Are The Dutch Really Like This? What Expats Reveal about Dutch Culture

how would you describe the Dutch culture quite cold I would say quite distan dist uh I would say that the Dutch tend to keep to themselves mhm it's a good thing because you always know where you stand okay there is no talking behind their back because they talk in your face Kinga and Caesar are both experts from Poland and they asked them about their perception of the Dutch culture here are their answers and when you moved here in Amsterdam to Mo Amsterdam 4 years ago or also when you moved to Netherlands 20 years ago what problems did you encounter or did everything run smoothly no of course not of course not um so I I come from the uh culture uh and Country [Music] where uh at first I will address the the the kind of relationship organization of social life uh thing um back in Poland it was and still is very normal and very common that if you want to have a coffee with your friend or you want to see your friend you just come knock you enter the apartment and you know you have a good time 20 minutes half an hour no problem um if your friend is not at home well then you know you you come some other day and you know or you bump on each other on the street and you always find time to sit down for 15 minutes to have a coffee quick update and off you go and my first discovery in Netherlands is that this does not exist as such even with your best friend with good friend you have to make an appointment in your agenda for Wednesday 3 weeks from now at quarter past two and that's going to be the moment when you will spend with your friend socializing sharing etc etc of course unless there is some emergency issue then of course of course that's a different story but when we are talking about social update social uh social maintenance so to speak that was my first experience and I couldn't get over it I couldn't get over it for years that I have to make an appointment with the friend when I my whole life is about making formal appointments in the offices at Job Etc even with my friend I have to put it in agenda I couldn't I couldn't just embrace it with my with my with my mind but uh well then I also got my own family and my own life became a little bit more structured and now I don't know any better I just do it and I yeah and I look really strange at people who are trying to make spontaneous meeting with me I'm like are you crazy no this this is not how we do it no so but but definitely that was my first uh first um cultural shock uh something that many people would say that you would uh um that that would share their experience about living in Netherlands the legendary Dutch directness the legendary Dutch directness where uh if you are not used to it in the beginning you might think that people are rude because they just tell you in the face if something is wrong if they don't like you or something is you know off in their opinion they like to they are opinionated and they like to address it straight away my culture is uh uh uh more kind of you know wrapping things up in a little bit prettier packages so we can still say what we think about you but we will smooth it out a little you know just wrap it in a in a more digestive U um yeah little pack and having actually this very direct communication coming from from from the locals here was at first quite uh abrupt I thought they were are extremely rude and uh I was very offended until I actually understood that it's a good thing because you always know where you stand okay there is no talking behind their back because they talk in your face which is amazing actually and gives a lot of you know confidence and the even funnier thing is that they expect you to be the same so I could actually express myself if I didn't like something how would you describe the Dutch culture the Dutch culture well that's a difficult one because I think it's a it's very rich culture uh there's a lot to see and a lot to experience but sometimes you need to go out and kind of find it because a lot of it is not not like uh something that you can find you know in everyday life uh I would say culture wise there also not many holidays that are typically Dutch yeah uh from what I've experienced the King's day that was uh that was interesting but other than that I would say that the Dutch uh kind of keep their culture to themselves okay what do you mean by that in a way uh you just need to go out there and find it yourself you know because yeah architecture in Amsterdam yeah of course it's here but but something more meaningful yeah you need to go out and you need to try harder to find something really and I'm not saying it's because it's not here it's there's plenty it just not I would say not on display as much yeah and how would you describe the typical Dutch person quite cold I would say quite distan dist uh I would say that the Dutch tend to keep to themselves mhm and uh even making friends uh with the Dutch can be quite difficult from my experience making friends with people from other nations the Irish English you know Spanish it it's much much easier outside uh yeah the the the Dutch keep themselves not easy I mean good luck making friends yeah they prefer to stay within their own circles yes they they stick together for sure did you try out making Dutch friends before or yes I've tried you know it's not easy it's not easy but but that's fine you know if they want to keep to themselves that's okay you know it's it's their country they can do whatever they want yeah is there anything else how you could describe the Dutch culture yes of course well uh Dutch uh people as as a as a generalization are very practical very pragmatic uh people very pragmatic nation and they have some great ability for Innovation and for removing obstacles uh from daily life uh I think it has something to do with the fact that historically for centuries they've been fighting against the water due to geographical location we are surrounded by water uh 30% of the country is actually taken away from the sea and dried up to build more land for people so I think this is really imprinted in their DNA National DNA uh that allows them to be um Innovative and inventive in face of adversity so they wouldn't uh sit and complain that something doesn't work or leak or I don't know but they would just find the solution and they are very quick and very practical about that and I like that very much it's also gives good good counter uh balance to my kind of explosive reaction to to to maybe what's happening and against my you know how I would like it to be it's good good learning curve okay and now if you think about Amsterdam culture is there any way how the culture here in Amsterdam is different from the general Dutch culture uh it's very different I even tend to uh state that Amsterdam is not representative to the Netherlands as country at all because because it's so very different due to this Melting Pot and the combination of people and cultures that live here which I mentioned before uh which is which is fantastic uh but that that also gives a feeling of of something exotic and almost uh Permanent Vacation Vibe you know that uh when you live here um every day there is something interesting even if you are not not looking even if you are not planning to attend some special event there is event right in front of you and it's the same with Amsterdam people it's amazing sometimes just to sit and watch people because it's such a spectrum of personalities that are passing by so I would say that Amsterdam uh uh yeah it's like a separate uh Island really so how you would describe the Amsterdam people is that you have a big range of different personalities that can Express themselves differently or do you have another way of explaining how the typical Amsterdam person is different from the well I don't know many of typical Amsterdam uh persons but those that I know are those very charming and also very colorful a little bit older men gentlemen and ladies um with very bright pastel colors wearing uh with with nice quaere good shoes and sipping prco in the afternoon and having good book and having very cultured life in a very low Pace I would say those are the amsterdams that I know when it comes to maybe younger Generations then I hit more of the mix uh but uh I would uh find the common denominator for most of them is that everybody feels the freedom of uh expressing themselves that Amsterdam is the place where everybody can be seen heard and respected for who they are and what they have to offer what I really really adore uh about Amsterdam culture but also the working culture of Netherlands at least in the sector where I was working was that as a professional or young professional um you could enter the job market um not having any connections not knowing anyone if you had something to offer if you had something valuable to sell MH to the company or to the market they would take it from you not looking whether you are black yellow uh silver men woman uh background uh doesn't matter as long as you had the set of skills or package of values that they could find practical for themselves you are welcome to come and uh contribute and I think that this is one of the best things about not only Amsterdam but uh Netherlands in general okay they don't look at your color the way you look like but what value you can basically them yes thanks a lot for sticking to the end of this video in the Amsterdam series I will upload how other people perceive the Dutch culture as well and soon you will hear how people who are living in Berlin experience the German culture if you want to see that and other videos about life in different European cities then subscribe to this Channel and if you like this video I would appreciate a thumbs up and your opinion in the comment section and I hope to see you in the next video

Channel: The Movement Hub

Views: 24,038

Keywords: Netherlands, Planning, dutch culture, dutch directness, expats in the netherlands, living in the netherlands, moving to amsterdam, moving to the netherlands, expats in amsterdam, dutch people, living in amsterdam, TmH&x%

Id: cjLYSvpvnCM

Length: 12min 11sec (731 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 26 2023