Mythical Creatures

I am not kidding about this. The Dutch are only part human. My guess is 50%. The other half is bicycle.

The Dutch are so ridiculously comfortable and secure on their bikes; and they assume everybody else is, too. Doesn't bother me as much as it cracks me up.
If you ride your bike during rush hour, you better be prepared to go with the flow...Cyclists are going fast and biking with a purpose. Some of my colleagues find it a little dangerous to venture out during 'peak biking times'...

But the Dutch don't just go fast, they multi-task on their bikes: I've seen people on bikes talking on their cell phone, eating frites (French fries) and smoking. No big deal, you say? They do it all at the same time! Haha. Yes, I am exaggerating a little...
Taking the cake so far: A young woman with a big textbook propped up between the handlebars, studying while biking. Now that's too much even for my taste...Sheesh.

At any rate, here are some pictures from the land of bikes:

Bike 'parking' at Den Haag Central Station.

Yes, they have guarded, underground bike parking. Awesome.


Additional info: After I typed this up, I has a smallish bike accident on my way home. Too much bike-craziness apparently. Two dudes overtaking two other dudes on a two-lane-bikepath. In the dark. Going too fast.
I was able to brake and avoid the first biker. Second one, not so much. Found myself sitting on the ground. Boo. We were both fine, and he seemed a lot more shaken up than me. Dumbass. Your mistake and I couldn't even yell at you because you were so shocked. Great.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Den Haag is my home now. There. I said it.

I didn't feel this way for quite a while. It took me almost two years to consider the city on the North Sea "my home". I always liked living in the area; it's a beautiful and interesting part of Europe.

That said, I liked it, somewhat like you might like a hotel. It's agreeable, it has all the necessary amenities, you can't complain. But it's like any other hotel; interchangeable, temporary. No permanent attachment whatsoever.

That is how I started out in Den Haag. A partner who had no love for the place or the people. A partner who had only a temporary work assignment. A partner who treated the place like a hotel. A luxury hotel, nonetheless, but not a home.

Now that I've inhabited the city by myself for 17 months, I realize that my feelings towards it have slowly changed.

I moved from a 19th floor luxury-apartment (which could have been in any major city of the world; no signs of anything Dutch or local…) to a small apartment that I shared with a roommate (well, three different ones, but one at a time). The apartment had the steep, small Dutch stairwells, a tiny balcony that felt crowded, but cozy. Every way you looked, there were people, neighbors.

The apartment was located in the "most Dutch" part of Den Haag, the seaside resort Scheveningen, a place with the wonderfully decrepit charm of better days.

I could hear the neighbors' baby cry and the students across the road have a party. I said "Hello" to my Dutch neighbors, who rode their bikes to work, planted flowers on the sidewalk and didn’t seem to care that they lived so close together and in plain view of each other.

I felt as if I was finally living in Holland.

I moved last month but the feeling of authenticity hasn't changed. My new place is in a different area, but the concept stays the same. I live IN Den Haag now, not above it. Literally and figuratively. Ground floor instead of 19th floor. Meeting neighbors instead of avoiding them.

I feel more connected to the city and its people. I finally call Den Haag my home. I bike and run through its streets, dunes, and parks. I curse and enjoy its temperamental weather; its relentless rain, infuriating wind and gentle sunshine. I admire its architecture and history, its place in the world. I celebrate its festivals and diverse inhabitants. I'm at home.

Den Haag has slowly and stealthily made its way into my heart. And regardless of what's next on tap, it will always stay there.

Soccer Mania

It's over. Damnation.

It sure was wonderful to see the whole country being excited and hopeful about the Euro-Soccer Tournament this year.
The Dutch are crazy about their national soccer team and seem to have an inexplicable love for and fascination with the color orange.

I had planned on taking some pictures of the symbols of pride displayed all over, and I took a few...After the devastating loss (Yes, I was a little sad, too...) on Saturday, some of my Dutch neighbors have taken their flags and decorations down, but I might still get lucky...

Here are some pictures of a quite uniquely adorned car and the obligatory little flags outside a local restaurant:

Oh, and when visiting my aunt and uncle in Germany two weeks ago, I was just about to tell them how ridiculously obsessed the Dutch are, when I say this:

Yes, flags galore. In windows, on cars, on bikes.
Guess we all love soccer and a little colorful craziness. It's a good thing, too.

Saw a car with a Turkish-flag flying proudly from its window while I was out running today. Yea, enjoy it while you can...Wednesday. 8:45PM. Game on.

Freakishly Tan Faces. Plus Flags.

As reported previously, the weather has been fabulous lately.
True to form, a lot of Dutch people at work already sport a freakishly dark tan. Seriously people, WTF? It's May 5th, and yes, we can tell that you either roasted for hours on the beach or in some artificial tan place.
Not a cool look.

Maybe it's because there isn't a lot of sun here or something, I don't know...But a lot of Dutch people seem to be obsessed with being tan. And after age 30 (and apparently quite a few years of extreme exposure), the skin does not look pretty at all. Think leathery face, neck, and ...gasp...boob area.

Oh, and on a less judgmental note: Today was "Liberation Day" (Bevrijdingsdag). Many houses sported a Dutch flag to commemorate the liberation from the Germans in 1945.

Am I Turning Dutch, Or What?

I've lived in Zuid-Holland for a little over two years now, and really like it. Not so much the gray, dreary, wet winter (see complaints over the last few weeks...), but overall, it's a wonderful place to live. I enjoy the outdoorsy-ness of the people, the ocean, the roughness of the weather (well, most of the time),...all kinds of things...

Nevertheless, I don't feel very "Dutch". I work in an American/international environment, i.e. I speak English at work and with most other people I meet. So I feel a little disconnected sometimes, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Also, I think I haven't picked up a lot of traits or habits of the people living here. I DO feel at home though, albeit in a "temporary"-kind-of-way.

Many of the little oddities and different behaviors which struck me as weird when I first moved here have become normal to me. I don't even notice them anymore...(Well, I still cannot believe that so many dog-owners let their canines take a dump right on the sidewalks. Freaking dog-shit ALL over the place, I can tell you...So I guess some things stay annoying and noticeable, hehe.)

What occurred to me today is this though:
The Dutch seem to have an innate disdain for curtains. This seemed very, very strange to me for a long time. You literally walk down the street and look into everybody's windows. People having breakfast or dinner, watching TV, playing with their kids. Especially weird at night, I think, when you can see everything in the lit-up rooms.
I've been wondering for two years why the Dutch apparently have ZERO need for privacy. The no-curtain-policy just struck me as odd.

But, GET THIS! I'm sitting here right now, typing and eating dinner with the curtains open and the lights on. I've turned Dutch on the curtain issue! Woa. And I like it. It's nice to not shut the world out.
My Dutch neighbors don't strike me as particularly voyeuristic anyway. Everybody is minding their own business...with the curtains open though...

A writer for McSweeney noticed the open-curtains, too:

The others tend to live in tall skinny houses of four or five stories with pointy roofs and great big windows that have no shutters and, often, no curtains. The Dutch have nothing to hide.

Apparently, neither have I.

On The Road Again

So I'm thinking I'll probably be more successful if I start looking for my MoJo on the road. Well, I haven't found it on the couch or at the bottom of a pint of Ben&Jerry's so far, so hey...

Went for a 30K-or-so bike ride in the drizzle. Ashamed to say that I have been on a run in that general direction (south), but have never made it this far (Even though I've been living is this apartment for about a year now...). Whoops.

Well, here are some pictures from the bike path towards Monster (Cool name for a town, huh?):











The beach in the area here is generally awesome.

I know I bitch and moan about the weather way too much (I've actually been wondering whether that's an age thing. I don't remember ever even thinking about the weather when I was younger. Now it seems to be a perfectly acceptable topic of conversation and a constant source of complaints...).
The Netherlands are (even by the most lenient of standards) NOT a country with good weather. To sum up: Lots of wind, rain and...oh yes, more wind.

Wait, let me back this up with some facts and not just anecdotal evidence:

"The climate is temperate, with gentle winters, cool summers, and rainfall in every season. Southerly and westerly winds predominate, and the sea moderates the climate through onshore winds and the effect of the Gulf Stream.

The position of The Netherlands—between the area of high-pressure air masses centred on the Azores and the low-pressure region centred on Iceland—makes the country an area of collision between warm and polar air masses, thus creating unsettled weather. Winds meet with little resistance over the flat country, though the hills in the south diminish by more than half the 13-mile-per-hour wind velocity that prevails along the coast. On average, frost occurs 60 days per year. July temperatures average about 63 °F (17 °C), and those of January average 35 °F (2 °C). The rainfall averages 31 inches (790 millimetres), with only about 25 clear days per year. The average rainfall is highest in summer (August) and autumn and lowest in springtime. The country is known—not least through the magnificent landscapes of Dutch painters—for its heavy clouds, and on an average day three-fifths of the sky is clouded."

Ha, The Encyclopedia Britannica knows Dutch weather. Hehe.

What I meant to say is: The weather isn't grand, but I love how Dutch people are out regardless. They just suck it up and go for a walk, bike ride, or run. Weather is not a deterrent. Good thing, too, otherwise the Dutch would permanently be stuck indoors...Pff.

The wind can be therapeutic sometimes, esp. along the beach. Nothing like battling against the wind (on the bike or on foot) and cursing. Harhar.

I wonder if this guy was cursing the elements. Sure had a lot of wind blowing against him:
This is what the dunes close to the ocean look like:
Oh, and this sad-looking thing will be a beach bar or restaurant soon enough. They take those down in the winter and re-build them in the spring.


And the grand finale for today: My filthy bike, a wet neighborhood street in Den Haag, and my dirty leg/foot. Good times.