THE COUNTRY NO ONE HAS EVERY HEARD OF

I've never been really patriotic. Sure, I love my country and during King's Day and the World Cup I'll be the first one to scream I am Dutch, but I've never felt particularly at home in Holland. Yet, here surrounded by people from all over the world, I have slowly developed a pride for everything Dutch. And the main reason for that is: it seems that no one knows The Netherlands exists. I mean, this is no joke. Every time someone asks me where I am from, I go through the same routine. "Where are you from?" "The Netherlands" "What?" "The Netherlands. You know, Holland?" *Very confused facial expression* "Amsterdam?" "Ooooh Amsterdam! Yes I know Amsterdam! Are you from there?"
It is almost offending really. Especially the time an American girl asked me where in Denmark I was from after she heard I spoke Dutch. Or the guy (another American) asked me if Holland was next to The Netherlands and Germany. Even my Spanish teacher skips The Netherlands when she asks us about our countries.
Clearly, we are not as important as we think we are. But I don't care anymore that no one knows our country. Because while I'm typing this, munching on some chocolate pepernoten (thank God for the HEMA), I appreciate the land I was born in, a whole lot more.