10 things you probably didn’t know about the Dutch and the Netherlands
I lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years, and had a Dutch boyfriend for almost 4 years, so I know quite a bit about this quirky country and its unusual inhabitants (and I mean that in a good way). I’m going to share some pearls of wisdom about the Dutch and their country that I gleaned during my stay, and limit it to 10 because I could easily write 100 and bore you to death. Hope you enjoy.
1. Holland and the Netherlands are not synonymous. Holland is just one section of the Netherlands, largely the western coastal region, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Leiden and the Hague. However, other famous Dutch cities like Utrecht, Groningen, Maastricht, Den Bosch and Leeuwarden are *not* in Holland.
2. The Dutch love sprinkles on toast. I’m talking the sprinkles kids put on ice cream, but Dutch adults put it on bread. For breakfast. It’s called “hagelslag”, and De Ruijter makes the best kinds. Another variant, “muisjes” - little mice - are candied anise seeds; also delicious on buttered toast. You can get either pink, female, or blue, male, varieties. I’m not joking.
3. The Dutch will only eat one hot meal a day. If you arrive at a Dutch friend’s house around dinnertime, they might ask, “Heb je al warm gegeten?” which means “Have you eaten something hot already?” If you had a hot lunch, your friend will prepare a (cold) sandwich for you for dinner. You can not eat 2 hot meals per day.
4. Dutch “g” “ch” and “r” are all pronounced more or less the same (although the Dutch insist they’re different) - a harsh, guttural “kh” sound (like you’re clearing phlegm from your throat). So the word “gracht” (canal) combines all three “kh” sounds in one word…that sounds really, really awful: “khkhakht.” This is why “Grolsch” (the beer) sounds like “Khkhols”, not “grolsh”.
5. The Dutch love speaking English. See #4. Seriously, they all speak perfect, although heavily-accented, English. They will pronounce “idea” eye-DEE, and they will resist pronouncing it with 3 syllables in English, no matter how many times you correct them. On a related note, “I have no idea” is “geen idee”, which sounds a little like “rainy day” when pronounced correctly.
6. The Dutch loathe the Germans. Some pretend they don’t, some are openly proud of it, but they all look down on them. An example: I was walking along a beach (Schevengingen) with a Dutch guy, and we saw a guy furiously digging a hole in the sand. My Dutch friend sneered. I asked him why the guy was digging a hole. He said, “Because he’s a dumb German.” I pressed, but what for? Is he building a castle or something? “No, he’s just a stupid German! He can’t help it! The morons just love digging holes for no reason!”
Another story. A Norwegian friend flew down to Germany, rented a car there and drove to Rotterdam. He had parked on the street, and a cop approached him while he was in his car, and told him, in German, that he wasn’t allowed to park there and began writing him a ticket. When he looked at his driver’s license and saw he was Norwegian, he tore up the ticket, said, “Park wherever you want” and “Welcome to Holland!”, all in English.
7. The country is drenched with rain year round, but the Dutch never use umbrellas. They use raincoats and rain “suits”, but they never use umbrellas (too hard to ride your bicycle with one; plus, it’s *really* windy all the time). The Dutch will happily put up with wet faces and heads. The “wet look” is permanently “in” there.
Another oddity is no matter how much it rains and floods temporarily, all the water’s gone in about 20 minutes. I think it’s because the ground is mostly sand; the water just drains away. The cement blocks used as a road surface are taken out every few years, the sandy ground is pounded flat with this sand-pounding-machine (seriously) and then they replace the cement blocks.
8. The Dutch have strange snacking habits. They eat fries (what they’re famous for) but they’re often drenched in mayonnaise or pindasaus (basically spicy peanut butter). They also love frikandel (all the scary remnant parts of animals they can’t sell elsewhere, pressed into a vaguely hotdog shape, and then deep-fried until dark brown; yes, it looks like a piece of shit), kroketten (deep-fried lumps of dough wrapped around meat, that look like dried-up old turds), and cheese souffles, which are greasy but I have to admit, pretty damn tasty. The most famous purveyor of this junk is a chain called Febo; you buy everything out of an automat. They’re everywhere, especially inside train stations, and open late when you’re coming out of the clubs at 3am.
9. You heard about the Dutch using free bicycles provided by the government? Nope - that’s the Danish. The Dutch love using bicycles (called ‘fietsen’, pronounced FEETS-un), but in every city, theft is rife and you have to use 2-3 locks to prevent even a piece of shit bike from being stolen. This is why the average Dutch person doesn’t spend more than $50 for a bike - it’ll eventually get stolen. Junkies in the Amsterdam red light district will sell you a bike for 10 euros (25 guilders before the euro changeover), but be careful; if you buy one and a cop sees you, you go to jail.
There are specially-designated “fietspaden” (bike paths) all over the country, and pedestrians can not walk on them. If you hear a bell ringing–that’s how the Dutch tell people to get out of the way–then pay attention! You’re about to get mowed over.
10. The Dutch are not big potheads. Despite it being legal there (along with “magic mushrooms”), you almost never see a Dutch person getting high. You see TONS of foreigners - Brits, Americans, Germans, etc - smoking out in Dutch “coffee shops” (”coffee shop” means marijuana; “cafe” means coffee, so pay attention to what the establishment calls itself), but it’s pretty rare to see a Dutch person there. The legalization is tied to a very Dutch concept called “gedoogbeleid” which is difficult to translate but means permissiveness-because-there-are-bigger-fish-to-fry. The Dutch live below sea level, so they have plenty of dams & dikes keeping the water out. To relieve pressure on this system, a little water always trickles through - that’s okay as long as they can keep the floods out. This is often why the Dutch are said to not care about trivial drugs like marijuana and magic mushrooms - so they can focus on hard drugs like cocaine and meth (which are very much illegal).
There’s my list. Let me add something that I found in a tourist brochure given out at the Schiphol (SKHIP-hull, not Shiffol!) airport, which I think totally captures the Dutch attitude (I’m paraphrasing because I don’t have it here):
- Please keep in mind that not all of the women you see in the windows in the Red Light District are really women.
- If something bad happens to you, please find a policeman/policewoman and explain the situation to us. Please do not be embarrassed - we have really seen it all before. You couldn’t possibly shock us.
Posted on July 30th, 2008 by JM
I just wanted to mention that the fries are more a thing of Belgium, not the Dutch.
You missed out one important part about the Dutch and eating culture: they love having “boterhammen met kaas” (loafs of bread with cheese) topped with peanut butter or jam.
It’s a great story, keep up the good job and maybe see you again in the Netherlands.
Michelangelo
Michelangelo: You’re right; patat has its origins in Belgium, but they’re still ridiculously popular in NL.
I definitely left out some of the other Dutch culinary items like boterhammen met kaas, met ham, poffertjes, stroopwaffels, tosti’s, etc. and my FAVORITE: komijnekaas! (I’ve been able to find it here every now and then.)
Love the Netherlands - look forward to visiting it again.
Nice
Erhm, i’m from Holland and i’m quite sure there’s no difference between The Netherlands and Holland. The zone you refer to is called ‘De randstad’.
I hate to have to do this, you being a Dutchman and all, but de Randstad only refers to the the cluster of Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht (the last *not* in Holland) and their surrounding areas.
Holland is composed of the provinces of Noord Holland and Zuid Holland, and most definitely does not include Utrecht, Groningen, Leeuwarden, etc.
Substantial overlap but not the same things.
Well, i suppose you’re right. Maybe you should add an item about the poor education over here.
Haha, I would, but that would be terribly hypocritical (I’m American).
And the Dutch are notoriously anal, as the last couple of posts prove.
What’s up with all the Dutch not knowing their own country? Their education is truly really, really poor. I once had to do the same to some exchange student named Amcke, she thought she was really smart. But she had no idea Holland was not the same as the Netherlands, even though she was Dutch.
But then again, it may just be because I’m German and thus superior.
Okay, I’m a little biased. I’m Belgian, living just across the dutch border. Let’s get some things clear. First: fries are a Belgian thing. There is no such thing as GOOD dutch fries. I’m not going to say we invented them. Go to Belgium and ask a local about a GOOD frietkot (as we call them). Success guaranteed. Second. Holland is NOT The Netherlands. Those who say it is, are the real ‘Holland’ dutch. Stay away from them. (well, most of them…) But DO visit Friesland, Noord-Brabant, Drenthe, Limburg (a favorite!), … Third. Good beer? Just a couple of miles south…
Well, number 6 would certainly explain a lot. My former boss is Dutch (and spoke with a heavy accent, ja?) and every time I wore the ‘Germany’ T-shirt I bought at EPCOT, he gave me merciless grief. I expect some of that comes from being occupied during WWII…(quite possible he was old enough to remember).
Thanks for a great post
Wikipedia knows all (and if not, correct it!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland
Hey , I’m Mexican and i want to say your article was superfluous.
Can’t wait to go there. I’ve been in Europe before, but I’ve never stayed for living on the Neads, it seems to be a pretty good life experience… maybe I will travel there next year.
It seems the only problem is the language.
Please give more - I have Dutch friends - this is an insight to them!!!
What about droppies?
The sprinkles were noteworthy on my voyage to Amsterdam.
Great article~
This article is full of B.S. Thumbs down.
what about the pancakes! When I lived in Amsterdam i could not get enough. Also, going to a dutch birthday party is one of the most awkward things in the world if you don’t know ‘the rules’.
Fascinating stuff.
The thing that struck me most about Amsterdam, last time I was there, (August Bank Holiday 2005) while sitting out on the pavement somewhere near the Dam, and getting very pleasantly stoned, was “Where are the sirens?”
Actually this train of thought was triggered by a siren. I suddenly realised it was the first siren I’d heard since we arrived about 5 hours earlier. This was about half ten on a Friday night in a European town with a population of about half a million(?). If I’d been in ANY British town of more than one fifth that population at that time, the evening would have be a continuous chorus of sirens.
From Friday night to Monday Night on a very hot weekend (which meant that there were a lot of people on the streets and out late) in Amsterdam, I heard just 5 sirens. I have no idea whether that is typical, whether it’s due to some special anti noise laws they have or what. But the impression I got was that it reflected the low number of incidents which justified a siren in the first place. It was certainly impressive.
Apart from the stolen bikes, have you any idea of the relative crime rates in NL (v UK) and are you aware of any good sources of data. My working hypothesis is that Cannabis - when it’s not treated psychotically by the State - reduces rather than increases overall crime and Amsterdam is a living experiment to test that empirically. But I can’t seem to find a definitive data source…
hi
im not dutch but i life in holland for over 10 years (i´m 13)
um they changed the frikandel they dont put any cow intestins and oher rests in it animore mostly i’ts jjust pig in it so you dont have to worry
you forgot to ad that pannekoekenhuizen “pankakehouses”
are veryvery popular
and the education is very we compared to in america ^^
and holland is the same as the netherlands
de fries “patat” are not detched in mayonase
i’m french and english
i couldve sworn marijuana and shrooms were illegal, but the authorities just didnt care…
they make a misery to indonesian… thousand miles away from they are, now…
http://tinyurl.com/5syzsu for 350 years of time…
looting, torturing….
http://tinyurl.com/oy58g
something that you SHOULD NOT forget!
This was a really interesting read. So nice to find something like this about a country I didn’t know much about.
I’m dutch-Indonesian (born in Canada) please explain further the “issue” with Indonesia….My Oma never mentioned any racism towards her.
I’m married to a Dutch gal. They do like their drop (licorice). The average Dutch person eats five pounds of it a year, but my sweetie eats about twenty. You’re right about animosity toward Germans. Many familys were affected badly by German attrocities during the occupation. A visitor to the Netherlands may feel they’ve entered the land of giants. They’re the tallest people on Earth. It’s not unusual to see a six foot two Dutch girl walking down the street in highheel boots.
Well, it seems you don’t know so much about Holland as you claim to do.
Firstly, hemp (weed, grass, dope, wiet) is NOT legal in the Netherlands. Anyone who has lived in the country long enough knows this. Tourists don’t know this.
Weed (the stuff sold in the coffee shops) is “tolerated”, but not legal. There is a tolerance amendment in the Opium Act regarding this.
And secondly, the Dutch don’t “hate” the Germans as you claim. This statement I find very racist. Like with any nationality, it depends on the person not on where they come from.
Next time, get your facts straight. I found your article not never well written.
t.
What a civilized society.
[...] 10 things you didn’t know about the Dutch and the Neterlands [...]
[...] things you probably didn’t know about the Dutch and the Netherlands. But now you’re [...]
About the kh (ch/g/r); that’s just their accent; and definitely not the language. In Flanders (that’s the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) we pronounce them quite differently and distinctive, and no horrible kh sounds…
Although I guess we make are own pronunciation “mistakes” (for my region that would be using the “french r” instead of the “rolling r”, pronouncing double vowels as single and pronouncing the I sound to sharp…)
And then there’s the slight difference in vocabulary. For example the word “poepen” has quite a different meaning in these two Dutch speaking regions…
I’m really curious why Dutch hate the Germans so much.
The languages sound so similar…..
So, why are ‘patat frites’, originating in Belgium indeed, being called ‘french fries’ by the anglo-saxons?
To someone who understood neither German or Dutch it may well sound like American English vs British English, but modern German evolved quite differently and there were constonant and vowel shifts which made words that were otherwise spelt similarly, sound quite different.
I’d say Dutch is half way between English and German and they all have alot in common - a common example:
Wasser pronounced ‘vasser’ in German
Water pronounced ‘vaater’, note the t and long a in dutch.
Water in english (bless the shocking phonetics, pronounced ‘waugh-ter’, I can’t even begin to explain it.)
Amusingly the Swiss who speak a form of German sound like they have a Dutch accent to my ears!
also on point 5) Dutch speaking English - I think their accent is influenced by an American one due to their television consumption - But I suspect their English is more internationally understandable than most spoken by English people in England.
Also, as for the behaviour of colonial powers in past centuries, can anyone honestly cite an example of perfect behaviour ? The Belgians, Portuguese, French, English, Italians etc all left huge problems in their land-grabbing wake, behaved callously and disenfranchised huge numbers of people. If you’re going to pick on the Dutch at least mention the rest.
The Dutch are an exceptionally tolerant society now. I haven’t met any truly racist Dutch - there are some more against immigration than others though, and I’m sure there are some burn-them-all racists as well, as you find both types hidden away under every country’s bed.
The animosity for the Germans comes from a bitter rivalry in soccer. The Germans always win.
The definition of “Holland” differs from person to person, but oficially it’s the region comprised of Noord Holland and Zuid Holland. Still, no Dutchman is going to tell you off for calling all the the Netherlands “Holland”.
About the legality of weed: You can sell it, but you are not allowed to grow it.
Having had the privilege of staying in a few Dutch homes when holidaying in the Netherlands, I would like to say that all the families ALWAYS had umbrellas(7), and I even managed to ride a bike using one when needed.
Never been there before, but you sure give a good picture of it.
I wasn’t really interested in this country before but now I’ve read your post, I might have a go one of these days.
Thank you very much for this discovery.
Hi, I’m Dutch, and would like to explain a bit. I really liked this article, because you are mostly very right, and it is interesting to see what other people think of our culture.
The blue and pink “muisjes” are a tradionally treat, when sprinkled on “beschuit” ( a sort of biscuit, often used as breakfast). When a child is born, the parents often serve “beschuit met muisjes”, and of course, that’s where the colors are for.
And the reason that the Dutch don’t really like Germans, is that some of them are very rude as tourists. They often refuse to speak anything but German (they exspect the same from you when you are there) , and they are known for digging huge holes at the beach. The “hate” for Germans is also a remnant of WW II for some older people.
And about the term “Holland”, that is indeed the name of the two western provinces ( Noord-Holland & Zuid-Holland) combined, but most of the people use it as a nickname for the whole Netherlands.
Here in Belgium it’s the same, the youth (and I’m one of them) thinks it’s cool to keep shitting on the Germans “to take revenge for the World War”, we all do it in here!
hi,
i wanted to start by complementing you on a very good portrayal of some of the weird dutch customs.
However I wouldn’t say we hate the Germans. We just have a big grudge against them and it is more of a prejudice really.
Also i want to thank all the Belgians for their very amusing comments (please stop relating yourself to us and instead find a working government or decide on what language to speak).
Yah it might have been worth mentioning when our jokes are not based on Germans they are based on Belgians ( because of their extremely low IQ)
uhm that’s pretty much all i had to say =p
Well, wait till you hear what Germans think about the Dutch - especially when they see them on the Autobahn!
But seriously - I’m not sure if the Dutch antagonism toward the Germans is as extreme as you wrote. I often meet Dutch tourists and travellers overhere in Germany and they are all very nice and mostly speak at least some German. I don’t know a single German who speaks as much Dutch. They just laugh at their accents and call them “Käskopp” (Cheeseheads).
But allow me one positively biased assertion: I think the Dutch people have a really great, sarcastic sense of humour!
The practice of tolerating open marijuana use was the same here in London - the attitude being it’s relatively safe, but there are more important things to worry about. Still - the drug is illegal.
Loved the observations. I have a Dutch boyfriend, and dated another Dutchie last year, visting AMS several times. Not seing things from a tourist’s perspective opened my eyes to certain things: The Dutch DO have a certain ’side eye’ attitude to the Germans; they have a very dry and offbeat sense of humour, and also, I’m told the attitude to sex is more conservative than it would appear.
Visitors could be forgiven for thinking that all Dutch people walk around with a spliff in one hand and an erection in the other. That’s really not the case!
I loved AMS, and hope to live there one day and explore the rest of NL/Holland. From what I’ve seen, it’s an interesting, quirky place and I feel right at home there!
LOVE this post! It makes me want to learn the language more than anything, actually. Thanks!
Holland, hol = hollow, land = land, thus ‘hollow land’ meaning the diked area’s which are lower than the sea forming hollow pieces of land. Technically the provinces Zuid- and Noord-Holland can be regarded as Holland only but most other provinces of the Netherlands have diked area’s (we are a delta country so we have dikes against rivers as well) and could be considered Holland.
I love the Germans and the prejudice against them is mostly a result of mass psychosis and is one of the many lesser things about living here.
My girlfriends is Dutch. She can’t stop going on about tosti. Drives me nuts
Stumbled upon this page. Interesting points you make. And mostly accurate. Being Dutch I would know, wouldn’t I. The thing about The Netherlands and Holland: Officially the country is called The Netherlands, but whenever I’m abroad I always say I’m from Holland. And when we cheer for the national football (soccer to you) team we say Hup Holland Hup. So basically we all get it wrong from time to time.
The thing about pot being legal is so complicated that even the best lawyer would have difficulty explaining it.
As for us not liking the Germans, I think that’s pretty much universal. Try going to France for instance. They really can’t stand them there. I suppose this all still has to do with WWII.
I assure you the Dutch snacks, although they may not look appealing to you, have to meet rigorous standards and are not made from leftovers that can’t be sold anywhere else. Even though that’s a popular myth and just about anybody will tell you that they are made with cows eyes and ears and whatever else you can think of.
But we do use umbrellas, even on our bicycles. But we’re obsessive about them. like the English.
The thing about bicycles being stolen is, unfortunately, true.
I’ve had two of mine stolen over the years.
Once again i liked your article. It’s always nice to see a foreigners view of this lovely country.
I meant to say we’re NOT obsessive about umbrellas
Apparently the Germans have no love for the Dutch either.
A german friend told me this joke:
What are the 4 phases of water?
A: liquid, solid, gas….and a Dutch tomato
Whenever I’ve told this to a German, they laugh hystreically, saying “Ja, is true!”
hehe. its funny to read all of these comments. Some of them seem like the person only knew about two words of english. Esspecially some of the dutch comments. Anyway, i’m part dutch. my last name, de Vlaming, is dutch. Apparently there is a hotel in Amsterdam, or some city in holand, that is the de Vlaming hotel. I am american and NO ONE pernounces it right here. the pernounce it like \defleming.\ It gets on my nerves!!
American child of a Dutch mother here. You forgot to mention the very weird concept of “gezellig” in Dutch culture. I’m not sure what the actual definition is, but my Oma once explained it to me as “togetheryness”. It is usually used to describe long family get-togethers and large crowds involved in pointless activities in my experience.
Also, there’s the issue of “Ik kan niet” (pardon my spelling if that’s not right; I don’t speak the language). In short, the Dutch refuse to do pretty much ANYTHING the first time you ask. The respond with “Ik kan niet” or “I can’t do that.” Once while we were on a trip to Holland, my mom approached a woman at a ticket counter and spoke to her in English about switching trains. She was greeted with a series of “Ik kan niet”s until she gave up, switched to Dutch and say “I don’t care if you can’t. I can be a pissy Dutch lady as well as you can. I want to switch trains!” The ticket was rapidly granted.
And finally, on bicycles- the standard practice (if you can get away with it) is that if your bike is stolen you just steal someone else’s bike. Thus the entire country is constantly about 5 bikes short of its population. It’s like a game of musical chairs.
And finally, the Dutch birthday song may be the most obnoxious thing in the world when your half-deaf Opa sings it at high volume irrespective of the neighbor’s preferences… Actually, scratch that. It’s obnoxious regardless of who’s singing it!
(But god, hagelslaag is good stuff. As is all dutch chocolate, cookies, pastry, and poffertjes!)
How could you not have included oliebollen…..as homer simpson would say mmmmmmm doughnuts.
I really enjoyed reading the post and comments. I am actually an American but I am of Dutch and German background. I guess that I am proof that at least once a Dutch and a German liked each other enough to get it on!
What is bothering me though is that I really don’t understand the Germans digging big holes at the beach? Can anyone please explain this for me, other than just being stupid Germans? My yard looks like swiss cheese.
I don’t even think the Germans dig holes that often, I think it is just a myth started by a comedian or something. But when we see holes in a beach, we would always say: “oh, those Germans….”.
O, and the best way to keep your “fiets” from getting stolen is to paint it in a bright color and make it recognizable. And your “stadsfiets”, the bicycle you use in the city, has to be pretty much worthless.
well, how do I emigrate to the Netherlands?
Interesting observations. I heard if you try anything related to drugs in Rotterdam you will find the almost opposite as perceived by the public, partly results from it being a huge shipping port. I live in New York City and work in archaeology and we have had Dutch visitors (too few) who work dig cisterns, privies, etc., to compare the social history with the records that are written about later. I live on Holland Ave. in the Bronx, but it was named after a Mr. Holland, thought too built on landfill in the former Bear Swamp where Regis Philbin grew up. The next street over is Rhinelander, another family, and we try to live in peace.
Steak - funny, what you say about everyone hating the Germans… when I’ve traveled in Europe everyone has said the same about the Dutch.
Some Australian friends of mine were traveling in France in a rented Dutch vehicle and they were harassed mercilessly until people spoke to them and realized they were actually Australian. From that point on it was all smiles and hospitality… I’ve heard a lot of people complain about A) lunatic Dutch drivers (and I have to say I saw a LOT of them in Germany and France) and B) the fact that the Dutch (much like what you’ve said about the Germans) refuse to speak anything but their own language and bring all their own stuff from home, contributing very little to the local economy.
As for myself, I’ve traveled a little bit in Holland (yes, Holland, not the Netherlands ;D) and I loved it. It was beautiful (very rainy though) and the people were great.
I worked in the Netherlands for six years,in a small town on the west coast called Noordwijk. I started as a bulb monkey on the processing line and ended up as forklift driver and floor manager. My Bosses,Corne and Ingrid Hogervorst, became two of my best friends and epitomised the dutch attitude.Work hard and we’ll let you play hard.
The area I lived and worked in was over run with ittinerant workers every summer,Irish,Spanish,Ozzies and English, but the local Dutch population took it in their stride and put up with our antics year after year with no real complaint.As long as you turned up for work reasonably straight and sober they had no worries.
To sum up,I f*****g love the Dutch,their country,their attitude,their weed and their vast range of good munchies.
Signed , A Disgruntled Brit.
Great post, and very informative! I really want to go to the Netherlands now.
Very funny and reveiling story from a foreigner about us. I agree with you on the Dutch speeking english with a heavy accent. This is true and I have no idea why they (we) do this (`dis`as we say, haha). There is one thing, though, I must disagree with you on and that is when you say that we hate the Germans. I would like to differentiate that a bit. There are at least as much Dutch people who love them as there are Dutch people who do not like them. Only in soccer we all hate them! But it is true that they love to dig holes in the sand!
“B) the fact that the Dutch (much like what you’ve said about the Germans) refuse to speak anything but their own language”
Definitely not true
“bring all their own stuff from home”
True
French drivers are insane go to Paris and try to find a car without a dent/ Furthermore, last summer those Frenchmen tried to plow in my motorcycle three times. Never happened to me in the Netherlands.
Although Germans and Belgians are generally looked down upon by the Dutch, this is purely prejudice. Belgians and Germans are great people if you ask me.
Saying that dutch is halfway between English and German is about the same as saying English is halfway between Frisian and German. http://www.danshort.com/ie/iecentum.htm
PS yes I am Dutch (and therefore biased off course)
I deeply enjoyed this article, JM. And, I did give it a thumbs up on Stumble Upon. Very interesting. Thanks.
The Germans dig holes at the beach to mark their spot. They then lay in it and act as though they own it. Now if we could just go ahead and cover them up while they are in there we would have a lot less Germans to worry about!
Interesting Article! As a fluent German speaker I consider it easy to understand Dutch. I just imagine them trying to speak proper German with a piece of cardboard stuck under their tongues.
I’m a german girl who lives in Aachen (Germany) and commutes to College in Maastricht (Netherlands), where all lessons are given in Dutch every day - so I guess I’m living the intercultural dream. I’d like to throw in the fact that we have a German quota of about 40% at our Dutch college, and apart from a few idiots who have their heads firmly jammed up their arse, we all get along just fine.
Granted, in the beginning there are prejudices on both sides, but in a mentally healthy person, those prejudices are reduced to mere joke-material pretty quickly.
Hewloow,
I like to ramble, so here I go!
You’re right about number 1: Holland isn’t the same thing as The Netherlands. ‘Holland’ used to be a duchy: Holland. There was another ‘Holland’ nearby, so they called them North and South Holland. Then there were many wars with the French, the Spanish, the Germans, etc, and all the duchies surrounding Holland (like Utrecht, Brabant, Limburg, Drenthe, Overijssel, etc) became part of the Low Lands (Nether Lands). ‘Low’, because our land is flat and low, and because there were many ‘polders’ with levies to protect them. Later, the southern part of The Netherlands seperated and became Belgium. There are some provinces in Belgium that bare the same names as in The Netherlands (Limburg, Brabant). North and South Holland occupy most of the west coast, but not all.
Number 2: aahh.. you’re absolutely right on that one.
Number 3 about the Dutch having only one hot meal a day is just bullocks. Where did you get your info from?! Some people eat two or even three hot meals a day, some eat no hot meals at all. It’s just how you were raised and how you choose to live your life I guess. The Dutch are generally used to having a hot meal around 6 or 7pm. The French have theirs at around 8pm, but that’s because otherwise it would be too hot. The French and other ‘hot’ countries have a siesta, the Dutch don’t (they work from 9 to 5), so they get hungry earlier. What you meant to say was: when the Dutch ask: ‘have you had a hot meal yet?’ and you say ‘yes’, the people asking you assume you already had your hot meal at dinnertime. So then they want to be hospitable and ask you if you are still or again hungry. Many people will just ask you if you’d like to join them for dinner. Others will just grab some sandwiches and hangout in front of the tv because they’re too lazy to cook!
On to number 4: the ‘g’ and ‘r’ sounds ARE different. The ‘g’ comes with no ‘tone’; no sound (using your voice), the ‘r’ does and both are pronounced using different parts of the mouth. It’s like the English ‘g’ (gee) and ‘r’ (ar) are also pronounced using different parts of the mouth. Our ‘normal, hard g’ comes from the back of the throat, like you’re scraping it. Then we also have southern parts of The Netherlands that have a ’soft g’, which doesn’t take as much ‘muscle’ to produce it. Also, the latter comes with a slight vocal sound.
Just to make it easy on y’all, we have three kinds of ‘r’s, believe it or not. It’s kinda hard to explain, but generally speaking, there are two kinds of ‘tongues’ in The Netherlands. One kind uses ‘r’-sounds that seem harder than the rest of us. Also, the Dutch will often use two types of ‘r’s. One hard, one soft. The hard one we use for words starting with an ‘r’; the softer one we use for the ‘r’s in the rest of the word. People who use the ‘rolling r’ often also use that for all ‘r’s in every frickin’ word, some ‘rolling r’ speakers will use the softer ‘r’ sound for ‘r’s in the rest of the word. One ‘r’ sounds exactly as the English one, softly. The second comes from the back of the throat, yet uses a slight different part than the ‘hard g’. The third ‘r’-type is the rolling are and comes from the front of the mouth, using the tongue.
Number 5: it’s true many Dutch speak English with a typical Dutch accent. But those are generally older people (40+). Younger people speak English very well, mostly with an American accent.
6: Then our hate for the Germans.. I really don’t know where that comes from. Where did you get that weird idea???!!!
No, just kidding: we do hate them very, very much. But the story about the Norwegian guy just can’t be true. Our cops are the most stubborn in the whole entire world and will never waive a ticket.
7: you say we never use umbrellas.. Why wouldn’t we use umbrellas?! That’s just a myth. If it rains, and I’m in reach of one, OF COURSE I’ll use it!
And what’s this about cement blocks???? What did your friend tell you? Of course, we know the concept of asphalt (d’oh!!!!). We don’t have cement blocks for roads, except in some rare places on ‘De Veluwe’ where some old German roads from the war are sill used. And they don’t get lifted up to flatten the sand hahaha! (you’re hilareous!)
8: we don’t eat fries, frikandel and kroket all the time. Again: only in the big cities do you see more people eating them, just because they’re visiting that city, just like you and all other tourists. If you go to a country and visit a McDonalds, would you write a piece about the people of the country you’ve been through, eating nothing but McDonalds just because that was the only thing you saw? Also: fries do NOT have their origins in Belgium. Believe it or not; the Chinese had them first. Always the Chinese… Potatoes, where fries are made of, also come from China.
9: we don’t ride bikes all the time. In fact, many roads in The Netherlands are the busiest roads in Europe, filled with cars. Not bikes. It’s true that we have many ‘bike roads’, and so do the Belgians, the French, the Germans, the Italians, the Spanish, and so on.. In fact, I’ve cycled from The Netherlands all the way to the south of France this summer and often we were riding on these ‘fietspaden’. Before my ‘bike holiday’, I didn’t even own a bike for like 15 years or so. You write that if you buy a stolen bike, you go to jail. As you do in pretty much all civilized countries. Then you write about our bikes being stolen all the time. Again: only in the bigger cities, just like in the rest of the world. I can’t remember how often I left my bike in the streets when I was young, unlocked, afraid that it might be stolen, only to find it neatly parked where I left it hours later. And if cyclists ring their bell and you don’t get out of the way, we just slow down and pass you carefully.
10: Finally, you get one thing right where most Americans f*** up. We are NOT high all the time! w00t! Some people do, but again: just like in the rest of the world. They’re called junkies.
But then I read on about our ‘dikes’ (levvies). Wrong, wrong, wrong, missy. What do you think? That we build our dikes just to be strong enough when there is water running through?? We have a huge water-management-system here. For instance, water is running through to prevent the water from standing still, collecting germs and diseases. Running water is cleaner than stale water, everybody knows that. Also, there is no chance any dikes breaching, except in the ‘old’ country, because they were all built keeping in mind that the waterlevel might rise.
OMG what a ramble this turned out to be! My text might even be longer than your original! haha!
Nice post though, you have been Stumbled!
Good article. Although there is one BIG notable abscence in both the thread and the comments; dutch Christmas traditions. Not that american christmas traditions make any sort of rational or religious sense, but i find the history of christmas in the the Netherlands (Holland?) truly bizzare.
My take, and someone please correct me if Im wrong, is that for some time leading up to St. Nicholas Eve (Dec.5) children are encourged to fill their shoes with food for St. Nick’s horse, in return for which they receive trinkets from his small cadre of black slave children. They do this, not just in hopes of getting stuff but also in order to have their names recorded by the big Nick in his Golden Book, rather than his Black book. Those lucky children noted in the Golden book will wake up the morning after St. Nicholas Eve to find “surprises” or presents left for them by the above mentioned slave children. If they were bad boys and girls, landing them a spot in the Black book, instead of presents and gifts they receive a surprise of a different sort. Zwarte-Piet or Black Peter, who is either the captain of the child slaves or just the head clone(?), comes through the chimney while the child is asleep and tosses the errant youth into the same sack normally full of presents and proceeds to kidnap him back to Spain. I have read other versions where before the kidnapping, but after the kids is thrown in the sack, 8 grown black men under the orders of Zwarte Piet beat the crap out of him/her.
As an American, whose christmas traditions were largely created by Macy’s and Coca-Cola (research Haddon Sundblom and J.C. Leyendecker for starts if curious), i will admit that what I grew up with makes just about as much sense your average television commercial. However, about the worse thing I ever had to deal with was the idea of being called naughty by a fat bearded stranger in his bath robe (my honest-to-god childhood interpretation of Santa) and maybe some coal in my socks.
But seriously… A black child (or a child in black-face covered in soot, whatever) coming with a religious mandate to kidnap in my sleep me if I was bad…
Anyway, I’ve had several good laughs about this with some friends I have in Rotterdam, and thought it deserved an honorable mention at the very least.
=)
Looking forward to visiting NL soon.
To Esteban: the word ’superfluous’ doesn’t mean ’super.’ It means “unnecessary, esp. through being more than enough.”
I believe the term you were looking for was ’super-duper.’
: )
Dutch Liquorice! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
Absolutely fabulous.
it’s rot to say the Dutch don’t like a toke though, I’ve seen many people have a coffee and a joint before going to work.
Which I think is admirable.
But you won’t find many European countries where a large section of the populace remember what the Germans did in the second world war, so underestimate it at your peril
You see the same thing in Thailand with the Japanese.
A very enjoyable read and VERY informative! And I love those little pancake things - they sell them at market stalls here in Sydney. But I have to know - that comment about going to Dutch birthday parties and their being the most awkward thing in the world if you don’t know ‘the rules’? Tell me more!
Interesting tidbit about the Krauts and their constant digging of holes.
I live near the beach here in Canada, and one day I saw a tour bus nearby with its passengers on the beach digging holes with whatever implements they could find.
Intrigued by this curious behavior, I wandered over to where the excavations were taking place, and sure enough - it was a bunch of Germans. I told my dog to go over and dig, which he loves doing anyway, and the Germans were delighted by this, clapping their hands and babbling away in that curious language of theirs.
Well I love Holland/the Netherlands and the Dutch. I have worked there a few times and they are a very friendly bunch and, unlike the Welsh, are certainly not hated by the rest of Europe.
Just don’t say that Dutch is a bit like German and you will get along fine.
Thanks for the informative post. Cheers from sunny Turkey.
Love and Peace.
Ali
Nice article!
I’m dutch myself, and the things you say, are really true. There are little dutch people in coffeshops, totally true!!
And the snacks, they may sound strange, but in fact, they are delicious IMO, especcially frikandel speciaal.
[...] Daily Candor » 10 things you probably didn’t know about the Dutch and the Netherlands (tags: amsterdam dutch vacation jessica) [...]
@Lindarama: the little pancakes you?e referring to are called ‘Poffertjes’ and are made of somewhat the same stuff that go into their bigger brothers. I have no idea where they came from or who invented them, but I’m sure that if you Google them up, you’ll find them. Perhaps Wikipedia knows them.
We eat them mostly at kids parties and on Queensday. They are most delicious if you eat them with butter and powdered sugar. Don’t eat too much of those, though!
Greetings,
Icarus
About Dutch birthday parties :
http://everything2.com/e2node/Dutch%2520birthday%2520party%2520protocol
I’m Dutch myself and have been to parties that went exactly like this !
But when me or one of my friends has a birthdayparty we just crank the stereo get horribly stoned and drunk “stronken” and dance the night away.
Nice story there. You’re right about Holland and the Netherlands, but most Dutch people also use it interchangably. The ‘g’ ‘ch’ and R sounds(especially the latter) are very different.
About the Germans: I’m not sure who you’ve met(yes, I also know quite a few people who hate germans) but honestly, that’s just not everyone. Far from it actually.
Hey,
First of all I want to say that I agree on most of the things in your article and as a someone who is Dutch liked reading your point of view.
Next I would like to comment on the christmas or sinterklaas (as we call it) item.
In fact, there is Sint Nikolaas (sinterklaas) which is kinda like santa, white and old man who gives away presents. Sinterklaas arrives a few days before Dec. 5th every year from Spain every year on his boat (although Sint Nikolaas is actually from Turkey) and leaves Dec. 6th.
In stead of visiting families (children) with a sled, he uses a horse. Sinterklaas has a (large, unknown) number of assistants (or slaves, if you will) which are all black and are all called Piet (or Zwarte (=black) Piet (pronounce Pete)). I know this sounds kind of racist (actually is, really) but its tradition.
Also, Christmas like it is know to the rest of the world is becoming increasingly popular as well.
Very nice article, and yes this is all true
I’m 100% Dutch, and I live in Zuid-Holland and lovin’ it 
The only part not totally true is that dutch people don’t smoke that much. It’s just that so many foreigners live here that it’s hard to tell who has a Dutch ID and who doesn’t 
i have to say, i am fascinated by the german hole digging thing.
i stumbled on to this website randomly, and though the above list is very good, i am riveted by the mental image of germans digging meaningless holes in the sand while sneering dutchmen and women walk by with their noses in the air.
wtf is the deal with holes?
I must say that the whole hatred towards the “Duitsers” (and the other way around) is mostly for shits and giggles. I think the Germans are great people! And I love speaking German even though I suck balls at it
Some people said on here that the education is very poor but I beg to differ. The Netherlands and Germany offer the best education in Europe! They teach us French, German, English in school and sometimes even Spanish and arabic languages.
And the reason why so many Dutch people are confused about the whole Holland vs The Netherlands thing is purely because foreigners insist that the Netherlands is called Holland. If you ask anyone in Dutch if they know the difference they’ll give you the correct answer (I hope) just not in English.
Greetings from Amsterdam!
Well, I think the whole hole digging thing exactly has to do with the weather: it’s quite windy on our beaches. So the holes are to be able to lie on the beacht wind-free. I guess you could say it’s smart thinking..
Why we (dutch people) make fun of it is because most dutch people take a ‘windscherm’ (wind-shield) to the beach which does the same thing. And secondly the german are very protective about their holes: if you arrive at the beach and spread your towel in a hole, there is a big chance you wil end up arguing with the german who dugg the hole the day before and considers it his hole…
The hol digging also could be a leftover of WWII. They did dig in on the beaches to defend themselves against the allied invasion ofcourse…
And most of the ‘hatred’ against the germans these days is football (or soccer as the americans say) related: they always win (mostly in the last couple of minutes of teh match) and we really hate that!
I LOVE FEBO!!! Went to Amsterdam this past summer and there was one right down the street from my hostel. I had an egg burger there.
i stumbled this page, and i think it’s really nice!
i’m dutch myself and i love too read this from someone who’s not from the Netherlands.
and dutch people do smoke loads of weed and stuff, but maybe not in the shops
and the rest is already discussed over here i guess :p
so thumbs up!
I’m almost-half Dutch and almost-half German, so I guess I’m all kinds of screwed.
This was total shit. It’s cute when people take the things we Dutch tell them and think they’re true. Next time, maybe, talk to some people who aren’t fucking with you.
OMG - take issue with the dozens of Dutch who’ve commented above you that it’s all true. Man, don’t be so sensitive - not your style.
I lived most of my life in Albufeira, in the Algarve (south Portugal). My house overlooked the beach which was filled with Germans from March to October, and I must say I never, ever saw a German adult dig a hole in the sand. Children, yes, but not adults.
Maybe they only do it in the Netherlands?
Hehe, liked this post very much
I`m from Germany and i just want to say that the “hate” the dutch have against us is mutual. It has many reasons, one of them is they cant drive cars. I live in the border region of the Netherlands and maybe u know that u can drive as fast as u want on German Autobahn. Somehow the Dutch dont get this. There is ALWAYS, yes ALWAYS one damn dutch truck or car overtaking some other truck while driving exactly 1km/h faster than the vehicle to be overtaken. We hate this soo much u cant even realize. I think they do it on purpose coz they hate us. But we never spit on their soccer coach, if u know what i mean. Well i personally dont hate them, except when im driving car
I think they got a great political system, especially their drug politics is really intelligent, not like ours. Im no pothead, but how can a plant be a crime ?
I like u, Netherlands, but please, for the fun of it, try to get ur car to the limit or at least to 160 km/h or so next time u overtake someone in Germany
this is one of the best websites i have ever seen response wise. i initially wanted to leave a comment which is rare for me because i’m from the other side of the planet and found the home grown advice interesting enough for me to want to detour in the middle of a very expense trip and see the sites…thanks for inspiring me to see that corner of our amazing planet.
the food sounds nasty
Seems pretty accurate to me, as a Dutchman living in the US its an interesting analysis to read. I only think number 3 (about the warm meal) is a bit of a generalization. People wouldnt mind eating multiple warm meals (it is just very uncommon though). 6 is perhaps a bit exagerated, I would describe it as a playful animosity
This was very entertaining - the article and the replies.
I am an American of Irish and Dutch descent from Boston.
There are very many Irish Americans and very few Dutch Americans in Boston so I hear plenty about the Irish and very little about the Dutch.
I was very fortunate the my Dutch Great-Grandmother and my Grandmother lived very long lives and loved to talk about the Netherlands.
They both loved to cook what they claimed were traditional Dutch food that they made back in s’Hertogenbosch - olie-cook (fried dough with raisins), soep met balletjes (noodle soup with meatballs). I am sure I misspelled them but that’s how they sounded to me.
I especially miss their Dutch Apple Pies!
I would love to visit the Netherlands some day!
Interesting read, thanks! I look forward to a visit to the Netherlands one day,
My dutch cousins have a phrase they like to yell at Germans:
“You still have my grandmothers bike” *shakes fist in air*
Awesome post and comments to follow. I love that there was so many contributions from Dutch people. Very informative and humorous.
Also THANK YOU robert! That was going to drive me crazy if someone didn’t explain the Germans digging holes in the beach thing. I think i would be tempted to start filling the holes in with them in it though, if I ever seen one.
I personally am Canadian born and raised, with German, Dutch, Danish, and a few others in there, so interesting to get some knowledge on my heritage.
Also spent a while planning on moving to Belgium for a year with my wife, and in my research I think the Belgians backed up what I read about them after reading their posts.
Cheers all and thanks for the good read!
Numbers 5,6,7 and not entirely true.
I also lived in the Netherlands (but for 2 years).
I lived close to the German border, and i can tell you that they dont all hate the Germans (Not even close), they dont all speak english (I met 3 people that didnt!)
It is not drenched with rain (Not compared to Ireland)
And they do use umbellas, as every person i have seen can ride there bike with 0+ hands.
Also, i have never come across the 1 hot meal thing. Maybe these coustoms are limited to a small part of the netherlands?
“And the Dutch are notoriously anal” My ex sure was! Good point.
Stroopwafels . . . yummy.
Been to tha’ Dam and the Hague several times and once for an extended 8 month stay. Beautiful country/cities - the rain is not so bad really and the people are amazing for the most part . . .
Ever notice how EVERYTHING is well designed there - whether its the street signs or soap at the grocery or the PTT phone cards . . . And it all so seamlessly integrates with the old world europe thang . . .
Queens day is crazy - definitely the time to be in Amsterdam though.
Also, fellow Americans, notice how the whole country HAS NOT degraded into chaos from decriminalization. I personally am not into weed, but it seems that the Netherlands are fairly ahead of the world in regards to social policy . . . wish the US would pull its head out of its ass already . . .
To all those confused, Holland IS NOT the same as the netherlands. North Holland and South Holland are two provinces in the Netherlands.
Hm, I’m German and I like the Dutch, actually. lol.
XD Somebody explain the holes thing to me, when I go to Holland, will I have the uncontrollable urge to dig a hole?
We eat mayonaise on fries , too, in Germany. Many even like mayo with ketchup.
I recently met a nice Dutch girl who was staying in England and she told me loads of crazy stuff. Correct me if im wrong but don’t they have some sort of bread and butter thing that translates as “turnover bitch”? We had a lot of fun with that!
i think the story about the norwegian is true. yes, everyone likes norwegians
I’m an American composer and writer who has had performances in several of the major Dutch cities. I was very struck by the quotation from the tourist brochure which stated “we’ve seen it all before…you couldn’t possibly shock us.” This is very true about Dutch audiences which are, in many ways, the most avant-garde in the world. The Dutch support new and experimental performing arts including music, theater, music-theater, dance and performance art and there is a big Dutch public for new work. I have actually had someone say to me “we’ve seen it all before…you couldn’t possibly shock us.” Of course, it’s also true that The Netherlands is one of the few places on the continent where you can perform in English and expect to be understood.
Eric Salzman
It’s been many years since I was there but I remember some things that wern’t talked about. My dad was born in the Netherlands & came over to the US as a child. My grandmas family has a cheese factory & cheese is a very big deal. Also the fish haring to be exact my grandma used to love the pickled haring ( yuch). In Amisfort where my aunt lives she has a factory that makes candy sprinkles. In her town in the mornings they have a market almost like the farmers market here in the US, they have everything you could imagine meat, veggies, flowers, baked goods, the stores bring out stuff it was so cool. Everyone was very friendly everywhere we went in the country & one day I hope to go back.The acents are so true my grandma lived here for 50 years & never lost hers & when she couldnt remember a word in english she would always say it in dutch. As for the german thing I can’t really say anything bad as I am German on my moms side & they always got along (duh).
Holland is a part of the Netherlands and I always tell foreigners that it is similar to England in the UK. The name of Holland is based on ‘Wood land’ (holt or/and holz) from the past. There are woods but not as many as in the past. The relation with Germany is like Portugal-Spain, similarities in languages and culture and competition. The Netherlands are depending on Germany in the economic trade tradition.
There are two official languages in NL, Dutch and Frisian. The Dutch people do not suffer from being modest about themselves, they still think they are best people on earth because they (think they) are so international. In fact they are far behind in education, attitudes and emotional skills. That is because they never learned to understand that other people might be far more interesting then themselves. There is a long history in making money out of other people, colonies, slavery and so on.
The Dutch were never brave, Most Jews transported to the camps were from the Netherlands. They never said sorry to Indonesia. And why? The Dutch are only interested in money and will kill their relations to get that.
And then, there are the numerous church bell towers in Amsterdam, successively ringing their melodious carillon music. Fantastically quieting.
I would like to correct yourself on the comment:
“coffee shops” (”coffee shop” means marijuana; “cafe” means coffee, so pay attention to what the establishment calls itself)”
the real deal is:
Coffee shop: A place where they sell coffee drinks and eats only.
Coffeeshop (spelled together): A place where they sell weed, pot, cannabis, marijuana.
Cafe: It’s how they call a bar, pub, place where you can get alcohol!!
if you lived here for two years you should know that better mate
Loved the article, but this is a terribly prejudiced article.
First of all, I’m in no way nationalistic. In fact I do not think the Netherlands is the greatest country.
But the comments are just ridicolous; sayings such like the tragic state of our educational system, our cockiness and our hatred for Germany are just false, only in some cases they’re true.
But that’s like saying all black people can play the bass guitar.
It’s not that I’m particularly proud of my country, but this biased stuff has to stop.
We do not hate the germans, only the fact that they murdered millions of our people and occupied us for 5 long years.
We are not cocky, we just have good living conditions and we’re proud of that.
Yes, we have weird snacks, but the majority of the population eat healthy normal foods.
We don’t have a bad educational system, I’m quite sure that our crême de-la crême of our education is amongs the best of the world. Only the lowest level of education is lacking. But that’s because of the increase of ‘buitenlanders’ or foreigners. Most of them still have to pick up on the language and other stuff, but when they’re integrated the level of education will rise agian.
And JM, please get your facts straighten out. (Although you are right about Holland not being synonymous to the Netherlands)
Holland and Netherlands are offically not the same thing but everyone who lives in Holland will say so. It is legal to buy grass till a certain (quite small) amount. It IS LEGAL to grow grass limited to one per person with a maximum height of 15 cm. The dutch don’t hate the Germans they just have a strong football rivalary. ( Please don’t argue on this point I’m German live in Holland and have a lot of dutch friends).
Your humor brought a smile to my face…thanks for sharing!
Nice, George Bush must be German. ”
The morons just love digging holes for no reason!”
Great article. Enjoyed the comments.
As an Englishman though I’ve yet to meet a Dutch person that doesn’t speak English as well as me. Even the kids manage it too. Good old BBC eh?
Everyone loves the Dutch don’t they?
It seems when we travel in Europe everyone hates the French, us and to a lesser degree the Germans.
…and what about “Engelse drop” (Englisch drop)? Why do we call it like that beats me. From what I’ve learned there is nobody outside of The Netherlands who is familiar with this candy, not even in a candy store in England…they actually never heard of it….
hahhahahahahha
uffff
all of this is absolutely true!
i ve been living in holland for three years now, and some things are still strange to me but all in all it is a good country to be in..
the language is horrible though, i can’t argue with that.
but mmmm stroopwafels
Ask the germans about the Dutch clogging (what a pun!) up the german autobahns in the summer with their caravans. They pass through germany mind you, and try not to stop or spend money where possible. It really is frustrating, like a snail convoy where there is unlimited speed streches.
I say the WWII thing is B/S. The dutch are hardly innocent when it came to butchering people. Ask any indonesian…
I have lived in NL for 20 years in total and although I have Dutch relatives, Dutch friends I am VERY fond of, I must admit the country and it’s people have some WEIRD things.
Overall I liked living there, but the last 5 years hatred of foreigners (especially people of color and muslims has become worse. which is sad because they have conquered quite a lot of places in their days……
I will never generalize though cause the people I have known there are just marvelous. I miss the dutch landscape, I miss amsterdam and it’s canals…for such a small country they have accomplished quite a lot. What they do and have done for art and design is simply genius!
Although their dislike of Germans is simply idiotic……..
I was in Amsterdam many years ago and they had something in fast food places called something like “Hoodjes Broodjes” (or similar spelling). It was like a sandwich. Do you know about them?
JM - Cool list. Made me laugh a bit. Some need to put their tongue in cheek and relax a bit. There is the occasional American who is capable on independent thought and understand what you say is not a hard and fast rule.
I want to hear from some Germans on the subject of hole-digging…
i dutch, and i wanna say that our language is very pretty and beautiful sounding.
to us dutch.
This is a great blog. I just came back from Europe, Amsterdam and Stockholm to be precise, and I so wish I discovered your site BEFORE I left. Based on my own personal limited observations, you’re right about a lot of things, especially this post about the Netherlands.
Lol weird germans digging holes
btw not all dutch hate/dislike the germans.. A lot of the older do beacause of the war.. (not very strange if you consider what most have been trough or how many family members they might have lost)
And lol @ pronouncing the dutch words
not easy is it?
(not easy for many dutch to pronounce english words either, come to think of it :P)
Olieballen, pannekooken, lyden kaas, gerokt makreel, borenkool…..yum…! Oh and the first time I saw someone in blackface roaming around the street dressed as Swarte Piet! I looked around to see if anyone else was as shocked as I was. Nope! Did you write poems for Christmas presents, and did Sinterklaas break in your door and throw speculaas (little anise cookies) into your house? Fond…but sometimes odd memories. Thanks!
Great article, I really enjoyed it.
And altough some of the information here is not factual but from your own experience, it really does describe the Dutch quite well i think
This seems really interesting, do you know if they have an animosity against black people? Everytime I travel to Europe I feel like I’m limited to the UK because I know a lot of black people live there and there wouldn’t be any problems. I’m always scared to go anywhere else. I’d like to explore other regions so let me know, thanks
After reading some the earlier comments I strongly suggest you’d change one of the 10 things into:
The Dutch have a tendency to be ‘azijnzeikers’ (people who piss vinegar, because they sourly comment on little things pretending it to be big things) and/ or ‘dominees’ (vicars, because they like to correct you in a self-righteous manner).
Mmmmm, stroopwaffels, you can feel your arteries hardening as you eat them, but they’re irresistible. I think it’s largely how they dissolve on the tongue when dunked into hot coffee.
I really like the dutch, found them to be really nice and helpful people, but please explain this, if you come from germany your german, from france, french from england ,english, from holland, dutch?why………
A big part of Belgium speaks Dutch too. Calling it Netherlandish or whatever wouldnt do them justice, Allthough the Dutch speaking part of Belgium was actually a part of the Netherlands a few centuries ago (It was called Southern Brabant).
O, and it’s true that we have a lot of ‘azijnzeikers’ living here (not all of us), but at least were not German…:P
Of course Belgians would think their frites are better. You should hear the jokes we tell about the Belgians.
I went to Amsterdam last February, and for me it was the best experience I ever have had, it is interesting the way they can live, I mean, it doesn’t matter if you’re smoking weed, it doesn’t matter if you’re homosexual or prostitute, I think that is the highest point that a society can reach.
And of course I want to go back there. what a nice place
I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!! YOU FORGOT JUMPSTYLE???!!!
[...] clipped from dailycandor.com [...]
[...] about an hour a day dreaming about a trip to Amsterdam (yes, it’s time consuming,) this 10 Things to Know About the Dutch is pretty interesting. It talks about some of their crazy eating habits and dislike of Germans. [...]
Interesting article about Netherlands and its habits, thank You for sharing it. Also are very rich all the comments.
Many people wrote something about that the germans can´t and won´t speak dutch.
but i made the experience that a lot of dutch people (especially unknown) don´t give you as german a chance to speak their language.
i few years ago (in a period when i was learning dutch) i tried three times in different coffeeshops to order some weed in dutch but always i got an answer in german. in the fourth shop i was sick about always gettin german answers so i ordered in german but suddenly the guy was yelling at me what stupid german i am and why i don´t even try it in english and stuff?
so help me, what can i do?
and please forget, that the north of the netherlands, especially the region around groning was liberated not until the 4 of may in 1945 of the germans in IIWW. i don´t thik that the germans could´nt occupie this land that long without dutch supporters.
but nevertheless…i love this country
Dr. Browne should pull his head out of his arse.
[...] bleeding (super gross), and he’s a little high strung. However, I stumbled upon this blog today, which sheds a lot of light on his [...]
@ all the people who think it’s appropiate to bring WW2 into this bloglog: please stop doing this, it is not even funny if you’re trying to make a point wether to hate/dislike germans.
I’d suggest you watch the episode of “Falwty Towers” (the Germans) instead.
Great blog by the way, LOL to read the comments and look at ourselves from the perspective of non-dutch!
@ Ify
It is more than safe for coloured people to travel to the Netherlands and to Europe. Why wouldn’t it? I am Dutch but live in London, and have not noticed any difference between the Dutch and British attitudes towards coloured people. Please go and visit Nederland( or Holland
But do not limit yourself to Amsterdam. There is much more to the Netherlands to Amsterdam.
JM
I loved your article. I’m proud of my accent
And most Duch people do not hate Germans. I love German people. My gran is German. We just like to tell jokes about them. I don’t know why.
What I do not like about the younger generation of Germans is that they are not aware of the history of their own country. I’m from Rotterdam and a few years ago we had some distant family member with friends staying with us, and after a few days they asked. “Wo ist die Altstadt?” - “Where is the old town?”, Uhmmm… It was bomded by the Germans 60 years ago….
Just pay attention in History, and we get along just fine.
Tess
I love this posting. I’m an American and I lived a few years in Yugoslavia. My wife and I traveled a lot in Eastern Europe. We liked every country we visited. The best thing about traveling is meeting new people and hearing new ideas. (If we can just avoid anything dealing with governments we get along great.) I’d love to visit Holland. My wife speaks fluent German so I think we’d do OK.
Once again, thanks for a great posting.
This is a great list. I was blown away about the ice cream sprinkles on toast. Had to confirm with my friend living in Belgium. There’s some more info over here on Amsterdam for Barry Shulman’s luxury travel blog. He just posted three items about his Amsterdam travels. I’m kind of interested in trying those ice cream sprinkles on toast now.
To reply on some comments made about Sinterklaas: his helpers (Zwarte Pieten) are not black. In fact, they are Italian from origin, and got their color by sweeping the chimney before they deliver the presents for the children through it.
Also a comment about Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
Zwarte Piet (or Back Pete) is a good friend of Sinterklaas, ans NOT a slave, the ‘Pieten’ (yes there all called Piet) help Sinterklaas to deliver the presents and they entertain the children, these days the children believe Piet is black because he climbes through the chimney.
‘Piet’ first appeard in a childrens book a very long time ago when black people were kept as slaves ans some people had a black child dressed up funny.
At the time the book was published this was ‘normal’
Zwarte Piet these days are not slaves en i’ts not ment to be racial.
The children love them.
I’m Dutch and have children, I thought about this a long time, when they were small.
My kids have black friends, and they love Piet to and don’t find it racial at all.
There is more to Piet than just the color, just think of the costume, the earrings, the ‘Jute Zak’ filled with candy.
Soon the ‘Sinterklaas journaal’ starts again(daily news about sinterklaas, every year the boat from spain runs in to trouble, will sinterklaas make it to the Netherlands this year?)
And we are really looking forward to see all the Pieten save the day and deliver the presents to the children
The are a lot of different pieten there is Hoofdpiet (Master Pete of Head pete), SorryPiet (sorry pete) Paardenpiet (horse pete) and many more.
I don’t every read blogs, but I was Stumbling and came across yours. It was great! Very entertaining. I have never been to the Netherlands but will go someday. I learned some fun and interesting things to look for from the Dutch people.
Great job!
Hi, I enjoyed reading your article! I’m Dutch and I’m from Groningen. I think what Jape means is that you can just call The Netherlands ‘Holland’…That’s just the informal word for our country. It’s not accurate, but that’s ok. If anyone needs a guide when coming to The Netherlands let me know. P.S. maybe a store should be opened in the US where they sell Dutch ‘drop’
I am from the U.S. My parents are Dutch, but from the southern province of Limburg. Here is an amusing paraphrase of conversations I have had at least a couple of times (seriously):
Me: “Hi, are you from Holland?’
Dutchie: “Yes, how did you know?”
Me: “My parents are from Holland and while they never taught us Dutch, I can hear a Dutch accent a mile away”
Dutchie: “Oh, where in Holland are your parents from?
Me: “W —, a small town in Limburg”
Dutchie (with a bit of a sneer - seriously): “That’s not Holland!”
Needless to say, I have learned to use “the Netherlands” rather than Holland, unless I am specifically speaking about Noord or Zuid Holland.
I think it is a bit funny that anyone points out “weird” things about other countries or cultures. Every country and even regions within countries have different customs and idiosyncrasies. I also think it is narrow minded to think that your own country is superior to all or any others. We should celebrate the differences, that is certainly what makes travel so interesting.
Three more observations:
1) I would love to be able to live in the Netherlands
2) Virtually everyone in the Western hemisphere is an “American”. People from the U.S. need to find a better name for themselves, I opt for USer.
3) Bert, there are actually many “Holland American” stores in the U.S. and Canada where those of us pining for dutch food can get our fix of drop, hagelslag, Wilhelmina peppermints, chocolate letters for Sinterklaas and just about anything else you need. It’s just not quite as fresh!
Goodness, I would have loved to read through all the replies to see how worked up everyone gets just by interpreting one article in their own way.
I am currently staying in Utrecht for a 3 month study visit and was interested in seeing if there was some good advice for people who will stay in the Netherlands for such a short while. So far from my own experiences: they love fries and drop, they are very rude sometimes (not everyone but we quickly learnt not to be surprised by their rudeness), *everyone* rides bike, shops close at 6pm (except Thursday nights when they stay open until 9pm) and are closed on Sundays except for the first Sunday each month and all Sundays in November and December. I haven’t seen any direct animosity against Germans, but I haven’t seen any Germans so…
But the funniest thing about this discussion is how one person’s views can step on the toes of another’s without the first person even meaning it the way the second experienced it. Remember, this is a discussion, not the complete and utter truth of all Dutch (or any person) in the whole world!
I like their stance on drug legalization. Fry the bigger fish! Tax the trade and use the money for maintaining the countries damns and levies!
Hey, I liked reading your article. ^^ But although I kind of agree on the whole concept of Dutch ”hating” the Germans, it’s not just in The Netherlands. They are looked down on in many European countries, or at least I’ve noticed. For instance; when I went to Madrid and went to the market, a Spanish man asked us whether we were German, we said no, then he asked us if we were Dutch and we said yes, he immediately said ‘Much better!’
Also when I went to Greece, they were always aware whether you were Dutch or German. Really, they’re just easily looked down on. I think it’s lame.
“Trivial drugs like magic mushrooms”? You´ve obviously never ingested them. Trivial indeed. Nuclear is more like it, but in a good way.
As a Dutch person, lemme clear something up about the Holland-Netherlands dilemma and our ‘bad education’.
Holland is not the Netherlands. The netherlands are divided into Provinces, sorta like States. Two of these provinces are North and South Holland. People from those two provinces often refer to the Netherlands as ‘Holland’. People from other provinces get homicidal when you do.
Cause it’s less trivial then Mushrooms!
By the way, Mushrooms are banned since three days ago