Going Dutch for a bachelor party

The author with Dutch girls who share a passion for orange skirts.

Pimwipa Vatanutanon

Special to The Nation

  Holland brings to mind tulips, windmills, bicycles and good football players, but there's a lot more to this North European land than that.

 One of the picks is its higher education. The quality of Dutch education cannot be argued (because you will not win!). The Dutch way to achieve consensus is the "polder model" - where all parties have their say before a decision is made - and it's what's made them so strong in reasoning. Polders are the large areas of land below sea level in the Netherlands, and since the Middle Ages, competing cities in the same polder have been forced to set aside their differences to maintain the dikes, lest they both be flooded. That's the way the Dutch have been raised, and it permeates everyday life.

 Invited once to a party at a professor's house in Leiden, I got chatting to a fellow postgraduate student about his study of Sanskrit, a language that has given Thai quite a few words. Though it's a dead language (no one speaks it anymore), I asked him how you would say "this is a nice party" in Sanskrit. After some discussion, the guy went to ask other colleagues in the same faculty but came up with no answer. I still don't know how to chat in Sanskrit at a party, but the point is we discussed it.

 The situation provoked still more curiosity in me. With my previous business background I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to learn about an ancient Indian language! Of course, Sanskrit is important for all Buddhist cultures, but I would never have considered that importance had I not been in Holland, where the cultural openness means you will be appreciated no matter how crazy your topic is.

 The academic side is just one among many unique elements in Dutch student life. For instance there's the bicycle. Students wheel their way to and from lectures, friends' houses, and to buy groceries, helped by Holland's fantastic network of bike paths. Drunken scholars have even been known to steer into canals, another ubiquitous feature of Dutch cities.

 Getting to know new people is easy thanks to Holland's relaxed social scene. Just approach with a drink in hand and conversation flows easily from people eager to learn about other cultures. Making friends can be a bit tougher, though. Ask the average busy Dutch person if they'd like to go for a drink and they're likely to pull out a diary and pencil you in for an appointment in two weeks. That's Dutch efficiency for you!

 Last but not least is the live music scene, which offers everything from jazz to hardcore through a non-stop round of concerts and festivals. Many of the stars that appear here won't be touring Thailand anytime soon, so it's a privilege to be close to the action. One word of warning: the Dutch are the tallest nation in the world (guys average 190 centimetres), so be prepared for a high blonde wall blocking your view.