This Week In Wijnjewoude 2017: Week 47 Black Pete

Zwart Piet

This year, Sinterklaas (aka Saint Nicholas) arrived in the Netherlands at Dokkum - by boat, as usual.

We considered taking our kids to Dokkum, but due to parking restrictions and big crowds, we thought better of it - and (our kids) went to Drachten, instead.

I have witnessed this yearly ritual for the last 25 years without once having thought that it had anything to do with racism - it's just some fun for the kids, right?

and finally, "We Want Zwart Piet"....

Wikipedia has some information about the history which may be helpful...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet

An organisation called Kick Out Zwart Piet (KOZP) organised a "protest" demonstration and were on their way to Dokkum by the busload - until stopped by Frisian Pro Zwart Piet people who were organised via social media to stop the demonstrators.

The KOZP busses were directed to return "to the South" under police escort and the Mayor of Dokkum withdrew the Permits to Demonstrate.

From Wikipedia

According to a 2013 survey, upwards of 90% of the Dutch public don't perceive Zwarte Piet to be a racist character or associate him with slavery and are opposed to altering the character's appearance. This correlates to a 2015 study among Dutch children aged 3–7 which showed that they perceive Zwarte Piet to be a fantastical clownish figure rather than a black person. However, the number of Dutch people who are willing to change certain details of the character (for example its lips and hair) is reported to be growing.

Opposition to the figure is mostly found in the most urbanized provinces of North- and South Holland, where between 9% and 7% of the populace wants to change the appearance of Zwarte Piet. In Amsterdam, most opposition towards the character is found among the Ghanaian, Antillean and Dutch-Surinamese communities, with 50% of the Surinamese considering the figure to be discriminatory to others, whereas 27% consider the figure to be discriminatory towards themselves. The predominance of the Dutch black community among those who oppose the Zwarte Piet character is also visible among the main anti-Zwarte Piet movements, Zwarte Piet Niet and Zwarte Piet is Racisme which have established themselves since the 2010s. Generally, adherents of these groups consider Zwarte Piet to be part of the Dutch colonial heritage, in which black people were subservient to whites and/or are opposed to what they consider stereotypical black ("Black Sambo") features of the figure, such as bright red lips, curly hair and large golden earrings.

Now, as an aside, I thought I recognised the boat/ship used by Sinterklaas.

In 2008, I had a hire boat with Ivan & Louise and as we went through Leeuwarden, we passed the same ship. I managed to find my photos taken at the time!

In another quaint custom, the kids are allowed to put their shoes in front of the fire overnight - in expectation of a gift to be found the next morning. ( a variation of hanging up the stocking).

I found this on Sunday morning, just as the kids were getting out of bed...

and getting ready for breakfast...

From the Newspaper...

First, a story about the huge vegetable production done in glasshouses. The glasshouses are really big - the story talks about one 20 hectare farm - under glass! The owner says it is much more expensive to set up - and running costs can be high - BUT yields can be up to 350 times what is possible on a normal farm - subject to weather and insects.

They are also experimenting with LED lighting which can be placed lower down, amongst the foliage, to produce even better results.

Whether we are growing tomatoes, whether it’s about getting fruits, or whether it’s a lettuce, or a leafy vegetables. You can imagine that you want a different type of plant. And that may require therefore a different light. With LEDs, we can also put them in between the plants. And that’s very good. Because usually there is maybe too much light on the top, but insufficient at the bottom. So we can have a much better distribution of the light in the plant.

But growing indoors isn’t cheap. Marcelis says a quarter of the expenses for indoor growers in the Netherlands relate to construction–something farmers who grow in fields don’t have to worry about. Then there’s the energy costs of round-the-clock climate control and artificial lighting. But Marcelis says a key advantage to indoor farming is that by creating ideal growing conditions and maximizing space, it can produce much higher yields, in some cases, up to 350 times the yield of a conventional farm of the same size.

Still more about energy...

Even Wijnjewoude rated a mention in the Leeuwarder Courant - for being a "Pilot Village" to become "energy neutral" by 2050.

There was also a story about a Sports Complex in Leeuwarden that is having 3500 solar panels installed. The Sports Complex gets "free energy" and any excess is (presumably) sold on. I can rather imagine something like that for our place - but one problem appears to be the question of the capacity of existing electricity cables. ie if we do it AND a few other farms around us - then "can all that extra electricity actually be carried by the existing infrastructure? - all underground, so it's not just a matter of stringing up a few extra cables.

Waterstof (H) Hydrogen trains

Regional trains are mostly diesel but new options are being considered. Electric is the current option but this hydrogen train is being trialled in Germany (and may be trialled in Friesland).

Around the farm...

The last of the Autumn colours - the beech trees have much more colour than the oaks.

Some things take a while (continued)

It's 2 years now since we started excavating for Janny's parents' house. I did some inspired preparation for our new bathroom at the time - laying hot and cold water and drainage under their new floor - otherwise it would not now be possible.

Anyway, we picked up the shower screen ( show model, half price) last week - so now further with tiles, bath and other fittings. I just have to make sure that I stay within my own capabilities.

Preparing to carry the shower screen...