Now, fall in Holland is definitely not the same as in Minnesota. First, they call it autumn, which isn't that weird I guess but seems a bit formal to me. I equate fall in the states to a few key things: pumpkins, apple orchards, and Halloween. The beginning of October always has people talking about pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin carving, visiting apple orchards, haunted houses, hayrides, and Halloween plans. October in Holland just brings rain.
The air is crisp, the leaves on the trees are red, orange, and yellow, the leaves crunch under your feet and the air smells distinctly of a beautiful fall afternoon. One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to drive out into the country, preferably somewhere with a nice overlook, and take in the breathtaking sight of all the colorful trees. In Holland, today is the first day I've seen the sun in well over a week. There are crunchy and colorful leaves on the ground, but not so much on the trees themselves; most of their leaves are still green.
The air around apple orchards seem sweeter than the air everywhere else. This might be because of all the apples being picked, eaten, and turned into hot cider, or it could just be coming from all the adorable couples on their first fall outing together; love is in the air. Here, they definitely have apple orchards and their apples are delicious, but going to the orchard to pick them yourself is definitely not something the Dutch get excited about, not that I have seen at least.
Now, the best part of the fall season is HALLOWEEN! When you were little you and your friends would dress up as your favorite character, super hero, or object, take your basket shaped like a pumpkin and get candy from all the people in town. As you got older you stopped dressing up and started going to Haunted Houses and Haunted Hayrides instead; the scarier the better. Then after high school you started dressing up again, most college girls go for the scantily clad nurse, teacher, cop, or some other stereotypical job with a uniform. However, I always went the fun route: band nerds and woodland fairies complete with a green face and glitter galore! Even shops got into the Halloween spirit, covering their windows in creepy spiderwebs, "bloody" handprints on the door, and skeleton heads lined up on the counter.
I have yet to see one fake spiderweb, bloody handprint, or skeleton anywhere! The only people talking about Halloween are the foreign students (mostly us Americans). Now, thankfully there is a group for the International students and they are going to be throwing a Halloween party. I am just astounded that this country with their creepy Sinterklaas (I'll talk more about him when his season arrives), doesn't massively celebrate this most festive of holidays where you can be anyone you want for a night.
Along with this blog I would like to send out a challenge to the Dutch reading this. I want you to prove me wrong. Show me what your Autumn season can offer that ours can't.
Tough challenge there :) But I think I'll have a stab at it :)
ReplyDeleteLet's see. Halloween is indeed kind of scarse here in the cold, rainy Netherlands, although you do see traces of it here and there. Mainly in places like Irish pubs and the houses of zealous lovers of American TV series, you'll see the occasional Halloween theme party. It's in November when the fun really starts over here though. I guess I can call it the month of the Saints :)
On November 11, we celebrate what's called St. Maarten. On this day, people walk around carrying paper lanterns, make bonfires and generally have a good time. Children often go from door to door singing a little song. It is customary for them to receive some candy for their efforts :) Also, around this time the whole shebang around what we call Sinterklaas (short for st. Nicholas) starts. The story goes like this. Early november, the old st. Nicholas travels by boat from Spain to the Netherlands with his helpers, which are called the black Petes. The day he arrives you'll find a lot of people, mainly children, waving and cheering at him when he rides off his boat on the white horse that is one of his signature symbols. The black Petes often sprinkle bits of candy around, specific to this theme. The weeks until december 5th are filled with festivities around this figure. On december 5th, st. Nicholas drops a large bag of presents and candy down the chimney which results in whats called 'pakjesavond' which I guess translates to 'package evening' or ' present evening'. The whole story is a bit long so go to Wikipedia if you wish to know more, but there you go. This is my challenge response :)
I am really enjoying your posts Bethany. Tell me more about what you are specifically learning. Keep the creative side of the blog, but provide more details on what you are studying and learning.
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