There was a cute puppy in the front yard digging up the ground with half of its body buried in the hole it was making. I just looked at it for a second (at that time my bike-riding abilities were limited) and continued on my way towards Rhenen. On my way back, I looked for the puppy again, and to my surprise it was in the exact same position. I had to stop to check more carefully and I found that it was a fake half-puppy. Dutch people really take care of their front yards. In Chile, people also take care of their gardens with well-kept lawns, ornamental plants and flowers, but still they are simpler than the front yards I’ve seen in the Netherlands. The Dutch put a lot of effort into their gardens. To me the most curious feature of them is the fake animals like dogs, birds, hedgehogs, and even cows. Something similar happened when biking from Wageningen to Veenendaal with a friend. We took a peaceful route through the farms. Suddenly, we saw a big heron standing on a house’s roof. It was completely immobile. I didn’t want to fall into the same trap again so I told my friend it was fake. However, on our way back the heron was gone, to my disappointment. It had been a real bird. Marcela Riquelme Solar. Chilean MSc student of International Land and Water Management. Do you have a nice anecdote about your experience of going Dutch? Send it in! Describe an encounter with Dutch culture in detail and comment on it briefly. 300 words max. Send it to resource@wur.nl and earn fifty euro and Dutch candy.
Fake animals in front yards
I remember when I was a newcomer in the Netherlands, I decided to cycle from Wageningen to Rhenen. There were several beautiful houses along the route but one of them particularly attracted my attention.
