King's Day

King's Day is my favorite Dutch holiday!
When I moved to Amsterdam, it used to be called Queen's Day and took place every year on April 30. On that day, Dutch people celebrated their queen's birthday. Well actually, the former queen's birthday, because the actual queen's (Beatrix) birthday falls in the winter, which would have made it a lot less nice to celebrate.

The first time I celebrated Queen's Day in Amsterdam was in 2004. What a shock! What a great, overwhelming shock! People everywhere; streets were packed, so packed that you could hardly make your way from one point to the other; music, beer, laughter, etc... And orange everywhere!! Wherever I looked, I just saw orange. Even the canals were orange! Filled with boats of all sizes. So full you could literally walk over the water, from one side to the other, from one boat to the other.

Since Queen Beatrix's abdication in 2013, Queen's Day has become King's Day, celebrating the new King's (Willem-Alexander) birthday. King's Day is now held on April 27.

This year, for personal reasons, no big party for me on King's Day. But still, I couldn't just stay at home, even if the weather was cold and rainy. I still put some orange on and went for a beer or two... or three... or four... or...

But King's Day is not only fun for adults. It's also kids' favorite celebration (next to Sinterklaas of course!). Kids reserve spots on the streets or in the parks to sell their stuff and/or perform, and that way make some money. What about giving a little girl €0,50 to get a compliment? Or listen to young talented musicians? Fun guaranted!!

This is a celebration you have to experience at least once in your life!
My advice: start your day in the Vondelpark where kids sell and perform, walk along the canals and enjoy all the fun you can. And don't forget to wear orange!

What do I miss most?

As an expat, you often hear the same questions. One of those is "What do you miss the most from your home country?" And do you know what my answer has been all these years?... (Except from my family of course!)... French supermarkets!! Huge, almost overwhelming, with plenty of food. But not only food, also books, magazines, CD's, clothes, make-up and more.
Obviously, Dutch supermarkets are very different. Much smaller and the variety of food on offer seems very limited for the French girl I am.

I have to admit though that my family and supermarkets are not the only things I miss from France. I also very often miss the French subtlety!!
Dutch people are well-known for their directness and that's an understatement! Their direct way of communicating can be very puzzling when first experienced and after almost 13 years of living here, I still have to get used to it sometimes.
Yes, of course, it can sometimes be handy. Especially when it comes to work. Having worked in a Benelux company employing both Dutch and Belgian people, it felt so fine hearing clearly what my Dutch colleagues wanted and expected. That wasn't the case with my Belgian colleagues who suddenly seemed so vague and unclear in their expectations.

But on the other hand, in private sphere, it doesn't always feel that handy!
Do you want an example?... Being French, I am often too subtle according to my husband. So when walking through a shopping street of Amsterdam and saying to my husband 'what a nice shop and they're having a final sale before closing their doors' wasn't clear enough for him. I should have said 'I want to go have a look inside'. Yeah, right?!
On the other hand, him being Dutch, he doens't know anything about subtlety! So when asked whether my trousers or skirt make me look good, he will always be painfully direct... 'Yes, but your butt looks big in this!' Believe me, in such moments I long for Fench subtlety!!...