4 Unexpected Things That SHOCKED Me About the Netherlands (Dutch Culture Shock)

[@lucyweilbel6681]

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[@vnnyCao]

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[@lucyweilbel6681]

@ROSEGARDNERBIS

[@joanrobijn4118]

It should come as no surprise that any stranger, and it doesn't matter where you live, who does not integrate will have a harder time getting accepted, that's not a phenomenon that exists in the Netherlands only.

[@dicknr1]

Migrants somehow apply that to every country except here, which is why this nation is ruined in the holland provinces to begin with.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

The integrating thing is more about language. Everyone knows english pretty much, but it definatly not our first or prefered language. Dutch people speak dutch among eachother, and when in the presence of international guests they are usually perfectly willing to change the language to english for the evening or for dinner or whatever, but if you decide to live here it becomes very demanding for people around you to accomedate this in your presence constantly. There is a lot of nuance and sarcasm and stuff used in the dutch language among people in conversation and communication. This quickly goes lost when conversing in a language that we usually only speak occasionally or only in professional context. We do love it when people try and fit in and help you to do so. And are much more accepting when they see you are trying and learning. Foreigners that don't basicly constantly demand of the dutch people around them to go out of their way to please the non dutch speaking person. And to be fair that get's old quickly and is also a respect thing. When you are learning and trying people will be happy to adjust to you UNTIL you catch up and everyone can get back to speaking dutch. If you dont learn dutch that moment will never come. And people will just not bother because it just to much of an effort to invest into a relationship that will basicly for ever require adjustment and accomodation on their part. Realisticly you can not expect that from anyone anywhere in any country. English speaking people tend not to realise that in other countries speaking english constantly takes effort and is not intuative at all.

[@kellyvandijk3269]

If you want to live in the Netherlands… learn the language, if you don’t want to adapt then go. That’s all over the world.

[@frankgeurts3912]

Yes, that's right

[@OsmosisHD]

It's very simple. Want to be part of society? Learn dutch. Just like in any other country not speaking the language leaves you on the outside of that society. We all know Dutch is a very difficult language to learn most dutch people still make common spelling mistakes. But if we notice someone taking the effort trying to learn the language we really appreciate it and we are more than willing to help the person to become more fluent. Life becomes much more easy when knowing the basics of our language. From that point just practice practice and practice. Try to speak (broken) dutch to everyone you meet you'll most certainly make mistakes but that's okay! We all know the difficulty of our language

[@Harry_PP030]

About bureaucracy, try how it works in France or Italy. You would run back to the Netherlands, fast! About integrating, it is easier for us to hang with someone who knows and appreciates our culture and speaks the language.

[@urbnctrl]

Lmao try applying for a Visa in America!!

[@dorryakgul1119]

The dutch dont like small talks we like it to come directly to the point ...and they dont like the fake conversations like in America

[@stevanoutdoor]

I think the Dutch will accept you as friend very easily. But if we are in a group we speak Dutch. So I think more important than speaking our difficult language is have a basic understanding of it so you have an idea about the topic discussed. We do appreciate it if you take the effort to learn some basic Dutch words, but will reply in English if you have any questions.

[@franswijnands4022]

Praat nederlands

[@stevanoutdoor]

@@franswijnands4022 Bemoei je met je eigen zaken.

[@bertoverweel6588]

If you have a Dutch friend you have a friend for life .

[@stephenvanwijk9669]

Expats come and go. It’s basically the same practicality again. If you are learning Dutch we understand that you want to stay. We just don’t like those very friendly come and go persons who start to act if they are friends from when were very little. That just doesn’t work here. To us it is superficial, so Dutch respond accordingly. We tolerate them, but why bother? They are gone pretty soon, apparently. Friendship has a different meaning in The Netherlands. First of all, friendship has two sides. We don’t know you, do you want to become one of us? Or are you gone within a few months? Understand that you have the possibility to become one of us. That’s not the same in Japan, for instance. And we are not a Dutch people app, yes? You become gradually one of us, we have a complex language, a complex history, a complex culture. Come easy and with respect, and don’t expect blister package at discount dutchiness ready from the rack in the supermarket. Yes? You have to invest, or otherwise you are temporarily, so again, we don’t bother. Government stuff taking forever is also annoying to us.

[@gazinessex2]

Nothing SHOCKING at all. Just normal Dutch culture.

[@Difficult000]

Hello ,, Karim 🙋🏾 As a Dutchy its so nice to listen to your video about the Dutchy's ITS Looking from the outside IN. And gives a Enjoyable viewing pleasure that living like a Dutchy is so Basic as well as Happy 😊

[@metalvideos1961]

Let me guess you don't want to learn Dutch?

[@vullings1968]

Hi Karim, at first, welcome to the Netherlands! On the topic of friendships and relations, I think us Dutchies want to give that a little time to develop. Not only with people from abroad, but also among ourselves. When I look at my friendships and relationships, they all took some time to develop. People gradually open up to eachother. You hardly see people that "het achterste van de tong laten zien", right away. And yes, we are well organized, and it takes a long time to get things done. We are still used to the "poldermodel" which means that every stakeholder in a process needs to be heard and their opinion taken into account with the end result. Usually this ends with a compromise that everyone can live with, allthough sometimes you end up with something that nobody likes, and the whole process has to start over again. But keep up the good work! We Dutchies need opinions from outside our own bubble.

[@SwirlingSoul]

Subscription earned. I don't feel so bad about being a Dutchie anymore. You actually lifted my spirit. Thank you for this very friendly video about us! 🥰

[@karimeloteify]

Welcome aboard! Happy to have you as a subscriber!

[@alexmeyjes5533]

Observation: You are young, and I think you are a US citizen . In the USA the government has its own bureaucracy : consider the VA and Social Security and the Military and education . Most of those are all time consuming and seriously frustrating to deal with . The courts are even worse where 2 plus years may go by before a case gets heard. As Dutchman who moved to the States as an adult more than 40 years ago at least in part to escape the 'red tape' I have learned that RED TAPE is a human foible we have not , and probably never will rid ourselves of !

[@majdavojnikovic]

If they tell you that you have to learn Dutch and you will get in Dutch circle, it's not going to happen that easy. You'll meet lot of people through university or work, you'll be friendly, they will be friendly too, but that is where it usually stop. That might be different in small towns and villages, but in big cities you'll be making friends with other immigrants.

[@D0G_CN]

pretty acurate, many already explained in debt about most you mentioned so ill just keep it at "pretty accurate" i might visit your page a few more times in the future, keep it up...

[@jurgenolivieira1878]

Hé fellow Rotterdammer :-), I think your analysis are spot on. So cool that you got the core of Dutchness as your first thing. "Doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg!" is kinda the Dutch mantra, literally translated "Just act normal... that's already crazy enough!". Practicality and reasonable price/quality trump unpractical but expensive almost all of the time. You buy things for you... not to just showoff to others. Maybe it's also because Dutch are frugal or let's call it financially conservative/savvy by nature. "Ieder voor zich" aka "Going Dutch", gratis (free stuff), 3-halen-2-betalen (buy 3 get 2 free, and their equivalents) are as Dutch as wooden shoes and extremely popular. The final point is very on the nose... the Dutch will tolerate everything unless it's in their own backyard. In other words they don't mind as long as, at the end of the day, it's not their problem. And yes, the way to get around that is integrating and that I think starts with speaking or at least understand the language (even though you can get around with English, some things just don't translate well). But I have found that is the same for other countries as well. A difference maybe is that the Dutch are more tolerant and that might have to do with that English is almost always available as a communication method. In countries were people don't speak English that well their tolerance is much lower, but on the other hand their acceptance once your learn their language is often also much higher.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

In Dutch culture, a good friend is as close to you (or even closer) than your siblings. It is not a relationship that you enter easily. And yes, it is impossible to do with someone who does not speak Dutch very well. So, I get it that it is an almost insurmountable hindrance. But if you do take the barrier, you have a brother/sister for life.

[@markbennett5812]

How do you have that relationship form if they never talk to you or put effort

[@EricvanDorp007]

No M8 You are just somebody how made this uploads and others just like it! keep up! your doing good!

[@karimeloteify]

Thanks, will do!

[@krrbas]

Yes, after staying in Cal. for a year I experienced that most Americans want to stand out. In Europe most people tend to be average.

[@charlesvanderhoog7056]

Have you tried learning Dutch?

[@urbnctrl]

Its funny you used Taxes and Immigration as meticulous when the US is one of THE HARDEST and most difficult to process those exact things.. liked the video and love to see morea

[@rubenromerobouwens677]

Bureaucracy ! Hahahaha have you ever been in South America or Asia or South of Europe. I guess not. Yes you can speed things up in those countries but at a cost! Here in Holland we don not accept any kind of short cuts. You can act special but will not automaticaly be treated special. When there are elections even the Prime Minister has to show his ID in front of all the cameras when he is at the polling station. Friendships dont evolve fast in any country. Otherwise it doesn t mean that much. So thats nonsense and has nothing to do with Dutch people.

[@ilonkagootjes858]

You need to know the intregation, we are so determent on, now. Is because we made a big mistake in the '50's. In those day we where "booming", we had all these jobs, but not enough people. So we invited Maroccan and Turkisch people (and others) to help us out. But we never really botherd to learn them our ways, culture or the language. Just the jobs. So now we still have lots of elderly immigrants who don't speak Dutch, and don't really participate. And that created polarisation among the Dutch people. ("They got housing, and benefits, and the Dutch payed for that through taxes".) The gouverment is desperately trying to not let that happen again. But the Dutch aren't really trust them at the moment.

[@karimeloteify]

I can imagine that lack of involvement created some skepticism! Thanks for the deeper insight!

[@blodekont5458]

3:00 and don't bullsit with fake "how are you's" when they aren't meant to be as such.. be open, straightforward, don't walk around the bush... tell it like it is.. do I look tired? Tell me I do look tired, don't say I look great...

[@karimeloteify]

Clarity and straightforwardness are actually things I've come to love about life in the Netherlands

[@simdal3088]

It is not tolerance, thats just how we market it to the outside. Fact is we are indifferent and could not care less if it does not impact us in a negative way. Cross that line and you wil very quickly find out.

[@NoblesseObligeify]

Hence why little people care about collapsing houses in Groningen due to the drilling for gas 😉 Its not their house, not their problem

[@simdal3088]

@@NoblesseObligeify Exactly.

[@Karl-076]

Better no music in your vid, Does not need. It ruins the vid almost.

[@blodekont5458]

1:15 yes.. it is logics... only an idiot would buy pants that aren't comfortable to wear.. duh...why buy something that doesn't suit you?

[@computeraddic675]

I am afraid that the willingnes to welcome you in the Netherlands wil come less in the future!We are living in a small country with already almost 19 million people,and all things are getting harder and harder to get. Because the growth of the number off people living here is crazy rising!It seems that people from all over the world want to live here!And thats impossible!!So a new place to live is almost impossible.There are no houses periode!If this goes on there will be no farming anymore.There will be no place to get out off the city,because the Netherlands will be one city!!

[@51bikerboy]

19 million that's more than 1 million more than 2 days ago.🤣

[@majdavojnikovic]

As they say:"vol is vol"

[@computeraddic675]

@@51bikerboy I wrote almost 19 million!Seeing the rate off the growth it will not be a long time before we have 19 million,and thats a lot for such a small country!There are hondred thousands off people waiting to be accepted to live in the Netherlands at this moment.We even dont have houses for them to live!They are sleeping in the open right now Because we dont have rooms for them to live here!!

[@D0G_CN]

@@computeraddic675 it's actually 17.3 million mate, but you could be right about it reaching 19 million soon. who knows?

[@nadiaeloteify6434]

Can you make a video advising people with the things you wish someone told you about before living in the Netherlands? 🤩

[@nadiaeloteify6434]

I love your content! Very interesting and helpful