A good day to vote ‘Nee’

This wasn’t a problem, because I’m that lazy every day. But this day was voting day. Voting on the future of the new EU Constitution in Holland.

During the weeks leading up to the vote, I decided to get to know as much as I could about the subject, in order to be able to make a clear decision that would be good for me here in The Netherlands. I think that every foreigner that studies here knows just as well as I do that the Dutch are cold and hard. And that’s why I didn’t want to say that my opinion on this issue, my vote, came from my heart, because as far as I know, people in Holland don’t actually put much value on such things as feelings.

I of course can say this because I’m not the ‘standard’ foreign student: I was born and raised in Brazil, but my father is Dutch, and it’s for this reason that I’m also eligible to exercise my citizenship here in the Lowlands.

With such a background, and having lived in an unacceptable political system in Brazil, I’ve got to admit that I’m quite driven to make the world a better and fairer place to live in. And being here in Europe only deepens this feeling in me, because here everything works and the clockwork knows no obstacles.

With all this on my mind, I began a process of trying to cool my thoughts and feelings, to think more straightforwardly and rationally, as they do here. It was my own personal Brazil vs. Holland match. I read a lot about the EU constitutional issues, I asked for other peoples’ opinions at Virgiel, the student society where I’m a member, and finally when I thought I had learned enough, I made up my mind about how I’d vote on EU Constitution. So there I was, standing with both feet firmly on the hard ground of principles and ready to vote. And so I did.

The rest of day I went on doing what I do everyday, a little study here, playing a little Jack Johnson on my guitar there, and the next thing I know the final vote result came in: ‘Nee’! Okay…up to that point a ‘nee‘ vote was absolutely possible, nothing to worry about. But when it really came, it shocked me. Deeply.

What was so hard for me to understand was that the Dutch had rejected the EU Constitution based on their feelings, as one newsreader said. What? Yes, they’d voted from their hearts, they took out all their rage on the system (a system that I by the way had thought was pretty good and simple) and the voters let themselves be heard.

Far more than the consequences of this election, what shocked and surprised me the most was how the choice was made. Feelings. And this also answers the question we foreigners, especially those of us from the ‘hot’ countries, often ask ourselves: do the Dutch have feelings? Well, yes they do, their hearts pump warmer blood than any of us could ever have imagined! So, from now on, I can put the emotions and feeling back into my life in Holland. After all, it’s proven: feelings exist in at least 63% of the country!

Hein Cuppen, BSc, Marine Technology, Brazil/The Netherlands.

Waking up one day last week was more special than it usually is, which is probably why I just opened my eyes and got right up, at one o’clock in the afternoon. This wasn’t a problem, because I’m that lazy every day. But this day was voting day. Voting on the future of the new EU Constitution in Holland.

During the weeks leading up to the vote, I decided to get to know as much as I could about the subject, in order to be able to make a clear decision that would be good for me here in The Netherlands. I think that every foreigner that studies here knows just as well as I do that the Dutch are cold and hard. And that’s why I didn’t want to say that my opinion on this issue, my vote, came from my heart, because as far as I know, people in Holland don’t actually put much value on such things as feelings.

I of course can say this because I’m not the ‘standard’ foreign student: I was born and raised in Brazil, but my father is Dutch, and it’s for this reason that I’m also eligible to exercise my citizenship here in the Lowlands.

With such a background, and having lived in an unacceptable political system in Brazil, I’ve got to admit that I’m quite driven to make the world a better and fairer place to live in. And being here in Europe only deepens this feeling in me, because here everything works and the clockwork knows no obstacles.

With all this on my mind, I began a process of trying to cool my thoughts and feelings, to think more straightforwardly and rationally, as they do here. It was my own personal Brazil vs. Holland match. I read a lot about the EU constitutional issues, I asked for other peoples’ opinions at Virgiel, the student society where I’m a member, and finally when I thought I had learned enough, I made up my mind about how I’d vote on EU Constitution. So there I was, standing with both feet firmly on the hard ground of principles and ready to vote. And so I did.

The rest of day I went on doing what I do everyday, a little study here, playing a little Jack Johnson on my guitar there, and the next thing I know the final vote result came in: ‘Nee’! Okay…up to that point a ‘nee‘ vote was absolutely possible, nothing to worry about. But when it really came, it shocked me. Deeply.

What was so hard for me to understand was that the Dutch had rejected the EU Constitution based on their feelings, as one newsreader said. What? Yes, they’d voted from their hearts, they took out all their rage on the system (a system that I by the way had thought was pretty good and simple) and the voters let themselves be heard.

Far more than the consequences of this election, what shocked and surprised me the most was how the choice was made. Feelings. And this also answers the question we foreigners, especially those of us from the ‘hot’ countries, often ask ourselves: do the Dutch have feelings? Well, yes they do, their hearts pump warmer blood than any of us could ever have imagined! So, from now on, I can put the emotions and feeling back into my life in Holland. After all, it’s proven: feelings exist in at least 63% of the country!

Hein Cuppen, BSc, Marine Technology, Brazil/The Netherlands.