Now, maybe I take the piss a little.\nI mean, in England we do parties differently. We let our guests in, point at\nthe beverage table and tell them to get on with it. If we\u2019re huggers we\u2019ll hug\nthe birthday girl or boy and that\u2019s it. We don\u2019t even tell others that we\u2019ve\narrived, and we certainly don\u2019t have the luxury of sitting down with a piece of\ncake to get us into the swing of things. The chairs will have probably been\ntaken out of the room for starters, so we\u2019re forced to move around \u2013 but that\ndoes give us the added benefit of freedom. Don\u2019t like what Aunt Mabel is\nbarking on about? Point feebly over her shoulder with some lame excuse that the\n\u2018birthday girl needs me now\u2019 <\/em>and you\u2019re\nfree to roam around until you find someone more suited to your conversational\nneeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I turned 29 on March 22 and my own Dutch circle party happened the very same day. It was my very first one, and something I felt as being a huge weight on my English shoulders. It was such a huge weight, that I onl y invited 7 people, rather than the entire village, as also sometimes seems to be the case at these parties. I promptly served my handful of guests with their choice of tea or coffee (one person went rogue and had a Pepsi Max) and a slice of taart. So far so good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My own circle was a little\nabstract; we had somehow created a horseshoe, rather than a complete circle,\nbut looking at the faces of those around me, they seemed to be enjoying the\ncircular festivities whether or not I\u2019d literally just failed the first rule of\nthe Dutch circle party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the starters were out of the\nway, I went a little mental. I decided that the only way to ensure that my\nguests survived the next few hours was to create a constant stream of food and\nbeverages. This meant that I spent 96 per cent of my own party serving food\nlike a waitress. I mean I kind of enjoyed it. It became almost a game to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reckon\nyou can get the next pizza on the table before the last slice of Ham &\nPineapple is picked up?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How\nfast can you snaffle that bitterball before someone notices?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How\nmany glasses of wine can I refill before they\u2019re even empty?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Am I going to end up as one of\nthose people that other people refer to as feeders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I continued the evening in this\nway, before I finally sat down as the first few guests left, and discovered\nthat the rum colas I\u2019d been sipping throughout the evening had in fact, gone\nstraight to my head. I sat for a while, picking at the leftover olives, and\nfeeling pretty satisfied with the way things had gone after all. I was given a\nmetaphorical thumbs up by my remaining guests: everything had gone well, and it\nwas in fact, a lovely evening.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So how did I find my first Dutch\ncircle party? I rather enjoyed playing host, whilst everyone nattered in the\nbackground, even if I, the birthday girl of all people, spent most of the\nevening on my feet. Do I feel like I could go one step further and host more\nthan seven or so people at one time? Perhaps, but I\u2019d find that extremely\noverwhelming, which is a shame, as next year\u2019s a big one. Next year I turn 30,\nand I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll get away with so few people in the house\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nether-netherland.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/taart.jpg\")
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