Dutch Dither

IN THE NORTHERN PART OF WESTERN EUROPE LIES A SMALL COUNTRY THAT IS KNOWN AS THE NETHERLANDS. KNOWN FOR THE STEREOTYPES SUCH AS TULIPS, WINDMILLS, CHEESE AND WOODEN SHOES, THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF CONFUSION ABOUT THIS COUNTRY. THERE IS HOWEVER ONE THING WE CAN ALL AGREE ON.

The first confusion already occurs in the name of the country. The Netherlands is, in contrary to what many believe, not the same as Holland. An area named Holland does exist, in fact there are two of them, but they are merely part of the country as a whole. The Netherlands has 12 provinces and North and South Holland are two of them. True, you find the more important cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague and also the national airport here, but Holland is definitely not the same as The Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a monarchy, having its own royal family. Traditionally the royal family lives in the capital city of a country, but in The Netherlands the capital city is Amsterdam and the Queen lives in The Hague, where by the way also the whole government is located.

People who live in France are called French. Those living in Germany are Germans. British inhabitants are British. People from Norway are Norwegian, from Sweden are Swedish, from Spain are Spanish, and so on, and so on. However, people who are living in The Netherlands are called Dutch. The word Dutch has nothing to do with Duitsland, which is the Dutch name for Germany. In fact, Dutch comes form the ancient word Dietsch, which is the most ancient language that was spoken in this particular area. For the Dutch it is all very simple. In their own language the country’s name is Nederland, which is singular and not multiple as it is in English (where the hell did that come from anyway), the language is Nederlands and the people are called Nederlanders. It makes perfectly sense until you go outside the countries bounderies where, in English, the country become The Netherlands or Halland and the people Dutch, in Germany the country becomes Niederlande and the people Holländer and in France they refer to the country as les Pays-Bas and the people as Neerlandais. As you see, the confusion is complete.

But what we all can agree on is that The Netherlands is one of the most liberal and progressive countries in Europe and the 17 million Dutch are down to earth, easy going and often not too bad for the eye either. When it comes to the male half of the population and their looks, Malemodel.nl photographer Gert Kist is probably and authority. His webpage shows over a 100 young men in different stage of dress, Although some of them origin from other countries, most of them are Dutch and every single one of them stands guarantee to display the huge variety of male beauty The Netherlands has to offer. Take Ramon for example. Ramon derives from Amsterdam. Indeed, the capital of The Netherlands, but located in North Holland, a province that by the way has neighboring Haarlem as its local capital. Only 21 years old, this typical Dutch stud is currently in between jobs. But true to the Dutch image of pragmatism and hard working, Ramon believes that not having a job is not an excuse for not doing anything. And so he arrived for the first time in front of a camera. Gert Kist’s camera in this case.

So you see, The Netherlands is a country of many faces and many facettes. It is true that it can become a bit confusing when so many use different names that all have different meanings for the same thing. But fortunately we can all agree on one thing. The Netherlands is a natural source for male beauty, and thanks to the skills of people such as Gert Kist and the open minded nature and natural good looks of young guys like Ramon, we can all enjoy it. Because the Dutch are also very generous. -BM-

MALEMODEL.NL | BEAUTIFULMAG

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[KDNA]

amazing...