Having lived in the Netherlands for 5 years, this resonated profoundly! Especially the part where Dutch people act like they invented football (or at least how to play it correctly). It is thus no coincidence that the Netherlands never brings on a foreign manager but England does routinely now (and now even Brazil 😅
As for Dutch food, I get a cold sweat thinking about half eaten frikandels in the vending machine at Utrecht Centraal.
Other than that, if everyone was half as direct as the Dutch are, then maybe the world would be slightly more gezellig for everyone!
Hahaha yes we the Dutch claim to play the best football under the name of the 'Hollandse school' but to be honest it's not so attractive nowadays. As a TV analyst, Johan Cruijff always knew better how a team should have played - and his quotes are legendary.
Great to read you appreciate the Dutch directness!
Good to have these explanations. Before we lived there, in my Masters program I had a class with a Dutch professor, two Dutch students, and one Flemish student—so I got to see the culture firsthand as the only outsider.
After living there, my biggest complaint would be the steep stairs, even in rural houses with plenty of room, and the lack of personal space (compared to Austria). But we really liked the directness and honesty of the people. I know stairs wasn’t something you mentioned, but I feel like steep stairs are the most Dutch thing jn tbd world.
Ha those steep stairs! For me the really steep ones are associated with student flats or small apartments in historic city centers like Groningen, Delft, Utrecht or Amsterdam.
Markets really are the heartbeat of slow travel — messy, noisy, full of cheese you can smell three stalls away. We’ve built whole travel days around them, lugging back quiche or olives like trophies. Thanks for reminding me that wandering a market *is* the itinerary, not just a stop along the way.
Having lived in the Netherlands for 5 years, this resonated profoundly! Especially the part where Dutch people act like they invented football (or at least how to play it correctly). It is thus no coincidence that the Netherlands never brings on a foreign manager but England does routinely now (and now even Brazil 😅
As for Dutch food, I get a cold sweat thinking about half eaten frikandels in the vending machine at Utrecht Centraal.
Other than that, if everyone was half as direct as the Dutch are, then maybe the world would be slightly more gezellig for everyone!
Great piece, thanks for sharing!
Hahaha yes we the Dutch claim to play the best football under the name of the 'Hollandse school' but to be honest it's not so attractive nowadays. As a TV analyst, Johan Cruijff always knew better how a team should have played - and his quotes are legendary.
Great to read you appreciate the Dutch directness!
And sorry for the frikandels 🙃
Good to have these explanations. Before we lived there, in my Masters program I had a class with a Dutch professor, two Dutch students, and one Flemish student—so I got to see the culture firsthand as the only outsider.
After living there, my biggest complaint would be the steep stairs, even in rural houses with plenty of room, and the lack of personal space (compared to Austria). But we really liked the directness and honesty of the people. I know stairs wasn’t something you mentioned, but I feel like steep stairs are the most Dutch thing jn tbd world.
Ha those steep stairs! For me the really steep ones are associated with student flats or small apartments in historic city centers like Groningen, Delft, Utrecht or Amsterdam.
Spot on, Marloes! Een ontzettend complete lijst. En nu heb ik zin in een stuk goede oude kaas, én bedankt ;)
Ha mooi, een stuk goede oude kaas is altijd een goed idee 😀
Markets really are the heartbeat of slow travel — messy, noisy, full of cheese you can smell three stalls away. We’ve built whole travel days around them, lugging back quiche or olives like trophies. Thanks for reminding me that wandering a market *is* the itinerary, not just a stop along the way.
And gewoon doen!:)