The Netherlands in WWII: More Aftermath

image from wikipedia

An American Facebook acquaintance recently posted this video with the comment: “Just for the record”. I watched it and I found it to be a strange hodgepodge of information, rumor and images without commentary. It’s in Dutch, so let me briefly tell you what it’s about.

It begins with  KLM, the Dutch airline, and its role in helping Nazis

The Queen Is Retired, Long Live the King

image from http://www.nrc.nl

Well, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated yesterday, and Willem-Alexander is king. I don’t care for the monarchy, but it doesn’t have any powers and the queen’s birthday is always the biggest party of the year,

1978: A Rockin’ Year to be Seventeen

Image from http://www.fanpop.com

Evolution of X just had a post about her memories of 1978. She invited readers to do the same.

So, let’s see. Not in chronological order:

The Grand American Canyon

(Image from sodahead.com)

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people in America can live in what has been called a “parallel universe”. A universe Fox News not only helps to create, but apparently believes in itself, as witnessed on election night, when its pundits were taken completely off guard by Obama’s victory.

Inventive Roads From . . . the Netherlands

This is cool. And Dutch.

Top Ten Musical Memories

When I hear a song I haven’t heard for a while, I immediately remember where I first heard it, or where I bought it, or which hangout played it a lot. . .

I thought I’d share some of them.

1. Morning Town Ride by The Seekers

My American Dream

This is what I dreamed last night.

I was in a school gym, remembering how we would be made to run laps around a gym just like that in high school in the Netherlands. And I remembered that I could. I’d be tired, and I’d be protesting loudly like any self-respecting un-sporty teenage girl should, but that’s all. And I resented–in this dream–that I can’t run for two minutes now without having a gimpy knee for the next two weeks (this is real; I ran for two minutes last weekend, and now it hurts when I walk down steps).

American History in the Netherlands

Image: Wikipedia

Another question I got from my funk post was: What do European kids learn about American history. Well, I can only talk about what I learned, but feel free to add to it in the comments, Dutch readers.

I had History several times a week, from seventh through eleventh grade, and from Mesopotamia to the Vietnam War, more or less. I seem to remember that we started learning about America in tenth grade, and it would have continued through eleventh grade, whenever America came up in realtion to a certain period. This would have been around 1977-1978. I’ll just describe what I remember; trying to be systematic after all those years wouldn’t work.

Where Are You From?

In my previous post I asked what my readers would like me to write about. I realized later that I would be in big trouble if I got no reply. Would that mean that no one is interested in what I say? Or they don’t care? Or what if I have no readers that day? Would reposting the question be too desperate? This could very well spell the end of my blog. But fortunately someone did reply. Phew, thanks, Hanneke, for averting my existential crisis!

A Bit of Uncharacteristic Mushiness

Okay, for those of you who think I’m too negative about America, let me confuse you again.

Do I seem schizophrenic to you? Well, that’s because I am. Not clinically, but being Dutch in America, I can’t help being in a permanent schizophrenic state of mind. Depending on what I’m

The Netherlands in WWII : Lessons Learned

Photo: rijksoverheid.nl

This is the eleventh post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

Authority Before the war, the Dutch were a very law-abiding people, with great respect for authority. During the war, the majority of the Dutch police

The Netherlands in WWII : The End

Photo: sg7cz6o.edu.glogster.com

This is the tenth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

About a week before the end of the war, planes from Britain began food drops. They were a drop in the bucket, but they gave hope. And on May 5, 1945, after five years of German occupation, the Netherlands was liberated.

The Netherlands in WWII : The Hunger Winter

This is the ninth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

On June 6, 1944–D-Day–the allied troops landed in Normandy. The idea was to

The Netherlands in WWII : The Day Bed

My mother and my aunt on my aunt’s first birthday

This is the eighth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

The following is another example I told the students of an almost-disaster story.

The Netherlands in WWII : The Gun

Photo: smith-wessonforum.com

This is the seventh post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

I told the students the following story as an example of how even ordinary people, who were not in the resistance, who were just trying to survive, were faced with decisions that affected lives.

The Netherlands in WWII : The Resistance

This is the sixth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

“The resistance” was anyone who thwarted the German occupation and the German war effort in any way.

Photo: http://www.en.bestpicturesof.com

They could be teenagers, like high school boys and their teachers who organized into gangs, or men spying and communicating by illegal radio with the government in exile and with the allied forces.

The resistance was involved in hiding Jews, providing the allied forces with information,

The Netherlands in WWII : Forced Labor

This is the fifth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

The Germans were fighting a war on two fronts, and they needed every able-bodied German man to join the military. So they needed workers from elsewhere for their war factories, where materials from uniforms to aircraft were

The Netherlands in WWII : The Occupation

This is the fourth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions of a presentation I gave on the Netherlands during World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

The Netherlands in WWII : The Jews

Photo: http://www.members.home.nl

This is the third post about impressions of American high school students of a presentation I did on the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

The Jews were by far the worst affected by the war. First they had to sew a star of David on their clothing, so

The Netherlands in WWII : Soldiers on Bikes

This is the second post in a series about American high school students’ impressions of a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

I started my presentation with a map of Europe, showing where the Netherlands is, and all the countries under German control.

The Netherlands in WWII : The Beginning

This is part one of a series about a presentation I gave to a high school class in Austin, Texas, about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.

American Teens and WWII Netherlands

My son B.’s ninth-grade class is learning about World War Two right now, so I offered to give a presentation about the Netherlands during WWII. Not because, in itself, the Netherlands’ history is so important in the big picture, but because I suspected that otherwise the students probably wouldn’t learn too much about how it was for Europeans to be occupied by the Germans.

The demography and geography of the different countries in Europe may vary greatly, but the stories of German occupation, resistance, and living in constant fear and uncertainty have much in common.

And, of course, the occupation of countries, the killing of Jews and the constant intimidation and terror all over Europe is what American soldiers were fighting, even though they may often not have been aware of it, since they were mainly in battle situations against other soldiers. But when they were fighting for freedom, this is what it meant.

So I gave a Powerpoint presentation (my first ever) about WWII in the Netherlands, basically talking about the same things that I mentioned in this post. Only longer, and with photos.

And the Award Goes To . . .

Fork in My Eye is a wonderful, varied blog. Great photos, smart, funny, inspiring writing. Check it out. The blogger was given the ABC Award. In return she had to give it to five other bloggers, and she included me. Thank you! This is fun, because now I get to give to five more bloggers. But first I have to tell something about myself for every letter of the alphabet.

WHAT?!?!?!?

photo BBC News

Okay, I know nothing! I feel like a total fool. Here I am, with a blog about being Dutch in America, writing every now and then about how much better things are in the Netherlands, and now it turns out this has been going on for the last three years!!!

Hee Amsterdam, ze zegge dat je bent veranderd…

Just a quick link to some fun photos of Amsterdam by Fig and the Wasp. Also check out these posts by same: this one and this one.

And if you want to enjoy the photos with an iconic song about Amsterdam, click here, or listen while watching the video, because it’s worthwhile, too.

Ten Dutch Foods I Will Never Eat (Again)

photo by Multiple Bleiben

I ate some terrible stuff in the Netherlands. Some of it tasty but super unhealthy, and some of it tasted terrible as well. The terrible tasting stuff was mostly food I had as a kid, when I had no choice. Ugh!

The Runs

This is the first of a series of posts about my family during WWII. For a brief history of the Netherlands in WWII, click here.

Most of the stories about WWII come from my mother’s side of the family. My grandparents were in their 30s when the war started, my mother was five, and my aunt turned one on a beautiful day in May 1940. (The family celebrated her birthday outside, and saw the first German planes fly over on their way to bomb the blazes out of Rotterdam.) My uncle was born two years later, in the middle of the German occupation.

War Stories: Introduction

Photo: Rogier Bos

One thing every person my age grew up with in the Netherlands was war stories. Stories about World War II, that is. But before I share some of my family’s stories, let me first give some background info.

Germany attacked the Netherlands in the beginning of May, 1940, and a few days later we capitulated, because the Dutch army was pathetically outdated, having been neutral during World War I. Most soldiers moved around on bikes. The Germans bombed the hell out of Rotterdam and told the Dutch government that Utrecht would be next if they didn’t surrender.

I’m Dutch, Too!

Time for one of my pet peeves.

Scene in a restaurant:

Holland, What Are You Doing?

A Flamingo in Utrecht  is a great blog because Alison, an American in Utrecht, the Netherlands, takes pictures all around Utrecht and it’s wonderful that I can see the familiar places and streets. Most of the time it’s also nice to see what’s new. The Nijntje (Miffy) statue is new, for instance. But then I see this picture

A Taste of Utrecht, Where I Was Born

Flowers in Bloem.

I love this blog. Such recognizable photos of Utrecht streetscapes. Especially these photos of the Saturday flower market make me slightly homesick. But at least I get to see it again in these photos.

Thank you, Flamingo!

Top Ten Things I Miss About Holland

• 

  photo: Autumn Arnold, Peanut Cheese

  Not worrying about money, or getting fired, or getting sick, or not being able to retire, or how to pay for the kids’ colleges.

• Having all my friends within visiting distance.
• Having seven weeks paid vacation plus vacation pay (like a thirteenth month’s salary).
• Going to the doctor or hospital without my wallet.
• Walking around the Saturday market and buying big, beautiful bunches of flowers that last for weeks and only cost a few euros.
• Traveling by train. Relaxing and looking out the window with a cup of Earl Grey tea instead of sitting in traffic.
• Taking the ferry to England and hitchhiking to the Cairngorms or the Lake District or wherever, and hiking around, camping in the wild.
• Cycling for the purpose of getting somewhere.
• Sleeping with the windows open (scorpions would crawl in if I did that here).
• Watching a decent documentary on TV without having to subscribe to HBO.

Wil-who-mus?

When I was in school, it seemed that only private religious schools made the kids learn the Dutch national anthem. The rest of us  never learned, and so we didn’t get much further than the first two lines, and nobody cared.

If I Could Have Dinner Anywhere…

Klanten bij een haringkar / Eating herring in the traditional Dutch way

If I could go to dinner anywhere in the world tonight, where would I go?  And with whom and what would I eat? Well, since I’m in my Dutch expat blog mode, I think I’d beam myself up and over to Holland, to the Saturday market in Amersfoort or Utrecht or Amsterdam. Yeah, I know it’s only Thursday, but it’s Saturday there whenever I want it to be. If I can beam myself anywhere, it can also be any time.

Tourist Flowers

Knowing that they are considered quintessentially–or stereotypically–Dutch, like windmills and dikes, I refused to like tulips for the longest time. I felt they were tourist flowers.