First of all: don’t panic! The grey season only lasts from mid-November until the end of March, if we’re lucky. Sometimes spring can be dreary too. Does that seem endless? It’s all a matter of perspective. You could use these months to improve your piano playing skills, read the entire works of Marcel Proust or take up Indonesian cooking.
Depressing? Sure. Where do you think the Dutch Reformists got their ideas from? Life is but a vale of tears. If you were sun-and-fun-loving, you would have gone to Spain on exchange, but since you’re here, there must at least be some part of you craving greyness. Well then, you’d better enjoy it.
If you were sun-and-fun-loving, you would have gone to Spain on exchange
Staying the winter in the Netherlands gives you embodied knowledge of Dutch culture. It gives you time to think about how Rembrandt, marijuana and your English-taught Master’s programme are all in some way or another rooted in this soggy river delta with its endless days of grey.
And besides taking extra vitamin D and using light therapy if your circadian clock gets all messed up, there are ways to make the dark half of the year a bit more enjoyable.
Stay active
Second-year Communications student Isabella Blu Ptito-Echeverria was pleased to discover that biking is possible in Amsterdam all year round. Coming from Montreal, Canada, she was used to leaving her bike in the shed during winter months because of the snow. “Biking is a great way to exercise in winter”, Ptito-Echeverria says. It takes her half an hour to bike to the VU campus. “I often got wet last winter”, she remembers, “but I got used to it. I have a raincoat and an extra pair of dry clothes with me.”
Rachma Lutfiny Putri, PhD student in Anthropology, also bikes to stay warm, but coming from Indonesia, she is still not used to the windiness of the Dutch winter. “I often forget my gloves”, Putri says, “and when my hands are cold, my whole body feels cold.”
Putri also exercises at home in winter. She follows high-intensity interval trainings on Youtube. “It keeps me warm”, she says.
Go out and find your people
For Ptito-Echeverria the darkness is an issue. She must stay active in order not to get depressed. “I am just doing things to keep me going”, she says. Ptito-Echeverria found her scene in small alternative live music venues in Amsterdam, like the Vondelbunker and OCCII. “It’s a small, warm community. I keep meeting the same people at concerts.” In winter, she especially likes the warmth and physicality of dancing in mosh pits.
Ptito-Echeverria also writes her own songs and goes to open mic nights with her guitar. “I wanted to present new work every week, so it also gave me something to do last winter.”
Eat warm snacks
Putri noticed she grows hungry more often in the Dutch winter than at home in Indonesia. “I need a warm snack to keep me going so I go to Febo or Smullers to buy a kroket [a deep-fried croquette filled with ragout, Ed.].”
And how about the typically Dutch winter snack called oliebollen?
Putri, who has lived in the Netherlands for three years: “I didn’t like them at first, it is basically fried dough with nothing in it, but the second time I tried them, I liked them better.”
Cook and eat with other people
Putri likes trying out new recipes. Cooking for friends is one of the things that keeps her going in winter. She likes to experiment with spices that give warmth. One of the things Putri likes to cook in winter is egg drop soup, a Chinese-style soup with sesame and egg. Raw egg is dropped in the hot soup and forms swirly bits. Putri adds chicken and broccoli to her version. “My friends say they like it”, she says.
Read Dutch poetry
When the rain is pouring down your window and none of your friends have time, you can get by on poetry.
The poem November by J.C. Bloem is one of the most famous poems in the Netherlands. It captures the depressing atmosphere of the Dutch winter in such an excellent way, it might actually crack you up.
It’s good for your language skills to read Bloem in Dutch, but to give you an impression, here’s the first stanza in English, translated by John Irons.
It’s raining and it is November:
Autumn lays siege now to the heart
That sadly, though more wont than ever,
Endures its secret pains apart.
Other poets who are a perfect read during melancholy winter nights are J. Slauerhoff and Gerrit Achterberg, Leo Vroman and Hans Dorrestijn.
Ice skating at Museumplein or Jaap Edenbaan
Museumplein is one of the cosiest places in the city during winter. You can practice the Dutch sport of ice skating and eat and enjoy koek en zopie afterwards. Nowadays, zopie means hot chocolate but in the past, it referred to an alcoholic drink made of bock beer, rum, eggs, cinnamon and clove. Koek is a cookie.
If you get the hang of it, the Jaap Edenbaan is for real ice skating. It’s a beautiful open-air ice rink in the eastern part of the city. You can take skating courses or skate at your own pace with the wind in your hair. For students there is ice-skating club SKITS. See: jaapeden.nl/en/skits
Christmas markets
Next to the ice rink at Museumplein, there’s a Christmas market. Compared to German and English Christmas markets, it’s small and simple, but hey, we’re Calvinists trying to adapt to global culture.
If you like it green: there’s a sustainable Christmas market at Café de Ceuvel in Amsterdam Noord. See: deceuvel.nl/en/events/
Amsterdam Light Festival
Every year, the canals of Amsterdam light up with works from artists from all over the world. The theme for this coming winter is ‘Legacy’. Taking a canal cruise is one of the best ways to see the installations. See: amsterdamlightfestival.com/en
Hortus winter evenings
The Hortus of Amsterdam opens during winter evenings and the trees and plants are beautifully lit. There are special activities like a campfire and a storyteller. See: dehortus.nl/en/hortus-winter-evenings.