Actually, no. I used to know a guy called Carlos who would teach me Dutch phrases. That being said, he often just told me random jumbles of words and told me they were "insulting". He was also fond of weed and hated Belgians. I miss that guy. We used to talk about the Eredivisie all day.
Why would apple juice be insulting, though? Then again, you said he was fond of weed, who knows what was going on in that mind of his...I know he surely doesn't.
A PR famliy is good way to describe them(they are also a symbol of pride for many brits). But they do increase tourism, just as any famous building or landmark. Think about it, when you vist another country, you generally want to visit famous landmarks. Say you where visiting New York City, you would probably want to see the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. It's the same thing with the royal family, many people look at them as being a part of history, and are attracted to them. I don't think it is unfair, they are at least partially responsible for many of the tourist who visit the UK, an many make their living in the tourist industry. So in a way the royal family is responsible for many of those jobs Anyway, why does the dutch government give the royal family so much money, where the hell do they live and what do they spend it all on?
The thing is that Buckingham Palace itself is a giant landmark. The Dutch palaces are mostly owned by the state now, but the royal family still has quite a few mansions in other countries (Mozambique is one of them, I believe). I don't even think I've ever visited any of the palaces here, and if I did, I remember fuck all about them. And I'm not surprised the Brits would be somewhat proud of the royal family, as it reminds them of the British Empire. However, in the Dutch Golden Age (where they had the best economy and navy in the world and such), there was no monarchy. There were no famous Dutch rulers or generals of that time, and that's what would make a Dutchman proud. Its power came through effective leadership from a collective rule and strong traders. The other pride the Netherlands has is its engineering, especially concerning water. If you look at how much the land of the Dutch has changed (not border wise, but sea wise, so to speak) from the 14th to the 21st century, you'll understand. Large parts of the Netherlands lie below sea level, and used to be the bottom of the sea, until the Dutch decided it was theirs. The Delta works are a beautiful piece of engineering, and all of the Dutch water works and polders show just how much humanity can be capable of, and has been capable of for years. I'm not a very patriotic person, but that is still something I have a huge amount of respect for.
I believe they sold the house in Mozambique. And in the Golden Age, didn't we have de Ruyter and Piet Hein? The deltaworks are great, I believe that after hurricane Katrina a lot of Americans came here to study them (and then they decided it was to expensive).
We had stadhouders kinda similar to kings I guess... As long as the authorities/government have given you the permission to terrorize enemy ships... It's fine! Actually, I don't know whether he was a pirate/watergeus or not. But if Piet Hein was the captain of one single ship and he was given the permission to attack enemy ships by his country... he is a privateer.
While De Ruyter and Piet Heijn were indeed decently well-known admirals, the Dutch never really had someone like Bismarck, the Duke of Wellington or Napoleon.
And which Eredivisie team would be your favorite? Feyenoord, right? First of all, the history part is pretty incorrect for the Netherlands. We didn't even have a monarchy until some random douche in the congress of Vienna decided that having a monarchy and gluing us to Belgium and Luxembourg would give us more defense if France would attack again, but at the time it was an absolutist monarchy. On the jobs part: Could you give me a source? I know it creates some jobs, but I can't believe it would pay off 50 million pounds. I have no fucking clue. I like him already. Paleis Soestdijk is not a place you could really 'visit', since it's really out of sight and you wouldn't be able to see much. Here's a picture: The Netherlands didn't even have a king until the Congress of Vienna after the Napoleonic wars (1814-1815, I believe). The biggest Dutch pride: cumming cheese. No, he was an admiral. Wasn't he admiral of an entire fleet at the time of the attack?
No, Ajax. Incidentally, I always route for the Dutch national team when it comes to the WC because I don't have a team of my own to support.
Gatverredamme! Out of my thread! Go cheer somewhere else for your arrogant Amsterdamish soccer team! Get out!
Doh, not Ajax...although I couldn't really care too much. As long as Feyenoord does well (which they actually are for a change), I'm fine with everything else. As for the international championships, I don't know, I'm not too interested in them. There are good games from time to time, but I'd rather watch a Premier League or Primiera Division game.
If I had insulting nicknames for people who support Feyenoord, I would spam them at you. Unfortunately, I don't hold any real contempt towards it's supporters because I have never been to a football match in the Netherlands. I don't speak Dutch, either. But that being said, I doubt it has the intensity of the Celtic-Rangers feud that I am oh so involved in.
