Typically Dutch: polls

France is traditionally the favourite holiday destination of the Dutch. Around 1.5 million people spend their summer there, which is often called the “Dutch invasion of France”.

Germany is second on the list of popular holiday spots with 950,000 people visiting in the summer. Spain is third, with an estimated 860,000 Dutch visitors.

Among the intercontinental holiday destinations, the United States and Indonesia are very popular.

Source: the ANWB motoring organisation.

Het Wilhelmus, is the national anthem of the Netherlands and is the oldest national anthem in the world. 

Upon the Netherlands' establishment as a separate kingdom in 1815, a national anthem was needed for the nation. Despite Het Wilhelmus being popular among the Dutch people since the 17th century, the new government at the time decided to make Wien Neêrlands Bloed (Who is of Dutch Blood) the national anthem. However, Het Wilhelmus remained more popular with the people and it became the official anthem in 1932.

The song tells of Willem van Oranje (William of Orange), his life and his battles against the King of Spain. The anthem is written from a first-person perspective, as if it were sung by William himself.

Source: Wikipedia and Nationalanthems

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The Dutch teaching style can be a little different from what you are used to in your own country. Interaction in class, forming your own opinion, self study and group work are typical characteristics of Dutch education. Being open and expressing your personal thoughts on a topic is considered important in class settings. The relationship with teachers is therefore equatorial as they are the facilitators of the learning process.

This teaching style is also called Problem Based Learning (PBL). In PBL, students learn about subjects in the context of realistic problems which they have to analyse and solve through self study and group work. 

Find out more about other characteristics of the Dutch way of teaching.
 

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The lowest point in Holland is located in Nieuwekerk aan den IJssel and is 6,76 meters below sea level. But that does not mean that the people in this council live under water. In fact, a quarter of Holland is situated below sea level. This includes all the major cities in the west of the country, which happens to be the most densely populated part of Holland.

Holland has an extensive network of polders, canals and pumping stations to keep itself dry, making Holland a true water country. The Delta Works are one of the most impressive structures in the world. This system of hydraulic engineering works protects Holland against storm surges and improves the water balance. A real technical tour de force!

Water engineering and management is an important subject area in Dutch higher education with many institutions offering study programmes in this field. Take a look at the database with study programmes to find a programme that would suit you.

Source: www.keringshuis.nl and www.holland.com
 

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Queen's day, or Koninginnedag as we call it, is a national holiday in the Netherlands. On this day we celebrate the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. Although it's original the birthday of Queen Juliana (the mother of Queen Beatrix), not of Queen Beatrix, we celebrate her birthday on 30 April. Queen Beatrix’s birthday is really on the 31th January.

During the reigns of Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Juliana, it was traditionally celebrated on the monarch's birthday, on 31 August and 30 April respectively. In honour of her mother, Queen Beatrix decided to continue to celebrate Queen's Day on Queen Juliana's birthday.

Want to see what Queen’s day is all about? Watch this video.

 Source:  www.koninklijkhuis.nl and www.koninginnedagamsterdam.nl
 

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There are over 30 cities in Holland where higher education institutions are located. To see the locations of the higher education institutions in the Netherlands, take a look at Study in Holland’s map of Holland.

The city with the largest student population is Groningen. Although Amsterdam is the largest Dutch city and has the largest amount of students, Groningen has most students percentage- wise. Students make up almost 30% of Groningen’s population, making it a true student city.

The cities with the biggest student numbers are:

- Amsterdam

- Utrecht

- Rotterdam

- Groningen

- Nijmegen

- Tilburg

- Leiden

- Enschede

- Maastricht

Source: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek and Studiekeuze123

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Carnival is a traditional Christian celebration to start the fasting period before Easter.

Carnival is mainly celebrated in the provinces of Limburg and North Brabant, both near the Belgian border. In these regions you can experience many ‘strange’ Carnival traditions, but having a meal on the town square is not typically one of them.  

Prince Carnival

Over time one person became elected to be the spokesperson and he would act the fool during the Carnival period. He became known as “Prince Carnival or "the Prince of Fools".

Herring

Haring happen (eating herring) on Ash Wednesday originated in the past when people were not allowed to eat meat because of the fasting period.

City names

Another tradition of Carnival is to change the names of towns and cities for the three days of celebration. Some examples: Eindhoven becomes Lampegat, ‘s Hertogenbosch becomes Oeteldonk and Breda becomes Kielegat.

Source: Wikipedia 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival 
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnaval

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Unfortunately, the answer that we had in mind before Christmas is no longer correct, because 2010 was the eighth white Christmas since 1901.

When the poll was published, the correct answer was ‘7 times’, but heavy snow in the week before Christmas changed the outcome.

The chances of a white Christmas are very small, about 7%. According to the KNMI, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, the white Christmas in 2009 was the first since 1981, nearly 30 years earlier.

The KNMI defines a white Christmas as uninterrupted snow coverage in the centrally located town of De Bilt - where the KNMI offices are located - on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Source: KNMI (In Dutch only)

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Of all international students in Holland, Germany is by far the main country of origin.

A large part of the growth observed in the number of international students is also attributable to German students. Forty-four per cent of foreign students now come from Germany.

China, Belgium, Spain and France are traditionally other large countries of origin. However, there are also large groups of Indonesian, Bulgarian and Turkish students in Holland.

Want to learn more about where students in Holland come from? Take a look at the key figures.
 

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The roots of Sinterklaas are not as obvious as they may seem.

Some describe him as the Dutch Santa Claus or Father Christmas. And although they have similar roles (bringing presents to children), Santa Claus travels on his sleigh from the North Pole whereas Sinterklaas’ means of transportation is a steamboat and a white horse called Amerigo.

Although Sinterklaas is mainly celebrated in the Netherlands (and some parts of Belgium), he is not originally from Holland. Confused yet?

For as long as the Dutch can remember, Sinterklaas travels from Spain to the Netherlands every year to celebrate the name day of St. Nicholas here. So Spain is where he lives, but is that also where he is originally from?

No. While the feast of Sinterklaas has its roots in the Christian world, Sinterklaas or St. Nicholas (280–342) was a Greek bishop of Myra (in present-day Turkey). The Sinterklaas feast celebrates the name day, 6 December, of the bishop who was the saint of children and sailors (hence the steamboat).

Want to learn more about this Dutch holiday?

Read more about Sinterklaas on wikipedia or on the website of the city of The Hague

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In Holland dinner is traditionally served at about six o'clock in the evening, which is early by international standards. The old-fashioned Dutch dinner consists of one simple course: beans or (usually) potatoes, with a large portion of vegetables and a small portion of meat with gravy, or a potato and vegetable stew.

Typical traditional Dutch winter dishes are stamppot (mashed potatoes mixed with mashed vegetables) and erwtensoep (pea soup). Hutspot is a type of stamppot, with mashed potatoes, carrots and onions.

Oliebollen (fried doughnut balls) are traditionally served on New Year’s Eve. The Dutch also took their oliebollen to America, where they are now known in a slightly different shape as doughnuts. 

Source: Wikipedia

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A total of 16 Dutch people, mostly in Physics or Chemistry, have won a Nobel Prize.

The latest was received in October 2010 by Andre Geim who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. He is sharing the prize with Konstantin Novoselov, who earned his PhD from Radboud University Nijmegen.

The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The prizes were established in 1895, as directed in the will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. The prizes for achievements in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901.

Take a look at all Dutch Nobel Prize winners (in Dutch only)

Source: Wikipedia

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On 9 June, voters in the Netherlands will go to the polls to elect 150 members of the national parliament or House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) for the next four years.

The Dutch government is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch (Queen Beatrix) acts as the head of state within the perimeters of the constitution. This system of representative democracy is common in Europe.

Political parties

Some of the political parties that participate in the elections are: CDA (Christian democrats), PvdA (social democrats), VVD (liberals), D66 (social liberals), GroenLinks (Green Left, environmentalists), PVV (Party For Freedom), Christen Unie (Christian democrats made up of mostly orthodox Protestant Christians), SP (socialist party) and SGP (an orthodox Protestant party with conservative policies). 

Voting for international students

Although most elections in the Netherlands are open to Dutch citizens only, international residents may take part in the municipal elections provided they meet certain criteria. As an international student, you are not eligible to vote in the elections on 9 June, but you can take part in the municipal elections of the town where you registered as a resident. 

Visual voting aid

Curious which Dutch political party fits you best? Newspaper Trouw has developed a visual version of its traditional Kieskompas, or online voting guide, to help people who don't speak much Dutch decide which party to vote for. www.kieskompas.nl

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The Dutch team (het Nederlands elftal) fought like lions during the World Cup in South Africa. Without losing a single match in their group and after defeating Brazil in the quarter finals (2-1) and Uruguay (2-3) in the semi final, they were able to face Spain confidently in the last game!

There were 8.5 million people in the Netherlands watching the match against Spain on 11 July 2010. The last time the Dutch team played a final match in the World Cup was 32 years ago. Expectations and hopes were high, but eventually Spain won (1-0) the game and became the world champion.

Despite the result, the Dutch team could count on a warm welcome in the Netherlands. After visiting the Queen, they enjoyed a canal cruise in Amsterdam, where thousands of supporters had gathered along the water to applaud them and a huge party was held on the Museumplein.

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Queen’s Day is one of the most popular Dutch holidays for the Dutch as well as for foreigners.

The country turns orange because many people dress in the national colour to celebrate the birthday of the late Queen Juliana. Although the current Queen Beatrix's birthday is on 31 January, she officially celebrates her birthday on 30 April.

Festivities

There are many traditional festivities during Queen’s Day. Probably the most familiar are the street markets (vrijmarkten) all over the country, where everybody is allowed to sell items in designated areas of town.

Other activities during Queen's Day are children's games, individual musical performances and open-air concerts. The night before Queen's Day is also celebrated in most cities: this is called Queen's Night (Koninginnenacht).

The largest celebration of Queen's Day is in Amsterdam but Queen's Night in The Hague is also very popular. During the celebrations people dress in orange, as a reference to the colour of the Royal House of Orange-Nassau.

Swimming contest

However crazy it may get, a swimming contest in the cold ocean wearing an inflatable crown is not (yet) a part of the traditional Queen’s Day festivities.

Source: Wikipedia 

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There are over 13 million bikes in Holland. With a population of approximately 16.5 million this is almost one bike per person.

Since Holland is a flat and small country, the bike is a great way of getting around. The distances from one town to another are never very long. Holland also has many bicycle paths, which make riding a bike relatively safe. Recognizing the bike paths is easy: they are often painted red and have their own traffic lights.

Most students have their own bike as it is an easy means of transport to the institution where they study. Most of them have second-hand bikes. There are many shops which offer good and reasonably-priced bicycles.

Here are some great tips to ride a bike like a true Dutchman.

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In the 2008-2009 academic year approximately 76,000 international students studied in Holland. 

30,400 EU & EFTA¹ students were enrolled in government-sponsored study programmes.

17,850 non-EU & non-EFTA students were enrolled in government-sponsored study programmes.

7,250 exchange students.

20,500 other inbound credit mobile students.² 

  ¹ EFTA: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
  ² Credit mobility means: to gain credits abroad towards the programme at home.  

Top five of countries of origin for international students studying in Holland

Popular degree programmes among international students

Find out what international students say about their stay in Holland in the testimonials.

Want to know more about where international students in Holland come from and where they study?

Download 'Internationalization in higher education in the Netherlands: key figures 2008-2009' (102 kB)

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Athletes from the Netherlands enjoyed two very exciting weeks at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The Netherlands secured 11^th place in the medal count thanks to four Gold, one Silver and three Bronze medals.

These are the winners and their achievements:

Gold Medallists

Nicolien Sauerbreij – Snowboard, Ladies' Parallel Giant Slalom

Ireen Wust - Speed Skating, Ladies' 1500 m

Mark Tuitert - Speed Skating, Men's 1500 m

Sven Kramer – Speed Skating, Men's 5000 m

Silver Medallists

Annette Gerritsen - Speed Skating, Ladies' 1000 m

Bronze Medallists

Sven Kramer, Mark Tuitert, Simon Kuipers, Jan Blokhuijsen - Speed Skating, Men's Team Pursuit

Bob de Jong - Speed Skating, Men's 10000 m

Laurine van Riessen,  Speed Skating, Ladies' 1000 m 

As you can see, Speed Skating is something the Dutch are quite good at!

The Holland Heineken House is a special Dutch feature at every Olympics. It is the Dutch Olympic ‘home away from home’ where all the successes of the athletes are celebrated. In Vancouver, over 120.000 people visited the Holland Heineken House to celebrate together with the Dutch.

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For a small country like Holland, an international orientation is a must for survival in an increasingly internationalized world. This applies to many fields, including education and training.

Holland was the first non-English-speaking country to offer courses taught in English. For the 2011-2012 academic year Holland offers 1,560 international study programmes. These study programmes range from short course to fully fledged bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes. 1,543 of these are taught entirely in English. This large amount of study programmes makes Holland the frontrunner in continental Europe in terms English-taught courses. 

The Dutch education system is interactive and focuses on teamwork, which makes it easy to meet other international students.

In our database you will find all the international study programmes. You can browse through the database to find the programme or course you are looking for.

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You may have noticed that all the answers had something to do with rain and wind. Wind has always been and important source of energy in Holland. In the 17th century wind was the most important source of energy. Windmills were not only used to mill grain. They were also needed to pump water out of the polders to keep them dry, to power saws cutting timber for shipbuilding, and to operate the copper beaters’ hammers.

Today just under 1,000 windmills survive. They are lovingly cared for as part of our Dutch heritage even though it’s now knowledge and innovation that drive our economy rather than the ever-turning sails of our windmills.

The Dutch energy company Eneco has created a funny commercial with more typically Dutch sayings about wind. Watch it on Youtube.

The sayings in the poll we're not translated to represent the actual meaning, but translated word by word to English. Here’s what they really mean:

From the wind we cannot live.

In Dutch: Van de wind kun je niet leven.

The meaning of the saying is that one cannot work for free. 

After the rain, more rain will fall.

This is not a Dutch saying. The true Dutch saying says that after the rain, the sun will shine. Meaning that every cloud has a silver lining.

The real saying in Dutch: Na regen komt zonneschijn.

Red morning-sky brings water to the ditch

In Dutch: Morgenrood brengt water in de sloot.

This saying can be taken literally: in Holland a red morning sky is a sign of high air humidity. 

As the wind blows, so does his jacket.

In Dutch: Zo de wind waait, waait zijn jasje.

This saying means that someone will jump on any bandwagon.

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