Consul General Series - 荷兰驻港总领事 Annemieke Ruigrok

Hello, my name is Annemieke Ruigrok. I am Consul General of the Kingdom of Netherlands in HK.

您好,我是荷兰驻港总领事Annemieke Ruigrok。

1) Any special language to say “Hi”?

有什么特别的语言说“你好”吗?

In the Netherlands, we would say “Goedendag”, that means “Hello”, “Good Day”.

在荷兰,我们会说“ Goedendag”,意思是「你好」,「今天好」。

2) How about it is in the night time?

晚上呢?

Good evening is “Goedenavond”

晚上好,是「 Goedenavond」

3) Can you highlight or tell us more about the famous and unique festivals or events in the Netherlands?

您能否重点介绍或告诉我们有关荷兰著名和独特的节日或活动?

We celebrate our National Day which is the birthday of our King because the Netherlands is a Kingdom and our King is called Willem-Alexander. The whole country turns orange during the National Day. Orange is the national color of the Netherlands because the King is the head of the House of Orange which is his last name, so we wear orange in his honor and we celebrate King’s Day everywhere in the Netherlands. There are games for children, sing-alongs, parades and especially in Amsterdam, there is a very famous flea market, called “vrijmarkt” that everybody, especially the children are allowed to gather everything they want to get rid of and sell it. What is nice about our national day which is called “King’s Day”- “Koningsdag”, is that most of the time, it is very sunny and it is quite a spectacular festival for everybody from the Netherlands to celebrate King’s Day.

我们会庆祝国庆日,亦即是国王的生日,因为荷兰是一个王国,而我们的国王叫威廉·亚历山大。那一日,整个国家都会染上橙色。橙色是荷兰的民族色彩,因为国王是奥伦治王室首领,奥伦治的英文并写是与橙色一样,那是他的姓氏,所以我们以橙色为名,并在荷兰各地庆祝国王的生日。那天会有儿童游戏、唱歌、巡游等,尤其是在阿姆斯特丹,有一个非常有名的跳蚤市场,称为「Vrijmarkt」,这是一个自由市场,每个人,尤其是儿童,都会收集他们不要的东西卖掉。国庆节.「Koningsdag」最好的地方就是大部分时间都非常晴朗,荷兰的每个市民都会来参加庆祝国庆日。

4) Any supplement details about the culture that you want to tell us more?

在荷兰文化方面,你还有什么能补充吗?

In the end of the year in the Netherlands, it is quite orderly and it’s a bit chilly which is even more chillier than here in HK today. Days are short, and the sun is coming up late and it’s going down early. But what happens in the Netherlands, especially at Christmas time, there are a lot of decorations around a lot of parties everywhere. People have Christmas trees in their houses, like the restaurants here in HK. Most of the time, they have the time-off between Christmas and New Year, so they are doing all sorts of family things together because there is not so much time or big festivals that do family things together.

到年底的荷兰较为有秩序,而且天气有点冷,比今天的香港还要冷。 日照时间很短,太阳较迟升起,较早落下。 但在荷兰,特别是在圣诞节期间,周围到处都是装饰品,到处都有很多聚会,人们的房屋中都布置圣诞树,就好像在香港的餐馆里一样。 大多数时候,他们会在圣诞节和新年之间休息,他们一起进行各种家庭活动,甚少时间或节日会让大家一起家庭聚会的。

5) So it’s nearly for a month?

差不多一个月?

It happens, the whole month of December is kind of a festive month.

那是真的,整个12月都是喜庆月份。

6) I was told that there are some related Netherlands Cultural Association here in HK. So are there any celebrations for some special events in the year here in HK?

有人告诉我香港有一些相关的荷兰文化协会。 那么,香港今年是否有一些特别庆祝活动?

I think we have about three to four thousand Dutch people living in HK and they have their own Dutch association and come together every now and then. They celebrate King’s Day here too. Another tradition is the New Year's Dive in the Netherlands on the 1st of January. People run to the sea to swim, and in the Netherlands that's quite chilly and they also do it here in Stanley, but it’s a bit easier here because the weather is not that cold and the water is a little bit warmer.

我想大约有3到4千名居住在香港的荷兰人,他们有自己的联系,时不时会聚在一起。 他们也在这里庆祝国王日。 另一个传统是1月1日在荷兰的新年下水典礼。 人们奔赴大海去游泳,在荷兰非常寒冷,本地的荷兰人也会在赤柱游泳,但是这里会轻松一点,因为天气并不那么寒冷,水也更温暖一些。

7) It’s kind of a custom to swim in the sea?

在海里游泳是一种习俗吗?

It happens a lot in the Netherlands. In Summer, you can swim in the sea at various parts of the coast of Netherlands, we have beautiful Stanley beaches where you can go.

在荷兰经常发生这种事情,在夏天,您可以在荷兰各个海岸地方游泳,我们也有美丽的海滩可以去。

8) So how long has the Consul General been here in HK?

那么总领事到香港来多久了?

I have been here in three and a half years now.

我来这里已经三年半了。

9) How do you feel about HK?

您对香港感觉如何?

I really enjoy my time in HK. HK is a very diverse city, where a lot of things are happening. And you have the entertainment area in central and other parts of HK Island, and then there are times that you can go hiking. It’s easy to go from hustle-and-bustle of the central districts within 10 minutes. I am very partial to dim sum which is not good for me, but I really love the good Dim Sum.

我非常喜欢在香港度过的时光,香港是一个非常多元化的城市,时刻在变。 而且在中环和港岛区的其他地方都有娱乐区,然后有时候您可以去远足。 您可以从喧嚣的市中心,10分钟之内轻松到达郊区。 我很喜欢点心,对我身体不好,但是我真的很喜欢点心。

10) I saw so many CGs here in HK , and they love HK because they love nature and could easily go to the mountain or go to see the sea so easily. It is really accessible to nature. They like the scenery and the accessibility to go and get along with nature here in HK. That was one of the biggest reasons they liked it here.

我在香港见过这么多的总领事,他们会爱上香港都是因为他们热爱大自然,很容易就能走到山上或去看海,真的很容易接触大自然,就像他们喜欢风景一样 以及与香港自然风光共融的便利。 这是他们喜欢这里的最大原因之一。

What I love about HK is that everything is very close, as you said it’s very accessible. Within 10 minutes, you are on the mountain, having a beautiful view in HK and then, you are back here in Central district, doing business and having your affairs, being on and so. That’s lovely.

我喜欢香港,因为一切都是紧密连接,正如您所说的那样,交通十分便利。 在十分钟之内,您就在山上,在香港享有美丽的景色,然后您又可以快速回到中环,在这里做生意等等。

11) Any special cuisine you like here in HK?

您喜欢香港特色美食吗?

Well, as I said, I really like the Dim Sum.

好吧,正如我所说,我真的很喜欢点心。

12) What kind of Dim Sum, like Cha Siu Bao or Cheung Fan?

什么样的点心,如叉烧包或肠粉?

I must say the barbecue pork, it’s not really the dim sum, but is always in the part of the menu.

我必须说我最爱叉烧,虽不是点心,但却是菜单上常见的。

13) What’s the national flower of the Netherlands?

荷兰的国花是什么?

Well, I think that our national flower that you can consider, is the Tulip.

我们的国花是郁金香。

14) It seems the same as Turkey. Turkey is Tulip too and I was told that it is a significant flower they love.

看起来像土耳其。 有人告诉我,土耳其也是郁金香,这是他们喜欢的一朵重要的花。

I think the Dutch discovered the Tulip around the 16th century in Persia. They were already trading a lot of them. We are traders now and we are trading them. When they visited the Ottoman Empire, they discovered Tulip, originally from Persia, they took it back to the Netherlands, and over the centuries, that the Netherlands had become the biggest global major producers of Tulips all around. Therefore it is also why I said the Tulip Garden is very famous with all sorts of people, both in the Netherlands and abroad.

我认为是荷兰人大约在16世纪在波斯发现了郁金香,他们已经在交易很多郁金香。 当他们到访鄂图曼帝国时,他们发现了原本来自波斯的郁金香,并将其带回荷兰,并且在过去的几个世纪中,荷兰已成为全球最大的郁金香主要生产国,因此这也造就成郁金香花园在荷兰国内外都非常有名。

15) So is there any big flower show or event every year in the Netherlands?

那么荷兰每年都有大型的花展或活动吗?

As I said apart from the Flower Show, there are in some of the smaller villages, in the area where the Tulips are being grown, there are parades where we have floats in order to go through the street and they are all decorated with Tulips, showing different aspect of history of the village or famous people.

正如我所说的,除了花卉展览外,在一些较小的村庄中,还有郁金香种植区,在巡游队伍中,我们有花车可以穿过街道,并且都装饰着郁金香, 显示村庄或名人历史。

16) So finally, can CG teach us some language of the Netherlands, like how to say greetings or any special slangs?

所以最后,总领事可以教我们一些荷兰的语言,比如说问候或任何俚语吗?

Greetings are not very easy for foreigners to pronounce most of the time, if you want to say “Good Morning”, its “Goedemorgen”, “Good evening”, “Goedenavond”, if you are saying goodbye to people, you can say “Tot Ziens”, see you later, but you can also say “Doei”, that is really slang.

对于外国人来说,大多数时候打招呼并不容易,如果您想说「早安」就是「 Goedemorgen」,「晚安」就是「Goedenavond」,如果您要向人们说再见,您可以说「Tot Ziens」,待会儿见,但您也可以说“ Doei”,那是俚语。

There is of course one very famous Dutch words which lots of foreigners think it doesn’t exist in other language, that is the word “Gezellig” , most English would be translated into cozy, but it’s more than cozy, “Gezellig” is mean you are at ease, that you are having fun with your friends, family, having tea or dinner together, in your chatting and just feeling very much comfortable, so that’s for the name “Gezellig”.

当然我们有一个非常著名的荷兰语单词,许多外国人认为它不会出现在其他语言中的,就是「Gezellig」一词,大多数英语会被翻译成「cozy」,但不仅仅是「舒适」,「 Gezellig」是指您很自在,在与朋友、家人聊天时,一起喝茶或晚餐时,感觉非常自在,所以这个单词叫「Gezellig」。