When you live in Amsterdam like me, you don’t go around to tourist attractions a lot, because you’ve already seen it all. Why make a 4-hour long boat trip along 
the Amstel, when you pass the exact same route as you do on your bike every day? We still did it and it was a bit of a boring attraction for us, but we still had a fun night, maybe because of the ‘advocaatje met slagroom’ – an alcoholic treat you eat with a little spoon. Last weekend though, we went to a much more exciting tourist event in Amsterdam: This is Holland
What is This is Holland?
This is Holland is in Amsterdam Noord. To come there we had to go by boat (de pont) from behind Central Station. The building was just 5 minutes walking to our left. After showing our reservation, we were handed boarding passes. We went up to the first hall for an entertaining and educational show about how the land was conquered from the water.
Read this article in Dutch
Polderen – also in politics
The process of fighting off the water is called polderen: the constant vigilance to strengthen dikes and build dams and flood defences. For polderen it is important that everyone is aligned: if you strengthen your dams, but your neighbour doesn’t, your land will still be flooded. 
This means that everyone has to be able to work together with everyone – even with people who are opponents in daily life. This attitude is reflected in our democratic system of proportional representation. After an election the winner has to form a coalition (because the winner never gets more than 35% of the votes) with one or more other parties. So even the winner has to compromise to get more parties aboard.
The flight simulation
In the second hall they showed us the route we would fly in the simulator, and in the third hall we could strap ourselves in. The experience was very vivid, with heights, speed, wind and rain. The views were beautiful and sometimes scary and exciting. It was a very realistic flight experience over the highlights of the Netherlands.
Read this article in DutchTickets and discounts for tourists attractions
The tickets were not cheap – approx. 24€ – but it is worth it. 
The level of technique must be the highest in this country or even in Europe. But there’s no harm in checking for a discount on Groupon or Regiodeals. I’m not sure if you can find cheap tickets for This is Holland, but you can definitively find a discounted boat trip!
Dutch practice
I wrote a little story about my visit to This is Holland. Put the sentences in the right order to practice your Dutch.
Roelien Reinders
Taaltraining Trancemissie