Belangrijkste Nederlandse tradities

I recently read in one of our local newspapers a list of the most important Dutch traditions, according to a study undertaken by the Instituut voor Volkscultuur in 2008. Let's see how we're stacking up here.

1. Pakjesavond (Dec. 5, when Sinterklaas comes and gives presents to everyone)
2. Putting up the Christmas tree (this is apparently often done on Christmas Eve, or at least the tree is lit for the first time on Christmas Eve -- no wonder we got such weird looks last year when we had ours lit two weeks before Christmas!)
3. Queen's Day (celebration of Queen Beatrix's birthday on April 30 that ends up being a big patriotic holiday)
4. Oliebollen
5. Easter eggs (who knew this was a Dutch thing? But maybe we should've figured it out since the Dutch word for Easter is "Paas!")
   
6. Carnaval (i.e. Mardi Gras)
7. Beschuit met muisjes
8. Candles on cake
9. Sint Maarten
10. Eating herring

All in all, I don't think we're doing too badly here in getting the cultural experience. And just because it shows up on the list doesn't mean you're going to get me to down raw herring whole like a sword swallower.