zine magazine, oct 2013

#608

ZINE

Oct 2013

Small classes and personal attention. At the British School of Amsterdam we get to know each and every student. We provide an all-round education that develops the whole person and delivers academic success. From Early Years to Secondary School, we provide top-class British schooling for everyone from expats to locals seeking an international education.

With pupils of more than 40 nationalities, the British School of Amsterdam offers a stimulating and inclusive learning environment for students aged 3 to 18. Non-native English speakers are welcome.

Our curriculum leads to the respected British A-Level qualification accepted by universities worldwide. In addition to the formal academic subjects, we teach European languages including Spanish, French, German and Dutch, as well as English as a foreign language.

Every day is an open day at the British School of Amsterdam. Why not come along and visit us? For more informa-tion, see www.britams.nl, or contact us at +31 (0) 20 67 97 840 or [email protected].

MaiyaAge 11English

“The classes are small and the teachers give us a lot of attention”

TEACHING PEOPLE, NOT JUST TOPICS

Spooktober edition/

Contents

“poetry”

events/ “social friday”

what’s on/ “britsoc calendar”

food/ “nick’s nosh”

events/ “bonfire night”

events/ “halloween”

interview/ “squash”

Page 52

Page 10

food/ “piccalilli”

“chairman”chair/

Page 26

Page 32

Page 38 Page 46

Page 8

arts/

Page 30

“a’dam ghosts”article/ Page 16

“great british ball” Page 22events/

“britsoc shop” Page 56article/

“britsoc calendar” Page 18

Page 26

ZINEEDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Alison Smith | [email protected]

EDITORIAL BOARDIan Cherington | [email protected] Thomas | [email protected] Richardson | [email protected]

ADVERTISINGADVERTISING SALES Zetterij Jan van den Berg | [email protected]

PUBLISHINGPUBLISHED BYJohn Richardson | JohnTheCopywriter.com

FLIP MAGAZINE PUBLISHING PLATFORMwww.issuu.com

PUBLISHED ONwww.wordpress.org

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND FEEDBACKAlison Smith | [email protected]

www.britsoc.nl/

ISSUE # 608

Colophon >

Page 30

“a’dam ghosts” Page 16

“great british ball” Page 22

Page 56

Dear Members and Friends,

I hope that you all enjoyed the summer break and are well rested. Luckily I had a great break, which is just as well as my email box is filling very quickly these days, so I have well and truly started!The coming months are our busy time, of course, with 3 major events running.The Expatica Fair, Bonfire Night and the Christmas Ball are all featured in Zine and on the website, so please check the dates and details. I look forward to seeing you all.Our AGM on the 12th was a productive and positive meeting; my thanks to those who attended. We now have a committee member responsible for Marketing & Advertising in Andy Symmonds, who will be growing our network while looking for new advertisers and sponsors. Any leads you can pass on to Andy are very welcome.As a focus for the coming year, I have named the expansion of our network and of our membership.We need to convince businesses to get on board with our Zine circulation of over 4000 and we need to convince people to join us as members. We have a lot to offer with the main events and our ongoing activities.This time of year is the ideal season to drive membership, so let’s do it together!All of this organisation is now in the hands of a very keen few, who also need helping hands to make their task a little lighter.So I am appealing to you to help the committees in any way you can. From PR to running an event, there is something to interest everybody and we are a fun loving bunch, so let me know if you can spare us some time.

Ian Cherington

Chairman

[email protected]

chairman’s blog/

Ghoulishly written by ZINE staff writer John Richardson

4th Annual Amsterdam Halloween Festival

HalloweenAmsterdam Style

‘Amsterdam Spook’ return with six days of drop dead horror

Now that it’s getting cooler in A’dam it’s time to turn our attention to some bone-chilling, blood-curdling, mask-renting Halloween parties taking place in October. As I get older, and odder, I find I need less make up. For you less wrinkly specimens, there’s no better place to dress up like Iron Man, John Major’s Underpants or a sexy doctor than Amsterdam in October. While not exactly on the same frighteningly obsessive scale as our American friends across misty lake Atlantic, A’dam knows how to Halloween. (See what I did there, I’ve been hanging out with too many yanks and I’ve turned a noun into a verb. Scary.) Regardless, the Hallows’ has become one of the biggest A’dam party events in Spooktober. And if the 10 quid tours from Newcastle are anything to go by, the holiday’s popularity is growing at a frightening rate.When October 31 rolls around this year, and you hear: “Here man thats propa shan”(“ I say old chap that is really shocking”), you’ll know the the boat has landed at Mouden. For a Franken-good time, just follow the mixed sounds of jubilation and horror coming from the depths of A’dam!Amsterdam Spook return with 5 days of bloody ghoulish Halloween party horror with their 4th Annual Amsterdam Halloween Festival from 25 to 31 October 2013! Amsterdam Halloween Festival website: http://halloweenamsterdam.com/

http://halloweenamsterdam.com/

Here’s a Halloween list to spook even the hardiest Newcastle

Brown drinker: The Fox Amsterdam Parade and Party

invites ghosts and ghouls to join in a fun-filled procession

across town complete with vampires, zombies, and bleeding

brides.Other Halloween parties like the creepy Amsterdam

Halloween Festival offer five days of spooky Halloween events

including an all-night movie marathon, a Fright Night Skate,

a Halloween Run, and a Dead Famous costume party.

Born from the underground, the 4th annual Amsterdam Halloween Festival will be bloodier, creepier and more

haunted than ever before.

Programme of Bloody Good events

25 Oct: Fright Night SkateJoin hundreds of costumed freaks on roller-skates through Amsterdam during Friday Night

Skate’s (FNS) special Halloween edition. Starts at 20:30. Free.

25 Oct: Mr.Horror’s Halloween Horror ShowAll-night horror Halloween horror movie marathon at the Tuschinski, screening 4 films care-

fully selected by Mr. Horror himself. Starts at midnight. Films announced mid-September.

26 Oct: Cinekid Halloween in KriterionStart off right at the Cinekid Halloween party, with face-painting, crafts & games at Kriterion. For kids ages 5-12, on from 12:00 to 18:00. The party is free tickets to the spooky movies are

€7 for kids, €7.50 for adults. At the Kriterion.

26 Oct: Halloween party boatLeaves Central Station at 21:30, arrives at the Felix Meritis at 23:00. Tickets are €32.50 and

include on board performances, undead crew, drinks – and the best way to travel to theScarytales party!

27-31 Oct: Dungeon Halloween dinner cruisesStart off with a bone-chilling tour of the Amsterdam Dungeon, then hop on board the

Halloween boat for a tour of the eerie Amsterdam canals. Tickets are €77.50 a person — drinks, dinner, Dungeon tour, undead crew and boat cruise.

26 Oct: Scarytales Halloween Costume PartyAmsterdam Spook’s 13th annual Halloween costume party. Inspired by the dark fables, we

take you down the rabbit hole this Halloween with SCARYTALES. 22:00-05:00, Felix Meritis.

Pre-sale tickets are €22, and Early Spook tickets (4 for 3) are on sale now.

31 Oct: Halloween RunThese zombies don’t walk, they RUN! Join Run2Day in their annual Halloween Run.

Starts at 22:00. Free

Drop Dead Gory WorkshopsLearn how to work with various paints & colours, apply prothetics, create a gruesome gash or a totally unique scary tales look! Amsterdam Spook & Backstage are getting together to offer

a series of 3-hour Halloween make-under workshops. Workshop details & dates.

25-31 Oct: Halloween discountsShow your SCARYTALES ticket to get discounts at several costume and party shops around

Amsterdam, and 30% off entrance to the Amsterdam Dungeon.

Get your gore fix and stay tuned via the Facespook page:

https://www.facebook.com/halloween.amsterdam

http://halloweenamsterdam.com/

lil’ witches and monsters ball sunday 27th octoberdoors open 11:00am - 12:30pmCome join us for Pumpkin Carving & Trick or Treating on the Max Euweplein. Plus games and more!For lunch reservations email:[email protected] or call +31 (0) 20 523 7961

Lunch reservations are mandatory

©2013 Hard Rock International (USA), Inc. All rights reserved.

/ max euweplein 57-61 / +31 20 523 7625 join hardrockrewards.com /hardrockcafeamsterdam /hrcamsterdam

amsterdam®

adult halloween party saturday 26th october 21:00 till lateCome in your best halloween costume and be in with a chance to win a Hard Rock party worth €250

www.hardrock.com/amsterdam

The Ghosts of Amsterdam

Being a down to earth nation, the Dutch tend not to be

very gullible, particularly when it comes to believing in things of a Supernatural nature.

Besides, believers in ghosts say that spooks cannot cross water, and Amsterdam is full of the stuff, suggesting that Amsterdam would be low on paranormal action.

On the other hand, Amsterdam has seen some of the worst forms of torture and horror known in history.

In the 16th century, the Netherlands was under the Spanish inquisition. The religious Council of Blood

sentenced anyone who offended the Catholic Church to torture and executions. Witchcraft was especially targeted, and witch hunts were commonplace in those times, resulting in many innocent women being tortured and executed.

Over 16,000 people were brought to their death by methods such as burning at the stake, beheading, and hanging.

This is one of the themes of an attraction in Amsterdam called the Amsterdam Dungeon, which, ironically, was built on a medieval graveyard. Witch hunts ended in execution in places we associate

with pleasant sightseeing, like the Dam and at the Waag, which now houses an atmospheric eatery. Plague and pestilence were rife in the 17th century and many Amsterdam dwellers died horrid and gruesome deaths.

Even some of Amsterdam’s street names give a flavour of Amsterdam’s grisly past.

Bloedstraat (Blood Street) and Spooksteeg (Ghost Alley) conjure up less civilized times. With all these unhappy deaths and tortured souls floating around in the Amsterdam ether, there must be ghost stories galore here, whether anyone will admit to believing them or not.

Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long-Legged Creepies and things that go BUMP in Amsterdam

His ghostly suicide is reenacted

in the attic rooms and staff

are loathe to go there

alone.

“

I had a dig around and easily found some good haunts. Unsurprisingly, at the Anne Frank House it is often reported that “you can feel cold spots in certain areas of Anne’s room, and at midnight, when you walk around the back you can see the figure of a young girl (believed to be Anne herself) gazing out the window. Some people have heard a sound down the stairs that leads to the basement. A loud rumbling sound believed to be a replay of a time reported in Anne’s diary when a sack of uncooked beans was accidentally spilled down the stairs.”It is said that if you visit the Montelbaans Bell Tower on the 2nd of June you will see a little boy and his family, dressed in clothes from about 1900, walk up the stairs and disappear. The tower was erected in the 1500’s to protect

the shipyards. No-one knows what happened to the family, but the haunting is a reenactment of their unsuccessful attempt to flee to the tower for safety.

One character who recurs in many of the Ghost tours is Black Matthew who was a 13th century Highwayman and magician with a gambling habit.

He was said to use his dark arts to help the odds in his favour when gambling but met his match when he gambled his soul and lost…to the devil. His soul has apparently never rested and hangs about the dark alleys in Amsterdam.

Anyone who has stayed at a popular tourist hotel on the edge of the Red Light District (not telling which one!) might have experienced a sighting of the ghostly priest.

A tragic tale of a novice priest who fell for a young girl and when the young lovers were discovered she was sent to the Spinhuis, a

correctional facility, to do penance and he was banished from ever seeing her again. He took to his rooms, which are now part of the hotel, and, in his grief, committed suicide.

Apparently his ghostly suicide is reenacted in the attic rooms and staff are loathe to go there alone.

There are hundreds more stories to be told and one of the best ways to hear them is to join one of the many Ghost Walks which are organized late at night and can be found on the many City tour websites…that is…if you dare!

By the ghostly and hauntingly gifted cook,

Alison ‘Spooky’ Smith

spooktober/By Alison Smith

octo

ber

SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY

BritSoc Social and Sports Calendar

13

20

14

21

28

For online October calendar go to http://www.britsoc.nl/the-all-in-one-calendar/

Golf 8.00

Golf 8.00

Golf 8.00

Golf 8.00

Golf 8.00

Soft Tennis 16.00

Soft Tennis 16.00

Soft Tennis 16.00

Soft Tennis 16.00

Golf 8.00

Daytime Badminton 13.00 to 14.00




07

Golf 8.00

19

12

27

06Golf 8.00

05

26

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

Bridge Night 19.30 Scottish dancing 19.30-21:00

10

23

03

24

11

04

18

25

Playgroup 11.00 Badminton 20.00



Scottish dancing 19.30-21:00 Bridge Night 19.30

Bridge Night 19.30 Scottish dancing 19.30-21:00


Scottish Country Dancing GroupUnder the expert guidance of Margaret

Lambourne, a qualified SCD teacher, Thursday evenings are spent dancing to the strains of

Celtic tunes. Swirling in circles or forming up squares, lines or long sets, we learn everything from the proper steps and figures in jig, reel and

strathspey time. We change partners for each dance, so you can come on your own and find a partner there. The music and the dancing make

you happy, and it’s great exercise, too! And what a bargain, just 3 euros per session! Sessions are held in the British School hall on Anthonie van

Dijckstraat in Oud Zuid, from 7:30 to 9 pm.

TUESDAY

Tennis 20.00

Squash 19.30

Squash 19.30

Squash 19.30

Squash 19.30

08

15

22

02

09

17


Social Friday @ The Tara21.00-24:00

16

Tennis 20.00

Tennis 20.00

Tennis 20.00

Activity Contact Details: Social Fridays is Tracey Taylor. Email: [email protected]

Soft tennis is Sharron Reed. Email: [email protected] is Ruth and Art Max. Email: [email protected]

Squash is Paul Huxley. Email: [email protected]

Tennis is Geoff Dudley. Email: see www.britsoc.nl/the-all-in-one-calendar/Scottish Country Dancing. Email: [email protected]

01

3130Squash 19.30

29Tennis 20.00



Dates for your Diary

You’re sure to have a truly amazing night in true British style.

As our theme suggests, show your patriotic side and add a hint of Red,

White or Blue to our black tie dress code. (Fab prize for the best dressed

couple). The evening starts at 6:30pm with a red carpet treatment and

colourful cocktail reception followed by a sumptuous ‘Great British

Dinner’ by a British Michelin-starred chef in the unique St. Olaf’s Chapel

with fabulous live entertainment. To help raise money for the Red

Cross and Cliniclowns charities, a silent charity auction and raffle will

be held during the course of the evening. Then we’ll have you

dancing the night away with our resident Brit Pop DJ.

More exciting details to follow nearer the event…

eTickets go on sale on line from Oct 1, 2013.

Details on www.britsoc.nl Tickets are €105 for Britsoc members and €125 for non-members

Who let Gordon Brown

on the dance floor?

Got any plans for

bonfire night, dude?

Dude, You look more like a Father

Christmas

BONFIRE NIGHT SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2013

Yeah, dude,I’m thinking

of entering the Guy Fawkes Competition

BONFIRE NIGHT SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2013

eTickets go on sale from Oct 1, 2013

www.britsocshop.nl

Sean Jansen

No attendance list or Britsoc membership required—so just show up!

http://www.britsoc.nl

Social Friday@The Tara

Friday 11th Oct, 2013

http://www.thetara.com/nld/

| From 21:00

This venue is a well known bar amongst the expats. This Irish bar has an interesting variation of rooms mixing from a trendy modern

bar to the classic leather armchair corners and fireplaces. We will meet in the far end of the pub where the rear/ back bar area is exiting to the Nes backstreet

entrance. Look out for us near the bar wearing a bright pink scarf.Social Fridays is a great opportunity to meet new people or catch up with

friends - all welcome. No attendance list, so just show up!

Venue: Rokin 85-89, 1012KL AmsterdamTrams: 4,9,14,16,24 and 25 tramstop Rokin.Contact: Tracey Taylor Email: [email protected]

|events/

From 21:00

How long have you been living in Holland?I came to Amsterdam in March 1995 (I had to look that up). I had spent the previous 10 years working on computer projects in various locations in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, and I assumed that I would only be here for a year or two.How long have you been a member of BritSoc?I joined the British Society about a year later; pre internet, it wasn’t so easy to find. The first event I went to was a Pub Night at O’Donnell’s Irish bar, and I talked to everyone in the building before the first British Society members came along.What is BritSoc to you? Pre internet, for any nationality moving here who could speak English, the British Society, with its monthly “what’s on” magazine, was the only show in town. It was also a boom time for the Society. For many of us, it was the center of our social lives and I was involved with the majority of its activities. Nowadays, my wife (she maybe reading this) and family are of course more central. In what ways has BritSoc changed since you first joined? With the rise of the internet, and the fall in relocations to Amsterdam, British Society has necessarily changed from being so all encompassing, and focuses more on what it does the best.Which BritSoc event do you enjoy the most?I have not missed a Christmas Ball or Bonfire Night since I have been here. This year, I rediscovered Burn’s Night and my wife and I had so much fun. You’ve been running the BritSoc squash now for many years; what makes it such a great BritSoc activity?

I have become synonymous with British Society Squash, though it had existed for many years before I joined. It’s always been a good combination of sport and social, and we often spend as long eating and chatting in the bar afterwards, as we do playing. If a new member or non-member wanted to come to squash, how does it work?Anyone who wants to play can just come along and join in. Non-members pay a modest additional 2 euros per evening.Would you change anything about the organization of squash night? The evening just about runs itself, but if I could only find a way of winning a few more games …As well BritSoc squash, you also organized Shake-speare’s birthday dinner. This took place for the last time at Ma Brown’s in Haarlem as the owner has now retired. Is there a new venue already in mind for next year? And will you be getting in-volved?Owner Mike and the Ma Brown’s restaurant were central to the Shakespeare’s evening. What comes next does depend on finding the right venue (I am open to suggestions). I do have a few ideas, and commemorating next year’s centennial of the outbreak of the First World War is one of them. If I were a newcomer to Amsterdam, what would you tell me about BritSoc?The Society has a wide range of activities, and you should try them all - and then you should come along and join squash. You are also a stand-up comedian. How did you get into that?It’s true that I have made it to the “wannabe” stand-

A funny thing happened to me on my way to squash...

Interview with BritSoc Comedian and Squash Organiser, Paul Huxley

up comedy circuit. It’s partly a natural extension to what I already do (say, public speaking with Toastmasters) and partly that everyone I know has already heard all my jokes. What qualities do you need to be a good standup?You are asking me this?What about introducing a BritSoc stand up night? Good idea?When I read this question, I literally slapped my head with a “why didn’t I think of that” gesture. Coming soon – anyone wish to join me?

A bit of personal stuff about you….September is my tenth wedding anniversary (the traditional wedding gift is tin, Marta, and traditions are important). I have two young children, a “full of life” boy aged 6, and a near-teen girl almost 9, so no thought of retirement. My wife admires how I have no talent for any of my hobbies, but then again, I don’t have any other choices. We live in small house in the “burbs”; Holland just works, the Dutch don’t seem to.

You didn’t ask me about the Elvis Presley wig I mentioned in the last Britsoc interview I gave, twelve or so years ago. Sadly, that’s another part of my life well and truly over.

Thanks Paul, did did hear the one about...

Alison Smith

Squash takes place at Amstelpark Sports Centre in the Amsterdamse Bos, Koenenkade 8, Amsterdam from 19:30 to 21.00 every Tuesday. Cost is € 10 for members with a minimum of 3 games. Non- mem-bers are welcome but pay an extra € 2. After squash players may make use of the small swimming pool and most stay for a drink or a bite to eat in the res-taurant/bar.

P.S. Paul is serious about wanting to organize a stand-up comedy night and is looking for people who are willing to have a go. If it appeals please contact him on [email protected].

Paul’s quick fire round…Marmite Yes/Yuck ? Yes!Beatles or Rolling Stones? BeatlesCat person or dog person? Neither. I hate pets!Sports Car/ Motorbike ? MotorbikeFootball / Rugby? FootballDavid Cassidy / Donny Osmond? Donny Osmond, if I HAVE to choose oneBar drink - Beer / Wine? BeerWeather - Sun / Snow? SunHoliday - Relax / Adventure? Adventure2 courses - Starter / Dessert? StarteriPhone / Samsung ? iPhoneNewman / Redford ? NewmanAngie / Jen? JenniferSorbet / Ice Cream ? Ice CreamNadal / Federer ? FedererCall / Text ? TextWii / X-box ? PC, but don’t really game muchComedy / Action ? ComedyClassical / Country ? CountryOpera / Ballet ? Opera

interview of the month/

A number of British Society members have agreed to go on a ski vacation in Ischgl in Austria in 2014.

The dates are:

February 15th until the 22nd, 2014.

For further information:

Look out in ZINE and on the Britsoc website

Or if you want to sign up earlier, please contact:

Arie v. H. den Breems

Email: [email protected]

BritSoc Ski Trip Announcement

At ISA, we believe that great facilities can set the stage for great learning. ISA is housed in a space specially designed for international education. And inspiration.

Our facilities include a four-floor library/media center, a 400-seat theatre, science labs and specialist studios for music, art, and drama. More than 400 computers are joined in a school-wide, online network. Students work with laptops and iPads in the classroom. Two state-of-the-art gyms, discovery oriented playgrounds and adjacent playing fields are large, well equipped and secure.

ISA’s campus is not a luxury. It’s where ideas are born.

Sportlaan 45 - 1185 TB Amstelveen - The Netherlands - Tel. +31 20 347 1111 - www.isa.nl

Exciting and developing young minds

ISA campus, main entrance

Setting the stage.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

ISA_SettingTheStage_135x95.pdf 1 2/21/13 10:25 AM

Taste Life!Kingsalmarkt, the world-famous foodstore!We are known for our wide range of products from countries all over the world. ‘Taste life’ is what we call that. Visit us for your favourite American cornfl akes, brownies and soups, British jams and honey, Mexican tortillas, Spanish tapas and ham, Italian coffee and pasta and French cheese. Of course you can pick up the rest of your groceries too.

Rembrandtweg 621, 1181 GV Amstelveen-noord, tel. 020 643 37 51 www.kingsalmarkt.nl [email protected] reached by car (free parking) and public transport (5 or 51 tram to Kronenburg)Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9 am – 6 pm Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm

Internationally FocusedA vibrant international outlook on education, combining structure with creativity within a curriculum with strong Internationally British foundations.

Internationally Britishwww.britishschool.nl

Orteliusstraat 362hs, 1056 PV AMSTERDAMTel: 020 6275025 / 06 27305428 E-mail: [email protected]

Professional assistance with all your printing demands

Member of The British Society of Amsterdam

40 years of graphic experienceAll graphic and printing services

Internationally FocusedA vibrant international outlook on education, combining structure with creativity within a curriculum with strong Internationally British foundations.

Internationally Britishwww.britishschool.nl

British LanguageTraining Centre

English & Dutch CoursesTeaching English (TEFL)

www.bltc.nlTel. 020 622 3634

bltc

Britsoc food correspondent Nick Nugent

Reporting fromthe four corners

of the Amsterdam kitchen

New Food Fair, Russian Food Festival, Restaurant Pont 13

NICK’S NOSH

Britsoc food correspondent Nick Nugent

Reporting fromthe four corners

of the Amsterdam kitchen

New Food Fair, Russian Food Festival, Restaurant Pont 13

You always know when Autumn is approaching as the TV schedule starts

to pander to those dark cold nights where you don’t feel like going out and you just want to curl up in front of the TV with some warming food and a nice glass of something. In my house, when Strictly Come Dancing begins, this normally marks the onset of Autumn and as it happened this weekend coincided with the show which reveals which celebrities are paired with which professional dancer. Another mark of the Autumn calendar is when restaurants show off their wares so they can try to entice you out on one of those cold, dark nights. The New Food Fair, held annually on the first Saturday in September, is normally one such event and is designed to give you a taste of what each restaurant in the area has to offer. Actually this weekend I had the choice of also heading over to an eel smoking championship (http://www.nkpalingroken.nl/) also held annually on the same weekend in Kortenhoef, which is near Hilversum, but I elected to stay closer to home. When you decide to go to these food fairs you have to make a decision whether to look at all the stands then pick one big thing or choose to graze. At the New Food Fair there were many stalls offering what looked like mouth watering burgers but they were huge and that would be the end of the report right there. In the interests of being able to tell you more about what is on offer, I therefore chose to graze, taking it nice and slowly and trying a number of different stalls.This year the weather was quite good if a little cold, compared to last year which was really warm. I think that may have kept attendance down a little. I think there was about half the amount of people who attended last year. Also Haarlemmerdijk had much less in the way of stalls as compared to last year. Here’s a selection of what I saw and ate.De Blauwe Druif is one of those typical traditional Amsterdam bars which normally offer basic foods and so I was delighted to see that they had decided to go with some Spanish tapas-style bites called pinxtos. There was a choice of 8 different types. We chose to try 4 of them plus a scroppino which is an Italian iced lemon flavored drink, which was a slightly odd accompaniment I know, but that is what they were offering. We tried the salmon tartar, Vietmanese chicken, grilled courgette and the taleggio with truffle flavoured honey. All of

New Food Fair - Haarlemmerstraat/Haarlemmerdijk 7th Sept, 2013these had great flavour. The scroppino however did not really accompany very well, although it was great in its own right. There were many stalls offering oysters such as Bistro Neuf (http://www.bistrotneuf.nl/index.php) & Stout (http://www.restaurantstout.nl/index.php?page=home-2) which looked really good but I did not try them. Burgers and sausages from the grill were also a feature which were available from the stalls around West Indisch House, but these were huge and so I avoided these. Also available were croquetten from Holtkamp (http://www.patisserieholtkamp.nl/) which I was told are the best available. I tried the shrimp version which was very tasty but I thought it lacked the key ingredient, being mostly mashed potato.I tried the loempias from Thai & Co (http://www.thaienco.nl/) last year, but since it is one of my regular Thai restaurants I went for the vegetarian version from the Snow Lion (http://snowlionrestaurant.webklik.nl/page/restaurant-snow-lion) which were served with chilli sauce. These were great and the chilli sauce to go with them was very spicy.The Haarlemmerdijk end of the festival was very disappointing this year with many of the food outlets not participating. One stall which I did come across which was quite unusual was Bloempie (http://www.bloempie.com/cms/) who have developed a range of recipes which are served in a bread cup, the idea being that you can eat the container. They were advertising a chowder which I thought would have worked perfectly, but unfortunately they were no longer using this recipe. I tried the lamb which was sort of Moroccan in style, spiced, slightly sweet with a hint of apricot. The filling was quite ok, even though I am not too fond of Moroccan cuisine, but the bread container was quite dry and dense. I think they should take a look at their bread recipe. If you want to try this for yourself they can be found at the Pure Markt which is held twice monthly at Frankendael or Amstel Park (http://www.puremarkt.nl/index.html)We ended in a relatively new cake shop Petit Gateau (http://www.petitgateau.nl/) which sell mini patisseries. They had virtually sold out by the time we arrived and so all we could get were some Madeleines and chocolate chip cookies. The Madeleines were ok if a little too delicately flavoured for my taste and a bit dry which could have been from sitting there for a while. The cookies were really great though. I will definitely be back to try some of their other patisserie.

By Nick Nugent

http://www.caulils.com/newfoodfair/index.

On a visit to the Netherlands in 2009, Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement with the Dutch

government to mark the 400th anniversary of relations between the two, and agreed that the year 2013 was to be declared the year of friendship. To mark this occasion there are a number of events including the Russian food festival, which took place on Museumplein. The food fair was arranged in 3 parts: the enormous press pavilion, which seemed completely disproportionate to the size of the rest of the event, a row of around 8 stalls selling regional produce from Bashkortostan to Tatarstan and the Russian Café selling a range of hot and cold produce. I am very lucky that as part of my work I have been to Moscow and Krasnoyarsk on business on a few occasions so I am pretty familiar with Russian food. Probably most of you would immediately think of borscht, the beetroot soup, or potato salad when you think of Russian food. However through my travels in Russia I have been exposed to much more and I was hopeful to find some of it at this event. Each time I have been to Russia, hospitality has been great and whenever you go for a meal the food is very plentiful and accompanied by as much vodka as you can manage. Russian food has evolved to deal with large volumes of accompanying vodka and with being stored for long periods in the winter, so it is often cured, dried or smoked. It also means the flavours are normally very strong to cut through the vodka. There was plenty of this type of produce on display on the regional stands. There were tasting morsels on each stand which ranged from smoked fish to dried horse meat. The best I thought was the dried deer which could be found on the The Nenets stall and which tasted somewhat like biltong from South Africa.I was really hoping that there would be Pelmeni available, which is one of the foods I remember fondly from my travels in Russia. Pelmeni is similar to tortellini/ravioli and can similarly have a range of fillings and is normally served with sour cream. The best I

Russian Food Festival - Museumplein 13-15 Sept 2013ever tasted in Russia was filled with a mixture of 3 meats: horse, lamb and beef. I was delighted that they did have Pelmeni available which I got a rather decent portion of for only 3 euros, but unfortunately they had run out of sour cream. The dough was rather thick on these which made them feel home- made and the filling was tasty enough, although I really wanted some sour cream. I also tried the meat filled belini which was sweet but got a bit boring after a couple of bites. I also tried the chak-chak which is a pastry a bit like a load of wotsit-shaped, deep-fried, doughnut batter pieces, joined together with some gold icing balls! This thing was really not to my taste.If, after this review, you would be interested in trying some Russian cuisine you will struggle to find something as there is, as far as I can see, no Russian restaurant in Amsterdam. The nearest I have found is the Hermitage restaurant Neva (http://www.neva.nl/nl) which does Russian inspired French cuisine and probably the closest which is a Polish restaurant called Polonia (http://www.polonia-restaurant.com/) both of which I have not tried so I cannot give my opinion. The Polish version of Pelmeni is Pierogi if you want to try it. If you have been to either of these restaurants or know of a Russian Restaurant and can let me know about either, I would be interested in your opinion). Contact: [email protected]

By Nick Nugent

http://www.facebook.com/russianfoodfestival

I very much like to take part in pub quizzes as I am pretty

good at trivia and sometimes it pays off when you win. I have been holding on to a voucher for Pont 13, which I had won nearly a year ago and it was almost about to run out. Unfortunately we had not been able to get the rest of that winning team together so I decided to use the voucher before it ran out and compensate the rest of the team later.

Pont 13 is an old IJ ferry which is now harboured in Haparandam and converted into a restaurant. The time I visited was late August so bright sunshine and 25C which made it seem a very nice setting, although I could imagine on a cold, rainy October day it not seeming so nice. Since the weather was so good I could sit outside overlooking the harbour, with great views across the IJ.The lunch menu (and dinner for that matter) is a very simple affair with a couple of platters, fish and meat, some sandwiches and a few main courses. I decided on the half lobster and my companion the fish platter. The half of lobster came with cream and caviar sauce, sprig of lettuce and roasted tomato which was all very tasty. The fish platter was great too and consisted of smoked salmon, mackerel, crab claw, razor clam, regular clam and herring. We were both satisfied by the flavour but the volume was not enough to keep away the hunger pangs.

Restaurant Pont 13 The voucher meant we could upgrade our wine choice and we chose the Sancerre, 2011 which was 35.00 euros. It was cold and crisp, perfect to go with our fish.As we were still hungry and we were enjoying a lazy lunch we also ordered the meat platter. The platter consisted of beenham which was really good, various salami’s and prosciutto. This was all very nice except we were attacked by wasps which meant we ate the thing at breakneck speed while wafting the wasps away. Not ideal for a lazy lunch.The fact we had chosen a lazy lunch and were in that mindset, I can say that the service was extremely relaxed. If I was in a bit more of a hurry I would have called the service bad for the whole 11 people who were there for lunch! As it was, with a 25C day in the sunshine and a nice bottle of Sancerre I will stick with ‘relaxed’ as a description of the service.The boat obviously dominates the design of the restaurant and they have tried to stay true to this theme with rustic iron and wooden tables outside and sculpted wood and metal chairs. Inside looked similar. The ambient chillout music piped in I guess helped with the very relaxed atmosphere, but maybe also contributed to the speed of service.For me this restaurant is expensive for what we got but the food was flavoursome if not enough of it. It’s worth a try, but go in a relaxed mood and be prepared to have something else afterwards to fill you up! Contact: [email protected]

***

http://www.pont13.nl/Home.html

***

Karen Vivers

Piccalilli

food glorious/

food glorious/

Karen Vivers, originally from Scotland, has lived here in Amsterdam since 1997, and

has set up the Cooking Coach to help inspire people to get back into the kitchen. The basis of the cooking lessons are easy, tasty, healthy recipes. Each course starts with a free introduction session, to make sure that you only cook what you like to eat. As well as cooking lessons, Karen offers Culinary Tours in Amsterdam, is a passionate Food Blogger and works freelance as a

Culinary Consultant, specialising in small and medium businesses, helping them get started, grow and deal with commercial challenges.

PiccalilliI can’t help myself. It happens every year, always around this time. I get the almost uncontrollable urge to preserve. You should see my cupboards already. The nights have barely started drawing in and I have made copious amounts of my plum jam (last year’s preserve recipe), my tomato and chilli jam, which is a staple that I make year round (drop me an email if you would like the recipe). After strolling along the Albert Cuyp Market a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t resist buying up three kilo’s of strawberries, and so I now have jars and jars of sweet summer sunshine preserved in the form of strawberry jam. My latest addition to the collection is a massive batch of piccalilli which was produced a couple of days ago. My cupboard shelves are protesting under the weight.

My Piccalilli making started with the news, I think it was at the beginning of the year, that the well-known company, Crosse and Blackwell had decided to sell the recipe for Branston Pickle to a Japanese food production company. Well, all of a sudden I felt very British, (which, as a true Scot, I don’t often feel) and proud of our food heritage. Plus I was a bit disappointed in the fact that we had sold, in my opinion, a national treasure. I mean, I don’t see the French or Italians selling their food secrets! So, I did the only thing I could, I hit the recipe books.

My plan was to find a recipe for Branston Pickle which I could re-create, and this would be my little rebellion, my personal snub to the corporate world who decided it would be a good idea to sell off a childhood memory.

I scoured the books and the internet and I did find recipes for Branston Pickle, but, as I read them, I wasn’t convinced by the well-meaning recipe authors’ ingredient lists. I couldn’t decide what was missing in their creations, but, I thought that they would turn out a poor imitation. During my search I also came across lots of recipes for Piccalilli, which, on reading, made me think that I would much rather go down this recipe route than the Branston version.

And so it came about, my version of Piccalilli. This recipe is something that you can really make your own. Try my version once, and from there you can make it more sour, sweet, spicy, you can really play around.

Now, I have a dilemma. I sit here writing about my Piccalilli, there are lots of jars in the cupboard, which I know will taste so much better if I leave them for a couple of weeks to mature, but… I have just come back from Scotland with a rather large piece of Scottish mature cheddar, and it’s almost lunchtime, and I am getting pretty peckish…….

Preparation Time: 2 to 2.5 hours

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Makes about 1.5 to 2 litres Piccalilli

The Vegetables1 x medium sized cauliflower, broken into small florets2 x red onions chopped finely 2 x medium sized carrots, chopped finely 1 x cucumber, seeds removed, chopped finely 2 x red chilli’s, chopped finely 4 x tbsp of sea salt

The Sauce2 x tbsp turmeric2 x tbsp cumin powder1 x tbsp coriander powder3 x garlic cloves, chopped finely½ tsp nutmeg2 x heaped tsp English Mustard2 x tsp mustard Powder250ml white wine vinegar2 x tbsp plain flour3 x tsp sea salt6 x tsp sugar (caster)

Method1. Place the vegetables and salt in a bowl and

cover them with cold water. Soak for 1 to 2 hours. Then drain and rinse.

2. Make the sauce when you have soaked and drained the veggies.

3. For the sauce, heat the oil in a large enough pan to take all the ingredients and the vegetables with room to stir around. The pan should have a tight fitting lid.

4. When the oil is warm, add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, garlic, nutmeg and mustard. Stir around for a minute or so until the spices are warmed through and the garlic is cooked a little.

5. On a medium heat add the mustard, flour, salt, vinegar and sugar. Keep mixing to melt the sugar.

food glorious/Taste your sauce to check the balance of flavour – sweet and sour and the level of salt. At this stage it should taste very strong, don’t forget it has to cover all those vegetables. You are just checking here for the balance of flavour.

6. Pour the drained and rinsed vegetables into your sauce. Stir around until everything is covered in the thick sauce. Cover with your lid and turn to a low/medium heat. Leave to sweat for about 7 to 10 minutes – no longer so that the vegetables remain crunchy.

7. Check again for seasoning, then spoon into sterilized jars, leave for about 3 weeks to settle and for the flavour to mature and develop. You can store and use for up to six months.

Tips and VariationsTry with other vegetables like broccoli, other types of onions (not spring onions), chop up some green beans into small pieces, etc.

I love to eat this with strong cheeses or cold meats. You can also serve it as a side dish with curry.If you don’t have mustard powder just add some more English mustard.

Karen’sCOOKING BOOK“Love Food, Live Healthy” is now available on Amazon.

Learn How to Cook the Healthy, Tasty Meals you WANT to Eat!Karen has recently published her first book ‘Love Food, Live Healthy’ ,which is ideal if you want to eat more consciously or lose weight without compromising on flavour or your enjoyment of food. A very achievable, common sense approach to healthy eating and cooking. With over 150 no-fuss, contemporary recipes suitable for cooks of all skill levels. As well as the recipes in the book showing you what to eat, there is lots of

The Cooking Coach Love Food, Live Healthy

www.thecookingcoach.eu

Mobile : 06 1424 0009Email: [email protected]

information about how to eat to stay healthy.This book started life as a collection of recipes used by Karen to lose over 40kgs. Karen was diagnosed with a Binge Eating Disorder (B.E.D ) in 2003 and had lost and gained 100’s of kgs over her teenage and adult life. Karen realized that she had to face her fear (and her great love) – food - and take a whole new approach. This became the start of her successful and sustainable weight loss and the inspiration for her business “The Cooking Coach”.The book can also be downloaded to kindle and other E-readers and is compatible with tablets and smartphones as well as laptops and PCs.

Golio: Crustless Zucchini Pie

A large part of the summers of my first teenage years were spent at my Dad’s village, Nea Vissa, in the very North of Greece.

My grandparents had a huge yard full of fruit trees and, of course, as every house in these villages, a vegetable garden. So, along with a flood of apricots, mulberries and cherries in the yard, came a flood of zucchini in the vegetable garden. Some of them were made stuffed, others dipped in batter and fried, and a large part of them would become “golio”, a traditional pie which, as I later discovered, can be found in different variations all over Greece –I guess many overwhelmed souls were looking for a way to use their zucchini!

“Golio”, in the local dialect, means naked. This pie is “naked” because no dough or filo pastry is used for its preparation. What you basically prepare is a batter, the main ingredient of which is shredded zucchini. It goes without saying that the shredded zucchini was produced with the help of a coarse grater – no food processors to speed up the process – my nightmare as a teenager. I loved “golio” and would be willing to help prepare it, however, I found the grating part absolutely boring; plus, I had to be careful not to accidentally grate my fingers. I didn’t

always succeed, so I guess that the “golio” I made back then wasn’t exactly vegetarian…The other tedious part was draining the shredded zucchini. Like cucumber, once zucchini is cut, and even more when it’s shredded, it starts releasing a great amount of the water it contains. So, in order for the batter to not become watery, you have to take small handfuls of the shredded zucchini and squeeze it as hard as possible, to get rid of as much liquid as possible. You can imagine how interesting the process is to a child or a teenager.

Caterina Tzoridou moved from

Thessaloniki to Amsterdam in 2008.

She worked as a translator, subtitler

and interpreter in Greece, as well

as during her first years here. She is

also a published children’s author:

nine of her stories have already

been published in Greece.

“

food glorious/But once the “golio” went into the oven and would start to bake, the smell would make the effort worthwhile. And once it came out of the oven, we would count the minutes for it to cool off (it’s eaten warm or cold, never hot), before starting to devour it. We would usually eat it on its own, with no bread or salad, but it goes perfectly well with tzatziki, feta cheese or Greek salad. So… here’s another way to make something interesting out of zucchini…

Ingredients:3 zucchini250 gr feta cheese1 cup milk1 tsp baking powder2 tbsp dill (optional)Olive oil (for the baking tray)1 baking tray 25X35cm1 tsp salt1 cup flour2 eggs pepper to taste (optional)¼ cup flour (for the baking tray)

How:- Coarsely grate the zucchini, put them in a colander, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and let sit for 15

minutes.- Grease and flour a 28X38cm baking tray.- Squeeze as much water as possible from the grated zucchini in the colander. Then, take small handfuls of it and squeeze very well, in order to drain as much of the remaining water as pos-sible. Put the drained zucchini in a large bowl.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.Crumble the feta over the zucchini, then add the eggs (slightly beaten), the milk, flour, baking powder, pepper (if you are using it) and the dill.

You will end up with a thick batter, which you’ll pour in the baking tray. Your layer will be fairly thin (less than a couple of cm tall), and it’ll become even thinner while baking. This is exactly what you want: two layers of golden crust, with a thin layer of zucchini in-between.

With a spatula, make the surface as smooth as possible, and put the pie in the oven.

Bake for around 50 minutes or slightly longer if necessary, until a golden crust forms.

Enjoy warm (not too hot) or cold, with Greek salad, tzatziki, yogurt or feta cheese, or even in a tzatziki-lined sandwich. You can freeze it for up to 3 months, but from what I’ve seen, it’s a bit addictive, so it probably won’t live long, once out of the oven!

Καλή όρεξη!

OlivityCatering

Company

Overtoom 239 1054 Amsterdam

Facebook:http://on.fb.me/15s7ZGC

“

Now open on the Overtoom, Olivity is a catering company

with Greek-Mediterranean flavors and uses olive oil as the basic

ingredient for all products.

Dave Thomas & John Richardson

poetscornerLamentconscience a bed of nailsjoy an unmarked grave

reliving yesterday’s tomorrow

dreams an unfertilised eggambitions lost in endless grey


trust a phantom pain hope pillars of tasteless salt


rage in the doldrumstears turn to sleet

green drips off the grass© Dave Thomas 2013

poetry/

Amsterdam’s Dungeon speaksMy gothic glam draws them in. I gladly relieve them of their euros for a visit to my little temple of horror. Outside my doors, waiting lads full of bravado brag to their girls. And after my garish sessions of embellished history, they tell even taller stories still.

Yet how many of them watched Birds without twitching an inch? Or enjoyed Arachnophobia and wished the eight-legged beasts were crawling over their skin? Can they hear Barber’s Adagio for Strings without recalling the commander left behind as the helicopter pulls away under enemy fire? Did the freaked out soldier in Full Metal Jacket who blew out his commander’s brains pleasantly sicken them? Or did it chillingly remind them of the real thing?

Bobbing apples and glowing pumpkins. Freddy’s smiling at your door. Trick or treat?© Dave Thomas 2013

Snappy, Snarly, StrawShe snaps at my questionI only want clarification“Pwwaaaah”, say her eyesGreen and glowering at the end of another long day of customer questionsVerdant daggers drawn for the killI am the straw on her back I can tell“Did you say eight euros?” I askA snake arrives in her voice“Yesssssssss!”I pay her and ask for the receiptShe hasn’t heard that last bit, obviously“Whaaaat Nowwwwww?” whisper her eyesReceipt?Tearing of paper and any hope of a smile“Have a nice day”, she says.Catching me off guardNow it’s my turn to wear the straw

© John Richardson 2013

Report on the Annual General Meeting, 12 Sept, 2013

Reporting live from the Britsoc AGM, 12 Sept, 2013

For those of you who didn’t make it to the AGM on September 12th, you missed a lively and positive discussion and a lovely glass of

wine, or two, afterwards. It was the first meeting chaired by our new man at the helm, Ian Cherington, and he brought the meeting to order with an authoritative air that would have made Betty Boothroyd proud.

Ian set out his vision for the society which, as he has mentioned in his blog, is to focus on growing the membership, doing the five main events well,and adding extra events, possibly with a free or heavily subsidised entrance fee to BritSoc members to give added value to the membership. With the correct sponsorship we could aim for two to three free events per year, using the networking power of Zine, which reaches 4000 mailboxes, and the increasingly popular website as a reason for sponsors to get on board.

Gillian Brooks, BritSoc Membership Secretary, reported a drop in membership in the period 2012-2013. There is a strong feeling that this was not due to the membership fee, but could have roots in the changeover to a digital bulletin plus the exodus of expats in recent years. The competitive effect of other online expat social groups was also named as a possible factor. Giving value for money for a BritSoc membership was discussed and is clearly on the Chairman’s to do list.Christmas Ball committee chairman, Nick Nugent, was present and reported the good news that the Christmas Ball organisation is on target, that tickets will go on sale from 1st October and payment will be possible by PayPal. The BritSoc Bonfire Night organisation

is also full steam ahead, the Fireworks are ordered, there will be a covered area in case of rain, and, crucially more toilets available than in previous years. We will have a stand at the Expatica Fair in October to showcase our society and a BritSoc webshop is in the pipeline. All good stuff!

Our Treasurer, William Tweddle, went through the financial report and the short version is that last financial year the Society made a small loss which has been attributed to the cancellation of the Bonfire Night event, which normally brings in funds, and the one-time investment in a new website. On the sunny side the outlook for 2013-2014 is positive as there are no more printing costs for the bulletin, the website investment is paid for and only requires maintenance, and Bonfire Night is back on!

A discussion followed on how to increase membership. The big events have a large number of non-members attending – for example about 90% of the people who come to Bonfire Night are non- members. The committee will initiate a drive to recruit on these evenings as well as introduce value for money reasons to be a BritSoc member.It only remained for our President, Mr. John Cameron-Webb, to dissolve the existing committee, propose Ian to continue as Chairman, and organise the re-election of the new committee. This was done without further ado, with one committee member standing down – Annette Garnett has vacated the position of Events Coordinator – and the position of Marketing and Promotions Coordinator was filled by Andy Symmonds.

The committee expressed their thanks to Annette for the sterling job as Events Coordinator and thanked Andy for sticking his head above the parapet to come on board. The position of Events Coordinator remains vacant for time being but the position was nibbled at by a few members present. Rather than have one person responsible for all events it was suggested that a small team of no more than four could share the role with one “coordinator” heading up the team.“

Your new committee looks like this:

Ian Cherington – Chairman

William Tweddle – Treasurer

Gillian Brooks – Membership Secretary

Kirsten Pyle – Secretary

John Richardson – Webmaster

Events Coordinator – vacant

Marketing and Promotions Coordinator - Andy Symmonds

Committee member - Anne-Marie Toolen

Committee member - Tracey Taylor

Committee Member – Mikaela Lodder

After the formalities were done it was off the Sky Bar for rather large glasses of wine and a good chat.

Alison Smith

www.britsocshop.nl

Where do I start? First go to www.britsoc.nl. Here you’ll find a link to your chosen event, let’s say Bonfire Night, on the events calendar. Each event, for which we sell tickets, will have a green button on the event calendar page that says Buy Tickets. (See example below).

Click on this button and you’ll be taken to the main page of the Britsoc Shop: www.britsocshop.nl. (Of course you can start here if you know enough about the event.)

How to order single or multiple tickets? If you scroll down on the main page of the Britsoc Shop, you’ll see the featured tickets. This is just to show you all the different variations and prices. If you want to buy one ticket, or more than one ticket type, click on any ticket and you will be presented with multiple ticket options, which you can find below the event details. Tickets for Bonfire Night and the Christmas Ball will appear from Oct 1, 2013. One person can buy as many ticket types as they want. For example, Bonfire Night tickets: 3 Britsoc member tickets, 1 non-member ticket, and 5 free under 14 tickets.

PLEASE NOTE: IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PUT INDIVIDUAL NAMES ON EACH TICKET IF THEY ARE BOUGHT BY ONE PERSON. ONLY THE BUYER’S NAME WILL BE PRESENT.

Sign in with your free account or create one. Simply choose the number and type of ticket/s you want from each group and then click the proceed button. This next page is where you can sign in or create your free account. (This is different from your Britsoc membership number). If you are not registered with us on the shop site, you’ll be asked to fill in a few essential details to open up an account with us. Don’t worry, we promise not to share your name or email with any third parties. Once you have filled in the simple form and created your account, you can easily sign in and order tickets for future events. It’s really just for future convenience. If you forget your password the next time you log in, we’ll send that to you automatically.

Completing your order and receiving your eTicket/s. You will receive a Thank You email from us when you first sign up and make an account. When you complete the order transaction, you’ll receive another email from us that states that Your Order is Complete. You’ll receive this even if you have not yet paid. Please note, however, that this is not an eTicket. This will contain your order details, and order number for your reference. You’ll still have to pay if you have not yet done so. For those who have paid, please find the ticket details below.

When do I receive my eTicket/s? When your funds clear in our bank (we’ll check this daily), then you’ll receive the eTicket. This will include a special security code, details of the event, contact details, address, time and date. Don’t worry, if you forget to print out and bring your ticket/s to show at the event entrance, we’ll have your ticket details on hand. If you experience any problems or have further questions, please email us at:

[email protected] about free tickets? Free tickets, for the Bonfire Night under 14s for example, will be sent out by email after our ticket processing system has completed the transaction. Usually within 24hrs.

How do I pay for tickets? There are three easy and convenient ways to pay for tickets with us. The most used payment gateway by expats in the Netherlands is iDeal, followed by Direct Transfer and Paypal.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL TRANSACTIONS TAKE PLACE BEHIND YOUR BANK’S SECURE FIREWALL.

For more details go to:

www.britsocshop.nl

As we enter our busiest Britsoc event season—Bonfire Night, The Great British Ball, Burn’s Night— we have decided, for your convenience, to open a new section on the website called the Britsoc

Shop, where you can purchase eTickets for major upcoming Britsoc events.

Britsoc Shop. Open for business on Oct 1, 2013

Event AlertUpcoming events of interest to the British Expat community of the Netherlands

Annual Remembrance Ceremony 323 Commonwealth and Allied War Graves, De Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats, Kruislaan 126, Amsterdam. Sat 8th November 10:30amYou are very welcome to attend this moving event. This year marks

the 68th anniversary of the end of world War two. Virtually an

entire generation has been able to live a reasonably peaceful and prosperous life in freedom, which was achieved by the sublime and heroic efforts of men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice: their unfinished lives.

The burgemeester of Amsterdam also laid a wreath last year.

Wreaths are laid by members of the armed forces, local dignitaries, children from the local British school and members of the public.

323 Commonwealth and Allied War GravesDe Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats, Kruislaan 126, Amsterdam.

Subject: BritSoc Event Alert | Annual Remembrance CeremonyFrom: "John Richardson" <[email protected]>

***British Airways exclusive***

20% off your next flight

This exclusive offer is valid to members of The British Society, their families, friends and relatives, for departures from Amsterdam and Rotterdam The Hague to all British Airways

long haul destinations.

*************************

To take up this offer, all you have to do is book your flight on ba.com before 31 October 2013 valid for travel from now until 31 March 2014, using the following promotional code1:

BAPROMO11

Booking process and all terms and conditions are available on ba.com/discount2013 or via URL: http://www.britishairways.com/en-nl/flights-and-holidays/deals/cfs-discount-2013 1 Offer is valid to NBCC members, their family and friends for bookings made directly on ba.com. The promotional code is valid for return flights only booked in World Traveller (long haul economy class) or World Traveller Plus (longhaul premium economy classs) on British Airways operated and marketed flights only.

TEA BREAK“Can you translate my love letter in to Hungarian?” Received by the British Consulate in Hungary.

Useful links: Bonfire Night & Xmas Ball : www.britsoc.nl | Others: www.cadsnewsletter.wordpress.com | www.access-nl.org

British Consulate-General: Koningslaan 44, 1075 AE Amsterdam.

www.gov.uk/world/netherlands+31(20) 676 43 43

News crumbs, tips and snippets from the British Consulate-General Amsterdam

In the summer of 2013 (June 1 to Aug 21)the British Consulate-General Amsterdam

dealt with:

15 Arrests3 Deaths2 Hospitalisations2 Mental Health Cases201 Lost/Stolen Passports33 Advice/Self-help

2

3

4

John Cameron-Webb, British Consul for the Netherlands

We welcomed the new British Ambassador to the Netherlands:

Sir Geoffrey took up his post as the British Ambassador to

the Netherlands in August 2013.Sir Geoffrey joined the FCO

in 1979 and has served in a range of Diplomatic Service appointments, including as Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary and as Ambassador to Iran. He was the UK Political Director from 2009 until the summer of 2013.

For more information on the “Know before you go” campaign...

Be sure to visit: https://www.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo

That you can now keep up to date with regular

updates from The British Embassy in The Hague, and the British Consulate General in Amsterdam on Twitter

and Facebook?

“

1

Know before you go campaign

A little blue bird told me...

That you can now keep up to date with regular updates from The British Embassy in The Hague, and the British Consulate General in Amsterdam on Twitter and Face-book?

Follow us: UK in NL: @ukinnl

Like us: www.facebook/UKinNL

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!

Certain acts or behaviour which may seem relatively harmless in the UK can carry much more serious consequences in other countries, so the FCO have been encouraging people to research their travel destinations before they leave. Many people find themselves faced with unexpected fines, or even end up being arrested all because they were unaware of the local laws and customs. The Netherlands may have a reputation for being tolerant on “soft drugs”, there are designated areaw

The summer in stats: (1 June-31 August)

The BCG Amsterdam dealt with the following cases:

We welcomed the new British Ambas-sador to the Netherlands:

Sir Geoffrey took up his post as the British Ambassador to the Nether-lands in August 2013.

Sir Geoffrey joined the FCO in 1979 and has served in a range of Diplomatic Service appointments, including as Principal Private Secre-tary to the Foreign Secretary and as Ambassador to Iran. He was the UK Political Director from 2009 until the summer of 2013.

5

6

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!

Certain acts or behaviour which may seem relatively harmless in

the UK can carry much more serious consequences in other countries, so the FCO have been encouraging people to research their travel destinations before they leave. Many people find themselves faced with unexpected fines, or even end up being arrested all because they were unaware of the local laws and customs.

The Netherlands may have a reputation for being tolerant on “soft drugs”, there are designated areas for this and therefore possession of prohibited substances can carry a prison sentence.

A Little Blue Bird Told Me

Follow us: UK in NL: @ukinnl

Like us: www.facebook/UKinNL

Sir Geoffrey AdamsKCMGBritish Ambassador to the Netherlands

And now for something completely different

Mys

terie

s of A

’dam

Two pieces of coal stranded on the dark side of the moon.

www.JohnTheCopywriter.com

zine magazine, oct 2013

Documents

arts page

colophon page

british school of amsterdam

great british ball page

britsoc calendar page

adam ghostsarticle page

adam ghosts page

events britsoc shop