D is for…

My nephew Joseph asked me to teach him a little Dutch by making him a Dutch Alfabet. The easiest way for me to do this for him is through my blog. These are written for him, but hopefully anyone else reading this can learn a little Dutch!

D is for Dijken.

The Windmills and the Dikes help keep the water from covering the land.

Dijken in Dutch means Dikes: The system of water control in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a very unique country because a lot of it should be under water. The country’s capitol, Amsterdam, is about 3 feet under sea level.

In order to keep the land dry, the Dutch use dikes to keep the water out. A dike is a wall built of sand, clay, rocks, and covered in grass. The dike keeps the water out and the land dry.

The dike is strong, but it can’t keep the land dry by itself, it needs windmills and canals to help. Canals are like rivers that run through the country and cities. The canals were built to give the water a place to go so it didn’t cover the land.

The windmills in the country are used to push the extra water away from the land. Underneath the windmill there is a big wheel that brings the water in and pushes it back to the sea. This keeps the land dry.

While the dikes work very well right now, the Dutch know that the sea is very strong and they have to keep working to keep the land dry. The Dutch work every day to find better and newer ways to make the water control stronger and safer.

C is for…

My nephew Joseph asked me to teach him a little Dutch by making him a Dutch Alfabet. The easiest way for me to do this for him is through my blog. These are written for him, but hopefully anyone else reading this can learn a little Dutch!

C is for Carnaval.

Here the Carnaval colors are covering up the original colors of the Limburg flag

Every year right before Lent there is a celebration called Carnaval. In America we usually just celebrate Mardi Gras on the tuesday right before Ash Wednesday, but in lots of places they have a celebration for a whole week.

In the Netherlands, especially the south, where I live, Carnaval is the biggest celebration of the year. They have parties and parades every day.

In the Netherlands each town has a special prince who is given the keys to the city, and he is in charge for all of Carnaval. There is a new prince every year, and he is elected a few weeks before Christmas. The prince carries around a special scepter, and everyone in the town tries to steal it from him. If they steal it from him, he has to buy them lots of beer. To make sure nobody steals his scepter, the prince picks a man from the town to be his body guard and keep his scepter safe.

In the Netherlands people dress up in funny costumes for Carnaval, and every day they try to dress in a different costume. It is kind of like Halloween, except they don’t go trick-or-treating.

During Carnaval in the Netherlands, the number 11 is very important, and so they try to start everything either in the 11th hour or on the 11th minute of the hour.

During Mardi Gras in America we usually decorate with the colors green, purple, and gold. In the Netherlands they decorate with green, red, and yellow. During Carnaval many people hang green, red, and yellow flags from their houses and they try to wear this colors when they dress up for the parties and parades.

During Carnaval when you see someone you know or if you are at a party, you don’t say hello to them, but instead you say “Alaaf!” and you salute them.

In our town the symbol of Carnaval is the owl. At the beginning of Carnaval they hang a crest on the town hall with an owl on it and they have a children’s parade with lots of music to tell everyone that Carnaval has started. At the end of Carnaval they take down the owl crest and they have fireworks to tell everyone that Carnaval is over.

Carnaval is full of funny music and silly costumes. It is one of the best times to be in the South of the Netherlands because there is always something fun happening.

B is for…

My nephew Joseph asked me to teach him a little Dutch by making him a Dutch Alfabet. The easiest way for me to do this for him is through my blog. These are written for him, but hopefully anyone else reading this can learn a little Dutch! 

B is for Bitterballen.

If you are in the Netherlands and you are looking for a quick snack, you should probably try some Bitterballen.

A Bitterbal is kind of like a fried meatball and you are supposed to eat it with mustard.

The Dutch like to eat these at parties, especially on big national holidays, like King’s Day, which we celebrated just a little while ago, on April 27.

I’ve never made them myself, but if you would like to try them at home you can find a recipe here!

If you are going to try them, they  go great with French fries and beer (or root beer for the kids 🙂 ).

A is for…

My nephew Joseph asked me to teach him a little Dutch by making him a Dutch Alfabet. The easiest way for me to do this for him is through my blog. These are written for him, but hopefully anyone else reading this can learn a little Dutch! 

A is for Aardappel

In Dutch aardappel means potato.

Just like in Iowa, the Netherlands has lots of farms, and they grow lots of different plants. In Iowa we grow lots of different kinds of food, but mainly we grow corn, soy beans, and wheat. In the Netherlands they also grow lots of different foods too, but unlike Iowa, they grow a lot of potatoes.

Potatoes grow well in the Netherlands because it doesn’t get too hot nor too cold. Also, potatoes need a lot of water to grow and since the Netherlands have a lot of rivers, and it rains a lot, it is a perfect spot for potatoes to grow.

Just like the USA, the Netherlands send a lot of food to other people all over the world. And almost 25% of all the potatoes in the world come from the Netherlands, so the next time you eat a potato chip, you might be eating one that came all the way from the Netherlands.