Cultural Immersion

Monday, November 3

As I've mentioned, biking is a deeply ingrained part of Dutch culture. People use them to go to school, church, grocery shop, or even pick their children up from day care. I've seen a mother carrying three children on her bike! There are cargo bikes that allow the children, or groceries, to ride in a bucket on the front of the bike.

The nice thing about biking here is how connected everything is. You can bike from one town to the next using bike paths that follow along the road. There aren't paths everywhere, but there is almost always at least a designated lane for bikes.

Having this option makes the morning commute refreshing and healthy. I've enjoyed seeing all the people after work and children after school joining the traffic, as bike lanes begin to fill-up between 4 and 5 pm.

One other great aspect of the culture is good food. While almost all meals are different than what I am used to, I've enjoyed the new flavors, trying aged cheeses and warm soups. A friend invited me over for lunch and cooked a pumpkin soup, served with sandwiches, of course. This was a new soup to me, but tasted so good on a cool fall afternoon. My host family also regularly cooks Dutch specific meals, and orders some of their favorite Dutch desserts. I've loved trying these dishes.

Although I wasn't able to find an English-speaking church, I did attend a church in the town where I am staying in. The people were very kind and welcomed me in despite being surprised to have a non-Dutch speaker attending. I only understood a few words in the service, but it was nice to be in the worship environment. After the service, people stayed for about an hour for tea and coffee. I got to meet some of the youth in the church and learn more about what young people do in the town.

Beyond church, the language has been a bit difficult for me. Dutch many not be intuitive to the English-speaker's ear, so words can be difficult to remember. Students' names can also be quite difficult for me to say and remember. Although this has been difficult, it is something I expected to struggle with, so I am not discouraged by it. I've been surprised, though, that people will often speak to me in Dutch. When I've travelled in the past, people typically expect that I won't know their language. Here, people often greet me in Dutch, even asking me questions about the train or how to get somewhere. I have to tell them I don't know the language, but most people are able to speak English as well.

While there are cultural events throughout the year, there haven't been any during my time here so far. Halloween is a growing celebration in the Netherlands, so I did chaperon a student costume party. Some of the students also told me about King's Day where the whole town turns orange and there is a parade. They took me to a local bakery to try the small cakes people eat on that day.

Recently, things have also begun to point towards the celebration of Sinterklaas. This is a holiday celebrated on December 5th as the figure based on Saint Nicholas bring small gifts for good children. The figure sounds similar to Santa Claus, but there are several details of his image and the celebration that are different from the Santa Claus I grew up knowing. Many families with young children celebrate the holiday, but other families use the holiday to gather together and play games.

It has been wonderful learning about Dutch culture these last few weeks, and I look forward to learning even more as I am here the next few weeks.