SIX NATIONS IN

SIX NATIONS IN ONE HOUSE

By Mr DANIEL LARSSON, National President 2022-2023, Round Table Norway

AFTER ALMOST THREE YEARS, it was finally time for everyone to travel again and meet up with old friends for our annual Club 41 Euromeeting (Worldmeeting). Two years with preparations and tons of exitement, it was time to hang out and have some fun. Last time we were together was in the city of Siena Italy in 2019, now it was our turn in Norway and my club RT41 Kongsvinger.

I had the pleasure and the honour to host 6 brothers at my place that weekend, Tablers from Italy, England, India, South Africa and Germany. With me it would be 6 Nations under 1 roof, something that is pretty cool. Just to be together again after these special years with Covid, finally catching up. Eating good food, midnight summer dip at my lake with some Norwegian Aquavit, cold beers and the La la la tones

was really amazing. It created a special atmosphere and memories that we will never forget. Friday night that weekend I also had the opportunity to have a Homeparty at my home with 26 Tablers and Circlers. That evening we were 11 Nations having a good time with live music, singing together, snacks and drinks. You can “Life is good, but a Tablers add Sweden, Austria, France, Canada and USA + the 6 from before and you have these 11 Nations from around the life is better” globe. That was fantastic and really special. An unique thing that you only Benjamin Franklin can explore trough Round Table, a brotherhood across borders. Live your RT life to the fullest and embrace it in the best possible way. Round Table is a way of living with lots of opportunities and with an unique network around the world. Get busy traveling, you will never regret.

fUn faCts aboUt the netherlands

GET YOUR DUTCH ON

By Mr LUCAS BORSBOOM, Old-Tabler 74 Roermond, on behalf of Round Table The Netherlands

WELCOME TO THE NETHERLANDS

OUR COUNTRY IS WORLDWIDE famous for windmills, cheese, canals, Heineken, the colour orange, wooden clogs, tulips, paintings of Rembrandt, living below sea level, Anna Frank, water management, King's Day, legal drugs and football players like Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit. For the last 3 years, we are also famous in International Tabling because of the song and dance of the Snollebollekes: "naar de links, naar de rechts" ("to the left, to the right").

MANY TOURISTS and even Dutch residents don't call our country The Netherlands. They say Holland. There is even a national song: "Hup Holland, hup." The explanation comes from the two provinces, NorthHolland and South-Holland.

These two out of twelve provinces contributed most to the Dutch kingdom's economy and wealth in the past. These are the provinces with the country's highest population density and employment

SINCE JULY 2022, just over 17,5 million people have been living in the Netherlands. With an astounding 524 people per square kilometre, our country has the highest population density in the whole of Europe. A funny fact is that over 60% of the Dutch population lives 5m below sea level. Water management is an early and well-developed skill for us. Even though we are the tallest nation in the world with an average height of 176cm (men 184cm), we still need more than a thousand windmills and pump systems to keep our feet dry. MOST OF THE DUTCH RESIDENTS have a bicycle in use for personal transport. Our country is extremely fl at, with the highest mountain of 322m above sea level. An (electronic) bike is a signifi cant environmentally friendly vehicle to use. There are over 22 million bicycles in our small country. Many people have a city bike and a sports bike. Yearly we make around 250 trips per bike with a total average of 1,250 km distance.

Round Table the Netherlands often uses "Let's colour the world a bit more orange" in their #tags. Despite the red, white and blue colour in our Dutch national fl ag, it's the orange colour we all use to show our national pride. The reason is that our King Willem was Prince of Orange (our monarchy comes from the House of Orange).

ROUND TABLE THE NETHERLANDS is your guide for visiting the Netherlands. Many of the 3.000 proud Dutch Tablers are happy to show you around and familiarise you with our great open culture and multicultural society. Be aware that we all communicate quite directly and openly. We Dutchies speak our minds loud and clear. Outsiders often see this as being rude or disrespectful. Still, for the Dutch, it is actually a virtue of sincerity and honesty. Please contact our National IRO '22 - '24 Willem Theiner. He will do his best to guide you or to connect you with a Tabler to make it count.

Maybe one day, we will buy one pair of the annual six million produced clogs and drink a Heineken together. LEARN MORE Get to know more about Round Table The netherlands on @roundtable_nl FACTS Capital amsterdam Population 17,728 m Language dutch Currency Euro (EUR) National Day King's day (Koningsdag) April 27, and Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) May 5

ROUND TABLE THE NETHERLANDS Chartert 1946 Godparent rtbi Members 2627 Clubs 196

National IRO Willem Theiner iro@roundtable.nl