Our Summer Trip Misadventure
“Do you have any proof that you live in the Netherlands?” the border control guard asked as he looked down at me from his high desk. I was trying to board a Eurostar train...
Accidentally Dutch Blog
Why Do The Dutch Always Reply in English?
Dutch is not an easy language. Sure, it’s easy enough for Dutch people but they have the unfair advantage of having being born Dutch. The rest of us have to learn it the hard...
My Son Thinks Sinterklaas is Santa
My five year old son was sitting in complete silence at the kitchen table, studying the advent calendar I’d given him a few moments earlier. He’d been that way for at least a minute....
My Very Confusing First Encounter with the Tradition of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
As the end of November and 2001 approached I’d been in the Netherlands for around five months. Over that time I’d slowly started to understand some small parts of Dutch life but I still...
How Adult Chatlines Taught Me to Count in Dutch
Back in 2001, during the first few weeks of my new life in the Netherlands I would occasionally suffer from insomnia. I’d moved into a slightly strange temporary apartment in Amsterdam (which had been...
Doe Normaal – How to Be ‘Normal’ Like the Dutch
If you’ve lived in the Netherlands for any amount of time you have probably heard the Dutch phrase ‘Doe Normaal’. You might even have had it shouted at you by a passing local. If...
