Dutch New Year Test

1. What are these?

2. What do we (the Dutch) do with them?

We eat them on New Year’s Eve.
It’s a traditional start of a diet. We look at them on New Year’s Day, but we can’t eat them.
We feed them to the birds, so that they can spread our luck into the air.
We throw them over our shoulders exactly at midnight and make a wish.

3. What do we (the Dutch) watch on television in the last hour of the year?

A one-man show by a comedian, who reviews the year’s news.
The King’s speech.
Dutch TV does not broadcast at this moment. They use this hour to reset their computer systems for the next year.
All TV channels broadcast the live concert of the famous Dutch singer Sven Kramer.

4. When are we allowed to set off fireworks?

5. What do we traditionally do with this?

We fill them with chemicals and let them explode.
Farmers fill them with fresh milk, and people go from farm to farm to have a fresh start of the year.
We fill them with beer (stems from the time alcohol was forbidden – so as a cover up they used a milk churn).
We use them to make noise at midnight (beating them with a piece of wood).

6. What is the first thing we say to each other after midnight?

7. How many times do we kiss when wishing each other a Happy New Year?

8. What and where is this?

It’s the ‘nieuwjaarsduik’ (new year plunge) in Scheveningen.
It’s the ‘nieuwjaarsduik’ (new year plunge) at the Dutch Antilles.
It’s the traditional New Year marathon along the Dutch coast line.
This is near ‘de pier’. People try to find ‘piercoins’ (there are 10 in total on the bottom).

9. What is happening here?

They are preparing for a large bonfire.
This is a special tradition of nature rights movements to protest against the pollution of the seas.
They are constructing the highest dance floor in the world.
It’s the ‘low tide’ challenge. To build the highest possible tower that lasts until the water destroys it.

10. What is it important to know about Dutch public transport?

There is no public transport on New Year’s Eve from 20:00 o’clock.
It’s common to kiss the other passengers on New Year’s Day, when entering the bus or train.
You can travel for free, by bribing the ticket collector with an ‘oliebol’.
At the 1st of January they start the new timetable, which usually leads to many problems and delays on that day.

11. Is the 2nd of January a public holiday in the Netherlands?

No
Yes, but that’s purely a coincidence. The King’s birthday is a holiday. The new King has his birthday on the 2nd of January.
Yes, we call it ‘Tweede Nieuwjaarsdag’ and it’s an official holiday.
It depends on Sinterklaas. Once every 80 years, we celebrate Sinterklaas on the 2nd of January instead of the 5th of December. That has to do with the 80 year war between Holland and Spain (Sinterklaas is from Spain).