Red, White and Tulips

Thanks to our Dutch/American neighbor, we were introduced to the Dutch New Years traditions this year.

• Eat oliebollen
• At the stroke of midnight head outside and share a drink with your neighbors to toast the new year
• Light copious amounts of fireworks

Oliebollen

The word oliebollen (link to a recipe if you want to try to make them yourself) literally translates to oil ball. These are the Dutch version of donuts and are said to be the origin of what Americans know as donuts today, when Dutch settlers brought them to New York in the 18^th century. They are a very seasonal treat. You can only find them for sale from about the end of November until the new year. They best when served hot and sprinkled with powered sugar.

On New Years Eve oliebollen stands will pop up all over, including at the grocery store, and the lines can be long. But you want them fresh. Some neighbors also get together and make them together, which takes us to our second tradition.

Toasting with Neighbors

I have joked before that living here is sort of a form of communal living. When you are in a row house, with linked backyards and no air conditioning, you learn a lot about your neighbors. Hopefully you like them, to it can make like pretty unbearable. Thankfully it was clear and dry, and at the stroke of midnight we were out meeting neighbors and wishing everyone a Happy New Year. It was a good way to meet people we hadn’t yet. And then came the…

Fireworks

If you thought celebratory fireworks were a thing where you live, they are nothing compared to what they do here in The Netherlands.

People started setting off fireworks around Christmas, day and night it didn’t matter, clear skies or rainy didn’t matter either. I guess they were practicing for the grand finale.

On New Years Eve, the fireworks were sporadic through the day, but by midnight it sounded and felt like we were in the middle of a war zone. It was 2 am before things quieted down and in the meantime our poor Maggie was shaking like a leaf, along with many other dogs across the country. I actually read in a Facebook group for dog owners that some have gotten wise to this and now rent hotel rooms near airports, where people can’t set off fireworks.

This is a picture our neighbor took down the street from our houses. These are just some of the remnants of some of the personal fireworks displays that were launched on New Years Eve. In very Dutch fashion, you will see that they collected all the spent shells and packaging very neatly and piled it for collection.