A couple of international students were asked five or six years ago to write something about their interpretation of Dutch Culture. I managed to get a hold of these. Below you can find small excepts of what they wrote:
Excerpt 1
Maybe the biggest difference in cultures is the fact that the Dutch don’t appreciate it if people visit them unexpectedly. As it says in the Holland Handbook: ‘The Dutch do not like company to stop by informally, if they just happen to be “in the neighbourhood”. If you know someone very well, you can call in the morning to ask if you can come by that evening, but normally you should call further ‘in advance’.
The worst thing you can do is stop by, uninvited, at dinnertime. If you get invited to enter the house while the family is eating, most likely they offer you a chair to sit with them at the table but they won’t offer you anything to eat. If you get lucky you may be offered some dessert, because there is always enough yoghurt, thanks to a special kind of scratch instrument that the Dutch invented to get all the yoghurt out of the carton’.
In Spain everybody loves company.The Spanish like to go and visit friends and relatives at every time of the day. And when dinner is served, it is considered a bad manner if you leave, you would insult the hostess.
Excerpt 2
What I think is really typically Dutch is the tolerance towards one another. In one of the books I read: ‘Tolerance is not only a virtue, it is a civic duty.’ With 370 inhabitants at every square kilometer, Holland has got the highest population density of Europe. If the Dutch didn’t forgive each others shortcomings and peculiarities, or at least ignore, life would be unbearable. Tolerance is really veiled pragmatism. The Dutch think that everyone should do the things he wants to do within the limits of decency. I think that is a very good quality. The Dutch tolerance is famous all over the world and we have showed the world that in most of these cases our approach proved to be a good one.
Excerpt 3
I found one thing that the Dutch and Spanish have in common. They both treat their children as if they are royalty. In Spain the children can stay up as long as they want and when they celebrate the feast of the Epiphany they get so many presents that they need a whole year to discover what they got. About Dutch children I read the following line:
The golden rule is: “Let them go their own way. Free to discover and undergo whatever they want. Free to be creative (destructive), without reckoning with others as long as they aren’t in peril of death.”
Of course it is important to let your children grow up with some form of freedom, but maybe the Spanish and the Dutch exaggerate it a little bit. I think that, if I ever have children, I would raise them with a little bit more of discipline. But then again, you never know! Some habits and customs can be very persistent when you are not aware of them.
Excerpt 4
Last summer I spent my holiday in Turkey. After a long journey we finally arrived at our destination, we thought. The people of the hotel didn’t know we were coming, so there weren’t any rooms left. If this had happened to you in Holland, the people from the hotel would have simply sent you away. Sorry, but not our fault, they would say. But the Turkish have another attitude. You are a guest of the hotel, so we don’t send you away. So they didn’t. They asked the cleaning ladies to look for another room, so they could offer their room to us. Very friendly of them, but we were also a bit surprised.
All well and done, we had dinner at the hotel a few times. One day we wanted to have dinner somewhere else. So as we were walking out of the hotel, the people were very surprised and asked us where we were going. When we said we were going to have dinner somewhere else, you could see the disappointment in their faces. We really felt like we were very rude to go away, and maybe we were. We felt very uncomfortable and at the same time we felt very Dutch.
Excerpt 5
When I first came to Holland, I thought that I had to learn Dutch to manage in an everyday situation, but to my big surprise I was terribly wrong. Almost everyone speaks English, and quite good English as well. This must be part of the Dutchman’s international attitude, they are always curious to know about other countries and cultures. They also like to show that they are able to talk English, even when I try to practice my Dutch.
The international attitude must be a part of their ability as great organizers, but also because they are very tolerant with racial and ethnical issues. They will not say a thing even though they find some customs of other cultures strange and unfamiliar. This also reflects their polite side. People are very polite, and say hello and goodbye when you enter and leave a shop.
They are also polite to their elderly. They will more often use the polite form U than the more informal jij. Some Dutch friends even told me examples of children calling their parents with the U-form. This would be unthinkable in Norway, and in English you luckily don’t have the problem.
Excerpt 6
What is written “between the rules” is the fact that Dutch people are so bored. They are not enthusiastic, everything is planned and even arranged appointments with friends and family. Even their parties are quiet and it look likes the conversations are planned too.
In De Volkskrant a reporter wrote about the boring Dutch. He writes about August 1763 when an Englishman comes to Utrecht to study there. This student says: “Dutchmen are proud of their planning, parties are sins and the only things they spend their time on is watching their clocks and barometers”.
The writer of this article says that this is still right. We are busier about getting to know if it will rain instead of it rains. Our whole life is based on the Calvinism and we are proud of it! Still in this century, although it is changing. But it is changing in a way of Calvinism; slowly, planned and well organized.
Excerpt 7
Deadlines, keeping work and home separate, non-hierarchic and non-personal are words that describe Dutch organizations. An economist from Suriname sees this as absolute smeerolie for a healthy organization. He likes the fact that problems in business never get personal. But this also has another side. Organizations are bureaucratic and non-flexible. Everything is formal, have to discuss over and over and need a paper formality.
Excerpt 8
“Doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg”. This is the title of the book that I read after living in The Netherlands for one year. I tried to have everything under control by reading different books at different times and getting tips and guidelines to get through cultural problems smoother. But I still had a very difficult time at school when I had to work with Europeans, especially Dutch.
The problems started from the time I had my first group work and I did not know where to start. I asked my classmates too many questions, which is quite normal in my country, but then everybody got sick-and-tired of me and they told me that I had to find my way myself (differences between ” we culture” and “I culture”- In “we culture” you are supposed to help people around you and in “I culture” you have to be more independent). Besides that they looked down at me by mentioning strange things that were not true about my country, especially the Germans.
Then I decided to study extremely hard to show that I can do well. Again things went wrong. I became completely confused especially when my grades were better than almost everybody’s. I expected that finally I could be really part of them. I also thought that teachers were going to appreciate it. But it did not happen.??
I got depressed and quit school for one semester. During my rest I re-read the books that give foreigners tips to adjust themselves to new countries easier. This time I noticed that I had not read the books properly: “Dutch people do not like to show that they are richer than others. From clothing you often cannot see who is rich or poor. Dutch try not to be different than others. If somebody in The Netherlands for example wants to be the best, reaching the top in society, they never say it in public. It is something they feel ashamed of!”.
Finally I reached the conclusion that you have to be in the middle. Less, or more, than average is not good. That is the policy for all different aspects of life in The Netherlands.
I hope you enjoyed these small excerpts, please feel free to share them with others (see below here).
36 comments ↓
The Dutch all eat at 6 o’clock and if you don’t eat at 6 o’clock they think you are weird. They can not accept the fact that Dutch food is very bland and tasteless, (Zuur kool) mashed potatoe picked cabage with a sausage on top. The landscape is like the people very boring, Dutch supermarkets are very small most are shut on Sundays, A land that is stuck in the past. The reason they are so open towards homosexuals is because most Dutch women look like men.
Flat sad silly stupid ignorant smoking pigs
Martin you sound like an bitter fool
I wonder where you’re from…utopia?
I think u r a sweet philosopher….
one love to you all
Many of those articles above are not true, I think those kind of many things are only true in the Area of Amsterdam where the people are more heterogen than the other area in Holland. So people there are more tolerant, speak english better, not rasis oriented, simply because they are living in a multi cultures environment. but the other area? I dont think so!!!
I dont think tolerance is a virtue / civic duty for dutch people when it come to foreigner from Asia & Africa.
and I strongly disagree if people said that Dutch are very tolerant with racial and ethnical issues. Some of them maybe yes, but 70% are not. Discrimination is every where in NL.
They always underestimate people from Asia & Africa, & always think that Duth is the smartest people in the world.
I dont think almost everyone speaks English in Netherlands, even in the winkel when I asked smthing in english they said that they can only speak ” a little of that”. Teenagers in Asia countries are now a days much better in English comparing with teenager in NL. That’s because Dutch are too proud about themselves, dont appreciate English as international language, they want foreginer to speak Dutch, and make dutch become international language too.
I agree that Dutch doesnt like “above average” people. They never appreciate if you are smarter than the other, but I dont agree if you said Dutch people doesnt like to show off, you can not see them from the clothes they are wearing is simply because they are mostly not trendy or fancy.
I JUST CAN’T STAND THEM! They praise their individuality but they are ALL the same! And you can really tell, they always do the same things at the SAME time: there’s a festival in a park? the whole town is there; sales at blokker? you can expect the queen on 1st row; they open a new stupid albert-hein? gotta check it out, can’t miss that!
And what about women? fashion to them is trying to look EXACTLY like all the others! Any of them without BOOTS is an outcast…conformity has reached new scary levels!
Sitting on a terrace on a sunny day and drinking a lekker coffee in a gezelig cafe is their idea of a great day…pllllease!
Never catch ANYBODY reading a book, all they’re interested in is how they look, who they go to bed with and how ‘cool’ they are.
And that’s in the 2009, after the 70s which gave us great values but, apparently, NOT in holland.
Sad, ignorant people in a sad, ignorant country…
hey we are not sad ignorant people. im from holland and i can confirm that.. we are a real down to earth kinda people… and yes we read books but dont actually do that in public because we might think it look weird and yes we eat at 6 or earlier.. and yes we dont like it when people knock on our door when we are eating we like to eat in private.. and we dont like people who stay as long as he/she can just to have a chance to eat with us.. because we think they look like be beggars that way because they have their own homes and kitchens so eat home!! hahaa. if you look at the americans they all look different that cool.. but we look the same because we dont want to show of. we are a very christian country, so almost every shop is closed on sunday due to that god had created the world in six days blablabla and well i dont like it to but cant do anything about it… but on the other hand we are free to do almost anything.. buy alcohol when your 16 and hard liquor when your 18. we are easy with that kinda stuff and you can smoke weed legally here. and about the stores we dont have so much space to build big ass supermarkets. and we know how to party but maybe different than other countries are used to..
greeting from holland Danny
I have no idea who wrote all this crap, but it’s so not true! I studied in the Netherlands for a year and Dutch people are great! They are so open and friendly, especially to foreigners.
They don’t expect foreigners to speak Dutch, they enjoy speaking English with you and they’re very good at it.
I never experienced arrogance among Dutch people. Their motto seems to be: don’t pretend to be bigger than you are. Ofcourse they are proud of their country, who’s not?
I agree with the fact that parties in Holland can be spiced up a little bit, especially familieparties. Everybody is sitting on chairs in a circle with coffee, talking a little. But hey.. I only went to one familieparty so what do I know. But as a student I went to a lot of great parties! Maybe the person who wrote it, spent his time among old boring people
Ofcourse Spanish man (I’m spanish) can dance much better 
Conclusion: don’t be so generalizing and look for the great things! Netherlands are great, with beautiful people (and beatiful women ghehe). I really want to go back sometimes.
Oh jesus, people like martin and dennis, what is your problem? It is absolutely not true that Dutch people are too proud to speak english! I’m english myself and when I went to the netherlands every single person I talked to could speak English at a high level, and believe me, i’ve talked to a lot of people. They were also very hostile and interested in my culture. And in other countries people might not look the same, but that’s just because they don’t seem to care what they wear. In the netherlands people do look a bit the same but they’re all very fashionable. I also thought the dutch women were gorgeous and very natural, unlike most women in England. And it’s true that they don’t like above average people, but that’s just because they don’t like to brag about themselves, see it as a good thing. Another thing, I went to a lot of parties, and the dutch people definitely know how to make them. Everyone was very free and nice, and the music was great. And they’re definitely not stuck in the past, maybe when you’ve visited Friesland or something you might think that, but the rest of the Netherlands lives more modern than any other country in Europe, legal weed, legal prostitutes, you don’t see that anywhere else. All in all, I think Holland is a great country and anyone should be happy to live there.
Alejo, did you learn any Dutch in your year in Holland? Yo creo que no. They’re too arrogant to give you a chance to learn or try to learn their language, they’re too busy showing off their fabulous Dutch linguistic skills, which believe me (and I wasted my time learning their language)are strictly limited.
Hmm, this is all very interesting to read as a Dutchmen. Somehow shocked because of some negative points, which I think aren’t true at all.
At first, dude. You went to Amsterdam and think you’ve seen all of the Netherlands? Not even close. The part of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Delft (lets just say ‘Holland’ which are the two provinces in the west) is very different if you compare it to the rest of the Netherlands.
So notice, when I speak about ‘Holland’ I’m only talking about the two provinces in the west.
If you want to get a taste of the Dutch culture, do NOT go to ‘Holland’. Not that ‘Holland’ is bad and all, its just more different. Go more country Side. You should have seen and experienced Eindhoven, Venlo, Deventer, Enschede. And not even this cities in particular, but the villages that surround them.
You certainly would have gotten a meal if you entered a home just after 18:00
For the people who think the Dutch can’t party.. You went to the wrong party mate
True, the family parties are boring (still depending on the type of family of course).
I am a traveler as well, at the moment I am in Malta for my education. The Dutch language isn’t very easy to learn for foreigners. And as long you’re not a dutch-teacher you do not want to learn other people our language. Except for ‘Neuken in de keuken’ which everybody knows of course! At least if you ever met a dutch person. Haha!
It probably has to do with the fact that dutch people are quite independent. They’re willing to help you out for a bit, but after that you will have to figure it out yourself.
Even in my opinion the best way to learn tho…
I’m actually not finished with clearing out your statements, but I have got to go. I’m curious how people will respond
Take care.
Unfortunately I have to agree with some of the above comments.When I first arrived here,one friend told me:Wait,you have to leave at least 3 years to understand how dutch people really are.
It`s been 7 years since I moved to the Netherlands.Everything looks so nice in the first two years maximum.Dutch people really treat you well and don`t mind speaking English to you if they (after they ask you:how long have you been here-always) know you are a tourist,a student or just arrived short time ago.
As soon as they know you are not a new comer anymore and you are far from being a tourist trouble begins.
But that`s a long story.
They all eat at the same time and they all eat the same stuff…
Dutch women all look the same (like men),with their ski jackets and short hair.
And they love to boss their husbands around.
About the family parties,everything has been said already!Nothing to add!
They are false tolerant…Yes you can smoke your joints,you can do whatever you want as long as you don`t do it next to them.
And they are full of themselves,they underestimate other nationalities,they think their country is the best if not to say the only one in this world.
And they can also be arrogant,specially women and people in their 30`s.Old people are far the most friendly one.
On public transportation,Dutchman don`t stand up to give a seat to a woman or even a pregnant women to seat down.They will only stare at you!And in some cases even run to get the seat first.
And if someone falls down in the middle of the street,don`t expect them to stop and help the person.It is none of their business they might think.
To finish with,Dutch people live by the book.If something that it is not written in their book happens,they don`t know how to behave…They freak out!
Now,it is not all negative about Holland….They are well organized and tolerant toward certain things (not towards people) and those are good points!
All these i wrotte is out of my own experience and that of so many “buitenlanders” I have spoken too.
No nation is perfect,but it seems like Dutch people can`t see that!
And to add one more thing : Dutch people expect you to respect their culture and in most of the cases to deeply assimilate it,but they will never respect your culture.They will always look at it as something out of this world!
Respect if you want to be respected!
I read the article with great interest, I am dutch myself but spend the last 5 years in the USA. the comments I read about the dutch are mostly true but they are true for every country I visited. We live by the fraze : act normal thats weird enough. words the USA could take too hart, a country filled with contradictions and religious fanatics. The netherlands is a simple country you reap what you sow….best country in europe though: Denmark. amazing place filled with gorgeous women and very friendly people. all in all Im glad to be back home where day to day life makes sence and youre taking care of from cradle to grave, no poverty or places I cant go because of high crimerates. we are very social and people can drop by whenever they want, except during mealtime (true, that is frowned upon)
….I’ve got 6 months to soke it all up and then back to the states. …Trust me, dont read books about “how to live with the dutch” all BS. its an international orientated country with influences from all around the world. most of us speak 2/3 languages next to dutch, be yourself, introduce yourself (because we wont) dont take yourself to seriously and you’ll be just fine…unless youre german
@ Martin
Dude wtf are you talking about. Clearly you know nothing about the Dutch. We don’t all eat at 6 o’clock, Dutch food is not tasteless (except Zuurkool, you’re right about that lol) and the women certainly don’t look like men. Look up Doutzen Kroes and then see me again about your fucked up statement. Im wondering where the fuck you’re from, cause you don’t know shit about the Netherlands. Do some more research before you spit your fucked up opinion on these great articles.
For the record, we (the Dutch) are the goddamn richest country of Europe so don’t talk about being stuck in the past. Have a nice day! NOT
A proud Dutchman
Dumb, stupid, fat, silly, fucked up, poor little kid.
Hey, 7 Years in this Country… I just wanted to point out something that should be obvious to you. You say the Dutch are ‘fake tolerant’ because they are all like ‘smoke your weed, just don’t do it beside me.’ Well, Caption Dumbass, that’s kind of the principal of being truly tolerant…. do whatever the fuck you want, just don’t bother me – I’m living my own life!
Just a small note “don’t feed the trolls”
And if someone actually IS that ignorant, yelling and swearing rarely help.
No country is perfect, and everybody seems to think that the one they come from is the best. Personally, I like antarctica.
I am a 25 year old dutchman who lives for almost two years in Spain/ Barcelona. I would like to make some comments.
In other countries, and in this case Spain the society always see The Netherlands as Holland. They never heard about that Holland is in fact two provinces or even the word The Netherlands or Pais bajos. As a Dutch man we like to talk about our country the Netherlands (especially with the soccer), and I think I am right that the other dutch people also prefer to talk about the Netherlands and not Holland (even that I am m from the Holland province Amsterdam). In spain they call the dutch language Hollandes, sounds really bad.
About the womans, it is truth that they are clothed really bored. Especially in the winter, they wear shoes called Uggs, new fashion raining shoes (do not know the name the exact name (Horrible to see for a man), and sneakers.
A man in general like to see a woman with soft or high heels. The dutch woman always wants to feel confortable and relaxy, otherwise with high heels they feel like a hooker.
Dutch woman could learn how to dress themselves from Spanish/ Italians woman, they are quite fashioned and taking care of the out look.
Dutch man are quite fashioned and dress themselves well, honestly. Better than in Spain.
About the real good looking womans the so called with Style/ Class, especially in cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague are always interested in your job/ position and the carreer route to follow.
Which car, and a lot of nonsense etc etc. Quite a lot are also arrogant. They can be quite boring.
In the south, east and north they are much less with this nonsense talk and quite friendly, less arrogant.
To conclude about the woman, they feel themselve above really emancipated and at least at the same level as a man, they like to be the boss in the house.
Keep in touch
The nature/ landscapes maybe it not exactly the culture subject but can be interesting for people from outside.
For the first instance the landscapes seems a bit boring, because all is flat without mountains.
But the landscapes (Bio diversity trees/ flowers) in especially during the spring period (April and May) are amazing in the Netherlands. Everything is extremely green. And there are also other things to see than only Amsterdam like nature parks like Veluwe, Gooi, Northern Islands (5), Biesbos for example. Above the country has so many lakes and water/ rivers.
I miss this actually in Spain, it is always good weather but the nature seems just dry and less biodiversity.
The dutch weather seems a bit a shit, but there are types of weather during the year (snow, cold, rain, hail and sun) that makes that it change all the time.
Not all of this things above said are true, though some are.
In my own personal oppinion (3 months), Dutch people are as much diversed as any other nation. I met really down to earth women and men and also very arrogant ones. I was staying in Amsterdam and a little bit in Roterdam. As you’d expect, the arrogant people are mostly those with alot of money, expensive cars etc, and the type of people that generally think being rich is equals being better.
I find Dutch women very very beautiful but sometimes not so fashionable dressed as our women (Croatia) – though this is purely my personal oppinion.
They certanly dress comfy.
Most of women I met are very independent and won’t be too happy if you try paying the bill in a restaurant yourself (something that in my country is expected from a man), which I found suprising. Some can be too bossy for my tastes. Though most are easy to talk to. Their English is really well as well, as already said.
Dutch people in general are very proud of their country, which I see as a good thing, though they’re definitely opened to any other nation’s customs, but they do prefer if you respect theirs.
The landscapes/nature was actually interesting and not boring at all, and I enjoyed the walks through parks in the morning.
The people seem to eat all at the different times, so the 6 o’clock thing in my oppinion isn’t quite true (or maybe for older people).
I didn’t like food, it wasn’t spicy enough for my taste – but this is personal tastes, I’m sure it’s fine for most of other people.
Lastly, I’d say tolerance is great, nothing greater for me then being around Dutch soccer fans watching a soccer match between our too nations, drinking beer and smoking and enjoying! While some of the comments in the heat of the moment wasn’t that great, I was respected for who I am and had no problems cheering for my country.
Great country, beautiful women, lots of stuff to do, diverse people, and imho great place to spend some time to get to know other culture.
Thanks,
Ed
As a Dutchman, I think I should put some things at their respected place.
First of all, this is a website for international students, so let us focus on that particular group in the Netherlands, as they are the ones you are most likely to hang out with if you are studying in the Netherlands.
Let me put some misperceptions out of place (for the Dutch student culture). The Dutch do NOT all eat at 6. This is a generalization of the old people in the netherlands, or people who have a 9 to 5 job.
Second, people who see the Dutch as intolerant are out of their minds, Holland is seen worldwide as the most free and tolerant countries in the world, and I can back that up with my experience as being a Dutchman. In the most extreme case for example, it is not weird in Holland to see a 13 year old boy or girl drinking at saturday nights till 5 in the morning, or to see them smoke a joint after school. It’s not just the drugs and laws, you are also very much respected as a foreign student. All the previous comments stating that foreigners felt unwelcome seem to be out of place, or you just met the wrong people ofcourse, every culture has those.
Furthermore, the typical Dutch woman (student) is very beautiful. True, the Dutch women and man prefer a natural look, you will not see a lot of “fake” women in Holland. We definitely do not like to see our women dressed or have their make up in a slutty way. It is true though that a lot of our women often prefer to feel comfortable instead of sexy. However, this is most definitely not true if you go out for parties at night, the women will dress up to look amazing (not slutty). Which brings me to the next point.
The Dutch are NOT boring. I study in the City of Groningen, which is the best city to be in (in the Netherlands) in terms of partying. 1: 30% of the population of groningen is a student. 2: the pubs/clubs do not have any closure times, so you can basically drink till 10 in the morning if you can last that long. 3: It is the youngest city of the Netherlands (as a result of the high density of students among the population). 4: All the clubs and pubs are free to enter and leave at any time, you also do not have to pay for entrance or garderobe. All of this leads to an amazing experience of going out. Everyone’s having a party, and the streets at 3 o clock in the morning are usually more crowded than during the day.
I must say, however, that Groningen’s party life is somewhat better than in the rest of the netherlands, but still, the rest of the netherlands are certainly not boring when it comes to partying.
Finally, multiple people have said that the dutch are so ordered and schedule-oriented, well… that is maybe true for business and work life, but as a Dutch student…. hehe, well, missing 60% of the lectures and being drunk at the other 40% is not uncommon, being late and eating or drinking or smoking whenever people want is also a daily practise.
To conclude, it might take you a little time to get to know some people, but just try to get along and become friends with some Dutch people (which is not so hard because everyone can speak english), and i’m sure you’ll have a great time in the Netherlands.
Thanks,
Reinaud
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, if you like electronic music (ie Hardstyle, Hardcore, dance, techno, trance, etc), holland has the best festivals for this kind of music, especially the harder styles
Just look on youtube or w/e for festivals like: Qlimax, DefQon.1, Dominator, Masters of Hardcore, Decibel Outdoor, Hard Bass, etc.
If you want to come to the Netherlands and study, that will be a great experience for you. People are welcoming in the BIG CITIES. People will speak to you in English, in the BIG CITIES, or if they are young.
If you are looking for friends over the age of 25 good luck!
These people lock themsleves in their houses and watch tv, except for sometimes on the weekends. People over 25 are too busy being bossed by their partners to enjoy their lives.
If your idea of tollerant is allowing young children to get wasted then yes the Dutch are. If your idea of tolerant is 3 men of African descent hainging out together while all the “Dutch” people look at them like aliens, then the Dutch are not tolerant. And as they will point out, they are “nicer” to more ethnic than “The French” and their neighbors, “The Germans.” But when you compaire yourselves to the people who slaughtered so many Jewish people, it is hard not to look tolerant.
In large cities people are nice, speak English freely, or if you are young. Otherwise, I am sad to say all the horrible sounding statements, are true!
Good Luck!
- I’m dutch
-I’m a girl and sorry to disapoint you but I don’t look like a guy
-I don’t eat at 6pm
- if a friend stops by at dinner time,he will get dinner too
-Not everyone here eats only dutch food,I almost never eat dutch food
-Most men are the boss at home
-not all peolple in holland are like the people in Amsterdam(if you’ve met there annoying people,I never did…)
-dutch people are open for other cultures
‘And if someone falls down in the middle of the street,don`t expect them to stop and help the person.It is none of their business they might think.’
-bullshit,we will help
uhhhh….USA!
I think there are MUCH to much preconceptions about the dutch people. U exaggerate many things in our culture! Thinks like ‘zure kool’ most people only eat lik once in a month or less. I don’t know where you got all of this information from, but… well, I just read the comment of Reinaud, and thats kinda what I think about this article too..
- I’m dutch
- I don’t think dutch girls look like guys
- I don’t eat at 6pm (more between 7 – 9)
- If a friend stops by at dinner time, he is welcome.
-Not everyone here eats only dutch food, most of the time I eat non-dutch food.
- not all peolple in the Netherlands are like the people in Amsterdam/Holland(if you’ve met annoying people, you have them in every country, meet other people who are nice)
- Dutch people are open for other cultures, but do expect you to adapt/integrate (e.g. learn dutch) if you are staying here for a long period of time (e.g. 3 years or longer)
‘And if someone falls down in the middle of the street,don`t expect them to stop and help the person.It is none of their business they might think.’
-bullshit,we will help
- Bragging or showing off is not a virtue indeed
I live in the Nederlands for almost 8 years and I agree with most of the negative and positive critics, although i have to say that i’ve always tried to learn why dutch culture is like that. Just want to add that when someone says that dutch people are fake tolerants it has to do with the fact that they always try to be so damn politicly correct all the time and for us foreigners it gets annoying because most of us are much more direct and we can even call stupid or asshole immediatly. Dutch people are much more reserved in making straight personal comments and therefore it’s difficult to know sometimes how they really feel or think about us or some situation. Most of other cultures (except for escandinavian countries) are more emotional than dutch people too, they think too much and do little compared with others and everything has to be scheduled. Their capacity of improvisation is too low and that freak me out when i came here, now i’ve learned to cope with it because there’s no other way. Elderly people are more friendly and very polite, always greet you and smile back. Amazing that most of them can also speak 1 or 2 languages besides dutch and they take time for you if u ask for directions for ex. I believe that if someone falls in de middle of the street most of the people will help after getting the picture of what happened. I think that many laws/rules in the Nederlands look better than what they really are, because they rarely give concrete information, you really have to read it careful before you sign something. The less you own here, the more freedom you have, dutch people don’t like much that foreigners get equal or above them financially. They’re nicer to you when you’re below their level and as long you stay there, if u try to get higher they’ll try to cut you down in whatever they can. They’re kind of “control freaks” when they can make demands because they can never loose control of what’s going on with their own world. The dutch people who are more simple and quite down to earth are the most interesting people I’ve ever met. This people can have so much awareness of about everything. I like the Nederlands, but I guess it’s very difficult not to leave at least once a year from here, even for dutch people. Although you’re allowed to be who you want to be, everything here is so under control that you feel u live in a big brother’s world and you feel the need to get out once in a while. Regards
After going through almost every comments here, I get the feeling that after all, my perception of dutch culture is the same as everyone else! I feel much difference comparing my (Indian) and the Dutch life-style. So it was a bit hard in the beginning when I first moved in, and had to be cautious in every thing i do or say. Comparing my Indianism and Dutch-ism, I think they are different, but not above each other.
I would say the Dutch are more materialistic and we are even more spiritualistic. Just an example, we have a saying back in our country that “whoever gives us atleast a drop of water to drink, seldom forget them till the end”. But here its not. Maybe on a life-saving situation, they wouldn’t forget, but I would never forget anyone who even shares a part of their meal with me during lunch. Indeed, I have my reasons, that its a good thing to remember them, and they have their reasons that its just give-and-take policy.
The good thing I like about these Dutch people is when I smile, I get the same in reply from almost everyone! This may be a text-book rule for them, but in the end, its always good to follow some good rules
@Esmee I don’t know were you live and who you’ve met but it’s sounds like you live in belgium:P. No but seriously I want to know were you live and what kind of people you’ve met. People don’t forget you can’t generalize a whole country.
i think the dutch are racists especially the young ones, i have been called zwarte piet,
not all dutch people can speak english for example in a shop i have met one till teller who completely refused to help me because she could not speak english and also the bus drivers sometime refuse to speak in english when you ask them for directions,
basically the dutch in my opinion expect you to learn their language in order to survive in the country,
and i also find their policy which if you are a student and are looking for a part job they expect you to speak dutch really unfair come on some jobs dont even need you to be talking to anyone like cleaning
on a positive note the dutch are well organised and very resourceful
I don’t think “The Dutch” can be generalized. Especially because there are so many people from different cultures and countries living in the Netherlands. The things I hear has a lot to do with the big difference between people from small towns and people from big cities, as is true for most countries. Of course you can find people who eat at six, are very strict, don’t like visitors at dinnertime and don’t speak English very well. But they will probably be of age and live in small towns. In larger cities, like Amsterdam, people eat later, speak English, party and look fashionably and are polite and friendly. I myself found similar differences while traveling through Spain.
The Dutch are thaught somewhere between two and five languages. English is almost a second language because a lot of the schoolbooks and television programs are in English. Speaking English to you is being polite and has nothing to do with not wanting you to learn their language.
And if you really want to know how Dutch people party: make sure you’re in Amsterdam on Koninginnedag; April 30th, the day they celebrate the queen’s birthday.
i’m dating a dutch guy and one thing i can say is that they don’t accept lateness, and i’m half spanish and half nigerian which mean i’m always late to everywhere and i remember that when my bf nd i started recently going out and i didn’t show up on our 2nd date simply bcos it wasn’t clear to me that we had a fixed appointment and neither did any of us call to confirm so i didn’t go, the next day i saw an email by him telling me how disrespectful i’ve been for not showing up and bla.. bla…bla, i felt bad and i apologised. But one thing i love about the ducth is that they are very straightforward people and they don’t beat about the bush, so when a dutch person tells you something, u can believe him/her 100%, and also they take time to show their feelings but when they feel they can trust you, u see how loving they can be and u know they’ve got ur back forever.
Oh and yeah they like to stick to a plan, they don’t change it no matter what.
@live in netherlands
1) I am not saying that I approve of Zwarte Piet, but somebody, especially a little kid, calling you Zwarte Piet is not actually racism. In my opinion this word is used incorrectly way too often. I suggest you look up the definition of the word racism because clearly you do not understand its meaning.
2) Your perspectives on speaking English in The Netherlands are not only wrong, but also show the typical wrong mentality of somebody looking for fortune in another country.
“bus drivers sometime refuse to speak in english when you ask them for directions”. Oh my, our bus drivers are really awful people….. You know, driving a bus is not actually something you need a college education for or so. So I can imagine that there are indeed some bus drivers who cannot speak English. Instead of complaining about that, why dont you just ask somebody else on the bus. You will surely find some person who can speak English and is willing to help.
“basically the dutch in my opinion expect you to learn their language in order to survive in the country”. Oh how awful of us. That we expect from people coming to live in our country that they learn the language that is spoken there…. So mean of us. You know, if I would ever choose to emigrate to another country, I would learn the language that is spoken there. That is not only how it should be in my opinion, but I also wouldnt want to have it any other way. Its all part of making a conscious choice to settle down in another country. And if you are not willing to do that, then maybe you should not move away from your own country.
“and i also find their policy which if you are a student and are looking for a part job they expect you to speak dutch really unfair”. First of all this is not true. I know many people in The Netherlands, students as well, that do not speak Dutch but still have jobs. Both part-time and full-time. Living in Amsterdam, I actually find it quite appalling to be told on a regular basis by a waiter in a cafe or bar that he does not speak Dutch. I doubt this ever happens in London, New York, or Paris. Imagine a Parisian sitting down on a terrace in the summer and ordering his vin blanc and the waiter saying: “Im sorry, I dont speak French”. In my opinion The Netherlands are way easier to live as an English speaker and I think we are way more tolerant to non-Dutch speakers than in many other countries. Why don’t you move to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, China, Japan, or any other non-English speaking country for a while and see how easy it will be there if you dont speak the local language.
Leave a Comment