Experiences From My First Months Living In The Netherlands | Are The Dutch People Rude?

hi guys welcome back to my YouTube channel it's dinawei thank you so much for clicking on this video if you are a new subscriber you are very much welcome and if you're a Chinese subscriber thank you so much for coming back to my channel so guys in today's video I'll be sharing with you guys some of my experiences living in the Netherlands for seven months guys I feel like I should have done this like on six months but I don't know I don't even know how like six months passed by so fast and I'm now here for seven months like I've literally been here for seven months I can't even believe it so if this is content that you are interested in please don't forget to subscribe leave a comment like share and just do the good stuff and if you aren't interested in this content don't worry please help me share this content to someone you think might be interested uh yeah let's get right into the video and your lips and your skin melanin it's all beautiful [Music] foreign so the first thing that I would say is before moving to any country before visiting any country you must do your research you know do your research to just know about the country know about the culture know about the people and that's exactly what I did before coming here guys I am the queen of versa I love to research and just you know just make my inquiries know about the place that I'm going to and just basically do the normal stuff that people do before going to a country so with that being said let's know that dinner knew that there were bicycles in the Netherlands well I found a very cool and very cute and it was just very interesting actually watching it on TV on YouTube videos and you know just learning about the whole flat land and how people love to cycle and yeah I was ready I was ready mentally I was ready physically I was ready I was like yes we are doing this station actually came here with a train so yeah so now I lands Amsterdam Central Station and I come out and now I see all these bikes guys I was amazed at how many bikes I was seeing I wasn't ready at all I wasn't ready I was I felt like I was ready honestly in my mind I was ready and yes I just didn't understand how overwhelming it is to have bicycles on the road human beings and and cars it's it's something that came to me as a culture shock and I remember almost being run over by like bicycles all the time my first days of being here because I just did not and the thing is you have to understand the road rules for the for the bicycles for the pedestrians and for the cars and now you're not just looking out for cars you're also looking out for the bicycles and obviously you have to also look out for people so that people don't run into you so it's it's something that I don't know it's okay there's so many bicycles and people cycle all the time it's something that I used to notice every single time when I'm outside but now it's become so much better I feel like I don't even see the bicycles anymore I feel like I don't see them anymore so like bicycles people are cycling and it was an experience that I can't ever forget guys super cycle to different places people cycle when going to work when going to school when going for dinners when going for parties when going to the mall when going to the gym we're going to work out guys people cycle all the time because before then to me cycling was some sort of an exercise and to come here and see like a nice lady wearing heels and looking so good on the bike cycling to go to meet up our friends guys it was it was just amazing honestly it's an experience that I know that if you are a foreigner and you come here you're just you know Amazed by how many bicycles they are and you know getting to know more about the bicycles and you know the culture of cycling it just helps me appreciate bikes more because they are so convenient guys there's nothing that beats you just getting on the bike and starting to go other than having to wait for a tram and in for a bus nothing beats you being on on a bike and you know just seeing the beautiful sceneries and the canals and it's just very refreshing and also it's an exercise apart from it being a way of life because honestly your muscles on your legs you will work them out trust me so that is something that I experienced and I find that very interesting that people are ride bicycles and yeah being a culture shock in the beginning was the directness of the Dutch people guys this is something that you know before you come here obviously I don't know you probably have heard this before that's what I direct and guys like sometimes you may take you for being rude you may take it as someone is just being rude but like the more you get to know them the more you understand the difference between someone being direct and someone being bluntedly rude because okay like this guys are so direct so much that I'm just like oh you don't have to say it like that I was working with this girl and there's a time that something happened she just went up straight to these guys to do these people and she was like oh no I'm like oh you didn't have to say it like that she's like she just can't help it and it's something that I have learned to appreciate because there's no point beating around the bush guys like if you don't like something if you see something a certain way just say like you it it steals a little bit when someone tells you the honest truth but it's still something that I totally appreciate other than people just lying to you you would ask someone how does this shirt look you know sometimes for me if it doesn't look so nice I'm like I don't know maybe you could try it in green and apart from being direct I don't think this is something that's peculiar to only the Dutch people but maybe it's a European thing let me know in the comment section below I may be wrong it's just crazy how like people are so comfortable to talk about their ages and you have you have having conversations with friends and different people and someone would just ask you oh yeah so how old are you and sometimes you're like is it that I was saying something stupid or something very childish I yes you know what I am or was I saying something so mature like I don't know why did you just have to ask me how old I am but really it's just being open you know just being open and very free because guys where I'm coming from like there's actually a saying like people say you don't ask a lady at her age I honestly don't know why but I came with that and it's something that I have learned to just you know be very open-minded about and just be free to learn the fact that there's nothing wrong with you telling your age like there's literally zero nothing wrong with that you just get to be very very free and aside from like age and like age shouldn't be a limiting factor for you to Vibe with someone or for you to be friends with somebody so that is something and guys stepping a little bit away from them being very direct I don't know if it's the whole country or it's just this particular City I went to guys I went to um I was in the city called greningen and you know I was just leaving that's the first place I went to when I got to the Netherlands and I was so shocked at how nice people were guys like people would be cycling and smiling and you're just like oh my God like you guys so nice and growing again mind you because a lot of people cycle a lot so a lot of people cycle more than they use public transportation so like the people I was staying with would usually give me like directions on where to go to and where I should stop at and all that stuff so I got on a bus and and I'll just show the driver I'm like oh yeah so I'm going to this place and guys like to my surprise they would remind me find a way to just remind me and let me know so I don't miss my stop that is something that is so different it's so so different I I I was just shocked they would say bye when you're coming out of the of the bus I'm like guys how why are people being so nice like when people are cycling down the bicycles are smiling and it's something that a lot of people consider as fake smells but honestly I feel like that gesture is something I highly appreciate because you don't know what someone is going through just giving them that smack and brighten up their day right and guys let's not be too quick to overthink things because it it's better than what we black people like to eat well I will speak for like where I was I was in Ukraine right so like when black people usually meet each others [Applause] sometimes you just look away and you don't even want to say anything to anybody guys a lot of people used to like doing that a lot of black people used to like doing that and it was just crazy like we are not fighting like it's okay to just smile at each other or just say hi and pass like it doesn't it doesn't take away anything or neither doesn't give you anything it's just a kind gesture and because we don't like doing that and these people like doing that we're like fake Smiles fake smile well I understand some smiles might be fake especially in workplaces and schools and you know people are just because it's become like very um it's become a reflex sort of you see someone it's not on your past you see someone you smile and you pass but like some people's flaws are genuinely honest and it's okay for you to smile back and pass and it's something that I really really appreciate about this place and it's an experience that I absolutely love I don't know not every single person is nice but sixty percent of the people are nice like they are nice and obviously the majority beats it right the 40 percent different whatever but if you meet 10 people guys you find like seven nice people I'm just being honest and the other thing that I found very very interesting is how they eat fries guys it wasn't really a culture shock because I had learned about the fries the Dutch fries the Dutch fries and now coming here I was so excited because obviously my favorite food are potatoes I would literally eat potatoes any time of the day if you're giving potatoes to be eating for the rest of my life I'll eat them right yes but don't give me potatoes eat for the rest of my life I love potatoes so much especially fries and coming here and I was like you know in Wonderland because like I would see like so many places where they're selling fries and people eating fries and people queuing up to buy fries guys it's that crazy and it's so interesting to see because you're just like oh my God like guys growing up my mom would tell me hey no that I should restrict how much I would eat fries because obviously it's not as it's not the healthiest food or the healthiest snack but here it's allowed it's it's a snack so yes I will eat my fries and it's not like it's only young people older people whatever the same thing is the same thing as um the bicycles it's not a certain uh socio-economic group it's everyone like everyone rides bicycles and Everybody Eats fries like five-year-olds 70 year old everyone is eating fries and yeah the weather guys this thing this point should have actually been the second point or the third point but the weather here yes we know the land is flat yes you read that the land is flat and you know it rains a lot obviously but when you get here it's not just about the rain it's about how the weather is so unpredictable guys it'll be raining in the morning sunshine in the afternoon snow in the evening and windy at night the weather is so unpredictable and it's so crazy because the people outside don't actually help in you predicting what the weather is like outside please don't do that don't look outside your window and be like oh yes this girl is wearing a jacket let me get my jacket and start going just use your weather to check because or better so you know just put your hand outside or if you have a balcony sign in the balcony and just feel what the weather is like and come back and carry what's appropriate for the weather because people wear different stuff you stand by the window and look at different people wearing different things you see one person in a very big cut one person in a t-shirt the other person in the rain caught it's it's it's crazy it's very crazy how like people wear so many different things in there but also I understand because the weather is so unpredictable you may come out with the life jacket and all of a sudden it's so cold and windy so you just want to come up being prepared or maybe you came out when it was sunny and you came up with something very light and all of a sudden it's very cold and it's raining so yeah maybe that's where the confusion comes in because guys the weather is so crazy and it's usually gloomy to like 10 in the morning and it's just no like it's really an experienced guys it really is an experience one thing I must say is that this is my own experience my my my own experience and if you have a different experience that's you and please feel free to leave it in the comment section down below because this is my experience and your experience might be very different so yeah so the other thing is it's called you're tired you're feeling unmotivated and you just need some coffee to boost up your mood to keep you awake don't ask for where the nearby coffee shop is because coffee shops are not a what they actually seem to be guys you see a lot of stores reading coffee shop coffee shop coffee shop guys there are no coffee shops they don't sell drinkable coffee so basically in the Netherlands um it's legal I don't know am I allowed to see that on YouTube well yeah that's lights drag is that what it's called yeah that's green stuff is um is very legal here so you see people smoking that stuff very casually like you literally see people speaking casually and you're used to shocked me a lot how like someone who just passed and the person would be smiling and the person like I will be passing by a coffee shop and I'm seeing someone comfortably walking to the hospital I'm like how because me where I come from maybe it's just our household but it's more like a taboo well I'm just joking but like it's not something that people are so free to talk about and free to admit that they smoke and I feel like it's they might even arrest you if they fight I don't know but it's not something that is it's not something that you just want to store you buy and you come out you're smoking out guys and apparently the the the locals themselves don't even smoke it as much because you know when something has been opened out to you you know what brings about curiosity most of the times is when something has been restricted and when you're being told don't do this don't do this don't do this that's what you want to go and do and want to go and try out right but when something has been brought out to the public and it's legal it's permitted you just get tired of it and obviously the excitement of you trying wanting to try it is just oh okay there's actually nothing there right so that's something that's why I feel like most of the locals when they use as much in the beginning I used to be shocked I used to be very surprised so that is something that you have to look out for if you want to buy coffee if you want to buy coffee you can ask a coffee house or yeah such things but don't say coffee shop because the coffee shop is very different from where to buy coffee to drink so yeah and that is something that is that that came as a shock to me more like a culture shock actually because this is something that I definitely wasn't I was I knew okay the thing is right like I knew it was legal but I didn't know like people just walking and come out and be sitting and smoking and just chatting with friends and just taking it casually I absolutely didn't know that at all so yeah credit card so in the Netherlands credit cards are not usually accepted in more stores in most grocery stores in most places I came here with my Mastercard obviously and it wasn't working in most places and what I use the hard thing guys is I usually buy my things from Albert Ein so it's a very popular Dutch store and you basically get a lot of things from there ranging from food stuff and just like the light stationary yeah so most times I would go to a store and I'm one person that doesn't use cash a lot I barely use cash guys I you barely find me with cash so most times I'll just carry my phone and you know just the usual things and it used to happen so many times I was always forgetting because I would go to a store and I just want to buy things and I'm one person that absolutely loves and appreciates self-service because it's very very convenient and it's something that I know that I'll get to a store shortly quickly I will serve myself and go right so most times I'll just pick a few things um go to to the to the to the till after scanning my things guys so many times my card would decline like and the thing is it I don't know it just never like stuck to my head it's never just stuck in my head like really fast because most of the times I would I don't know I just used to forget I'll call you by phone I'll get to the place and it's so embarrassing because you have to leave your things and start going out because they are not accepting MasterCards so if you are planning on moving to the Netherlands um one thing you have to do for sure is open the Dutch account or better sell Curry cash Curry cash the most places because some places actually accept MasterCards my boss place is don't so carry your cash open a Dutch account because yeah that's going to work everywhere right so guys the other thing is the healthcare guys the system here is so well structured that you just can't call any clinic at any time or hospital at any time and tell them that you're sick you want to book an appointment and okay yes come on Monday 2 p.m no guys like you will have to call so many hospitals or clinics before you're actually accepted as a new patient most clinics or hospitals you call them hi hello yeah I would like to see because I'm not feeling well oh okay are you an old patient no okay sorry we don't accept new patients also I feel like it's very good for the doctors and the nurses and other Healthcare practitioners because it just allows them to have like a proper work life balance because I know how many patients they're dealing with and also it helps them have like a good relationship with the patient outside of like the sicknesses aside from outside of them being very very sick because the thing is with most doctors and and what it's like oh you just get to see them when you're very sick but then you're getting your regular checkups and your doctor just knowing your well-being and how you're faring as a patient as a person is something very good and it helps a lot because they don't just accept patients all the time like new patients every time so that's something that came to me as a shock because I wasn't feeling well and I was calling different hospitals and they said they couldn't accept me because I was a new patient guys like just imagine being sick and calling a hospital and they tell you they don't accept new patient not calling a clinic and they say they don't says what am I supposed to do so that is something that came to me as a culture shock and I was very very surprised and amazed at how it's such a normal thing to tell people that they don't accept new patients so one thing that I think is in the entire Europe but let me speak for the Netherlands guys you don't get medication easily at all one thing that you're sure to get is paracetamol if you have headache you have this you have that you get paracetamol or better still though just advise you to take a lot of water and fruits so this is time that I had an eye infection right so my eye was really giving me problems and I I give myself three days most of the time so my natural immune system to do what it's meant to do and guys me being me three days later I'm like okay now my eyes not getting any better let me go to a pharmacy I go to a pharmacy and I'm told ah okay so basically this lady asked so this lady asked me what's wrong and or you know the usual stuff that they would normally ask you she asked you all that stuff and I answer her and yeah everything's good and she's like oh okay so I would advise you should just get warm water and do a warm compress guys I'm like I do a wrong conference like how why you know like isn't there anything else I remember asking her like oh okay I did do a warm compress but like is there not anything else that I can use to just maybe like clean my eyes she's like oh yeah she can give me actually I was asking for eye drops yes I was asking for eye drops me being me the Zambia named me I wanted eye drops and she's like no well she can give me a certain eye wash so just rinse my eye but like she would just advise me to do a warm compress and guys that can be a little bit frustrating especially if you're coming from a place where you're so used to just being given different drugs you have headache you have fever they're giving so many drugs they're saying people literally like people start treating themselves from malaria before confirming it's malaria and guys this busy building um antibiotic resistance like doing that to ourselves and we find that very very normal and most of the times they'll give you they give you a period of like seven days they will not give you anything something is that will not give you anything and unless you are actually very very very very very very in need of that except they have confirmed that you really really do need that they will not give you anything they'll probably give you like painkillers like paracetamol and that's it so this comes the end of my video and Guys these are some of my experiences if you have different experiences or you have something that you like to add please leave a comment in the comment section down below and if you watch this video till this end you enjoy watching this video please like comment share subscribe and click on the notification Bell so that you get notified every single time I upload a new video so guys with that being said thank you so much for watching and see you guys my next video bye [Music]

Channel: Ndinawe Chila

Views: 21,033

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Id: m5B68AzyfsM

Length: 22min 37sec (1357 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 25 2023