It’s impossible not to be Dutch

Although I have never lived in the Netherlands, it seems a bit unreasonable to talk about the Dutch here. But the Dutch people I met during my years living in Western countries gave me a desire to talk about them. Even among developed countries, or Europe, I think the Dutch have their own outstanding characteristics that are enough for people to notice. Sometimes it even goes so far as to say, "As expected of a Dutchman."

The first time we came into contact with the Dutch was with the academic partners we met when we were still in Australia. The one we collaborated with more frequently was a professor and her students, named after their initials. Let’s call them Professor V and Miss M. During my stay in Australia, they visited me several times. However, these times I always felt that I was not being treated well, or that I had done some rude behavior that aroused their disgust. For example, when discussing a problem, they will say directly: "I think you are wrong here.", "This idea is strange.", or "Another way, this is not good." Generally speaking, even if they are talking about equality, Australia, which is famous for its casualness, is definitely a minority in expressing its objections in the workplace so directly. They usually use more euphemistic expressions, such as "I think we can think about it again." "This idea is very novel, but isn't it a bit risky?", and so on. Only when the debate gets heated, or when you meet someone you hate, will you discuss the issue in such direct, almost offensive terms. But later we discovered that this is not the case. The Dutch are just very direct and don't bother to modify themselves anywhere. If you like something, you will say you like it directly. If you don't agree, you will say you disagree directly. Of course, you will also readily admit your mistakes.

Generally speaking, the Dutch are a very "real" group. In addition to speaking honestly, they are not likely to pursue a glamorous appearance or fancy decoration. This is naturally also famous for spending money. The pearls must be compared. All non-essential additional expenditures must be eliminated. For example, Ms. M once happily told us that when she and her boyfriend went to Paris, they chose to pitch a tent outside the city and then rode a bicycle into the city every day to save money, and spent a very enjoyable week. Although I appreciate this attitude towards life in essence, when I encounter it in practice, sometimes it makes me laugh or cry.

After moving to London, my Australian colleague Ms. J went to the Netherlands to attend a conference with these two collaborators, and stayed to work for two weeks to discuss the project. I flew to meet Ms. J after the seminar. As soon as we met, Miss J started to tell me about her profound understanding of the Dutch people in the past two days.

Ms. J is someone who pays great attention to the comfort of life. Even in Sydney, where things are expensive, Ms. J often takes a taxi when the weather is bad or the distance is far, not to mention that attending seminars is considered public expense. When I go on a business trip, my boss reimburses me for it. Because the hotel she stayed in was not close to the conference venue, after leaving the hotel with Miss M, she walked to the taxi out of habit, but was stopped by Miss M: "What are you going to do?"

"Take a taxi." Miss J said matter-of-factly.

Miss M found it quite incomprehensible: "I checked and found that there is a direct bus from here to the venue. That's why I suggested booking here."

(Eh? Booking Could it be that the hotel is so far away because it is cheaper?) Ms. J thought.

"It doesn't matter, our boss will reimburse her." Miss J thought that Miss M was more frugal because she was still a student.

"That won't work. You Australians are so wasteful." Miss M shook her head while dragging Miss J alive into the bus, and successfully made Miss J stay in the car. In the next three days, I completely lost the opportunity to take a taxi.

The most outrageous thing was the seminar dinner. The dinner was not held at the meeting location, and it was quite far from their hotel, but Ms. M still believed that public transportation was the most correct way to travel. When they were going out to take a taxi after the dinner, they happened to encounter another Australian collaborator standing at the door and holding out his hand for a taxi.

Miss M looked disgusted: "Let's just say you Australians are extravagant and wasteful. Look around you. Besides her, who else is taking a taxi here?!"

If you think this is just Miss M Human personality, then you are wrong. In addition to taking a taxi, there was another thing that Miss J couldn't stand during those two days, and that was the shower in the bathroom.

She described it to me solemnly: "You know, I thought the showerhead was broken, so it started dripping water little by little, and I called the hotel management, but it turned out that They said the shower was like this. I asked Ms. M if the shower in this store was particularly small. Ms. M said, isn’t that normal? ”

I was still laughing, and then I I experienced this first hand.

The BnB where Miss J and I stayed in Amsterdam was in a very good location. It was right opposite the museum station and only a 15-minute walk from the Van Gogh Museum. It also had high reviews online, so I When I took a shower for the first time, I thought the showerhead was broken. After turning on the faucet, a thin stream of water flowed out from the shower head, which was probably less than half the amount of water in an ordinary wash basin. I stood under the shower for a full five minutes before my hair was completely wet. The whole bathing process was quite an ordeal. I came out and told Miss J what was going on inside. She pointed at me and laughed. Now you believe it.

The owner of that BnB is actually a very enthusiastic person. He provided us with a very rich breakfast. There were eggs and cheese in the refrigerator, and there was a large basket full of freshly baked bread on the table. It is said that the bread in continental Europe (that is to say, excluding the United Kingdom) is really delicious. Even if there is nothing on it, it tastes very delicious, so we gratefully enjoyed the hearty breakfast. But since we were two girls, we really couldn't eat much, so two loaves of bread were enough for each of us. As a result, the next day, there were only four loaves in the bread basket. Huh? So it's given by numbers? I laugh. This kind of behavior may be considered ordinary in the Netherlands, but in the eyes of the British and Americans, it may be considered "ungraceful" and "stingy".

Ah, I haven’t mentioned Professor V yet. Although Professor V grew up in the Netherlands, he is actually Belgian. According to her, although the two countries are neighboring countries, their personalities are very different: the Belgians are traditional and face-friendly, while the Dutch are very direct. Although Professor V is already an authentic Dutch person, her parents, like all generations of immigrants, always have a strong cultural atmosphere of their mother country. What's more, since the two countries are so close, she will inevitably have to deal with relatives in Belgium. When talking about this, she said a famous saying: "You can't shoot at relatives, and you can't change their existence at the same time." She won unanimous applause from the audience present. Her parents' dissatisfaction with her probably also included the fact that she would never get married. Oh, she actually has two lovely daughters and a long-term partner, but they are not married. "It's too troublesome to get married. Especially my Belgian relatives are very demanding about red tape. If they don't get married, they won't have anything to complain about."

"It turns out that this is how Belgians are. Yeah. "I've never met a Belgian before, and I think it's quite interesting.

"That's right. Last time I went back to attend a relative's wedding, those seven aunts and eight aunts were all talking about faults there. It was so annoying. Oh, yes, they still picked on me. There was something wrong with me, why did I come here wearing the same dress I wore last time?”

I didn’t talk to you at this point. After all, I thought that in Western etiquette, you can’t wear the same clothes to attend the same group. There are such unwritten rules for people’s wedding banquets.

Professor V rolled his eyes, "I told them, we scientists are poor, how can we have money to buy a dress, it's so expensive... Oh, by the way, they still won't let me go to the men's school." Here comes the restroom. "

"Huh...?" "Why do you want to go to the men's restroom? I must have shown such doubts.

"Isn't this natural? There were so many people at the scene, and the queue for the women's restroom was so long, but no one went to the men's restroom. Are those people stupid?

"

Hey? Is that so? But in the next few days, I did see several Dutch women rushing into the men's toilet without hesitation.

So after recently moving to the United States, I immediately realized something was wrong when my American colleague Mr. Taylor complained to me about another colleague.

"That person, Miss E, I don't know. Why, she spoke so rudely, but I didn’t do anything to her. "

"Oh, and Marissa told me last time that the girl actually asked to stay at her house when she went to New York. "My American colleague sighed," Marissa's family isn't big either. Marissa said that although Ms. E and I are friends, they are only work-level friends, not that close to each other. Moreover, when Miss E came to San Francisco last time, she also wanted to live at the home of Caroline (the company's VP), but Caroline rejected her outright. "

I asked doubtfully: "Miss E, is she from the Netherlands? "

"Oh, yes. "My American colleagues confirmed my idea.

"That's how the Dutch are, just reject them directly, they won't be offended. ”

The Dutch are so down-to-earth, simple and honest no matter where they go, I’m afraid nothing will change no matter what happens!