Water overtakes the Netherlands

After the snow comes the water. 
Melting snow causes water to "overtake" the Netherlands.

Flood in Deventer (14 January 2011 at around 11:32):

Flood in Deventer (14 January 2011 at around 12:00):

Flood in Deventer, De Stentor (14 January 2011 at 13:00):

Flood in Nijmegen (13 January 2011):

 

Flood in Nijmegen, NOS (13 January 2011):

 

Flood in Nijmegen (11 January 2011 at around 14:30):

Hengelo (8 January 2011):

Sambeek (13 January 2011):

Boxmeer (10 January 2011):

Venlo (9 January 2011):

Maastricht (9 January 2011):

Roermond (9 January 2011):

Borgharen & Itteren being evacuated (9 January 2011):

Photo's:
Flood in Brabant

December in the Netherlands: After-Christmas Sale

Christmas has passed and as soon as the normal working day came (that is on 27th December 2010), the shops started stripping their shops off Christmas stuffs to make place for new theme and started their Christmas-stuffs sale.

40% Off by Intratuin, Apeldoorn (27 December 2010):

Snowman figurine:

Candle holder:

50% off, VD, Den Bosch (30 December 2010):

Gamma, Apeldoorn (31 December 2010):

Seven Dutch MPs have past convictions

News from the Netherlands, an excerpt:
Seven members of the Dutch parliament have past convictions, according to a survey among Dutch parliamentary parties conducted by news channel RTL Nieuws.

The seven are one member of the Socialist Party, one of the conservative VVD and five members of Geert Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV). Hero Brinkman (PVV) was the only MP out of a total of 150 not to respond to answer the RTL Nieuws questions.

The survey was prompted by recent revelations about the criminal pasts of three PVV MPs. First, it came to light that Eric Lucassen had been convicted for illicit sexual acts with a subordinate when he was an army instructor. Then, it emerged that the Hungarian company led by his colleague James Sharpe had been found guilty of fraud involving text messaging services. And finally, assault charges have been filed against Marcial Hernandez.

Read the full article here:
Seven Dutch MPs have past convictions 

Hmmm... Sexual assault, fraud and another assault?

Artistic Skate

I'm ashamed to say that I have been lazy. I should have posted this last week.
Why last week? Because the event occurred last week.
We went to see ice skating performances in Deventer.
Because of the advertisement and the title of the event, I thought it was going to be a grand event with a lot of participant. It turned out to be a small championship of free figure skating. It was not bad, it was just not exactly what I had expected.
The performances were divided into two category: solo/duo and group. We managed to see both.

Ready for winter

Today, when I woke up, I saw the street was white. Hey, what is that now? Oh... it's a thin layer of snow. Yes, it was -2 centigrade last night. Unfortunately, as the day goes by and the temperature goes up just above the freezing point, it will melt away.

But there is one thing for sure now. Winter is lurking at the corner. He can barge into your life anytime soon now.

First layer of snow on 27th November 2010:

Dutch Forest (Otterlo)

Last tuesday the weather was very nice. The sun was shining and the sky was blue.
I did not hesitate to take advantage of this. I went for a walk in Otterlo and the forest nearby. Walking is a popular activity here, especially when the weather is nice. But because it was just a working day, I did not come across many people during my walk - in the town, yes, but not in the forest.
Here are some photo's of a Dutch forest.

The Netherlands under water

The Netherlands and water are enemies. 
The Netherlands is called the Netherlands because it is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, with 50% of its land lying less than one meter above sea level. 
It is amazing that, compared to Indonesia, the Netherlands does not get flooded often. So far I have never experienced a flood here but here are a few video's of the Netherlands and its water problems:
Enschede, August 2010
Enschede, August 2010
Oldenzaal, 2010
Baarlo, November 2010

News on 13th November 2010:

"Langdurige regen heeft zaterdag voor veel wateroverlast in Noord-Brabant en Limburg gezorgd. In de strook tussen Eindhoven en Venray viel tussen vrijdag 15.00 uur en zaterdag 15.00 uur tussen de 50 en 60 millimeter regen."

The rain that lasted for long on Saturday created water problems in North Brabant and Limburg. Between Eindhoven and Venray the rainfall between Friday 15.00 and Saturday 15.00 was between 50 and 60 millimeter.

Bitchin' About Holland

Today, just after we finished watching Flashpoint, I threw a question at my boyfriend (the matter of the question is not really important here and for the sake of this posting, the question had nothing to do with Holland). Maybe he was tired or maybe he had his reason but he reacted so disinterested and discouraging that I felt stung.
When later he noticed I was unhappy about something, he asked why and I told him that after a day with not really anyone to talk to, I was longing for some adult conversation.
He said that with me it was not really a conversation and that I was more looking for a 'bin' where i could offload verbally and that I always bitched about Holland (he is Dutch).
I wonder if there is some truth in this.
Maybe I am looking for a 'bin' to offload verbally but can you really blame me after a day not talking to anyone? I mean really talking - the small talks in a shop between myself and the shopkeeper or cashier don't count.
Maybe I do bitch (read: critize) about Holland but who doesn't? I'm sure even the Dutch bitch about Holland every now and then. Every now and then I just get so frustrated that I just have to offload - or 'to bitch about it' if you prefer.
I do try to be less critical (or 'bitchy' if you prefer) but sometimes I just have my moments. Sometimes I just feel that I fight this hopeless battle on my own. And during those moments, am I not allowed to be bad to feel a little bit better?
If my offloading or criticizing is seen as bitching, then bitching it is.
If I'm bitching too much about Holland, then give me a good reason to stop.

PS: I guess it's commonly acceptable for a citizen to bitch about his country but it's not ok for someone else to bitch about that citizen's country.