OT. Holland – it's a bit weird, isn't it?

As above, really.

Over for a few days on work. Not really what I expected

Anyone else felt the same?

Cool place IMHO.

Mrs Higgo is Dutch.
She loves her family over there.
She enjoys a visit.
She would never move back.

Mmmm, cold meat and cheese for breakfast.

It’s quite flat!

And there are land drains EVERYWHERE. They try to pass them off as canals – but I KNOW they are land drains !

I love the Dutch, if only the country had mountains I could imagine being very very happy living there.

It’s quite flat!

Bo’locks, you have obviously been in the north, come down to the south, plenty of hills here. If you don’t believe me look up the Amstel Cup on YouTube

Yeah, I remember from geography that the Belgian border area is quite hilly. Delft is flat. Gotta go uphill to cross the Canal land drain!.

Obviously, I expected flatness. It’s the small thing that seem weird, like little apartments with huge picture windows – and nobody has curtains. They all live in goldfish bowls / picture frames !!!

It’s the small thing that seem weird, like little apartments with huge picture windows – and nobody has curtains.

I seems a national trait (been living here for over 5 years) that you can stare into peoples houses without shame as you wander past.

Been a few times and found the Dutch to be very friendly. Don’t think I could live their but enjoyed visiting and wouldn’t mind going back someday.

Holland is a great place. Did an MTB race there many moons ago. A lap around the edge of a lake, up and down over a man-made hill. It was very fast, and very hard. I had a great time. Took the pasting of my life.

I’d go again tomorrow.

SB

Don’t get me wrong-I’m liking it…. Just some of the little differences that have struck me

I only really know the Dam. And I LOVE it.

🙂

Orange bastards.

Oh, no, that’s another crowd.

Realky enjoyed Amsterdam and found the locals really cool, chilled, friendly and helpful. I’ve always found the Dutch to be good for a laugh when you meet them anywhere outside The Netherlands too.

DD +1

The Netherlands

I deliberately used “Holland”:
a) it’s easier to type on the phone,
b) it’s where I am!

Oops, sorry, wasn’t trying to be a pendant. It just came naturally while I was typing.

Aye, we met the Dutch Mini Owners Grand Rally this afternoon on singletrack lochside road. One chap took great upset at me in 3tonne of transit minibus full of kids refusing to drive onto the soft grass verge next to ditch, and asking him to reverse about 30m. Ended up having to wait while I reversed the 500+m back to my nearest passing place, with big, hairy dutchman hanging out of window of old skool mini, lots of swearing and finger led symbolism, banging of minibus as he drove past and (which really wound him up) the fact that teacher and other instructor next to me who were laughing thier heads off at his antics…

These Dutch are crazy

Too much ganja to be smoked!
I met a old dude from holland today, he seemed sound and seeing as my ancestors are Dutch, I,m sound too 😉

its ok to visit- but quite strange to live there especially some of the smaller towns. I found the dutch to be quite cliquey, stingy, conservative and slightly racist.

higthepig, where abouts do you live? I just moved to the Netherlands from the UK, 5 weeks ago. I live down south, in Landgraaf. Not the nicest of towns but, to my surprise, there are waymarked mountain bike trails literally from my front door – and they even have some proper hills on them. I echo what you said about being hills on the Amstel Gold Race route. The missus and me went out for a drive to have a bit more of a look round and saw some stunning scenery down near the southern border.
I actually think lobby_dosser is spot on with what he says about the Dutch being quite cliquey, stingy, conservative and slightly racist. All of this is particularly true of my missus’s parents! (we don’t get along, if you can’t guess!)

I can echo the above comments about being a bit stingy, conservative and a bit racist – I worked for a Dutch company (I was based in the UK, though) for a few years. They like a beer or two, though and can be quite funny. I was suprised to find that alot of them wanted out of the Euro and weren’t keen on the EU, though.

I did a tour there a year or two ago and found them a bit weird for sure.

You think you understand and know whats going on then something happens that confuses you completely.

For example – meet anyone out in the countryside the polite thing to do is to completely ignore them – you do not intrude on anyone.

In a campsite there are no signs telling you what you can and cannot do – in Germany there would be signs, in the UK no one would care but in the Netherlands you are expected to know what the required behaviour is

Generally a very conservative nation. I often find they’re like the Germans, but without the sense of humour. Or, as a friend who’s lived there for 10+ years puts it, they’re pompous with nothing to be pompous about.

The ‘dam is rather different from the rest of the place.

I like the Belgians. Mainly because no-one else does.

BeardedDave – would you mind posting one of those hills to Rijswijk for me – we have a shortage.

I will be doing my 4th Elfsteden Rijwieltocht in few weeks 🙂

Tiger – that sounds ace (if a little far for me these days. Not sure I ever recovered from the 2010 RvV..!)

Do they still have communal showers?

That was a big eye opener for me, when I used to go on tour playing in a mixed hockey team 😉

[edit] great place and people, the nightlife culture back then was also very different to back home, hope that has not changed either.

Belgians are great. Nice contrary mix of shambolic artistic random french-ness with dutch/germanic orderliness.

hels – Member

Belgians are great. Nice contrary mix of shambolic artistic random french-ness with dutch/germanic orderliness.

Plus you can buy a Beer on Sunday 😉

The misconception is that Holland is liberal and that is why the get to smoke dope in cafes.

To some extent, it’s the other way around, it’s because they’re more of a “I don’t care what you do as long as you don’t involve me” approach that causes that. The Dutch are fairly conservative catholic (if I remember right). Amsterdam, like any capital, will of course be different to the rest of the nation.

I’ve met some seriously..ahem..interesting Dutch people. Not entirely grounded.

lived in den helder for quite a while last year

i found the locals to be quite blunt – if they wanted something you knew what they wanted very quickly.

very friendly in the pub unless like my colleague you were english

breakfast was a wierd set up ! i ended up taking over my own cereal to eat as theirs seemed to comprise largely of sugar and made my teeth hurt – that and their obsession with douwe egberts awful coffee !

BeardedDave

higthepig, where abouts do you live?

About 10kms west of you, not far from the Brunssum heider! Fancy going for a ride? PM me if interested.

fla! is awesome

That is all

I found the dutch to be quite cliquey, stingy, conservative and slightly racist.

There is some truth in that -just as there is in the UK….

There seemed to be a slightly unusual (& mis-placed to my UK ears) ‘sarcasm’ thing even towards acquaintances from some of the Dutch people I’ve met. They were also very ‘direct’ (blunt?). In Britain we have been conditioned in recent times not to ‘offend’.

Like everywhere, there is/are good and bad, but the liberal stereotype doesn’t quite match the reality.

Many of the the Dutch strongly dislike the Germans and make frequent references to it.

ps. ‘The Dutch’ were , on the whole, very similar to Brits, although they did seem to think that we were a bunch of beer-swilling oafs who don’t play attractive football, like fighting and have no culture -I’m not sure that they were far wrong.

I used to go over to Assen for the Dutch TT every year – must have done it for at least 20 years

Never had anything but a warm, friendly reception from all
They didn’t like the Germans though

Pron on the telly at 2 in the afternoon, drugs sold in cafes, blond women.. it’s what made the Pron industry all those years ago.

I know the Dutch are famous for being stingy, hence ‘going Dutch’, but I think it is a little unfair.

I am Dutch and have lived In norwich since ’97. To start of I would never have considered going back, I still don’t think it would be practical, but I now have a more balanced view.

Back to the stinginess, I think they are just sensible with money (I have lost that skill), for example, credit card limits are TINY even if you earn a lot.

I do think the ‘going Dutch’ is very undeserved and should be called ‘going British’. I had never been to a party where I was expected to pay for my own drinks until I got to England. I thought (still think) this is really strange. Also you can be ‘invited’ to join someone out for dinner to celebrate something and be expected to pay at least your own share?!? Very odd…. In holland you would never be expected to pay for anything if you were invited to something, the person inviting you pays, no ‘going Dutch’. I really still can’t get used to this…..

The Dutch don’t really hate the Germans, it’s just banter really….

worked in The Netherlands (maybe one of the Dutch posters above can explain but i think using Holland is a bit like calling Eire – Southern Ireland – it has a political/sectarian element)
– never actually lived there but spent 1 week in 4 there for 3years and like any country there are cultural differences and in the workplace the biggest thing is that everything is by mutual consent – or nothing much happens not confrontational just that all views have to be considered and then only those elements that all accept will be expected to be taken forward – among older people the anti german thing still exists – as it does in any other country that was occupied – there is book called something like the undutchables – if working there well worth reading

oh and the barges are f,,ing huge and fast

… I don’t think the Dutch care, they mostly call the Netherlands ‘holland’ themselves (check the banners at world cup etc.), sounds better, also in Dutch.

Yes ‘technically’ holland is only a part of the Netherlands (well there are 2 ‘provincies’ called ‘holland’, noord-holland and Zuid-holland), but the terms holland and Hollands are used a lot….

Still not too sure about the anti German thing, and my grandad shaved the Germans during the war! (he was a barber). We do like to beat them at football though…