The Grand Rapids Press – Got Dutch? Well, not much

Got Dutch? Well, not much
About the Dutch in the US and what happens if people from the Netherlands visit the Dutch migrants in the US.

Friday, April 07, 2006
By Kym Reinstadler
The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND — They didn’t pack a Dutch costume because they don’t own one.

They never wore wooden shoes or learned traditional klompen dancing until they arrived in Michigan.

Those are answers five Dutch students from a hospitality school in the Netherlands have given regularly since arriving March 10 to do a three-month internship at Dutch Village in Holland.
“We love it here, but it’s old Holland,” said Nicolle van Sambeek, 19, from Sint Anthonis. “We hope Americans realize this is not how it still goes in the Netherlands.”

The Netherlands is a modern, progressive country that plays a major role in the economy of Europe, even though it’s smaller than Michigan, said Serani van der Helm, 19, of Helmond.

Today, to see people wearing wooden shoes or dining on pigs in blankets off Delftware, you would have to visit old people in rural regions of the country, the students said.

Holland Mayor Al McGeehan, who met the students Thursday, asked the visitors to forgive Holland for stereotypes. Its icons — from klompen dancing to cuisine — all celebrate the culture the first settlers in West Michigan 160 years ago fondly remembered.

He acknowledged that he learned through his travels that giving wooden shoes — his city’s highest honor reserved for presidents and other dignitaries — would be considered an insult in the Netherlands.

“Holland has grown to be more than our Dutch heritage, yet this is our key to recognition across the country,” McGeehan said. “Please do not laugh at our old symbols.”

The students, who will work in a variety of capacities at Dutch Village, say it’s hard to get too homesick in Holland. There are the same gray skies and a telephone book full of familiar names.

They enjoyed learning that DeZwaan, Holland’s 240-year-old working Dutch windmill, was dismantled in 1964 from the province of North Brabant, where their school is based.

McGeehan was a tour guide when Windmill Island opened 40 years ago and can still recite his spiel — a skill the students imagine they will hone during careers in tourism.