A PRETTY LOW-LAND COUNTRY CALLED “THE NEDERLANDS”

Ini adalah kiriman dari Lettu Kes Dr Indria Sari, yunior dan teman dekatku yang sekarang sedang kuliah S-2 dalam bidang HIV/Aids di Amsterdam. Dia ini perwira sekaligus dokter muda yang sangat cerdas dan cemerlang otaknya, bakat nulisnya juga luar biasa, bahasa Inggrisnya cas cis cus (ngobrol or sms konsisten ber-Inggris-ria, diajak bahasa jawa ya tetap jawab pake bahasa Inggris). Ia bisa kuliah S-2 Belanda berkat beasiswa yang ia cari dan dapatkan sendiri di internet. Sebenarnya sesuai aturan, karena pangkatnya baru Lettu, dia tidak diperbolehkan mengambil S-2 di luar negeri. Tapi berkat dukungan bosnya (Kadiskesau), maka Indria memperoleh ijin meraih impiannya itu. Saya berharap kelak dia akan jadi Kadiskes AU pertama dari Wara!!! Feature ini sebenarnya dikirim untuk majalah UDARA News (Koopsau I), namun saya ingin menampilkannya di blog ini pula sebagai rasa kekaguman dan bangga kepadanya. Selamat menikmati.***

The 17th century is known as the golden age of the Netherlands, due to colonial era. Thousands of VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie = The Dutch East India Company) ships left the Dutch to search goods and trade in many Asian and African countries, made a huge amount of money. Batavia, now we call it Jakarta, was one of VOC destination. These ships started the journey from Amsterdam port. At that moment, Amsterdam was the trade capital of the world. It was crowded with the big ships along the coast, and became the richest city in Europe. During this period, beautiful houses were built along the canal, gave a remarkable view of Amsterdam. We can imagine the glorious days of the Dutch in golden age by seeing the houses and many luxurious buildings that stand still.

The Netherlands means the low country, which more than a quarter of its area are below sea level. Even the Schippol airport – the international airport in Amsterdam lies 4.5 metre below sea level!! And it is completely dry. For centuries the Dutch has eternal fight against the water, to keep their existence. An ongoing process. For this reason, the world acknowledges that the Dutch has the best water management. One famous sentence proudly said by the Dutch, “God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands”.


AMSTERDAM

Where can we find the largest canal system in the world? Amsterdam is the answer. The city has more than one hundred canals, totalling more than one hundred kilometres in length. In the summer, hundred thousands of tourists are fond of having the city tour by boat. Bikes are also popular, not only in Amsterdam, but also in most part of the Netherlands. With total population of 16 million residents, the Dutch has over 20 million bikes. A paradise for bikers. There are special pathways for bikes, separated from motor vehicles path. Unfortunately there is no guarantee for safety, we have to ride our bikes extra carefully, since the Dutch people ride the bikes so fast!! Public transportation is easy to be accessed, such as tram, metro, bus, and train.

Amsterdam is the real metropolis city. It has the biggest population in the country, a home of 750 thousands people from 175 nationalities (!!). People live in freedom and tolerance. Here, everyone is equal, regardless of ethnic background, education, occupation, or religion. It creates the comfort zone, even for the newcomers.

For sure, canals are wonderful attraction. But Amsterdam is not only known for its canals. Museums and historical buildings are spreaded in this city. The Netherlands has more than 500 museums, which around 42 of them are located in Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum (National Museum), Van Gogh Museum, and the Anne Frank house are listed in the most visited museum in Amsterdam. The Red Light District is a must visit place, which most of tourist have heard about this famous district.

Let’s also visit Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market), Madame Tussaud, Dam Square, and Amsterdam Arena. On Dam Square, where hundreds pigeons play freely, we can find the Royal Palace; the National Monument in memory of those who died in World War II; and the church that was built in 15th century – ‘Nieuwe Kerk’, where the wedding of Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima took place.

The most popular sport in the Netherlands is football. For football lovers, they will not miss the opportunity to visit the Amsterdam Arena. Who never heard about Ajax Amsterdam? A well known football team that plays the “total football” concept. The Dutch football supporters, in their orange dresses will turn the stadium into orange sea and support the Dutch team faithfully.

When having a visit in the Netherlands, try the taste of traditional cuisines, such as poffertjes (tiny pancakes), oliebollen and herring (a type of fish living in North Atlantic ocean). The Dutch enjoy raw herring with small slices of garlic. Oliebollen is doughnut-type balls deep fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar. We can find banana, chocolate, cherry, apple, and many kind of fruits as its filling. Lekker!! (lekker, in Dutch, means delicious). The popular winter dish is thick pea soup with sliced sausage, or chicken in small pieces, or chopped meat.

In the winter, the temperature can fall until 6 degree celcius below zero point. At that moment, the river will be frozen, and become natural ice-skating areas for children, as well as for the adults. Skating is the national sport in the Netherlands. When the ice takes over from the water, none can stop the skaters from action.

ROTTERDAM

It is the most modern city in the Netherlands, and home to the Netherlands Architecture Institute. It has the largest seaport in Europe; the second largest port in the world, after Shanghai. While Amsterdam has the highest density of population in the Netherlands, Rotterdam is the second, with 600 thousands inhabitants. The outstanding structure –Erasmus bridge - a famous 808-metre long bridge, lies in this city.

THE HAQUE (DEN HAAG)
This is the city where Indonesian embassy is located. In the Netherlands we have a prestige embassy building, compared with other countries’ embassy buildings.

The Haque, the third biggest city in the Netherlands, is the centre of government. Here we also find the Peace Palace, the seat of the International Court of Justice. This palace was the result of collaboration between the French architect and the Dutch professor. Houses of the Netherlands parliament and government offices stand in a beautiful-cosy block which we call “Binnenhof and the Knight’s Hall”.

Museums also attract a lot of tourist to visit The Haque. Madurodam offers a very interesting Netherlands in miniature. The replica of various historical buildings in the Netherlands were built for years to get the perfect shape.

When we are in the Netherlands, we realise how big our country is, how rich Indonesia is. The Netherlands is not even a half-size of Java island. The furthest distance from east to west is around 200 km, and from north to south is around 300 km. It has no natural resources. Their technology and international-minded have brought this country into developed stage. Indonesia has plenty of natural resources and millions of intellectual human resources. In the following years, we should be able to build our country, improve the quality of the new generation, thus bring prosperity to our people.

The Netherlands :
Currency : Euro
1 euro = Rp 15.000,-
Language : Dutch
Average living cost for international students in Amsterdam : 700 euro/month

Written by :
dr. INDRIA SARI
1st Lieutenant / 533181
SOEMITRO Hospital
Surabaya Air Force Base
Study in KIT (Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen)
Amsterdam,The Netherlands