It isn’t the 5th of May and Trudeau hasn’t said anything nice about us this weekend, but it’s not like we need a reason to post a big up shout-out to our Canadian friends 😉
When friends and family visit: An expat guide
I’ve been fortunate enough to have many different guests come to visit in 2019, with more on the way before the end of the year. Some even coming two or three times. It can seem hectic, but it’s also a great way to re-experience the best parts of the Netherlands and introduce your guests to a home different from their own.
I remember when I had my first visitor I was stuck on what to do, there were almost TOO many things to do. Things to do can also entirely depend on what season it is, especially if your guests have booked well in advance, so it’s good to look at your options now. So hopefully this simple, yet sassy expat guide with places to visit in the Netherlands will give you some ideas. I’ll try and keep it as short and as sweet as I can.
*Warning, anyone who know me, knows that I like puns… puns and memes ahead.
Places to visit in the Netherlands; Autumn
In my opinion, Autumn is one of the best seasons in the Netherlands. The canals and streets are coated in shades of brown leaves. The place just looks sort of magical when this happens. I’ll keep this one to a minimum, seeing as autumn is almost over.
- If your guests are into house music, ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event), is an awesome event to go to in the Autumn (Mid-October 2018). It involves 5 days of artists playing in various locations in Amsterdam. It’s hugely popular and attracts guests from all over the world. Nestled amongst this period is also AMF (Amsterdam Music Festival), held in Amsterdam Arena.
- Annually, different cities in the Netherlands hold a museum night. In Amsterdam it’s the first Saturday of November. This involves around 50 different museums opening from 7pm – 2am, putting on workshops, tours, concerts and other special events. One museum ticket gains you access to all of these museums all night. It’s a great way of doing them all on the cheap.
- Eindhoven GLOW is a free event held in November in Eindhoven (this year 11th – 18th Nov). It is a lightshow, which involves over thirty light sculptures (mainly outside), which illuminate Eindhoven as you walk through the city. It’s a really cool event, and probably not something your friends and family have seen before (plus, like I said, it’s FREE).
Winter in the Netherlands
Not meaning to go all Christmassy on you – but lets be honest, that’s the best part about the winter season.
- Valkenburg holds an amazing Christmas market and it’s close to the border of both Germany and Belgium (from 17th Nov – 23rd Dec). It’s in a cave! It’s a must visit during the Christmas period, as it’s so unique. It’s perfect for gifts and has all the Dutch favourites, like a load of cheese stalls, so your guests will have lots to bring home.
- Another beautiful place for a Christmas market is held in Heemskerk (situated between Alkmaar and Haarlem). It’s held in the castle grounds of Assumburg Castle. The perfect place to enjoy a mulled wine and Dutch doughnut treats (between 7th-10th Dec).
- If you are after something a bit different, in Deventer on the 16th and 17th December, there is a Christmas market and Charles Dickens festival. This is to celebrate the British authors most loved characters. More than 950 of his characters come to life, with music, market stalls and other high street shops being open all day.
Enough about Christmas…
- Similar to Eindhoven Glow (but on a much smaller scale), Amsterdam also holds it’s own light festival (1st Dec – 22nd Jan). These lights are spread all over the centre of Amsterdam – in the canals, on buildings, in parks and more. It’s the perfect excuse to explore Amsterdam at night.
New Year’s Eve!
How could I forget. It’s probably worth mentioning that New Year’s Eve can be different to other countries. One main point being that there is a national ban on the purchasing on fireworks, apart from three days leading up to New Year’s Eve (with the exception of professional displays). As a result you will see more fireworks than you have probably ever seen in your life. I’m from a city in England which hosts the British Fireworks championships, so I thought I was well prepared. I wasn’t. It’s definitely something for your guests to experience at least once!
Also don’t forget to introduce them to the tradition of eating Oliebollen at midnight. They are a delicious food not to be missed out on.
Obviously celebrations will be held everywhere in the Netherlands, but if you are looking from something bigger, then look no further. Here are my top three:
- Amsterdam: Being the obvious choice, the capital has a lot of celebrations going on. The official celebration takes place at Oosterdock, with VOC The Ship Amsterdam as the perfect backdrop for a firework display. Lots of fireworks are set off all along the main canals and squares unofficially by the visitors and locals too, and the whole city sky is just flooded with light.
- Rotterdam: Rotterdam holds a spectacular New Year’s Eve (being the 2nd biggest city and all), with a professional firework display being held on the iconic Erasmus Bridge. Outside there is music and bars and the atmosphere is top. There are also lots of after parties in nearby clubs.
- Scheveningen: Held on Scheveningen beach, is one of the largest New Year’s Eve bonfires. It was so big in 2015 that it was a Guinness World Record. So it’s certainly impressive to go and see, especially if you are after something a bit different from the other main cities.
Spring in the Netherlands
- Spring the Netherlands is just how you imagine it. Tulips! Every year the Keukenhof in Holland opens its doors to the public throughout March until May (2018: 22nd March – 13th May). This is basically a huge garden full of tulips and spring flowers and is especially gorgeous on a sunny day. This is a must visit, and is close to Amsterdam, so it is easy to get to. This is also a perfect opportunity to take a car, bike or train ride around this part of the country – the fields are filled with rows and rows of different coloured tulips.
- A lot of people don’t know about Kings Day (unless you’re Dutch or live here of course), so if your guests are after a party, then here it is. You can either go to the capital, or another Dutch city to watch the celebrations from the streets, or go to a large event such as Kings Land (if they are into house music). If you’re reading this and have no idea what I’m talking about, Kings Day is the celebration of the Kings birthday. Most of us have a day off and we attend parties throughout the country to celebrate (and wear lots of orange).
- 2 weeks before the official dates of summer begin, the European Championship Sand Sculpture Festival begins. This is held from June all the way through to the end of November. It showcases impressive sand sculptures all around Zandvoort aan Zee. It’s a spectacular event, so a must see.
Summer in the Netherlands
- If your guests are after a ‘Dutch’ experience, visiting Gouda cheese market would be a perfect way to fill that void. This is available in both spring and summer. Every Thursday morning From 6th April – 31st August, Gouda town square, goes back in time. People are dressed in clogs, there are ‘cheese girls’ and cheese farmers and traders negotiating cheese prices. There is music and lots of market stalls. What more could you want?
- If your friends and family are into fireworks and couldn’t make it for New Year’s Eve, then there is another opportunity to watch a spectacular firework display. Scheveningen International Fireworks Festival is a firework festival which showcases displays from different countries in competition with one another. What makes it even better is that it is held just off the shore, so everybody sits on the beach and watches. I ended up taking guests, and they all loved it. Here is a photo I took this summer. It really captures how amazing it was!
- Whether you are a fan of flowers or not, Corso Zundert is an amazing display of moving sculptures, made almost entirely out of flowers. It follows a route all around Zundert, and the streets are lined with visitors watching as the floats go past. I’ve been for the past two years and it really is an impressive scene.
- On during the same weekend as Corso Zundert (first weekend of September), is World Port Day in Rotterdam. This is to strengthen and celebrate the bond between the port and the country. During this period there are many market stalls, behind the scenes tours of the operations of the port, demonstrations on the Maas River and then a firework display. It’s definitely worth a visit to Rotterdam (totally not being biased seeing as I live there).
Day trips
Holland is the most popular province to visit and therefore probably the most likely place that your guests would want to go to (with the obvious choice being Amsterdam). This is somewhere everyone should visit at least once, as it is so different from the rest of the country – even if it isn’t your cup of tea. This is also a great time of year to do it too, as the summer season has just finished so the city isn’t so rammed with tourists. You can also get hold of Anne Frank tickets easier (you don’t have to queue all day, like in the summer). Another good time to go is just after Christmas, as this is another quieter period to do all of the touristy things. It’s important to remember though, that there is a lot more to the Netherlands than just Amsterdam, so hopefully this article gave you a few ideas on what to do.
*Despite all of the events listed (it’s impossible to list every event in the country!!) there are dozens of places to visit within the Netherlands for a day out. These include: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Scheveningen, the Island of Texel, Leiden, Delft, Groningen, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Amersfoort, Giethoorn, I could go on…
If nothing goes to plan, there are always coffee shops and trendy bars after all.
I’ll leave you with this.
Oh, and one more thing. Don’t forget to educate them on how “Holland” and the “Netherlands” are not the same thing. ?
Le Guess Who? – Five tips to make the most of this Utrecht festival
Le Guess Who? is an apt name for this festival of experimental delights. The cobbled streets of Utrecht are currently flush with tourists and locals, the squares overrun with spin-off markets and jubilees, and the twisting bike paths cursed with Google Mapping foreigners looking for their next turn that will take them to one of the many stages dappled over Utrecht.
What is Le Guess Who? Great question. To be honest, it’s hard to say. The website describes it as ‘a celebration of sound in the picturesque city of Utrecht, The Netherlands.’ It’s a vague description, but ‘a celebration of the strangest and wildly endearing bands utilizing the most diverse range of music that takes you from a downstairs classical arrangement with a full orchestra and choir to a ninth floor electro-ambient soundscape exercise involving layers of industrial noise and sound from everyday life,’ was probably a bit too intimidating. Does it make sense? Not really, but not much of this festival does.
But this is precisely the charm of Le Guess Who?. The question mark implies so much, but can be condensed to ‘what the hell is going on?’.
I’ll preface this with a confession: I’m not a music nerd. I can’t tell you the difference between Jersey Club and Cyber Grind (yes, these are real electronic sub-genres). But, I don’t think many people can. So here’s an introduction to Le Guess Who as a completely ordinary expat.
Tip #1: Start in the centre
Since Friday, there has been a steady flow to the fourth-largest Dutch city, positioned squarely in the centre of the Netherlands. The hub-bub of it all takes place at Tivoli, the entertainment centre. The various beats are almost squarely contained in the various venues which range from the aforementioned Tivoli, the beating heart of the scene, to famed music club Ekko, and the industrial park De Helling on the city fringe.
As Tivoli’s revolving door spins, the odd beat escapes outside, bouncing of clusters of smokers who protect themselves from the cold winds. Inside, it’s a different story. As a festival, there is a certain sense of anticipation hanging in the air, and fair warning: it’s contagious. In the foyer, festival-goers and art-searchers alike cluster in small groups, the chatter of various languages all accumulate into one general hum. Friends reunite, calling ‘yoo-hoo!’ (seriously, you can’t make this up), and the accents range from the local to the unidentifiable.
The advantage of Tivoli is that it offers seven of the twenty venues used for Le Guess Who? across the four-day program, so for those hoping to avoid the Dutch November weather they can float in the central heating and still not miss too much of the show – although I’d recommend broadening the horizon and experiencing the many other venues available, which range from thousand year old churches to newly created pop-ups.
Tip #2: Go with the flow
This is not a festival for planners, but it is a festival for everyone. With over 150 bands, movies, and performances it’s undeniable that you can find something that appeals to your taste. The trick is finding it. Originally, I had planned out which acts I wanted to see, circling them in the brightly coloured programs. It was futile. Le Guess Who? is a festival that keeps you guessing constantly, and the amount of distractions everywhere are enough to make the best laid plans go awry.
It’s also not a festival that can be contained by a schedule (although it does run remarkably on time). Instead, this is festival has its’ own flow, its’ own way of doing things, and the best way to enjoy it is to let yourself be picked up by the various vibes and float your way along.
Start yourself in Tivoli, the epicentre of it all. Immerse yourself in the more traditional Grote Zaal on the first floor, where one night the grueling notes and imperfect rhymes of Sun Kil Moon deliver an off-tempo, unnerving spoken word diary entry, but the next the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra offers a classical rendition of Lili Boulanger’s composition ‘Du fond de l’abîme,’ while the audience continues to drink the frothy draught beer they ordered outside.
Follow the arrangement of steep escalators winding up through Tivoli’s levels accompanied by transformative harp music and take a minute to peruse the accompanying Black Power Tarot Exhibition, a collection of posters depicting ‘22 prominent African American personalities’.
Tip #3: An open mind is essential
Over two nights I watched an aging man pounding impressively on a drum-set like an eighteen-year-old hopped up on caffeine and speed while his co-performer used a basketball and mallet to play an electric guitar. Meanwhile, twenty metres away watched people rapturously applaud multimedia performances filled with various Egyptian symbols. This is festival that is all about contrast, and the result is glorious.
The festivities aren’t contained to the performance halls. In between are various bars and food offerings, filled with cheerful socialisers. Various musical beats continue the festival between each stage, and the coloured lighting on the sixth floor provide a tropical environment. The staircases to the upper floors fill with people in anticipation of the following events – go one floor up and you’ll find yourself in Pandora, a box full of hidden treasures, or climb even more stairs to the ninth floor, the aptly named Cloud Nine, which hosted the also aptly named Klein on Friday night (get it? Cloud Nine – Cl-ine – Klein?
Tip #4: Be on Cloud Nine
The previous night, this climb up the stairs had revealed a stage clouded in fabricated smoke, and a constant stream of people filled the venue, some already tired from the nights activities and resting by sitting on the floor. What I first thought was a playback of an electro-singer-songwriter track turned out to be a small women hidden behind the grandiose piano, only visible by her bun on top of the head. Her voice is accompanied only by silence, except for the occasional shuffling footstep, and the clink of an empty beer glass being laid on a table. The atmosphere is intimate, as the producer/composer/vocalist has her voice electronically manipulated in a way that captures the entire audience.
Tip #5: Bike it to enjoy it
You could spend your whole night here in Tivoli, but the festival reaches much further. A five minute bike-ride will take you to EKKO, a venue typically populated by the varied indie music lovers, hipsters, and rock’n’rollers of Utrecht. Last night they hosted Sex Swing, a band described by the website as ‘spectral free jazz, withered 60s psychedelia, monolithic drums and sinister vocal howls.’ It’s accurate, a bizarrely enchanting performance accompanied by the swinging and squealing sounds of a saxophone which makes the crowd bop it’s newly collective head in approval. The music is like in acid trip in space and is full of audience approval.
A ten minute pedal will take you to the city fringe, a venue named De Helling in the ex-industrial centre of Utrecht. A reformed warehouse, this venue is large, but fills to capacity early creating a line waiting outside in the chilly Dutch spring evening. Inside, even post-performance the electrifying atmosphere remains, hanging with the remaining smoke that fills the air.
The unsummable: should you go?
It may sound intimidating to be surrounded by all these conflicting musical processes, but the result is eye-opening to the various possibilities and instabilities of music. The festival is a free-form creation of various worlds locked inside the Le Guess Who? universe. While some of the acts are bizarre, and others border on the extreme, there’s undoubtedly something to catch everyone’s attention – it would be impossible not to.
Le Guess Who? is an experimental, curated collection of various music from all over the world, and even as a non-music-buff it still contains enough essential elements for the whimsical experience into the unknown to be delightful. It’s a challenge, and not every act will please every person – one British tourist described one show as a ‘load of horse***t. But this is part of the pleasure of Le Guess Who? – it’s a festival that will keep you guessing. Answers are not guaranteed – and that’s all the fun.
To experience the remaining two days of fancy, tickets are still available from the Le Guess Who? website.
The Uncovering of Sexual Assault Scandals: #MeToo and the Netherlands
Sexual scandals aren’t just a Hollywood thing, Dutchies have their own cases and an intense debate as well. A look at #MeToo and the Netherlands.
It seems like every other day a new story comes to light about sexual assault scandals in Hollywood, and other acting and television establishments at home and abroad. So why is this all coming out now? What impact does this have?
It all began with a Harvey Weinstein allegation, which later resulted in a ‘snowball effect’, uncovering allegations against some of Hollywood’s elite. It isn’t coincidental that this has occurred with the heightened education on consent and the #MeToo campaign.
How did this all begin?
On Thursday 5th October, The New York times discloses details of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein by actresses Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan. In light of new information over the following days, The Weinstein Company says it will launch an inquiry and he is later sacked by the board of his company. Later, the likes of Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow come forward with allegations. This follows with his wife, Georgina Chapman announcing that she is leaving Weinstein and BAFTA suspending his membership. It later emerges that victims and others who knew of his behaviour were ‘paid off’ hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep quiet. Even more allegations have arisen over the past few days (so far totaling more than 80 altogether). Since then Hollywood and the world has been rocked by these scandals.
So far accusations have come to light against the likes of Ben Affleck, Roy Price, Oliver Stone, Bob Weinstein, John Besh, James Toback, Leon Wieseltier, Terry Richardson, George H.W. Bush, Mark Halperin, Kevin Spacey, Michael Oreskes, Jeremy Piven, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, Ed Westwick, Steven Seagal and Louis CK.
The #MeToo campaign and the Netherlands
What started with countless allegations against Harvey Weinstein, ended in a campaign for others to speak out about any sexual abuse they have encountered. After a suggestion from a friend, and after the Weinstein allegations, in support actress Alyssa Milano tweeted this:
This hashtag started trending almost immediately and encouraged both men and woman of all ages to share their stories. In a short space of time, the #MeToo was tweeted more than half a million times.
The #MeToo campaign hasn’t been met with complete open-arms though. Pieter Van Vollenhoven (husband of Princess Margriet), took to Twitter to voice his opinions a few days ago:
His tweet was later deleted.
That isn’t the only thing up for discussion in the Netherlands.
It emerged at the end of last month that journalist Jelle Brandt Corstius was a victim of sexual abuse. He stated that tv-producer Gijs Van Dam had forced him to engage in oral sex back in 2002. He shared his story in a newspaper after the #MeToo campaign went global. Gijs Van Dam denies the allegations, by claiming that sexual advances happened once and it was fully consensual. Brandt Corstius calls for more victims to come forward with their stories. He quotes:
“Every story that has appeared in the past has ten stories that can never be told.”
As you can see, the case is ongoing.
Similarly, director and producer Job Gosschalk has had more than 20 cases of abuse reported against him in the past few weeks, regarding inappropriate sexual behaviour towards actors. He is seen as one of the most influential people in the Dutch film industry. He was known as someone who could ‘make or break’ actors. These allegations include, forcing someone to satisfy him, getting actors to undress for him for pleasure and many more explicit actions. These occurred between the year 2002 – 2015. In a statement, Gosschalk admitted that he would have one-to-one sessions with actors involving nudity, he has apologized for this behaviour, however denies any other accusations involving drugs and minors. He has now been dropped as director of the new film ‘All You Need Is Love’.
Moving forward or stepping backwards?
It may appear obvious that over the years there has been an overhaul of the way rape and sexual assault is being dealt with. After all, it was only in the 1990s that marital rape was considered illegal within law. The #MeToo campaign, the ‘wave’ of reporting of sexual offensives and the altering of public opinion of what constitutes as rape, is a positive step forward. However, is it as simple as that?
It was impossible to ignore the criticism of the allegations. From the tweet from Pieter Van Vollenhoven, to even just the comments on online news platforms reporting the cases (I’m sure this article will also evoke the same feelings). Questions such as “Surely if this happened, you would have told the police years ago?” or a simple “I hope they aren’t lying.” While it may seem completely innocent to say that you don’t have a problem with it if they aren’t lying, just to state, ‘I hope they aren’t lying’, could result in somebody not coming forward out of fear of being criticised. The truth is none of us truly know what happened with these allegations and it’s down the court to decide that truth. All we can hope for with this process is that victims are empowered to come forward.
An example of this is with the heavily criticised allegations against Ed Westwick. Actress Kristina Cohen and Former actress Aurelie Wynn, claim that Ed Westwick had sexually assaulted them. Initially, Kristina took to Facebook to share her story and then went to the police to report the allegations. Both have faced extreme backlash for their stories. Claims such as they took too long to report, their stories are too similar, the Facebook post is inappropriate, their careers are failing, they are after money, they are too ugly and Ed is ‘attractive’ are some of the comments to emerge from this allegation.
Are we at risk of going full-circle?
That is really what makes sexual assault such an incredibly complicated and sensitive topic. In the eyes of the law, you are innocent until proven guilty. As a result, you are then trialed fairly through the court. However, unlike other serious crimes like murder, there isn’t always actual physical evidence that the crime took place. Especially so if it is a historical case (such as the current allegations). As a result, it makes the burden of proof hard to distinguish for the court in some cases. So, what should we do? Some would argue that we should provide anonymity to the accused until a trial takes place. This means that if the allegations are falsified (I’ll add this is extremely rare), then the individuals social and economic life will not be tarnished. This can provide protection for both the victim and the accused. However, if that were to happen, what would happen to the other genuine cases? If someone comes forward with an allegation against someone, it empowers others to come forward against that same individual. If we were to wait until after trial, then that wouldn’t happen, and only half of the real story would immerge.
Another complication is that people deal with sexual assault in different ways. As much as some people like to ‘predict’ the correct procedure if it were to happen to them, for others this isn’t the case. Some people may tell someone right away, and not the police because they don’t trust them, others may inform the police and no one else. Some may never tell anyone for 30 years or never tell anyone at all. Some may write it on a social media platform before informing the police, some may do it the other way around. The truth is, we aren’t all the same, we don’t deal with things in the same way, or maybe even what people would consider the ‘correct’ manner. When allegations like these arise, people are bombarded with judgement on how that person maybe should have dealt with it better. “It couldn’t have been true, else they would have done this…” is a classic assumption. It’s also important to remember that unless the accuser sells the story to the press, it’s unlikely they will receive any money for the allegation. It isn’t worth the risk of not being believed, for compensation which is usually non-existent.
It is important to remember that in these cases we are not the judge or the jury, or the accused or the accuser. People are not innocent, but in some cases someone is not guilty. Not everybody lies. In fact, thankfully, most people don’t. We should be encouraging people to speak out and not leave them in the dark as the result of our assumptions. If we remain neutral (or at least try to), then hopefully it will help prevent the movement from going full circle.
*All current allegations are pending investigation.
National Historic Platform for Slavery: New “Black” Piet Just As Bad.
Just a few days ago Amsterdam dropped a bomb on the rest of the country, not an actual thankfully, but culturally it certainly was. In line with its progressive culture the capital city crossed out “Black Piet” once and for all. Piet’s completely black face is over and done with, from now he (or she) will have some soot on their face and a fancy costume but that is it.
It caused quite the upheaval, especially among the closeted racist who seek an opportunity to unload with any excuse, but the city persisted. This is the new Piet, and the party is for all. So far so good, right? Well…
From Soot Black to Spanish Nobility – An Improvement for Piet?
The city’s experts spent a significant amount of time re-designing Piet from its once Moorish roots and disputed ‘ chimney sweeper’-past to making them more modern, proud and accessible to everyone. Eventually, the decision fell back on Sinterklaas’ home base – Spain, with its rich past of noblemen and women who wore costumes much alike that of Piet with rich colors and fabrics, feathered hat and typical pants. In the eyes of the city and the test groups this was an upgrade that loyal Piet finally deserved – who more deserves promotion than a servant who’s been climbing the roofs for centuries to slide down the chimney to deliver gifts to kids? But not everyone agrees!
“Trading in One Evil for Another” – Are They Right?
According to the National Historic Platform for Slavery the new ‘Piet’ is just as bad as the other. Even though the new Piet has been ‘de-Africanized’ and no longer bears the name ‘Black’, the Platform insists that the new Piet is just as much about slavery.
Head of the Platform, Barryl Biekman, states that Spanish nobility was wholly responsible for slavery and human rights violations across the board. “It’s important that one evil is not traded in for another”, he said, “These were criminals. People with money who funded slavery, if anyone should know that it’s the Netherlands and it’s 80 Year War against the Spanish Empire.”
According to Biekman there’s a real danger that school children will now start admiring figures of Spanish nobility and all the wrong they did.
The Platform has sent the city an angry letter and has stated that it expects action to be taken or that it will take matters to the UN “Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination”, of which Holland is a member.
The city of Amsterdam is a little sad and baffled by this new development, a spokesperson said: “We’ve never been approached by the National Platform about this matter, and all the while we’ve been working to remove ‘racist’-expressions since 2014.”
What’s your view on matters? Was it a good step to replace ‘Black Piet’ with ‘Spanish Piet’? Is it still not enough? Or is the National Historic Platform for Slavery taking it too far? Let us know in the Facebook comments!
Groningen’s Vindicat society out of control?
If you live in a student city, chances are you have met several members of Het Corps (conglomerate of prestigious student societies in the Netherlands). You can usually spot them cycling around the city in a costume, headed to some dress-up party. Often enough they are also famous because of the happenings around the hazing period, but one particular society in Groningen, Vindicat, is becoming well-known to the police after several incidents occurred over the last two years.
In the beginning there was the Bangalist
The society became notorious to the public in 2016 after the discovery of a “bangalist”, a ranking of the female members of the society based on their sexual skills. As an association that claims to stimulate the students “to develop in all possible ways” and has as motto Mutual trust, that’s pretty low. The board of the society distanced themselves from this almanac (apparently at its third edition), but the problems didn’t stop there.
Vindicat and the Accreditation Committee
As a publication from the RUG states, “Incidents in the autumn of 2016 brought to the fore that it was time for a change of culture in a large number of student organizations”: in the summer of 2017 the two main university institutions of Groningen (Hanze UAS and the University of Groningen) started accrediting Vindicat under strict conditions for a ‘trial’ year. The Accreditation Committee will reassess whether the change of policy has led to visible results in this academic year, including the introduction of an association-wide code of conduct, mandatory soberness of at least 50% of introduction camp supervisors, and a more detailed registration of incidents.
The UG and the Hanze UAS, in fact, grant financial support to students who suffer study delay as a result of extraordinary family (or other) circumstances, who are elite athletes or hold a committee or participation council position. A student committee/board member can claim 6 grant months. A grant month is set at € 444.20. The maximum amount is thus € 2,665 per person, and in the case of Vindicat this amounts totally to € 33,315.
Short lived peace
Just a few weeks after the Committee announced that “Vindicat has demonstrated broad support for a policy of change in its critical self-reflection”, however, two more incidents involving the student society were reported. In one, dozens of members trashed a restaurant and left without paying the full bill, also forcing the place to open late the following day to repair the damage. During the same weekend, other Vindicat’s students had a party at the clubhouse of the rugby association, leaving the place in such a messy state that the municipality had to hire a cleaning company.
In the same period, Vindicat also had to suspend their rowing club sub-association Aegir, banned from the opening of the academic year, after a misogynistic publication appeared in the club magazine.
Deferment of subsidies
These incidents were definitely not aligning with the desired cultural shift stipulated, earlier this summer, as a necessary condition for accreditation; hence Hanze and the RUG decided in September to suspend the yearly committee grant. Vindicat gets one year to prove that they are done misbehaving; the students can still get the scholarships retrospectively, but only if there are no new incidents.
On the other hand, if the association does not meet the conditions by next August, it could mean they are definitively cut off from financial support.
Association sobering up..?
Not exactly: just last month some of its members were filmed throwing beer and beer caps at passersby and other club mates from one of their central student houses.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG20e42XIKs[/embedyt]
What do you think about the hazing culture? Let us know in the comment section!
The Netherlands is the best in English once again
The Netherlands is the best in English in the world once again, as the English Proficiency Index of 2017 which has just been published tells us
The Netherlands ranks at the top spot in the EF’s English Proficiency Index (EPI), the world’s largest ranking of countries when it comes to their level of English. Every year, Education First (EF) does this study to see which non-native countries rank the highest in English. This year was the seventh time it was done, testing almost a million adults in more than 70 countries.
WE ARE NUMBER ONE – WE ARE NUMBER ONE*
*Of non-native English speaking countries
Is The Netherlands really the best in English?
Here you can find the whole page about the study and our tiny country’s awesome performance when it comes to mastering English. To save you a click and the scare of visiting another website other than DutchReview, here are four highlights:
#1 Netherlands number one
#2 Always in the top 3
Here’s the trend, it’s almost getting boring — and yes we’re known to get very high *wink wink* in general all the time:
#3 So we might have a little advantage already
And here are some awesome stats, which are totally due to the fact that we speak the bestest English and not because we’re some kind of shady tax-heaven that makes obscene amounts of money.
#4 The Netherlands compared to other countries
As you can see and expected already, younger people are better at speaking English than their parents and grandparents. This is especially the case in German-speaking countries such as Austria, Switzerland and (duh) Germany. I guess they really beefed up on their education-system there because as far as I know everything is still awfully synchronized in these countries?
As usual, the other contenders are all from Scandinavia and again; suck it Sweden, now that we’re not going to the stupid World Cup in Russia we’re just going to have to celebrate this one! Interesting position for South Africa, I would have thought that everybody spoke English next to Afrikaans there?
What makes Dutchies the best in English?
Education is all good here, although apparently, English at Dutch universities isn’t the best in the world. No, if you ask me I think subtitling is key to our mastering of the English language. From a young age, we’re raised by the good folks of the television world like any normal developed country (although that’s starting to change sadly). All the American and English shows and films are subsequently subtitles in Dutch, it’s like the perfect language lessons and what makes many Dutchies under 40-45 year olds way better in English than their parents and teacher.
And of course, there are exceptions:
Ik kom niet meer bij! ??
Geplaatst door De Viraal Spiraal op zondag 7 mei 2017
Still haven’t gotten enough of this #Dutchsplaining and want to know why exactly The Netherlands is the best in English? Well, here’s an excellent article on that matter. Enjoy!
P.S. Ironically, you’ll probably find some horrible grammatical errors in this piece, but let’s hope that the good people at the English Proficiency Index won’t notice them. 😉
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This is NOT a terrorist attack in Amsterdam!
Are sirens heard throughout the streets? Is Amsterdam even noisier than normal? Do you see armed police and some Arab looking guys running through the street? Don’t immediately panic, Amsterdam is doing some big terror attack rehearsals today and tomorrow (November 8 and 9).
(Are you in Rotterdam or The Hague and this is happening? CALL THE POLICE AND PANIC)
So not an actual terrorist attack in Amsterdam
All week long the municipality has been warning Amsterdammers, mainly in the south and east, about this big rehaersal which involves tons of special forces units, emergency services and still some citizens who didn’t get the news that this is a drill.
A substantial part of this drill will be taking place at the Haddock restaurant on Zeeburg Island, and another part will play out in the still under construction subway station Europaplein. The drills will involve actors playing terrorists, as well as practice ammunition being fired. Drills will also be held at the town hall and a police station.
Don’t worry immediately, the terrorism threat level in the Netherlands has been categorized as ‘substantial’ since 2013. But there is no concrete threat of an attack in Amsterdam at present, the city has been taking measures for years to decrease the risk and minimize the impact of a such an attack.
This past summer there was the announcement that touristic attractions would also get involved in these terrorist attack in Amsterdam drills, think places such as the Museumplein and the Heineken Experience. There was already a terror scare in Amsterdam this summer when someone crashed his car at Amsterdam Central Station.
Anyways, this is where the drill/attack will happen in Amsterdam South:
And in the East-Amsterdam:
And if you’re safely inside and not interfering, feel free to send us some pics of this drill terrorist attack in Amsterdam – would be sad if we miss out on any cool and fake explosions 😉
Dutch Revenue Service Gives Manufacturer Half Billion Dollar Tax Discount!
P&G, it’s the manufacturer of products you undoubtedly use such as Always, Oral-B, Pampers and last but not least, Gillette – “The Best Tax Deal a Man Can Get!”. As we’ve learned today the Dutch Revenue Service (Belastingdienst) has given Procter & Gamble a 676 million dollar tax deal by allowing to ship some of that sweet cash overseas, without any taxation, to the Cayman Islands. Nice! For them…
Twenty-Three Brands – Each Making a Billion Dollar a Year.
P&G is one of the biggest manufacturers globally, with many of the internationally most recognized brands – which has built them an empire of household names, twenty-three of which generate a billion dollars per brand annually. You would think they could afford paying their taxes, and that the tax department would kindly request them to do so since, well, everyone needs to pay their taxes! Even if you make barely above minimum wage – you better not screw around. Because the Revenue Service is eyeballing you, punk. Unless you’ve got plenty, of course.
Tax Inspector Cuts Deal Without Proper Supervision – Dutch Lose €145 Million.
As it turns out an over-eager tax inspector with the local Rotterdam Revenue Service met with P&G in 2008 and ruled, by his own accord, that a special deal was justified and undoubtedly sent off the P&G legal/financial team giddy and excited. They probably made out in the car on their way back to the office, you’ve got to release that excited energy somehow after slam dunking 676 million dollars into off shore tax havens.
“Oh yeah! No interest! Unlimited deductions! Talk dirty to me, baby!”
Perhaps the inspector was convinced after stuffing his face with a free lifetime supply of Pringles and enough Pampers to last through the diarrhea episode that comes after. After all – he did a good job by allowing a megacorporation to syphon off more money at once than most regular companies generate in their entire existence. Unfortunately, he was supposed to pass these rulings by a special committee first, instead of using his own authority, especially given that the Dutch Revenue Service has lost income for the sum total of 145 million. That might not sound like a lot but the average person generates just about one million over their whole lifetime – that’s from your first job ever till the day you retire. So that equals to 145 people working a lifetime now lost in taxes, while – as we said earlier – you will personally run into trouble with the Revenue Service for pennies when you make next to nothing. Very balanced.
The Tax Revenue Service has also stated that they’re not sure if local inspectors have more often given such deals, maybe one of those nice banks booming in Amsterdam? An international law firm somewhere in the Hague? Who knows? Not the Tax Revenue Service, that’s for sure!
Paradise Papers: Your Guide to Tax Frauds.
All of this came forward in the Paradise Papers, a leaked document with all the names and data of firms, and wealthy individuals, who are avoiding taxes and responsibilities by off-shoring in, you guessed it, tropical paradise! The Carribean are valhalla of tax avoidance and the Dutch are eager to join in, scooping up bits and pieces from the mind boggling amounts of money stored on the tiny islands.
(Queen Elizabeth waving her money goodbye as it leaves for a tax haven)
Procter & Gamble is in excellent company however, Queen Elizabeth has also stored money there, as has Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, Apple, Nike and Uber. Many of them with the help of Holland, because who cares about the big fish paying their share if you can squeeze out the little fish with much less effort? Thanks, Belastingdienst! Looking forward to that next blue envelope!
Walking through Amersfoort: 4 epic routes
Walking through Amersfoort: 4 epic routes
When we were walking through Amersfoort last month, you boys and girls absolutely loved it and watched our video about this lovely Dutch town over and over! So it makes sense that now you’re planning to do a few of those things to do in Amersfoort and visit the ‘Keistad’. But how to handle that visit the best way? And what if you’re really into photography or chocolate? (or beer!?)
Since we just walked criss-cross around town and recommend you not doing the same, here are 4 nice routes for walking through Amersfoort.
#1 Pub Crawl in Amersfoort
It’s the walk of walks – how can we not talk about a pub crawl when it comes to epic walking routes through Amersfoort?
Amersfoort is a real beer town. New breweries have popped up in recent years, such as: Rock City Beers, Phoenix and Louis Loyaal. The oldest Beer Brewery is called The Three Rings and is located on the Kleine Spui 18, which also happens to be the starting point of this route.
The route is a nice mix of old classic brown café’s, hip new places and nice terraces to enjoy a drink when the sun’s out. Being a Dutch town with a classic historical old center Amersfoort has loads of scenic café’s – check out Lobbes for example:
Here’s the proposed route for this pub crawl, as you can see it’s starting out right behind the famous Koppelpoort:
We nicely borrowed this suggested route for a pub crawl from VVV Amersfoort, you might want to check out their page as they do not only have quite a nice amount of walking routes, but also handy GPX routes for you to download and to follow (here’s their page for the pub crawl). Which, let’s face it, you could really need at the end of this route.
#2 Delicatessen route (the tour for the foodies)
‘Delicatessen’ is a word we Dutchies use for your delicious specialties (oh wait, the proper English word is just ‘delicacies’ right?), and in this context you can expect a tour like this to take you to all the places where you can stuff yourself with these delicious things.
Here are just 3 highlights of this delicacies-tour in Amersfoort that will make your mouth water in advance:
#2 Son of a Croque
You probably heard about a ‘tosti’ – which is basically the Dutch word for a grilled-ham and cheese sandwich. Son of a Croque takes the tosti concept to the next culinary level and will serve you the best-grilled sandwich in town.
#4 BUUF in the conservatory
Carmen and Cesare serve coffee, tea, cake and fresh juices in the trendy conservatory of the Mariënhof. They ended up at this location after having won a contest for the best hospitality concept.
#5 Cheese
Because what kind of international-Dutch webzine would we be if we didn’t highlight a cheeseshop every now and then 😉
I like how you can eat and walk it off at the same time with this walking tour through Amersfoort. You only need three things for this tour: an empty stomach, a healthy appetite and the route of course – which you can easily find here.
#3 Photo tour through Amersfoort
Time to stop eating and drinking for once and feed the creative person within you. Amersfoort is a ridiculously photogenic Dutch city as you can already see in our articles before this. It only makes sense that if you own a camera or an instagram-account, you’ll walk this route through Amersfoort. So what’s there to see? (you know, besides the Koppelpoort)
I’m not going to spoil the rest of this pretty route for you. Here you can find the route and the gpx-version of it. And don’t forget to tag the Instagram account of @tijdvooramersfoort if you want your gorgeous Amersfoort pics featured on their feed.
Last – but certainly not least when it comes to walking through Amersfoort:
#4 The chocolate tour
For some, just mentioning the word ‘chocolate’ is enough to get them going and just go on a historic chocolate-eating-tour.
Others need a little bit more of enticing; like what if I told you that Amersfoort has 7 spots that can reward that walking with chocolate?
Or what if I told you that it will start at Quetzal? the first chocolate bar of the Netherlands!
Or what if I told you that it will end at the Chocolate company Café?
If hit your sweet spot (pun intended), then you can find the chocolate-route in Amersfoort and the gpx-route right here.
That’s it for now and if you still haven’t got enough inspiration for walking through Amersfoort you can always watch our movie on the town:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6gTWanIPHI[/embedyt]
Enjoy the walk!
PS. Don’t do a pub crawl and chocolate tour on the same day, might not be the best idea 😉
