A Heartfelt Loss

I has been difficult to speak about it, but I should really cover this. The World Cup was a dream come true for me. Now, I am far from a football hooligan, but this was something I had been looking forward to for a long time. I was telling people when I was in New Zealand in January that the main reason I was going back to Holland was for the World Cup. (They often asked "You know it will be held in South Africa, right?" Cheeky bastards. Little do they know that the true Way-Kah party is in Holland.)

But for me, the point was, this was the best opportunity I would ever get to fulfil my 2-year-long goal of reintegrating into Dutch society. I had a golden opportunity, one that only comes every four years (We don't talk about 2002), to really be Dutch. Every goal we scored, I was happy beyond recognition. And every win Holland came away with, I recognised the magnitude of the opportunity for me. And every day during that one month period, whether watching football, or talking about it with friends or co-workers or random customers, or just looking around and seeing entire sections of city decorated in Oron-yeh like the 11th plague, I really was thankful that I was in Holland. Every win in the knockout phase seemed like a wonderful gift to me, letting the experience go on for even longer. I never imagined that we would really have a chance to win for fear of letting the World Cup turn into a disappointment, but then, we made it to the finals.

So we didn't win. I know I should not be disappointed. We did fantastically to make it this far. But once we made it to the finals, I thought about how wonderful it would be if we actually won. Just how amazing the atmosphere would be. I mean, more than 3/4 of the population watched the finals, and I am sure most of the other 1/4 would have wanted to be there, but someone has to make sure that the planes stay in the air. If we would win, I thought, maybe then I would truly know just what it means to be Dutch.

But we didn't win. And Holland has still yet to win a world cup. My only consolation is that, maybe no-one really knows what it is to be Dutch yet. And in the future, if Holland finally raises that trophy, I too will truly know how much it means to me.


These are some images of the party we had outside our place with a large flatscreen TV and a small grand-stand for the epic Holland vs. Uruguay match.






Actually, I lie. Another consolation is that my other team, New Zealand, was the only team in the entire World Cup who went through the tournament undefeated.

Redemption
When I was about 9 years old, I was forced to stay home instead of going to school. My father said that I must stay home to watch the World Cup football match of Holland vs. Brazil. (Here is the summary of the game). It was an amazing gesture to be allowed to skip school since I never stayed home unless I was certifiably sick. So, we watched the game in the morning which was incredibly exciting, and we had a great time, also with my older brother staying home. Unfortunately, Holland was defeated and eliminated from the world cup. My brother and I then got dropped off at school just before lunchtime.

Now, my teacher, who was not necessarily called but something similar to "Mr. Smithson", was not impressed at my morning absence. I should note that this was New Zealand, a country that until very recently, doesn't care about football. He checked my homework, which I hadn't completely finished, and that was it. He had his reason and I was punished. I forget what the punishment exactly was, but I think it meant that during lunchtime I had to sit outside on "the spot", which was the going punishment at our school. But I was a nerd, a good boy (and maybe still am), so getting punished for watching Oranje, even when my father said it was okay was shocking to me. It was unjust, and in retrospect, this may be a case for discrimination.

Nevertheless, despite the result, this was a great experience, and a subtle way that I was able to hold onto my Dutch-ness despite being on the opposite side of the world. And every four years since, (with one notable exception that we won't talk about) it came back up.

Now, today, was the rematch with Brazil. Finally I am in a country where everyone understands the importance of Oranje. I mean, the place I often work at put up a sign that said they would close early because of "Brazillian Fever". And, in a wonderful turn of events, I took a day off work and went to my parent's place to watch the game. It was absolutely brilliant. Winning was redemption, not just for the loss 16 years ago, but for me. I have waited a long time for this moment, although I never knew that it would come.
Now, 16 years later, I finally feel that I have left "the spot".

Update:
After some deliberation with my father, we have decided that the game which I was punished for was not a game where Holland played (however, I must also have watched the game I just referenced). Apparently, I would have only been a half-hour late to school, but the game was extended an extra half hour, and went into penalties, which added on about an extra hour, making me noticably late to school. This could only have been the final between Brazil and Italy. My father reasoned that, New Zealanders wouldn't think twice about missing school due to a rugby match, and this was the final of the way-kah! And honestly, the Dutch love their football much more than New Zealanders love rugby. (P.S. I hate rugby.)

Important update:I came across this guy while cooking yesterday, and something this culturally significant must be shared with the masses.

For those playing at home, here is some further recommended reading:

http://failblog.org/tag/things-that-are-doing-it/

http://chickandfit.com/fruit-erotica-20-hottest-fruit-photos/

http://www.yurope.com/people/dushan/Botanika/


Discussion topic: A moral dillemma

Would it be a little gay if I ate the carrot?

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.