Often, even after living in the Netherlands for a while, you notice yourself adopting some Dutch traits. Sending Tikkies, eating Hagelslag, biking in a thunderstorm… here are five habits to confirm: you are truly becoming Dutch.
The Dutchies are admirable people: not just anyone can push the ocean aside to make space for a country. With all their quirks and weirdly cute habits, it’s hard not to become intrigued by them.
But what if you’re starting to become one of them? How can you know you’ve been hanging out in the lowlands too long? Well, you’ve likely adopted these Dutch traits.
1. You hit the beach as soon as the thermometer registers 12 degrees
Even if it’s not springtime yet, you turn into a true sun-worshipper — and if you are not dependent on the school holidays, you probably leave for the sun during cold, dark February, like a migratory bird.
Making the most of sun rays in Scheveningen. Image: Amanda Snorkels/Supplied
Hey, we get it. Anything to make you forget about the bleak midwinter in the Netherlands, right? ❄️
But there are plenty of amazing beaches on offer in the Netherlands, and we’ll take a pretty confident bet you’ve graced the pier at Scheveningen (AKA ticking off the ultimate new-to-the-Netherlands experience).
2. You start collecting coupons and studying catalogues
You have become obsessed with getting the best deals, buying everything at a discount, or, better yet, second-hand. You may even collect, trade, and send coupons to friends.
Dutchies love a ‘korting’. Image: Amanda Snorkels/Supplied
It’s like a sport. There is a thrill that comes from buying stuff we normally buy anyway, like detergent, toothpaste, or bread at half price. (Side note: Is this what being an adult is?)
3. You understand the HEMA hype
Often, the only shop open on cold, breezy Dutch mornings, HEMA at 9 AM is best. For two euros, you can have a more or less complete breakfast.
It’s always nice to see anyone and everyone peering out of the store’s big windows or picking up cute new pieces from HEMA’s ever-growing collection of random things.
Whether it’s the business people, the construction workers, the moms with their kids, the old Dutch, the new Dutch — everybody gathers there. And now you do, too.
Reasons I like living in the Netherlands: Every time I go to HEMA they have new cute Miffy merch :3 pic.twitter.com/rT0lmOoMzs
In fact, HEMA is so loved by the Dutchies that there are already two volumes of a book gathering stories of Dutch citizens abroad: check out Ik mis nog steeds de Hema (“I still miss HEMA”).
4. You love your bike (like REALLY love it)
Living in the Netherlands means that cycling quickly becomes not just your trusty mode of transportation but also a method to carry all your belongings (an umbrella, of course, but we’ve also seen a mattress from time to time).
Becoming Dutch means appreciating that your beloved bike keeps you fit and relaxed because there’s no mindfulness like cycling, even in the rain (an extremely regular occurrence). ☔
But on a good day, there are few things more relaxing and grounding than grabbing your bike and heading in whatever direction you wish. Suddenly, you end up in the countryside and realise you’ve been biking for two hours. And now, somehow, you have to find your way home.
5. You carry an agenda, and it is full of appointments
Maybe you still try to arrange spontaneous meetings with friends, but have noticed that you have to double-check before making a date. You’ve started losing the ability to randomly leave your house to meet a friend without agreeing beforehand.
Geen probleem, That’s where the Dutch agenda comes in!
Dutchies are famous for planning ahead, so you’d better get your agenda out. Keep track of your very exciting social life, complete with hanging out with the same person every other day, and where you do it. Your house or theirs today? Your agenda will be known.
What Dutch traits have you adopted? Let us know in the comments below!
July 1 is a special day in Suriname every year. Tens of thousands of people in Suriname and the Netherlands celebrate Keti Koti on this day. But what exactly is the holiday?
While many Dutch people are unfamiliar with Keti Koti, it is an important holiday for the Surinamese and Antilleans.
It commemorates the abolition of slavery in Dutch America and the West Indies in 1863, making the Netherlands one of the last European countries to abolish slavery and the slave trade.
So, what exactly is Keti Koti? Well, here is everything you need to know about this day of emancipation and the celebrations that come with it.
What is Keti Koti?
The term Keti Koti (also written as Keti-Koti or ketikoti) comes from the Surinamese language Sranantongo (a Creole language). When translated, it literally means “broken chains”.
As some may know, the Netherlands was a major player in the transatlantic slave trade. Much of the country’s wealth, growth, and development came from the enormous profits generated by the slave trade.
This included procuring, transporting, and selling human beings as commodities, mainly for free, inhumane, and hard labour.
Where do you celebrate it?
Keti Koti is a day of dancing and pure merriment in Suriname, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten. Dressed in beautiful traditional costumes, Surinamese and Antillean folks dance, sing, eat, and drink.
Yet they also take this day to reflect. In Suriname, the women wear a beautifully coloured traditional dress (kotomisi) and headscarf (angisa).
During slavery, enslaved women used these as a way of communicating. The way a woman folded her angisa let other enslaved women know how they were feeling or if they were looking for a lover.
Keti Koti is celebrated every year on July 1 in Suriname, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten. A regular feature is a parade (Bigi Spikri) in traditional costumes.
“Bigi Spikri” is a Surinamese term that literally means “Big Mirror”. During the annual festive parade in Suriname, folks dress up and walk along the shop windows in Paramaribo.
The shop windows serve as large mirrors, which they use to admire themselves. This tradition of dressing in authentic cultural costumes has made its way to the Netherlands.
Since 2009, Keti Koti festivities have seen a colourful Bigi Spikri parade in Amsterdam. Since 2002, several other cities in the Netherlands have adopted the celebrations, but it’s still yet to be declared a national holiday by the Dutch government.
The most famous commemorative ceremony occurs in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam, where the National Slavery Monument is located.
Keti Koti celebrates the freedom of victims of slavery in Suriname and the Dutch Antilles, but it also holds important symbolic significance. Image: Chuka Nwanazia/Supplied
The Mayor of Amsterdam and other national and foreign representatives are often present. After this formal ceremony, the full Keti Koti Festival officially starts (at the same location).
During the festival, various performances and lectures take place on stages set up by the organisers. The festival is free to enter, and the commemoration is broadcast live on national television (NPO).
In Curaçao, they commemorate Emancipation Day on August 17. The day that a great slave revolt broke out in 1795. This day is called the “Dia di lucha pa libertat” (“Day of the Struggle for Freedom”), a national holiday in Curaçao.
This year the festival will be celebrated in Museumplein from 13 to 23.
The history behind the festival
Slavery in the Dutch Atlantic world had five distinct themes: the early colonies of Brazil and Nieuw Nederland; the West African forts; the plantation colonies on the Wild Coast (Suriname, Essequibo, Berbice, and Demerara); in the West Indies on the islands of Curaçao, St. Eustatius, Bonaire, Saba, St. Maarten, and Aruba; the Dutch participation in the transatlantic slave trade.
In the 19th century, abolitionism became increasingly popular. At this point, King William I was forced to issue a ban on the transatlantic slave trade via Dutch ships in 1814 by Royal Decree. However, this did not completely end the practice.
The abolition of slavery went through several phases in the Netherlands. This started with the directly administered territories of the Dutch East Indies on January 1, 1860.
This was the year the so-called Act establishing the Regulations on the policy of the government of the Dutch East Indies was introduced.
A few years later, the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles followed. On July 1, 1863, the “Laws for the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles” (better known as the Emancipation Law) outlawed slavery.
The law was passed as early as 1862 but was enacted on July 1 of the following year.
In the early morning of that day, 21 cannons were fired from Fort Zeelandia in Paramaribo to celebrate the abolition of slavery. Finally, in an official capacity, the chains of slavery in Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were broken, and enslaved people became free people.
Freedom? By name alone
In Suriname, about 33,000 enslaved people and about 12,000 in the former Netherlands Antilles were freed. However, said freedom was relative. Enslaved people in Suriname didn’t taste full freedom until 1873.
Before this, there was a mandatory 10-year transition period where they worked on plantations for minimal pay and with state-sanctioned force.
If they stepped outside the plantation grounds without a pass, they could be jailed. Enslavers were also compensated for their “losses.”
In Suriname, they received 300 guilders per enslaved person and in Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, and St. Eustatius, the compensation varied from 150 to 250 guilders.
While (former) slave traders and plantation owners received compensation for the loss of “free labour,” freedom didn’t mean sunshine and roses for the formerly enslaved people. Many continued working as essentially “poorly paid slaves” for their former masters and were often forced to sign exploitative contracts.
Many newly freed people signed contracts without knowing exactly what they signed because they never learned to read or write.
Still, many others had broken their chains and could finally live their own lives, even if it meant limited opportunities in a “white man’s world.”
The famous Kwakoe statue in Paramaribo. Image: Mark Ahsmann/Wikimedia Commons/CC3.0
Keti Koti doesn’t just celebrate breaking the chains of these formerly enslaved people; it also sheds light on their stories, experiences, and lives after emancipation. A century after the legal abolition of slavery, locals unveiled a statue depicting a formerly enslaved person who had broken his chains in Paramaribo.
Like many others, this statue would come to mean so much to the Keti Koti celebrations in Suriname and other parts of the world.
Why do few Dutch people know about Keti Koti?
A possible answer to this question is that the Netherlands doesn’t like to be reminded of her atrocities. Here’s something to think about: the Dutch often point out how they were “victims” in history.
A prime example is the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during WWII. Another example is the MH17 Malaysia Airlines Flight, shot down on July 17, 2014, over eastern Ukraine while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Investigations revealed that three Russians and one Ukrainian were responsible for downing the jetliner. Of course, the Netherlands has every right to call for those responsible to face the music.
There have also been calls from the Dutch government on Russia to hand over the perpetrators to face justice and to apologise to the Netherlands and the victims’ families.
The festival also brings awareness to the Dutch’s involvement in the slave trade. Image: Chuka Nwanazia/Supplied
Wider Dutch society shows little to no interest in its involvement in slavery. Until the turn of the century, slavery was seen as something the USA did, not as a Dutch phenomenon.
Entire generations have grown up without learning anything about it because much of it isn’t covered in Dutch schools. As a result, very few white Dutch people know that slavery was at the crux of much of the wealth they gained from centuries of trade, exploitation, rape, and murder.
However, in recent years, the history of the Netherlands’ relationship with slavery has become an increasingly important point of discussion in the media, politics, and even in schools.
The Surinamese community in the Netherlands has asked the Dutch government to apologise for the Dutch slave trade for years officially.
Finally, at the end of 2022, Mark Rutte officially apologised for the Netherlands’ role in the slave trade.
The same Surinamese and other black communities in the Netherlands have long called for slavery to be mentioned in the Dutch history books and taught in schools. Currently, the Netherlands has done very little to that effect.
How has Keti Koti developed in the Netherlands in recent decades?
The Dutch government largely ignored Keti Koti throughout the 20th century, making it a quiet affair. This was because many Dutch people just weren’t interested. In the 80s and 90s, it was mainly celebrated in Surinamese circles, but as times change, these circles are growing and becoming more diverse.
Keti Koti offers many activities and attractions for those who attend. Image: Chuka Nwanazia/Supplied
An important moment was the unveiling of the National Slavery Monument in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark in 2002. Rotterdam and Middelburg erected their own monuments in commemoration, and since then, Keti Koti has been celebrated in cities such as Deventer, Utrecht, and Berg en Dal.
Over the past ten years, a new generation of energetic and vocal young black people has emerged, devoting a lot of time and energy to making Keti Koti more popular.
Social media has also greatly helped their efforts. As the fight against Zwarte Piet and systemic racism continues to gain momentum in the Netherlands and abroad, the significance and popularity of Keti Koti also continue to grow.
How does the Dutch government view Keti Koti?
Some say that things may slowly be changing. The murder of the African-American George Floyd in 2020 by police officers in the US triggered worldwide protests against racism and police brutality.
These protests also found their way to the Netherlands, with people demonstrating against systemic racism. Protesters defaced several colonial-era statues and monuments.
It’s a day of remembrance and celebration. Image: Chuka Nwanazia/Supplied
In light of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and wider discussions about racism, it has become clear to many people in this country that the Dutch colonists were not just spice traders and explorers.
They committed all sorts of atrocities while also writing the history of slavery — the same history that has created a distorted picture of what they did.
It’s also important to note that the cultural sector in the Netherlands is predominantly white. For black history and art to be shown (which doesn’t just entertain but educates people), these cultural spaces must become more diverse and inclusive.
A lot of work has to be done for inclusion and diversity in the cultural and other sectors.
The first step is to have more non-white politicians in politics and the halls of power. A more inclusive and diverse parliament ensures that different perspectives are considered.
It is crucial that all communities in this country are equally considered when it comes to housing, poverty alleviation, education, business, the cultural sector, etc.,. A more inclusive and diverse parliament ensures that the voices of marginalised groups are also heard and taken seriously.
An important festival, whether you celebrate it or not
Some Surinamese and Caribbean people in the Netherlands don’t celebrate Keti Koti. They don’t consider it a festivity.
“How can you celebrate getting back something that should never have been taken from you in the first place?” they ask. They would rather have a memorial in self-reflection and silence, like May 4 in the Netherlands.
Some celebrate through festivity; others believe the day should be marked as a memorial with silence and self-reflection. Image: Public Domain Pictures/Wikimedia Commons/CC1.0
Whatever the opinion, Keti Koti remains filled with culture, colour, pomp, and circumstance. It must remain a day highlighting Dutch slavery history and past atrocities.
It continues to pressure those in power to apologise and do right by the descendants of those who gave blood, sweat, and tears to build this country.
The sacrifices that they were forced to make should not be forgotten. And the voices of their descendants should be amplified and rewarded. These and many more are the reasons why we celebrate Keti Koti.
What do you think about Keti Koti, and have you ever been to any of the celebrations? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!
In the Netherlands, animal print clothes are not just a passing trend but something that has been a part of Dutch fashion for years — and it’s here to stay.
Animal print is one of the staples in the Dutch wardrobe, right alongside flared pants and the black leather jacket.
Bored with your outfit? The Dutch would recommend throwing on a zebra print ruffle skirt and calling it a day!
What is it?
Whether it’s leopard print, zebra print, or tiger print, these patterns can be found in almost every Dutch person’s wardrobe.
On what kind of clothing? There are no limits.
You’ll find these patterns on flared pants, shirts, dresses, skirts… the list goes on.
Whether it’s to become an orange dot from the sky on Koningsdag or to spend more than €100,000,000 a year on fireworks and set them off all on one day of the year, the Dutch love breaking free from conventional ways, and this is reflected in their clothing.
Why is it quirky?
In many European countries, fashion is known for its clean lines and minimalist style.
The Dutch went in the opposite direction, celebrating all of the lively patterns and colours, including, especially, animal print.
If you were dreaming of a fresh breeze, sorry to burst your cool bubble, it’s time to sweat it out. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are about to become the hottest trio of the year in the Netherlands so far.
Sunday night gave us a little break — a cool breeze, a gentle sigh — like the weather whispering, “brace yourself.”
According to AD, the week kicks off with a toasty morning: between 16 degrees up north and a balmy 22 degrees in the south. But don’t get too comfy, the real heat is just revving up. 😬
By the afternoon, things will start to cook. The sun will be blazing, except for a few sneaky veil clouds drifting in the west.
And what’s causing all this? Winds from the east are importing premium-grade oven air straight from central Europe. Thanks, neighbours.
30 is the new normal
In the centre and south, you’ll experience full-on tropical vibes this afternoon. Temperatures will reach 30 degrees and possibly even higher.
The coast gets a tiny break (thank you, sea breeze!) but even there, it will still be a sizzling 26 to 30 degrees. Basically, no one’s safe from the heat. 🥵
As the sun dips, don’t expect much relief. Monday evening will remain sticky: temperatures will stay around 22 degrees up north and up to 29 degrees in the centre and south of the country.
Only after midnight will things cool down with temperatures dropping between 14 and 17 degrees. So yes, it’s officially sleeping-with-the-window-wide-open weather.
Initially, Tuesday was forecast to be the sweatiest day of the year, with 30 degrees in Vlissingen and up to 36 degrees forecast in the South (yes, that’s you Maastricht).
Even the coast will be gasping with temperatures of 27 to 30 degrees.
But…
Wednesday will be the hottest
Forget everything you thought you knew, Wednesday is coming in hotter than hot. Yes, there might be some showers sneaking in 🌧️, but until they do, we’re talking sauna energy.
Humidity will skyrocket, and depending on when the rain decides to show up, temperatures could soar well above 30 degrees — and in Eindhoven, possibly a boiling 39 degrees. 😱
Coastal folks might get a little breather, but if the showers arrive fashionably late, the heat will go full drama queen.
Four people suffered injuries yesterday evening after an electrical cabinet in a train travelling between Alkmaar and Uitgeest exploded.
The explosion took place at around 20:20 while the train was travelling near Limmen. According to an NS spokesperson, it occurred “not in a compartment, but in the hallway of the train.”
As a result, one person suffered a head injury, while three others became unwell due to smoke inhalation.
No air conditioning
The aftermath of the explosion was not easy for the 600 passengers onboard the train.
The airconditioning was turned off and smoke from the explosion spread as they waited for two evacuation trains.
According to the NOS, those who suffered from smoke inhalation did not have to go to hospital in the end, however, the passenger with the head wound was taken to be treated.
What caused the electrical cabinet to explode is still unknown.
Whether your feet have just touched Dutch soil or you have been living in the Netherlands for 20 years, the prospect of learning this wonderfully guttural language can be a scary one.
As an international in the Netherlands myself, I get it. You’re probably listening in to conversations that consist of multiple “ooh”, “ghuhh”, “aggh” sounds and thinking, “nope, never going to compute.”
But now, writing this article as a Dutch language teacher, I can confidently say it is indeed possible for you to engage in a Dutch conversation.
Let’s start with the first tools you’ll need in your box and run through the basic components of a Dutch conversation: “hello”, “how are you?”, and “goodbye!”
A language expert’s guide to basic Dutch phrases
We’ve teamed up with the wonderful Mirko from TaalBoost, a Dutch language school based in Amsterdam.
Being a non-native himself who first came into contact with the Dutch language as an adult, he translates his experience and knowledge through TaalBoost’s approach: how the Dutch language can be learned most effectively.
Let’s run through seven ways to say “hello”, “how are you” and “goodbye” in Dutch. Image: TaalBoost/Supplied.
How do you say “hello” in Dutch?
There is this funny story about how the rather recent word “hello” came to be used in the English language.
With the emergence of the telephone some 150 years ago, two rivals, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, used and promoted different ways of answering a phone call.
The Dutch took the term “ahoy” and made their own way of saying hello. Image: Freepik
Where Edison succeeded in putting “hello” in widespread use, Bell advocated for the nautical term “ahoy.”
The Dutch must have thought — why not both? — as nowadays, the customary words used to greet someone in the Dutch language are precisely hallo and hoi. Both words can be used interchangeably or even together.
Tip: while it’s standard to greet someone in non-formal situations by saying either hallo or hoi in Dutch, it’s not common to use those words while actually answering the phone.
Most Dutch people introduce themselves by saying their (first) name immediately after they pick up a phone call. For example, I would say “met Mirko”, which is short for “u spreekt met Mirko” — meaning “you are speaking with Mirko.”
Casual ways to say “hello” in Dutch
Hoi is an informal greeting. When addressing more people at the same time, one would generally say “hoi allemaal” or “hallo allemaal” — which is Dutch for “hi y’all.”
Other informal ways of saying hello are hé (pronounced as hey), hai (pronounced as hi) and ha.
Luckily, most daily encounters are also informal encounters in the Netherlands — unless you are talking with a person much older than you, a civil servant, or a member of the royal family (but who knows, maybe you’ll stumble across King Willem-Alexander one day in the Westerpark.)
Formal ways to say “hello” in Dutch
Should you find yourself face to face with a royal family member, it is best to remember that in a formal situation, you are not expected to use hoi or any other greeting mentioned so far.
If you want to greet someone formally in Dutch, you should use terms such as “goedemiddag.” Image: Freepik
To be on the safe side, use:
Goedemiddag — good afternoon,
Goedemorgen — good morning,
or goedenavond — good evening,depending on the time of day.
A shortened version of goedemiddag is dag, which can be used both formally and informally.
If you feel like tipping your hat and curtseying more often, “dag meneer” (meaning good day, sir) or “dag mevrouw” (good day, madam) are common ways of addressing people formally.
That world-famous Dutch directness is surprisingly absent when it comes to asking someone how they’re doing.
In Dutch, you don’t actually ask the person how they are, but how things are going or how life is generally.
This is conveyed by three words: “hoe gaat het” (how is it going) or “hoe is het?” (how is life/how are things?).
“Hoe gaat het?” — three words for a variety of situations
Although the right pronunciation of “hoe gaat het?” can be somewhat of a challenge, the usage of these three words is fixed and used across the board.
“Hoe gaat het?” is a Dutch phrase that can be used in a variety of contexts. Image: Freepik
Whether you are addressing one person or multiple people, in formal or informal situations, speaking to a person directly or referring to someone else, it’s always “hoe gaat het?”
If you need to be more specific, and sometimes you do, then you’ll addmet to the original question, followed by the person you are referring to. For example:
“Hoe gaat het met je?” — How are things with you?
“Hoe gaat het met je familie?” —How are things with your family?
and “Hoe gaat het met Joost?” — How are things with Joost?
“Hoe gaat het?” is an open question. That means that you can answer anything in the wide range from uitstekend (outstanding) to verschrikkelijk (terrible).
But beware, the phrase is a conversation starter or a useful small talk tool — people aren’t actually expecting you to share your deepest, darkest worries.
“Alles goed?” An essential Dutch phrase — simple to both ask and answer
You can avoid the open question and ask whether things are going well by posing a closed question instead.
Closed questions just need a mere ja (yes) or nee (no) as an answer — perfect for the sprouting beginner!
“Alles lekker” is also a common way to ask what’s up in Dutch. Image: Freepik
You’ll find that these questions always start with alles and end with a raised intonation of the last word to make it sound like a question phrase. For example:
“Alles goed?”,
“Alles oké?”
or the more informal “alles lekker?”
and “alles kits?”
If you’re looking for a more adventurous variation, there’s also “alles Gucci?” (a popular phrase amongst the current generation of slang users).
Another popular way of asking how someone is in slang is “fawaka” — borrowed from Sranantongo, one of the official languages of Suriname.
Seven ways to ask “how are you?” in Dutch
Still following? Great — now let’s listen to some of this new vocab! Here are seven ways to say “How are you?” in Dutch:
The routine way of saying goodbye in Dutch is“tot ziens,” which literally means “until we see each other.” Best of all, it can be used in practically any situation.
I love the hopefulness and optimism contained by these two words as they imply that you will be seeing the other person again.
The more archaic variation of “tot ziens” would be “tot weerziens” (meaning “until we see each other again”), while a more casual version would be “tot kijk” (the same meaning).
You’ve made it this far, now time to say goodbye! Image: Pexels.
But let’s face it, nowadays it would be more applicable to say something along the lines of:
“We bellen” — We’ll phone,
“We mailen” — We’ll email,
or “We appen” — We’ll text.
Starting your goodbye with tot and then adding a timeframe to it would still be the most usual and productive way of parting ways.
Don’t worry; you can still be non-specific if you like: “tot de volgende keer” (until the next time) or “tot snel” (see you soon).
How to say “goodbye” in Dutch — time-specific
However, if you are one of those people who actually know what they will be doing a couple of hours/days/weeks into the future — like many Dutchies do — you can be more specific by saying:
“Tot vanavond,” — see you tonight,
“Tot morgen” — see you tomorrow,
“Tot volgende week” — see you next week,
“Tot straks” — see you later,
and “Tot zo” — see you soon.
“Tot straks” is a common way of saying see you later to someone in Dutch. Image: Freepik
A common confusion among fresh (and some seasoned) Dutch language learners is the meaning of straks or zo in Dutch.
Although they would be translated as soon, in Dutch, they are a very specific kind of soon — between ten minutes and three hours from now. Instead, straks or zo would be better translated as the phrase “in a bit/while.”
How to formally say goodbye in Dutch
Just like goedemiddag can be used to formally say hello, it can also be used to say goodbye, but only in an extremely formal setting.
Aside from the news anchors saying it at the end of the news (it’s that formal), I’ve never heard anyone under the age of 70 say goedemiddag or goedenavond when leaving in real life.
How most people say “goodbye” in Dutch
What you are much more likely to hear — basically from any cashier at a supermarket or any store — is “fijne dag,” “fijne avond” or “fijn weekend,” meaning “have a nice day/evening/weekend.”
You’ll often hear people say “fijne dag” when saying goodbye in Dutch. Image: Freepik
By the same token, you can use dag to say both hello and goodbye. The word is technically formal, but there are ways to dress it down a bit.
For example, you could double it as dag-dag, or you could transform it to doeg and finally doei.
The word doei is by far the most common way of saying goodbye in an informal setting. Other informal ways of saying goodbye are later(s) and (a personal favourite) — joe.
Finally, out of all three phrases — “hello”, “how are you”, and “goodbye” — saying goodbye has by far the greatest regional differences. For example:
In the province of Gelderland, it is common to say ajuu(s),
In North-Brabant houdoe,
In Limburg and in the Randstad metropole area (especially Amsterdam and Rotterdam), it is not uncommon to hear de mazzel — a word borrowed from the Yiddish and Hebrew saying, mazel tov, which means good luck!
Keep the conversation going! Learn Dutch with TaalBoost
Hungry for more Dutch conversation? Great! There are many ways that you can learn to master the Dutch language.
Whether you want to tell your housemate about that weird dream you had last night or talk back when someone gets sassy with you in the cycle lane, the best way to improve your Dutch skills is to enrol yourself in a TaalBoost language course.
Online TaalBoost Dutch language courses are the ultimate solution for interactive, engaging, teacher-guided and feedback-driven Dutch language learning at all proficiency levels. Level up your Dutch during one of the many TaalBoost Dutch language courses on offer:
This little piece of rubbery history isn’t just old — it’s naughty, historically rich, and now sitting proudly in a glass box for all of Amsterdam to admire.
Yes, you read that right. As Het Parool reports, the Rijksmuseum added a rare condom adorned with an erotic print to its collection earlier this month.
Image: Rijksmuseum/Kelly Schenk
Not your average museum acquisition
It all started at an auction house in Haarlem, where curators Joyce Zelen and Huigen Leeflang from the Rijksprentenkabinet were browsing thousands of antique prints.
Zelen tells Het Parool that the listing was easy to overlook. But Leeflang, with his trained eye and Zelen, with her PhD in libertine art, spotted something truly unusual.
“We had to ask the boss if we could bid on a condom,” Zelen confessed.
(Just imagine getting THAT message on Teams. 😅)
The condom, believed to date back to around 1830, was auctioned off for just €1,000. “A bargain,” Zelen said, noting that similar pieces have sold for much more in recent years.
Not your standard contraceptive packaging
This bizarrely brilliant artifact features a copperplate etching printed on dried animal membrane
Zelen suspects it could come from a sheep, goat, horse, or crow, but without visible clues, the museum is planning DNA research to find out. 🕵️♀️
And the print? It’s anything but subtle. A nun sits with her legs spread before three very excited clergymen, framed by the caption “Voilà, mon choix” (“This is my choice”).
@rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum acquired a rare and risqué 19th century condom to its collection. Likely made from a sheep’s appendix and adorned with an erotic print of a nun choosing between three aroused clergymen. Yes, really… 🖼️ Anonymous, Condom with print, c. 1830. Acquired through the F.G. Waller Fonds #rijksmuseum#amsterdammuseum#arttok♬ original sound – Rijksmuseum
The image is both a satire of religious celibacy and a cheeky nod to the Judgement of Paris — the Greek myth in which a mortal must choose the fairest goddess.
The Rijksmuseum believes it was never actually used as a condom, but rather sold as a luxurious brothel souvenir. Less functional, more flirtatious.
A museum display like no other
Now proudly on display in the Rijksmuseum’s nineteenth-century department, this once-forgotten object sits in a glass case alongside prints and illustrations that explore sexuality, brothel culture, medicine, and the fear of disease.
The exhibition uses this curious item to reflect on how the 1800s approached sex and shame, often through euphemisms, moral judgment, and a looming fear of syphilis.
Zelen points out that there is still surprisingly little known about sexual culture in the nineteenth century, as many objects were mislabelled or quietly archived.
A small object, yes, but one that opens the door to a world we’re only just beginning to understand.
So, what do you think? Will you be heading to the Rijksmuseum to see this scandalous little slice of history?
For two years straight, fewer people have packed their bags and moved to the Netherlands.
Around 316,000 newcomers arrived in 2024, 19,000 less than the year before. The Dutch charm is still strong — but apparently not that strong.
What’s behind the dip?
According to Statistics Netherlands, the drop is mostly thanks to fewer knowledge migrants (highly skilled workers) moving to Holland, especially from countries like India, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, and China.
The number of knowledge migrants has dropped by a dramatic 40% since 2022. According to the stats, most folks came for love or a payslip: 22% for family, and 21% for work.
Of those who came for family, 40% were following a worker, 5% followed a student, and 7% were reuniting with someone who had arrived as an asylum seeker.
Moved here for love? A job? Or just for the stroopwafels and bad weather? Let us know in the comments!
It’s 7 PM on a Tuesday in late May, and instead of dinner, thousands of Dutch families are lacing up for a countryside adventure. Welcome to the Avondvierdaagse, a Dutch tradition where whole communities turn into walking armies for four evenings straight.
Think Dutch planning, sugar-fueled kids, and a national love for endurance all rolled into one. Equal parts heartwarming and exhausting, it’s a community highlight and a charming act of collective masochism. Let’s break it down. 👇
What is the Avondvierdaagse?
The Avondvierdaagse (literally “evening four-day walk”) is a community event where children aged 4 to 12, accompanied by a few brave adults, walk 5, 10, or 15 kilometers each evening for four consecutive days.
Most go for the 5-kilometer route, which ideally gets everyone home before bedtime… ideally. 😅
It began in 1940, when the Nijmegen Four Day Marches were cancelled due to troop mobilization. What started as a one-time solution has grown into a nationwide tradition celebrated in towns and cities across the Netherlands. 🎉
Parent survival guide to the Avondvierdaagse
Let’s be practical. As many Dutch parents have learned, surviving the Avondvierdaagse takes some serious planning.📝
Parent survival guides recommend the “fair division” approach: one parent handles the first half of the route while the other cycles to the halfway point to take over the second half.
The secret to blister-free feet? Wash and dry them well, then rub with camphor spirits and slip on thin cotton socks. Seasoned Dutch parents swear by it to avoid the painful blisters that can turn a cheerful march into a teary meltdown. 😬
The quirky traditions that make it so Dutch
Like any proper Dutch tradition, this four-day event comes with its own set of wonderfully weird customs.
One classic? Kids sucking on a half lemon topped with Wilhelmina peppermints wrapped in cloth — supposedly for “energy.” 🍋
Another favourite ritual is shouting at full volume when passing under bridges, turning peaceful underpasses into echo-filled arenas of chaos.
To keep spirits high, clever parents prepare themed playlists and even organize costume days to help them push through the mid-week slump.
On the final day, there are medals, cheers, and a shared sense of relief — kids love the prize, adults love that it’s over. 👀
Why Dutch families love (and hate) the Avondvierdaagse
The community mobilization is extraordinary. Schools form walking groups, parents step in as route marshals, local businesses hand out snacks, and entire neighborhoods turn into temporary support squads. 🤝
Grandparents emerge from retirement to cheer on passing walkers, creating intergenerational bonding that reflects what makes Dutch family life so distinctive.
But the downsides are real. Children become “knackered” from late bedtimes and exhaustion, resulting in kids who are “grumpy, short-fused, chagrijnig, and reluctant to get out of bed.”
Weather is no deterrent — events continue through storms that leave everyone “wet to the skin,” sometimes creating what one Dutch media outlet described as “hysterical, wet adventures” with crying children and stressed parents taking shelter under highway overpasses. 😵💫
Managing overstimulated children
The sensory overload is real. Thousands of excited kids, tired parents, route marshals blowing whistles, and four nights of pure chaos.
Savvy Dutch parents come prepared with “surprise stops,” placing family members along the route armed with fresh strawberries or handmade signs to lift spirits and break the monotony. 🍓
The trick is managing expectations. Most kids end up walking the full distance just fine, while the emergency strollers and wagons that nervous parents bring often cause more chaos than comfort.
International walking events vs Dutch Avondvierdaagse traditions
While community walking events exist worldwide, from charity walkathons to Britain’s tradition of Boxing Day walks, the Avondvierdaagse is uniquely Dutch in its scale and community integration.
The International Marching League promotes similar events in 29 countries, but these are usually serious athletic challenges rather than the gezellig, family-friendly chaos found in the Netherlands.
Nothing quite matches the Netherlands’ ability to mobilize entire populations of children for what is essentially voluntary suffering, combining mass participation, meticulous organization, and cheerful endurance in a distinctly Dutch way. 😄
Why the Avondvierdaagse tradition still marches on
Despite exhausted families and questionable weather, people keep coming back. Instead of enjoying a glorious Dutch BBQ or spending the evening at the best Dutch casino or cinema, thousands choose to walk, again and again.
Many say they feel “truly ingeburgerd” after finishing their first Avondvierdaagse. There is something deeply Dutch about finding meaning in shared endurance for the sake of community.
This tradition reflects everything the Dutch value: organized collective action, physical activity, and quiet satisfaction in completing challenges without making a fuss. It builds social cohesion through shared experience, teaches children perseverance, and creates memories that bond families and communities. ✨
In a time when children’s lives are increasingly digital, the Avondvierdaagse offers something truly irreplaceable. It gives kids the chance to be part of something bigger, reach goals through persistence, and discover that their community will quite literally walk beside them when they need support.
Have you walked the Avondvierdaagse and lived to tell the tale? Share in the comments! 💬
The Consumentenbond (Dutch Consumer Association) has launched a class action lawsuit against Booking.com for allegedly overcharging customers through fake discounts and artificial scarcity.
According to the Consumentenbond, customers have been systematically overcharged for years through misleading practices. We’re talking about potentially hundreds of millions of euros in damages.
What does this mean? If you’ve booked through them since 2013, you might be eligible for compensation.
What did Booking.com allegedly do wrong?
If you’re an international who’s spent countless hours hunting for the perfect Amsterdam Airbnb or that ideal weekend getaway hotel, chances are you’ve used Booking.com at least once.
Ironically, this Dutch-founded company that employs thousands of internationals here in the Netherlands, has been using some pretty sneaky tactics to trick us into spending more.
The NOS reports that the platform uses fake discounts, incomplete prices, and fabricated scarcity to influence customer decisions — what experts call ‘dark patterns.’
Here’s how it supposedly worked: Booking.com allegedly made illegal agreements with hotels preventing them from offering cheaper rates or better conditions on their own websites.
This meant that whether you booked directly with the hotel or through Booking.com, you’d end up paying inflated prices across the board.
Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumentenbond, explains that these practices violate both Dutch and European regulations.
The European Court already ruled last year that Booking.com broke the rules, and Spain hit the company with a whopping €413 million fine for similar practices.
Can I join the lawsuit?
Here’s the good news: if you’ve booked through Booking.com even once since January 1, 2013, you’re eligible to join the claim.
But it gets better — even if you used other booking sites like Expedia or Agoda, or booked directly through hotel websites, you might still qualify.
Why? Because according to the lawsuit, Booking.com’s market dominance artificially inflated prices across the entire sector, affecting everyone who booked accommodations during this period.
The potential compensation varies depending on how often you’ve booked and how much you’ve spent, but estimates suggest individual claims could range from tens to hundreds of euros per person.
How can I make a claim?
The best part? Joining costs you absolutely nothing.
The Consumer Association is working with Consumenten Competition Claims (CCC) on a ‘no cure, no pay’ basis.
If they win, participants pay a maximum of 25% of their compensation to cover legal costs. If they lose, you pay nothing.
The organisations are hoping to reach a settlement with Booking.com first, but they’re prepared to take the case to court if necessary.
If you’ve used Booking.com (or similar platforms) since 2013, consider checking out the Consumentenbond’s claim page to see if you’re eligible for compensation.
Even if you only booked once or twice, you might be surprised by what you could claim back.
What this means for future bookings
Beyond the potential compensation, this lawsuit is pushing for an end to misleading practices on booking platforms.
The goal is to create a more transparent marketplace where you can actually trust those “limited time offers” and discount claims.
For internationals who rely heavily on booking platforms — whether you’re searching for short-term rentals during your housing hunt or planning that long-awaited trip back home — this could mean more honest pricing and fewer psychological pressure tactics in the future.
How’s Booking.com taking it?
Let’s just say, they’re not exactly clicking accept all and moving on.
Instead, a spokesperson from booking.com responded with: “We have always fought to provide the best possible prices and transparent booking experience to travellers and strongly contest any allegations to the contrary.”
And added: “We have removed price parity clauses across Europe, but believe that they did help ensure consumers could access great prices everywhere.”
Adding also that they were reviewing the contents of this claim and will respond accordingly.
Have you noticed these misleading practices while booking accommodation in the Netherlands? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.
