Unique Dutch Traditions
Here are 10 of the most unique Dutch traditions, and those which incoming or newly arrived expats in Holland should be aware of…
10 UNIQUE DUTCH TRADITIONS
3-CHEEK KISS
North Americans often greet friends they haven’t seen in a while with a peck on the cheek. The British do this as well but it is done with a kiss on both cheeks. But the Dutch take it to another level with a 3-cheek kiss. This tricky left-right-left maneuver supposedly started in the southern region of the Netherlands and spread northward, to the point that today it is customary for Dutch friends and family to greet each other in this way.
BIRTHDAY CALENDAR
For the Dutch, celebrating a birthday is an important event, not just for the individual but his family as well. The way they keep track of everyone’s birthdays is with a ‘verjaardagskalender‘ (birthday calendar). Unlike a standard wall calendar that must be replaced every year, a birthday calendar only has dates (no day of the week associated with them) and therefore stays the same year in and year out. Another interesting thing about Dutch birthday calendars is the placement. In many homes it is hung in the bathroom, which ensures it will ALWAYS get seen!
BRING YOUR OWN BIRTHDAY CAKE
This is definitely one of the most unique Dutch traditions. People in other countries may be accustomed to work colleagues buying them a cake when it is their birthday. In Holland, the situation is very different. Here the person whose birthday it is is expected to bring their own cake (or other treat like cookies or candy) to work so that colleagues can share in the celebration. And one can expect looks of surprise if he/she forgets to bring their own birthday cake. Weird, right?
DATE PLANNING
The Dutch are overly obsessed with scheduling their time, not just in the work environment but in their private lives as well. Every activity, including going to the gym and food shopping, gets jotted down in a planning agenda. Rarely will you see a Dutch person’s agenda with wide open spaces. So don’t be surprised if you are trying to make plans with a Dutch friend, that their first availability is several weeks down the road. And new expats in Netherlands should know it is never a good idea to pop by a Dutch person’s house unannounced as they will rarely be invited in.
ABRAHAM & SARAH
Another of the unique Dutch traditions involving birthdays. This one is specific to celebrating a 50th birthday; Abraham is the theme for men, and Sarah the theme for women. The characters from the Bible were mature and revered for their knowledge of life. It follows that someone turning 50 would also have extensive life experience and would ‘see Abraham‘ (or Sarah). BUT here’s the wild part…on the night before the person’s birthday, a giant inflatable Abraham (or Sarah) is placed in front of the person’s house to ensure they do ‘see Abraham’ (or Sarah) on their 50th. The blowup figures can sometimes be as tall as the house itself!
EATING RAW HERRING
Eating fish is not unusual; billions of people around the world do it all the time. But the majority of them eat the fish after it has been cooked. Of course, there are also those who eat raw fish in the form of sushi, with little pieces of fish being consumed a mouthful at a time… using chopsticks. For the Dutch, however, consuming fish (specifically herring) is a different ballgame.
Each year in mid-June comes Vlaggetjesdag, which celebrates the first catch of herring of the new season. On this day, and the weeks that follow, you can often see Dutch people salting their raw herring and dangling an entire one over their mouth before dropping it in. Guess that’s so they don’t actually have to do any chewing, just the thought of which makes many an expat want to hurl!
CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES FOR BREAKFAST
This is definitely one of the tastiest unique Dutch traditions… sprinkles on bread for breakfast. That’s right, not jam or jelly which one might expect, but sprinkles… dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate and even rainbow! But don’t assume ‘hagelslag‘ is strictly for Dutch children. Adults can be seen eating it too!
KEEPING WINDOW BLINDS OPEN
The Dutch believe in keeping their ground floor blinds and curtains open pretty much all the time, because it shows they have nothing to hide. But don’t mistake this as an invitation to look in as that is considered inappropriate. For new expats in Netherlands, having to keep one’s blind open can feel like an invasion of privacy. But closing them is bound to get rumor mill turning. The good news is that an acceptable solution has already been found. Most DIY stores in Holland sell translucent window film (called raamfolie) which distorts a passersby view while still allowing the resident to keep their blinds open and remain on good terms with neighbors.
SCHOOL BAGS ON FLAGPOLES
The first time an expat sees a school bag hanging from a flagpole flying the Dutch flag, they are likely to do a double take. They may wonder if the people who own the house know some school kid has vandalized their flagpole with a knapsack.
But then you see the same thing on the next street and the one after and soon you as yourself what the heck is going on? Well, as it turns out, this is one of those unique Dutch traditions. Every year on the second Wednesday in June, all high school seniors in Netherlands get their final exams grades. If they have passed them all, they will graduate! To celebrate the positive news, the successful student (or happy parents) hang out the Dutch flag and attach to it the student’s schoolbag. This lets friends and neighbors know about the good news.
SINTERKLAAS
In 1850 Dutch author Jan Schenkman wrote a kids book whose main character was Sinterklaas, based on the historical Christian figure Saint Nicholas (Sint Nikolaas), the patron saint of children. The book was a huge success and was likely the inspiration for similar characters based on St Nicholas that sprung up in other countries, including Santa Claus (in the United States) and Father Christmas (in Great Britain).
What makes this tradition so unique is not necessarily the difference in background story of Sinterklaas compared to Santa Claus or Father Christmas. But the fact that it is celebrated weeks before Christmas, on December 5th, the eve of St Nicholas’ feast day.
And there-in lies the problem expats commonly have differentiating Sinterklaas and Santa Claus. The Sint is a representation of Saint Nicholas, like Santa and Father Christmas, but he has come and gone weeks before Christmas. Once the festivities are over, the Sinterklaas decorations come down and Christmas decorations go up. Many of those decorations feature a familiar jolly old fat man in a red suit with a long white beard. Just when you think it is Santa Claus, you find out it’s not. Here in the Netherlands he is called the Kerstman (Christmas man).
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