Dutch Impressions: Hobbies and Sports - Ice Skating
First time on ice skates, hmm.. my first winter, the one of 79/80, in the little crummy village where we lived. No, hold on, that’s the first time I stood on ice, totally different experience, really.
I only read about the ice phenomenon when I was still in Curaçao but it really intrigued me. Of course, I had seen real ice, but only in movies that scary scene in one of the “The Omen” movies come to mind, scary stuff. Can you imagine a kid in the Caribbean reading in a school book about some Dutch kid skating on ice? That’s the Dutch education system for its colonies, back then.
But my first steps on the stuff were as expected a bit tense and cautious and after a coupla falls I really liked the ice. Then came the real first time on skates and that was quite a bit less enjoyable. We went to skate in the open as part of this school trip, I didn’t have any skates of my own so I borrowed a pair from a class mate. What nobody told me was that there are two types of skates: the well-known ice hockey skates and the long distance skates called “Noren” or Norsemen, classic Lost In Translation Stuff.
So, the whole group was putting on their skates and sped off leaving me on my own with my incredibly uncomfortable Noren. Let me describe the scene: a large piece of land divided by straight little lines of water about 3 to 4 meters wide, going on for quite some kilometers. Every other eight hundred meters or so you get a small bridge thingie that you have to step over/across/along to get back on the ice.
Oh, and did I mention that it was frigging cold?
Well, my challenge was to skate. Just that. Stand on those damn things and skate after my class mates, who were rapidly disappearing out of sight. It didn’t work for me, I just kept falling on my ass, my butt and other crucial body parts. So after finally reaching the second bridge, I gave up and wanted to return to the starting point. Didn’t have my shoes with me, so I had to endure another session of self-mutilation by skating back (or rather struggling to do so) . The last part of the distance, I just put on my skate protectors (yes, these are included) and walked along the ice thinking that a black kid from the tropics shouldn’t be on ice at all. Well at least not this kid. And the walking on ice skates, it’s called klunen.
You can imagine that after that experience I had this great reluctance about ice skating.
The Dutch are totally wild about this sport/hobby. The true Masters of Long Distance Skating are the people from the northern Friesland province, where there’s this Ultimate Endurance Race called the Elfstedentocht or The Tour of The Eleven Cities. When I first arrived in Holland in ‘79 it was a very long time ago that the race had been held, always dependent on the perfect weather conditions to let so many people skate such a physically challenging race. The last time was somewhere early in the sixties and since then, every winter people ‘d be full of tension and excitement: will there be a race this year?
In 1985 their prayers were answered, there was enough ice of the right thickness and the right weather to hold the race. This event is one of the moments where the Dutch let their hair down and party like it’s the end of the world, even those from the more level-headed and socially inflexible northern provinces. Every city along the route is filled with people cheering on the competitors and enjoying hot drinks, food and alcohol in the freezing cold. It’s not carnival in Rio, because our Brazilian brothers aren’t that stupid, I guess.. The gods were very kind for the Dutch because the next winter we had another Elfstedentocht! And that year was the year I decided to try the ice skating thing again.
This time it was on ice hockey skates, playing hockey with very experienced bastards who enjoyed tripping me up or body-checking me off the ice. That really helped me with my skating prowess so I have to be grateful for those brutal moments. After that year I did get out on the ice a coupla times, but it’s been quite a long time and I really don’t remember if I still have the skates.
You wanna learn the Dutch? Start talking about ice skating (not ice hockey, that’s too painful) or if you get the chance go to the Elfstedentocht. Bring along your own booze and you’ll have friends for life..
And a coupla years back I was in Curaçao for Christmas and to my surprise they had a temporary ice rink for the holidays. The rink was in a closed-off tent with a gazillion generators to keep the ice stable while outside it was just steamingly hot. Silly rabbits..
References:
Ice Skate
Elfstedentocht
Another Elfstedentocht site
