Netherlands' Logbook

[The Netherlands]

Welcome to the Netherlands’ journal. I called it his logbook since it sounds cooler than a diary or journal, and he’s had the whole history with the Dutch East/West India Company, so I figured this would work too. This isn’t going to be updated daily, like some of you do, since I don’t have the time for that. Also, I don’t keep up with the news as much in the summer holidays, since I usually read those free newspapers you get in the train on my way to school.

Anyway, this may not be all that interesting at some times, since Dutch news isn’t exactly the most exciting in the world, but I find it interesting nonetheless to write about it from his point of view.

I also can’t guarantee entries will appear in chronological order. I might write bits and pieces of his journal from past events.

[The Netherlands]

Friday July 8th, 2011

Today is the first day my people can’t travel with a paper ticket in the trains, metro, trams and busses any longer. And while a lot of them are okay with that, there’s still a lot of people that object as well. I decided to travel a bit by train today, to see if I would encounter any troubles.

I got on at a small station in the south and travelled to Amsterdam. The signs saying which trains would leave from what platform were out of order, and while that isn’t a problem caused by the OV-chipcard, it will be something to worry about if it happens more often. This was a rather small station, but if the same thing were to happen at, let’s say Amsterdam Central station, it would’ve caused a great deal of more trouble.

I can’t deny the benefits of having one card for all kinds of public transport, but perhaps the traditional paper card was gotten rid of a bit too soon. I still hear stories from people who can’t check in or out for no apparent reason, or whose card couldn’t be read by the controller’s scanner. Though on the other hand, the full integration of the OV-chipcard will force them to the last bugs out of the system quickly.

Overall I didn’t have any trouble with the card itself today. Though in the two hours that I spent in the train, nobody came to check the tickets even once. So next to the OV-chipcard, we also might want to take a look at the bugs in the organization of the public transport system.


Yesterday I also received a message from Belgium. Another attempt at forming a new government failed. The people of Walloon and Flanders can’t seem to agree with each other. This time it really looked like they would come to an agreement. Though in the end it seems that was too much to ask.

It took me 127 days to get my current government together, and I consider that a long time. Halfway people already started to talk about new elections. Perhaps that’s something Belgium could take into consideration, seeing as she’s been without a proper government for more than a year now. She can’t hold up like this for much longer.

She really can be a little pest sometimes, even now, making me worry about her like that. Even though, it can’t be easy for her to have her two sides pulling at her constantly. I haven’t had that feeling in a very long time. Of course there’s Friesland acting up occasionally, but it can’t be compared with that, really. I just hope she’ll be okay in the end.


I also heard the bull running in Pamplona started again. I’m starting to suspect that Spain might be a masochist (this would also explains a lot about why he put up with Romano’s temper all those years). Let’s see how he makes it out of this one.


- The Netherlands

- - - - -

Notes:
The OV-chipcard is a card with which you can travel with the train, metro, tram and bus. From today on it replaces the paper card we used to have completely. It might sound lame, but it’s kind of a big deal here, especially for those who are opposed to the card.

In 2010 the Dutch government fell, the Belgian following not long after. Both countries had a hard time to get a new government organized. Netherlands eventually succeeded, but Belgium has yet to get to an agreement.

Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands. A couple of months ago some people started saying it should be independent from the Netherlands, and I believe people talked about it more often. It’s really nothing to worry about though.