Who Knew?

The Dutch have a national bird: In English it is named a black-tailed Godwit; In Dutch it is called a Grutto. Both languages claim this name is the sound the bird makes. Its migration includes the longest known non-stop flight of any bird and also the longest journey without pausing to feed, by any animal. Given the Dutch history of the 1700’s maybe this is the throwback to those around the world adventures of colonization.

There is Something About the Holidays

Call them what you will. In the dark months, celebrate the ones that warm your soul, enjoy the lights, smells and sounds that are to appease the northern hemispheres darkest months. These celebrations originate from the most pagan of times, given the soul’s need to have hope in the dark. Nothing has changed. So Happy Holidays! and Proost with whatever your drink is.

And then there was this…

The Holiday Season presents a great opportunity to travel to Dutch cities I normally don’t visit, to enjoy the decorations and festive light displays. These light displays create an atmosphere designed to lift spirits in these dark winter months. It never fails to do so; a delight. I am joined on these outings by throngs of others, shoppers, tourists, families, dogs, a cross section of the folk. The streets are filled with chatter in a plethora of languages; the shops’ revolving doors are always moving. filled with people jostling packages and phones! During these trips I add a museum visit or a special lunch or a tour of the City’s architecture. By day’s end I am ready for a quiet ride home in the earlier defined ‘silence/silte’ car. As evening falls the trains are packed with all the aforementioned folk heading to where ever/whatever is next on their agenda. One of these end-of-day-evening trips, the silence-car was jam-packed and noisy. I waited until one minute before departure time [one can read through the window on the train destination board] and then, from where I was seated, stood up. In my best reach-the-back-of the theatre-voice [training paid off as I had no spoon and glass] I asked “Could we all agree that once the train leaves the station, we will respect the ‘Stilte’ aspect of the car.” Nothing more quiet than a stunned silence!! But it worked. Not a peep was heard once the wheels began to roll. I noticed as occupants left and others boarded, those remaining reached across the aisle to point out the ‘stile’ sign. Who says a college education has no value: Organizational psychology 101.

Stopped in my Tracks

Years ago, I heard a statistic that the Dutch published and read more books per capita than any other country. This supposed fact hung around in my brain, brought forth now and then for some discussion on books and whatnot. Deciding to refresh my memory, looked it up and wow, this is apparently, no longer the case. Wondering why the change, prompted a field trip to the local library. The library had moved; no longer housed in the center of town, now located on the outskirts near a shopping center and streets of suburban housing. As it happened, the day of my visit the major renovation was just completed and the volunteers were busy trying to return books and order to the shelves. I browsed, wandered around, and noticed a chart of prices on the wall. News to me, It costs to join the library and borrow the books. An “all-in” [their term] subscription is $75 per year [euro to dollar exchange rate] and with that you may loan up to 12 pieces of reading material each time. There are less expensive subscriptions and finally if you just want to give-it-a-try for three months you pay $13.75. This was a surprise. I thought the idea of a library was to encourage reading, to make printed matter available to all. When I asked about it, the volunteers were surprised at my surprise. The good news is that children to the age of 18 are free.

Silence/Stilte

The words are printed in bands either across the top or the bottom of the windows of the train car. Silence. Stilte. The ‘contract’ is: to sit in this car, which looks like any other train car you will not converse either in person or on the phone. No music. Silence. Stilte. Foreigners never see the words on the window and chat away. Without exception from every group of the population someone breaks the contract. Most young people are not bothered because they have headphones on and don’t notice. It is the middle age to old that notices. The middle-agers register annoyance, look displeased, put-upon, but stay seated and do nothing. It is we “qween-agers’ that do something about it. One friend, saying nothing but walks to the offending persons, purses her lips and putting a vertical finger on them, says a silent ‘shush’. One train I rode, the qween-ager went multiple times to each newly boarded and offending group to suggest they mind the sign on the window. She had 100% success. My tactic, when it is my turn to enforce this social contract, is to approach the offenders, ask in English if they speak English. Often they do as they are tourists etc. I point to the sign on the window and explain that it means no conversation. Should they wish to continue, there are other cars. If they reply in Dutch, then in Dutch I assure them that they see the sign “silte’ and want nothing more than to abide by that. My success rate is about 95%. One unruly group gave me a continuous dialogue on why I could stuff it. That was short lived as the conductor appeared and i requested of her to explain to them the theory of this seating arrangement. It was quite fun to see them “mind” her and leave. Yesterday night the car was silent on it’s own volition. How lovely is the quiet.

Corner in the Library

During my one and only visit to the Library, while wandering, I came across this strange carpeting; a pine plank motive. At the moment I missed all the clues.

To respect the privacy of the child I did not get a closer look, but the clues were there. Note the beach chair, with the seagull perched atop it. The cloud lamps. Walking down the ‘boardwalk’ and turning to the right, I came upon the beach scene:

crates of books, floating in the ocean’s water. How absolutely clever.