Thursday 23 January 2014

Dutch Culture in a Box

My family is taking part in a worldwide culture swap. We're very excited about it. We're in a worldwide group of five participants; four families and a school class in Barbados. The idea is that we will recieve four packages with items that introduce my children to the culture of another country. And we then share the culture of the Netherlands with those same families and school class.

We now begin our mission to find things we can send across the world (items need to be light to keep postage costs in check) that represent what the Netherlands is all about.

So over to you - we would love to hear your ideas. Let your imagination run riot - I would love to fill our packages with your ideas about Dutch culture. What makes the Dutch Dutch? How do we capture the culture and the atmosphere of the Netherlands and put it all in a small box? What are the must sees of the Netherlands? What are the essential tastes of Dutchland?



6 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea - I hope this is still running when I have children!

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  2. A birthday calendar (along with the note it is supposed to be hanged in the WC), a CD/usb stick with a compilation of popular dutch music (say f.ex... A. Hazes, Meeuwis, G.Pardoel, J.Smit, etc)

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  3. games children play
    party games: "koekhappen", musical chairs, 'speurtocht'

    school yard games: "hinkelpot", songs for skipping rope, games with a tennisball played against a wall (these are all girls games), marbles-games.

    I am sorry. I don't know the English names for some of these games.

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  4. Thank you for the ideas!

    Molly - I hope it will be, though the team was talking about shutting it all down last year. Thankfully they changed their minds :-)

    Love the idea of traditional children's games!! And Dutch music of course!! A compilation CD perhaps.... could I subject them to that?? :-)

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  5. Most Dutch people hate so called Dutch music. A DVD of the Nieuwjaarsconcert of Nederlands Blazers Ensemble is very Dutch also. And a large picture of the Waddenzee. Please look outside the Randstad. Randstad is not the Netherlands.

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  6. Thanks Anje - I want to show the whole of the Netherlands and not just Amsterdam....which is what most people think of when you say Dutch.. hence why I threw the question out there. Thanks for the tips!

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