January 2026 

After a warm Christmas holiday with my family in the Netherlands I came back to a winter wonderland. It was minus 20 degrees in Helsinki with snow everywhere. It honestly looked astonishing, exactly the proper winter experience I was looking forward to, just like the ice-dipping in the frozen sea. The benefit of –20 degrees is that I didn't have to use my towel to dry, the water just freezes off your body.  

Behind the scenes of Diplomacy 

At the invitation of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, the President of the Republic of Finland, Alexander Stubb, paid a state visit to the Netherlands on 11-12 December 2025. The president was accompanied by his wife, Suzanne Innes-Stubb. Even though the State Visit took place in the Netherlands, our embassy put quite some effort into preparations, for example by preparing the conversations between our King and President Stubb. During the State Visit it all came together and it felt satisfying to see it happening, but it also confronted me with the fact that a lot of people don't know what diplomats are doing behind the scenes. 

Making Diplomacy visible

On that note I pro-actively started a project to stimulate bilateral relations and visibility through public diplomacy. For that I reached out and worked together with the Finnish Embassy in The Hague to create a social media vlog. In the vlog we both explain how we experience living in each other's country and which diplomatic goals we share. So keep an eye on our social media channels around the 14th of February. 

Building Diplomatic connections 

In diplomacy relationships are crucial. For that reason I hosted a reception to celebrate the friendship of interns of several embassies,  establishing early connections with peers. During the visit, our Deputy Head of Mission, Lieske de Krijger welcomed the guests and shared insights into the work of our embassy. She also shared a personal perspective on what it is like to work in diplomacy, providing inspiration to the next generation.

Later in the afternoon, I delivered a speech highlighting the historical context of our orange color. A color that has become a national symbol during King’s Day, sport events, and beyond. Its origins date back to 1544, when Willem of Orange  became the founder of Orange-Nassau house. In addition, I explained the process of the Dutch political system. In short, it was a successful and memorable reception, where hearts and tastes were fulfilled and minds were enriched. An experience the interns will not soon forget.

Friends, visits and first ice-dips

Last week six friends and my brother came to visit me. They also stopped by at the embassy office where Ambassador van der Burg wished us a wonderful trip. During the first evening I gave them a tour through Helsinki, visiting among others the ice breakers, Oodi Library and the Senaatintori. Due to my work at the embassy, being the ears and eyes of the Netherlands in Finland, I could give them quite some historical contexts and info about current developments. We also made a day trip to  Tallinn, by ferry, which only lasted 2 hours. In the evening we explored Helsinki nightlife!

Traditionally the next day after the night out it was time to do ice-dipping and sauna at Sompasauna. With 7/8 joining I can say that they understood the concept of sisu! Afterwards we went to Suomenlinna and in the evening it was time to sleep in the night train to Rovaniemi – which was fairly easy to be honest.

Lapland – Snow, Santa Claus and the Northern Lights 

Rovaniemi looks exactly like a big winter wonderland, one we recognize from our imagination and Christmas movies. Upon arrival, we rented a mini bus and drove to Santa Claus Village, where we crossed the Polar Circle. In the evening, we had dinner at a sky-view restaurant, where we ate reindeer. During dinner, the Aurora app started sending notifications, which made us a bit restless, to be honest. After finishing the dinner, we drove to a beautiful aurora spot and there we saw the Northern Lights. It was the cherry on the cake of this almost too-good-to-be-true trip. Magical, and yet absolutely real.

5 weeks and one more blog to go, so stay tuned!