Alrighty folks, in case you haven’t noticed all the heart-shaped items in Albert Heijn, here’s a heads up: it’s Valentine’s Day this upcoming Monday. Before you run out to buy your loved one a dozen red roses, however, you might want to read this. 👇
Flower prices in the Netherlands have increased by up to 20% compared to the same time last year. Yup, while not quite a modern-day tale of tulip mania, it’s a significant jump. 📈
In fact, Dutch florists are encouraging customers to look for alternatives to the traditional roses this Valentine’s, reports RTL Nieuws. 🌹
Supply and demand, baby
It’s not unusual for flower prices to peak in February. Since Valentine’s Day is celebrated on the same date everywhere around the world, demand rises on the international auctions nudging prices upwards.
However, this year, the extra demand is met by its dreadful cousin: low supply. The result? High prices. 🤷♀️
There are two reasons for the lessened supply of flowers this year. Firstly, high gas prices have led Dutch growers to lower the temperature in their greenhouses and even leave parts of them empty.
Secondly, the import of flowers from Africa has gone down due to expensive air freight fees. Instead, other products have been prioritised.
We knew it! Valentine’s Day is all capitalism. 😤
Florists in the Netherlands reluctant to pass on high prices
A 20% price increase is difficult to express on a per flower basis, writes RTL Nieuws. Bram Rijkers of the Florist Shopkeepers’ Association explains that “a bunch of 25 euros now looks different than last year. Not necessarily less, but with different types of flowers.”
In fact, some Dutch florists have even completely skipped out on the roses during recent auctions — “Many florists do not want to pass the prices on to customers,” Rijkers elaborates. Instead, they encourage customers to look for alternatives.
Will you be celebrating Valentine’s this Monday? And what’s your alternative to roses?Tell us in the comments below!
Coming Tuesday, February 15, there will be a new press conference regarding the possible easing of coronavirus measures in the Netherlands. In an open letter to the cabinet, Health Minister Ernst Kuipers makes some initial suggestions. 👇🏻
In the letter, Kuipers argues that it’s important to consider a range of factors when proposing the easing of ongoing lockdown measures, including:
economic stress for businesses under lockdown-induced closures,
And the overall, growing discontent within the population.
Backed by these arguments, Kuipers proposes a number of changing coronavirus measures amidst skyrocketing infection rates.
Extended opening times
From Friday next week onwards, HORECA (hotels, restaurants and cafés) should be allowed to open again until 1 AM. At the moment, the hospitality sector is forced to call for the last round before 10 PM each night. 🍻
No more 1,5-metre distance
Another point is to increase the number of guests in venues — without 1,5 metres distance but with a valid corona pass. At the moment, distance measures in inside-venues are by pre-determined seating arrangements.
Here, the suggestion is to ditch the 1,5-metre distance rule up to 500 guests. For events with more attendees than the 500 baseline, fixed seating and distance measures will stay in place.
Shortened quarantine
In the Dutch talkshow, Beau, Kuipers has also suggested to shorten quarantine after a coronavirus infection, reports RTL Nieuws.
Currently, self-isolation is imposed up to a week after detected infection with the coronavirus. You have to quarantine longer if you experience symptoms after, such as coughing — which increases the risk for you to infect others. 🦠
Kuipers now proposes to relieve people of self-isolation as soon as they do no longer experience any symptoms. 😷
What do you think of this proposal by the Dutch Health Minister? Tell us in the comments!
The Dutch government has discussed this for years — making abortion pills available at the hands of general practitioners (GPs). Now, it looks like a majority of the new cabinet would vote in favour.
At the moment, it is unclear when the official vote will be passed. But it looks like Dutch parties PvdA, GroenLinks, VVD and D66 would vote in favour, while only the conservative ChristenUnie and CDA (Christen-Democratisch Appèl) would vote against.
Abortion in the Netherlands
At the moment, women choosing abortion in the Netherlands are referred to ‘abortion clinics’ (abortusklinieken). These institutions specialise in assisting women through expert consultation, mental support and, eventually, the termination of pregnancy.
It is illegal for Dutch GPs to prescribe abortion pills and, as a result, patients are usually transferred to said clinics.
Why the GP?
An argument in favour of making abortion pills available at the GP is to remove hurdles and make the process easier. “Almost 1 in 5 women in the Netherlands chooses abortion during her lifetime. And it happens so often, but we still criminalise it,” Eva de Goeij, tells RTL Nieuws.
De Goeij has undergone an abortion herself. She specifically critiques the obligatory 5-day wait, women are obliged to sit out in case they wish to change their minds.
“I was pregnant, but also ill from the pregnancy. So, I felt terrible, was very tired, and there was something growing in me I did not want at the time. So, I would have really appreciated it if I could have terminated the pregnancy earlier, without waiting the five days,” da Goeij says.
Offering abortion pills at the GP would mean that medical professionals would have to undergo special training. For patients, it would mean a more familiar atmosphere, quicker access to abortion pills and, hopefully, a less shameful, stressful and traumatising experience.
Concerns from the conservative side
“It’s a budding life, that you’re cutting off. Isn’t a higher threshold a good thing, in the end?” says ethics professor Theo Boer from the Protestants Theologische Universiteit. Especially, because abortion clinics have professionals trained to assist abortions.
What do you think about these plans to make abortion pills available at the GP? Tell us in the comments!
Dutch cabinet wants to extend opening hours for catering establishments —and lift most of the other current coronavirus measures.
Under the current restrictions, restaurants, cafés, and pubs must close at 10 PM. But as the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals goes down, the cabinet wants to allow establishments to close at a later time, reports the NOS.
The new closing time hasn’t been confirmed yet, but 11 PM, midnight, and 1 AM are all on the table. In addition, the plan is to relax the mandatory 1.5-metre distancing as well as the rule that customers must be seated.
Next to relaxations for horeca, the work-from-home advice will most likely be lifted and we’ll be allowed to receive more than four visitors at home again. Sounds like it will soon be time to plan a small dinner party again! 🍴🤗
No more coronavirus pass
After months of heated debates about the mandatory use of coronavirus pass, the government is considering abolishing this system altogether at the end of February.
From February 25, a negative coronavirus test would only be required to attend festivals and other large-scale events.
Next Tuesday, new Health Minister, Erns Kuipers, will take to the podium — this time by himself — to officially announce the relaxations.
Dear fellow sports fans around the world, after four years of waiting, during which you may have watched Olympic Games Replay a thousand times, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games kicked off with the opening ceremony on Friday, February 4.
Beijing and its co-host city, Zhangjiakou, welcomed around 3,000 athletes from 91 teams including, of course, Team Netherlands — blessing us with the best weekend gift and the perfect distraction from school and/or work until February 20 Closing Ceremony. 🔥
Olympic history
As part of the furniture at the Olympic Games, the Netherlands has competed at every Winter Olympics since 1928, with the exception of the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid.
Four years ago, Team Netherlands consisting of 33 competitors finished fifth in the medal table at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games with 20 medals — eight gold, six silver and six bronze medals, all won by Dutch skaters. (Yes, we are totally convinced that the Dutch are good at ice skating! 🥽)
Team Netherlands 2022
This time around the Netherlands is being represented by 41 athletes consisting of 21 men and 20 women. They are competing in seven Winter Olympic sports: Alpine skiing, bobsleigh, figure skating, short track speed skating, skeleton, snowboard, and speed skating.
At the 2022 Winter Games, a squad of 29 Dutch skaters — 18 speed skaters, 10 short track speed skaters, and one figure skater — will make conquests at the ice rinks. Now let’s put a spotlight on three Dutch skaters, who are participating in figure skating, short track speed skating, and speed skating competitions respectively.
Lindsay van Zundert
It might be hard to believe that Dutch figure skaters have waited for 46 years to qualify again for the Winter Olympics, but finally, Lindsay van Zundert, a 17-year-old girl is the first and only Dutch figure skater to take part in the Winter Games since Dianne de Leeuw in 1976.
To top it all, Lindsay marched as a co-flagbearer along with speed skater Kjeld Nuis for the Netherlands at the opening ceremony. 🍊
The most memorable moment from van Zundert’s career so far was the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, where she scored 57.72 in the short program and a new personal best of 116.78 in the free skate and finished 16th overall.
Although she failed to qualify for the free skate and finished 27th at the European Championships this past January, we still have every reason to believe this promising young woman will give her best performance at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Suzanne Schulting
Whether or not you keep abreast of short track speed skating events, you’ve probably heard of this name — Suzanne Schulting, a dominant force in the sport and the queen of short track speed skating.
Four years ago, Schulting brought the first short track speed skating Olympic gold medal to the Netherlands with her victory in Women’s 1000m. You may want to avoid counting how many medals she has won so far in the past years as this takes time. 🏅
Last year alone, Schulting completed a clean sweep of gold medals from all the individual races she attended at the 2021 European Championships and 2021 World Championships.
For the 2022 Winter Olympics, she is aiming for “Olympic champion in at least one distance, maybe more” and “maybe two gold medals or three gold medals. At least one.”
Ireen Wüst
Sixteen years ago in Turin, the 19-year-old Ireen Wüst became the Netherlands’ youngest ever Olympic champion. Now with 11 Olympic medals and 44 medals at world level, Wüst is already one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of speed skating, but she clearly wants to achieve more. ⛸️
This 35-year-old skater is making her fifth Olympic appearance at the 2022 Games, with an ambition to “set a world record and win a fifth consecutive gold medal.”
Although in the face of competition from younger speed skaters in the past few years, Wüst still managed to secure an Olympic berth. She is competing in the Women’s 1000m, 1500m and team pursuit. Let’s wait and see what this legend can achieve in Beijing.
As we continue to witness Dutch skaters shine at Beijing 2022, don’t miss out on their latest and greatest accomplishments by following their Olympic profiles!✨ For a full list of all the Winter Olympics events, including those of Team NL, you can check out the Olympic Games schedule through their official website.
Are you eagerly following Dutch athletes’ during 2022 Winter Olympics as much as we are? Tell us in the comments below!
This Saturday, February 12, nightclubs across the Netherlands will open their doors in protest against coronavirus measures. The police have issued an official statement saying they will act as “passively as possible”. 👮
The statement, published by the Dutch Police Union, says that from Friday evening 11 PM to Monday morning, the police will only intervene if there are serious breaches of the law (obviously) and will stay focussed on offering first aid and support for Dutch citizens.
What does this mean? Simple. The Dutch Police Union has pledged solidarity with the protest movement — but without the official support of the Dutch cabinet.
WAKE-UP CALL 2022
Turns out, Dutch police are running their own protest movement called WAKE-UP CALL 2022. Since December of last year, the Police Union has been trying to raise awareness of the overwhelming workload amongst the understaffed police force. 🚨
The statement says that the initiative did not receive enough attention in Den Haag. The assumption that the police goes above and beyond for their state is harmful to the “health, safety and private life” of their employees.
Pressure on the police has mounted with the requirement to enforce coronavirus measures on top of ‘everyday’ police tasks.
“The night is for everybody”
De nacht staat op (the night rises/stands up) is a nationwide protest movement of nightclubs and venues that feel like they have been neglected by the Dutch government due to long, repeated periods of forced closure.
Clubs will open their doors at 9 PM on Saturday night. 🕺 With this, the nightlife industry follows in the footsteps of musea, cafés, restaurants and shops which have voiced their demands similarly during the last lockdown.
Will you be hitting the dancefloor on Saturday night? 💃 Tell us in the comments!
The RIVM has reported its weekly coronavirus figures from February 1 to February 8. Due to the extremely high number of daily infections and logistical issues, the GGD delayed the publishing of the figures.
The number of hospitalisations has increased while the number of deaths has slightly gone down.
Over the past week, the RIVM has reported 824,301 new infections in the Netherlands. This is a significant increase compared to last week’s report of 530,015 infections.
The percentage of positive tests has increased, with 60.7% of people testing positive compared to 56.1% from the week before.
Deaths
The number of patients who have died from coronavirus-related complications declined slightly compared to the past week. This week, 54 people passed away, compared to 66 people the previous week.
Hospitalisations
The number of admissions to the nursing ward and the ICU have both increased. The past week saw1,148 new admissions to the nursing ward and118 new patients in the ICU.
The previous week, there were1,102 patients and 83 patients respectively.
Dutch corona pass expriy
As of today, about 540,000 people in the Netherlands will lose the validity of their corona pass. This is because their last coronavirus vaccination was over nine months ago, or they have not yet received the third jab. 💉
This is also the case for individuals who have recovered from the coronavirus more than six months ago. For all those affected, it will be difficult to travel abroad. To visit restaurants, cafés or cultural facilities it is now necessary to get a test right before entry.
Initially, the Dutch government had set the date of the corona pass expiry to last Friday, February 4, but extended the deadline for an additional four-day grace period.
Petitions against corona pass
Many Dutchies are not too happy with these new EU-wide regulations. Two petitions circulated last week advocating for getting rid of the corona pass in the Netherlands. In total, signatures amounted to almost 800,000. ✍🏻
Clubs open in protest
We’ve seen museums, restaurants, cafés and shops open in protest during the last hard lockdown. Now, clubs are following suit with the nationwide campaign De nacht staat op.
On Saturday, February 12, at 9 PM nightlife will once again open its doors — to those who got tickets at least. In less than two days after the ticket release, most venues have sold out their events.
Have you got savings at the moment? First off, congrats! It’s 2022 and it’s tough out there for some. Secondly, not to freak you out, but what do you plan on doing with them?
One option for you to take is to invest — and no, we’re not about to tell you to go out and buy Bitcoin (or heavens forbid Dogecoin or some weird digital art.)
A much smarter option is to check out some IPOs.
First things first, what are IPOs?
Great question! An Initial Public Offering, or IPO, is the option to buy shares in a private company before it goes public. The shares then head off to the stock exchange where they may rise or fall in value.
While putting your money in the hands of the stock exchange may sound intimidating, you can rest your mind with the knowledge that in 2021 the IPO market enjoyed a record-breaking amount of capital. Amassing a whopping $330.7 billion, to be exact. Put simply, it’s a market that is currently doing quite well.
So, what IPOs should you be looking out for in 2022?
Ready to hop on the train and invest? Look at you go! Now, who should you be looking out for? We’ve compiled a list of some of the best Dutch, techy, and sustainable IPOs for you to check out.
Bol.com
First, let’s start with the Dutchies. It’s probably no surprise to hear that Bol.com has had a successful past two years. With shops rolling in and out of lockdowns, the Dutch equivalent of Amazon has seen its turnover grow 15 times (to €5.5 billion) in the past year alone. And the result? It’s time for an IPO.
Ready to stick it to Jeff Bezos and support a Dutch company instead? You can expect to see Bol.com hit the IPO market in the second half of 2022.
Reddit
An oldie, but a goldie. This beloved social media platform proved its influence in 2021 when it triggered a mass investment in GameStop stock.
And if you’re a company that has the power to influence the stock exchange like that, it makes sense that people are going to start investing in you.
TikTok
Need we say anymore? In March 2020, the world temporarily shut down, and as a result, everyone and their mother started downloading the app TikTok.
An app that allows you to upload short clips, everyone was in need of comic relief during the pandemic, and as a result, this company (known as ByteDance) has seen its popularity boom throughout the past two years.
The preliminary valuation of TikTok now stands at *chokes on coffee* $50 billion.
Starlink
Listen, we may as well try to make some money of our own whilst billionaires get even richer, right? Elon Musk’s high-speed satellite internet service is proving to be promising.
With 1,842 satellites in orbit as of November 2021, Starlink was enjoying a capitalization of $72 billion in 2021 — meaning it is eagerly awaited by the stock market.
Impossible foods
If sustainability is high on your list of priorities in 2022, good on you. Here’s one IPO that may be perfect for you. Impossible Foods produces plant-based meat alternatives — and the world is gobbling them up.
Currently valued at $8.4 billion, Impossible Foods is expected to hit the IPO market with a valuation of $10 billion in 2022.
How do you manage your savings in the Netherlands? Tell us in the comments below!
People come from far and wide to study at prestigious Dutch universities, however, international students are suffering more than ever from mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.
Coming to a foreign country is already challenging as it is, being far from home, adjusting to a new culture, etc. But now the pandemic is making what should be an exciting experience even more difficult, according to the Volkskrant.
Miriam Zwaan, a study career counsellor at the Hogeschool of Arnhem and Nijmegen, noticed that her students were, “angry, sad, taken aback, completely frustrated, deeply depressed, suicidal…the whole psychiatric textbook.”
Fears of the virus and lockdown measures
Many international students were not able to have in-person lectures and had fears over the virus. This led to several students returning to their home countries and following their lectures there at odd hours or with insufficient WiFi or power outages.
On top of not having physical classes and having to deal with lockdown measures, a few students were not able to do study abroad programmes due to coronavirus.
70% of internationals are lonely
According to a survey by Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education, around 70% of students felt lonely. A large group of the participants also indicated feelings of depression.
“The wellbeing of international students is under pressure,” said a Nuffic spokesperson.
Dutch students are also suffering from mental health issues as a result of the pandemic, but internationals seem to be doing even worse.
More students than ever are taking a break from their studies as a result — and we don’t blame them at all for that! 😪
What do you think about international students feeling lonely in the Netherlands? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
This summer, Daan Roosegaarde is bringing Seeing Stars to the sky of Leiden, the European City of Science 2022 and home of DutchReview. ✨
Studio Roosegaarde, UNESCO Netherlands, Leiden2022, and Leiden and Partners will come together to create a night of ultimate stargazing for Leideners — and we couldn’t be more excited. 🔭
Seeing Stars Leiden is a project by artist Daan Roosegaarde which follows the footsteps of last year’s event in the city of Franeker where Roosegaarde brought the stars back into residents’ twinkling eyes by switching off the city lights.
“The aim of Seeing Stars Leiden is to create amazement and solidarity among the people of Leiden. That they can experience the city together under a starry sky. That is the core of this project”, director of Leiden and Partners, Martijn Bulthuis, explains to the Omroep West.
We can’t wait to see the city like this! Image: Studioroosegaarde/Press Release
Eyes on the Milky Way
The hour-long event will take place in the area around the Old Observatory in Leiden, where all non-essential lights will be switched off so the entire city can look at the starry sky and possibly the Milky Way! 🤞
However, this event is different from Franeker’s as it’s on a much larger scale given Leiden’s size, number of inhabitants, and heavier traffic. More complex planning is required — and the weather must be taken into account. 🌌
Big plans
The exact date of the event hasn’t been announced yet, but the plans aim toward the summer with the date to be announced by mid-March as Bulthuis explained.
The event organizers are also considering planning the event during expected meteor showers which fall between August and September for an added dazzle on the already magical night.
Seeing Stars in Leiden will be part of a year-long festival organized by the city in celebration of Leiden as European City of Science 2022. The festival, which began in January, holds 365 days of the festivities covering various science-y themes.
Will you be there for Seeing Stars at Leiden? 😍 Tell us in the comments below!
