The Dutch and their Bicycles

The Keukenhof

ConnectionsMAY ISSUE #40 2013 / www.connect-int.org

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The Dutch and their Bicycles P5

Did you know?King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima: Provincial Visits

The newly inaugurated King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will visit all the provinces in the Netherlands in May and June. On 28 May, they will visit the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe. They will first visit the city of Groningen and then move on to Leek, where they will visit Landgoed Nienoord, and then go on to Havezate Mensinge in Roden. In the afternoon, the royal entourage will visit Dwingeloo, Beilen and Assen.

For the rest of the details of their schedule see page 4.

The World’s Largest Flower Garden

For those of you with green fingers, or who just appreciate the Spring awakening, why not visit the Keukenhof ("Kitchen garden"), near Lisse, in the Netherlands? Also known as the Garden of Europe, it is the world's largest flower garden. According to the official website for the Keukenhof Park, approximately seven million flower bulbs are planted annually in the park, which covers an area of 32 hectares.

Keukenhof is situated on 15th century hunting grounds and was also a source of herbs for Jacqueline, Countess of Hain-aut's castle.

The garden was established in 1949, by the then-mayor of Lisse. The idea was to present a flower exhibit where growers from all over the Netherlands and Europe could show off their hybrids

The Keukenhof is open annually from mid-March to mid-May. For more info: http://www.keukenhof.nl

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THURSDAY 30 MAY: Gelderland and Utrecht• Morning: De Liemers/Duiven, Arnhem, Oosterbeek, Wageningen. Informal reception on a boat on the river Lek. • Afternoon: Vianen, Vreeswijk (gemeente Nieuwegein), IJsselstein, UtrechtWEDNESDAY 12 JUNE: Limburg and Noord-Brabant• Morning: Maastricht, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen, Venlo, former air force base De Peel (gemeenten Venray and Gemert-Bakel, informal reception)• Afternoon: Roosendaal, Oisterwijk, 's Hertogenbosch (Old provinciehuis)FRIDAY 14 JUNE: Provincies Fryslân and Noord-Holland• Morning: Leeuwarden, Akkrum (gemeente Boarnsterhim), Joure (gemeente Skarsterlân), Elahuizen (gemeente Gaasterlân-Sleat), Stavoren (gemeente Súdwest-Fryslân). Informal recep-tion on a boat from Stavoren to Enkhuizen• Afternoon: Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Zaanstad, HaarlemWEDNESDAY 19 JUNE: Provincies Flevoland and Overijssel• Morning: Almere, Lelystad, Emmeloord (gemeente Noordoostpolder), Ens (gemeente Noordoostpolder, informal reception)• Afternoon: 's Heerenbroek (gemeente Kampen), Zwolle, Goor (gemeente Hof van Twente)FRIDAY 21 JUNE: Provincies Zeeland and Zuid-Holland• Morning: Middelburg, Goes, Zierikzee (gemeente Schouwen-Duiveland), Brouwersdam (gemeente Goeree-Overflakkee, informal reception)• Afternoon: Brouwersdam (gemeente Goeree-Overflakkee), VoornePutten/ Hellevoetsluis, Zoetermeer, Den Haag

4 / Connections

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe that commemorates the victims of World War II and celebrates its liberation on two separate but consecutive days. We remember the victims of wartime violence on 4 May, and on 5 May we celebrate our freedom.

The national commemoration of Remembrance Day in the Netherlands takes place on 4 May on Dam Square in Amsterdam, which is attended by 20.000 people every year, including the head of state and various representatives of both the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Parliament. This

national commemoration of Remembrance Day is held simultaneously with local commemora-tion ceremonies in nearly every town and city in the Netherlands. At 6 p.m., the flag is hung at half-mast. The Royal family walks across Dam Square through a ‘corridor of honor’ made up of soldiers and veterans to the foot of the National Monument. There, a wreath is laid down by the queen (or king) just before 8 p.m. Directly afterwards, the Taptoe, the Dutch counterpart of the British bugle call known as Last Post, is played. At that moment, two minutes of silence are observed throughout the country to commemorate victims of war.

For two minutes, one hears nothing but the flutter of flags and the cooing of doves. The Netherlands is remembering its dead. Following the two minutes of silence, the first verse of the Dutch national anthem, Het Wilhelmus, is played. Then the winner of a poetry contest for young people (Dichter bij 4 mei) will recite his or her poem. A number of survivors then lay a total of five wreaths on the National Monument. Following a speech by the mayor of Amsterdam or another prominent Dutch person, four other wreaths are laid by the chairpersons of the Upper House and the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament, respectively, and the representa-tives of Council of Ministers, the armed forces and the city of Amsterdam. The choice to have the survivors lay their wreaths first is a deliber-ate one. Their experiences are key. The dignitaries follow them.

On 4 May, all shops are required by law to close by 7 p.m. The vast majority of the cafés, bars and restaurants, including casinos, also comply with the National Committee’s request to honor the two minutes of silence. Football matches and large pop concerts are temporarily brought to a halt.

At 8 p.m., public transport and road traffic essentially come to a standstill throughout the whole country. Trains, trams and buses stop running. The Dutch Automobile Association (ANWB) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment remind drivers about the two minutes of silence and advise them to pull over safely to the side of the road. No planes fly in the airspace above the Dam around 8 p.m. On their flights elsewhere in the world, the Dutch airline companies also announce the two minutes of silence.

Excerpted from www.4en5mei.nl/english

Schedule of Provincial visits by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima

Remembrance Day

Connections / 5

One of the things I like about the Dutch is that they ride bicycles. And it’s not just that it’s politically correct, non-polluting, and good exercise. I’ve lived here for 15 years, and the way the Dutch use their bicycles never ceases to amaze me.

For example, to the Dutch it doesn’t matter at all what the weather is. If it’s pouring rain, that’s okay. They put on terribly unflattering rain clothes, including rain pants, and go right ahead as usual. A really impressive sight is when they carry an umbrella as they ride. I’ve tried that, and, believe me, it’s not easy! You have to steer with one hand while you hold the umbrella tipped forward just exactly at the right angle to keep the rain off you, but not to catch the wind and be pulled back over your head and out of your hand. But if you tip it too far down in front of you as you pedal into the wind, you can’t see ahead of you.

Did a layer of snow collect during the night? Just ride right through it. The city council generally salts the main bike paths, so it’s just a matter of risking the snow (and the ice under it) until you get to a main road. No problem. And, if it’s snowing, the Dutch might even go so far as to put on a hat and gloves: generally the scarf appears when temperatures first dip, but it has to be below freezing to get Dutch people to put on a hat and gloves.

There’s huge variety in the bikes they ride too. Mostly they’re the old-fashioned style, with handlebars higher than the seat so that you can sit up straight while you ride. Generally only pre-pubescent boys ride mountain bikes (which are pretty useless anyway, given how flat it is here), and racing bikes with low, curved handlebars are only used by long-distance bicycling hobbyists.

But there are all sorts of other bicycle mutations available. People with balance problems can still ride here, on an adult-sized tricycle. If you don’t like to sit up on a tiny bicycle seat, turning your nether regions numb, you can use a “ligfiets,” which loosely translates to a “lying-down bicycle.” You sit in a little seat with a backrest, pedaling with your feet straight ahead. Another permutation of the ligfiets closes in the whole bicycle in a solid bullet-shaped case, made out of fiberglass, I

think, painted in bright colors, so only your head and the wheels stick out.The elderly don’t stop riding just because they’re less agile than they used to be. Their bikes are like traditional women’s bikes, with a low bar, except their low bar is even lower to the ground, so they only have to raise their foot a few inches to step onto the bike. And they have rearview mirrors attached to the handlebars.

And it’s impressive what Dutch people carry on their bikes. The most common is a child or two: the small ones are carried in a seat attached to the handlebars between the rider’s arms, the larger ones sit behind the rider. They can be sitting in purpose-built child seats, but some-times they’re just sitting there on the back rack and hanging on. Only the youngest – and only a small proportion of them – wear helmets. But the babies who ride in front do often get a transparent plastic windshield attached to the handlebars. And parents carry newborn babies in those kangaroo bags on their chests.

Businessmen in tailored suits have a special holder attached to their rear wheel to carry a briefcase. Parents of small children have a clamp that allows them to carry a stroller as well as the child. Some bikes have a special shelf in front that’s perfect for a crate of beer.The other day I saw a man carrying a bike on the back of his bike. He was taking up the whole bike path by steering with one hand and holding the second bike above his rear wheel with his other hand, so that it stuck out on both sides behind him. I’ve seen people carrying pieces of furniture on bikes: a bookshelf, for example. They clutch it with one hand to keep it on the rack behind them, and it just sticks out the back.

And then there are all the things they can do while bicycling. Lovers hold hands. Mothers of children who are just learning pedal calmly along next to their child’s bike, with a hand on their child’s back to keep them moving in a straight line. Teenagers type text messages while they cycle with no hands. Smokers smoke. Deaf people sign to each other – and swerve all over the place at the same time since their hands are busy with more important things than steering.

What they mostly do, though, is break the traffic laws. Every schoolchild here is taught about traffic rules in primary school, and many take a test to prove they know how to behave on a bike. That doesn’t stop almost everyone, though, from completely ignoring the rules of the road.

There is one law here that they’re all aware of: if a car and a bike collide, the car driver is automatically assumed to be at fault unless he can make a very convincing argument other-wise. Bicyclists take this as a get-out-of-jail-free pass. They can do absolutely whatever they want because they know that the car drivers will make every effort not to hit them. (I wonder if that rule would make them feel better as they’re lying in pain in a hospital after a crash: “Damn, this broken leg hurts, but it’s not officially my fault!”)

And they do the craziest things! They cut suddenly across roads in front of moving cars without signaling. They turn onto the road from a side street without so much as a glance. They pedal nonchalantly along pedestrian roads, they ride three or four across (two is the legal limit), they don’t signal, they ride in the dark without working lights, they use the sidewalks, bike paths and roads interchangeably at will.

This all sounds like I don’t like Holland’s bicyclists, but I do. I find their sheer hubris, their self-importance refreshing. (Not when I’m driving a car, mind you, or when I’m walking down a pedestrian street, but the rest of the time.) It displays this assumption about how the world works that I like: “Bicycles and bicyclists are morally superior to – and far more important than – cars and drivers, so you WILL allow me to pass unencumbered.” I admire that kind of chutzpah. It’s the same attitude they have about rising water levels in this country that’s largely below sea level, but that’s an article for another time…

Rachel Heller: http://rachelheller.orgExcerpted from “Rachel’s Ruminations” with permission

The Dutch AND THEIR Bicycles

mindful passions

...think of the possibilities

6 / Connections

The day I discovered the book, The Passion Test, at a local bookstore in Amsterdam several years ago, is the day I knew my life would take yet another turn that would lead me on a new path of self-discovery, and ultimately, increased fulfillment in my life. Most revealing after reading the book, I realized that I had always been pursuing the interests and work that I enjoyed. I had, in fact, already been living a passionate lifestyle to some degree, but I did not know it was called that.

When I look back on what I have accomplished in my life thus far, I can see that I often made my choices from the heart. Throughout my childhood and into high school, various extracurricular activities, at college, a job, an opportunity to travel; no matter what it was, my heart was the one usually leading my mind. In fact, I can still recall the situations when I was convinced to make a decision based upon what someone else felt was right for me, only to feel very soon afterwards, that I had made the wrong choice for me. I know that others only wanted me to be happy and had my best interests at heart, their hearts, but a heart can only beat for one. As I got older and wiser, I learned to listen to my heart more and more; to trust what it, and my gut, were telling me when it came to doing what I wanted in my life. All along I thought it was just this, ‘listening to my heart and gut.’ No, it is called living a life full of passions.

Passion brought me to The Netherlands from sunny California, USA, in February 2002. I

listened to my heart and leaped for love with a Dutchman whom I met at our mutual friends’ wedding in Boston in July 2000. For a year and half, we commuted to and fro getting to know one another before we decided that we wanted to live in one place together. Trusting my gut, I quit my job, had a few garage sales, sold my car and house, packed up a twenty-foot container to ship over before I loaded up

suitcases and the dog into a pet carrier and off we flew out of San Francisco to Amsterdam. A new life as an expat began, learning a new language and culture while striving to be me - myself - in a new country and in a living-together relationship. It wasn’t always easy, nor was it always comfortable but somehow, each challenge made me stronger for the next one. One of my biggest challenges related to learning to speak Dutch is tied to the fact that I am also deaf. While I speak clearly and yes, do love to talk, I cannot hear. Lip-reading Dutch is quite the challenge, especially at that time when my Dutch vocabulary was not overflowing with familiar words, dialects, and a multitude of international accents to take in, translate and understand. Over time and the more settled I felt in my new life here, the more I sought ‘new’ clues to my personal destiny. I already knew that what made me happiest was making a difference in the lives of others. The question was ‘how?’ The answer was, ironically, ‘let go of the how and listen for the what.’

After reading the book, The Passion Test, written by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood, I knew I had my answer. The Passion Test is a process that helps one get clear on what matters the most in life and leads the way toward living a life of fulfillment. It is a powerful tool that requires one to focus on the Top Five things that are of utmost value and importance, in turn creating a life of joy and happiness from realizing dreams to reality. My own success from taking the Passion Test over the years convinced me that this was a path I wanted to follow, taking this tool and sharing it with other people so that they too, can live out their passions in life. To further pursue this path, in 2010 I enrolled in a Certified Passion Test Facilitator course in London, taught by Janet Bray Attwood, and

two Master Trainers, Cheryl Burget and Beth Lefevre. What a soul-enriching and inspiring 4 days of training with an international group of people all committed to bringing their own passions to life!

Staying true to my own pursuit of passing Passion forward, I created my own small business as a Passion Coach via Mindful

Passions. I provide various workshops such as: Passion Refill, Vision Board, Byron Katie, The Work, as well as One-on-One Passion Process, and Passion Presentations for compa-nies and Expat organizations. This is creativity that inspires me and fills me with joy when I witness others light up as they realize how powerful it is to have passions in our lives, guiding us as we seek a sense of fulfillment and happiness. People often blurt out to me, ‘Only five? But I have more than five passions!’ “No problem,” I answer, “but let’s do the Passion Test together and see if we can get you clearer on your visions and you will likely find yourself quite naturally trimming down to five.” Here’s what passion is: a passion is how you choose to live your life. When you are clear on what your passions are, you can then create the goals that help you stay aligned with your passions and as a result you create the life you choose to live.

What I know for sure is that I practice what I teach. Thanks to the Passion Test, I am tuned in to my Top Five passions and every day, in some way, I do something that keeps me nurturing these five passions of mine. As a result, I feel content in life as I do what I love, and love what I do.

www.mindfulpassions.com

Carol Nieuwland-GossPassion Coach Mindful Passions

www.facebook.com/carol.mindfulpassionscarol@mindfulpassions.com

PASSIONLiving A Passionate Lifestyle

‘Passion is the inner fire that propels you forward through the combination of love for what you’re doing and the inner sense of purpose that comes from connecting to one’s deepest passions. Enjoyment arises from this combination of love and purposefulness.’ - Chris Attwood

7 / Connections

This was my chance to see Paris in the springtime! My cousin Beth from Scotland and I made plans a year ago to meet during this week. I cleared my calendar and went a few days early. Beth knew Paris well, and I could use some experience.

But remember me? I'm the one who landed in hospital in Kuala Lumpur. My trips are always an adventure, and my doctor seems to expect me after each one.

First my connection with Thalys is missed because of an accident forcing everyone to transfer to a bus. I am lucky though; the man at the NS International counter says that there's a train leaving in 3 minutes, and he can call them to expect me. It's that or wait for two hours for the next one. I opt for him calling and me running, and they found me a place to sit in the dining car. On the road again!

Having perused the Paris forecast, I knew that rain and cold were dominating the entire week, and a little cold was not going to stop me from joining a night bicycle tour, which is what I was going to do if it stayed dry. I was going to act casual during this vacation - If it worked out tonight, fine, but another out of the 9 nights could do also.

I have to say rue Mouffetard is charming. I passed my hotel three times going back and forth, even though I was looking for it. If you go, you will discover what I mean. It would take me years to sample all the wonderful food there too. One night, I settled on a perfect falaffel, and finished with a gâteau on the go.

My first sortie after finding my hotel was to take the Metro and walk towards Notre Dame. I made my way along the Seine and saved steps taking the Metro to La Bastille. There I had time to take the #69 bus that followed a scenic route to the Eiffel Tower, where I got off in time to meet my bicycle tour company.

It is not their fault what happened that

night. I was THAT CLIENT. Near the end of a wonderful tour, I met fate, and dislocated my thumb.

We all gaped at my thumb while a blizzard of thoughts went through my mind. The first was, "But I just got here!" The thoughts would not be useful until reassembled into a logical order. The ones on the subject of doctors, pain and recovery time arose to be considered. I looked at my thumb sticking out at an awkward angle and resolutely straightened it myself. Now I was feeling better and ready to party, with my thumb on ice.

Later, I collapsed into bed thinking, I hope this doesn't hurt too bad to go sightseeing, and I fell asleep feeling hopeful that it would not put a big damper on my holiday. With 9 days, I still could not do everything. I felt that Paris can't be done in a rush. I wanted the city to grow on me in ways that seeing only the tourist sights cannot do. I wanted to visit narrow streets and wander, and I did. I found a Space Invader! I am so proud and happy to find that the street artist Space Invader was here! Maybe you will be lucky and find a Space Invader there too or in Amsterdam or somewhere else.

In Paris, I did just fine. I was only there one hour in the city, and people were asking me for directions, as if I lived there. I was completely comfortable with a foreign language I could not speak, and Parisians happily assumed I was one of them until we started talking. Whenever I looked at my map on the street, people seemed to run from all corners to help me find my way. It was delightful. Nothing can beat these memories. It was such a highlight when a museum guard said I was as beautiful as a French woman. That is Paris!

Beth and I covered a lot of ground. We walked through the Tuileries and all the way up a cold and windy Champs Elysees. We also visited Musee d'Orsay, where I lost myself in Pissarro's world; I could feel the wind and the temperature of the air in his

paintings. There are wonderful memories of Montmarte, the Marais and choosing a supper from the Printemps epicerie. I was ready to buy an unusual cactus before I noticed it came from The Netherlands. Instead I filled my suitcase with French honey and jams, and squeezed in some new scarves and t-shirts; it was getting heavy.

One day, I bought two scarves, and enjoyed walking to the Pantheon and the remains of a Roman arena and visited the Catacombs. I made good use of my umbrella during frequent rain showers, and blended in with Parisians going about their day.

As my departure loomed, I made plans for the next time in Paris. I still wanted to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I should have seen in a youth that I did not miss-spend properly as well as the Rodin Museum.

When I returned home, I opened up the newspaper and my horoscope said that I had had my fun and would now have to find a way to pay for it. How did they know I just got back from Paris?

When the doctor finally looked at my thumb, he said he thought it was broken. Then he asked, "Where are you going on vacation next?" I guess he thought he’d see me then.

Margaret Metsala

Nine Days IN Paris

Paris in the Spring

Alison Day Designswww.alisonday.nl

Graphic Designer o Artist o Illustrator Editor Writer o Translator (NL-Eng.) o Voice Over

E: alisonday@versatel.nl / M: 06 18114204

Connections / 8

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