Gefeliciteerd!
In the Netherlands, one person can have a birthday and somehow everyone remotely connected to them gets congratulated for it. Me: “Why do Dutch people congratulate absolutely everyone at a birthday party?” Wife: “Well, because they’re family.” Me: “But they haven’t done anything.” Wife: “What do you mean?” Me: “It’s not their birthday.” Wife: “Oh I don’t know why. We just do. Now stop asking silly questions and go and congratulate everyone.” Birthdays in the Netherlands are curious affairs. For one thing, people seem determined to make them last as long as possible. If your birthday falls on a Wednesday, you may have the party a week on Saturday. Then another party a couple of weeks later. Sometimes these parties are so much later that you can genuinely forget whose birthday you’re celebrating. A child’s birthday is another level entirely. It becomes a small military operation. Except with Paw Patrol balloons and ca...