Passage to Democracy
Having grown up in Europe, I wasn’t excepting such a culture shock with the Netherlands. But the Dutch have a very unique culture that I’ve only started to discover. First shock: they bike everywhere, all the time. The Hague has more bikers than pedestrians, and biking is the only “cool” way to get around. Second shock: I thought I knew how to ride a bike, but you really don’t until you’ve tried to bike in The Hague. I’ve been there for a week, and I’m convinced that I still look like a tourist to the Dutch who were basically born on a bike. Between the tramways, the tram tracks, the cars, and holding my phone to find my way, my first few rides to and from work were bumpy to say the least. Besides the several near-death experiences, and the constant soreness, it’s obvious that biking is an amazing way to get around. The Hague is not nearly as polluted as it should be, and people always seem to be in a good mood (even at eight in the morning).
I got to IDEA International on Monday—after getting my bike stuck in one of the tram rails and almost falling down—and realized that I was going to be working in the center of the city, right across the Dutch parliament. IDEA is located in a beautiful "passage", in a building entitled “Passage to Democracy”. This past week, I’ve mainly started working on editing a French report on constitutional courts in West Africa. I’ve also had the chance to meet the members of IDEA who literally come from all around the world. Third shock: The Hague has more internationals than New York City. As my colleagues explained, between the ICC and the ICJ, along with all the NGOs and intergovernmental organizations, The Hague is a hub for international law. While exploring the city, you almost hear more English than Dutch. What is even more striking is that most of the city seems to have one big mission, which is to make democracy work in other countries. In that sense, the whole city is in itself a “Passage to Democracy”.
