The Dutch

rozeboosje

Ballen in m'n buik ... gngngngnngnjoopklepzeikergngngng*pop*

pajunior

Dutch are class but the Germans win this one for me. Been over there a couple of times and they were nothing but lovely, this was West Germany so perhaps other parts are different.

gobnaitolunacy

Makenzie Glamorous Supermarket wrote: »

I like Dutch South Africans.. Tough people who take no sh*t.

Boers don't like being called 'Dutch' either. It's like an insult to them.

Call a Boer a 'Dutchman' and expect to get a smack.

byronbay2

I have no knowledge of The Dutch but I saw in the paper today that The Netherlands is the best country in the world in which to grow up.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-is-the-10thbest-country-for-children-29186997.html

They must be doing something right - that is quite an accolade!

limitedIQ

The dutch have the weirdest insults I've ever heard. A typical dutch insult would translate to something like "you are the retarded son of an cholera infected table leg"

Loopy

limitedIQ wrote: »

"you are the retarded son of an cholera infected table leg"

Well worth registering for

PauloMN

In general, I have found the Dutch to be dead on. I worked in Utrecht for a few months in my first real job, and have fond memories of the people and the place.

One night, I was propping up the bar of a pub in Utrecht, and I asked the barman what time they closed at. His answer was "I vil closh ven you leaf... vil dat be ok?" which I thought was cool of him. Wouldn't get that here (as a stranger anyway).

Another time, I took a wrong turn in my hire car and ended up driving the wrong way up a one-way street. Cops coming down the other way towards me, I was thinking "F**K". Gave it the quivering lip bit, dumb tourist etc., and they hopped back in their car and got me to follow them - brought me right to my hotel, no problems. Well no problems except they were flaking it, and going through amber lights etc., with me wondering "should I? shouldn't I?". Great lads.

Have to say they're a friendly bunch imo. EVERYONE speaks perfect English, bar the oldest folk living out in the countryside. The cleaning ladies where I was working had absolutely perfect English, better than a lot of Irish people can speak it.

crockholm

They certainly have the darkest sense of humour of any nationality that I've met.So many things to admire about the Dutch. Don't know if it's been posted already or not, but....



Bismarck once quipped that the solution to the "Irish Problem" of the 19th century was to "transfer the entire populations of the Netherlands and Ireland. The Dutch will turn Ireland into a beautiful garden, while the Irish will neglect the dykes and sea-walls, the sea will rush in and the "Problem" will be solved"

Seachmall

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Boers don't like being called 'Dutch' either. It's like an insult to them.

Call a Boer a 'Dutchman' and expect to get a smack.

The whites I met in S.A. would refer to themselves as Dutchmen constantly and the blacks I was with would introduce them as Dutchmen.

Never saw anyone get offended.

Latchy

Fr D Maugire wrote: »

its just a mannerism or maybe its the way they speak English.

Like Americans with ice cubes in their mouths .

My sister married a Dutchman and she speaks English now with a Dutch twang but she has been living in Holland since the early 1980'S

Also I have met quite a few younger Dutch guys(early 20s) who were quite arrogant as well but maybe thats young guys of all nationalities but its an impression I got

They can have a very '' mij mij mij '' attitude and not just the younger Dutch but lots of the older ones to .

DyldeBrill

I've been to Holland quite a bit myself as I've an auntie and cousins living over there. Always found that everyone I met was very friendly, ready to have the crack, but had a weird streak in them.

Religion isn't huge at all and in a lot of schools it won't be even taught as a subject.

Yes, racism is in full flow! A lot of Turkish and Moroccans living there which the Dutch don't take kindly to.

Overall its a great place! Rotterdam being my favourite spot.Its not all about brazers and drugs, and once you visit you'll see for yourself!

Oranage2

Travelled around quite a bit, I've never net a dutch person I didn't like. Overall though id also say Germans are cooler.

Deise Vu

Socially great craic but work with Dutch people and and within 5 minutes you will find out exactly why Dutch participation in the Euro's or World Cup isn't complete without someone getting sent home Roy Keane style. Given the choice between doing something that would take a minute or arguing with you for twenty, they will choose the latter every time. There is nothing too trivial that they wouldn't make your life miserbale over.

Duckworth_Luas

crockholm wrote: »

Bismarck once quipped that the solution to the "Irish Problem" of the 19th century was to "transfer the entire populations of the Netherlands and Ireland. The Dutch will turn Ireland into a beautiful garden, while the Irish will neglect the dykes and sea-walls, the sea will rush in and the "Problem" will be solved"

No he didn't!

dd972

Going off topic here, but the Flemish seem to be nicer, easier going people than the Dutch.

There's a bizarre Homophobia that's unique to the Dutch as well, once saw two blokes having a road rage incident over there both out of their cars screaming 'HOMO!' at each other

Latchy

crockholm

Bismarck once quipped that the solution to the "Irish Problem" of the 19th century was to "transfer the entire populations of the Netherlands and Ireland. The Dutch will turn Ireland into a beautiful garden, while the Irish will neglect the dykes and sea-walls, the sea will rush in and the "Problem" will be solved"

I'm not sure who said it but I heard it like this

'' If you put the Dutch in Ireland they will make use of every inch of land , put the Irish in Holland and they will drown '' .

Seachmall

dd972 wrote: »

Going off topic here, but the Flemish seem to be nicer, easier going people than the Dutch.

There's a bizarre Homophobia that's unique to the Dutch as well, once saw two blokes having a road rage incident over there both out of their cars screaming 'HOMO!' at each other

In Dutch "Homo" means "I respectfully disapprove of your driving abilities".

Bummer1234

I like the dutch people,When i was over there they all seemed nice and friendly...The flemish are also lovely..Good english and when they talk to you..Boy they can talk...they kept asking about the protestant and catholic divide in Ireland and i filled them in...They were genuinely interested,

[rant]I don't like the spanish tho, They are just loud and arrogant ..Others might be different but thats the way i feel.[/rant]

Deise Vu

Latchy wrote: »

I'm not sure who said it but I heard it like this

'' If you put the Dutch in Ireland they will make use of every inch of land , put the Irish in Holland and they will drown '' .

Lets have another go at this one:

"Put the Dutch into Ireland and they would feed the world, put the Irish into Holland and they would drown."

Latchy

Deise Vu wrote: »

Lets have another go at this one:

"Put the Dutch into Ireland and they would feed the world, put the Irish into Holland and they would drown."

I dunno ...they may want to use all that land to grow tons more Tulips

Phoebas

Seachmall wrote: »

I was with my mates in Holland and we were stoned off our tits walking down the street, not really sure where we were going. A Dutch man stopped what he was doing, crossed the street and asked if we needed directions. We did and he promptly directed us where the main street was.

Another time we were out one of the nights heading to get food when a car pulled up, the guys in the car shouted something in Dutch which we didn't understand. I walked over to see what they wanted and they were selling cocaine. I told them I wasn't interested and if they knew of any good spots to get some grub. They recommended a place, told us how to get there and drove off.

I can, with confidence, say you would not find an elderly gentleman going for a Sunday stroll nor a cocaine dealer cruising around selling to tourists in Ireland as nice as you would in Holland.

I've been to over a dozen European countries, as well as 2 US cities and have never come across such helpful people.

Generalisations are fine when they're positive

But everyone seems really nice when you're stoned off your tits.

Phoebas

PauloMN wrote: »

One night, I was propping up the bar of a pub in Utrecht, and I asked the barman what time they closed at. His answer was "I vil closh ven you leaf... vil dat be ok?" which I thought was cool of him. Wouldn't get that here (as a stranger anyway).

Rough translation: "Please go away so I can go home"

Mr_Spaceman

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Boers don't like being called 'Dutch' either. It's like an insult to them.

Call a Boer a 'Dutchman' and expect to get a smack.

Boer is Dutch Afrikaans for farmer.

LordSutch

Very tall, clog wearing, pot smoking, windmill watching, tulip munching people, who all speak wich a schlight lischp )

WoollyRedHat

The Dutch were instrumental in the beginings of New York.

General General

Put the Irish into Holland & we'd all be stoned for the first three weeks.

wexie

If you want to get some insight into Dutch and the Dutch customs I can very much recommend this book .

Lots of generalisations here, some of them actually true.

I've always found the majority of Dutch people aren't actually very tolerant or openminded, just petrified to be seen (publicly) to be anything other than tolerant and openminded. There's an expression in Dutch which would translate roughly as : For the eyes of the Church going public (voor het oog van het kerkvolk), which more or less means just that, they want to be perceived a certain way, not necessarily be that way.

Like a previous poster pointed out, they may be tolerant when it comes to sexuality etc. but if you're just white heterosexual Joe Blogs but march to a different drum it will surely be picked up on and likely commented on. This is outside of the bigger cities now, in the cities nobody really cares I get the impression.

Having said all of that, there are definitely many good things about that small country, if you're going and have never been I'd very much recommend getting out of Amsterdam (a great city in it's own right, if you take the time and effort to see something other than sexshops and coffee shops) and going to see places like Maastricht, Den Bosch, Hoorn, Medemblik, Leiden and if you have kids the Efteling is very very much recommended.

Paramite Pie

To be honest you could make a thread about any nationality and people will have good and bad comments. It's pretty silly.

However, I for one vote in favour of the Dutch as lovable people.:)

dd972 wrote: »

Going off topic here, but the Flemish seem to be nicer, easier going people than the Dutch.

Most Flemish I met were really great. Very interested in politics/world affairs.

dd972 wrote: »

There's a bizarre Homophobia that's unique to the Dutch as well, once saw two blokes having a road rage incident over there both out of their cars screaming 'HOMO!' at each other

Homophobia??
-Being gay was legalized way back in 1811!:eek:.
-In 1973 gays were allowed to serve openly in the army
-In 1998 the Dutch parliament granted same-sex couples domestic partnership benefits
-In 2001, the Dutch legalised gay marriage. The first country to do so.
-As of October 2011, while 90% of ethnic Dutch people in the Netherlands view homosexuality as moral.

So yeah, the Dutch are clearly rampantly homophobic homos.:P

Wattle

Phoebas wrote: »

But everyone seems really nice when you're stoned off your tits.

Unless you get The Fear. Then everyone's out to get you.

Guy:Incognito

wannabe7a wrote: »

Korfbal? Every year the world cup finals are between Holland and Belgium, so guess who wins?

!

France?

wexie

wannabe7a wrote: »

....Korfbal? Every year the world cup finals are between Holland and Belgium, so guess who wins?

....Korfbal? Playing Korfbal is like masturbating, kinda entertaining but really shouldn't be discussed in public...

shoos

I used to live in Belgium and the Dutch you would meet there were made of nightmares. Rude, arrogant, sleazy, just a general bad time. Although, I was close to the boarder so we would get a lot of Dutch coming over for stag nights or just general boozing. The Dutch I worked with in Belgium weren't much better. They were fine to deal with, not pleasant or friendly, just fine. But very argumentative and gave the impression they were only ever out for themselves.

I won't have a negative expectation of a person just because they're Dutch though, those have just been my personal experiences with a handful of people.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Why is Holland frequently used and accepted worldwide as the country's name? I understand that Holland itself is only a province of the Netherlands. What do the Dutch themselves call their country?

not yet

I like the shexy futbol and the dutch gold.

crockholm

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

No he didn't!

Could have been his brother Patsy,they look alike

wexie

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Why is Holland frequently used and accepted worldwide as the country's name? I understand that Holland itself is only a province of the Netherlands. What do the Dutch themselves call their country?

Nederland

I guess it's Holland cause Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is quite a mouth full.

Watch this, all will be clear

bodice ripper

Its like this: we have "ah, its grand", the Dutch have "dit kan niet". That's it in a nutshell.

Lawrence1895

wexie wrote: »

Nederland

I guess it's Holland cause Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is quite a mouth full.

Watch this, all will be clear

Funny enough, that football supporters always use 'Holland' to cheer up their team

crockholm

I remember many folk in Breda and Roosendaal being annoyed at the name Holland being used for the whole country.

About the Flemish, could really sense an unease between them and the walloons.

The original "Frogs" (as an insult) was used by the English against the Dutch on account of them thinking that the land was wet and swampy,hence dwellers of swamps-frogs. And if DuckworthLuas tries to correct me again, i'm challenging him to a fistfight- to the death.

crockholm

Lars1916 wrote: »

Funny enough, that football supporters always use 'Holland' to cheer up their team

Hup Holland Hup:D

Legs.Eleven

I really like the Dutch. Met lots while I was travelling in South America and they were ALL sound. Met two fellas with the oddest sense of humour (the best kind). Funniest feckers I met the whole time I was there. Also met this lovely bunch of chicas who made me dinner and invited me to join their drinking games when I was alone. And 2 other guys I travelled with for a while. Really nice.


Over all, thumbs up big style!

Latchy

wexie wrote: »

.

I've always found the majority of Dutch people aren't actually very tolerant or openminded, just petrified to be seen (publicly) to be anything other than tolerant and openminded. There's an expression in Dutch which would translate roughly as : For the eyes of the Church going public (voor het oog van het kerkvolk), which more or less means just that, they want to be perceived a certain way, not necessarily be that way.

just like when they all sway together en masse at football internationals , it's a collective '' look at us Dutch... we are all one '' thing .

Absolute Zero

Great country, so much so im living here.

df1985

Camped beside dutch people at a festival last summer. Very friendly, very laidback, generally nice people.

And weed!

TeddyTedson

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Why is Holland frequently used and accepted worldwide as the country's name? I understand that Holland itself is only a province of the Netherlands. What do the Dutch themselves call their country?

Whiles that is true, I have a few Dutch friends who would always say Holland so I don't know. I have asked them before but to be honest I forget what they said, I'll ask again.

Duckworth_Luas

crockholm wrote: »

Could have been his brother Patsy,they look alike

They look nothing alike!

keithclancy

Have lived here for 5 years and work over the Border in Germany.

I don't think you can really lump Dutch or Germans into one bucket.

Every country has a$$holes and nice people.

Christ .. you wouldn't base Irish people off a visit to Dublin, imagine they met a Taxi Driver.

The party thing where they don't bring beer, that's pretty much because if you go to their party you don't bring beer either (Our neighbour has a serious amount of crates + food when he has a party)

The splitting the bill thing ... wtf is wrong with that I'd only find it strange if someone starts counting out how much they owe to cents.

There's a serious Left lane hogging thing on the Motorway that just doesn't happen in Germany.

They love their Football, that Hooligan crap is all hype, its just a small percentage of supporters.

Dutch Police are always in pairs ... one is always a young guy that doesn't really have a clue whats going on and the other guy is always old with a handlebar mustache.

They are mad efficient at sending bills and everything is automated (except in the North, they still use paper in the City Halls)

They have fines for everything, you cannot drink in a public place, although this depends on where you are, where we live for example you can go to the park with some beers and a BBQ, if you did the same in the Hague the Cops are there in 10 minutes handing out fines.

I've seen them in the Hague handing out fines to kids outside a school for not having lights on their Bicycles.

All Dutch people I know don't smoke weed, the only friends that do smoke weed are foreigners.

Lots of other Generalisations I can think of that are wrong, like German Autobahn is absolutely shíte compared to Dutch Snelweg for smoothness and road drainage, The roads are great.

Dutch lads in Noord/Zuid Holland tend to just have friends from School/College and they don't need anymore than that, in the south people are a bit more relaxed I think.

I could go on for ages, but I wouldn't say its possible to get a good view on the Dutch with a visit to Amsterdam.

Similarly I work in Dusseldorf, it's pretty different to most other German Cities, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hannover, Essen (craphole) are all completely different from each other.

The tax thing isn't complicated, you get your payslip and there's all the crazy calculations on it ... after the second year I just worked out they take half :P

wexie

TeddyTedson wrote: »

Whiles that is true, I have a few Dutch friends who would always say Holland so I don't know. I have asked them before but to be honest I forget what they said, I'll ask again.

For me it's simply capitulation, I've met too many blank stares and empty looks when I mentioned 'the Netherlands'.

Then again I've also had this :

I'm from Holland

Ah...Michigan!

err...no...the country...in Yuurp

<blank stare>

Amsterdam?

Aaaah.....Denmark!!!

<facepalm>

exador

They are mad about voetbal but they are not great hurlers

Latchy

The Dutch women's Hockey team won gold at the London Olympics and were voted ( in some poll ) the sexiest team of all .

I agree .

http://znnonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Dutchteam.jpg

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Y.Mbd7SCcknmmQ7a6yfXWg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zNTM7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/156/2012/07/30/149477339-10-jpg_092526.jpg