:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59508981/949609030.jpg.0.jpg)
Hello, Hoddlers!
A ramble about something I found while I was rambling.
Ramble of the Day
When I was rambling last week about mayochup (*gags*), I stumbled across this website called Stuff Dutch People Like. This website is from the same people that wrote a book called Stuff Dutch People Like and other books like it, and the website has a running list of stuff Dutch people like.
I decided to look at the 67 item list right before I started rambling. The first entry on the list was bicycles, which had me concerned that this site was a parody. After a bit of research, it turns out that Dutch people do really like bikes and that the website seems legit. Now my interest was piqued; I had to learn more about Dutch culture, since I did not know a lot, and this list seemed fascinating.
The list was indeed fascinating, but not as fascinating as Dutch people apparently are. They congratulate a person — and that person’s loved ones — on their birthday, which is cool. Why not congratulate someone on surviving another year? The Dutch also apparently love dairy, which I certainly approve of considering I’m drinking a glass of milk as I write this.
Continuing on food, Dutch people love feeding foreigners the licorice they enjoy that most others don’t, and there are a few viral videos to back that claim. This is also funny to me, but I would likely get laughed at by a bunch of Dutch people because licorice does not sound tasty to me at all.
There are a few other things that made the list that I approve of — not that the Dutch need my approval, of course — like football and sarcasm, more specifically sarcastic Christmas poems. There are a few things, though, that I question.
The Dutch like this thing called Hagelslag, which is basically sprinkles for bread. I will probably never get on board with putting chocolate on bread, which I have to imagine is controversial to people outside of the Netherlands as well. Most bread is just too savory in taste for me, and I find it hard to accept it with the much sweeter chocolate. An adoration for something resembling blackface made the list, which is obviously problematic.
On a lighter note, I also cannot get on board with an apparent fondness of sinks with only cold water, which can bring such strong disappointment when you look for the smallest bit of warmth on a cold day. Ice skating also seems to be very popular, but I was traumatized after the one time I attempted to ice skate because I could barely stand on the ice, so I am obviously not going to agree with the sentiment. (I don’t mind watching other people ice skate, though.)
Anyway, I expect a Dutch person to show up in the comments section — I know there’s at least one of you that lurks this site — to educate me further, which I welcome.
tl;dr: I found a website about Dutch people.
Links of the Day
Two men have been arrested after someone was severely injured ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League match against Roma yesterday.
Leeds United is under criticism after announcing an upcoming preseason tour of Myanmar.
Panathinaikos have been banned from European football for three years after failing to pay their debts.
David Squires goes over all 22 years of Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal reign in his latest cartoon.
Today’s longer read: Louise Taylor’s summary on the state of affairs at Sunderland for The Guardian