Marriage and Family

Many couples live together before or instead of getting married. Since January 1998, same-sex partnerships have been legally recognized. Same-sex partners are given rights that heterosexual spouses enjoy, such as taxation benefits and inheritance rights.

In the Protestant north, families tend to be small, with one or two children. Families are often larger in the Catholic south. In urban and rural areas alike, the gezin, or nuclear family, is considered more important than the extended family.

Dutch women today often keep their own surnames after marriage, and they are entering the job market at a heightened pace. 40.4 percent (1999)

Eating

Breakfast typically consists of any of the following: cereal, bread, cheese, sliced cold meats, fruit juice, and coffee or tea. Multigrain and other dark-grain breads are among the most popular varieties of bread. Most people, especially children, eat something sweet on their bread for breakfast or lunch; typical is chocolate 'sprinkles' or chocolate spread. Children often eat hot cereal at breakfast. Krentenbroodjes (currant buns) are a favorite as well. For lunch, many people eat open-faced sandwiches, or a kroket (a deep-fried croquette). Popular snacks include fried potatoes (eaten with mayonnaise, not ketchup), stroopwafels (syrup waffles) and poffertjes (small puffed pancakes served on special occasions).

The main meal is usually in the evening. Some typical Dutch dishes include herring, smoked eel, pea soup, and hutspot (mashed potatoes mixed with carrots and onions). Pastries are another Dutch specialty. A wide variety of cuisines is offered by restaurants in the larger towns, and Indonesian food has become an established part of the Dutch national cuisine.

In informal gatherings, many hosts indicate that it is appropriate to begin eating by saying Eet smakelijk ('Eat deliciously'). It is considered bad manners to rest one’s elbows on the table or to put one’s hands on one’s lap, but it is perfectly acceptable to rest one’s forearms on the table. Even children are expected to stay at the table until a meal is over. It is considered inappropriate to eat with a fork only, and forks are not provided for eating dessert, just a small spoon.

Socializing

A firm handshake is the accepted way of greeting and parting from acquaintances, even children, although it is quite usual for friends to kiss each other on alternate cheeks—close male friends sometimes hug each other. A common phrase is Hoe gaat het? ('How goes it?'). The use of first names, once reserved for close friends and relatives, is now fairly widespread, particularly among young people.

In Amsterdam, bars are popular meeting places, but in general the Dutch do most of their socializing in their own or in their friends’ homes. If a time to visit is stated, it is important to be punctual. If no time is stated for an evening visit to new acquaintances, it is usual to arrive no earlier than 8:30 pm and to leave between 11 pm and midnight.

Recreation

The Dutch enjoy home improvements and indoor plants—most Dutch homes overflow with greenery. Flowers are picked (if home grown) or purchased regularly to adorn the home, restaurants, and businesses. Television is very popular, and the Dutch have access through cable to numerous European channels.

Soccer and cycling are the most popular sports. Almost everyone in The Netherlands cycles; there are numerous cycle clubs and bike paths (Fietspaden) throughout the country, and many people use bicycles as a means of transportation. People participate in sports through clubs, and games are organized locally, regionally, or nationally depending on the level of the players. Each sport has a national association that oversees its organization. Tennis, field hockey, swimming, sailing, ice skating (especially speed skating), windsurfing, basketball, badminton, and various other sports all have their devotees. Many people play korfbal, which is almost identical to English netball and not dissimilar from basketball. In Friesland, some people play kaatsen, a team sport similar to baseball (a small, soft ball is hit with the hand). In the north, pole-vaulting (for distance, not height) is popular.

In Friesland, in years when the ice is sufficiently hard, a day-long ice-skating race takes place on a route that encompasses all of the province’s 11 main towns and involves going across some parts of the sea. As many as 80,000 people participate, and the event arouses great excitement throughout The Netherlands.

Holidays and Celebrations

Official public holidays include New Year’s Day (1 January), Easter Friday and Monday, the Queen’s Birthday (30 April), Ascension Day, Liberation Day (5 May), Whitmonday, and two days at Christmas (25 and 26 December).

The Queen’s Birthday marks the birthday of Queen Beatrix’s mother, Juliana, who stepped down from the throne in 1980. Juliana was a popular queen, and her birthday is still celebrated with many festivities, including decorations, parties, and parades.

Liberation Day commemorates the day on which The Netherlands was freed from Nazi occupation by the Allies in 1945. This event is celebrated with military parades and musical concerts. A special commemorative service is put on in Dam Square, in Amsterdam, the evening before Liberation Day (on 4 May).

Ascension Day comes 40 days after Easter and is the day when Jesus Christ is said to have ascended into Heaven. On this day it has become traditional to go Dauwtrappen (“Dew Treading”), and families go early to fields or parks to walk on the dewy grass and pick spring flowers. There is an old tradition that dew on this day possesses special healing powers.

By tradition, gift-giving in The Netherlands is associated with Saint Nicholas’s Day (6 December). Saint Nicholas is Santa Claus (Sinterklaas) for the Dutch. He is dressed in red robes like a Catholic bishop, rides a white horse, and leaves gifts in shoes (in or by which children place a carrot and a drink for the horse). Sinterklaas also rides in parades and his helper throws small pieces of gingerbread candy (pepernoten) to the children. Gifts said to come from Sinterklaas are exchanged on the evening before Saint Nicholas's Day. Gifts are wrapped elaborately to disguise the contents, and traditionally each contained an amusing poem about the recipient.

Each region also has its local festivals. In May coastal areas celebrate Vlaggetjesdag (Little Flag Day), which marks the beginning of the herring season. In the south there is a popular tradition of pre-Lenten Carnival. This celebration begins on a Sunday and finishes at midnight on Tuesday. Businesses close or operate with a skeleton staff on that Monday and Tuesday. Tourists from the north come down to watch the festivities at Den Bosch and Breda, but by reputation the liveliest Carnival takes place in Maastricht, in the far south.

Luilak, on the Saturday before Whitsunday (the Pentecost; 50 days following Easter), means “lazybones.” Early in the morning on this day, young people rouse their neighbors by making all kinds of noise, such as banging pots and pans, yelling, and whistling. Children who fail to get up and join the noisemakers are called Luilak. In some areas, special Luilakbollen, or Lazybones Cakes, are consumed.

Martinmas, on 11 November, is Saint Martin’s Day, also known as Beggars’ Day. Children go around their neighborhoods singing and begging for treats.

The Dutch receive a month’s vacation, which people often divide into a week in the winter, a week around Easter, and two weeks in the summer. Summer school holidays are different for each of three regions of the country. Schools in the north, center, and south alternate their schedules so that one region will start and end summer vacation particularly early one year, and another the next.

Source: Encarta Interactive World Atlas

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