First Impressions:

Sometimes first impressions are the only impressions. The first few moments we encounter a person or new situation, within mere seconds most of our judgments are formed. I would love to share my first impressions of the Netherlands. (We’ll see how they actually evolve in the next three months)

1) Dutch Culture:

Helpful: Everyone here has been extremely helpful and polite.

Discuss, discuss, discuss: They love to talk…especially about American politics.

English: It’s amazing how any person (under 30-ish) I approach speaks English. Further, I am attending an international school where there is a huge population of students from all across the world and since my program is all in English—they all speak English. Thus, I was feeling quite down that I only know so many languages unlike these amazing individuals who know their native tongue, English as well as (I assumed) Dutch.

Surprise. They don’t know Dutch.

The Netherlands apparently attracts many people who want to improve their English. If they are from and EU country, their tuition is the same as back home and often covered by their tax system. People are just taking advantage of the system. However, in the end, it’s still a wonderful opportunity to interact with so many different people in such a short period of time and in such a neutral arena.

Censored?: Nope, nothing is censored. TV, images, nothing is censored. There is actually quite a discrepancy within the Dutch culture. At times they seem so prim and proper and then bam—no censoring. It’s funny.

People

Appearance:

Alright so all the guidebooks are true—the people here are tall. It’s fantastic, I fit right in. And thing is, they are beautiful. I mean drop dead gorgeous. I don’t know what’s in the water, but it’s working for these people.

Attire: Oh my goodness! So, I thought that I’m pretty decent with my fashion choices.

No.

Not even close.

First of all, everyone and I mean everyone wears black, perfectly fitted jackets with carefully folded scarves. No hats, despite the constant showers.

Ladies: barely a stitch of make-up. Men: timeless leather shoes that make some daring statements. (Courageous hair cuts included)

Physical: One more thing to add to the beauty of the Dutch—they are all and I mean all thin. These past few days I have seen thousands of people and two (seriously) two obese people. I wasn’t sure about what they ate but it works for them.

According to the other Americans all the Dutch eat is bread. Ok, occasionally they add cheese.

Food:

Speaking of food there are a few meals I have been told that I had to try:

French fries with mayo:

I went to the Saturday market, bought myself some fries from a traditional stand. Hot, crispy yellow fries are stuffed in a blue-checkered cone with a smothering of Dutch mayo to top off this treat. The verdict: while their mayo is better than the US counterpart, I think I’ll stick to ketchup.

Street waffles:

Imagine this: a street stand vendor takes fresh balls of dough, tosses them onto a hot waffle iron. Soon, they pop out two large (10 inch) soft, thin waffles with a sweet layer of caramel to glue the pieces together. Biting into this amazingly sweet confection—hmmm…pure bliss.

Fascination with America:

So last night I went over to a friend’s house for dinner. I met his roommates, some of them not in the IBA program, thus I assumed that they wouldn’t be all that interested in global affairs. We got to talking and once again I was wrong. Not only did one of his roommates know every state capitol in the US, he also knew the NBA teams, large universities, etc. Blew me away. They asked me about how our political system worked and what going through caucus was like. It was great.

Good news: They don’t hate us. They just think we’re weird. ; )

I go to class tomorrow so more to come!