By Jing Ren Yao Before I went to Netherlands, I knew nothing about the country. All I knew is that it had colonized Taiwan four hundred years ago, therefore I started to ask around about this mysterious country. Friends who had been there told me that their average height is among the tallest in Europe, and that I’d have to stand on tiptoe just to use the urinal. If I thought this first piece information already seemed daunting enough, the second was even more shocking. I was told that the wind and rain were so strong that you could barely stand still, yet alone hold an umbrella while trying to walk down the street. One guy even told me that when he tried to ride a bicycle on a rainy day, the wind blew him into an electricity pole. I am shorter and lighter than he is, so I just imagined being blown away like a balloon. Armed with this information, I set foot in the Netherlands with both excitement and nervousness. But as soon as I landed in the airport I realized that things were not so frightening as they described it. People were normal size, not the giants I had imagined. The weather was mild and sunny, and I was warmly welcomed by my guide from the university who was waiting for me when I landed. This was a terrific start!
The first thing I began to love was the people. They are happy to help you if needed. For instance, I couldn’t stay at my dormitory because of contract problems, so I needed to live temporarily in a nearby hostel. However, I also needed to carry my two suitcases with me; the big one was over 30 kg, and the smaller one was nearly as heavy. I could barely carry the first one, let alone two, and I had to wander around in an unfamiliar area all by myself. Luckily my guardian angel appeared, the guy who had shown me around campus and introduced me to the university. I had only chatted with him briefly, but he knew the place I had to go to and happily took me there. The road was rough so it was hard to drag the big suitcase (he took the smaller one; even though he is taller and stronger than I am I had too much pride to let him take the big one), so I kept falling behind. Only ten minutes later I was already out of breath. He saw me and without any questions walked over to me and carried my big suitcase on his shoulder. At that moment, I felt the authentic Dutch hospitality. The other thing I can’t quite forget is Dutch food. On my first day, the university arranged a “Dutch night” and we got the chance to taste traditional Dutch food. There was a Dutch gummy candy called licorice. It was salty, so I was totally surprised by my first bite. It reminded me of a Chinese herb that my mother used for stew, so I am not a big fan of licorice. There was another Dutch sweet called stroopwafel, which is made of two baked biscuits and caramel syrup in the middle. With crunchy biscuits on the outside and melting caramel on the inside, it is a perfect snack for afternoon tea. I brought a lot of stroopwafels back to Taiwan, and everybody loves them. The only complaint was that I didn’t bring enough! Finally, the most unforgettable Dutch food is herring. It is raw fish marinated with salt, dipped in raw onion and eaten. It didn’t look very welcoming at first sight. I wasn’t sure whether my Asian stomach could digest the raw fish properly. However, my host told me that if I didn’t eat it I couldn’t consider myself to have been to Netherlands. Like Dutch people, I ate it with my head held high, my mouth opened wide, and the herring placed vertically into my mouth. It didn’t taste as bad as I had imagined, the freshness and saltiness of the fish along with the spicy taste of the onion, made me feel like I had embraced the ocean. At that moment, I noticed a lot of seagulls not far away from the herring booth. My friend told me they were waiting for tourists who couldn’t put up with their herring and tossed it into the garbage. I ate my herring as fast as I could in order to prevent them from stealing it. After a couple of days of mild weather, I finally got to experience typical Dutch weather. It usually starts with a cloudy morning, followed by thunder and lightning. Then the pouring rain and strong winds come. It is not a breezy kind of wind, more like a typhoon, which makes it hard for pedestrians to use their umbrellas. At first, I wondered why Dutch people don’t really use umbrellas at all, but after a couple of broken ones I understood how useless they were. Unless you want to get soaking wet, not leaving your room is probably the best option. Despite bad weather, Dutch people are also known for their bikes. But it always baffled me, how can they ride bikes even when the weather is so bad? Is their skin waterproof and they don’t even need raincoats? My Dutch friends gave me the answer; they want to save the earth, hence they do everything as green as possible. Using bikes as way of transportation is one of these solutions, and since the Netherlands is a small country, biking is the best means of short traveling. The Netherlands has excellently designed bike lanes. Every street has a bike lane on the side, even the small ones, and these are distinct from pedestrian lanes. The Netherlands also has the longest bicycle path in the world. Biking is not only eco-friendly, but it also improves their health. I tried to bike to another city and was told that it would take about an hour. Since I was afraid of being late and getting lost, I started out two hours early. After an hour of riding, I started to feel my legs hurt, and yet no matter how hard I peddled I was still being passed by many elderly Dutch people, who all looked at ease even though they were riding as fast as if they were on motorcycles. I wondered if I was the old man and they were still at peak of life! I love the Netherlands because they are known for their openness. They were one of the first countries to pass laws protecting same-sex marriage. They are not afraid of difference, they embrace diversity! They don’t put their noses into other people’s business, but this does not mean they are indifferent. They always reach out a helping hand if you are in need. I met Dutch people who bought my ticket for the bus because I didn’t have change, they gave me drinks for free since my credit card didn’t work, and they ran around and solved problems for me when it was urgent. Furthermore, Dutch people know how to enjoy life: they drink, they dance, and they travel a lot. Over 90% of Dutch citizens speak English fluently, because “it makes traveling and conversation between different countries so much easier,” as I was told. When I was in the Netherlands, I was never afraid of the language barrier; everybody spoke English to me, even the elderly, which is very rare for other countries like Germany and France. Also, the Netherlands seems to have the cleanest streets. With all these amazing characteristics combined, how could I not fall in love with it? a
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May 2024
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