Y'all ever answer an ask 1320 days too late?
Many thanks to @yournowheregirl, @cham--p and that particular Anon for sending me these asks on March 16th, 2018. Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seats for these past three and a half years.
1. favourite place in your country? Oh man there's so many good ones but honestly it might be my parents' garden. Not objectively the best place in the country, more of a matter of personal pride.
2. do you prefer spending your holidays in your country or travel abroad? Abroad, I need at least one (1) mountain to feel holidayed. Bonus points for every additional degree celsius I get to enjoy.
3. does your country have access to sea? My country having access to sea is pretty fundamental to 80% of our history—the other 20% revolves around the sea having access to our country. #1953
4. favourite dish specific for your country? Probably erwtensoep? There's other Dutch foods I like much more but they're not really dishes. Erwtensoep certainly beats boerenkool, zuurkool and hutspot though. Wait I forgot hachee exists (pronounced ha-SHAY, not like a sneeze). I'll leave this one unresolved.
5. favourite song in your native language? I'm not great at picking favourites and I rarely listen to Dutch music, so this is a tough one for me. The first thing that comes to mind is Lente by Brigitte Kaandorp, not exactly a hit song but I have a certain fondness for it.
6. most hated song in your native language? Probably anything originating in Volendam sorry.
7. three words from your native language that you like the most? I'm not enough of a poet to think of everyday words I'm particularly emotional about. However, in Dutch it's very easy to create new words by smashing existing ones together, and every now and then you encounter new mutant words that either make you think (1) "ew ew ew let it die" or (2) "I'm so glad someone decided to write this down". Together with a few friends I've been curating a list of exactly these words for close to a decade now, so I'll pick three from the second category (dubbed "jolige samenvoegingen"): kalkoenbedruppelaar, schubkaplawaaimaker, draadjesrundvleesuitelkaartrekproces.
8. do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom? Honestly most people get it right pretty quickly. A street vendor in a small town in Ecuador once identified me as Dutch just by my accent in Spanish.
9. which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best? Not sure if I should be admitting this on Tumblr but I like France. Technically we share a border in the Caribbean because of colonialism, and the only two other countries we border are Germany and Belgium, both of which I'm pretty indifferent about.
10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language? "Kut" for as an every-day go-to. But for more ceremonial use, "Poep. Kut. Slettendrol." (source I know it's barely even funny but it just gets to me.)
11. favourite native writer/poet? Paul Biegel.
12. what do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem? Never engaged with it tbh. Why wouldn't you read books in their original language if you're able to?
13. does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders? I mean we definitely have one tradition that stands out, "strange to outsiders" might be a bit of an understatement... but we're not close enough to December 5th for me to invoke its name. Let us enjoy the quiet, for now.
14. do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV? Not very much at all actually. Not saying it's all bad but I wasn't raised on it and I don't care for it much.
15. a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get? I've been wracking my mind trying to think of anything to say, but frankly... ik heb daar geen concrete herinnering aan.
16. which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with? I mean it's not great the number of people that instantly think "legal prostitution" when my country is mentioned. There's definitely truth to the whole "honest to the point of rudeness" thing though.
17. are you interested in your country’s history? In theory.
18. do you speak with a dialect of your native language? Pretty sure I speak pretty generic ABN.
19. do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem? Flag, coat of arms, anthem... all of them are fine but a bit nondescript IMO.
20. which sport is The Sport in your country? Football (as in soccer). Don't ask me things about football.
21. if you could send two things from your country into space, what would they be? A stroopwafel and a bitterbal next question.
22. what makes you proud about your country? what makes you ashamed? Proud: high quality of life, fairly well-organised, fairly politically progressive, some very good contributions to science and art. Ashamed: very much got rich off colonialism, and even now not nearly as progressive and fair as we'd like to think.
23. which alcoholic beverage is the favoured one in your country? Beer is definitely number one, but I think most people like mixing it up.
24. what other nation is joked about most often in your country? Belgium. Sure it's not personal.
25. would you like to come from another place, be born in another country? Nah I consider myself quite lucky really.
26. does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal? Occasionally, yeah. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they get it really wrong (looking at you B99 S8).
27. favourite national celebrity? Well, the only part of present-day Dutch culture I really engage with is cabaret (not in its English meaning of nightclub entertainment, but in its Dutch meaning: a sort of intermediate between standup comedy and variety theatre). So I'd say maybe Brigitte Kaandorp, Alex Klaassen or Herman Finkers.
28. does your country have a lot of lakes, mountains, rivers? do you have favourites? A few lakes but I think a lot of them aren't natural? No mountains, famously. Plenty of rivers, most of the country is basically a gentrified river delta. I don't really have any favourites though, they're just there.
29. does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country? Not particularly I think?
30. do you have people of different nationalities in your family? Through some convoluted step-situations I kinda have family (but not blood relatives) in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but I hardly know them. Also my aunt and uncle might still be living in Oman but honestly I'm not sure?
