
Best Pool of the Year Election
Summer! And that means (hopefully) nice weather. Time to look where the best outdoor pools are located. The annual Best Pool of the year Election has started again. After the first round two winners by province will be elected.
The first…

How to fit into Dutch society, have a home birth
The Shallow Man, after ten years in the Netherlands has learned many things about the Nederlandse samenleving. One of the things that has puzzled both myself and many other expats is why Dutch women are so loud. There have been many theories…

All Dutchies speak English
Is this true? According to Jakub Marian: almost fully true. Jakub Marian made an interesting Map of European Union competency in English based on this 2012 Eurobarometer report (the data are from 2012, so Croatia is not included).
Jakub…

"Zwarte Piet will disappear from the NLs"
July, full Summer period, temperatures higher than 20 degrees... not to mention wars, disasters, the economic crisis and the World Cup... Nevertheless the discussion around Zwarte (Black) Piet, the servant of Sinterklaas, is one of the topics…

Are Italian men the worst flirters in Europe?
The Shallow Man recently read an article on the expatsHaarlem website called “are Dutch men the worst lovers in Europe?” I found this a bit rich, considering that the author of the post is from Italy. Using the same lazy and subjective…

Netherlands v Chile, simulated
Netherlands v Chile: can't wait for the real match? Check out this simulated version...

Are Dutch men the worst lovers in Europe?
Do you know the feeling when you think there’s something wrong with you but you're actually convinced that the problem is the other person?This is what I felt the first time I experienced the Dutch way of making love. Same story the second…

Yes. Summer has finally arrived..!!
In case you haven't noticed.. Today it's June 21st. In other words; "The Longest Day Of The Year!" So, a good reason to celebrate the summer..
If you feel like embracing the summer
Then go for it! Get out of your comfort zone, challenge…

What makes you an Expat?
Is it possible to feel more at home in your new country than your home country?
Read my story and the challenges I faced when I moved back to the Netherlands after a 10 year stint abroad.
According to Wikipedia: “An expatriate (sometimes…

INTERVIEW DANIEL-RYAN SPAULDING
Daniel-Ryan Spaulding, the Internationally-Touring Canadian Stand-Up Comedian, has performed in 35 countries worldwide. His intelligent cultural and social observations are delivered with a high energetic, flamboyant style that is impossible…

Shit Expats Say in the Netherlands
Stand-up Comedian Daniel-Ryan Spaulding explores expat culture in the Netherlands. Performing soon for expatsHaarlem!

Songs not to play on Father's Day
Songs not to play on Father’s Day
It is Father’s Day today. There are a lot of great songs about fathers but try to avoid playing these around your dad today.
5.) John Denver- Please Daddy (Don’t get drunk this…

Luilak Day
Saturday before Pentecost: little wagons and a lot of noise? Sunday of Pentecost: dirty windows? LUILAK DAY!
Luilak, or Lazybones Day, is a youth festival celebrated in Zaandam, Haarlem, Amsterdam and other towns in the western Netherlands.…

10 ways to fit into Dutch society
It’s another beautiful day in the Netherlands, time to sit on a terrace and have the pleasure of inhaling cigarette smoke from those sitting nearby. If Van Gogh and Rembrandt were alive today, their paintings would feature buxom ladies with…

'What If Gay Guys Said The Shit Straight People Say?'
Daniel-Ryan Spaulding asks 'What If Gay Guys Said The Shit Straight People Say?': 1,496,839 views in 2 weeks time!
Cue Daniel-Ryan Spaulding, a worldwide very popular comedian who explores gender, sexuality, culture, stereotypes and identity.…

Books - Nederlandse politiek voor dummies
Finally a book in which Dutch politics are understandably explained. In Dutch. Good exercise.
How did Dutch politics start? What do members of the parliament do? How are decisions taken? What are the government and the parliament doing?…

Spijt! wins best European youth film
The Dutch youth film Spijt! has won the European Film Academy Young Audience Award on Sunday evening in Erfurt, Germany. The film by Dave Schram recorded against the Danish MGP Missionen and the German The Stormwind. Young people between 12…

World cup 2014: Orange clothes that come with beer
On June 12th 10 pm (Dutch time) the waiting is finally over: In Arena Corinthians, Sao Paolo, home country Brazil will kick off the FIFA world cup against Croatia. With less than a month to go and orange fever slowly starting to rear its fugly…

Gfk: Etos best drugstore of the Netherlands
Etos has been named best drugstore in the Netherlands. In a yearly research project, conducted by market research agency Gfk, D.I.O. drogist came in second, followed by DA. Over 6000 consumers were consulted to rank the 6 large drugstore…

10 & 11 May: Nationale Molendag / National Windmill Day
Windmills are an iconic part of the Dutch landscape.. and a visit to one is a must for visitors in the Netherlands. On Nationale Molendag (National Windmill Day), this weekend, about 950 windmills throughout Holland will be open to the public.
Every…

4 & 5 May: Remembrance Day and Liberation Day
The Netherlands is unique among the other European countries in having two national ceremony days originating from the Second World War: Remembrance Day – ‘Dodenherdenking’ and Liberation Day – ‘Bevrijdingsdag’. On 4 May there…

Nature greener and earlier than last year
We could enjoy blooming flowers earlier this year. Spring came this year a month ahead last year. Nature is also a lot greener.
According to Natuurberichten (which means Nature messages) nearly 30 percent of the deciduous forests and…

"Rokjesdag"
What is Rokjesdag or Skirt Day? It is officially the first day on which Dutch women wear skirts with bare legs underneath.
Every spring the men look forward to Rokjesdag, the day when the temperature is high enough for women to wear…

See the Netherlands by Train
The weather is starting to get nice again and at least for me that means time to get out and explore. Did you know that it is possible to travel all through the country for a whole day for around €15? That's a great deal and I'm going…

The government has extended the leave regulation
If a mother dies during giving birth to her child, the father will get from now on her maternity leave. This should ensure that the newborn can count on the care of a parent in the first period of his life. This plan of the Minister of Social…

Downloading from illegal sources: as of today officially forbidden
Illegal downloading didn’t exist in the Netherlands. Now it does.
As a consequence of a judgement of this morning of the European Court of Justice about the unfairness of home charge copy, illegal downloading of movies, music and other…

Dutch Wingman condom makes “furore” in Germany
The Wingman condom is presented these days at the Hannover Messe, the most important industrial fair in the world. Here the Wingman condom, also known as the one hand condom, got a lot of attention.
The Bild, the biggest German newspaper…

Still 7.4% of the Dutch use end of live Windows XP
On the last day that security updates about Windows XP were offered, 7.4% of the Dutch consumers and companies still use Windows XP, the outdated operating system of Microsoft.
In the Netherlands the usage of Windows XP is however lower than…

If you hear sirens and it is Monday, don't panic!
Loud sirens? On Monday? Don't panic! In Haarlem and elsewhere in the country the first Monday of every month at 12:00 the air raid is tested to check whether the sirens work anywhere and can be heard, but also to keep the alarm system in the…

Books - Legal thrillers of Bram Moszkowicz and Leon de Winter
The top ex-lawyer Bram Moszkowicz and the writer Leon de Winter from Bloemendaal and partly Los Angeles are writing a new trilogy: Legal thrillers.
Bram Moszkowicz writes the first part and Leon de Winter the second part of Legal Thrillers.…