Crossroads summer break
June 29, 2007 Leave a Comment
The following update was sent to Crossroads’ mailing list subscribers on Thursday 28 June 2007:
Dear Crossroads reader,
Crossroads will be taking a summer break as of July 2, 2007. We’ll be back on August 1, 2007 with a fresh selection of news and feature articles.
I am pleased to announce that a number of new writers [...]
Humour Beyond Culture
June 29, 2007 Leave a Comment
The latest issue of the Beyond Culture Newsletter is a very entertaining and illuminating read about humour across cultures.
You laugh at me because I’m different,
I laugh at you because you’re all the same.
(Unknown)
Click here for the June 2007 Beyond Culture Newsletter.
Dutch students satisfied with mediocre grades
June 28, 2007 Leave a Comment
From today’s Radio Netherlands Press Review:
Today’s Volkskrant reports on the ‘mediocre grades culture among Dutch university students. A large-scale study conducted by the University of Maastricht shows that compared with their counterparts from other European countries, Dutch students are the least ambitious: two out of three don’t make an effort to get a higher grade [...]
Maastrichts Mooiste 2007 (Part 4): An interview with Gerrino Mulder, President of the Maastrichts Mooiste Foundation
June 27, 2007 Leave a Comment
Gerrino Mulder, President of the Maastrichts Mooiste Foundation, tells Crossroads writer and Maastrichts Mooiste contestant Eliot Rolen about the origins, the challenges and the goals of the increasingly popular annual sportive and cultural event in Maastricht.
Wider labour opportunities for foreign students and asylum seekers
June 27, 2007 Leave a Comment
Foreign graduates and asylum seekers will be given more opportunities for employment in the Netherlands. By doing so the cabinet intends to enhance the Dutch knowledge economy and to make better use of the qualities of asylum seekers.
On Friday, May 25th, 2007 the Dutch cabinet agreed on a proposal to this end, put forward by [...]
Number of dual nationalities grows more slowly
June 27, 2007 Leave a Comment
On 1 January 2007 1,047 million people in the Netherlands had at least one other nationality alongside their Dutch nationality. This is two and a half times the number on 1 January 1995. In spite of this, the increase in the number of people with a dual nationality has slowed down it the last four [...]
Students with foreign background in higher education doubled in twelve years
June 27, 2007 Leave a Comment
Over a period of twelve years, the number of students with a foreign background in higher education has doubled to nearly 125 thousand in the study year 2006/’07. More than one fifth of students in higher education now have a foreign background.
Predominantly women with a non-western foreign background
The number of female students with a non-western [...]
Older mums breastfeed longer
June 27, 2007 Leave a Comment
The number of breastfeeding mothers has increased since 1989. In the early 1990s two in every three babies were breastfed from birth. The rate for 2006 was three in four. Older mothers in particular continue to breastfeed their babies; 38 percent of mothers in the 35-44 age bracket still breastfed their 6-months-old babies, as against [...]
Maastrichts Mooiste 2007 (Part 3): Living up to its name: The 15km race
June 27, 2007 Leave a Comment
Sundays are traditionally designated as days of rest, when one can indulge in quiet pursuits, sleeping in, sitting at one of Maastricht’s many cafés sipping on a cappuccino and reading the newspaper, visiting with friends… All of which allow the buildup of a buffer that will assist in managing whatever stress lies in store in the upcoming week. But there is another activity - although some would call it masochistic - that succeeds in the construction of this “stress buffer”: running.
On this particular Sunday (June 10th), this masochistic endeavor was to be undertaken by what seemed like thousands.
Taskforce to get more women into work
June 26, 2007 Leave a Comment
A taskforce to increase women’s participation in the labour market is to be set up on January 1, reports Tuesday’s Financieele Dagblad. At present only 54% of women in the Netherlands work and 70% of them have part time jobs – the latter is the highest percentage in the world.
The announcement by the government, [...]
Liege bans alcohol on public roads
June 26, 2007 Leave a Comment
The city of Liege has banned the consumption of alcohol on public roads. The city council decided this on Monday evening. Drinking is now only permitted along or on the public roads at events or parties sanctioned by the city, at terraces operated by cafés or accompanying light meals.
All factions voted in favour of [...]
Maastrichts Mooiste 2007 (Part 2): Global Culture Festival: a multicoloured event in Maastricht
June 26, 2007 1 Comment
Organized by the university’s Studium Generale cultural organisation, Koko student association, Maastrichts Mooiste foundation, and the city of Maastricht, Maastricht’s Global Culture Festival took its audience on a flavourful voyage through music and food from all corners of the world.
Maastrichts Mooiste 2007 (Part 1): Of beer trays and Cuban flags or The Waiters’ Race
June 26, 2007 Leave a Comment
‘Raindrops keep falling on my head…’ That iconic musical line was running through mine as I left my warm and dry abode for the Kesselkade, a boulevard alongside the Maas river whose restaurants and cafés are usually of more immediate interest than the rather drab looking streets that lie immediately in front.
But on this dreary day, the Kesselkade would see a battle testing strength, balance, endurance, and most importantly, a substantial amount of alcohol, for this was to be the site of the Waiters’ Race (or Kelner Race in Dutch).
Agreement on new European treaty
June 25, 2007 Leave a Comment
The member states of the EU have reached an agreement on a new treaty. According to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, the document ‘does justice to the views held by a large proportion of the population about Europe’.
The European heads of government reached agreement about the content of a new treaty in Brussels on [...]
Dutch to fast-track skilled immigrants’ families
June 25, 2007 Leave a Comment
The Dutch immigration service (IND) plans to decrease the processing time for families of highly skilled migrants into the Netherlands, slashing the waiting time from several months to two weeks, according to justice minister Nebahat Albayrak in a statement to parliament.
Under a ruling from 2004, highly educated foreigners can work in the Netherlands without a [...]
Maastricht through other eyes: International students speak
June 20, 2007 4 Comments
They are everywhere. You might have seen them on the bus, biking around or having a beer on the Vrijthof. In fact they might live next door, in a rented room. Sometimes they seem like a swarming plague taking over the town. They are the international students at the University of Maastricht.
For a week I followed six of these specimens, learning more about them, their habits and their personal histories. Becoming one of them wasn’t too difficult… and here comes my secret: I’m an international student too. Keep on reading to know what these peculiar people think and do in Maastricht and find out about their dreams, their regrets and some of their advice for the city. [continued...]
Amsterdam getting more expensive by leaps and bounds
June 19, 2007 1 Comment
Amsterdam is rapidly becoming more expensive for expatriates. According to research by the UK’s Mercer Human Resource Consulting (MHRC), the city has risen no less than 16 places on the list of the most expensive cities, ending up this year as number 25.
Moscow emerged as the most expensive city to live in, like last year. [...]
Dutch government seeks ‘active international role’
June 19, 2007 Leave a Comment
The Netherlands wants the EU to be effective and democratic. Security and stability should be improved in regions where this is necessary. More attention should to be paid to human rights and international environmental policy.
These objectives are set out in the Policy Programme for 2007-2011, which was presented to Parliament on 14 June 2007. [...]
Free public transport for some commuters
June 19, 2007 Leave a Comment
The transport ministry is backing nine experiments to give certain commuters in rush-hour hot spots free public transport, a spokesman confirmed on Monday.
Some €10m has been set aside for the experiments, of which half comes from central government, the rest from employers and provincial councils.
The experiments will be held in Utrecht, around Schiphol [...]
The Netherlands notes huge influx of Bulgarians, Romanians
June 19, 2007 1 Comment
The Netherlands has registered a large influx of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals since the two countries joined the European Union in January, the Dutch statistics agency CBS said Monday.
“In the first four months of 2007, 2,800 Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants registered in one of the country’s counties, well above twice the registration number recorded for [...]
Minister sympathetic on moving cannabis bars
June 15, 2007 Leave a Comment
Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is not against Maastricht Mayor Geerd Leers’ decision to move the city’s cannabis bars to the Belgian border. The minister will try to convince Belgium and also Germany on the decision.
Maastricht city centre has 15 ‘coffee shops,’ as the Dutch drugs bars are known. Leers has reached agreement with eight [...]
Netherlands gets national TV channel for gays
June 15, 2007 Leave a Comment
The Netherlands is to have a country-wide TV-channel for homosexuals. Baptized “Coming Out-TV”, the station will launch this autumn.
Coming Out-TV will be a digital channel. All major cable companies will carry it, said Henk Krol on BNR Nieuwsradio. Krol is chief editor of Gaykrant, a publication for homosexuals.
Gaykrant will also be involved with the station [...]
Drug tourism in Maastricht – what is all the fuss about?
June 15, 2007 Leave a Comment
“You live in Holland, oh you must be smoking a ton of pot” is the typical thing I hear when I tell Canadian friends that I live in Maastricht. And I tell them no, I barely know any Dutch people who smoke. I think pot is more visible in Vancouver than in this snazzy shopping town. But I’m obviously missing something since 1,5 million drug tourists reportedly come through Maastricht every year to buy weed and drive home. [continued...]
Maastricht Secondhand
June 14, 2007 2 Comments
Of the many endearing qualities of the Dutch, the one I most appreciate is their frugality. It’s comforting to know that my cheap, student mindset is shared by the general population. But unfortunately, for the person who needs or wants a new item of clothing without spending too much money, the center of Maastricht appears to offer very little. However, there are quite a few good secondhand stores, many of which are but a short walk from Vrijthof Square. [continued...]
TV guide monopoly to end
June 14, 2007 Leave a Comment
Parliament has voted by a narrow margin to force all public broadcasters to make their programme scheduling information available to anyone, thereby ending the broadcasters’ monopoly on TV guides.
The Labour party (PvdA) and miniority party Partij voor de Dieren voted for the proposal put forward by D66 and VVD, but said the public broadcasters should [...]
Premier favourite, Environment minister most distrusted
June 14, 2007 Leave a Comment
Confidence in the government has declined since it took office. Premier Jan Peter Balkenende is the most popular minister, while Environment Minister Jacqueline Cramer is most distrusted, according to a poll by TV programme EenVandaag.
EenVandaag surveyed the 22,000 participants in its permanent opinion panel with respect to the government’s 100-day period in office that officially [...]
Parents of missing girl upset with Dutch newspaper
June 14, 2007 Leave a Comment
The parents of the four-year-old British girl who disappeared in Portugal are upset that the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf has printed information received from an anonymous letter. The letter says the four-year-old girl’s body can be found “under branches or stones” around 15 kilometres from the resort where she went missing on 3 May.
De Telegraaf [...]
Pollution causes 21,000 deaths in Holland
June 14, 2007 Leave a Comment
Some 21,000 deaths in the Netherlands, or 14% of the total, are caused each year by environmental pollution, according to a report published by the World Health Organisation on Wednesday.
Around 3,600 people die due to air pollution, which causes cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory complaints and accidents.
Source: DutchNews, 13 June 2007
Fear of the creche
June 14, 2007 Leave a Comment
From today’s Radio Netherlands Press review:
NRC Handelsblad reports on Dutch distrust of the creche. University of Tilburg researcher Erna Hooghiemstra says there is an almost universal belief in the Netherlands that children belong with their mothers. “Dutch mothers do not want to believe that a creche is good for their children.” “It threatens their belief [...]
24 June: Manus van Alles Multicultural Festival in Maastricht
June 13, 2007 Leave a Comment
The seventh edition of the Manus van Alles multicultural festival will take place on Sunday 24 June in the Wittevrouwenveld district of Maastricht.
The festival will feature various music and dance performances - 24 groups and 236 artists from 20 different countries divided over four podiums - a street fair, children activities, food and drinks market [...]
