Consecrating my Dutchness

One of the privelleges of being Dutch is that once every certain amount of years, you get to make a small mark in red pencil. Last year I got to vote for the European Union and the local Elections. This year was the big one, the national elections.

Now, not to show off my ignorance, but although I have been Dutch for as long as I remember, I haven't been actively Dutch for very long. (Only two years, or three elections long). This means that I have little understanding of the political system here, although I presume that since we get to vote so frequently, that Holland has some some sort of democracy.

I have always been under the impression that Holland is a very left-leaning country - or at least a very tolerant country - and this has been a certain point of pride for me growing up overseas. Overall, this still seems to be an accurate assessment, but there is a scary amount of right-wing movement going on here. The party called the PVV, "The Party of the Freedom" grew in popularity under the general premise of "Freedom (unless you're a foreigner)"

Now, this is a very sensitive issue for me, as shown by the extremely long end-year post last year, and I still also often feel like I am a foreigner here. I mean, one of the biggest annoyances of these recent right-wingers, is that many foreigners in Holland have two passports. "Just choose one" they say. Well, if I hear one of these conversations, I chip in that I too have two passports. However, since I am very white and not from a scary religion (unless you include Atheism), this never seems to bother them.

So, going in to vote, I wanted to make a statement. I also happen to live in a very traditionallly conservative town, full of bekakked people. In I walk, with a Communist Red-Army hat (bought for a costume party) and my T-shirt which reads "Hey! Look [out]! It's a foreigner." Maybe they didn't know exactly what my point was, but they knew exactly what my point was.

Here is a better view of my hat (worn at the aforementioned costume party)

Anyway, with the making of such a ridiculous statement to noone in particular, I took that red pencil and made a very non-ridiculous vote. For politics may be a joke, but your civil duty - no matter which or how many countries you have a responsibilty to - is no joke.

Hairvolution: The Update

For those who missed the Hairvolution, I suggest you take a trip down memory highway. And even if you remember, the Hairvolution video is still as awesome as when you first saw it. So, having sent my hair samples away to a charity called Locks of Love, I was concerned that my hair was slightly short of the ten inches requested by their website, but apparently it was enough. Here is a photo of the postcard they send as a thank-you. (and proof that this is a real charity that I really contributed to). I actually wrote a small note along with my hair sample saying that it was a shame that not many people know of this charity, and that there are no known equivalents closer to Holland or Europe, but that even if my hair was unuseable that they should consider it as a show of support.

Sure, they spelled my name incorrectly - and trust me, they completely mangled up my address - but it was a very nice gesture. Besides, who really expects an American to understand foreign languages? They probably think that the Dutch just misspell everything. They might-well be right.

Anyway, even though I hate kids with their dirty little hands and their questions like "are you a man or a woman?", I am very happy to have contributed to this cause. I strongly reccommend that if you have a spare 10 inches lying around, that you give it to children. Unless of course, you are a well-hung Catholic priest. Actually, that was a great part of Locks of Love, that it is a non-religious charity, which means that they do not discriminate and would help a child even if he or she is Catholic.

In related news, my hair has grown back to a more reasonable level, and almost everyone agrees that it is a huge improvement, including strangers who only vaguely knew me. So, the Hairvolution has been a gigantic success, for the self-esteem of some sick child in a society which is incredibly vain, not to mention that it was also a giant boost of my own vanity. It was a win-win, and I declare that the Hairvolution was one of the best ideas I have ever had.