Most of today's papers look back over the past year and note the highs and lows; who was in, who was out and who checked out permanently. A few papers do look ahead to the coming year but the Dutch print media seems to be mainly concerned with the past. The majority of articles looking ahead to the future concern the very near future; the violence expected across the country as people 'celebrate' the New Year and the dangers associated with the traditional New Year's Day dip in ice cold water.

All the papers have pages and pages full of the highs and lows of the past year along with the notable deaths in the country. Trouw has six pages looking back over the past year but the lows dominate; the attack on the Royal family on Queen's Day and the collapse of the DSB Bank being very low indeed. Trouw is the only paper to mention the mass deaths of honeybees as one of the calamities of 2009.

De Volkskrant devotes dozens of pages to 2009 but in order to give it a veneer of literacy and culture, it's presented as a quiz. The best books to read and the best places to dine along with the best theatre events are all passed under review.
 
De Telegraaf calls 2009, "the year of the falling stars". According to the populist paper, 2009 was the year "of the crushed ego," and asks, "Why do we enjoy other people's misery so much?" One could say it's a slightly hypocritical question from a paper that glories in sensational headlines and profits acutely from other people's misery.

Partying in the police state: Dutch police on high alert
Several papers report on the violence expected on New Year's Eve and how the police are planning to tackle those bent on causing mayhem and destruction. Trouw writes that many municipalities hope "the patchwork of regulations will break the pattern of violence associated with New Year's Eve," and lists a few of the measures brought in including unmanned spy planes, police armed with cameras and speed trials for vandals.

Mayor of The Hague Jozias van Aartsen tells the paper, "I only worry about one thing: violence on New Year's Eve". The mayor tells the paper that the Hague is infamous for violence and mayhem on the last day of the year but, " slowly but surely, we're putting a stop to the notion that you can get away with anything on New Year's Eve".

AD has the worrying news that youths from Bommelerwaard, well-known for its New Year's Eve riots, are so furious with the defence ministry's plans to observe the area with spy planes that they are planning to shoot the unmanned aircraft down. The vandals-in-waiting are offering a 3,500-euro reward for anyone managing to shoot down the spy plane. The paper says one young man in a cafe says there are plans to shoot down the spy-in-the-sky using illegal fireworks or ammunition.

Bad for your health: the traditional New Year's dip
AD looks at the tradition of having a swim in freezing cold water on New Year's Day and reports that one of the 68 events planned has already been cancelled. The Dutch Water Life Saving Association has cast doubt on the other 67 events.

However, 80-year-old Ok van Batenburg, credited with starting the tradition in the Netherlands, tells the paper "the New Year's Day dip must go ahead," adding, "It's perfect swimming weather". Meteorologists say it is going to be well below zero on New Year's Day, so I have my doubts about the weather being perfect for swimming.

Some 34,000 people in the Netherlands have signed up to greet the New Year by immersing themselves in icy water and the paper prints a few handy tips on surviving a plunge. Tip number one is, "don't stay in the water too long". Sound advice.

Cafés ignoring smoking ban
Trouw's front page is taken up by the news that bars and cafés in the Netherlands are "completely ignoring the smoking ban". The Protestant paper interviews various representatives of the Dutch Hotel, Bar and Restaurant Association (KHN) as well as bar and café owners across the country. Coran van Iersel, chair of the Tilburg KHN, tells the paper "most bars allow smoking after 10 PM. There aren't enough checks carried out and most owners are willing to risk a fine. The government has made a complete hash of it".

Part of the problem with the smoking ban is that the law is worded so as to protect personnel from second-hand smoke. The owner of a one-man business challenged the law and in April, a court ruled that smoking is permitted in establishments owned and operated by one person. Larger establishments say this creates unfair competition and many put the ashtrays back out on the tables.

The owner of one Tilburg bar says ignoring the smoking ban is "collective civilian disobedience," adding, "If the anti-smoking police are out in Tilburg, we just ring round to warn everybody".

Scarcity of winter clothing in shops
"Winter clothing impossible to find" is splashed across De Telegraaf's front page in big black letters; the article is a curious mix of scaremongering, finger pointing and whining, glossed over with an I-told-you-so smugness. The latter is epitomised by the subheading, "shops started clearance sales much too early".

The author writes that the continuing severe winter weather has sent the Dutch en masse to the shops looking for warm winter clothing to "protect us from the cold," but "people can only find boutiques filled with summer clothing". One can almost hear the doom laden-tones as the author tells us, "winter clothing is scarce".

But it appears that clothing retailers have only themselves to blame; a representative of the Dutch Fashion Retailers Association tells the tabloid broadsheet, "October is far too early to put the winter collection on the clearance rack. Now that people need winter clothing, there's nothing in the shops".

There are a few holes in this argument. One wonders who bought all this winter clothing if the shops are bare. I do not recall any stories about a mass influx of tourists descending on the Netherlands to buy winter clothing. One can only assume that the canny Dutch, always on the lookout for a bargain, went shopping during the October sales and bought their woolly jumpers and winter coats at knockdown prices. It's just another silly scaremongering story from our favourite silly scaremongering tabloid.

Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, have a happy, healthy and safe New Year.