Culture

Fireworks and Music (Or: King Willem Alexander visits The Hague)

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Niki

Of course, I still typed “Prince” in the title and had to change it to King. Willem Alexander and Maxima are currently visiting The Hague. I was able to see them as they traveled through Chinatown (which is at best a few streets at most). They then went on towards Grote Markt, where the city hall and library are. They were treated to some music in one of the plazas areas (the same one Marco and I went to a few weeks ago for Queen’s night).

Here are some pictures that I took as they were driven past. Luckily that area wasn’t as busy – I was only waiting around for about half hour and was able to get up front.

Chinatown demonstration for Willem Alexander

rehearsing before he arrives

fireworks for Willem Alexander in The Hague

Willem-Alexander has been spotted, so they light the fireworks…

Those little fireworks are amazingly loud. The first photo I took the explosions for the beginning of the fireworks were half that size. Above is the second photo. I couldn’t take anymore because after that everyone was too busy shielding their eyes and taking a few steps back – the explosions at the end were twice as big. Quite unexpected. I think my ears were ringing for at least 15 minutes…

Also a good picture for seeing the crowd behind, through the smoke. This was actually the calmer part of the route – the letter everyone got in the mail directed people towards Grote Markt street, which had much more spaces for folks (that was where the music was by the city hall).

Chinatown parade in The Hague for Willem Alexander

preparing for the King’s arrival – you can see the smoke from the fireworks

The blue sign in the upper right reads auto op slot, buit eruit! It means lock your car and take your valuables with you.

Willem Alexander and Maxima visit The Hague

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima (in red, not quite visible here)

It lasted all of about 30 seconds. Maybe 45 including the insane fireworks.

Dutch police – on bikes! (quite common – there’s a lot of places cars can’t go easily).

After that, that portion was over and the crowds quickly dispersed.

Categories: Culture | Tags: Fireworks | Leave a comment

Festivals (Or: Tong Tong Fair 2013)

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Niki

A few weeks ago I went to the Tong Tong Fair in The Hague. It’s an Indonesian fair which takes place in the Malieveld area of The Hague (the same place as another festival we went to in May).

It was pretty good – I ended up buying a few things, including a stone box to use for my jewelry, along with some food items like dried fruit, kropoek, and a few Sambal chili-based sauces – triple hot, but we’ll see if it lives up to that name!

replica Indonesian house (front side only)

decorative bench near the entrance

display of various Indonesian foods used in the Netherlands

clever rice display (“rijst” in Dutch)

receipe for Soto ayam (printed Dutch is hard enough to read… this is pushing it!)

Soto ayam is a spicy chicken soup.

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Hema (Or: Queen’s Day store display)

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Niki

I took this picture last week (in March). Hema has already put a small store display with decorations for Koninginnedag 2013 (Queen’s Day). The last one in fact. Since Queen Beatrix is giving up the throne on that day, the following year we will have Koningsdag (King’s Day) for her son.

But really – I didn’t know people needed their decorations 5 weeks in advance!

Categories: Culture, Holidays | Tags: HEMA, Koninginnedag | Leave a comment

Roti (Or: A Dutch variation)

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Niki

Last night Marco and I went to his father’s house. I had roti for the first time. Of course, there are many different ways to make roti.

In this version, you have the wrap underneath, as well as small green beans, potatoes, and chicken that is so tender it falls off the bone. You cut off a triangle (like a pizza slice), and then pile some of the food on it. You then wrap over the edges. You can either spear it with a fork, or eat it with your hands.

Dessert was ice cream with fudge and pieces of mango. Yum.

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Gemeente Museum (Or: Delft blauw and other pieces)

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Niki

Yesterday I posted a picture of what Marco’s mother bought – two Delft blauw cat figurines. We went to the Gemeente Museum. Both tickets were free because I received a sleutelhanger (key ring) when I signed up for a library card at The Hague’s public library. The key ring is enough to get free admission (through March) for yourself as well as friends and family.

So we decided to make an afternoon of it, and have lunch there as well. Here are some of the pictures I took. (Mostly sculptures and other non-paintings, as you aren’t allowed to take pictures of paintings.)

First, my favorite piece, and also the first thing I laid eyes on:

Its color makes it very noticeable from across the room.

An example of Chinese blue and white porcelain, which was the inspiration for “Delft Blauw” or Delft blue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_and_white_porcelain

Continue reading →

Categories: Culture | Tags: Art, Museum | Leave a comment

ATMs and stores (Or: Large denominations of euros)

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Niki

Since I haven’t been in the Netherlands too long yet, I do not have a bank account. Now that I am registered as a legal resident, I technically can get one at any point, however. One thing that I find a bit strange with the Netherlands is the apparent passivity to receiving and spending large denominations of euros – particularly €50. Especially when you consider that right now €50 is closer to $60.

Oddity #1: Dutch ATMs prefer to give you a €50 bill at all costs. If you ask for €60, you will get a €50 bill and a €10 bill back. In the US, you always get back $20s. Of course, I could ask for €20 each time, but I am still using my American debit card (tied to my Chase account) to withdraw money, and there’s a $5 fee for use in foreign ATMs. That’s fair, but it does mean that I will always try to withdraw €100 to reduce how many times I have to pay the fee. I might withdraw even more (like €200), but considering my luck, the machine would probably give me two €100 bills!

Oddity #2: Most stores seem oddly nonplussed about accepting €50 bills. Of course, this is limited to the stores I have frequented so far, but half the time I expect an alarm to go off and the police to swoop in an arrest me for trying to hand over a €50 bill for a €15 purchase. (I’m joking, but I did have to break a €50 for a €15 purchase today.) I have memories of the hometown Burger King refusing to accept $50 bills even for a purchase around twenty five dollars. So I had it ingrained in me as a child that you just don’t do that. If you can help it. Exceptions: buying clothes, etc, where the total tends to be higher by default.

Oddity #3: Dutch banks will look at you funny if you ask for smaller change. This one I only know from asking questions, but I don’t doubt it. I am used to the US where I had to ride the bus back and forth daily. It wasn’t that far of a ride, so I only needed $1 bills (about $4 a day), but… My routine was to go to the bank every week and break a twenty dollar bill into singles. The bank tellers knew me by name, and sometimes even started counting out singles before I was at the desk. (Useful except when I was really there to withdraw a rent.)

I did see a sign in Xenos (a thrift-ish store) saying no €100 bills or higher, though I do know they will accept €50s (even if your purchase is less than €8…!). Hmm.

Categories: Culture, Everyday purchases | Tags: Money | 2 Comments

Library cards (Or: Bibliotheek Den Haag)

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Niki

On Wednesday I received information from The Hague with my BSN (Burger Service Nummer/ Citizen Service Number). I now had enough proof of residency to apply for a library card! So I picked up my library card on Friday.

The price of the library card is 30 euros per year, as I am in the 26-64 age bracket. In the Netherlands, you only pay the fee if you want to check out the items, versus America where every homeowner pays for the library through their taxes.

I can check out up to six books and up to six multimedia materials (DVDs, CDs, etc) at a time. It’s also pretty cool that at least the central library has automatic lending machines on every floor.

study area in the first floor of the Hague library

study area on the first floor of the Bibliotheek Den Haag (second floor for us Americans)

Categories: Culture | Tags: Libraries | 2 Comments

Accordions (Or: Playing in The Hague)

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Niki

On my way home yesterday from Albert Heijn, I saw some gentlemen playing instruments:

Along with the accordionist, there was also a saxophone player, but he is pretty hidden.

Just in front of the accordionist, you can also see a pigeon. They are attracted by a local fish market and usually have fierce competition for food with the seagulls who come in from the nearby sea.

As you can see, the ice and snow finallllly melted around here. The temperature rose to about 40F (4C) on Sunday and hasn’t looked back since. Of course, the rain all day Sunday definitely helped. But for now I have said goodbye to my snow boots and put my sneakers back on!

It’s always interesting to walk the streets. Today I was stopped by someone trying to sell local newspapers. When I explained that I didn’t know that much Dutch*, he stated that he was trying to sell a newspaper but it only came in Dutch, so it wouldn’t be that useful for me, but would I give him a bit of spare change anyway?

* = I will only be able to use that excuse for so long, as Invader Stu mentions. I already have that particular phrase pretty perfected…

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Stamppot (Or: A Dutch tradition)

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Niki

Today’s dinner was stamppot, which is usually potatoes matched with a vegetable. This version used sauerkraut mixed in with mashed potatoes. As Dutch are inclined to do, Marco mashed a hole in the middle of the mix to add gravy. The on-the-side meat was smoked sausage.

It actually was pretty good, although admittedly I was still in the “it’s slightly sour mashed potatoes” frame of mind, except when the texture stated otherwise. ;p I probably could have mixed the sausages in, but I am the type of person that eats one food at a time and doesn’t mix that much.

Categories: Culture, Food | 4 Comments

Restaurants (Or: Drinking water in the Netherlands)

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Niki

Today I met up with Marco after he finished with work and we did some Thursday night shopping (as the stores are open later on Thursdays around here). Afterwards, we had dinner at one of the restaurants in the area. I ordered hamburger schotel which was close enough to a hamburger for me. I just asked that they didn’t put the baked egg on there that the menu mentioned. ;p

Marco and I also ordered two bottles of water:

In the Netherlands, you are less likely to see glasses of water at restaurants. If you are served a bottle of water and an empty glass to pour the water into, this is their way of proving that they did not just put tap water in there. However, they usually serve the bottle to you with the lid already removed, so who knows…

And there are also no free refills. I have adapted alright to this. The first few visits to the Netherlands, I was still addicted to diet coke (cola light) which I think made me even more thirsty so I drank even more. But around April or May of last year, I cut out diet coke for the most part and switched to water. It seems to have worked pretty well. Though I did enjoy having diet coke over Christmas!

Categories: Culture | Tags: Restaurants | Leave a comment