DEN HAAG

A train to The Hague with passports and umbrellas. The Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal), "built to party" in 1229, was our first stop, while the States-General was our second. There, three things struck me. One was the structural similarities between the Dutch and American legislatures; two was the fraternal mentality among both MP's and the press; three was the coalition-style government of minority parties - certainly the 76% bill-passage requirement necessitates an admirably [yet perhaps tediously] cooperative form of government. The anonymous abstract paintings were beautiful for their grandiose representation of society's dynamism - it was clear to some, opaque to others. I wonder if 76% of the MP's, with nothing else to stare at during their all-day-long debates, understand them.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs we were given a lecture on Dutch-American relations, foreign policy and economic afairs. Once a "loyal ally," the Netherlands is now a "capable partner," a "pocket-sized superpower." The lecture was about our common enemies of instability and decline. To promote American awareness of the capability of its partner, the Netherlands, the Ministry co-produced YouTube trailers that erred on satire.

Afterwards: art. A lot for little time. Thirty-five minutes at Maritshuis introduced me to Cornelius Troor, new Rembrandts and Vermeer's most famous works, among others. Favorites include The Anatomy Lesson, Kitchen Scene with Christ at Emmaeus, View of Delft, and Alexander the Great visits the studio of Apelles. Another museum dedicated itself to the late 19th century Dutch landscape-painter, H.W. Mesdag, whose coastal panoramic, Scheveningen in 1880, was a surreal experience lacking only a sea breeze.

The itinerary ended at De Nederlanse Taalunie, where, after a week of ignorance handicapped with local bilingualism, we were finally introduced to the language of our residence. Dutch is indeed a beautiful, important language, and the efforts of this institution are both admirable and generous. I am curious to know how the Dutch language will adapt in the 21st century. I'm especially excited to immerse my ears in the multilingual terrain of Luxembourg and Brussels.

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