holidaze!

The end of April and beginning of May in the Netherlands is chock full of holidays! In fact, I've been so busy celebrating that I haven't had much time to write about them: Koninginnedag on April 30th (and to a lesser extent Koninginnenacht on the 29th), is quickly followed by the more somber Dodenherdenking on May 4th, only to be followed the next day by Bevrijdingsdag on May 5th. And as if that wasn't enough, the Christian holiday of Hemelsvaart crops up on May 13th giving everyone yet another day off (or 2)! I feel like a need a holiday from all these holidays! Or rather, I feel like I really need to stop celebrating and do some work...

It's not that I haven't been busy. In fact, many people have started responding to my request for interview participants, so my calendar is filling up with meetings and discussions with interesting people. (Thank you!!) But, in studying (among other things) ideas about the nation, it's been important to take a look at these holidays - Koninginnedag, Dodenherdenking, and Bevrijdingsdag - where the Dutch, who usually seem so somber and quiet about expressions of belonging at the level of the nation, actually come out of their shells a bit (though, I'm still waiting to see what happens during the World Cup...).

Koninginnedag (which I can finally actually say, after much practice!), Queen's Day, means that the Dutch landscape erupts in a riot of orange, as people celebrate the monarchy (the House of Orange). I bought an orange shirt so I could fit in with the locals, though I was also told I could don the red, white and blue of the Dutch flag instead. A friend who declares himself a Republican explicitly refused to wear orange in protest, though he did still participate in the fun of the day. For us, this included walking (or kind of slowly drifting with the crowds) through the city (celebratory beverages in tow). For others, especially children, it was clear that the day's activities encompassed the Dutch sense of enterprise: everything you could want was for sale, from little fleamarkets of old toys and treasures, specially-made kijkdoosjes (a box you could peek inside to see a scene for just 1 Euro), 'clean toilets' in people's houses (also available for a Euro), and of course lots of food and drinks (patatjes, taart, soft drinks, beer, poffertjes, and so on). Others set up chairs or small stages on the bits of street that they had claimed well in advance of the day (with chalk or tape marking out squares of the street as bezet) to sell things from, dance and play music, or just enjoy the view of passersby. On the Museumplein, thousands of people - mostly from outside of Amsterdam - gathered for the free all-day concert. Anyone with a boat spent the day puttering through the crowded canals. While I'm sure most people weren't really thinking about the monarchy, images of the royals were visible throughout the city and at least a few people were taking the opportunity to make political statements of some sort (i.e. the cut out of the PVV's controversial leader, Geert Wilders, who you could throw balls at for a small fee, and under which someone has scrawled the word mongol - slang for 'retard').

A national committee organizes the events for both the 4th and 5th of May events: The Dodenherdenking is the national day of remembrance for those that died in World War II, which is followed the next day by Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day) where everyone celebrates their freedom with free concerts and outdoor festivals all over the country - at least, everyone gets to once every 5 years... While making 5 May a statutory holiday every year is now being discussed by the politicans, currently it's only students who get to annually enjoy this light-hearted day of freedom. Though, this year, everyone taking the train might have had the chance to see the travelling exhibition/ train for freedom sponsored by the committee. (I managed to miss it, but a friend stumbled upon it in place of her regular train to Utrecht during her morning commute one day.)

Unlike Bevrijdingsdag, Dodenherdenking events take place every year, with the royal family and notable Dutch people (such as politicans) attending a (televised) service in the Nieuwe Kerk followed by a procession to the national monument on the Dam, where wreaths were laid. This year was a little more eventful than anyone anticipated due to an incident during the 2 minutes silence that turned into a panic. I think that most people had the image of the tragedy of Koninginnedag 2009 in Apeldoorn in the back of their minds. Luckily, no one died, and no one was too seriously injured. In the aftermath, one of the most interesting things to have come out of this year's Dodenherdenking is the discussion around feeling safe in the Netherlands, and how more people feel less so than ten, or even two years ago. The reaction against this fear is also interesting. I went to Zwolle to celebrate Bevrijdingsdag the following day, and during one of the concerts from the main stage an announcer gave a short speech in the spirit of freedom about not being afraid and giving into fear.

I find this sense of fear interesting, especially since I personally feel exceptionally safe living in the Netherlands. It will be interesting to get some other perspectives on this though, like tonight, when I go back to 'work'. I'll be joining some people from my own neighbourhood during a schouwloop though the buurt. A couple locals, as well as a plain-clothes police officer and someone from the city will be strolling through the neighbourhood this evening, making note of anything that seems dangerous, or broken (i.e. street lamps), dirty (although with a garbage strike on at the moment, our clipboards might be full on this point), etc. I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but I think it'll be interesting. And, I've gotta say, that after so many holidays, it does feel good to be doing a bit of work!