We met Sharon, 24, on a somewhat overcrowded truck [see above] in the Guatemalan countryside. We then clambered through underground water caves, equipped with only a candle to guide the way, adventure ensued. When Sharon is not moonlighting as Lara Croft, she is a kindergarten teacher in her Native Netherlands. We thought we would have a chat with her and see whats going on with her...
Where exactly are you from?
I'm from Lelystad, the capital of the Provence Flevoland, in Holland which was dried land 100 years ago, so it's a quite new town, no old houses or buildings like what you can find in Amsterdam for example.
What do you do for work?
I've got 3 parttime jobs: I am a School teacher (kindergarten); I work in a bistro and I work with old people.
How important is it to be multi-lingual coming from Holland?
Holland isn't actually a multi lingual country (although they do speak Fries up in the north). Although the Netherlands is multicultural, we have a lot of different cultures, languages from all over the world (Morroco, Turkey, Suriname,South America, Africa etc..) In my work as a schoolteacher I can see that kids from another origin who haven't been to nursery school or crèche before they go to kindergarten and stayed at grandparents instead (who don't speak the Dutch language at home) have big trouble to learn the language when they need to go to school.
What do you think makes it unique to be a young person living in the Netherlands?
I think young people can have influence and be inspiring for new ideas for example in politics, fashion, culture and music.
What brands do you like/dislike?
I actually don't have favorite brands, but if I have to choose it's DEPT (Dutch clothing brand ) and Samsung. Here in Holland we have a store named HEMA, here you can find anything, lovely and it's cheap!
I dislike brands who are making too much commercials (like Coca Cola) or too big marks on clothing like Nike, Puma etc.. It's not necessary to show the brand all the time that big.
What is very popular in the Netherlands in fashion?
Vintage and secondhand clothing are popular at the moment, jeans are always doing good, and the style of clothes they sell at Jack & Jones and H&M are good.
What music are you listening to?
My favorite music is a different kind of Latin and Brazilian music like samba, bossa nova, reggae, salsa, Manu Chao, etc. I love to listen to indie/ folk, balkan/world, techno/minimal too. At the moment I love to listen Angus & Julia Stone, Selah Sue and so on...
I don't like Dutch music, it's horrible! Marco Borsato is the best Dutch singer though, Dutch Pop, he makes fantastic songs.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time I play the violin, (in a Latin band too) travelling, scuba diving, learning Spanish, meeting friends, receiving Couchsurfers, reading books, vintage shopping (on Ebay too) dancing salsa, watching travel programs and movies.
So I never sit still :)
How would you describe your style? In fashion and In general attitude also?
In fashion in general it's vintage,colourful/hippie-like but actually it depends on my mood, if I want to dress like a rockchick or a gypsy I do it like that.
I'm easy going ,not complicated, something I wished to see more in other people here in Holland instead of always being in a rush or complaining all the time.
Do you think a lot of culture is imported into the Netherlands? What cultural things are specifically Dutch?
I'm quite sure of that, like I said Holland is a multicultural country and each branch gets inspired by these cultures for example in restaurants, fashion and furniture, even in music.
I believe you can find more culture from around the world than something that is supposed to be typically Dutch. What is supposed to be Dutch is in the past, you just can find it in tourist shops, the population doesn't wear or use that kind of stuff anymore in daily life.
But what you can find everywhere is the raw herring to eat with slices of onions, stroopwafels (kind of cookies) our great cheese of course! The fields with cows,tulips and windmills.
People in general likes a well kept garden and a good interior, doing a sport, eating at 6 o'clock.
Ice skating is a popular thing to do, and Sinterklaas is even better than Christmas!
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