A Kid's Life in The Netherlands

Many children in the Netherlands speak two languages besides Dutch. They speak English and German or French.

On Easter children in the Netherlands play a game where they bump Easter eggs together and see which one breaks first.

Population: 14,458,000

Tulips are very popular in the Netherlands.

Some of the houses in the Netherlands are over one hundred years old.

In Holland windmills are used to drain and dry the land.

The sails on the windmill used to be used to send messages.

Goede dag, hallo (hello), my name is Chantal. I live in Amsterdam

which is in the Netherlands, a small northern country in Europe, where we speak Dutch. Even though the name of our country is the Netherlands, many people call it Holland.

I live in a house on a large modern development. Some of the houses are hundreds of years old, but newer ones have been built like the one I live in. I live near a dike. A dike is like a wall that keeps the sea water from flooding back onto the land. Did you know that over the past 700 - 800 years we have reclaimed over 2,700 square miles of land from the sea?

On weekdays I wake up at 7:00, get dressed, then eat breakfast. For breakfast I usually eat rolls with jam, cheese and boiled eggs. After breakfast I walk to school with my brother Edwin. I have to be at school by 8:30. My favorite subject is social studies because I like to learn about the history of my city and country. I have a lunch break in the middle of the day. I bring a ham and cheese sandwich, an apple, and a carton of milk (chocolate is my favorite). I get out of school at 2:30. I have a snack after school but don't eat dinner till 6:00. For dinner my family usually goes out to eat.

soccer ball My favorite sport is soccer. I play on a team with some of my friends (I think we're pretty good). Another activity I like to do is watch pole vaulting competition. It's fun to watch, but I wouldn't want to try it!

I love the holidays. My favorite is Easter because I love decorating eggs. I also like to look for the chocolate eggs and other candies that my parents hide in our yard. My favorite Easter game is eiertikken (eh-yer-TIK-ken). How we play it is we bump decorated Easter eggs together and see who's breaks first. Another holiday I like is St. Nick's Day. Every December 5th Sinterklass (Santa Claus) and his helper, Zwaret Piet, give presents to children.

My country has a very nice climate. Most of the time the summers are not too hot and the winters are not too cold. It is very windy here, that's one of the reasons we have a lot of windmills. We use them to drain and dry the land. Just about everywhere you look, you will see a windmill. They used to be used for grinding grains such as corn and wheat. Did you know that the sails (blades) on windmills used to be used to send messages? If the sails were set vertical and horizontal, it meant that the mill was ready to start work. Sails that were set 45 degrees to the ground meant the mill could not work. If the sails were set before 6 and 12 o'clock, it meant there had been a birth. Sails that were set after 6 and 12 o'clock meant there had been a death.

Most Netherlanders wear clothing that is the same as people wear in the United States and Canada. People on farms and in fishing villages sometimes wear klompen, which are the famous Dutch wooden shoes. Even though the shoes are noisy, they protect our feet from damp earth better than leather shoes do. We never wear our wooden shoes in our homes. We leave them outside and change into leather shoes.

Tot ziens (good bye), I hope you enjoyed learning about the Netherlands.