May 19, 2015

Americans try Dutch sweets and survive

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 11:21 am

Honingdrop

After having Americans try sweets and foods from many other countries, the Dutch held their breath to find out what happens in the recently released ‘Americans Try Dutch Sweets’ video.

Sometimes you know the panel is going to hate it, but it’s tough to find anyone that hates ‘stroopwafels’ (‘syrup waffles’). When I travel abroad and need to bring a small gift, stroopwafels are my best bet. You should warm them up on a mug of coffee or tea and then eat them or buy mini-stroopwafels and eat the whole bag.

Haribo is a German company and Germans as well as other nationalities also enjoy drop, so even if drop is more of a Dutch favourite, it’s always fun to see people’s reaction to trying it for the first time, like babies biting into a lemon and wincing their cute little faces.

‘Boterkoek’ (‘butter cake’) is easy to like, so no weirdness there, just a buttery taste. ‘Autodrop cadillacs’ (‘gummy pink cadillacs’) are nice because the strawberry flavour is not artificial and you can do wonders with the caddies on cupcakes. And yes, gummy products are originally German. The rum beans are bean-shaped chocolates filled with rum, although you need to pop them into your mouth in one go or else. I have no idea who came up with the brilliant idea for this type of sweet, but chocolate and rum is an international combo of deliciousness.

I say we need at least a second video with many more types of cakes and cookies (hey look, a Dutch word that made into English, from ‘koekjes’) and possibly a few other regional delicacies.

Tags: , , ,

February 27, 2009

American diseases descend on Amsterdam plane crash victims

Filed under: Aviation,Religion,Weird by Branko Collin @ 10:34 am

The Westboro Baptist Church, an American sect known for promoting the Christian God’s stance on homosexuality (it would appear he frowns upon it), has announced (PDF) it will picket the funerals of Dutch persons “killed at [the] Amsterdam plane crash.” No divine inspiration there, I am afraid. Yahweh forgot to tell the church there were no Dutch nationals among the dead. But these statements appear par for the course for the devout, as the church has also announced Turks will get the same treatment (PDF).

Meanwhile the radio this morning reported (RTV-NH, no written story available, yet) that at least two so-called American ‘ambulance chasers’, lawyers who try to represent accident victims, have been harassing the victims of the Turkish Airlines plane crash.

There’s a phrase the Dutch use for the extravagances we associate with the USA: ‘Amerikaanse toestanden’ (American situations). And the reason we apply that label is because we want no truck with them. Rare though is the time the Americans actually try and export their ‘situations.’

Photo of a citizen, a comb-over and a card by flickr.com user k763, some rights reserved.

Tags: , , , , , ,

July 17, 2007

CIA protects its own army in Nijmegen

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 11:40 am
cia1.jpg

Armed American security agents are actually participating in the annual ‘Nijmegen Vierdaagse’ (International Four Day Marches Nijmegen) under cover to protect the American military. The Dutch are perplexed as this is perfectly illegal, but the Dutch government probably enjoys being walked all over (pardon the pun) by the Americans. Although almost 4,600 men and women from 17 different countries are being protected by armed Dutch security services, the Americans apparently felt the need to protect the 65 American men and women participating in the event. There are also 1,716 Dutch military and 936 British military doing the Four Day Marches as well, albeit with much less babysitting.

My two cents: having lived in Nijmegen for years, my stomach turned everytime I saw small boys cheering on the American soldiers and completely ignoring the 300 Canadian cadets that participated every year.

Dutch parents, please give your children a history lesson and bring them to the nearby military cemetery in Goesbeek to find out who died to protect your neck of the woods and your freedom (2,331 Canadians were buried there).

(Link: NieuwNieuws)

Tags: , , , ,