Netherlands, thy name is Freedom!

My Erasmus year has ended over a year ago, but I still think about it almost every day. What I think about is the country where I did my Erasmus, the Netherlands, and when I think of it, I get overwhelmed with feelings of freedom and happiness.

Now the question is why? Why does the Netherlands represent freedom to me? Of course, Netherlands is more liberal than the country in the Balkans where I come from, but the sense of freedom I am speaking of here is oriented towards smaller things. For example, the pure enjoyment of sitting in a park or next to a canal on a sunny day and having a biertje (beer) is something that I am lacking back home, because drinking alcohol in public places is forbidden. Being able to have and having one beer in a middle of the day represents more freedom than one would have guessed.

The Netherlands is known for cycling, and it is well justified. Flying on your bicycle through a Dutch city (with the exception of the crowded Amsterdam) feels liberating. There are bike lanes everywhere, and seeing your professors cycling to and from work in their suits is somehow charming. In contrast to my country, where I have to struggle avoid holes in the sidewalks and pedestrians, the one bike lane is often used by pedestrians and sometimes even by cars for parking.(Ooh, Netherlands…)

Then there is the behaviour of Dutch people, specifically the way people look (or don’t look) at you. For instance, in the Netherlands you can freely cycle in a dress or a mini skirt. (Yes, again with the cycling. You can’t really expect an article about the Netherlands without it) Even if the wind blows and lifts up your skirt, people won’t notice you or stare at you. This applies to other occasions too. If you have been in the Netherlands, you’ve noticed they usually don’t have curtains on their windows. Yet, you won’t see other people trying to catch a glimpse into other people’s homes, which would be the case in probably every other country. The knowledge you’re not being observed and judged plays a major role in that sense of freedom.

There are dozens of occasions that I remember that revoke feelings of nostalgia for that time of freedom and possibilities, like playing frisbee on Scheveningen beach or ease and speed of making daytrips to other countries like Belgium, France and Germany.

The Netherlands, land of cyclists, land of festivals, land of cheese, land of weed, land of freedom… I can hardly wait to visit it again, and again, and again.

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