Sirened

Hope you’ve had a great Memorial Day weekend and managed not to feel the pinch at the pump too much.

Ironically, my memory of Memorial Day actually failed me today because I live in Amsterdam now. I remembered Friday but then forget, until I came on the internet today. Since it’s not a holiday here it just slipped me.

The holiday equivalent of Memorial Day in The Netherlands is Remembrance day, which occurs on May 4th each year. Remembrance Day honors Dutch civilian and military personnel who have died since the beginning of World War II. On May 5th, the Dutch celebrate their liberation from German occupation that occurred from 1940-1945.

And even though American forces played an integral role in the liberation of Holland, it’s usually not good form to say something like “My Grandpa saved your Grandpa during the war” to a Dutch person. Although, if you’re really hell bent on saying this to a European, definitely say it to a Dutch person as they generally are very tolerant of things, shockingly so sometimes! And if you really want to piss someone off, say that to a French person!

Anyways, happy ‘Kicking Ass and Taking Names Day’ everyone!

photo credit: flickr creative commons

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