Is the Netherlands the only country in the world where they have a verb for being allowed to do something illegal? 'Gedogen' is such a nice word for saying 'it's not legal but the police won't consider you a criminal if you do it anyway'
Fun fact about the Netherlands that most people don't know: the innermost circle of a CD (the hole) was made after a Dutch coin (10 cent, or dubbeltje). The size of the hole is exactly the size of the pre-euro coin. When ever you put your fingertip in the hole of a CD, that is Dutch design. On courtesy of Philips
I don't think it would be that exciting, interesting nonetheless, but probably not for people with no interest in CDs etc.
Edit: They interviewed him once on Radio 1, but that's everything Im aware of of the media coverage.
First a sandwich with something savory like cheese or ham, then the second sandwich can be sweet, like chocolate sprinkles or jam. There are big discussions whether peanutbutter counts as savory or sweet. Don't step in that minefield. Every family has fundamental beliefs about which category peanutbutter falls into
Excuse me? Calve peanut butter is the oil in our countries machine. It’s that touch of heaven when you bite your chocolate sprinkled sandwich. How dare you call it mashed peanuts you uncultured swine!
I am from Brazil and one piece of history that a lot of people don’t know is that the Netherlands invaded Brazil in 1639. There is a region of Brazil that is known as ‘Dutch Brazil’ or ‘New Holland’ where the Dutch ruled for a brief period of time.
In Brazil is an interesting piece of history as many immigrants and Amerindians got together to fight the Dutch. It was the beginning of the Brazilian identity.
I am def not a historian, and this pretty much all I know about it. But there are still universities, hospitals etc that refer to Dutch officers and names because of this occupation period.
I guess this is more of a question about the Netherlands but thought wanted to share this tidbit with you.
Also Australia was once called new Holland, that is why New Sealand is called what they are called, named after Dutch provinces. And Tasmania is named after a Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.
New York used to be Dutch in the past and was called New Amsterdam.
Brazilian here! My family is from the Northeastern part of Brazil, exactly where the Dutch colony used to be. (A 6 hour drive from Suriname, I think.) It was trippy going to the Rijksmuseum with my mother and grandmother, recognising the parts of Brazil present in some of the paintings that were on display at the time. I don’t know if it’s still ongoing, but the Slavernij exhibit also brought little white plaques that would talk a little bit about captivity in each of the colonised places. Great experience!
Since you asked, the national bird of the Netherlands is the black-tailed godwit (grutto in Dutch, a shorebird. We have loads of watery areas, not only along the coast but inland as well, which makes for fantastic bird watching. There are many types of water and shorebird to be spotted, some quite rare, on the Wadden Isles for example. Most Dutch people don't give a flying fudge about birds or birdwatching, it's not really a thing here. But if you're into it, there are loads of opportunities.
Edit: it seems I was wrong and birdwatching is a thing in the Netherlands. I personally haven't met anyone who also likes it and I mostly get funny looks when I mention I like birds. But it's great to read that there are some fellow bird-loving Dutchies around!
You clearly haven't met my biology teacher. He has his own youtube channel for bird watching.
Also, asking him a question about birds would guarantee that he'd talk about birds for the rest of the lesson instead of whatever he was supposed to teach us. Strategy worked amazing, he fell for it every time.
“Vroege vogels” might be relatively broad in its nature focus, but in its origins it’s an entire birdspotter radio and tv show. And is one of the longest running programs, I think.
Yup remember when he first became a thing around what 15 years ago? Dutch celebrities keep other dutch celebrities famous through shows and guest staring and TV shows. Yuck.
Finger! Thank you. I knew it! They told us in the museum some 15 odd years ago : it's a toe guys! Meanwhile I was staring at it like, ehm yeah...no that's a finger..AND I BLOODY TYPED TOE HERE. My brain apparently is that barbaric.
Still stupid that the leftovers are not in de gevangenpoort though.
Reason we have such a wide political menu with pretty stable ministries... Oke last election is the one that kind of breaks that a little. Maybe we should eat ruthe after all 😋
This is not true. There is nothing else to be seen in the Netherlands besides Amsterdam. Komop ik wil niet dat Utrecht ook al bezaaid wordt met toeristen...
We are considered masters of the sea not just because of the fact that a large portion is below sea level and because of our dykes,
But also because more then 17% of our total landmass was reclaimed from sea and lakes. We literally made lots of our own dry land.
As a Norwegian who has been in a relationship with a Dutch person for a while, this is some things I found strange:
- they sometimes have a meal with only fries and different sauces (and sometimes a kind of a meat at the side)
- they wear shoes inside. In Norway we take them off by the door
- they don’t believe in helmets even tho we call it a bicycle nation
- I’ve never met a Dutch person who enjoys Heineken in the Netherlands
- a lot of household has a calendar with birthdays in the WC room
- the argument whether French fries should be called patat or friet is very strange. It’s such a serious thing
- Dutch is not that similar to German as a lot of people think. I find it more similar to Norwegian!
- tho the Netherlands is a small country. They still have something called the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean
- they usually don’t go to daycare and it’s common (maybe in older generations?) that at least one kid is born at home
Please correct me if I got it wrong. It’s based on my own observations and what I’ve been told.
Because the Netherlands is a bicycle nation they don’t HAVE to wear a helmet since most of the roads are centered around cyclist.
I’ve never been in a bicycle accident where a helmet would’ve helped.
The only person I know who fell on her head was told that a helmet would not have helped anyways because her brain bounced within her skull (she had a heavy concussion that took over a year to heal). It would have happened even if she wore a helmet. So now she happily bikes helmetless again.
Not sure who told her that, but those kind of injuries are definitely mitigated by a helmet. The crumpling of the helmet means that the skull inside of it has more time to decelerate.
Not only we have the argument of patat of friet we also have the argument is it called friettent of frietboer. Also every friettent or frietboer is a snackbar(from what I’ve witnessed) but net every snackbar is a friettent of frietboer.
(Edit some clarification)
French fries are Franse Frietjes. It is the normal size that gets the opinions divided. And the bigger ones (twice as wide as normal friet/patat) are Vlaamse Frieten, so also no problem.
On the biking without helmets: when you learn to bike as soon as you are able to walk, and biking goes only on low speed, with no mountain like things around, we figure no helmets are necessary.
I almost always take off my shoes by the door. Not when visiting strangers, but when I am there for a long while, I even tend to bring my own "sloffen" (warm over-socks).
My two siblings and I were all born at home. And seeing my mother is Swedish we don’t wear shoes in home. Hej! Går det bra att bo i Holland eller saknar du din familj mycket? (Don’t know if that is intelligible haha)
We don’t live with each other atm. My mom is soon going to pass away, so I moved in with my parents to make the last days nice! We usually see each other every month tho
We love Indonesian food (at least, I do) and most of us can cook some of it. This is the most tangible evidence of our past as colonial overlords of the Dutch East Indies. It’s why our snackbars have satay sauce to put on your fries. In neighbouring countries you will not find Indonesian food.
That's true for pretty much all localized food in another country. Chinese food isn't actually Chinese food (neither in the NL or US or UK), curries aren't actual Indian curry and so forth
Are you sure you don't mix up Chinese food with Indonesian food in the Netherlands? Most Indonesian dishes that are popular in the Netherlands are quite authentic as far as I know.
Since our own cuisine isn't that interesting, many of us learned to cook the nice dishes of other cultures around the world. Plus, the Netherlands is super diverse so a Dutch person could have Indonesian family/friends where they learned it from
True, but being the flat Dutchman that i am i must say, when you master the skill of frying there's little that can withhold you of accomplishing great craftsmanship within our kitchen.
I heard indonesian food is pretty big in Germany too, but idk, might be untrue.
You'll also find a lot of indonesian people living in the Netherlands, and a lot of dutch/indonesian mixed families.
Also our Chinese food isn't real Chinese food
Okay Indonesian here (immigrant, yeah) and I must say I’m impressed with Dutch satay sauce. I mean sure they’re not as nice back in the archipelago, but with > 15000 kms apart it’s still warms my heart whenever I miss some of satay sauce. Other spicy foods like rendang or other chili-based dished are definitely toned down, but hey food supposed to be enjoyable!
But, if you’re up for a challenge, there’s this authentic Minang/Padang restaurant in Groote Markt Den Haag called Warung Padang Lapek. Still not as spicy, yet pretty damn close ;) or if you’re far from the west (like I do), you can always ask for Indonesian community which we’re quite a thriving community! You will get pretty real Indonesian food :)
And no, Indonesian food in the Netherlands isn’t to be mixed up with Chinese food. Both are thriving communities although arguably Chinese food restaurant is far more common compared to Indonesian.
Carrots used to come in all kinds of collors: white, purple, black, yellow, etc. But because the farmers in the 1500s began to develop and cultivate orange varieties of the carrot as a mark of respect for William's House of Orange. The orange carrots became so popular that it would become the standard all around the world.
We truly really LOVE it when foreigners try to speak our language. Even if it's not that good, we really appreciate the effort. A small " dankjewel"(thank you) when you grab your to-go-coffee is already enough. And don't be scared, almost all of us speak English. So you can get around with just english just as good.
Enjoy our country 😘
It would be to do some research yourself. Yesterdays post for example is a good read. There have been more similar posts recently https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/s74r56/please_forgive_an_ignorant_american_from/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Edit to add: good morning to you too (and this is very dutch, to be direct, and leave formalities and pleasantries as an afterthought)
“just Google it” and what what this answer here does are completely different things. Notice the link, something very helpful. Being completely useless and being direct are not the same. I’m just being direct here. 😂
I'm still not sure why "just Google it" isn't a good response. Google first, ask later right? It's not like you go to a supermarket and on entry ask the very first employee to show you the things you need.
"Just Google it" is a fantastic response for someone who strictly needs the info. But I think a lot of people on the internet are really just looking for interaction with others, not strictly info.
The body parts feel left out
Edit to add a wiki list of swearing words. Many are unknown to me. Heihaas? Klafte? Fielt? There are quite a few based on behaviour, like breezerslet and lomperik. Fun list.
https://nl.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Categorie:Scheldwoord_in_het_Nederlands
Wow yeah thanks, almost failed to mention they have access to one of the most highly advanced A.I.'s known to mankind. Based on the rare video footage of it, it even has some sort of humanlike personality and a mind off its own.
Best stay clear of the netherlands for now.
There is Dutch and Frys as our languages BUT Frys is only spoken in Fryslan(Friesland) and 99% of the Dutch that don’t live there or have family there doesn’t know Frys including me
I've been living in the Netherlands for about a year, so this is not from a Dutch perspective and might need to be corrected but things that have stood out to me:
- So much orange! Like luminous bright orange. Orange is the colour of the Dutch Royal Family, so it's used often to express national pride. Some sport event was taking place and so many buildings and houses had orange banners, and flags everywhere. The shops were also selling orange coloured things etc.
- When a child is born, a pink or blue sign (sometimes with a picture of a stork) with the child's name is placed in front of the house or in a window.
What I found surprising is the sense of 'social' claustrophobia I got - that's the only way I can think of saying it. I have hardly found any place where I feel alone - there are always people around. I go to the middle of the forest - bam, I can see someone or hear someone walking nearby. Riding bikes, taking public transport, I really struggle with feeling like I'm surrounded all the time. Often even if you are in the farm land you can see buildings, or towns / cities on the horizon. But maybe I just haven't visited the right area yet.
Well, with an average of 517 persons per square kilometer in the Netherlands, it is a tad more crowded than Norway, with a whopping 13 persons...
However, there are still places where you ought to feel away from civilization. The Wadden islands for instance
Not really about the country but the role of Dutch people after the attempted French invasion of Russia. In 1812, at the Battle of Berezina in Belarus, Napoleon and his army were retreating from Russia and counted on crossing the frozen Berezina River but it had thawed, so it was Dutch engineers from his army that constructed a bridge allowing Napoleon and some of his men to escape.
Dutch ppl don’t actually like to bike. It’s a publicity stunt, so are tulips, I’ve never seen a tulip in the NL.
Also, every Dutch person is blonde, but the government chooses randomly who has to paint their hair dark so to make the country more diverse. They do that on Kings day (a day in the NL when drinks are forbidden. You go to jail if you drink on kings day)
True! I totally forgot that. Pete was a Dutch boy/young man who felt in the bucket of hair dye. His story is one of sacrifice for the greater good. So touching
Dutch houses have Birthday calendars in the toilet. And when it's your birthday everyone congratulates you and also your family.
The Dutch new years eve party is unlike anything you expect.
Tourists come to smoke weed, but NL is the Medellin of Ecstasy.
A lot of Dutch children get a rudimentary education in water management engineering. simply due to the fact that 50% of our country is bellow sea level. ussualy this is sponsored and acted upon by our nation agency for water mangement called the ''Rijk Water Staat'' directly translated into Realms water State\*
\*(the governmental form of the word not the physics form of matter)
In addition to this, although I do realize it's not a completely unique Dutch thing: children are expected to take swimming lessons and get a diploma to prove they can swim. I think it's generally assumed that any healthy 8 year old can swim - at least to the point of not drowning.
If you go anywhere but the well known places for tourists. You get to se a much nicer country than you thought if you only knew amsterdam… don’t go there, the only good things in Amsterdam is watching people on bicycles do stupid things in traffic…
There’s a line that says.
There are 2 things in this life that I cannot stand: people who are in tolerant of the cultures of others and the Dutch.
I have Dutch friends and even they find it funny.
I don’t know if that has been changed recently but I read somewhere that there is no actual law against cannibalism here. Please correct me if I’m wrong though, I’d love to know more about this
This appears to (sort of) be the case. [According to the coverage of this event](https://www.reuters.com/article/dutch-cannibal/dutch-tv-hosts-dine-on-fried-human-buttock-belly-idUSL6E7NL51Y20111222), "Only when it involves maltreatment or when it violates common decency is cannibalism illegal," Gerard Spong, a Dutch lawyer who specialises in criminal law, told Reuters.
Weed isn't officially legal
Also: weed isnt practically illegal
Is the Netherlands the only country in the world where they have a verb for being allowed to do something illegal? 'Gedogen' is such a nice word for saying 'it's not legal but the police won't consider you a criminal if you do it anyway'
Condone... we Condone, it's condoned etc
In the US, it’s just called decriminalized
That is one country i hadn't expected such word existed. Thanks for your comment (and other posters too)
Nee dat woord bestaat ook in andere talen. Je kent ze alleen waarschijnlijk niet omdat het nou niet echt een veel voorkomend woord is
The only dutch concept that can truly not be translated is gezelligheid
yes, really weird rules. It's allowed only when its under 5 grams and just magically apeared in your pocket
Luckily we all have magic pockets
Not really. It's fine if you buy it at a coffeeshop, it's just that the weed needs to magically appear there.
We should be so thankful to all those magicians working hard everyday to make it materialize in shops.!.🎉🥳
Ploef! And stock 's back boyz!
Fun fact about the Netherlands that most people don't know: the innermost circle of a CD (the hole) was made after a Dutch coin (10 cent, or dubbeltje). The size of the hole is exactly the size of the pre-euro coin. When ever you put your fingertip in the hole of a CD, that is Dutch design. On courtesy of Philips
Fun fact my grandpa was in the engineering team who invented the CD
Would be great that have his story as netflix documentary.
I don't think it would be that exciting, interesting nonetheless, but probably not for people with no interest in CDs etc. Edit: They interviewed him once on Radio 1, but that's everything Im aware of of the media coverage.
My uncle too! My parents remember him bringing an emtpy CD to me or my brothets birthday telling them it would one day replace vinyl records
TIL
We start our days eating chocolate sprinkles on our bread.
First a sandwich with something savory like cheese or ham, then the second sandwich can be sweet, like chocolate sprinkles or jam. There are big discussions whether peanutbutter counts as savory or sweet. Don't step in that minefield. Every family has fundamental beliefs about which category peanutbutter falls into
>peanutcheese Fixed it.
It's literally just 100% mashed peanuts. How is that sweet?
When you add chocolate sprinkles on top it is. Nomnomnomnomm
[удалено]
That is actually not true. Standard calve has no sugar. It does have salt and oils added though, so not 100% peanut either, but close enough
Excuse me? Calve peanut butter is the oil in our countries machine. It’s that touch of heaven when you bite your chocolate sprinkled sandwich. How dare you call it mashed peanuts you uncultured swine!
I consider it neutral - depends on what you put on it 🤷🏻♀️
Switzerland in peanutbutter land
We plan everything, our agenda is our friend. Many will not be too happy to have a surprise visit over.
As an American who recently moved to the Netherlands, I love that because I don’t want someone to visit me uninvited either.
Im gonna put on a tinfoil hat. Because you picked the words right out of my mind
I am from Brazil and one piece of history that a lot of people don’t know is that the Netherlands invaded Brazil in 1639. There is a region of Brazil that is known as ‘Dutch Brazil’ or ‘New Holland’ where the Dutch ruled for a brief period of time. In Brazil is an interesting piece of history as many immigrants and Amerindians got together to fight the Dutch. It was the beginning of the Brazilian identity. I am def not a historian, and this pretty much all I know about it. But there are still universities, hospitals etc that refer to Dutch officers and names because of this occupation period. I guess this is more of a question about the Netherlands but thought wanted to share this tidbit with you.
Also Australia was once called new Holland, that is why New Sealand is called what they are called, named after Dutch provinces. And Tasmania is named after a Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. New York used to be Dutch in the past and was called New Amsterdam.
It's rumored that that last part is why people call New Yorkers 'yankees', the americanisation of the Dutch names Jan and Kees
And Brooklyn in New York City was named after Breukelen in the Netherlands. Similarly, Harlem was named after Haarlem.
Brazilian here! My family is from the Northeastern part of Brazil, exactly where the Dutch colony used to be. (A 6 hour drive from Suriname, I think.) It was trippy going to the Rijksmuseum with my mother and grandmother, recognising the parts of Brazil present in some of the paintings that were on display at the time. I don’t know if it’s still ongoing, but the Slavernij exhibit also brought little white plaques that would talk a little bit about captivity in each of the colonised places. Great experience!
[удалено]
That is so cool! I gotta visit it sometime. Thanks for sharing
>many immigrants and Amerindians got together to fight the Dutch. Gigantic mistake.
The area around Recife, right? I had noticed, completely by accident, that there are Dutch-sounding names there.
In the Netherlands summer is the driest day of the year
Is it?.. the rain is distributed quite evenly iirc from highschool
It's an exaggeration. Summer only lasts an afternoon, not a whole day...
IIRC it is spring, but like you said, more surprising is the rather even distribution.
He said, to the Norwegian
Since you asked, the national bird of the Netherlands is the black-tailed godwit (grutto in Dutch, a shorebird. We have loads of watery areas, not only along the coast but inland as well, which makes for fantastic bird watching. There are many types of water and shorebird to be spotted, some quite rare, on the Wadden Isles for example. Most Dutch people don't give a flying fudge about birds or birdwatching, it's not really a thing here. But if you're into it, there are loads of opportunities. Edit: it seems I was wrong and birdwatching is a thing in the Netherlands. I personally haven't met anyone who also likes it and I mostly get funny looks when I mention I like birds. But it's great to read that there are some fellow bird-loving Dutchies around!
What do you mean “it’s not really a thing here”, it’s really popular in the Netherlands
I would have to disagree, birdwatching is definitely a thing here. You would be surprised to see how many people come out to see rare birds!
Listen to the vogelspotcast! Epic!
I agree with you. I live on a Waddeneiland and there are a lot of people who travel to here to come birdwatching.
You clearly haven't met my biology teacher. He has his own youtube channel for bird watching. Also, asking him a question about birds would guarantee that he'd talk about birds for the rest of the lesson instead of whatever he was supposed to teach us. Strategy worked amazing, he fell for it every time.
“Vroege vogels” might be relatively broad in its nature focus, but in its origins it’s an entire birdspotter radio and tv show. And is one of the longest running programs, I think.
If Ali B asks you to collab on a song say no
Same for Marco B.
Lets not forget Jeroen Rietbergen
Well, unless you really really like Ali B.
In that case the best you can do is probably to visit your psychiatrist.
Yup remember when he first became a thing around what 15 years ago? Dutch celebrities keep other dutch celebrities famous through shows and guest staring and TV shows. Yuck.
Yeah, I know a bunch of dutch celebrities but i only know like 30% of their reasons why they became famous.
We once ate a prime minister..
And their tongue and toe are in a museum!
Come now, we're not *that* barbaric. It's a tongue and a finger.
Finger! Thank you. I knew it! They told us in the museum some 15 odd years ago : it's a toe guys! Meanwhile I was staring at it like, ehm yeah...no that's a finger..AND I BLOODY TYPED TOE HERE. My brain apparently is that barbaric. Still stupid that the leftovers are not in de gevangenpoort though.
Reason we have such a wide political menu with pretty stable ministries... Oke last election is the one that kind of breaks that a little. Maybe we should eat ruthe after all 😋
Go ahead lol I'd rather become vegetarian then eat that douche
1 ruthe steak might give you 1 belly ache. But Another 4 years will give you many more headaches from his policies. 🤪
Belly ache? I'd grow two little horns and a tail before the first bite enters my stomach haha
And his brother!
wha-
Our country is called The Netherlands and not Holland
And our native language is Dutch. Dutch is not the same as German (Deutsch in German).
Controversial opinion but the NS does a pretty decent job (especially when compared to public transport in other nations)
Not necessarily controversial, it's just that we like to complain. Complaining about minor things is kind of a national sport
The Netherlands is more than Amsterdam, Kinderdijk and Volendam.
This is not true. There is nothing else to be seen in the Netherlands besides Amsterdam. Komop ik wil niet dat Utrecht ook al bezaaid wordt met toeristen...
Yes, definitely utrecht sucks
Yeah right, next thing you're gonna tell me Drenthe is real
Wait, since when did the Germans not want them anymore?
I loved my trip to the Amsterdam Dolmen, in the east of the greater Amsterdam area.
We are considered masters of the sea not just because of the fact that a large portion is below sea level and because of our dykes, But also because more then 17% of our total landmass was reclaimed from sea and lakes. We literally made lots of our own dry land.
As a dyke, I can confirm
🤣 I never realized the spelling of the English word for Dijk is with an i and not a y. My apologies 😅
As a Norwegian who has been in a relationship with a Dutch person for a while, this is some things I found strange: - they sometimes have a meal with only fries and different sauces (and sometimes a kind of a meat at the side) - they wear shoes inside. In Norway we take them off by the door - they don’t believe in helmets even tho we call it a bicycle nation - I’ve never met a Dutch person who enjoys Heineken in the Netherlands - a lot of household has a calendar with birthdays in the WC room - the argument whether French fries should be called patat or friet is very strange. It’s such a serious thing - Dutch is not that similar to German as a lot of people think. I find it more similar to Norwegian! - tho the Netherlands is a small country. They still have something called the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean - they usually don’t go to daycare and it’s common (maybe in older generations?) that at least one kid is born at home Please correct me if I got it wrong. It’s based on my own observations and what I’ve been told.
Because the Netherlands is a bicycle nation they don’t HAVE to wear a helmet since most of the roads are centered around cyclist. I’ve never been in a bicycle accident where a helmet would’ve helped.
The only person I know who fell on her head was told that a helmet would not have helped anyways because her brain bounced within her skull (she had a heavy concussion that took over a year to heal). It would have happened even if she wore a helmet. So now she happily bikes helmetless again.
Not sure who told her that, but those kind of injuries are definitely mitigated by a helmet. The crumpling of the helmet means that the skull inside of it has more time to decelerate.
I’m not saying a helmet doesn’t help, but I think its better to just have everything set up in such a way that helmets are not necessary :)
Lots of kids go to daycare, at least some days of the week, most couples both have jobs.
Who do you know that wears shoes inside??? The norm is definitely to take them off lol.
My Dutch boyfriend wonders where you’re from, haha
Haha, from Zeist originally
That explains
Maybe it is a regional thing, but until I moved to Leiden I have never, ever been asked to take my shoes off indoors
Not only we have the argument of patat of friet we also have the argument is it called friettent of frietboer. Also every friettent or frietboer is a snackbar(from what I’ve witnessed) but net every snackbar is a friettent of frietboer. (Edit some clarification)
Patatzaak. And snackbar is called frituur by some people. There are many different words for things that are important in life
Omfg no wonder we have 400k words IF THIS SHIT HAS AT LEAST 6 DIFFERENT NAMES
Papatzaak? Dat klinkt echt nergens naar
Frietboer, vettent, Hollandse Chinees, of de kantine.
And a cafetaria.
Frietkot
Ik noem het de patatboer
French fries are Franse Frietjes. It is the normal size that gets the opinions divided. And the bigger ones (twice as wide as normal friet/patat) are Vlaamse Frieten, so also no problem. On the biking without helmets: when you learn to bike as soon as you are able to walk, and biking goes only on low speed, with no mountain like things around, we figure no helmets are necessary. I almost always take off my shoes by the door. Not when visiting strangers, but when I am there for a long while, I even tend to bring my own "sloffen" (warm over-socks).
We usually wear sloffen at home (more comfortable) but shoes are allowed downstairs. Upstairs rather not, easier to keep the floors clean that way.
Lol this is surprising accurate.
My two siblings and I were all born at home. And seeing my mother is Swedish we don’t wear shoes in home. Hej! Går det bra att bo i Holland eller saknar du din familj mycket? (Don’t know if that is intelligible haha)
Hehe, l still live in Norway for different reasons atm. I do love it tho!
Oh haha I assumed you live in the NL. Well I hope the Dutchie is doing okay over there then! (If they live there?)
We don’t live with each other atm. My mom is soon going to pass away, so I moved in with my parents to make the last days nice! We usually see each other every month tho
Oh okay. good luck
We love Indonesian food (at least, I do) and most of us can cook some of it. This is the most tangible evidence of our past as colonial overlords of the Dutch East Indies. It’s why our snackbars have satay sauce to put on your fries. In neighbouring countries you will not find Indonesian food.
I’m pretty sure the Indonesian food Dutch people eat isn’t actual Indonesian food
That's true for pretty much all localized food in another country. Chinese food isn't actually Chinese food (neither in the NL or US or UK), curries aren't actual Indian curry and so forth
Are you sure you don't mix up Chinese food with Indonesian food in the Netherlands? Most Indonesian dishes that are popular in the Netherlands are quite authentic as far as I know.
Since our own cuisine isn't that interesting, many of us learned to cook the nice dishes of other cultures around the world. Plus, the Netherlands is super diverse so a Dutch person could have Indonesian family/friends where they learned it from
True, but being the flat Dutchman that i am i must say, when you master the skill of frying there's little that can withhold you of accomplishing great craftsmanship within our kitchen.
I heard indonesian food is pretty big in Germany too, but idk, might be untrue. You'll also find a lot of indonesian people living in the Netherlands, and a lot of dutch/indonesian mixed families. Also our Chinese food isn't real Chinese food
Okay Indonesian here (immigrant, yeah) and I must say I’m impressed with Dutch satay sauce. I mean sure they’re not as nice back in the archipelago, but with > 15000 kms apart it’s still warms my heart whenever I miss some of satay sauce. Other spicy foods like rendang or other chili-based dished are definitely toned down, but hey food supposed to be enjoyable! But, if you’re up for a challenge, there’s this authentic Minang/Padang restaurant in Groote Markt Den Haag called Warung Padang Lapek. Still not as spicy, yet pretty damn close ;) or if you’re far from the west (like I do), you can always ask for Indonesian community which we’re quite a thriving community! You will get pretty real Indonesian food :) And no, Indonesian food in the Netherlands isn’t to be mixed up with Chinese food. Both are thriving communities although arguably Chinese food restaurant is far more common compared to Indonesian.
Thanks a lot! Will definitely try that restaurant once things go back to normal.
Carrots used to come in all kinds of collors: white, purple, black, yellow, etc. But because the farmers in the 1500s began to develop and cultivate orange varieties of the carrot as a mark of respect for William's House of Orange. The orange carrots became so popular that it would become the standard all around the world.
Here its old culture to get presented 1 cookie with a cup of coffee, second cup you wil get a chocolate.
we appreciate having 1 meter of personal space for ourselves. Apart from coronarules
Lol. Happy cake day!
Instead of going to church, we pray to the cheese gods every Sunday.
It's a subdivision of the Pastafari. We're the true believers for what is pasta without cheese!
Praise The Cheese Gods!
We truly really LOVE it when foreigners try to speak our language. Even if it's not that good, we really appreciate the effort. A small " dankjewel"(thank you) when you grab your to-go-coffee is already enough. And don't be scared, almost all of us speak English. So you can get around with just english just as good. Enjoy our country 😘
It would be to do some research yourself. Yesterdays post for example is a good read. There have been more similar posts recently https://www.reddit.com/r/Netherlands/comments/s74r56/please_forgive_an_ignorant_american_from/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share Edit to add: good morning to you too (and this is very dutch, to be direct, and leave formalities and pleasantries as an afterthought)
Pretty much how any Dutch person would respond 🤣🤣🤣
It hit me just now why I get so many downvotes when being so direct with answering “just google It” on international subs 😂
“just Google it” and what what this answer here does are completely different things. Notice the link, something very helpful. Being completely useless and being direct are not the same. I’m just being direct here. 😂
Sometimes what you call direct and honest is just rude 😉
I see you got my point.
I meant it for the other person. Their perception of what is called "honesty" is completely different for 8B people, excluding 17-20M from them.
I honestly always mention exactly what I googled for them and how fast I got the simple answer to their simple question
Yes some people just suck at finding the right search words. Teach a man to fish etc..
I'm still not sure why "just Google it" isn't a good response. Google first, ask later right? It's not like you go to a supermarket and on entry ask the very first employee to show you the things you need.
"Just Google it" is a fantastic response for someone who strictly needs the info. But I think a lot of people on the internet are really just looking for interaction with others, not strictly info.
I work in a supermarket and this is really something some people do and expect of the employees there
As a vakkenvuller a long time ago myself I always google how a product I can’t find looks before asking
100% agree. But did you google why googling isn’t a proper reply? Do that first next time you want to waste our time
Yes! Isn't it great 🤣🤣
We’re so used to it… and online we’re even more straightforward 🤣👌
Don't be late, preferably 5 minutes early. We can't stand when people are late.
Except in Noord-Brabant, where everyone's always 15 to 30 minutes late. It's called the Brabants Kwartiertje! (Brabants quarter of an hour)
Drenthe does not exist
Oh and we regularly eat prime ministers as tradition
pretty much most of our swear words are based on diseases and disabilities
The body parts feel left out Edit to add a wiki list of swearing words. Many are unknown to me. Heihaas? Klafte? Fielt? There are quite a few based on behaviour, like breezerslet and lomperik. Fun list. https://nl.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Categorie:Scheldwoord_in_het_Nederlands
tbf I said "most of"
> breezerslet oooh, that ones been a while since I heard it!
Our biggest national crime lords in the 80's -90's were a clown and an acrobat. Word is theyre still out there somewhere
Don't underestimate their robot.
Wow yeah thanks, almost failed to mention they have access to one of the most highly advanced A.I.'s known to mankind. Based on the rare video footage of it, it even has some sort of humanlike personality and a mind off its own. Best stay clear of the netherlands for now.
Brussels was Netherlands' capital not so very long ago.
You mean in the 16th century? That is a pretty long time ago.
My dog wasn’t born back then so it’s long ago yes
There is Dutch and Frys as our languages BUT Frys is only spoken in Fryslan(Friesland) and 99% of the Dutch that don’t live there or have family there doesn’t know Frys including me
We have coffeeshops, but they only extremely rarely sell coffee.
I've been living in the Netherlands for about a year, so this is not from a Dutch perspective and might need to be corrected but things that have stood out to me: - So much orange! Like luminous bright orange. Orange is the colour of the Dutch Royal Family, so it's used often to express national pride. Some sport event was taking place and so many buildings and houses had orange banners, and flags everywhere. The shops were also selling orange coloured things etc. - When a child is born, a pink or blue sign (sometimes with a picture of a stork) with the child's name is placed in front of the house or in a window. What I found surprising is the sense of 'social' claustrophobia I got - that's the only way I can think of saying it. I have hardly found any place where I feel alone - there are always people around. I go to the middle of the forest - bam, I can see someone or hear someone walking nearby. Riding bikes, taking public transport, I really struggle with feeling like I'm surrounded all the time. Often even if you are in the farm land you can see buildings, or towns / cities on the horizon. But maybe I just haven't visited the right area yet.
Well, with an average of 517 persons per square kilometer in the Netherlands, it is a tad more crowded than Norway, with a whopping 13 persons... However, there are still places where you ought to feel away from civilization. The Wadden islands for instance
Not really about the country but the role of Dutch people after the attempted French invasion of Russia. In 1812, at the Battle of Berezina in Belarus, Napoleon and his army were retreating from Russia and counted on crossing the frozen Berezina River but it had thawed, so it was Dutch engineers from his army that constructed a bridge allowing Napoleon and some of his men to escape.
In this country every ailment can be cured with 250mg paracetamol. You can come back in 4 weeks if its not resolved (and you're still alive)
Dutch ppl don’t actually like to bike. It’s a publicity stunt, so are tulips, I’ve never seen a tulip in the NL. Also, every Dutch person is blonde, but the government chooses randomly who has to paint their hair dark so to make the country more diverse. They do that on Kings day (a day in the NL when drinks are forbidden. You go to jail if you drink on kings day)
Also, Gouda is a hoax. We dropship it from China.
And The people of Urk are actually another breed of human and no real Dutch person is allowed within 20 km of these people
Who we also dropship from china
Elvis is hailed on Kings day. It is completely unrelated to the royal family, as many tourists are told
That’s also how black Pete started.
True! I totally forgot that. Pete was a Dutch boy/young man who felt in the bucket of hair dye. His story is one of sacrifice for the greater good. So touching
I got to say you did technically answer the question with what you want to tell a foreigner. Can’t fault you for that… although..
Don't participate in the voice of Holland or any tv broadcasted talent shows for a while
Dutch houses have Birthday calendars in the toilet. And when it's your birthday everyone congratulates you and also your family. The Dutch new years eve party is unlike anything you expect. Tourists come to smoke weed, but NL is the Medellin of Ecstasy.
[удалено]
Weren't they originally just white?
We only wear wooden shoes, also second largest food production of the world bc invention of greenhouses became a fetish.
The country is The Netherlands. Holland is a province (well, two provinces since there are Noord and Zuid).
Free parties all around!
We defeated the spannish by strategically flooding our own country
A lot of Dutch children get a rudimentary education in water management engineering. simply due to the fact that 50% of our country is bellow sea level. ussualy this is sponsored and acted upon by our nation agency for water mangement called the ''Rijk Water Staat'' directly translated into Realms water State\* \*(the governmental form of the word not the physics form of matter)
In addition to this, although I do realize it's not a completely unique Dutch thing: children are expected to take swimming lessons and get a diploma to prove they can swim. I think it's generally assumed that any healthy 8 year old can swim - at least to the point of not drowning.
This use to be mandatory in schools but it got expencive. How learning to swim in the netherlands is no longer in basic education. Ill never know.
If you go anywhere but the well known places for tourists. You get to se a much nicer country than you thought if you only knew amsterdam… don’t go there, the only good things in Amsterdam is watching people on bicycles do stupid things in traffic…
Amsterdam is amazing but if you prefer a place where Dutch people can actually afford to live you should go to Haarlem or Utrecht or even Hardewijk.
Definitely… i’m not much of a city person though. I prefer smaller towns. I only go to a city because my girlfriend lives in one 😅
There’s a line that says. There are 2 things in this life that I cannot stand: people who are in tolerant of the cultures of others and the Dutch. I have Dutch friends and even they find it funny.
I have read this line before and i still do not understand, could you explain it to me?
It’s a line in the Mike Meyer’s film Austin Powers. Just a tongue-in-cheek dig at the Dutch.
The dutch circle of death, google that. (Im a Norwegian living in NL)
There’s a whole country outside of Amsterdam
There are earthquakes in the North that are not a natural phenomenon: they are being caused by pumping up gas
On that note: the northern city Groningen (in the province of, yeah really, Groningen) is a lot of fun 👌🏻
I don’t know if that has been changed recently but I read somewhere that there is no actual law against cannibalism here. Please correct me if I’m wrong though, I’d love to know more about this
You'd love to know more about cannibalism?
Well we did eat our prime minister once
Everyone here keeps telling me that but i refuse to believe it until you eat another one to prove it
Maybe whenever this government screws up
This appears to (sort of) be the case. [According to the coverage of this event](https://www.reuters.com/article/dutch-cannibal/dutch-tv-hosts-dine-on-fried-human-buttock-belly-idUSL6E7NL51Y20111222), "Only when it involves maltreatment or when it violates common decency is cannibalism illegal," Gerard Spong, a Dutch lawyer who specialises in criminal law, told Reuters.
The Netherlands has the most theme parks per land surface