Family
“I live with my mum, dad, and older brother, Joal. My mother is a teacher and my father works for the Dutch railways. I have a pet rabbit called Jojo.”
“Holland is famous for windmills1, wooden shoes, cheese, and tulips2. In the spring, the countryside is covered with fields of beautiful flowers, mostly tulips.”
Friends
“My friends Coryell and Julia are both really funny, and my friend Katie can make you feel happy even when you’re sad.”
Home
“Our house has three floors. The top floor is called the zolder, and that’s where my brother and I have our bedrooms.”
Shopping
Most towns have outdoor street markets twice a week where you can buy anything from fruit to light bulbs to clothes. There are very few malls or huge stores in Holland—instead, there are lots of small shops and a few department stores3.
Food
“Dutch people eat bread for breakfast, often with chocolate spread. Lunch might be an uitsmijter, a sort of open sandwich with a fried egg on top. One traditional evening meal is stampot or hutspot, which is made of carrots, onions, potatoes, and bits of meat all mashed4 together.”
“My favorite meal is large, thin pancakes with butter and sugar. Pannekoeken are eaten for dinner, not breakfast, and they’re not always sweet. They can also be made with mushrooms, bacon, cheese, and other ingredients5.”
Holidays
“The Queen’s Birthday on April 30 is one of our biggest holidays. (It’s actually the birthday of the present queen’s mother.) The queen visits a different town each year and walks around and talks with the local people. There are parties, parades, and fairs everywhere.”
Music
“I listen to pop music such as Rachel Stevens and Avril Lavigne. A lot of the music I listen to is from Britain or the United States. There are not many Dutch singers, and most songs are in English.”
Clothes
“For women, the traditional Dutch costume is a black or dark dress worn with an apron6 (often brightly striped), a lace7 headdress, and clogs8. There are some places in Holland where people still wear this every day.”
“Girls in Holland mostly wear T-shirts and shorts in the summer and pants and sweaters in the winter. My favorite clothes are jeans, especially ones that are a bit faded and have colored patches sewn on.”
School
“I go the International School of Amsterdam, where my mom teaches. There are kids from all different countries, so our classes are in English. We don’t have a school uniform.”
◆Anne Frank
Perhaps the world’s most well-known young writer is Anne Frank. During World War II, Anne and her family (who were Jewish) hid from the Nazis in an Amsterdam building for two years. In her now-famous diary, Anne said, “When I write, I can shake off9 all my cares.”
◆One-fourth of the land of the Netherlands was once covered by the sea. For hundreds of years, the Dutch have built dikes and used windmills to drain the land so that it can be farmed and built upon.
◆Because the Netherlands is very flat, it’s perfect for bike riding. There are twice as many bikes as cars. People ride bikes to work and school and to do shopping and other errands10. It’s not unusual to see a mother carrying one, two, or even three small children on her bike!
◆Some of the world’s most famous painters were Dutch, including Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh.
◆Queen Wilhelmina was only 10 years old when she became queen of the Netherlands! Her mother ruled for her until she turned 18 in 1898.
◆There are many, many canals in Holland. During cold winters, the canals freeze over11 and people skate on them. There’s even a 120-mile marathon ice-skating race.
家庭
“我和妈妈、爸爸还有哥哥乔尔住在一起。妈妈是一名教师，爸爸则在荷兰铁道部门工作。我有只名叫JoJo的宠物兔。”
“荷兰以风车、木鞋、奶酪和郁金香闻名于世。春天，乡间到处开满了漂亮的花朵，主要是郁金香。”
朋友
“我的朋友克莱尔和朱丽亚都非常搞笑。即使在你难过的时候，我的朋友卡蒂也能把你逗笑。”
房间
“我们家有三层。顶楼叫‘佐尔德’，我和哥哥在那儿各有一个卧室。”
购物
大多数镇上都有露天市场，每周开两次。你能在那儿买到水果呀、灯泡呀、衣服呀各种东西。在荷兰很少有商场或大型超市——相反，倒是有许多小店和一些百货公司。
食物
“荷兰人早餐吃面包，通常上面会涂上巧克力。午餐可能是一份uitsmijter，即一种上面加了一个煎蛋的单片三明治。传统晚餐是stampot 或hutspot——将胡萝卜、洋葱、土豆和小块肉捣碎混合而成。”
“我最喜爱的食物是涂上黄油和糖的大薄饼。大薄饼只在正餐时食用，不在早餐时吃，而且并不总是甜味，还能用蘑菇、熏肉、奶酪和其他原料制成。”
假日
“4月30日的女王生日是我们最盛大节日之一。（实际上是现任女王母亲的生日。）女王每年都会访问一个不同的城市，四处参观，并与当地人谈话。全国各地都举行派对、游行和集会。”
音乐
“我听流行音乐，如瑞奇·斯蒂文和艾薇儿的歌。我听的许多音乐出自英美，荷兰歌手并不多，大多数歌曲都是英文的。”
服饰
“对女性来说，传统荷兰服装是有围裙（通常带有明亮斑纹）的黑色或深色衣服、花边头巾和木鞋。荷兰许多地方，直到现在人们依然每天穿着这样的服饰。”
“在夏天荷兰女孩子通常穿T恤和短裤，冬天则穿长裤和毛线衫。我最喜爱的服装就是牛仔裤，尤其是那些有点褪色的、打有各色补丁的牛仔裤。”
学校
“我在我妈妈任教的阿姆斯特丹国际学校读书。学校里有来自世界各国的孩子，因此课堂上我们都用英语。我们没有校服。”
◆安妮·弗兰克
也许世界上最知名的少年作家要数安妮·弗兰克。二战期间，安妮和她的家人（犹太人）为逃避纳粹分子的迫害，在阿姆斯特丹一栋建筑物内躲藏了两年。在她如今风靡全球的日记中，安妮说：“当我写作时，我能抛开一切烦恼。”
◆荷兰有1/4国土曾被海水淹没。几百年来，荷兰人筑造了无数堤坝，并用风车抽干陆地上的积水，以便耕种农作物或建造房屋。
◆由于荷兰地势非常平坦，非常适合骑自行车。荷兰的自行车数量是汽车的两倍。人们骑自行车上班、上学、购物或做其他事情。在荷兰看到一位母亲用自行车载着一个、两个、甚至三个小孩并不足为奇！
◆有一些举世闻名的画家是荷兰人，包括伦勃朗·梵莱茵和文森特·梵高。
◆女王威廉敏娜登基时年仅10岁！她的母亲一直替她掌权，直到1898年她18岁为止。
◆荷兰有许多运河。寒冬腊月运河全部结冰，人们在上面溜冰，甚至还会举行120英里的马拉松溜冰比赛。
1. windmill n. 风车
2. tulip n. 郁金香
3. department store 百货公司
4. mash v. 捣碎
5. ingredient n. 成分，因素
6. apron n. 围裙
7. lace n. 花边
8. clog n. 木底鞋
9. shake off 摆脱
10. errand n. 差事
11. freeze over 全部结冰