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.
- Excited
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
Dutch people are great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgHTxK6TrVA
Comment by Mark — June 28, 2012 @ 6:27 am
Hi!
I’m a dutchman, (I’m 14, male) all you said is true, we loves muisjes.
Does American people looks like the Dutchman?
Some Dutchmans said to me that the Dutchman every time more looks like the American.
(My English grammar isn’t very correct, but I can speak with an American accent 😀
Klaas
Comment by Klaas — July 3, 2012 @ 1:43 am
Dutchie here 🙂 replying on this comment made in 2008 i know im late but ye 😛
“So, why are ‘patat frites’, originating in Belgium indeed, being called ‘french fries’ by the anglo-saxons?”
This is because in WWII troops came in Walonie where obv they speak french. So they thought they were in France.
They then got served the fries and called them french fries …
Comment by Dutchguy — July 4, 2012 @ 6:35 am
Crazie Dutch, lol. Americans love the Dutch. I knew the Dutch loved to correct things when you did wrong, I’m of german heritage. So i went to Holland and stayed with my host family, purposely messed things up and did tasks wrong, my family corrected almost everything. Loved it! Soon they figured out I was playing around and they got pissed off at me, lol. They then told me I would be getting kicked out of the family but the American’s came to Holland first for WW2 so I could stay, lol. (They actually scared the crap out of me when they did this, but they laughed, I almost cried, and everything was fine, we laughed together at then end.) Love my Dutch family. still talk to them to this day and they come and stay with me every couple years.
The Dutch have a great sense of humor when you tease them and open up to them like many Americans will. Man I miss that place. Tons of Hot Chicks all over! I miss football, Ajax, and wish American soccer was much further along then we are. We need Kleinsmein and Cruyff to both take over together and make us a World Soccer Power. Love total football. 2 Big Egos usually don’t make good though.
You Dutchies, there are many of you here in America, look like most of us. Many Germans here as well. Americans go for team USA first in the World Cup then Germany, Holland, Italy, etc. We HATE the ENGLISH national team for all their hype and their stupid expats that live here but cheer for England and don’t support the US club teams. The English also talk to you arrogantly with that stupid uppity accent.
Love Dutch French Fries and food, great stuff. Hope you guys are doing good, from America with love.
Comment by John Leclair — July 8, 2012 @ 10:09 pm
Really liked reading this article (or whatever it is)
I’m Dutch and I have to say: The “ch” and “g” sounds are indeed the same sounds but “r” definitely is NOT. It also depends on where you are in the Netherlands. But most of the Dutch pronounce it like the French, NOT like the Italian or the German. At the end of a word, like “woord” (word) , we pronounce the same as the English. But of course the more south you go (the more you go to Belgian), the more softer the “g” and the more “Italian” the “r” becomes.
Comment by Pim Oudejans — July 16, 2012 @ 8:12 am
I LOVED the information you posted. My grandparents were from Amsterdam. I am writing a letter to one of my relatives now and need some helpful information. I would like to send him something from the USA (he’s an older gentleman) to thank him for helping me with my genealogy/family history. Do you have any ideas? Thanks for the great website and information!
Comment by Darlene Judd — July 21, 2012 @ 6:04 pm
I’m from holland. I like it that you write a story about us. But i really hate it that you call a ”frikandel” shit. It’s my favorite meal, and i love it with fries and mayonaise.
Comment by Anonymous — July 22, 2012 @ 10:54 am
@ John declair: The Dutch have a good sense of humor? i have lived here for 18 years and not noticed much, a few maybe and they are my olny friends. Mostly they are in fits about “poep” and humiliating others in public!
Their useless health system and doctors ruined my health so maybe you understand they are not my favorite people? No-one Dutch seemed shocked either ( how dare I critiise their wonderful country?)
I have a pretty good idea after all this tme what they are like. Doctors only have a basic knowledge of biology , they have n genera knowledge about history ( think it funny Brits drive on the left. ! Obviously they never learned about Napoleon who changed everywhere he went to the right, but when I inform them of this when bored with their hysterics, they hate me !)
and nurses are over-paid considering they can only wash patients, empty potty’s, make beds mostly when they are not giving you the wrong meds ! ( often with a snarl) and they hate it if you disturb them during their coffee-breaks ( you could be dead they will never leave their coffee..ALL together too. No-one around?–hunt the nurse- ooops COFFEE (like most of the day and night??)
I have found little positive here actually. You hate us Brits? Fine. I dont hate Americans, but I assure you the Dutch do. According to them you are uneducated and stupid and superficial. ! in fact they hate few people as much as you Americans over here. I stand up for you even !!! I have met lovely Americans here ( all retured to USA as they went crazy here even one who is a shrink. She warned me to get out of cyborg land “before they destroy your body mind and soul” Being married to a Dutchman who was married to his work, I stayed for my kids and regretted it.
I u sed to be a sweet trusting individual. here they dont pick up their cying babies which I reckon is their problem. Kids become insecure and narcisstic and often plain nasty. Shame, very sad but true
Comment by Anna — July 22, 2012 @ 12:42 pm
Most of this isnt true, and what is, why you acting soo surprised :s
Comment by Some Dickhead — July 22, 2012 @ 4:14 pm
But all the people here saying we have got bad education is just WRONG.
or at least, that is what I think(because i’m dutch and all dutch people think their country is amazing…not, though I love my country)
I mean, I’m fourtheen and at school we must learn several languages like, Spanish, French, English, German (and Dutch of course.)
and the thing about hot meals isn’t right, when they ask you if you’ve already had a hot meal they mean if you already had your dinner.
and I don’t know where you’ve got that shit about g, ch and r. but yeah, g and ch is sometimes both pronounced as g but r is just different.
and the most people speak normal english.(which you understand)
AND WE DON’T HATE THE GERMANS.
we do use umbrella’s. actually we use them a lot, also on bikes. because almost everyone can cycle without using his/her hands.
yeah, we do have weird snacks, but they’re really tasty. and drenched with mayonaise or ‘pindasaus’ is a bit exaggerated.
than, our bikes, we do use them a lot but they only get stolen in ‘big’ cities like Amsterdam.
and drugs, yeah, SOME dutch people use them, you might know them, they’re called junkies…
Comment by Dutchgirlx257 — July 26, 2012 @ 5:05 pm
Nice to read about my own country, but given that I am from the south, just want to add that nr. 4 is not really true for our part of the country at least. We have a “soft” g, not the “hard” g as described. So we actually pronounce some stuff differently. Also not everyone loathes the germans. we make jokes about them, as we also do about belgians.. but honestly, we get along pretty well. I was a psychology student at Maastricht university and 70% of the students are German.. and guess what, we are actually friends.. no hard feelings there! Other than that, yes many of the things mentioned are true, but to give the belgians some credit, the fries originated more from that country, but yeah we are popular for it as well (I am by the way from maastricht which almost belonged to Belgium anyway so the difference in fries is not huge there I guess).
Comment by Isabella — July 26, 2012 @ 9:43 pm
I liked your article. I visited Holland in 1992 – quite some years ago. I found some of the article quite accurate. Here were my observations:
1. I was working out at a gym in Amsterdam and asked a guy (whom I mistakenly thought was American) why are there so many Americans working out at this gym. He replied “There are no Americans here, except for you”. I asked “But, everyone is speaking English – why would the Dutch be speaking English to other Dutch?” He said “Those are Germans – they don’t speak Dutch, but they speak English. We Dutch know how to speak German, but we don’t like speaking German, so we speak English to the Germans.” I didn’t bother asking why, but sensed that they might not get along. Then I asked “But, they are speaking American English – it’s very mid-western sounding!” The Dutch guy replied “many of our English teachers are from American, not England – that’s how they talk, so that’s how we learn to speak English.
2. I wondered into an area (in Amsterdam) where a bunch of college students were celebrating Queens Day, or something like that. Looked like fun, so I bought a beer and hung out to watch the action. One guy yelled down to me from on top of bus stop shelter, I apologized for not being able to speak Dutch, only English. He hopped down, looked at me and said: “You look like one of us, not American…..Americans are old and fat (not meaning this as an insult, but seemed genuinely curious). I replied “Have you ever been to America”. He said “No, I can’t afford something like that”. And, I said “Neither can most Americans who are college age…our image of Europeans is much like your image of Americans. We laughed, drank a few more beers and chatted – really nice folks!
3. I was too chicken to expend any money in the red light district – not really my thing anyway….but I did convince this Irish guy to have a go at it.
4. I agree that it’s all non-Dutch in Amsterdam who are hanging out in coffee shops. Most Dutch are pretty conservative, and once you get outside of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and other city areas, they are very traditional. Except in Zandvoort. Nice beach community. I couldn’t get used to (stop staring at) the Dutch women going topless. I really wanted to do a little windsurfing (I’m good at it), but the wind was unusually calm that day. Also, instead of hotdog stands they have some kind of raw-fish stands there as I recall.
5. I never felt in danger anywhere I went while visiting Holland. I had a great time, great experience.
A Dutch guy working out at a gym in Amsterdam commented to me that “
Comment by Skans — August 18, 2012 @ 9:46 am
It is true that technically Holland is not the same as the Netherlands, or for that matter, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but no one actually gives a fuck. It started out as being North Holland and South Holland but when a person says Holland, 99% of the time they are talking about the Netherlands as a whole. Similar to the fact that technically “America” includes all the countries in North America and South America, but 99% of the time when someone says America they mean the United States of America. And not all Dutch people hate the Germans. I have no particular feelings about Germans. However, my whole family always make jokes about the stupidity of Belgians. Probably because we are from the South.
Comment by Karlotta van den Hurk — August 20, 2012 @ 12:55 pm
In many other languages, the formal name of the Netherlands is “Holland”. For example in Chinese, it’s “Helan” (huh-lan). Of course, half the countries in the world don’t call Germany “Deutschland”, and almost no one calls China “Zhongguo”. So, even if in some part of the world, it is “incorrect” to equate “Holland” with “the Netherlands”, just talk in Chinese and you’ll be alright!
Comment by Alex — August 21, 2012 @ 1:04 pm
any tips for an english student arriving in the netherlands next week to study at delft for two years…
Comment by helen — August 22, 2012 @ 11:52 am
Dutch men are not only tall and fair but they have the most tapered angular faces I’m already attracted to, it drives me crazy!!! I wonder if they like black americans??
Comment by 2butts — August 26, 2012 @ 1:28 pm
The Dutch might love trying to speak English, but that’s a different thing. Stop it with the myth that everyone in the Netherlands speaks “perfect English”. It’s nonsense. In the Randstad you get about 5% who speak it really well, and 20% who speak it okay-to-awful. Outside the Randstad is a gamble. The self image of how Dutch people speak English doesn’t tally with reality. The myth is probably due to dozens upon dozens of monoglot English speakers being wide-eyed with wonder because someone ‘forrin’ could converse with them, no matter how many ridiculous mistakes..and there are so many mistakes. The word ‘steenkolenengels’ exists for good reason.
The bicycle evaluation is just untrue outside parts of Amsterdam. I’ve lived in Utrecht for 10 years – 5 in Nijmegen before that, from Belgium – and still I have the same bike I bought in Nijmegen, with a moderate chain and lock. The main reason they get nicked is because too many people leave them unlocked while nipping into supermarkets etc.
Comment by Deryck — August 26, 2012 @ 4:47 pm
Dutch people in Amsterdam seem to hate every pothead, every 2nd and 3rd world country citizen, and they seem to love to look down on them.
I’ve been there twice and the first time, when I was leaving the country, I had to argue with an officer at the airport because he insisted to see the prints of my digital ticket. I got furious at last as I was telling him ” a digital ticket is supposed to be digital” and if he would care to look, I had it on my smartphone. then I said, “sorry! sorry was the the word that I used most, during my visit!”
I belive that modernty and richness dont give them the right to look down on anybody. and its really really sad, as we all know that their richness is originally comming from colonial times, when they exploited and tortured people of indonesia and other colonies.
in brief, I dont wanna visit amsterdam again. and If their county sank one day, I wont be welcomig these wicked people to mine.
sorry. again.
Comment by deniz — September 5, 2012 @ 2:13 am
I just wanted to add a good exemple of dutch behaviour outside their country.
this summer we were at sziget festival as press members. during the festial I wasnt neighther disturbed nor get frustrated by anybody at all. all the kids were fine, having fun on their terms, farming no one.
just the dutches wanted the best seats, best spots, complaining about anything.
even a dutch boy came up to me, obviously drunk and ridiculously self confident, wanted me to make an interviev with him. ? didint say no, and listened to him as he started to flirt with me. I was sitting next to my boy friend, as I mentioned this to him, in a very very polite way, he started to insult my boyfriend, refering to his looks. and then he complained about hungarian prostitutes and their blowjob rates.
we just leaved the kid alone, as we didnt want ruin our last day at the festival.
so, keep in mind, in netherlands, a blowjob costs less than budapest.
Comment by deniz — September 5, 2012 @ 2:42 am
Holland and the Netherlands are not the same thing. Holland comes from the old Dutch word HolTland, wich means wood-land. A couple of centuries ago there used to be a lot of threes in Holtland (Zuid-Holland + Noord-holland). These trees were used to build ships. In that time ships were very important, especially because we had al lot of colonies (V.O.C.). Holtland was the most important part of The Netherlands in that time because of the ships and the money the gained with the ships. Everybody that lived in Holland was very proud of it and it had a lot of political influence on the rest of the Netherlands..
At some point, the dialect they spoke in this part of the Netherlands became the standard Dutch.
Holland became more important in time, politically, economically and culturally.. Everybody wanted to be ‘Hollands’.
Even these days the most important cities are in Holland.. Holland is like some sort of ‘pet name’. a little nostalgic or something..
When the dutch football team has a game, we all sing songs about Holland, and we shout Hup Holland Hup (Go Holland Go).
I think a lot of Dutch people don’t know there’s a big difference because we use both names a lot…
The Dutch education doesn’t focus on Dutch histiory that much. I had this at school but i can imagine a lot of ppl’s didn’t. Mayb we should focus more on our own history instead of history of the world and foreign languages..
Besides the difference between Holland and the Netherlands, a lot of people don’t even know why we are called ‘Dutch’. It’s a strange name for people from the Netherlands 😉
Comment by dutch — September 20, 2012 @ 9:05 am
haha i wanna go the netherlands now! 😉
Comment by jrt — September 27, 2012 @ 7:44 am
Haha, ik ben Nederlands.
En je hebt helemaal gelijk!
Frikandellen, ze zien er afgrijselijk uit, maar ze smaken heerlijk!
Je moet gewoon niet nadenken over hoe het gemaakt is.
Renee
Haha, I’m Dutch.
And you’re right!
Frikandellen, they look terrible, but they are delicious!
You just don’t have to think about how the snack is made.
Renee
Comment by Renee — September 28, 2012 @ 11:23 am
«5. The Dutch love speaking English. See #4. Seriously, they all speak perfect»
looool This is not true as a whole. I’ve met many Dutch people whose English is quite poor. I’ve met many Dutch that refuses to speak English.
It makes me laugh the overrating myths people create about Holland.
Comment by Joao — October 4, 2012 @ 9:06 pm
«I agree that it’s all non-Dutch in Amsterdam who are hanging out in coffee shops. Most Dutch are pretty conservative»
Absolutely true. For instance, the Germans are a lot more liberal than the Dutch. The Dutch have a kind of fascist mindset, pretty conservative, and pretty “army barrack” minded. They look like old school German nazis, something that the German people don’t look like at all nowadays.
It’s interesting that Holland is just the opposite of what people think about it.
Comment by Joao — October 4, 2012 @ 9:11 pm
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!”
It’s not that they loathe the Germans. They like Germans, above all nowadays. It’s just that they have a big mouth and loathe everyone. The Dutch are very sexist people, full of misandry, terribily jealous of other men. So every man that is around is victim of their big mouth. If that man is a foreigner, imediatly his nationality becomes a target. It happens with Germans, but also with Belgians, English, French, Italians, Americans, Russians, everyone, etc…
Comment by Joao — October 4, 2012 @ 9:16 pm
I am German, living and working in The Netherlands for a Dutch company for 3 years now. The Dutch do some very weird things but other cultures also have their strange ways so no complaints, I am a visitor and can leave at any time if it gets too much. First the good: I enjoy how cities like Amsterdam and Haarlem (and many other beautiful preserved places) look like (meant in a good way) a huge Theme Park environment, cafes, bars, tons of totally different restaurants, things to-do so many you wish you had more time at hand! When you enter these cities you feel like hundreds of years back in time, I am proud the Dutch preserve them and hopefully for many more years, you can actually get a feel what life was like. The Dutch love the feeling of “home” with their families and many many children, that’s where they feel most comfortable and “gesellig” (hope I spelled it correctly). Why not? That is the most perfect and peaceful environment and I think many cultures can cut a slice of that with their continually social problems. Family comes first and we loose that too easy these days.
Now the side that I have problems understanding, the noise!! why does everything have to be spoken loud, scooters hooting in residential suburb at night for fun, in the office shouting down the corridor, kids always screaming and nobody telling them to be more controlled to make it nice for everybody? This disrespect to others makes me crazy. Also the driving style is a horror, I have been driving 22 years without a single incident but driving highways here in The Netherlands scares me every time, people just change lanes many times without indicator! cutting in-between two cars where there is hardly space? If you complain that there was a near crash they complain! It feels like everybody is on the run and spending time in a car is a waste of lifetime.The driving style is very egoistic and disrespectful to others.
Regarding the negative feeling towards Germans I don’t see it too often (and if I see it then I take it as a joke. If I meet a Dutch person in Germany I will not make them feel unwelcome, we all need each other and each other’s business don’t forget), today tolerance is on the increase and so far in 3 years only a 25 year old colleague once mentioned that he hates Germans because his parents told him to do that but he doesn’t know why, otherwise everybody is always polite and friendly and approachable. And when I want to speak English with a Dutch at the beginning of the conversation I politely ask “can I speak English with you?” and 99.99% always agree politely back, so no problem.
Additionally I took some basic Dutch lessons and most Dutch are so excited to hear me speak slow Dutch (instead of English) that they return by making my life easier and speak English right away. Show some effort here and they appreciate it.
Comment by Alex — October 5, 2012 @ 12:47 am
🙂 8)
Comment by m — October 8, 2012 @ 5:28 pm
I remember reading once in the press about a German person digging a big hole on the beach and after he sat in it the thing fell together and he was killed by his own hole. And that is a true story.
I am Dutch and not from Holland but from Brabant, we pronounce the soft ch like the Belgians do.
Not living there anymore but missing all the good food.
Comment by Frederike — October 20, 2012 @ 4:40 pm
I was struck whenever I go to the Netherlands how attractive the young people are! Where I grew up, the average person is ugly, but there, it seems most the average people are cute, many are beautiful and there are even a lot of stunningly attractive men and women.
If you see any ugly people in the Netherlands, they are no doubt immigrants. It’s true.
Comment by Monty Ehrich — October 26, 2012 @ 1:32 pm
Liked reading comments on perceptions of Dutch people and culture from outsiders perspective. Been to Rotterdam and Amsterdam and travelling abroad met a lot of Dutch. Difficult to get to know quickly but have a very good sense of humour when you do and they do love football. Food choices were not great even International cusine were a bit hit and miss. Every Dutch person I met had a very good grasp of Engish which puts us Irish to shame. Got ferry to Rotterdam and drove to Amsterdam. Tried to drive in Amsterdam and had a few near misses with Trams and bicycles. Could not figure out who had right of way. Eventually figured out best way is to put car in underground carpark and walk around. hve not been back in a while but plan too soon.
Comment by John — October 26, 2012 @ 2:01 pm
I liked the reading, but not all dutch hate germans! some do because of ww2 mostly the elder ones and because there where living alot of jews in holland around that time (Anne Frank for example) but sinds its like so many years ago and most people of my age dont even know what happend in 1945 nor do they care.
also i like to mention that the most dutch who live in the west (bordering germany) don’t hate them some actually work there and go there on hollidays. in fact im in the dutch army and the base i work on is in Germany and we share a base with the germans.
also to the guy above me: children creeming on the street? that called playing!! let children be children pleace.
Comment by whiteace — October 31, 2012 @ 6:11 am
Why didn’t I find this site sooner?! 😉
Comment by Chasidy Evans — November 1, 2012 @ 12:42 am
Excellent post. Thank you for that. I’m a proud Amsterdammer, I love my city and it makes me very happy to read how an American experiences my country.
Anyone who claims that Holland is the same as The Netherlands is quite ignorant and sorry to say, if you’re Dutch, that is quite a shame. You should know better. Because our schooling / education is in fact very good.
I’ve read some of the comments and I would like to reply to that. Especially about the German part. Dutch and German are NOT similar languages. It can not be compared to British English and American English. The entire grammar is different. Actually, Dutch has more similarity with English than with German. The reason why we don’t like Germany that much is simply because of the WWII. We’ve lost too many family members and friends and it’s still very vividly a part of our memories (well not mine, I’m only 33 years old) but our parents were children of the war so we grew up listening to the horrible stories.
Keep in mind that every city has its own accent, behaviors, etiquettes, etc. Amsterdam for instance is totally different than the rest of The Netherlands.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your stay in The Netherlands 🙂
Comment by sas — November 6, 2012 @ 9:49 am
This was hilarious and I could see myself thinking the very same thing when I first experienced it. So true and funny! If anyone is offended by this. Please take it with a grain of salt. It’s just for fun. No harm done.
Btw, I’m from Sweden living in Amsterdam and everytime I tell a dutch person where I’m from they respond by saying something like “knäckebröd” or “smörrebröd”. (The latter one being a danish cuisine, not swedish.)
And about those bikers in town. Usually they don’t really pay that much attention to traffic lights or pedestrians. And if you accidentally get in their way they will be rude! Even if you are on the zebra crossing!
And I must say I don’t find the dutch remarkably cheap!
Comment by Julie — November 14, 2012 @ 8:45 pm
okay , for all the people who have commented that hollansd isn’t part of the netherlands ,they all know because the dutches sometimes use holland short for the netherlands.
Comment by justsomeguy — November 19, 2012 @ 2:33 pm
it’s true about the germans, we really hate them.
in the city where i live we got 1 time a year a sports tournament wit allot of germans, me and my friends alway’s go there and yell”schade deutsland, alles ist vorbei””to bad germany, everthing is lost” they really hate that but we are way taller and bigger than them.
Comment by patrick — November 28, 2012 @ 12:05 pm
I come from the Netherlands and I found this hillarius, as at No. 6 I laughed so hard because it is so true, but I want to say something. I live in Hengelo, it is a city in the Netherlands (in the east), there is not very often you bike stolen than in Amsterdam. Let my explain, if you are in Amsterdam, and drive north about 15 miles. You notice when you speak with someone who lives there, you hear a dialect. And if you drive east of Amsterdam for example, you hear another dialect. As civilized American people and rednecks. I’m not saying who is and who is not scum of the Netherlands. My point is that there are different types of people in the Netherlands. I hope you’ve understood what bothered me.
Comment by Puck — December 9, 2012 @ 4:28 pm
Okay, but that part about the hot meal and the sandwich is just utter bullshit. I can eat dinner 3 times a day including one with family, etc. and have also done so.
Comment by Q — December 9, 2012 @ 8:14 pm
I’m of Dutch descent…and I don’t like the Dutch! Enough said.
Comment by Christian — December 15, 2012 @ 2:07 pm
I’m brabantian and I utterly hate the Netherlands!
Fuck those arrogant prickheads in the northwest, they still suffer from the famous ”oh look we once ruled an Empire!” its annoying as hell, not only that, I hate the ”poldermodel” whine, talk for ages before finally deciding on a matters. And the Queen? Dumb lowbie arrival of idiotic ancestors, which according to salic law should be in small house in Germany nowadays(Note: I love Germany, nothing about that there, might be that there’s alot of Irish, Scottish, Saxon, English, French, Flemish, Byzantine/Greek blood in my veins – Yes by that reasoning I should be King of the Netherlands) – Yes, I might be bitter, don’t know, might not even be dutch, never been proud of being ”dutch” , just dislike it if people call my language German, it’s wierd.
Comment by R — December 23, 2012 @ 4:12 am
i’m stupid? the dutch will not eat two hot meals a da???y!! lol my mothers family from father, mother, aunt, uncle..all of them are inbred Rotterdam….she decided to travel to the US to work as a prostitute and marry an american, but by FUCK..I learned dutch from birth..i speak it as it were english..and that stupid little hot meal quote is true..thats the WHOLE of the NETHERLANDS..not part..its a saying..do you know what Karnemelkpap is? hot breakfast…or do you even know Erwtensoep?? i like frosted flakes covered in hagelslag. my mommy says i’m a good boy when i make poopy. sometimes i miss the toilet seat, but my mommy was too busy servicing clients to potty train me
Comment by Ryan — December 29, 2012 @ 11:18 pm
haha so funny to read this as a dutch girl.
Comment by nynke — January 3, 2013 @ 2:52 pm
haha, I’m dutch actually. and it’s funny to read this.
and well Holland is not same as Netherlands (it was many many……. years back so it’s sometimes still used)
and those mice (blue an pink) well it’s pretty right. but it’s ment for the birth of children blue if you got a boy, pink if it’s a girl.
and Germans well yeah, but that’s everywhere lol rivals. Americans got there Mexican friends, so on (and yeah the war certainly helped)
is fun to read some ones experience of this country haha
Comment by Jan maarten — January 4, 2013 @ 10:14 am
umm yeah,
the mayority of this article is bullcrap honestly…
1 hot meal a day? no?
frikandel stuffed with animal shit? no?
a kroket looks like a turd? no?
all Dutch ppl have shitty english accents? no?
All Dutchmen hate Germans? no?
so yeah…
Im Dutch, prove me wrong, americans
DailyCandor: No no no, you’re absolutely right. You’re told that quite often, aren’t you?
Comment by ME — January 4, 2013 @ 12:11 pm
Well, actually the reason why you dont see dutch people getting high very often is because they go to the shop, buy some weed and gtfo to smoke it at home. And Holland is actually the same asThe netherlands but you are refering to Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland.
Comment by Leonard — January 4, 2013 @ 6:54 pm
As a dutch guy this is really amusing!
Comment by Isa van Dijk — January 4, 2013 @ 7:38 pm
he there, i’m dutch and i think this article is almost right so wel done!
btw calling the netherlands holland isn’t a problem. it isn’t correct but i always use holland in foreign country’s if they ask me where i’m from so.
this is what i eat (pretty normal and compareble with other dutch people)
breakfast:
thea or milk
fresh bread with meat (salami, gehaktbrood,palingworst) or cheese of something sweet like chocopasta,vruchtenhagel,hagelslag stuf like that
i go to school so i bring 4 sandwiches to school with also the same things.
and a bottle of water.
when i am home i eat a little smal meal or i have dinner. depent on how late i am back from school.
in my case dinner is
realy dutch: aardappel, vlees en groente (potatoes(with a lot of gavi) meat and vegables) 2x a week
italian 1x a week, asian (rice noodles) 3x a week. then we always eat on saturday fries. belgians are very proud of this invention. so i don’t compeet that but in the nethelands we like them also, for a long time.
i’m now almost 18 and i write this without grammar check. i know there a some mistakes but you can compare this to our educatiob level. it’s not the best but also not the worse. we have to learn english, french, german and dutch. witch is pretty hard grammar.
last but not least, the german thing.
i live close to the german border (Oldenzaal) and i dont have a problem with germans(exept on sundaysof the shops a open in oldenzaal and not in germany, and germans also want us dutch people to speak perfectly german to them) but a lot of people dont like themand that is true. we dont like if somebody says that our language is almost the same. i think this feeling is because there is a rival between us. and the wo2 is also a reason.
just come visit use some time and not only amsterdam but the rest also
and again sorry for the grammar
Comment by nh — January 4, 2013 @ 9:50 pm
i loved reading your article. I am Dutch, and it was very amusing to see what foreigners think about the Netherlands. I’d like to say that in most cases, you are right. However, some things are a little exaggerated. We do not all hate the Germans, but you could say that many people have some prejudices against them. It differs per person, I personally don’t have any problems with them. secondly, there are many people who use umbrellas, although the majority probably doesn’t.
did you know that the “santa clause” most people know from christmas is actually an idea descending from our (the Dutch) sinterklaas?
Comment by gillian — January 5, 2013 @ 1:50 am
What a fun read, it’s always good to look at yourself through the eyes of another. Even more fun is to read through the comments. They prove that there’s more than meets the eye to the Netherlands, and Dutch people. Experiences may vary!
The Dutch people are just as diverse a people as any other, so any generalisation in bound to be invalid. There is however, an interesting read on wikipedia concerning Dutch etiquette, which may give some insight in Dutch culture. It opened my own eyes a bit on things I percieved as normal, but may seem weird to others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_etiquette
Oh, and for the record: I think of Germany as a great country, and generally speaking, I find German people to be very nice and friendly. I always have a good time there and I like to visit the country often. The same goes for Belgium and Belgian people. We’re all not that different. 🙂
Comment by Johan — January 5, 2013 @ 1:55 am
Agreed on 346. Most of this is bullcrap…
1. Holland is a part of the Netherlands, 2 provinces (similar to states), they’re the richest part, that’s why it’s that famous.
2. We eat chocolate sprinkles on our bread, yes. But adults aren’t a big fan, it’s really sweet, imagine eating a bar of chocolate along with some bread…
and I can go on like this forever, but there are 2 things which really bug me:
-The frikandel part, people always say that it’s stuffed with eyeballs, tails, ballsacks etc., even in the Netherlands, they’re all wrong.
-Dutch ‘hate’ Germans. When talking about soccer, you’re right but overall we don’t hate them. We make jokes about Belgians, we think that they’re dumb.
DailyCandor: Why don’t you read a little more carefully? I said Holland was part of NL, but that they’re not synonymous. I’ve also met many Dutch adults who eat sprinkles on toast. And for the last two things that bug you: you admit even other Dutch people share these sentiments.
Comment by Simon — January 5, 2013 @ 2:34 am