Letter #176 from The Netherlands

Letter #176 comes from Roxanne (or as her friends call her Roxxy) in The Netherlands.She was born in Utrecht and is currently a student.She describes herself as both a book worm and a music junkie.She loves books and carries her ipod around everywhere.She also is a writer and singer.She has been taking singing classes since 2009 and still wants to learn more.She also enjoys watching soccer,shopping,hanging out with friends,dancing,watching tv,swimming,travelling,postcrossing,and much more!

Roxanne says she is not a very picky eater,but does not like olives and a few herbs,other than that,she is pretty open to a variety of foods.She loves rice,pasta,risotto rice and chicken the most because you can always change the flavors and make a different kind of meal using just those ingredients.

She also said that spring has been really nice so far this year.It has been much warmer compared to previous years.She loves the warm weather since she can go swimming at the lake and have picnics at the park.The sunshine makes her so happy and gives her energy.

Roxanne is attending university for Communication Management.She says that at one point,she wasn't even sure what she wanted to do,so she took a break for two years until she realized that she could do what she really wanted,after all.She says she would love to be a singer,but not a famous one (hmm,maybe she could be like Milli Vanilli,if anybody remembers them....they turned out to be lip syncing...ok,just joking,but I guess if you really wanted your voice to be heard,but not be seen,it could be an option). :) Anyways,back to the letter,she thinks it would be really nice to work with musicians and since she's very skilled in organizing,she's thinking she may be a perfect fit for being an event manager.She also has a passion for creative writing and would like to be a freelance writer.....maybe she could write about the music events she plans. :) She really would be happy to have a job that consists of her three loves- music,organizing and writing.The only job she doesn't want is one where she has to sit at a desk in an office.

She is currently working at an old ship dock as a trainee,where they repair ships that were used for river transport.She says that they currently function as a museum but that they still have the ability to repair ships that are over 50 years old.She also says that there is a small harbor with many historical ships and that it's reallt beautiful,with a rich history.Her current job involves public relations,communications and advertising.She has really learned a lot through this internship.

She said that the city she was born and lives in (Utrecht),is a big city and that there is always something to see and do and she loves that she can go shopping every day.She doesn't like silence,so she doesn't think she could survive living in a small town.

She also shared a couple of facts about her country that we may not have learned about from previous letters.The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy.The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.As of January 2010,the Netherlands had 16,574,989 inhabitants.The Netherlands is often referred to as Holland,although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces.The word "dutch" is used to refer to the people,the language,and anything pertaining to the Netherlands.Geographically,the Netherlands is a low-lying country,with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level.Most of the country is very flat,with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low-hill ranges in the central part.

When she wrote us the letter,it was a special day in the Netherlands,they were celebrating Queens Day (April 30).Their former queen was born on April 30 so it became a national holiday.Every year the royal family visits one of the cities or towns in the country and they show it on tv.They also have flea markets,music everywhere,people can buy drinks and food on the streets and almost everyone is dressed in orange.Since most people really love to party,they have invented Queens Night,which starts on the 29th of April.So,for about 24 hours,there is orange madness going on in the country.She says that the color orange is not on their national flag,but it is part of the last name of their queen,therefore,orange is their national color.So you will usually see people wearing orange during sporting events or national holidays to show that they are Dutch.

She also told us about some other holidays.On May 4 (which happens to be my favorite day b/c it's my birthday) it's a sad day where they remember the casualties of World War II.But then the next day,on May 5th,there's Liberation Day,which is Roxanne's favorite holiday.All around the country,people organize big events and festivals with music and much more.You can sit in the park with friends and listen to the bands play on the stage.She said that the best part is that there's free admission. :)

Along with her lovely letter,Roxanne included some printouts with pictures of herself,her boyfriend,the place she currently works at,her family,boyfriend,their pets and of course,a map showing her country and city.She also enclosed some postcards,some mini flags,and a Dutch wooden shoe keychain.Thanks so much Roxanne for the letter and goodies,which can be seen below:

Letter #128 from the Netherlands

Letter #128 comes from Evelin from The Netherlands.She currently lives in the Netherlands but grew up in Brazil and will be visiting Brazil soon and will write to us from there about her home country.She lives in a village called Hilversum,which is 20 km southeast of Amsterdam and 20 km north of Ultrecht.It's often called "media city" since it's the principal center for radio and television broadcasting in the Netherlands.Radio Netherlands is heard worldwide via shortwave radio since the 1920's and is based there.Hilversum is known for their town hall designed by Willem Dudok.The village has one public library and two swimming pools,shopping centers and sporting halls.The city center is known as "het dorp" which means "the village".

Evelin also enclosed some wonderful postcards from her village.One shows a school,old town hall,church and the Media Museum,another shows the train station,school,New Town Hall,Bandstand,and shop fronts and another one features the New Town Hall,tv and radio tower,shopping area and a church.She also sent us a printout featuring an interesting building called the Museum of Sound and Images,which was made with colored glass panels and is related to radio and tv in the Netherlands from its beginning to the present time.

Thanks Evelin for your lovely letter and postcards that can be seen below:

Letter #68 from The Netherlands

Letter #68 comes from Tijmetje,who lives in The NetherlandsShe is currently a student in the university.She is originally from Middelburg,which is a very nice city with many beautiful old buildings in the city center,although some have been burned down after the Nazi bombing in 1941,but many have survived.

She curently lives in Rotterdam where he goes to the university to study medicine.She is very interested in neurology,but doesn't know just yet just what type of job he wants to do in that field.She also enjoys playing the bagpipes.She actually wrote our letter while on the train to his weekly band practice in the city next to her hometown.

She says that the cities of Middleburg and Vlissingen are great places to walk through.Vlissingen has a nice boulevard and maritime museum.She says Middleburg has a lot of pretty houses and old buildings that are nice to see.Also,the old abbey is worth a visit,with the museum and the tower.Their market is great and there's a bookshop and old city hall that is very pretty to see.She says it has little statues near the clock that move with every strike of the hour.As for the rest of the island (which is no longer even considered an island),there are great beaches and it's a really great place to ride bikes.She also says that if you go north a little,you'll find the Delta Works,an engineering masterpiece that protects them from the sea.It was built after the 1953 flood,which killed many people and cattle.There is even a museum about the Delta Works.

Tijmetje also told us about the city of Rotterdam,which was also bombed in 1941.She says recently special lights have been put in the pavement to show which parts of the city burned down as a result of the fires started by the bombing.She also says you can look at this website here for more info about it.He says he saw photos of the city both before and after the bombing and ot was almost impossible to figure out where they were taken.

Rotterdam is a port city,the second largest in the world.She believes that their twin city,Shaghai,is the largest port city.There are also boat tours through the port.She also said that Rotterdam has many musuems,with his favorites being the Maritime Museum,the Historical Museum and the Education Museum.She also said that Boymans is great,as well.

She has shared quite a bit,so I regret not being able to share the entire letter,but he also mentioned some great things about the cities of Schiedam,Amsterdam and Haarlem,which all have very interesting things about them.She also told us about an awesome card that she has that gets her into many museums for free,which she uses quite a lot,I'm sure.

Along with his lovely letter,Tijmetje sent us a bunch of lovely ticket stubs,which we truly love collecting from all over,they are always so interesting to look at.Thanks so much for writing to us!Enjoy all of her goodies below:

Letter #57 from The Netherlands

Letter #57 comes from Saskia in the Netherlands (wow,we must be getting really popular there as we are getting many letters from there...keep them coming!).Saskia just got married last year.Congratulations!She hopes to have kids in the near future.

Her and her husband live in Doetinchem, a really nice city in the east of the Netherlands,close to the German border.She loves to shop in Germany,especially for their chocolate.Hmm,I would love to try som German chocolate,it has to be better than American chocolate.I'm sorry to insult my country's chocolate,but I think it's true,our chocolate is quite boring.She says the Netherlands is not a big country and that it is really flat,there are no mountains there.

Her many hobbies include reading,travelling,music,trading postcards,penpalling,horseback riding,geocaching (we really need to start doing this fun hobby),walking,biking,skating and more. :) She also loves books by Sophie Kinsella.

As she said,she loves travelling and has been to quite a few places,such as Australia,New Zealand,Germany,France,Belgium.England,Spain,Greece,Italy,Maldives,USA,and finally Hong Kong.For her next trip,she plans to go to the Dutch Island,Terschelling.She has been very fortunate to travel to so many places.

She says that homeschooling isn't allowed in the Netherlands.If you do not attend school,they will send inspection to your home and you will have to pay a lot of money.She explains the Netherlands school system.First is primary school for ages up to 12,then you go to secondary school for 4 to 6 years,then you can do (this is the part we don't understand) mavo-mbo,havo-mbo or hbo,vwo-hbo,university or mbo.We are really clueless as to what that means,so we will have to look that up online.

Saskia currently works as a taxes official and also has her own flower business.She makes flower decorations for weddings,funerals and banquets.

Saskia has sent us some candy and those very popular stroopwafels,candy,some print outs with info about her country,along with some dutch words,pictures and recipes.Thanks so much Saskia for everything.Enjoy her letter and goodies below:

Letter #54 from The Netherlands

Letter #54 comes from Telenn,who lives in the city center of Vlissingen,a city along the coast of Walcheren,a region of Zeeland.Zeeland is one of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands and it's name means Land of the Sea.Zeeland is a group of islands.She says that even around 4400 BC there were people living in the area.Around the year 0 the sea got a lot of grip upon the land and that led to many creeks and coves forming and a large island group was founded.

She also says that the people founded small villages,which formed the base of a lot of villages of today.After a struggle betweeen the Dutch and Flemish Earls and the Dutch Floris and William III won.They decided to build a couple of towns with a harbor,including Vlissingen.In the year 1315, the city got its city rights and a church was built (St. Jacobs Church),which she lives close to.The harbor then needed to grow and there was some serious competition with Slais,another harbor city.Philip of Burgundy gave permission to build a wall around Vlissingen,with a gate.The prison tower which is still standing today is a reminder of that gate.She also says the Vlissingen played its part with the East and West Indian trading company as well.The city was really flourishing!

But in 1795,Napoleon wanted to conquer England and took over Vlissingen,which was a strategic place.In 1809 an English expedition burnt the city hall,2 churches and 65 houses,and many more homes damaged.In 1807 Napoleon tried to expand the city,but thanks to the English,he left in 1816,leaving Vlissingen in need.Around 1867 the city was rebuilt again and the city was flourishing again.

Then the second world war started and Germany invaded the city on May10,1940 and the city was bombarded.Only one house was undamaged,so they had to rebuild the city again.The city center then changed into an area with all kinds of shops.She says she lives right on the center and that the harbors are gone, but a small marina and dockyard stll exist.The prison tower she mentions in the letter is now a restaurant.

She also tells us that there is a Dutch hero from Vlissingen named Michiel de Ruyter,who was born in 1607 and lived close to where Telenn lives now,actually just around the corner from her.She says he was  a bit of a troublemaker.He travelled a lot,became a sailor and also joined the Navy and was promoted as admiral.He fought many battles at sea and also got a nobility title in Denmark for his part in a battle in Scandinavia.He died from his injuries when he was almost 70 years old in 1676.You can see his statue on the postcard she has enclosed.

She then goes on to tell us about herself.She is not allowed to have pets where she lives,but wants a cat one day.She does however, have two African Dwarf frogs and three red corn snakes.She says all they do is sleep all day.I guess if you don't have to search for your own food anymore, you can sleep all day. :). They feed them mice and she says they are great pets for people with allergies since they shed skin,not hair.She also says that they are so easy to take care of,you don't have to walk them or worry about finding a sitter for them while you are on vacation. :)

She also tells us that she has three jobs in the field of education.Ons of her jobs is an educational assisitant at a primary school.She also helps a student after school and she also works at a regional study center..At the regional study center she helps different groups of people,some are metally disabled and some of the people have come from other areas,so they need help learning Dutch.She is quite busy with her jobs.

In her spare time she loves to read.When she wrote the letter,she was reading a book called The Wind Singers by Megan Lindholm.she also loves to draw,listen to music and take photographs.She also enjoys travelling and has been to Paris and Berlin and will be visiting France this year.

Telenn has also included some stickers for my daughters,some tea bags,a postcard and a printout of some pictures she has taken.Thanks so much for the lovely letters and goodies.Enjoy all of her goodies below:

Letter #53 from The Netherlands

Letter #53 comes from Saskia, who lives in the Netherlands.She says she wishes they had this type of project when she was in school. :)

Like many people who have written us,she felt her English wasn't good,but as with every letter,the english is great,I think many people are too tough on themselves and are so worried about making mistakes.Anyways,back to the letter.She says she lives in the city of Amersfoort,which is located in themiddle of the Netherlands,not very far from the capital Amsterdam.The Netherlands is located in the west of Europe and shares borders with Belgium and Germany.She just recently moved to Amersfoort in January,so she is learning about the area along with us. :)

She has finished her studies in July for her Bachelor of Applied Sciences and now works in a hospital.She has described her job,so if you are eating,you may want to read this later. :) She works in a laboratory where they receive potentially infected human materials,such as urine and stool samples and then try to find out what is causing the infection.They do that by culturing, or feeding the bacteria and when they are grown,they check them out on a microscope and do many tests on them.After that they test what kinds of antibiotics are suitable to treat that infection.She says that working with bacteria is very challenging because they have a mind of their own so her work days are never dull and boring.

On her letter,she placed some pictures of the typical Dutch symbol- flowers and the coat of arms of the Netherlands..She says the Keukenhof is a famous place which has a huge spring bulb display containing tons of flowers.

Her favorite tradition of the year has already passed (March 6-8).She believes it may be a cathollic tradition instead of a Dutch tradition.She says they call it a carnival and it's always celebrated 40 days before Easter and is three great days of fun.She always celebrates with her family.She also says it always starts with a parade on a Sunday to welcome the prince of the carnival.In the evening there are parties everywhere and if the weather is nice,there are marching bands playing on the streets.On the next day there is another parade with huge wagons and more marching bands.She also says that you cannot go to the carnival wothout dressing up,she was going as a mad scientist (isn't that her real job?). :) Then on Tuesday there is the children's parade and at the end of the carnival at midnight,all the marching bands gather around a central spot and sing one last song.In Louisiana,where I'm from,we call this carnival Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)....we have the marching bands and people dress up and throw beads,coins and other goodies.I didn't know they had the same tradition in other places,especially as far away as the Netherlands.On the last page of her letter, she attached some typical pictures of a girl wearing traditional Dutch clothes in front of a windmill and another picture of a boat with windmills in the background and also a newspaper clipping which told about a boy who stole a bicycle on his birthday.I guess he wanted a bike for his birthday and didn't get one. :(

She has also enclosed a beautiful postcard of Monnikendam.It is a part of the old city walls that were originally built in the 13th century and restored in 1947.She says there is a story going around that they used rye with the masonry to add in some of the old looks of it,since it was previously used.The contruction workers then arrived on the worksite the next morning with lots of damage done to the masonry.They suspected the local youth.The next evening they put a man on watch to look for the children, but found out it was sparrows that were attracted to the smell of the rye. :) She says you can still walk around what is left of the walls and that they made a pretty green zone around the walls,which are now beginning to fill with crocus flowers and it looks really pretty!

Thanks so much Saskia for your beautiful letter and postcard!We enjoyed your letter!
Here's Saskia's letter and postcard below:

Letter #28 from The Netherlands

This lovely letter from Marianne came all the way from the Netherlands! She is married with two children,a boy and a girl.She says that her country has +/- 16 million people and it's well known for wooden shoes,tulips and windmills.She assures us that she does not live in a windmill,just a normal house. :)

Marianne works as a nurse who helps midwives with home births.She says it's really wonderful to be able to see someone enter the world.I can agree it must be so wonderful to see the first reactions when there's a new living being in a family's life and for it to be in the comfort of their own home must be really nice.She says that her daughter would like to grow up to be a nurse just like her mom.That's really nice.

Her family has a pet cat and rabbit.Her hobbies include spending time with her family,writing/receiving letters,reading,cross stitching and more.She also collects birth announcements,which she says is common in her country.

Below is her letter with some wonderful Diddl paper (how did you know we love Diddl?).She also decorated the envelope with stickers of one of my daughter's fave characters...I don't know how she knew what we like? :) Thanks Marianne for the wonderful letter!