Tomorrow, the people of the Netherlands will elect their representatives for the national government.  I will not be taking part in this election -- because I don't technically count among "the people of the Netherlands."  Of course, I don't take this personally; however, I do think that it's unfortunate that I don't have a voice in a situation such as this despite the fact that I've lived here, legally, for over seven years; despite the fact that I own property here in the Netherlands; and despite the fact that our household has contributed over €100,000 in taxes throughout the years in order to support the Dutch system!  I'd say that it's the American in me who becomes so frustrated by this "taxation without representation" -- but then again, I imagine that immigrants to the United States are not treated much differently when it comes to American elections... So is the world that we live in these days.

Immigration is a particularly pivotal issue in this election.  Some of the main candidates in this election have distinguished themselves particularly in regards to their stance on immigration.  And I will be very interested to find out how the Dutch people express themselves on this particular point.  Will they side with someone along the lines of Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV (Party for Freedom), who has built a name for himself primarily by speaking out boldly against the "problems" with immigrants (particularly Muslim immigrants)?  Or will they side with someone along the lines of Job Cohen, leader of the PvdA (Labor Party), who spent years as the mayor of multi-cultural Amsterdam and developed a reputation as something of a "bridge-builder" or conciliatory "multi-culti cuddly-bear" (depending on who's perspective you might take)?  As a fair-skinned, blue-eyed immigrant, I feel like I've gotten a unique perspective on this societal issue facing the people of the Netherlands -- and I'm honestly not sure how they're going to choose.

I recently finished reading a book called "Murder in Amsterdam:  The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance," by Ian Buruma, and I feel like this book offered a very valuable complement to my personal experiences as an immigrant here in the Netherlands.  The book talks rather extensively about Job Cohen and Geert Wilders -- along with such figures as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Mohammed Bouyeri, Pim Fortuyn, and of course Theo van Gogh (whose murder just so happened to take place just two blocks from our house, back in our second year of living here in the Netherlands).  And I learned a lot about how the complex political environment surrounding this issue of immigration has developed through the years.  For any foreigner living in Amsterdam, I would highly recommend the book (though I think it could also be somewhat instructive to Americans currently working through their own set of issues related to Mexican immigration).  It's obvious that there are no easy answers to these issues of immigration and tolerance and globalization -- but it's certainly helpful to read up on things a bit.

I, for one, personally find myself pulling for Job Cohen and the PvdA in this particular election.  Not just because he seems to have a more reasonable perspective on this particular issue of immigration, but also because he's an Amsterdammer.  His party's headquarters are just 100 meters down the street from our church's ministry center, and I've regularly seen him around the neighborhood; once he even came to visit our ministry center.  I can't say that I agree with all of the party standpoints of the PvdA -- but given the implications of this particular election, I'm personally hoping that they do well tomorrow.

Whatever comes of this election, I'm guessing that we'll learn a lot about the future of the immigration issue and the will of "the people of the Netherlands" tomorrow.  For now, however, all that I can really do is wait and see...

The trash collectors' strike has finally ended.  It's nice to see the streets getting cleaned up again.

I've found it very interesting to note the public reaction to this strike.  By and large, I'd say that public sympathy has been with the trash collectors -- with the city being made out to be the "Bad Guys."  It's been framed as "poor, under-appreciated, blue-collar trash collectors" versus "stingy, heartless, evil, corporate / government monolith."  And likely due to this public sentiment, the trash collectors seem to have come away from this confrontation as the "winners," having gained more ground in the negotiations.  It would seem like most Amsterdammers would say "Good for them."  Everyone likes to see it when someone sticks it to "The Man."  Myself included.

But it's recently occurred to me that, in this case, "The Man" is us -- the citizens of Amsterdam.  That is:  the government is made up of publicly-elected representatives who have been charged with the task of managing the money that is collected by our taxes, right?  So that means that it was effectively us (the citizens of Amsterdam) against the striking trash collectors.  So even though our streets are getting cleaned up again now (which is definitely appreciated), we ended up being the "losers" of the show-down.  It will ultimately mean either higher taxes for us, or budget cuts in other areas of municipal government.

Strange shift in perspective, huh?  Am I missing anything, in thinking through the scenario (other Amsterdammers seem to be significantly better-informed in things like this)?  Or if I've got it correct -- that our interests really were more tied up in the government's side of things -- why do you think it is that we "sided" with the trash collectors?  I'm just curious.  Again, I'm very appreciative to have the trash collectors back on the job.  But I'm just confused about if I should really feel like a moral victory was won or if I should feel like I was unfairly coerced into making concessions (via my elected officials)... Strange the way that all of these things work.

Tomorrow is my first opportunity to participate in Dutch democracy.  I'm not sure if it's because I've now been officially registered in the country for a certain number of years now, or if it's because I'm now a property owner, or what -- but I'm going to vote for the municipal elections tomorrow.

The only prolem is that I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to vote.

I've tried a couple of the different on-line "stemwijzer" (voting test) sites, plus I've read a number of the printed materials put out by the government and by the parties themselves.  But all this has done is help me to decide how not to use my vote.  That is, I'm pretty sure that I will not be casting my vote for the CDA, who has chosen to make the main thrust of their Amsterdam campaign a "Big Brother" like camera system to capture any wrong-doing that might happen throughout the city... And I can't really see myself voting for the Party of the Animals (making animal rights the primary issue) or the nationalistic PVV (a sort of anti-immigration party, like the 21st Century Dutch version of the 19th Centry American "Know Nothing" party)... But who should I vote for?

I'd be very open, if anyone had any advice they wanted to pass along to me.

For me, I'm voting primarily as (1) a follower of Jesus, (2) an immigrant, and (3) someone who naturally tends to prefer a less invasive form of government (i.e. someone who could tell the leerplichtambtenaar to relax a little bit).  But are there really any parties who tend to combine these issues?  Open to religious freedom, and even cooperation between the church and the government... But also more liberal in its views on immigration and immigrants' rights... While still entrusting power to the people, more than to the bureaucracy???  Do these terms ring any bells, for those of you who might be more familiar with the Dutch political system?

I've got some ideas for how I might use my vote, if all else fails.  I'm not going into things totally ignorant.  But if there are any last-minute pieces of advice that could be thrown my way, I would certainly appreciate it.

As a general rule, young Amsterdammers are independent thinkers, fiercely committed to fair trade, generally ideologically opposed to "globalization," and by most all accounts quite liberal.  Yes, I'm trucking in stereotypes a bit here -- but I think most would agree that Dutch young people are generally the type of people who would show up wherever the G8 Summit might be taking place and protest the "Evil Capitalist Elite."  You know the type that I'm talking about, don't you?  They are politically active, they think green, and they are almost categorically against any sense of "The Man."

So I think it's ironic -- and a little bit funny -- that young Amsterdammers also seem to be crazy about Starbucks.

I find it ironic because Starbucks seems to epitomize globalization (with hundreds of franchise locations around the world -- and an almost inescapable corporate presence in so many cities)... they seem to serve as something of a poster child for American Capitalism (with large amounts of liquid being sold at hefty prices)... and -- while they do seem to be more committed to social responsibility and ethical business practices than many other world-wide businesses -- everyone still knows (deep down, though they don't always like to admit it) that Starbucks is the personification of the "evil mega-corporation" that could very well serve as the front for Dr. Evil's quest for world domination.

I don't know why it's taken Starbucks this long to make any significant inroads within the Netherlands (rumors abound on this subject) -- but a couple of years ago, a Starbucks appeared on the inside ("for passengers only") part of Schiphol Airport.  A year later, a Starbucks popped up outside of the gated area, where anyone could access the establishment (presumably while picking someone up or dropping someone off).  And now, within the last couple of months, Starbucks seems to have struck a deal with the Dutch National Railroad, putting Starbucks stores within several of the main train stations throughout the country (including Amsterdam Centraal Station).  And now, there are long lines of young Amsterdammers lining up to spend their €6 for a small cup of espresso-based beverage... while still holding fiercely to their anti-global, anti-corporate, anti-American sentiments.

Doesn't this seem ironic and incongruent to anyone else?

I don't understand it.  I don't condemn any position on the spectrum, given that I, too, don't want to have anything to do with promoting slavery or injustice in the developing world -- but I do enjoy a good Caramel Macchiato whenever I can get one. :-)  But I am fascinated by the apparent contradiction and subtle hypocrisy that creeps into the picture in situations like this.  How does Starbucks do it?  I think they have to be geniuses!  They trade with the best of the mega-corporations on Wall Street, but they simultaneously find friends among the protesters and progressives in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.  How do they do it?  They're geniuses, I'm telling you.  Either that, or we're all dupes...

Yesterday we joined the throngs of feest-beesten (party animals) along the grachtengordel of Amsterdam.  After a full morning and afternoon of roaming around the city with our friends, we said our final farewells to the Watkins family, gave our last hugs, and then rode off to the East waving our last waves over our shoulders.  We biked slowly along the Herengracht, picking our way through solid streams of party-goers on the Raadhuisstraat, the Leidsestraat/Koningsplein, the Vijzelstraat, the Thorbeckeplein, the Utrechtsestraat, along the Amstel, over the Magere Brug, and finally through to home.  The whole way, people were partying, orange-uninhibited, dancing with arms in the air, bumping, grinding, laughing, singing, yelling, and drinking (lots of drinking).  I've never experienced anything quite like it -- trying to push a bakfiets full of three children through all of that.  I think most of the orange masses felt happy -- exhuberant, even -- but to be honest, I felt mostly anxious and afraid.  It felt like just about anything could happen, turning "fun party" into "frantic, frenzied free-for-all."  Probably just the over-anxious projections of a protective papa...

But little did we all know the tragedy that was unfolding in our little country -- not so many kilometers off to the East, in Appeldoorn.  We had heard rumors of it earlier in the afternoon:  news about some accident or attempted bombing of the royal family.  We had even checked the mobile internet accounts (with what spotty access we had on the over-crowded cellular networks of the city), but we could gain little information outside of some story of an out-of-control automobile accident close to the scene of the royal convoy in which a dozen or so people had been injured.  It didn't make much of a dent in our -- or any of Amsterdam's -- Koninginnedag celebrations.  Later that evening, even, I had checked internet news reports and remarked to Marci how odd it was that entire cities (even large, geographicall-removed cities, like Rotterdam) were cutting their Koninginnedag festivities short because of the automobile incident in Appeldoorn.

But it was only this morning -- upon waking up to another beautiful spring day in Amsterdam -- that we really started to grasp what had taken place in our country yesterday, while Amsterdam partied.  Sitting in the Coffee Company here in our neighborhood, I read the newspaper accounts and saw the pictures for myself.  I saw my neighbors similarly absorbed by the newspapers, as they sipped their morning coffees and worked off their hang-overs from yesterday.  I saw it all starting to dawn on us.  The pictures and maps graphing out the whole chain of events seemd to communicate the most:  one picture showing a smashed black Suzuki hatchback cruising through the middle of a blockaded parade route, with human bodies scattered in mid-air yet evidently traveling so fast that none of the bystanders' faces had yet registered a reaction, not even the royal guard who was standing with his face in profile probably only a couple of meters from the carnage directly in front of him... another picture showing crown-prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, covering their mouths with a look of absolute horror in their eyes... and the maps showing what had clearly been a premeditated assasination attempt on the royal family which had very nearly "succeeded" in its objectives -- but even in its "failure" had cost the lives of at least five bystanders (and severely wounded a dozen others), as the car had plunged directly through a mass of happy, oblivious, orange-colored people -- much like those of us who had partied in Amsterdam from the Jordaan to the Amstel.  One minute, they had been happy, exhuberant, celebratory (though probably not as drunk as the Amsterdam crowd) -- the next minute, they were lying on the pavement in pools of their own blood.

It's hard to describe.  It's hard to imagine.  But it happened.

I'm not sure how everyone else here in the Netherlands has emotionally responded to the news.  For me, it's not so much about the royal family or the loss of societal "innocence" that comes with a narrowly-foiled assasination attempt (though the newspapers' treatment of the event would definitely make it seem like something akin to the Kennedy assasination, or maybe more like the attempted Reagan assasination in the U.S.A. -- though I can't personally testify to what either of these events would have felt like).  I could certainly understand how an event like this would affect feelings of national pride and concerns about national security.  But to me, the impact of the events in Appeldoorn have more to do with the assault on the average orange-apparelled street-level celebrants -- people like me and my family and friends.  It's scary.  It makes you wonder about the next Koninginnedag.  It makes you wonder if it really might be the "end of an era," as many of the newspapers are suggesting.

I don't know.  I'm hopeful that the Dutch sense of security-and-celebration can reboud and show itself resilient -- even if it takes a couple of years (like the American response to September 11, 2001).  But that all still remains to be seen.

For now, my heart goes out to the families of those who died in Appeldoorn yesterday.  I'm glad that our family ultimately made it home yesterday without incident -- but I realize that it could have just as easily been us... or anyone else celebrating Koninginnedag, for that matter.  Good Lord, what's the world coming to?  Marana tha.  O Lord, come quickly.