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Today it’s time for another instalment of The A-Z of Turning Dutch – the Letter H. What H words do you associate with life here in the Netherlands? Or with the Dutch as a people? Here’s what you said….

• Houdoe
• Hoge Veluwe (famous for the KRÖLLER-MÜLLER MUSEUM, the red deer and the non paint balled wolves) – @DannyKeg
• Haven
• Hutspot
• Huisarts
• Hondelul
• Hakkelen
• Hagelslag
• Haring
• Holland
• Handschoenen
• Hachee
• Hete Bliksem
• Hollandsche nieuwe (Haring)
• Haring/ herring
• Heerlijk
• Hoor
• Honden
• Hatseflats
• Hup
• Høken
• Huzarenstukje
• Haringkje Happen
• Hoera

The Undisputed Winner of the H Popularity Stakes

Hagelslag. Hands down. On crackers. That’s sprinkles to those of you still learning Dutch. Usually chocolate, but the Dutch have made it a mission to make hagelslag available in any colour and flavour imaginable. At Easter we have special Paas hagelslag and at Christmas red and green sprinkles with Christmas tree shapes adorn the crackers or bread.

Other Notable H Words

Fish Rules OK

Haring was also popular among Twitter followers (it will always be Twitter to me). Personally, it’s a big no from me when it comes to haring, but you guys are obviously fans. Basically, hold the fish by the tail and chomp away. Or put it on a ‘broodje’, if that’s your style. Neither is mine, but you get on with your life, and I’ll get on with my haring-vrij life.

The Huisarts

Huisarts is an important word. If you come to live in the Netherlands, or stay here for any lenght of time, you may find yourself needing a huisarts. That’s GP, or family doctor. The huisarts guards the path into the Dutch medical system. To access almost any kind of medical care, you will need to convince your huisarts that you 1) really are sick and 2) need medical attention from somebody other than your huisarts. To get past the first security line, you have to convince the huisarts that paracetamol has not done the trick, neither has waiting three days. This hugely increases your chances of getting past the second security hurdle, but only if the huisarts believes waiting another week really will not improve your chances of survival recovery.

It’s a Dog’s Life

Honden. Dogs are popular in the Netherlands, in fact so popular I sometimes wonder if we are the only family not to have a dog. In reality, there are more cats than dogs here (2,9 million cats and 1,7 million dogs, as of 2019) but dogs are more visible in daily life. Due to the requirement to take dogs out for walks/to do their business. And it’s this last bit that is a huge bone of contention (see what I did there). It’s top of the list of annoying things in Dutch society. Hondenpoep is an issue. Dog owners pay dog tax, and some owners take this to mean that they have the right to leave their dog’s mess wherever they like. Google ‘hondenpoep overlast’ and you’ll see what I mean – go ahead, I’ll wait.

Conclusion

Today’s letter was a popular one. For today, The A-Z of Turning Dutch – the Letter H is done. But don’t worry, the I is just around the corner…….

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