Month: November 2018

Liability-what???

Last weekend we took a drive to Belgium to an ice sculpture exhibit.  While there we decided to ride the ice slide which might have more aptly been named the slide of definite injury and possible death.  Essentially this was a decent sized curved slide made of ice.  There were small cafeteria-style trays at the bottom of the slide for you to sit on as you came down.  There was not, however, any signage indicating the dangers of the slide or that you ride at your own risk.  There was also no employee regulating the traffic flow on the slide.  Now, I can tell you that cafeteria trays plus downward sloped ice are very, very fast.  I can also tell you that children going down ice that fast can get both scared and hurt, and adults going down ice that fast will likely break something while pretending to be neither scared nor hurt!  Luckily we escaped with just one smashed finger that has healed quickly, but we witnessed large adults shooting off the slide and slamming into the floor on their sides, backs and faces.  We also watched a pregnant woman shoot off and land on all fours, barely avoiding having her stomach hit the ground.  And this was all we could observe at the bottom before having to get out of the area for fear of being knocked over by one of the sliders as they performed their aerial dismount.

Now imagine this slide in the US-no disclaimer, no monitoring; one of those victims of the slide would have sued before they even hit the ground!  This isn’t the first time that we have witnessed this kind of thing in Europe.  Here it seems very unregulated while in the US there is a disclaimer on everything.  But, interestingly enough, here in The Netherlands, we have liability insurance which protects us from liability on everything from our dog biting someone to our kids breaking a window with their ball.  It even protects us if we ruin our friend’s furnishings while eating at a party at their house!  Now I’m not saying this insurance doesn’t exist in the US, but it doesn’t cost too much here and it seems that most everyone has it unlike in the US.  Now, I can only assume there is something like liability insurance for the company providing rides such as the ice slide in addition to the fact that the culture is just not as prone to suing, but maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe in Europe, they just figure if you are dumb enough to sled down a slide made of ice on a tray then you just have to accept the consequences and they don’t need to post a sign to explain that!

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I Know Where I Am

This past week, I had a moment of clarity in which I finally started to know where I am, what direction I’m going and how to navigate my path.  And I’m not talking figuratively, but literally-how to navigate my way through the maze of seemingly identical, twisting streets here in Rotterdam.  Coming from a place where the streets are laid out in a perfect square grid with every turn a right angle, adjusting to Rotterdam, where almost no streets are straight, the buildings all look pretty similar and the name of a street changes every couple of blocks you travel, has been a bit of a challenge.  For the first several months I basically had no idea how to get anywhere unless the GPS was on (and that’s driving, cycling and walking).  But then, suddenly, I recognized where I was and I knew what was further down the road if I kept going or what I would run into if I turned a certain direction.  I knew how to bike to the stores I wanted to get to.  I also successfully took a tram into downtown, got off at the right place, knew when my stop was coming up without looking, wandered around without getting lost and found another tram stop to go the opposite direction back toward home.  And finally, I was able to drive to our weekly violin lesson without needing the GPS.  Now, this may not seem like much to people who are used to navigating new cities or have moved often and had to learn a new town, but for someone who has basically lived in two very easy to navigate towns in their life and who never drives in cities that we visit, this is a big deal.  Now, I can say- I know where I am!

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Sinterklaas-Fun Holiday or Huge Controversy?

While the Christmas season is fast approaching, the Dutch are already busy celebrating Sinterklaas.  Sinterklaas is similar to Santa (in fact we told our kids that he is his cousin) but he definitely has his own methods and traditions.

In a nutshell, Sinterklaas, who is very tall, skinny, old and stoic, lives in Spain (used to be Turkey) and each year he travels to The Netherlands by steamboat along with his helper, Zwarte Piet, and his horse.  We happened to stumble upon a celebration of the arrival of Sinterklaas a week ago as you can see in these pictures.

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Once Sinterklaas arrives, he travels around the country on his horse.  Children leave their shoes by the fireplace (or radiator should you find yourself without a fireplace) and put treats such as carrots and hay in the shoe for Sinterklaas’s horse.  Then the Zwarte Piet comes down the fireplace, collects the treats and leaves a treat for the child such as a small toy or candy.  Two popular food items for children to find in their shoe are kruidnoten, a small spice cookie, and solid chocolate letters, generally the child’s initial.  Children also sing Sinterklaas songs up the fireplace to encourage the visit.  Then on December 5th or 6th, the family gathers for a meal and while they are eating there is a knock at the door.  When the children go to the door, they find a sack of gifts from Sinterklaas.

Now, this sounds like a fun tradition for children and adults alike, but poor old Sinterklaas is not without his controversy.  The trouble is Zwarte Piet is portrayed by white people in blackface, often with exaggerated African features.  Apparently, this goes back to a story that was written in the 1800s in which Sinterklaas arrived with his “helpter” who seemed very much to be a representation of a slave in the Dutch colonies at the time.  Currently, this practice is very emotionally charged here in The Netherlands.  Some Dutch folk say it’s tradition and it’s not meant to be racist, it’s just in good fun for the holiday.  Others say it is racist and that the Piet should either simply be smudged with black smears because they are covered in soot from the fireplace or they should remove the Piet from the holiday altogether.  It is impossible not to stumble upon (often heated) debate on this topic.

In our house, we are trying the Sinterklaas tradition this year, but with a few modifications.  We have talked about the Piet and what that means and we have decided anyone can be a helper-any color, any gender, any size, shape, etc.  Also, we are not putting our shoe out every night for 3 weeks-nobody needs that much junk!  Instead, we put them out 2 times each week.  So far, Sinterklaas has been a fun addition to the holidays and we’ve enjoyed the cultural lesson.  And parents, let me just say that there is as much excitement and anticipation about getting something small or candy on several nights as there is with a big item just one night a year- just in case you were wondering!

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