Because the Netherlands is littered with unfenced waterways, learning how to swim is an important part of a proper Dutch upbringing.
As such there is a tri-level (A, B, C) swim diploma system with an emphasis on safety. Everything revolves around teaching children what to do if they happen to fall into a canal:
Would you be wearing goggles if you fell into a canal? No, so you can’t wear them during swimming lessons.
Would you be wearing clothes if you fell into a canal? Very likely, so a part of each swimming diploma requires swimming in clothes and shoes.
Might you have to swim around old floating mattresses to save yourself? Possibly, so the C-level diploma requires swimming under and over big sheets of foam.
You might wonder whether the upper-level swim diploma requires re-surfacing in a muddy, rubbish-strewn canal while one’s legs are entrapped in a tangle of old, submerged bicycles. It does not. Yet.
I have thrown my daughter into these swim lessons and remarkably, as they’re all in Dutch and she doesn’t know a soul, she enjoys them. She enjoys them enough to attend them every Friday evening without complaining. This is miraculous.
Last weekend she was invited to swim the A-level examination. I had little idea what to expect, as I mainly muddle through the emails from the swim school gleaming only essential facts such as payment amounts. I was tipped off by another parent that the actual test is a bit like the last day of the Tour de France: passage is assured and the test is simply a nice way to show off one’s sporting skills.
Still, on the day of the examination I was rather surprised to turn up at the pool and find the lobby stuffed to the brim with grandmas, grandpas, aunties, uncles and giant cameras. Many of us crowded into the hot, stuffy changing rooms to help the children prepare for the test. It was loud and chaotic, but luckily I could understand some large fraction of the Dutch logistical instructions. For example, I quickly intuited that by the time I’d helped my daughter to change, I’d be stuck watching the test from behind rows of tall Dutch people because swarms of grandparents had already occupied the prime spaces in the stands.
Post-changing room faffing, I did manage to squeeze down in front of the stands using my short stature and my pre-schooler as an excuse. This afforded us a close view of the public spectacle of the swim test. This was serious business: there was an announcer with a microphone, referees, cheering spectators and clumps of smiling but shivering children.
Amid it all stood my daughter. She wrapped her arms around her chest to keep warm and watched the other children closely. She was used to interpreting Dutch swimming instructions by watching and mimicking others, but she couldn’t understand any of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the examination. There was applause each time the enthusiastic announcer said that the children had now all accomplished a certain feat: swimming 50 meters, floating on their backs, swimming through an underwater hole, rotating on an axis, holding their breath, etc.
Near the end, there were waves of standing ovations as the announcer confirmed with the referees which groups of children had earned their diplomas. They all had. But my daughter was oblivious and when I met her — blue-lipped — in the changing room the first thing she said was: “How do I know if I passed?”
She watched, copied and coped, but she was ultimately an outsider. I’d tossed her into a strange foreign world of incomprehensible ceremonies and occasions. She was bluffing her way through expat life, just like me. I usually think of this whole expat gig as a jolly big adventure. Does she?
When we left the changing rooms, I noticed that the other families were giving their children presents. As I was just as clueless as she was, I didn’t have a congratulatory swim-diploma gift to give her.
I did find an old, snack-size Snickers bar in the bottom of my bag to offer her.
She didn’t complain.
We were both bluffing our way through Dutch life and both equally dazed.
Excellent!!!!
It was baffling and very cool at the same time!
Love it! I remember when we were young we also needed to do some swimming courses with clothes in the water… treading water for two minutes or something.
I always got hungry after a swim… so a Snickers bar sounds great. You ain’t yourself when you’re hungry 😉
Thanks for this lovely story. Best, Tanny
Tanny Por +299 56 23 41 Connect with me on Linkedin and Twitter Join me on my adventure at The Fourth Continent
It’s a good idea, but something I never experienced growing up! Did I notice that you started video-blogging?
It was a one off 🙂 was interviewed by this awesome little talk show called IntoConnection, who bring interesting stories from around the world!
So true! (especially the unexpected presents / unwritten dress code moments- remind me to tell you how we got MIddle School graduation horribly, humiliatingly wrong). And on the flip side, there’s a strange, warm sense of camaraderie that you get with your kids from the moments you make it through relatively unscathed – and an endless supply of stories for later.
Well said! We certainly did feel like a little team muddling through the unknown. Thinking about screwing up a middle school graduation makes me cringe as it’s harder in front of a bunch of known classmates. Rather sadistically, I would love to hear about it.
Interesting description, I have no experience of this. It does seem in line with the non competitive Dutch approach to accomplishments though. Your daughter rocks!
I’m paving the way for you and your daughter: first lice mothers and now swim diplomas. Are you afraid to imagine what might come next? (And I agree that my daughter is pretty damn cool. 😉 )
You’re a brave explorer in the depths of the Dutch psyche haha. Coming up next Dutch birthday parties, you should definately write a piece on that topic when you get a chance.
Sheets of foam??? Maybe it’s meant to simulate a canal that’s partly frozen over… baffling 😉
Yeah, like 2 feet by 8 feet sheets of 1 inch foam. So yes, perhaps an ice flow simulation! The C-Diploma kids have to swim over and under it fully clothed including long trousers, rain coats and street shoes! Hardy kids.
…or even an ice floe simulation… 😉
The learning to swim in clothes is not a bad idea. I wonder if they all have a special set of diving-into-canals outfits at the back of their wardrobes…?
Yes, ice floe… I owe you a piece of cake.
YESSSSS!!!! What kind?? Oh hell, I don’t care 😉
Wow, that sounds intense! Swimming in clothes and shoes made me chuckle – probably very practical though!
Is it wrong to encourage one’s child to do something that one wouldn’t do oneself? (Perhaps I should go in with clothes on this summer.)
I thought that’s what children were for 😉
Ha! Perhaps I can encourage them to pay the bills and file the taxes.
Send them over here when they’re done with yours 😉
Done. They’re on the overall night train to Berlin. One has a nasty stomach bug but should recover swiftly.
I hope they both sitzpinkel ;
Wow. The whole experience sounds intense. I think once I made it back to the safety of my bicycle/car, I would have burst into tears. I can’t tell you how many times I felt like a bad mom because I didn’t know the protocol in Germany. ie having a gift for x event, etc. My guess is though your daughter just thinks this is what life is. Part of growing up for our kids is being in situations where they don’t understand with what is being said. I think they are much more comfortable with it than we are.
What a clear picture of life as an expat 🙂
Bluffing my way around dim sum restaurants might have been easier. 😉
Congratulations on passing!
But mostly, I guess, congratulations on figuring out how to bluff her way through and stay calm when she’s not sure what’s going on. It’s a skill – it takes practice.
She was born to bluff and bluster her way through things. She inspires me.
She inspires all of us. Truly.
Is there any other way to go through life? Congratulations to your daughter, mostly for being confident enough to successfully take classes in a language she is not familiar with!
This week she’s bluffing her way through German ski lessons 😉