Because there is a true lack of assessments of random Dutch products, I am planning to fill that void, sporadically at least.

Not all packaged sandwiches are created equal.  Some are soggy, some have wilted, brown lettuce, and several that I have tried have an overwhelming taste of 'refrigerator', which is to say, lots of tastes that all together taste like nothing in particular.  This sandwich, the Van Oers 'gezond', is completely amazing.  There is nothing about it that I would improve, in terms of packaged delights for when one is in a screaming hurry/too lazy to make their own sandwich. The 'gezond' ('healthy', which it is not), is made of soft white bread, and proclaims its superiority over other sandwiches by boasting ham, cheese, hardboiled egg slices, lots of mayo, and some lettuce.  If I made this sandwich myself, it just wouldn't be the same.

 On a cultural note, I am surprised that packaged sandwiches have taken off in the Netherlands.  Most Dutch people I know shun this kind of frivolous expense (at nearly 3 euros, it is a bit pricey - but so worth it) when you can easily buy a loaf of bread and some cheese or hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles that you put on bread and eat for breakfast or lunch).  Or go to the nearest Bakkerij Bart or something and have a filet americain (raw beef spread, yum) sandwich freshly prepared for you.  Packaged sandwiches appeal to my upbringing of convenience foods.  I'm glad that Hoogvliet always seems to have these around, but I live in fear that like every other food product I become enamored with in the Netherlands, it will suddenly disappear off the shelves. I hope it doesn't.  Also, the Albert Heijn sandwiches are always disappointing and typically contain at least one ingredient that I dislike.

This sandwich rules. The End.

http://www.vanoersgroup.com/assortiment/belegd-brood/sandwiches/witte-sandwich-gezond

Wormwood

Oh absinthe is a bad idea.  Especially in multiples of 3.  Please avoid if you wish to maintain your friendships and your decency.

A Treatise on My Hatred of the Dutch Toilet

Perhaps it is unusual that my Very First Blog Post is about toilets.  However, as an American with delicate sensibilities who has been living in the Netherlands now for nearly a year, I have still not gotten over my dislike of Dutch toilets.  I mean this as no slight against the Dutch and their leadership in the mesmerizing world of water management.  It is merely the designer of the Lowland toilet that I cannot forgive.  And this is where I reveal myself as a whiny, finicky American.  
I have never been a person who has given much thought to toilets.  They serve a useful purpose.  In Holland, however, I devote too many black thoughts to my toilet.  It is too short.  It has no lid.  It squats in my diminutive, closet-of-a-bathroom like a white, utilitarian toad.  I could forgive these things, though, were it not for the uniquely Dutch "inspection plate", which makes bathrooming such an icky experience.  The waterless plateau of the Dutch toilet is the source of my misery.  Forgive me: I'm about to become somewhat graphic.  
There is a yawning expanse of waterless space in Dutch toilets (the "inspection plate") on which your business lands and sits, on its own dry island.  Apparently, some people enjoy inspecting their poo (for health reasons), an interest I confess I do not share.  The worst part of this is (and forgive me again for being disgusting) that once the "package" has settled onto its plate, it is not inclined to move anywhere, and it takes several flushes and perhaps even a prod with a toilet brush to make it go where it's supposed to -- down the pipes and out of your life forever.   Without the protection of the pool of water (that I took for granted in the toilets of other nations), there are other unseemly issues that arise as a result of this naked exposure of one's business.  There is a useful trick, though, which I will share here in the hopes of helping others who share my plight.  A little nest of toilet paper, set down on the plateau before anything else has been done, is a good preventative.
Well.  I'm sorry if I've horrified anyone, or turned any stomachs.  But I do feel better having gotten this off my chest.  Cheers!