Uitwaaien
In this uplifting literary essay, Jonkman considers how the Dutch hold their own in a country a few metres below sea level where there is an almost constant strong south-westerly wind.
The Dutch verb uitwaaien — walking in the wind — is a typically Dutch habit, synonymous with clearing your head and surrendering to forces of nature stronger than yourself in order to regain your strength. Drawing on her personal life story in which the wind has played an important role, Jonkman observes the Dutch landscape and how it has shaped Dutch character over the centuries.
Renske Jonkman (b. 1982) writes articles and interviews for de Volkskrant, National Geographic and Trouw. She is the author of three novels, the last of which, 'This Drowned Land', is about the Dutch people’s relationship with their polder landscape.