gets a culture shock and stops functioning.

I've noticed this not only with Americans but with pretty much all westerners. Now, coming from the neck of the woods that's considered impolite by most standards, I have to say that even I have a problem with this sometimes. But then I'll just tell myself that this or that person is being like my brother and I should ignore any kinds of perceived insults on my intelligence and concentrate on the actual information instead. This has proved useful in that after a few weeks everyone seems to think me very smart indeed. Or maybe I am very smart indeed. Don't know.

What I really like about the Dutch people is their relationship to religion. There are pretty much all kinds of religions represented here but at the same time the Netherlands is probably one of the most secular countries in the World. Personal religious beliefs are considered pesonal and people don't generally talk about their religion. Belief is considered to be within the person, not around him/her and therfore it is considered unecessary and a little rude to profess it vey loudly. I suppose this has a lot to do with the latent effecs of the protestant branch of Chrstianity. In fact, that is the only reason why I might, if pressed, say that I am Lutheran (as opposed to a thorough agnostic, which most people take to mean "undecided", whereas for me it means "error, impossible to compute", the same answer you get when dividing anything by zero).

I'm sure there are more... and I'll post those cultural peculiarities at some later point.

Language post #1

The Dutch language is arguably one of the hardest languages to learn to pronounce properly. For me it's relatively easy as Estonian is also a language with many diphtongs (compound-vowels) and overall weirdness.

The Dutch g/ch I find no harder to pronounce than the French r. Just takes a little practice to get it in with other non-vowels though... Like in the words "Schiphol", "Groningen", "groot", "glimlach" (awesome word for "smile", by the way, it sounds anything but that) and so on.

The double a like in "maar", "Maastricht" (also a wonderful g/ch word) and "kaas" was a little bit more difficult. It sounds like a cross between a (like the British-English "vast") and ae (like the English "bat"). A truly strange sound. Sounds like a crying baby but quieter.

What I have serious problems with, though, is the grammar, especially in the sense of word order in sentences. I've only learned German for half a year and only because I had to and the English grammar is no help at all. Dutch is like a crossover between English and German- it has German grammar and English vocabulary. I never have any idea which words belong together in a sentence and when trying to speak I always sound so awkward to myself, coming up with sentences that in English might sound like "flower see must you to". And the Dutch are usually so busy complimenting me on my pronounciation that I have no idea if what I've just said makes actual sense or not... It is getting better now though. I think, anyway.

There are several Dutch words that do not exist in other languages. Such as "beleg". That means everything and anything you can think of that goes on bread. "Gezellig" means something more than nice, it means a nice time and place, often with other people. "Knus" means a space that's tightly packed with things and/or people but is still gezellig.

Another funny Dutch word is "lekker". Now, that is a very common germanic/scandinavian word that literally means tasty. But the Dutch use it in combination with the most bizarre things. For example "lekker knus" and "lekker feestje" and late at night you can hear the half-naked ladies in the tv commercials promise a "lekkere ereksie"...