As Chinese New Year is coming up, it's not a bad idea to talk about how I spent New Year's Eve (31st December) in the Netherlands, and some Dutch traditional ways of celebrating the New Year.
農曆新年將至，就讓我寫寫應節的話題——我在荷蘭過除夕的趣聞，及荷蘭人迎新年的習俗。
My Dutch friends and I stayed for the two days from New Year's Eve in a farmhouse in Biddinghuizen, a village in the middle of the expansive farmlands of Flevoland (where the girl in our group originally comes from). I've never expected to see endless farmland anywhere in the Netherlands since the Netherlands is a really compact country, and it actually felt a little like Australia to me! Flevoland is a province that was created more than 40 years from land reclamation. The sea that was originally in the middle of the Netherlands, Zuidersee, was dammed off the North Sea and became the present-day lake called IJseelmeer. Different portions of the IJseelmeer were then dammed off in turn and drained to create new agricultural and residential land. The entire province of Flevoland is thus lying below sea level, and towns originally by the seaside have since found a new home inland.
除夕和新年兩天，我和兩個荷蘭朋友住在弗萊福蘭省（Flevoland）連綿田野中的Biddinghuizen村的農家中（荷蘭好友的女朋友的祖家）。真沒想到在荷蘭仍有這般大片田野，一望無際，竟有點澳洲的感覺！弗萊福蘭省是靠40多年前把荷蘭中部的須德海（Zuidersee）以堤壩圍住，把該海與北海隔開，變成今時今日的愛塞湖（IJseelmeer），然後逐步進行小規模築堤，把堤內的水排走，開闢新耕作及居住土地，所以全省都地處海平線之下，而原來位處海邊的小鎮，也驟然「移入」內陸。
The views around the farmhouse in Biddinghuizen
Biddinghuizen農家周圍的景色
The Dutch make two special treats for New Year, namely the Appelflappen (apple fritters) and Olieballen (literally oil balls). These deep-fried treats are only available for the two special days, and moreover they are eaten as the staple food then!
荷蘭人過新年，必會炮製兩款賀年食品，就是炸蘋果片（Appelflappen）及炸油球（Olieballen），而且祇限除夕及新年兩天才會吃，更是那兩天的主要食糧！
Appelflappen (left) and olieballen (right)
炸蘋果片（左）及炸油球（右）
On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, we made a trip to visit my Dutchie buddy's parents in Zwolle. After a lunch with the traditional New Year treats, among other things, we all went for a walk and managed to see some New Year spectacles! Much like the Germans, the Dutch like to light their fireworks for New Year's Eve (actually some were already doing it a few days beforehand!) But the Dutch have gone one step further and organise something called carbide shooting en masse. Carbide shooting usually takes place in open fields and is easily recognised by the presence of a row of metal milk cans. Some calcium carbide powder is placed in each can and mixed with water. Then someone will heat up the cans using a blow torch, and with a rapid expansion of the gas inside the lid will be blown open and a loud bang produced. (For you chemists out there, let's see if you can write out the chemical equation of this reaction. It's not difficult!)
除夕下午，我們三人一同前往Zwolle，在荷蘭好友父母家中作客。吃過午飯後（當然少不了那兩種應節食品），一眾人在附近散步時，到處不但熱鬧，還震耳欲聾！荷蘭人像德國人般喜歡在除夕燃點煙火（早幾天更已有些人偷步了！）那還不止，荷蘭人也熱衷發一種由碳化鈣製的炮，原理是把粉裝碳化鈣，放在鐵牛奶罐內，與水混合，然後以吹焰管迅速加熱造成氣體膨脹，然後形成爆炸及瓶蓋飛脫。懂得化學的讀者，不妨寫寫這個化學反應的方程，相信不會難倒你！
An explosive New Year's Eve 蓄勢待發賀除夕
Sending off 2007 by carbide shooting
用碳化鈣送走2007年
Afterwards we paid a visit to a neighbour of my Dutchie buddy's, who turned her garage into a make-shift guest room and was hosting neighbours and friends all over. We were treated with yet more olieballen and some warm glühwein, and I managed to have a chat with some of the locals (in English, of course!) It reminded me of Chinese New Year where it was typical for people to be paying visits to each other and chit-chatting over food and drinks. And it was certainly nice to be receiving so much hospitality everywhere, all the time.
之後眾人造訪荷蘭好友的一個鄰居，她把車庫（車房）佈置成一個臨時客廳，招呼街坊及朋友，一坐下，我們（又再！）吃過炸油球、喝過暖紅酒（Glühwein）後，便跟其他人搭訕，氣氛倒有點像拜年，真想不到在荷蘭短短時間內不斷得到這麼多人的招待。
In the evening, my two Dutch friends and I made a 'dive' back to Biddinghuizen, in time for a small feast with some of their other friends. We were mucking around doing various things until just before midnight. Then we made our way to the outside for our very own count-down to the New Year. We let off the firework that was bought in Zwolle, and the firework worked better than promised; it went on longer than what the packaging said, and also went quite high up in the air. Another New Year spectacle indeed.
傍晚時，我跟我的荷蘭朋友「潛水」回Biddinghuizen後，陸續有他們的朋友前來，準備一同迎新年。玩了一整晚，臨子夜時，是時候出外面準備倒數了，我們點放了在Zwolle買的煙火，火花不單放得高，而且比包裝說明的長，能燃點自己的煙火，感覺當然獨特和興奮！
Our very own fireworks! 土法放煙火，效果也不錯
The air was filled with fog when we lit the fireworks and well into the next day. Other parts of the Netherlands were also shrouded, but according to what my Dutch friends, it was instead due to the haze from all the fireworks! Just to show how fanatical the New Year celebrations have been.
燃點煙火時，四周都已很大霧，一直至元旦，而全荷蘭那天視野普遍也不好，不過朋友說，有些地方不是大霧，而是煙火的煙霧太多又吹不散，可見荷蘭人放煙火有多瘋狂！
We recovered from the count-down with something Dutch people are very fond of, and my ice-skating skills gained two days ago certainly came in handy. Yes, we went ice-skating, but not at any other old place. It was an open-air ice-skating track called FlevOnIce. The track contained a 400-metre ring for practice as well as a 5 km circuit that resembled a Formula One track from mid-air! It's definitely the next best thing to a canal naturally frozen to a sufficient thickness, which is making a rarer and rarer appearance these days (sadly for the Dutch).
除夕歡慶後，元旦也有餘慶，就是荷蘭人鐘愛的滑冰，我兩日前上過初級滑冰班後，終於可小試牛刀了。滑冰的地點並非一般滑冰場，而是一條名為FlevOnIce的戶外冰道，包括一個400米的圈和5公里滑冰徑，從高空看有如一條賽車跑道呢！荷蘭水道結冰夠厚的日子買少見少，FlevOnIce就正好補償荷蘭人的一大憾事，滿足他們的願望了。
If 5 km sound too arduous, there are short-cuts along the circuit to make life easier. But no surprise 5 km were not challenging enough for the better skaters among us, who went for one lap after another for at least a couple of hours. I managed a 2.5 km lap under the watchful eyes of my fellow skaters and surprised myself a bit that I could cope with such a distance on my second ever day of ice-skating. And yes, I am up for more ice-skating any time.
如嫌5公里太長的話，滑冰徑中有多條捷徑可縮短路途，但對我身邊的多個滑冰好手，5公里又怎麼會夠，所以我們在FlevOnIce那三數小時，祇見他們滑了一圈又一圈，我技不如人，祇滑了2.5公里，沿途都有一伙人留意着我，總算無驚無險又到終點，沒想到第二次滑冰，2.5公里距離都能應付，感覺真好，恨不得日後有機會再滑一次。
The ice-skating tracks at FlevOnIce
FlevOnIce 的滑冰道
As a typical greeting, German speakers would wish each other 'einen guten Rutsch' (literally, 'a good slide') into a New Year. I've certainly felt its meaning to the full at FlevOnIce, and I'd like to wish everyone a smooth slide/glide/ride (or whatever) in this upcoming Year of the Rodent!
新年時，德語人士會互相祝賀「好好滑進新一年」（'einen guten Rutsch'），我在FlevOnIce的冰道上滑行時就已身體力行，希望大家在鼠年也能滑出好前程！
農曆新年將至，就讓我寫寫應節的話題——我在荷蘭過除夕的趣聞，及荷蘭人迎新年的習俗。
My Dutch friends and I stayed for the two days from New Year's Eve in a farmhouse in Biddinghuizen, a village in the middle of the expansive farmlands of Flevoland (where the girl in our group originally comes from). I've never expected to see endless farmland anywhere in the Netherlands since the Netherlands is a really compact country, and it actually felt a little like Australia to me! Flevoland is a province that was created more than 40 years from land reclamation. The sea that was originally in the middle of the Netherlands, Zuidersee, was dammed off the North Sea and became the present-day lake called IJseelmeer. Different portions of the IJseelmeer were then dammed off in turn and drained to create new agricultural and residential land. The entire province of Flevoland is thus lying below sea level, and towns originally by the seaside have since found a new home inland.
除夕和新年兩天，我和兩個荷蘭朋友住在弗萊福蘭省（Flevoland）連綿田野中的Biddinghuizen村的農家中（荷蘭好友的女朋友的祖家）。真沒想到在荷蘭仍有這般大片田野，一望無際，竟有點澳洲的感覺！弗萊福蘭省是靠40多年前把荷蘭中部的須德海（Zuidersee）以堤壩圍住，把該海與北海隔開，變成今時今日的愛塞湖（IJseelmeer），然後逐步進行小規模築堤，把堤內的水排走，開闢新耕作及居住土地，所以全省都地處海平線之下，而原來位處海邊的小鎮，也驟然「移入」內陸。
The views around the farmhouse in Biddinghuizen
Biddinghuizen農家周圍的景色
The Dutch make two special treats for New Year, namely the Appelflappen (apple fritters) and Olieballen (literally oil balls). These deep-fried treats are only available for the two special days, and moreover they are eaten as the staple food then!
荷蘭人過新年，必會炮製兩款賀年食品，就是炸蘋果片（Appelflappen）及炸油球（Olieballen），而且祇限除夕及新年兩天才會吃，更是那兩天的主要食糧！
Appelflappen (left) and olieballen (right)
炸蘋果片（左）及炸油球（右）
On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, we made a trip to visit my Dutchie buddy's parents in Zwolle. After a lunch with the traditional New Year treats, among other things, we all went for a walk and managed to see some New Year spectacles! Much like the Germans, the Dutch like to light their fireworks for New Year's Eve (actually some were already doing it a few days beforehand!) But the Dutch have gone one step further and organise something called carbide shooting en masse. Carbide shooting usually takes place in open fields and is easily recognised by the presence of a row of metal milk cans. Some calcium carbide powder is placed in each can and mixed with water. Then someone will heat up the cans using a blow torch, and with a rapid expansion of the gas inside the lid will be blown open and a loud bang produced. (For you chemists out there, let's see if you can write out the chemical equation of this reaction. It's not difficult!)
除夕下午，我們三人一同前往Zwolle，在荷蘭好友父母家中作客。吃過午飯後（當然少不了那兩種應節食品），一眾人在附近散步時，到處不但熱鬧，還震耳欲聾！荷蘭人像德國人般喜歡在除夕燃點煙火（早幾天更已有些人偷步了！）那還不止，荷蘭人也熱衷發一種由碳化鈣製的炮，原理是把粉裝碳化鈣，放在鐵牛奶罐內，與水混合，然後以吹焰管迅速加熱造成氣體膨脹，然後形成爆炸及瓶蓋飛脫。懂得化學的讀者，不妨寫寫這個化學反應的方程，相信不會難倒你！
An explosive New Year's Eve 蓄勢待發賀除夕
Sending off 2007 by carbide shooting
用碳化鈣送走2007年
Afterwards we paid a visit to a neighbour of my Dutchie buddy's, who turned her garage into a make-shift guest room and was hosting neighbours and friends all over. We were treated with yet more olieballen and some warm glühwein, and I managed to have a chat with some of the locals (in English, of course!) It reminded me of Chinese New Year where it was typical for people to be paying visits to each other and chit-chatting over food and drinks. And it was certainly nice to be receiving so much hospitality everywhere, all the time.
之後眾人造訪荷蘭好友的一個鄰居，她把車庫（車房）佈置成一個臨時客廳，招呼街坊及朋友，一坐下，我們（又再！）吃過炸油球、喝過暖紅酒（Glühwein）後，便跟其他人搭訕，氣氛倒有點像拜年，真想不到在荷蘭短短時間內不斷得到這麼多人的招待。
In the evening, my two Dutch friends and I made a 'dive' back to Biddinghuizen, in time for a small feast with some of their other friends. We were mucking around doing various things until just before midnight. Then we made our way to the outside for our very own count-down to the New Year. We let off the firework that was bought in Zwolle, and the firework worked better than promised; it went on longer than what the packaging said, and also went quite high up in the air. Another New Year spectacle indeed.
傍晚時，我跟我的荷蘭朋友「潛水」回Biddinghuizen後，陸續有他們的朋友前來，準備一同迎新年。玩了一整晚，臨子夜時，是時候出外面準備倒數了，我們點放了在Zwolle買的煙火，火花不單放得高，而且比包裝說明的長，能燃點自己的煙火，感覺當然獨特和興奮！
Our very own fireworks! 土法放煙火，效果也不錯
The air was filled with fog when we lit the fireworks and well into the next day. Other parts of the Netherlands were also shrouded, but according to what my Dutch friends, it was instead due to the haze from all the fireworks! Just to show how fanatical the New Year celebrations have been.
燃點煙火時，四周都已很大霧，一直至元旦，而全荷蘭那天視野普遍也不好，不過朋友說，有些地方不是大霧，而是煙火的煙霧太多又吹不散，可見荷蘭人放煙火有多瘋狂！
除夕歡慶後，元旦也有餘慶，就是荷蘭人鐘愛的滑冰，我兩日前上過初級滑冰班後，終於可小試牛刀了。滑冰的地點並非一般滑冰場，而是一條名為FlevOnIce的戶外冰道，包括一個400米的圈和5公里滑冰徑，從高空看有如一條賽車跑道呢！荷蘭水道結冰夠厚的日子買少見少，FlevOnIce就正好補償荷蘭人的一大憾事，滿足他們的願望了。
If 5 km sound too arduous, there are short-cuts along the circuit to make life easier. But no surprise 5 km were not challenging enough for the better skaters among us, who went for one lap after another for at least a couple of hours. I managed a 2.5 km lap under the watchful eyes of my fellow skaters and surprised myself a bit that I could cope with such a distance on my second ever day of ice-skating. And yes, I am up for more ice-skating any time.
如嫌5公里太長的話，滑冰徑中有多條捷徑可縮短路途，但對我身邊的多個滑冰好手，5公里又怎麼會夠，所以我們在FlevOnIce那三數小時，祇見他們滑了一圈又一圈，我技不如人，祇滑了2.5公里，沿途都有一伙人留意着我，總算無驚無險又到終點，沒想到第二次滑冰，2.5公里距離都能應付，感覺真好，恨不得日後有機會再滑一次。
The ice-skating tracks at FlevOnIce
FlevOnIce 的滑冰道
As a typical greeting, German speakers would wish each other 'einen guten Rutsch' (literally, 'a good slide') into a New Year. I've certainly felt its meaning to the full at FlevOnIce, and I'd like to wish everyone a smooth slide/glide/ride (or whatever) in this upcoming Year of the Rodent!
新年時，德語人士會互相祝賀「好好滑進新一年」（'einen guten Rutsch'），我在FlevOnIce的冰道上滑行時就已身體力行，希望大家在鼠年也能滑出好前程！
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(It's extremely cold here in HK)