7 typical Dutch things I do NOT understand as an American living in the Netherlands
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- It's been over 2 years of living in the Netherlands and I still don't quite understand these typical Dutch things! I talk about some everyday aspects of Dutch culture and life in the Netherlands that are quite frankly, a bit difficult for an American to understand... but Dutch folks do not seem to be baffled by them at all!
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I like to share my experiences of an American expat in the Netherlands. I describe both the unique and everyday aspects of Dutch culture, and life in Holland while enjoying every bit of it!
Blog website: www.dutchamericano.com
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Get in touch: dutchamericanonl@gmail.com
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Peanut butter is called pindakaas (peanut cheese) because of the old "Boterwet" law and only real butter could be called butter to protect farmers and consumers. When peanut butter was introduced on the Dutch market this law, the Boterwet, prevented it from calling it pindaboter. Therefore it was renamed to pindakaas as every Dutch person is very familiar with cheese (kaas in Dutch).
Well weer wat geleerd. Nooit geweten. 👍
Je was me voor ;)
I read very recently somewhere (I can't find the source anymore) that the word 'pindakaas' was first used in Suriname, in the end of the 19th century, in a newspaper. The person who used that word, soon started it. With Surinam people moving to the Netherlands, 'pindakaas' was introduced in the Dutch language. The article which mentioned that, also talked about the 'Boterwet' and its restrictions.
@@CuriouzComedian yes! I read that too!
That is the good explanation. But in another instance we did have, chocolade boter. Which didn't have enough cacao to be called Chocolat, and was called butter. Weird isn't it?
nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choba
Maybe someone else already said it: The "omafiets" is discussed in detail on "Not Just Bikes."
You can read "omafiets" as "the bike my grandmother used to have." So, still for young people.
Jaren '30 houses were built to last, and more modern than houses before that era. After WW2 lots of new houses had to be built fast, and cheap materials. It didn't matter how they looked, people needed roofs fast and cheap.
30's houses are usually built close to the city centre. That's also a huge plus.
That may be one thing... the other thing is that the "jaren '30" houses are most of the time much closer to the city center because they are build before the babyboom where the Dutch population almost increased by a quarter from 9 million to 15 million around 1990. Also they have some characteristics a lot of the people like. For example nice wooden beams on the sealing, decorative wood trims around the doors and windows, and most of them had glas in lead windows (although a lot of them may have been replaced with double sided glass).
@@douweeekma Because they were build near the citycenter and there was nothing else there yet!They were small villages and now they are a lot larger!Villages that had a population off say 2000 people are now living in that same grown village with a population off 200000 or more!!Look like Hilversum and Bussum,when i was young there was a vast separation between,now it is just one town!
I just looked it up and apparently "omafiets" (or more old-fashioned: opoefiets) is a term from the 1970s, when new styles of bicycles were introduced, but the previous generations were still riding their old bicycles because they're so durable, so the youth called these older models "bicycles for grandmas", or omafiets.
Oh, funny!
@@DutchAmericano It is correct! Today, an "oma" would more likely use a modern bike with electric assistance.
this was the answer I was about to give
My mom had the oma-fiets way before it was called an omafiets,- 1950. In 1965 I got to use it (I was 12) and it was in these years that this very old-fashioned, sturdy, basic bike acquired a sort of antiquities charm 👵🏻
@@margreetanceaux3906 Exactly, in those days everyone had such a bike. But later more sporty bikes came into fashion (with gears and hand-operated brakes) and this old style was then labeled "oma fiets". They became popular because there was less that could break and because of the nostalgic looks. Especially for larger kids that throw them around everywhere, such a bike will be more reliable than a newer style "sports" or "race" bike.
30's homes were the first decently build homes with cavity walls. They combine comfort with with a quirky style and are often semidetached or freestanding with garden.
But the main attraction of 30's homes over other homes is that in the Netherlands they are the gardened houses that form the first ring around the town and city centers. Home from the fifties and sixties and later were build further away from the city center.
Car centric Americans often want to live in the suburbs but Dutch people like living in the hart of their towns. And walk to restaurants and bars of bike to shops. If you want a garden and proximity to the city center most good homes are 30's houses
That's until the all regular folks got cars - so they could live further away from work. Now all of the country is turning in a sort of extended living territory with the odd old farmhouse inbetween, at least in nice countrysides. Big Barren stretches of arable lands or grass, like Flevoland, Groningen Friesland or larger stretches of Middle Achterhoek and Noord Brabant are less popular, still proper agriculture areas with only a few living houses.
I live in a house from the 1930's. They tend to have more character while still retaining some of the beautiful decorative elements that were completely lost after 1940. Before the 1930's, houses had single-stone walls which means they cannot be insulated to save on energy and do not feel comfortable. Double stone walls, called "spoumuur" in Dutch and perhaps "cavity wall" in English, make houses comfortable. Another thing is that by 1910 there were experiments with concrete walls , still single stone as spoumuur had not been invented yet, and iron window frames. New kinds of architecture were tried out but a good formula was only found in the 1920's. These fashionable experiments led to horrible houses. Iron is a conductor for cold and moist as it never really closes all the gaps (gashes, it rusts, is difficult to paint. The atmosphere is bad, too. I dont know why. The 1930's house is the best house ever built for people who want to have a perfect blend of comfort, quality and character. They started to build these houses in the 1920's, by the way, I think it was 1926.
Zo hee, jij weet er wat van! Ik heb nog nooit gehoord van onze obsessie met huizen uit de jaren dertig, maar goed, als Ava het zegt dan is het zo.
Het is spouWmuur!
Re the "curtain thing": my great--grandparents emigrated to the USA and my grandmother always insisted on keeping the curtains open at her home. When I asked her "why?" she said it was understood that one does NOT window-peep because it was impolite and rude and no-one should do it. She also said that it showed that the housewife (sorry for the old-fashioned term) kept her home tidy and clean and that she was not afraid that anyone would see inside - a sort of "house pride". My Oma also said it was very important to keep the windowpanes spotless.
actually, the curtain thing originally is a form of religious oppression.... you are not supposed to do things that is not for everybody to see....
Love it I agree, as a Dutch living in the US. They look at me weird when I wash my windows but I do it anyways.
The omafiets design is so old that it comes "from oma's time". That's all there is to it. Post WWII every decade has its own newer designs.
And the obsession with jaren 30 homes is because that is the first times homes had all the space and amenities we are used to now. In traditional houses older than that, kitchens and bathroom were most likely retrofitted in and the houses are on average much smaller. Add to that that homes from that era still had a level of craftsmanship and decoration that people like without it being overbearing (canal houses). There is a level of luxury and history without the houses being villas or manors.
I'm Dutch and I always close my curtains as soon as it gets dark outside and I turn on the light inside. Otherwise I feel like I'm sitting in the window of a store. I like my privacy very much. 🙂
I like the curtains open, because to get more sunlight in my house and to follow the things that are happening outside of my house (that is a typical '60s terraced house). Also when I see people with curtains closed, I consider those people as closed.
I just looked into the flea market on king's day. As it turns out, it started out as an informal habit in Amsterdam during a period in the seventies when the relationship between the country and the royal family was at a low point. In order to make the day more festive, Amsterdam decided to formalize it and bring it more into focus, and other cities and villages copied that. During this period, the relationship with the royal family recovered and one iconic moment in that happened during an impromptu visit of the queen to a flea market in 88 was a very strong indicator of that change.
Ahaa.... That makes sense!
I’d never heard of that, but i just looked it up and it looks so casual :)
Also about the curtains we do have them but it is normal/good practice to open them during the day to get as much light as possible in, like what's the point of having a window when you always have the curtains closed! Also I think that the general opinion is if someone always has their curtains closed that there's something shady going on in there! (Or that they're never home or something)
The curtain thing: everybody I know (family, friends, neighbours) close them as soon as it gets dark. Maybe it's a big city thing
I'm living in Utrecht (big city) and i close my curtains too
I also close them; saves energy. "Peeking in"? Mind you, it's considered very impolite and indiscrete! Drop that habit! 😏
It's not about just night time.
No curtains covering the windows in daytime is also not common in many countries.
The Curtains being open during the day also has to do with Dutch frugality.
We want to use the 'free' light as much and long as possible.
Curtains take away your natural light.
We like light houses and big windows for that reason..
.. and indeed, it's common courtesy not to look in..
(or at least not in an obvious way, because everyone does it at some point)
When I lived at streetlevel I always closed the curtains at night. Now I live at the 17th floor and leave the curtains open.
Pindakaas is actually called peanut cheese because at the time it was introduced (not sure if it's still the case) "boter" was a protected term so only things with specific contents were allowed to be called butter so since peanut butter does not have many ingredients in common with actual butter it was not allowed to be called peanut butter so it was called peanut cheese instead! And yes we are known for cheese but the Netherlands is actually kind of a peanut butter culture! I don't think you can get a more typically Dutch lunch than a 'broodje pindakaas' or in my case 'pindakaas met hagelslag' (peanut butter with chocolate sprinkles)
It's still the case. It can only be called butter if it has at least 80% butter in it. Check for example the "smeerbare roomboter", specifically the wording: smeerbaar WITH roomboter, and more of that stuff.
If you've never seen a grandmother on an omafiets, you haven't seen me! I'm a grandmother and always use my omafiets to go everywhere. And I'm not the only one!
Love hearing this!
The diverse amount of peanutbutter in supermarkets is quite new, it used to be 2 or 3 brands
It has been like that for about 20 years, that's not that new for food items.
- The omafiets is and old (England, 1904) design with a particular lazy, comfortable and practical geometry. In the 80's the grannies that got too old for cycling often had such a bike which ended up with their granddaughters who discovered it's comfort and the fact that it made them cycle elegant and didn't need any maintenance. It's basically a one size fits all geometry and the boys soon noticed they could ride it with some posture and attitude too, including the 'I don't care, it's a bike'. But they were indeed ridden by grandma's and inhereted from grandma's. Grandpa's still had a top tube back then.
- The jaren 30's homes were built in an era with specific city planning and city size, so they are in neighbourhoods close to center with certain type of streets, and there were lots of those project. The architecture is about lots windows, bay window, en suite doors, leaded windows on top and a 'fire place' for the heater. The 20's were more about social housing in appartement blocks with art deco architecture, before that houses tended to be build more one by one so not such a distinctive era. In the 40's there were no big building projects. In the 50's there was a huge shortage so housing was build fast an cheap. In the 60's and 70's it was mostly suburbs that were build in an entirely different style, woonerven, spaghetti and colyflower streetplans furhter outside. So it's indeed a very distinctive type of house in a distinctive type of neighbourhood.
- In Dutch culture the street is kind of an extension to the living room or the kitchen, it's not just about looking in, people like to keep an eye out on the kids for example. The street is simply not something you want to be disconnected from, also not at night.
- The flea markets started in the wild and lefty 70's. It was already a kind of small local tradition in some neighbourhoods, but the Amsterdam mayor decided that if the streets were full of people selling, it would prevent people from riotting against the monarchy there. And it caught on because the Dutch genuine like trading, also for fun, and we also like kids to show some business skill. Once queen's night got a bit out of hand with two friends and in the morning we bought a whole stand from someone who already had enough, and we started selling the stuff. Great fun.
I grew up in a jaren-10 home, AND I LOVED IT! After that, I lived in a jaren-30 house, and it was much less nice. So I am all for jaren-10!
However, there was quite a building spree in the jaren 30, and it was the last period in which builders spent time & effort on just making things nice. These houses still have decorative details _built-in the house_ instead of having been added by the occupants. Like stained glass. The also frequently have old staples like true cellars and chimneys, coal still being used to heat homes in the 30ies. The major building projects that came afterwards (starting in the 50ies) built things that were cheap and efficient to build, usually of lesser quality, due to the housing shortage after the War, and lost old necessities like cellars (superfluous due to the refrigerator) and chimneys (due to gas-fired central heating).
And finally, the jaren-30 was when Dutch cities really left their enclosing walls, so many jaren-30 houses were relatively high-class "suburbs", though this had started a few decades earlier. But most of the examples I know of jaren-10 are housing estates for low-class workers (except the house I grew up in, that was almost a mansion).
So jaren-30 houses are relatively plentiful yet have the style & quality of high-end pre-War architecture. Which is why they are so popular.
As a Dutch person, I am probably the exception on the whole "open curtains rule". In my old neighborhood, I kept my curtains closed at all times, as I like my privacy very much.
When I moved houses this year, the housing association asked me to stop this practice, as it can generate an unwelcome feeling in the neighborhood;. A house with its curtains constantly closed can give the impression illicit activities take place there.
However, they gave me the tip to use inbetween curtains, which still prevent people from looking in, but look a bit more open.
Curtains?! We love daylight
I think the concept of the omafiets is also very related to the practice of owning a cheap bike (or a 'city bike' or a 'train station bike') that you would be somewhat ok with getting stolen. I know that a lot of students have a cheap bike to commute from their student housing to university (or going out etc) and a seperate more expensive one at their parents house because the risk of theft is pretty high in cities and students don't usually have garages etc to keep them safely. Some people even have a bike to go from their parents house to the train station, one to commute around their university city and a "good one" that stays at their parents house.
To be honest: we don't have a clue ourselves 😁
Many of these things just happen to exist and we like them and it has always been this way and eh... yeah. No idea ^^ As long as it's gezellig, right?
Beste antwoord op haar vragen.
A Jaren-30 house can also mean a newly built home with a typical 1930s exterior design (more decorative masonry and woodwork) but with modern spacious rooms and much better insulation.
Thank you! I'm a Dutch teacher and I often use your videos for inspiration on what to talk about. You are totally right that it can be hard to see the 'strange' things in your own culture. Seeing it from your perspective helps me understand what questions some of my students must have. I liked your list!
And my 2 cents: I do know the story behind the jaren 30 huizen; they are just generally of a very good quality (due to the recession in the thirties, which meant that only richer people could afford to buy new houses). This opposed to jaren 50 huizen; they are of poor quality (due to the need to build a lot of houses very fast after ww2)
Thank you 😊 And ah, that’s interesting to hear about the history!
"It's not like the king is looking for a discount."
That was so funny!
The nice thing about the omafiets is that the wheels are bigger (28' instead of 26') so you travel a bit further with every peddlecycle. And therefore you go faster.
Also (but that may be just me) I feel that the placement of the peddle, saddle and handlebar puts you in a riding position that makes it more easy to generate more power, adding even a bit more speed.
The Jaren 30 House: the inspiration for Art Deco, was Nature. These houses had lots of light and large square rooms , decent heating , isolation, plumbing.
Ideal to renovate.
about the 30-houses, like here in Belgium it's about the material used in that hous. They were build like a bunker. Like here in Genk (Belgium Limburg) most houses were biuld with "Winterslagse Brik". Almost impossible to drill a hole in that brick, so after almost 100 years they are still safe to live in ;-)
1930s was a time when a lot of homes were built in a more modern individual style , indoor plumbing 1 family with some privacy like backyards etc.
And they are known for the quality built to last. In the 50s there was a shortage of materials because of WW2 so materials were of less quality and built fast. Most of the homes built after the WW2 are built as social housing for rent now they are coming on to the property market but are also sold as lots to property investors. Just like 60s to 80s homes can have other problems or are further away from the city. In the 80s there were the buy developments many identical homes in large new neighbourhoods “premie a” & “premie c” subsidised buildings. Which were a little neglected in early 2000s and not so nice to move to. But know because of the housing shortage they sell
The word peanut butter comes from Suriname, where blocks of crushed peanuts were called 'Pienda-dokoen'. Slices were cut from those blocks, just like with cheese. Hence peanut butter.
About the Kingsday flea market thing, I used to live in a small village and they actually had a committee for that particular day, of which my mother was one of the people who organized it all. Every year there were many activities for kids, older and younger like putting your name on a balloon filled with helium and seeing who comes the farthest (which is now forbidden because of the harm to the environment) You could do so many things, and also buy toys and stuff from other kids for a small amount of money. So, it was like a gathering of all the people in the town, sharing activities and also the things they would like to pass on. I really loved it! Hope they keep that tradition alive ❤️
I live in a 'jaren 30' house. I think it is loved so much because you have these beautiful colored windows, old colored tiles and most of these houses are build in spacious green areas. I believe in the time these houses were built they really put a beautiful effort in them. Must be CZcams videos about that 😀
I just love how perceptive you are! And like you've said, a lot of things are unnoticed by me, so I enjoy reading the comments and learning. I personally wondered about drop and this is what I found. According to Klene (biggest drop factory) drop is very Dutch because it's Calvinistic: it's black, it's not a sweet-sweet, it's cheap AND it can be used as a medicine for coughing. Also, it's an acquired taste and once you've learned to love it, it sticks with you.
Love your videos 👍🏽
The nice thing about "no curtains" is that you can still look outside. One way vision folie is a good solution to keep your privacy.
In the late 1960's everybody wanted to switch a modern bike called 'een sportfiets'. They had a fancy colour and hand breaks and often a stormy archer three gear system. Elderly people held on to their old bikes, because they wanted sit straight up to avoid back ache. Hence the oma bike.
the last item you told about open curtains: 2 ways to keep privacy at home: 1.- keep the curtains so closed that people cannot peep into your house or 2.-push the curtains wide open so that people are too embarrassed to look inside.
1. As others pointed out the Oma fiets is old fashioned. Simple and rugged. Everyone's Oma USED to ride on those. By the 1970's many Omas (mine included) started riding mopeds (especially the Puch). Those were only a little heavier than an Oma fiets and helped with riding a little further and against the wind. In the late 1980's I started seeing bikes with small motors attached to supplement power. A lot of older riders loved them as it kept them riding well into their 70's. Now eBikes seem to be really gaining favor. For the young, the simplicity of the Oma fiets has made it cool again. Perfect for the short rides many Dutch make to the store, friends nearby, or get to a transit hub. 2. 1930's houses are when a LOT of housing got built in the Netherlands. Whole sections of Amsterdam shot our of the ground at that time for instance. These houses were also reasonably modern, with plumbing and electricity. As others pointed out, most are built with more more love and attention than the power WW2 houses. In the US this is comparable to the Arts and Crafts houses. Those are now gaining huge popularity in cities all over the US for those who want a character house. 3. Drop. I don't know when the obsession started, but it's something that you either love or hate (like Root Beer flavored items in the US - you either like or hate it. Little middle ground. Once all the varieties were around, it just kept going. 4. I love peanut butter and have it almost every day on bread for breakfast. My wife doesn't "get it." I left in the early 1980's and it wasn't an obsession back then. Just something that was consumed a lot. 5. Camping... the Dutch have the highest per capita ownership of campers aka Kippen Hok, Sleur Hut, as just a few slang names. Solid walls, ceiling and floors are great in a wet climate. Tent camping is generally kind of awful in the Netherlands. We've been at camp grounds where the lines of your neighbor cross yours. The US with its amazing state and nation parts offer much better tent camping. Vacationing with a camper is very affordable, especially in the time before Internet based short term home rentals. I had (passed away) relatives that spent a month each summer traveling with their camper. With the bikes on the back you can easily ride into town. 6. Kings Day. This is something that has grown a lot over the years. I don't remember this being anywhere near as big a deal 20 to 30 years ago. Sure we had the day off, and Kermis (the fair) would come to town, but the whole flea market thing was nothing like it is now. All I can think of is that the timing nicely goes along with Spring Cleaning. Get rid of old stuff without throwing it out.
I learnt something new today, I always thought everybody in our country called these bikes "weduwe (widow)", because of their standard black color. But apparently only here in Friesland we are using that description. Marktplaats showed me on a search that only Frisian places pop up, when using "weduwe".
The jaren 30 house thing is something particular to the Randstad I think or at least to city living. I live in the East of the Netherlands in a smaller village and we never had the 30s building boom like they did in most cities. In fact, it took upto the early seventies before any significant new residential building was done. The home I live in has been my home since 1973 when my parents moved in. My dad being a bricklayer had actually helped building it.
My grandma still used her omafiets almost till the day she died.
She couldn't walk straight anymore and needed a stick to go around. She even had a tennis racket clamp on her bike to clamp her stick on to. This made her completely independent and she could go where ever she wanted, whenever she wanted. By the time she died she had used her bike for over 40 (forty) years, and it is _still_ in use today, almost forty year after she died. Yes, that 80 years old bike still hasn't worn out and is still in use on a daily base by one of her her great grand daughters.
That is what investing in quality means here in the Netherlands, dear American friends.
That's why we are willing to pay extra to get a (never needed) lifelong warranty.
Some people are bold :o we also usually keep the curtains open but I'm nervous about going into the livingroom in my underwear and we live on the third floor (and there aren't any other tall buildings opposite us)
When I was young, like 30 years ago, we went to my grandmother often. In her garage was a normal bike, and a old bike. That old bike was from a type we then called opoefiets. Opoe was an old nickname for oma.
It was a design from the past, and they did not make or sell this bikes anymore. You would only find the bike at your grandparents, hense the name opoefiets.
Later, like 15-20 years ago the design was re-introduced. It than was called omafiets, since nobody used the nickname opoe anymore.
The design became verry populair, and still is. The bikes are quite simple, durable and cheap to make. Especially in citties, where bike theft is a huge problem, people prefere simple, not too expencive bikes.
So the name comes originally from the design like you would only find at your grandmother. This is just not the case anymore nowadays.
There's both salty and sweet Dutch drop. I'd estimate the sweet variety is actually more popular, but that's just based on personal experience and might be way off.
❤😁❤😁❤Your channel is literally my comfort place. You make me so happy. Love you❤❤❤
I don’t know the exact reason for the ‘curtains open’ thing but I do know that there used to be a tradition that when a person in a house died the curtains would be closed Day and night until that person was buried. It might have something to do with that?
Regarding peanut butter (Pindakaas), there really are 2 choices. Calvé normal or with little parts of peanuts still in it. Then just take the 1 kilo glass, and you're set for the lets say...week...2 days?
Not everyone is into houses of the 30's, although I can understand that you get that impression when watching the mentioned programs. Nor is everyone into active holidays. Going camping has always been a big thing in The Neterhlands. I believe it is due to it being a highly affordable option. Dutch families did not have that much to spend for many decades after the 2nd world war. Money is surely not always the driver though. Camping and sport activity often go hand in hand. However, there are many opting for alternatives and that includes myself. What peanutbutter shops concern; they are largely tourist traps. We did not see much of that, until tourism became big. If you have to choose one, pick one without palm oil, being the more sustainable option. And it is unclear why we are into drop so much. Also the Scandinavians do, but we beat them to it. I personally love drop and salmiak. Drop with a salmiak flavour is best.
I Prefer newly designed buildings, I don't like antique buildings. I prefer modern architecture
-1 omafiets: any old-fashioned looking bicycle. I've got one next to my exercise bike. The omafiets is more comfortable on a certain level. And mine is re-appropriated 🙄 (left behind by a former inhabitant of the building) and it just cost me a front light and a chain protector and some locks.
Actual Oma's nowadays ride electric bikes.
-2 30's houses usually have a tiny hint of art-deco to them, sometimes the original stained-glass windows and if you're lucky they still have the original sliding doors to compartmentalize into front, middle and back rooms.
-3 There's no better licorice than Dutch licorice.
Period.
-4 There's no better peanut-butter than Dutch peanut-butter.
Also period. I checked: in our former colony Surinam, the used to pound it in to blocks and then slice it like cheese. So yeah, we did that.
-5 Just let your girlfriend get out and about and we'll have some wine and talk and see a movie. Deal?
-6 The fleamarkets are called freemarkets. Normally you'd have to apply for a license to sell in the street. On Kingsday, you don't. At least, I think that's it.
-7 Not only do we have curtains, some people even still use the lacey stuff we call 'vitrage', but I guess that's being replaced by semi-transparant plastic foil.
Opening or closing curtains is of course a personal choice. I guess people just like to let the sun shine in and/or show off what they've got (belongings, not necessarily their body).
As a teen I had a grandpa bike. It was my grandfather's bike. It was pre WWII.
The official name of the omafiets frame style is "hollands gebogen". And its a verry old style and older ladys tend to have old bikes. Gazelle still makes these and looks the most authentic omafiets.
We invented peanutbutter. It's a cheap, nutricious and filling compound. It's also easy and goes great with bread.
We are just very picky about our peanut butter 🤣
In my family for example, we always have three different kinds of peanut butter.
For me, I like very sticky 100% peanut butter. My father only eats peanut butter with pieces of peanut in it.
And my sister dislikes both of those...
The Dutch word for liquorice is Zoethout - sweet wood the sweets made from this are indeed called droppen - there are other forms of liquorice - salmiak which is made with ammonium chloride in place of salt
Re bicycles there is also an opafiets grandfather's bicycle made in the same form but with a crossbar - the main difference is the angle of down tube from the seat and the front fork angle which are lees steep than a normal cycle and are thus softer
Very nice, again. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
I believe (but could be wrong,) the Oma Fiets was designed to be easy to step on to. With a low frame that is easy to step over. Before the electric bikes they were defenitly prefered for the elderly.
But because they are easy bikes, everyone is fond of them.
Step onto with a skirt. From when women wore those all the time.
Yes but those are the bikes are also easy to step off them
In Belgium we'd probably say "nen ouwe vrouwenvelo", or in proper Flemish Dutch "een oude damesfiets". I completely understand the relationship you have with it, because I used to ride it for several years as a kid myself while I was on vacation in the Ardennes where we had a caravan/trailer. Besides the crackling noises from the chain (that always broke down by the way), riding it was really comfortable. We even managed to transport 3 to 4 people with it. One standing on the pedals and riding, the other one sitting on the handlebar, one on the seat and sometimes someone sitting or standing on the back!
Ier an de kust in knokke zeggen we een oede wuvve-velo 🤣
@@nicolasdujardin5691 da's etwuk dok uuk zoe verstoan!
We did this with 3 on a "vouwfiets" :)
In German this type of bike is called Hollandrad ( Holland bike) 😂
I see omas all the time on omafiets, lol. I love it so much that people ride bikes into old age and tell my friends back home. It could be your neighborhood. I live in the "suburbs".
An Omafiets is called an Omafiets because it is build in the classical ladies bike style of the 50's. Or "the bike oma used to have". The name gained tracktion in the late 70's early 80's. There is actually a thing called "Opafiets" for the classical mens bike of that era but that name never really got popular.
Jaren 30's homes. They make excellent family homes. Made with the quality of the old homes but fitted with doern luxuries like bathrooms and heating. We grew up in them hence we love them
Drop/licorice : No idea... guess we all grew up with it and acquired the taste for it.
Peanutbutter: First off... it is delicious. It was also something the Canadian soldiers brought with them during the liberation of the Netherlands in 45. When they left, the pindakaas stayed. Since it is a great product with lots of nutriants for people living in a country like ours, it became a staple food. The name has to do with laws about what can be called butter. Peanutbutter is not possible due to that law. Since the early peanutbutters weren't those creamy ones and you often literally coul d slice them the name cheese was used.
Sporty/active: I wanted to say "not me" but then realissed... if I go "on holiday" I go biking and hiking as well.
Vrijmarkten started in Amsterdam, it was their thing to do on Queesday. Other cities saw this and adopted the practice slowly spreading it across the entire country.
You know "Doe maar normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg" right? It is to show how "normaal" we are (but really, it is our way to "show off" ) That you can't resist is the entire point :P
butter used to be a brand name so using it in an other product was not alowed so they just went fine we will call it peanut cheese then also yeah as a dutchie im also weirded out by peanutbutterstores
In the thirties there was slightly better type of house being built. Solid construction - and the ones that weren't have been torn down by now. So they are usually quite well built.
You are totally right eva,their is never a bad moment for chocolade spingles, i gues we just grew up with it!
But the licorice thing i don't totally understand wy they like it here more then in other countries.
Great video eva!!!
Thanks and haha, yes, never a bad moment for chocolate sprinkles indeed!
Jaren dertig homes are often spacious and free standing. They are larger and prettier than rijtjeshuizen, but aren't as huge, or pretentious as villas.
Also they are often situated near the centre of towns and cities on roads with other similar homes.
So in short: they combine comfort with practicality with soberness. The ideal home for any dutch person.
Jaren '30 is kind of the sweet spot. They are beautiful houses with beautiful details; while still being modern enough, both layout-wise and in construction quality, to be suitable nowadays. Which is also why a lot of them still exist. From pre-30's, much more houses are already demolished, or were not as beautiful. Also, pre-30's they didn't build as many of what we now would call typical family homes; which is what I meant with layout above. The so-called "doorzon-woning"; i.e. an open living space from front window to back window became popular. Before the 1930's houses were more typically either divided in a front and backroom, and their was a much clearer divide between either very big mansions OR very tiny houses for factory workers that have already been demolished because they became unwanted or didn't meet modern building codes. Then in the 1940's obviously not much was built. And then in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's came the "reconstruction" era after World War II where lots of identical houses were built in large volumes, with much less attention to detail than in the 1930's. Houses from the 30's are known for beloved details like details in the masonry, nice woodwork, stained glass windows, bay windows, stained glass windows, segmented windows, and don't forget the "en-suite deuren": wooden double doors with segmented glass windows that divide the room in two without making it feel closed up like pre-1930s houses. Frequently these doors will be accompanied by bookshelves above and around them. So houses from these period are known for being lavish/stylish/vintage without feeling obsolete, outdated, or primitive.
In am Dutch and hate camping and hate sporty things 🥴
Hi Eva, hagelslag YES!! But what do you think about all those other things we eat on a slice of bread: banana (with honey or Nutella), strawberries, peanutbutter AND hagelslag, tomato and mayonnaise, cookies (speculaas), cheese and jam??
Regarding the open curtains: whatever the history is, I think many of us do it for a few simple, practical reasons. First of all, we're not too bothered by anyone's opinion, so there's no reason to close the curtains to "hide" something. Second, we Dutch love to pennypinch, so by keeping the curtains open during the day, we basically get free heating & light, saving on those annoying bills ;) Which reminds me, due to the fairly cold winters and lots of rainy days, we're a bit obsessed with the sun and want to bask in it every chance we get. So that's another reason to keep those curtains open and enjoy those delicious rays. Then there's our general curiosity of simply watching people go by, which is something you'll see a lot once you pay attention to it. I'm sure this is more of a human than a Dutch thing, but you tend to have a lot more opportunities to do it here. Sitting in a restaurant? You probably have a view of the street, where you can witness ppl passing by. Heck, simply pass by a street with a lot of elderly people and you'll notice they basically make a sport of watching others from their balcony or front garden. And who doesn't love sitting in the park and just watch ppl do stuff? Last, but not least, it actually promotes safety, as there's few places a criminal could do stuff out of sight. This also benefits children, who are often quite independent on a young age. Parents give their kids a lot of freedom, in part because they know that even if something were to happen, there's bound to be somebody that will see it and provide assistance (not that there's a lot of dangers for kids here anyways). If everyone would keep their curtains closed, it'd be a lot less comforting to parents I'm sure.
Having said all that, I close my curtains once it gets dark. After all, at that point these benefits are basically gone, so there's little need to keep my curtains open. During the day I'll only close them if there's too much sun heating up the house, or if the glare annoys me while watching TV.
There was a time that it was possible that if you stood in sight from a public area before a window without curtains butt naked you got arrested for indescent exposure (could be an actual case in first semester legal studies) and maybe this still is the case, but I think it is dependend of who is doing the act :)
Some answers:
1. Omafiets is probably called that because it looks old-fashioned.
2. Lived here -- in the Netherlands -- all my life, but I've never heard anything about people wanting a 30's house. Is this really a thing?
3. Some people love it, most people hate it. At least, that's my experience. Why it's more liked in general, I don't know. Probably a cultural thing. We do it, because the people before us did it.
4. If I had to guess why people like peanut butter, it would be a combination of cultures. One one side with have the dutch culture where we eat a lot of bread and on the other side we are heavily influenced by the Indonesian kitchen. The Indonesian kitchen uses a lot of peanuts, so we're probably more used to them, which makes you more likely to buy/try other peanut products as well. Moreover, making peanut sauce, which is used in the Indonesian kitchen, can very easily be done with peanut butter. So most people have at least one jar just for that.
5. That is not a thing in general and is probably just your girlfriend. Some people like sporty things, others like going to part, while yet others just want to lie on the beach. I doubt this is very different from other countries. At best, the Dutch are more likely to go on a biking vacation or something.
6. I don't get it either.
7. I don't get it either. Though from my experience this is only a thing in the western part of the country. Us eastern Dutchmen are more civilized and do have curtains(and use them).
Since my mom started living in western part of the country, she has also started doing this. Each time I go over and when it gets dark, I close the curtains. When I do that my mom however starts complaining that it's too early to close the curtains. I don't know. It's just a weird cultural thing I guess.
Dag, Ava.
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Je begint Nederlands te klinken in je uitspraak van je Engels! Het duidelijkst hoorde ik dat toen je 7:54 "so" zei ([soʊ] in plaats van [səʊ]). Je spreekt vaker Nederlands dan Engels?
Peanut butter was introduced here by the Americans to get kids to eat healthy and calorie-ridge things on their bread to recover from the famine at the end of WWII. And the kids liked it and got hooked up.
-Omafiets, or at least the grandma part, refers to the ancient style of the bike, as it was the style of bikes as used by the end of the 19th century onward till about the 50's before lighter aluminium frames were developed(which also changed every so many years). Added to that is the fact that those old steel bikes had proven to be indestructible, so chances were your grandma would still be riding the original bike she bought decades earlier. As a matter of fact I've had one, it was at the very least 50 years old, rusty but indestructible indeed. Till, of course, it was stolen. Because in the Netherlands you can be certain of 3 things: death, taxes and your bike getting stolen at least once your life.
-Jaren 30' houses are the most modern house you can get before moving on to post-WW2 houses, which are far more concrete based and had to be assembled quickly as most of the buildings in the country were damaged due to the War. Older homes from before 1910 are often single walled and harder to insulate, which is going to be a challenge at current natural gas prices. So built between 1925 and 1939 are the most desirable houses who are built by brick, have lots space for things like a washing machine / dryer, have ornamental ceilings, stained glass and such, while at the same time are modern enough so they can be insulated without to much hassle and aren't falling apart yet cuz they're so damn old. It is not to say houses after that weren't laid in brick btw, it's still being done but comes at a premium. A jaren 30 huis just gets you the oldest home possible without have to spend a fuck ton on heating and maintaining it. Personally I've never had this preference, but then again I'm pretty young and simply didn't have to money for a jaren 30 huis,
-The reason we like activities on holiday(or camping as a holiday) is because we're pretty active people but also cheap people: everything is within walking or cycling distance, so you don't have to pay to get around. Camping is just an extention of that, just dump your caravan or tent somewhere, and cycle to explore the environment. It's cheap, it get's you out 'n about and cuz our country is so darn small, it's only a few hours of driving before your in a completely different environment(the Ardennes are literally a 3 hours drive from Utrecht and has forested hillsides totally unknown to the Netherlands). Doesn't go for everybody, there's plenty of people who like to indulge in some 5-star all inclusive resort on the Red Sea Coast or Turkey where the only movement they have is from the bed to the buffet and the beach. But for me, if I wanted to lie and bake in the sun all day, I don't have to fly across the world to do so, I can do that in my own backyard if I wanted to. I like to explore countries, eat their food, learn their history and be amazed at their different practices(pretty much like you are doing here).
-On Kings/Queensday we're not having vlooienmarkten, but _ vrijmarkten_(free markets), which means you don't need a permit to sell on the street(and you can keep the profits to yourself). Normally to sell on the streets one needs a vendors permit(ventvergunning) which is usually too expensive for kids or to sell your old junk(for Amsterdam it's about 50-70 euros). However there are recurring flea markets where a permit for a location(often an sports hall, a small low traffic street) is collectively bought as a vereniging(an association?) and have every member with a stall pay a small fee to join in. This is often done on local celebrations, like a town or village existing for a few hundred years, to commemorate past wars / battles etc. On Queensday they basically allowed everybody to sell their junk in order to make the festivities and holiday more interesting for the populace.
-Leaving the curtains open comes from the Protestant tradition where honest citizens have nothing to hide and thus leave their curtains open to virtue signal such. It might have an added layer of WW2 history: During the German Occupation citizens were forced to block the light coming from their windows so Allied bombers had a harder time assessing where they were, as cities simply went dark. Once freed we were just too keen on leaving things open as a statement or something? Personally I always close them as soon as it's darker outside than inside, but perhaps that's just personal preference.
The freemarket dates to the 60s. And was a way to passify the people that didn't like that Queen Beatrix married a German so close after WW2. More traditionally I think rulers often allowed for certain things that were normally forbidden in celebration of their birthdays, like pardons that are given every year.
1. It's called an Omafiets simply because it's a very old design, been around for almost a century I reckon.
2. Because they have heaps of character like with the stained glass and nice woodwork, without being TOO too old (so they're still comfortable like a more modern house). They also happen to be the more desirable neighbourhoods, just outside the city centre but nice and quiet and green.
3. I don't think people are THAT obsessed with drop or raisins. YMMV.
4. Really though, is there really that much variety of peanut butter? The peanut butter shops are also a but gimmicky.
5. In my experience the Dutch also like the balance between active and leisurely. You'll just as easily find people enjoying some nice food as you'll find them biking and hiking around.
6. No idea what the relationship between King's Day and flea markets is. Must be because of the folk festivities that used to happen in the olden days.
7. This is just not true. Most people close them every evening. Sometimes they don't close them early enough and you'll be able to sneak a peek inside.
Curtains open? Burgelars can see whats inside the house before they break in (and see there is nothing to steal).
Curtains closes? They have someting valueble to hide, let break in and see what to get and take it.
Hi Ava... "Omafiets" got it's name because of the long time the model is current, I guess.. The model dates from my granny's age (before WW2), so to say. The "flea markets" on King's day... yeah... that's another tradition because you can't sell stuff in public without a licence in the Netherlands... Only that day is exempt. so, enjoy the flea-markets next King's day !
It's called 'peanut cheese' because by law, in order for something to be called butter, it has to contain milk/butter. That's not the case with peanut butter. On the other hand, the suffix -cheese had a precedent with another food called 'leverkaas' (livercheese), so peanut cheese it became.
Not only needs to contain milk, there are rules for the amount of milk and fat in it. Boter always is Roomboter. Margarine is not alowed to be called butter, there is not enough fat in it for that.
@@LoekiNL Margarine is made of vegetable fat, to call it butter it must be animal fat.
@@LoekiNL Margarine isn't allowed to be named butter, cause it's not made with dairymilk but made out of plants/oils
The women's bicycle 'Omafiets' was named this, for it's classical appearance. A women's bicycle, for it's easy way to get on. Specially when wearing a skirt.
IMO a home is what you make it. So I do not get the specific demands on a home.
I don't like all 'Drop', but we have so many kinds, so there's bound to be drop for anyone. My fav. is Honingdrop.
And there can only be one Peanutbutter and that is Calvé pindakaas (met stukjes) 😄
Holiday for me is chilling out. I will go out hiking in our woods with my cameras, but all in a relaxing way.
My job is active, so my free time is relax time.
The free market on kingsday, is meant as a day where everyone gets to trade without paying taxes. Back in a time where the king ruled, everyone had to pay taxes to the king, over their sales earnings. On King's day, those taxes were lifted for the day.
I don’t recognise the no curtain thing at all. Maybe it depends per street. In my area off Utrecht everyone has curtains, most are open during the day and closed when it’s getting dark. But there are also people who close them all the time. And older people have the ‘vitrage’, the thin curtains that allow them to see you outside, but from outside, you can’t see them.
Thanks for sharing! 🌞🌞🌞 new sub and bell ❤❤❤
In the U.S.A. everybody wants a Victorian style house. We just like the building style of a 'jaren 30 huis'.
I love the oma fietsen, you can transport a LOT with/on them, new bicycles have a limiet of 25kg so you can't have a friend on the bagagedrager (so stupid)
It's pindakaas becasue when they wanted to call it pindaboter, the butter industry objected (and won). We could have called it peanut-sticky stuff I guess... ;)
It's pindakaas because butter was a protected name. For a long time already.
If the stuff was invented today, probably it would be called "pindaspread".
hahaha tat 30's home must be a local obsession in Utrecht. I never heard about it.. ;)
Yeah the curtains open i always hated that. My mom is that way..
Does the date of kings day change when the monarch changes?
It used to be 30th of April when we had Queens day, it changed to 27th of April the king's birthday cause he became king.
I close my curtains when it is getting cold outside, during the evening and night
In certain areas of the Netherlands "omafietsen" were called, or are still being called, "halleluja fietsen" as they used to be popular amongst priest and other members of the (catholic) clergy, because sitting on an "omafiets" is a bit easier/more comfortable when wearing the long priest robes.
The "jaren '30" houses might be popular, because they're usually bigger than the post WW2 houses, and most of them still have the "chambres en suite" doors (with stained glass) An other, maybe even more important reason: in the 1930's a lot of residential areas were designed by Dutch toparchitects like Berlage. The new architecture in Rotterdam is a direct result of the German bombardment in 1940.
I do like drop, but I just don't buy it anymore as I manage to eat about half a kilo in 15 minutes (and yes, I'm not feeling well after that). I'm a fan of the sweet version, do not like the salty ones that much
In the US in the 80s and early 90s there were raisins everywhere raisin everything
I grew up in a "jaren 30 huis" and I can tell you that in those days, for very little money, comparatively very good houses were built.
However, they also often use materials that are incompatible with todays practices, e.g. for plumbing, electricity, ceilings, etc.
So whenever you need some partial renovation or repair it often ends up to be major work, e.g. replacing the entire plumbing, drains, electricity etc.
Also way more noise in the older home's. I prefer newer ones so that i don't hear the neighbor's
Oh that also makes sense, maybe they're overrepresented in renovation shows just because they require renovation more often than newer homes
The flea market is there because its the only day you can sell your stuff without paying taxes (no btw, no income tax) on the stuff you sell that day
As is allready pointed out... the Omafiets became popular when most younger people had more modern bikes, around the 70s . But there were older ladies that still owned the original oma fiets from the 50s..... and as always, older things become fashionable again.
There is no relation between our monarchy and flee markets on king's day but I guess it's a great oppertunity to rid of things that aren't of any use anymore and spring time is the best time to clean up and perhaps it replaces the old Dutch custom of doing 'de grote schoonmaak' in the spring when houses had to be completely closed coz of the cold of that season.
omafiets: the reason it's called an "omafiets" is moreso to indicate it's a type of bike that's been around for around 70 years (~1950) in pretty much the same form it does today, and it's referring, as others have mentioned, to the fact that it's the kind of bike your grandma would've used (specifically your grandma since it's a "women's style" bike, with the low-hanging frame).
30's homes: not really sure. i've personally never really felt that way, but perhaps it has something to do with them being not *too* old, but still pre-war?
licorice: i agree, and i don't get it either, i personally don't like the taste of licorice.
peanut butter: no clue, really, my best guess would be that the reason it's popular is that it's called peanut cheese, though that's honestly unlikely to be the actual reason, as others have said, though, the reason it's called peanut cheese because you're not allowed to call non-butter products (IE anything that isn't a dairy product) butter.
king's day flea markets: there's supposedly two reasons for this, the first is somewhat obvious, and that's to make the streets be a hub of activity, since the royal family does go out to a few towns and cities to take part in those. the second is perhaps less obvious, but all of these people sitting outside doing their flea market stuff act as a massive "implied" community police force, which helps prevent things like riots because there *are* some people that don't like the royal family.
As for curtains: i *think* that's somewhat of a community caretaking thing, police do have that role here, though it's much less pronounced than it is in america. It is much moreso something people do for each other. i personally value my privacy a bit too much so i keep curtains closed most of the time (also because my house is messy and i feel like i'd be judged for that, even though people probably wouldn't mind), but i think it's mostly so people can see you're alive and well as it's fairly common for people to fall ill or become incapacitated in their homes, especially the elderly, and if they can be seen through an open curtain they're much more likely to be found and brought to a hospital quickly.
Oma fietsen are the old models dating from the 1930 -1945. The post-war models had innovations like hand brakes and gears. So in the late 60-'s just about anyone had a modern bike with handbrakes and gears, except those people that got grandma's hand me down. Hence: you got a grandma bike.
By that time everyone realised that in the busy bikestands at the train station your plastic lights would break immediately and other bikes people snag your brake cables and make you brakes stick slightly. And the gear link of the hub gears will be the first thing to get busted..
So now people had these modern bikes with no lights, no gears and sticky brakes...you were better off with a old grandma bike. So the old models were reintroduced.
Even though I have been living in Canada for 40 years, as soon as you say omafiets I can visualize one. Not only is it a straight up bike which lets you step in instead of having to swing your legs over the saddle, which oma with her lange jurk couldn't pull off but it's also `degelijk` that is to say, it has a ketting kast, spatborden, jas beschermers en een standaard. Oh by the way NL may be flat but the wind can blow and when it does een omafiets Sucks! because you're catching it with your full body and yes, the wind will Always blow against you :) :)
I will be there April 17th thru the 28th! Ill be there for Kings Day! Going to do a canal bar boat for Kings Night! Lets meet up if ya can. Ill be in Amersfoort 17th thru 22nd, Amsterdam 22nd thru the 26th, Airport 26th thru 28th
Hello Ava , the oma fiets was bild before ww 2 and also after that war , so the model is old just like oma. They are stil building them. The jaren 30 huis is a type that has a lot of room insite and high sealings and it is timeless in the Netherlands. The licourice is an ediction like shuwing gum in the USA. I have listen to al your stories and it is gezellig and verry nice. Things that are verry normal for a Dutchman can be abnormal for Americans and also the ather way around. Forgive me fore the spelling , but my english is not verry good. Thank you for all your stories , and i hope we can get manny more of them.
Don't forget all the old fashioned playing (ouderwetse spelletjes) on King's day.
Americans have a snack 'obsession' too. Aren't there miles of donut shelves in the supermarkets overthere and even shops where they only sell those in all kinds of variation? I didn't do any research on the subject but I am pretty sure that there are more flavors of donuts in the US than there are of 'drop' in the Netherlands.
Oh, I don't know about donut shelves in the supermarket, but we do have donut shops-Dunkin' Donuts has made it here to the Netherlands too 😂