Just a week before I was due to return to Australia, I took a flight from London to Amsterdam to spend a week in the Netherlands. Having decided to go with a budget airline, I was able to enjoy the turbulence a little more than usual, as I pondered the reliability of the tin can with wings that was carrying me ten kilometres above the North Sea.

Before I left, I thought I might entertain the staff of Luton Airport with some good natured humour when I told the clerk checking in my luggage that I was not carrying anything dangerous... oh, besides the bomb, of course. I was a little surprised to find that she did not see the joke and instead politely requested that I go and have my bags searched.

I had the rest of the day to consider the lack of humour evident in the Luton Airport staff as I flew to Amsterdam, then caught a train taking me across the Netherlands to my Great-Aunt and Uncle's in Delden, near Hengelo, in the east of the Netherlands, near the border with Germany.

Whether it is more correct to say Holland or the Netherlands, or either is something of a bone of contention for those who are concerned with such things. I use both names interchangeably. I did however, have a Dutch friend in Uppsala who insisted that the only correct name is The Netherlands; Holland being merely one of its regions and hence, inappropriate as a name for the country as a whole. Not being one to argue with a feisty Dutch woman on issues relating to her country of origin, I was always careful to adhere to the proper nomenclature in her presence.

Perhaps it's my Dutch heritage, or the fact that I stayed in Holland for several months when I was little, but out of all of the places that I visited in Europe, I felt most at home in the country of dykes, clogs and windmills. As a people, the Dutch are very friendly, and give the impression that they really care whether or not you are having a pleasant stay in their country. Not that they are necessarily outgoing -- there is definetly a sense of formality which is shared among the Northern European countries. There is a strong egalitarian streak which runs through Dutch cultural life, evidenced in the adherence to social democratic political values and strong welfare state. Overt displays of wealth and extravagance will get you nowhere in Holland.

The Netherlands is known for its tolerance of things subversive or outside the norm. This is most obvious in Amsterdam's famous Red Light district, where the notorious "Coffee Shops", which are permitted to sell Marijuana provided that it is smoked on the premises, compete for attention with sex shops and brothels. The thinking behind the Dutch position of tolerance seems to be that it is better to legalise "antisocial" behaviour so as to keep it under control, rather than ban it completely and risk the uncertain consequences of an unregulated, illegal industry. Another example of the Netherlands' progressive social policy is the decision by the Government to pay minors thousands of guilders a year not to smoke in order to avoid the hefty health bills that the state would have to handle when all of those potential smokers developed lung cancer and have to undergo even more expensive treatment.

The Netherlands wasn't always like this, however. Calvinism has been a major element of Dutch culture since the Reformation. Thus rigid, heavily enforced social values, and steadfast belief in the importance of work in the development of the individual have been, and continue to be important in understanding the Dutch mindset. It was during the social upheavals of the 1960s that the Dutch set out on the road to a more progressive society and all that it entails; causing a considerable divergence in ideals and attitudes between the old and new generations.

I managed to see a lot of the Netherlands in the week that I was there, partly due to the fact that it is so small. On one of the days that I was there I took the train from Delden, in the East, to Rotterdam, on the west coast, where I saw the house where my Mum grew up. Then, a few hours later, I hopped on the train again, this time to Groeningen, which is in the far north, where I spent the night at the place of a friend I met in Uppsala. On another day my cousin drove me to Maastricht, the far south of the country, near the borders with Germany and Belgium, where I met up with a friend from Perth who happened to be in Holland at the same time as me.

If I ever go on a student exchange again, I think that it would probably be in the Netherlands. So if you happen to know of any good exchange programs then don't hesitate to send me an email!