Book signing and presentation at Trespa Design Centre, NYC

19 November 2009

Only in Holland, Only the Dutch book presentation

08 November 2009

5 Dutch Days NYC:
5 Dutch Days is a five day cultural event which takes place in New York City every November. It celebrates the continuous influence of Dutch arts and culture in New York City and brings together arts and cultural organizations from across the city. Programs include walking tours, lectures, concerts and contemporary art offerings. This year the 5 Dutch days take place from November 12-16, 2009.

As part of the event author Marc Resch delivers an informative and fun presentation on his book, Only in Holland, Only the Dutch. Using a combination of personal experiences and research, Marc will present a captivating portrayal of Dutch culture.

Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009
Time: 4:00pm
Free. RSVP recommended, as space is limited.

Location:
TRESPA DESIGN CENTRE
62 Greene Street
New York, NY 10012
212.334.7122
www.trespa.com

Amsterdam in three parts: crazy, cultured, and classic

12 October 2009

From the Detroit Free Press:

It's crazy, cultured and classic, a triptych, a puzzle. Some of it is sketchy. Most of it is culturally rich. Which is the "real" Amsterdam? Take your pick.

On one hand, with its wafting pot smoke and bored prostitutes under glass, the city's infamous Red Light District is still a prude's nightmare and a rebel's dream. On the other hand, any city that can claim Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Anne Frank is a must-see for even the most staid travelers. Then again, Amsterdammers seem like the coolest people on the planet, not staid at all. Citizens ride their bicycles with a tidy grace around the town, some toting briefcases, some in green high heels, some on bikes they fold and carry right onto the trains. Except ... tidy, the town is not. Too much enthusiastic renovation has stripped the "pretty" from the city. Scaffolding mars the Royal Palace on the shabby Dam Square. Construction blights the Rijksmuseum (the city's premier museum), the historic train station, the harbor and other landmarks. One can only hope the eventual result will be worth the long wait.

Bottom line? Come to Amsterdam expecting tradition, and you'll find it. Come expecting sex and drugs, and the city will oblige -- but know the scene is changing. Come expecting history, architecture and the chance to see paintings that make you glad to be alive, and you'll find that, too. Whatever you want, Amsterdam will be.

Read the article, including lots of information about what to in Amsterdam right now, here.

Summer Break

10 July 2009 Only in Holland.com is off on a two week vacation, but leaves you with a preview of the cover of the upcoming 3rd edition of the book and an extract from the book.

Nieuw Amsterdam – the Big Orange?
New York City, the most famous metropolis on the planet and the self-proclaimed “Capital City of the World” was originally overwhelmingly Dutch in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Early
Dutch settlers and merchants established villages and trading posts throughout the entire New York metropolitan area beginning in the early 1600s in order to profit from the vast resources within the region. The Dutch are credited with negotiating the “Deal of the Millennium” with the purchase of the island of Manhattan from the Indians for, ostensibly, $24. The borders of the Dutch territory claimed by the West India Company stretched as far from southern Delaware through New Jersey and east-central Pennsylvania, and into eastern and central New York, including Long Island. This Dutch region was originally called Nieuw Nederland and New York City was originally called Nieuw Amsterdam, both names paying homage to the Dutch motherland in Europe. (more)

1st Anniversary

22 January 2009

Celebrating one year of Onlyinholland.com in its current form!

3rd Edition Prepublication

21 October 2008 A prepublication of the soon to be published 3rd and updated edition of our book!

2500 international students will gather on November 8th in The Hague for the Day of the International Student. Marc Resch analyzes for them the ways their Dutch hosts have been perceived. 'Napoleon Bonaparte dismissed Holland as “a smoke-room full of obese cheese-mongers and devious bank cashiers.”' A new edition of his riveting Only in Holland, Only the Dutch will be released shortly. Read his prepublication on ScienceGuide.

Wilhelmus: The Dutch national anthem

27 March 2008 From Only in Holland, Only the Dutch:

The story of the valiant struggle against Spanish and religious oppression is immortalized in the Dutch National Anthem, the Wilhelmus. Prince William fought gallantly in order to free his country from tyranny and religious oppression and is accredited with being the Father of the Netherlands. The anthem commemorates Prince William’s leadership and heroic struggle against the mighty Spanish regime. In the Wilhelmus, the Prince of Orange addresses the oppressed people of the Low Countries in dramatic fashion. In his lofty speech, the Prince conveys his sincerity, determination and innermost motives for rising against the king of Spain. Prince William shows sympathy and empathy towards his followers, but also encourages them to join in the struggle against their oppressors. His speech is interrupted by a prayer in verses six and seven and he also reminds his loyal followers of their duty to obey the law of God.

The poem comprises fifteen verses. Only the first and sixth verses are usually sung on national occasions. The first verse is to this day misunderstood and controversial as it describes the Prince being loyal to the king of Spain - "to the king of Spain I've granted a lifelong loyalty". People from other countries are befuddled when they hear the Dutch singing these words of allegiance to the king of Spain. At the outset of the war, William of Orange-Nassau was elected Stadhouder, meaning he still represented the king’s authority. Originally, William and the Dutch people had no misgivings with honoring the king, as long as the king let them self-govern and respected their autonomy. The Dutch originally felt that the King of Spain had good intentions, but was receiving bad counsel from his Spanish delegates, which, subsequently, resulted in the king formulating bad policies. The Dutch rebels did not withdraw their loyalty to the king early on in the struggle. They only wished that their rights were honored and that they didn’t have to be subservient to Spanish policies.

The song’s style resembles that of the work of the Rederijkers (rhetoricians: sixteenth-century poets). The rhetoricians played an important role in contemporary society and had a great influence on the development of the modern day Dutch language. The first letters of the fifteen verses strung together brilliantly spell the name William of Nassau. The text is also thematically symmetrical, in that verses one and fifteen resemble one another in meaning, as do verses two and fourteen, three and thirteen, etc., until they converge in the eighth verse, which is the heart of the song: Oh David, thou soughtest shelter/From King Saul’s tyranny.”

The national anthem, including English lyrics.

Land of the Gentle Giants

26 February 2008 From Only in Holland, Only the Dutch.

Visitors arriving to the Netherlands are immediately awestruck with the enormity of the inhabitants roaming these lands. The Dutch, on average, are the tallest people encompassing this earth. In numerous studies and reports around the world, the Dutch unanimously come out on top in attaining the towering distinction of being the tallest people on the face of the earth. Actual statistics vary slightly in these reports, but the average height of Dutch men soars to just over 6 feet (184 centimeters) and the average height for Dutch women ascends to slightly over 5 feet 7 inches (170.8 centimeters).

The latest statistics can be found here.

Cruyff is back

24 February 2008 "Johan Cruyff answers distress call from the club where legend was created.
Johan Cruyff is to return to Amsterdam after 20 years to become the new technical director of Ajax in the wake of the Dutch club’s board announcing that it would resign at the end of the season. As a player and as the embodiment of total football, Cruyff transformed Ajax’s fortunes in the Sixties and Seventies and the Dutchman was the star of the show when the Amsterdam side won the European Cup in 1971, 1972 and 1973."
More at The Times.

Europan Cup final Ajax - Inter Milan 1972, played in Rotterdam.


Besides the spectacular football Only in Holland, Only the Dutch touches on the controversy surrounding Ajax. From chapter 4 Land of the Gentle Giants:
"The legendary Ajax football team in the Netherlands is world renowned for its talent and reputation as a world class football club. It also has a rather curious reputation as a Jewish club, although hardly any of its members were ever Jews. The Ajax fans even referred to themselves as Jews, even though nearly all of them were not. Additionally, the Ajax fans carried Israeli flags, mainly to irritate people, and referred to themselves as “Super Jews” and stated that “Jews are the champions.” [...] It was also common for opposing fans to make hissing noises in order to replicate the sounds of escaping gas. These chants and jeers happened so regularly that the police became ambivalent to them and paid little attention to the insensitivities. The Ajax reputation as being a Jewish club was so prevalent that many of the Dutch citizens thought that the blue and white flag with a star on it was an Ajax flag and not an Israeli one."

Amsterdam: Book Photo & News

29 January 2008 "Amsterdam's famous - or infamous - Red Light District looks likely to become slightly less 'blue' in the near future if the Dutch capital's municipal authorities get their way. The city council wants to put an end to criminality and trafficking in women in this notorious, yet highly popular part of town."
Read the rest of the article on the website of Radio Netherlands.

In the same news and in relation to the book: Famous RLD fixture Casa Rosso is the latest red light establishment to be threatened with closure. Immortalized within the pages of the book you will find the famous penis fountain with rotating balls that once marked the Casa Rosso:

(click to enlarge)

From Only In Holland, Only The Dutch: "The Dutch don'’t have any statues of great statesmen or war heroes, for that would honor individual greatness, which rewards people who stick their heads above the crowd, but they proudly exhibit the infamous penis with rotating testicles statue. There are more pictures taken of that infamous statue than the most cultural sites throughout Europe!"

Unfortunately, the statue has since been taken down...

Dutchman eating raw herring

22 January 2008 "In addition to the numerous Febos in Holland, raw herring stands are strewn across the country and are just as popular as the deep-fried food stands. These raw herring stands are not bait shops for fishermen, but food stands that the Dutch swarm to in order to eat raw bait fish -- a delicacy that the Dutch, and perhaps only the Dutch, find truly delectable… To eat the raw herring, the Dutch hold the fish by the tails, tip their heads back and slowly lower the entire fish into their mouths. The mere sight of watching the Dutch devour these raw fish leaves many visitors queasy in their stomachs. The distinct aroma of dead fish doesn’t help with that queasy feeling either."

(click to enlarge)

(From Only In Holland, Only The Dutch.)