UPDATE: Also be sure to read this column by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes at The Moderate Voice about this subject.

The International Herald Tribune was kind enough to publish an article about my country, the Netherlands, and its people’s question for a national identity, which we lost in the last few decades. We had a debate about our identity for years now, wondering what made the Dutch Dutch. What makes the Dutch different from everyone else? What do we share that we can call ourselves a nation, not just individuals living in the same state?

Luckily for all of us, something happened this year that allowed us to find something we all enjoy; ice skating.

Ice skating is truly a Dutch cultural phenomenon. We have been skating on our frozen lakes and canals for many hundreds of years. When the Spaniards occupied the Low Countries, for instance, Dutch citizens put on ice skates during the middle of the winter, got their weapons, and attacked the enemy, which eventually led to the enemy’s retreat.

Winters are awesome in this country; when our lakes and canals are frozen, we all get our skates, go to the ice and start skating. Some skate alone, some skate with friends, neighbors, family members or relatives; but all of us skate.

Well, all of us used to skate, that is. We could not skate for 11 years or so, because our winters were simply not cold enough. The situation became so grave indeed that many youngsters do not even know how to skate; something considered unimaginable for centuries.

This year is different, however. This is the year that we can finally do what our ancestors did; skating on the ice.

And great fun it is indeed. All of us get on the ice; little kids, teenagers, young adults, the elderly (which I consider to be from age 30 and upwards). We all get on the ice, skate until we drop, at which moment we go to a “koek en sopie” shop; this “kook en sopie” shop is a little shop set up on the ice where we can buy cookies, soup and hot chocolate milk. Standing in the freezing old, we huddle together, talking about how wonderful it is to skate again, and how blessed we are that we live in this tiny country.

As Gus Gustafsson, 68, a retired insurance executive, told the IHT: “For us, it’s in our genes. It was like a frenzy that came over people, including lots of kids, like my granddaughter, who is 5.”

Not only does the freezing cold allow us born Dutchmen to rediscover our roots, it also helps immigrants connect and, yes, integrate; everywhere I go – and the IHT article refers to this as well – I see Moroccans and Turks standing on the ice, smiling, wearing several shawls, at least two pair of gloves, etc. trying to skate. It may not be normal for them to skate, but it seems that they enjoy it tremendously, just like the rest of us.

And so, a freezing, cold winter helps the (even the new!) Dutch (re)discover their roots. Thank you father Winter.