Into the Neverlands

I am addressing Americans or anybody who might know any American families living in the Netherlands, as a friend of mine who also studies in University Utrecht and a group of American producers are working on an American sexual health documentary entitled LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX.

A brief description that my friend Lisa kindly provided can be found below. For more information about the film and producers, a pdf can be provided for those seriously interested.

The documentary is an educational film being done in partnership with Advocates For Youth, a well respected non for profit organization and Lisa's former employer. The goal is to begin filming on or around November ( 20th - 24th). In order to do so, we need several American families living here in The Netherlands. The ideal candidates would have children in their teens. We would shoot each family for one day.

Please let us know of any anyone who might fit this criteria (American family living abroad with teenagers) and/or be interested in helping with this project.

You can either post any hints you might have in the comments bellow or send an email to either Lisa (lirebert[at]gmail[dot]com) or me (lina[dot]zigelyte[at]gmail[dot]com)

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LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX is a feature length documentary which takes a fresh, raw, and confronting look at attitudes towards sex and sexuality among America's youth. Character driven, the film profiles a group of young Americans who have been directly affected by the current situation up close and personal. Our teens are powerful advocates for change, interacting with the real world through situations that have directly impacted their lives.

LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX is traveling to the Netherlands, profiling an American family living amongst a culture that treats sex as a health issue versus a moral issue. Access to birth control, the near absence of teen pregnancies, and the accepted sexually active teen "sleepover" are all highlighted in stark contrasts between the two countries.

In the way that AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH brought attention to a life-threatening crisis, LET?S TALK ABOUT SEX exposes a painful and expensive problem. A non-commercial educational film, produced in association with Advocates for Youth, the leading youth rights organization working with adolescent sexuality issues in America, the film offers real solutions. An extensive educational outreach and safe sex advertising campaign is being developed to coincide with the release of the film.

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Another day in Utrecht with a bit of rain and seemingly never ending autumnal moods. And another picture from the top of the Dom. I was told they rent it now and again. If the Dutch lived in Vatican, they would rent that as well I think. :)

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Since I have a paper draft due this Thursday my contribution to the blog until then will be visual. After climbing the Dom Tower today I made a few pictures, here's one of them. Utrecht looks amazing from bird's eye view. Shame my eye view here is mostly as low as frogs. :)

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There's another half an hour left to blog about poverty and to join the forces with the rest of the bloggers participating in this campaign.

Talking about poverty in the Neverlands is different. The way I see it here is dissimilar to the other countries I have lived in - Lithuania and Ireland (I suppose I could include the USA where I spent half of the year). In a nutshell, I don't see it here. Magnum photographer Geert van Kesteren says that "<...>poverty in the Netherlands is different than in the developing world. It's invisible. In my previous blog which I was writing while living in Dublin (many of the topics were focused on the binary East-West, in which I sometimes found myself trapped) a few times I posted my remarks on begging (here and here). I noted that the amount of people begging on the streets of Dublin was disgraceful, especially Ireland being (or having become) one of the most prosperous countries in the EU and the world. I questioned an idea that perhaps despite the job market offering vast opportunities (and the minimum wage being one of the highest in the EU) those people (mostly younger than 40, oftentimes male) where in the streets by choice rather than driven by the need (given the fact that the Irish social system is quite generous and quite easily fooled - an issue I addressed in my posts more than a few times).

The Neverlands is a rich country. Ha's Blog backs my statement, even though he notes that in the face of decent figures the Dutch still manage to complain.

When I say that I don't see poverty here I mean that, for instance, I don't see people begging on the streets. But here I'm reminded of the case with disabled and mentally ill people in the former Soviet Union - you didn't encounter them too much, in fact they didn't exist (they were spending the days either in hospitals or other secluded places). In this respect I am asking two questions:

1. Are the Dutch coping with poverty much better than, let's say, Ireland and the rest of the world could take that as an example?
or
2. Perhaps Geert van Kesteren is right when saying that poverty here is invisible, or shall I say hidden?

It is an open question I can not answer due the fact that I have haven't spent enough time here, besides, much of it is spend in the academic environment, which I must say, the more time I spend there the more it seems auratic and elitist (are these the features of the education by default?). That's what my next post will be about.

In the meantime I am asking - how come I do not see poverty in the Neverlands?

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I come from a country where agriculture has been one of the main industries for quite a while (too long a while in my opinion - no wonder the Estonians are taking the world by storm - sugar beet and cabbage had their requiem performed to them a while a go and the midget of the Northern East is aiming to be one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, quite successfully we should note). Anything to do with vegetables can hardly surprise me. I've done it all: picking mushrooms in the deepest woods, simmering a giant pot with raspberries and sugar in order to make a few jars of homemade jam from the berries you've just brought from the forest, helping dad to grate 15 kilos of cabbage to produce homemade saukerkraut, drinking birch sap , just name it. Wicked pagan rights, you might say? So be it. In my modest opinion, the nature-culture bond we have (especially in the suburban areas of my country and the bond we are unfortunately loosing) is one of the quintessential features inherent in our suburbian character. After all, ours was the last bastion of paganism to surrender to the Holy Roman Empire. Just about in the middle of the second Christian millennium that is - 1387.

Arriving here from Ireland - post-agricultural-turned-the-haven-of-high-companies-island - was a pleasant change in terms of the variety of food available. Vegetables in the Emerald Island? Think the Irish flag. Green for broccoli, white for cauliflower, orange for carrots (accompanied by a decent handful of potatoes of course).

Another trip to the local supermarket and I have to take my hat off for the inventiveness in the Neverlands. Beetroot with pears and cinnamon! Lekker!

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So. While the world was waiting for Madame Lipstick (check out the link) to get on the stage and CNN guys where engaged in almost sci-fi-like preparations for the broadcast of the debate I found myself flicking through the channels of Dutch TV. Now, my American housemate told me that night time TV in the Neverlands is quite different from the American. I've noticed some dissimilarities already. Prime time (unless prime time in the Neverlands is considered differently to the rest of the world): Little House in the Prairie and Married With Children. Hello?! Oh, and TV shops - those seem to be of particular popularity.

But when it comes to after midnight.... Boy it is different from other countries! I must say in the majority of the world people pay quite a bit of money to see such a degree of raunchiness. I'm not sure how much my landlord is paying for the TV licence and how the system works in the Neverlands as my rent is all inclusive, but even with people warning me about late time TV I was blown away. EVERY SINGLE DUTCH CHANNEL. Moaning and sighing. Aagh... Call this text that. Topless body painting. Aagh... Stroking and touching. Solo, duo, you name it. Kinky underwear (if any!) and LOTS of breasts. Any size you might wish. L XL XXL XXXL and Jumbo. Just make sure you hurry up and don't miss the numbers. Oh, and lot's of lipstick... Speaking of which, I found the debate exceptionally fascinating to watch. Yet even if almost everybody admits that she succeeded and exceeded the expectations, I have to repeat a comment I found on You Tube: If Americans vote for McCain they will prove they don't care about their country.

In the meantime...
I suggest to play a supercool game I found on here and located on the left hand site of my blog. It won't be kept here for too long as the music gets quite annoying after a while (like the character herself I suppose with her tune of hockey moms and mavericks). I just sincerely hope Madame Lipstick stays where she currently is - in the blogosphere rather than in the White House.

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