Greg Shapiro, an American-Dutch comedian and actor, has just published his new book How To Be Orange, which I had the chance of perusing one morning before we both went on the air on Amsterdam’s English Breakfast radio. I laughed everywhere I opened it as an immigrant with 14 years on my Dutch clock because I could relate to it and it is well written. Some of you locals may recognise the book’s illustrations by Floor de Goede.
Many of the better known guide-like books written about the Dutch are just a collection of superficial observations written by English-speaking expats who don’t speak Dutch and think the entire expat community thinks like they do (colonialism, anyone?). These books were written 10-15 years ago, use Amsterdam as a metonym for the Netherlands, and are quite offensive at times, giving me the impression that the Dutch are an obstacle to living and working here because actually adapting and learning Dutch is unfortunately seen as a downgrade for many expats.
But Greg has come up with something that the Dutch and the rest of us can really laugh about probably because Greg has seen both sides, the immigrant having to take Dutch lessons with illiterate adults (not an insult, but a fact) and goes Dutch, bike, cheese and all like a boss. In my books he lives up to his nickname, the American Netherlander.
Here’s an older video shot downtown Amsterdam with Greg sporting his best British accent:
Orangemaster and I celebrated Queen’s Day together today, as we so often do, and we even brought friend and blogger 
The clash of holidays has also brought forward the Lintjesregen (rain of ribbons), the mass-awarding of royal decorations which takes place every year on Queen’s Day, the Dutch national holiday. Queen’s Day was traditionally held on the Queen’s birthday, but that tradition changed when Queen Beatrix ascended the throne in the 1980s. Beatrix’s birthday is in January, whereas her mother was born on the much warmer April 30, so it was decided that the latter day would be maintained.
May 10 was the 75th birthday of “The William” (het Wilhelmus in Dutch) as the Dutch national anthem. Queen Wilhelmina ordained on May 10, 1932 that from that day on, the more popular song should replace the slightly xenophobic “Wien Neerlands Bloed” (“If Dutch blood flows through your veins / Free from foreign stains”), which had served as the first national anthem since 1815. Ironically, the latter song was expressly created to counter The William, which was considered a pro-protestant song, and therefore offensive to Roman Catholics.