Anna's Trip to the Benelux 2011: Day 1: Introduction to the Netherlands

Today we gained a very general introduction to the Netherlands. We learned a lot about the geography and how it shaped the culture and identity of the Dutch people as a result. After looking over my notes, I see that I have a lot to discuss. I might talk about some things in other blog posts as I see fit, and just talk about the very basic things in here.

Netherlands literally means "low countries" and accurately describes how one third of the territory is actually below sea level. Most of the Netherlands is land reclaimed from the sea, and Amsterdam itself is a city built on several mounds on top of water (similar to Teotihuacan and much of the Aztec empire, but WRONG CLASS). It is for this reason that the Dutch feel such a strong emotional connection to their homeland. They say, "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands. The fact that they actually "created" their country (in a sense) as opposed to conquering other land makes the Netherlands that much more special. Still, the threat of a deadly flood is always imminent, and the struggle between the Dutch and the sea--between man and nature--has always existed here, and this struggle is a large part of what forms the Dutch identity to this day.

As it turns out, a lot of the symbols that most people normally associate with the Netherlands actually have some sort of historical explanation behind it, usually pertaining to the geography of the region:

Dikes and windmills: These were two objects that helped solve many of the Dutch's problems with the water. Dikes were a sort of revolutionary structure that kept the water out, while windmills would pump out whatever water was left over. These two inventions practically saved this country.
Wooden shoes: Since the land around the coast was reclaimed from the sea, the land was very soggy to work in. If a person was to work while wearing leather shoes, the leather would get ruined very easily. Wooden shoes allowed the Dutch to work the land despite its watery nature.
Dairy products: The reclaimed land could not support many crops--mainly grain. This became a problem since as can be seen today, bread is a very important food. However, the land could grow grass. Cows could graze off of the grass, so the Netherlands was able to trade dairy products (such as cheese and milk) for grain from other places. That leads us to...
Trade: The Netherlands were some of the first to collaborate and trade overseas, and were already operating on a global scale by the 17th century. The Dutch were also the fourth to invest in the United States. The Netherlands became one of the wealthiest countries in Europe for a while, and the Dutch continue to be some of the most efficient merchants to this day.
Tulips: Tulips did not originate from the Netherlands. It is thought that a man from Turkey brought these flowers to the Netherlands, and they managed to adapt to Dutch soil remarkably well. The Dutch went through a period of time where there was a sort of obsession with tulips...a single bulb could sell for the price of a small house! This could very well be considered the first stock market exchange of the Western world. The tulip obsession faded over time, but tulips gained popularity in other regions. The Dutch therefore became one of the main exporters in this flower.

Since there is a constant fight against the sea to keep the reclaimed land, you can imagine that the Dutch were very ahead in terms of creating secure infrastructure and architecture. There were two major projects that took place in the Netherlands. The first is called the Afsluitdijk, which is a huge dike separating part of the bay. The Netherlands remained neutral during the four years of World War I. Unfortunately, they had to deal with indirect consequences of the war, as they could not trade with anyone for four years. Starvation was imminent, so more land needed to be created. Engineers closed off the bay with a dike and began to recover more land by steadily pumping out water. The result of this is the Lelysland province and Flevoland, a section of land solely used for agriculture. The project was eventually cancelled due to a return to stability and rising environmental concerns.

The Afsluitdijk. Look for a satellite image of the thing. I dare you.

The second project affects the Zeeland region, where the threat of the sea was the biggest. The Delta Plan was a measure to serve as protection against natural disasters. This plan consisted of a series of dikes used to control water levels. Using modern technology, the Dutch were able to create storm surge barriers that did not drastically change the landscape but still held up against a major storm. With projects like these, it should not come as a surprise that Dutch engineers were called upon to aid in construction in places where disasters such as Katrina hit.

The Delta Works in Rotterdam

A lot of people tend to associate the Netherlands and Amsterdam in particular as being liberal. My dad actually warned me about this trip because it was, as he said, "the most liberal city in the world". I imagined that scared him a lot, considering how conservative my family can be. Anyway, I feel that this assumption about Amsterdam can be attributed to the overall Dutch mentality of polder. This mentality is that all Dutchmen share a common enemy--the sea--and they must all work together to fight against it or be destroyed. This mentality also contributes to the Dutch definition of tolerance, which contrasts pretty heavily from our own.

If you're tolerant in the United States, it means you are politically correct. You try not to offend anyone with what you say, and everyone goes about their merry way. To be tolerant in the Netherlands means that you shouldn't be afraid to say what you think, even if it may potentially hurt the person. This probably also contributes to the apparent bluntness of the Dutch, which our reader has talked about but is something I have yet to see in person. While it may seem strange, it actually promotes a sense of openness in the community. It suggests that you should have a lifestyle where you have nothing to hide.

The mindset of tolerance has played a great role in politics. I won't talk about the entirety of the Netherlands religious history right now, but just know that it strongly affected Dutch history and philosophy. The generation of the 1960s largely abandoned religion, and secularism was fairly strong: only about 30% of the population believed in a god. Since there are no religious restrictions to consider, politics are looked at in a very different light. The idea of gedogen (a word that roughly means "to tolerate") acknowledges that certain things in society will always be there, even if you don't like it or it isn't necessarily good. Instead of just banning it, then, one should simply tolerate its occurrence. This has worked in some cases: the Netherlands was the first to make both same-sex marriage and euthanasia possible. In other cases, such as prostitution and drugs, this hasn't worked out so well.

Speaking of which, I should probably say this now: contrary to popular belief, marijuana is not legal in the Netherlands. The use of marijuana is just tolerated, and apparently you'll get judged pretty hard if you're smoking it in a public area.

Amsterdam itself is a symbol of progressivism, with one of the primary examples of this being the provo movement. Provo is short for "provocation" and was an attempt to change society for the better, albeit in somewhat strange ways. While some of their ideas were a little far-fetched (such as spiking the water supply with marijuana to make the population less stressed), they provo movement was actually very far ahead of their time. For example, they were the first to complain about cars due to noise and pollution and suggested increased use of bicycles.

SO MUCH STUFF. Anyway, today we did quite a bit! We visited the Van Gogh museum...I'll talk about him tomorrow, since we're covering other Dutch artists then. We then took a boat tour of the canals, which was pretty fun. Finally, we visited Amsterdam's red light district, which is slowly becoming a venue for up and coming fashion designers. Prostitution still exists, though, and that was quite a bit of a shock. Obviously I didn't take pictures of the girls. That's just rude. After that, I went out with some friends and walked around some of the nearby streets. It was really fun!