Dutch Lifestyle: 6 Things the Dutch love to do (A LOT!)

[@johnbakker4828]

You have one of the best pronunciations of Dutch I've heard from a foreigner, especially considering the short time you've been in The Netherlands, nice job!

[@HelenaLanserTermasDaAzenha]

It's the R, she pronounces the R really well!

[@BlacksmithTWD]

@@HelenaLanserTermasDaAzenha Same for the "g" and most of the vowels.

[@filthygreasepipe]

Simp

[@annelaurijssens]

You forgot complaining about the weather 😂

[@BlacksmithTWD]

@Ad Lockhorst If a Dutch person has nothing to complain about they will complain about having nothing to complain about.

[@delanovanraalte3186]

Ja

[@delanovanraalte3186]

@@BlacksmithTWD inderdaad

[@sarahvandester9589]

Omg dat is zo waar 😂

[@sarahvandester9589]

@@BlacksmithTWD lol

[@JAY-wn2hr]

We like to: *Complain about the weather. *Complain about how expensive everything is. *Complain about our next-door neighbor. *Complain about politics. *Complain about basically anything. Klagen is iets very Nederlands.

[@robbedoeslegrand236]

And complaining about people complaining to much.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Did you know that the Dutch verb "in de war zijn" (to be confused) is etymologically related to the English word "war" but that the Dutch word for "war" (oorlog) is also etymologically related to confusion? Confused now? The Dutch word "oorlog" has a very, very old etymology, probably the oldest in Europe for this word (going straight back to indo-european language whereas other languages took a different path). Oorlog means (etymiologically) "a state of affairs that is confusing and was put upon you without you having control over it". That term "confusion" is in Dutch "in de war zijn (and have no control over it)". Hence the English word "war" is family of the Dutch "in de war zijn" and the Dutch word for war: "oorlog".

[@EMvanLoon]

Not really understanding your reply, but I concur! Sounds just right! :-)

[@Jos_G.]

Now I am confused! (in de war)

[@rubentullenaar2934]

Thats awesome😂

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

log in oorlog komt van het zelfde woord als engels law wet..

[@Arnaud58]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.👌 @06:15 Until the 1950's or 60's it was common to eat what we call dinner now at lunch time, and a bread meal at "dinner time".

[@yvobroekhoven972]

It used to be a warm lunch meal in the Netherlands, but it changed over time. We often ate a warm meal at lunch when I was young (70s-80s). But that was in times when dad (still could) came/come home for lunch. It was quite common in our family to name the warm meal as 'middageten' even though it shifted from lunch to dinner. As in "Hebben jullie vanavond middag gegeten?" (a warm meal for dinner.) It actually makes more sense to have a warm lunch instead of a warm dinner, because you needed more energy to get through the working day, without all the modern electricery that makes work less labour intensitive. And in the evening, a light bread meal also makes more sense because leasure takes less energy. Modern times.... But hey, I'm an evening/night person, so my main warm meal is around dinner time, so I can put my energy in stuff I want and need to do during evening and night... Just take the specific type of meal at the right time that does the job :)

[@ari-etta]

JFK answered with :"Pardon??" Then Luns said :"Yes, paarden".

[@robertheinrichvonseyfenste267]

he also said: I fuck horses (ik fok paarden)

[@janeirwin9663]

I always thought that was just a joke, it really happened with JFK or someone famous?

[@robertheinrichvonseyfenste267]

@@janeirwin9663 prime minister Lus ( L) ad Prince Charles(UK)

[@robertheinrichvonseyfenste267]

Luns,not Lus

[@roelkomduur8073]

@@robertheinrichvonseyfenste267 Luns was never prime minister. This story is very much a fairy tail, Luns, being a student of very strict nuns and coming from a educated background, would not have made that mistake. BTW he never had ( stud) horses..

[@Peacefrogg]

Rules are meant to be bent! Dunglish is called stonecoal english in dunglish. I am dutch and i eat yoghurt, fruit & salad for breakfast and leftovers for lunch. Throwing away your leftovers is not ‘zuinig’. Bad for the wallet and the environment. Bread is for ‘tosti’ and for cleaning your plate at dinner and dunking in soup. And to take with you to work or school or a trip. So you don’t have to buy an expensive lunch. Ons ben zuunig. Not skimpy but economical. Doe normaal means be yourself but don’t be arrogant. Bragging is not a way to make people like you. But it also means you don’t have to be your best self all the time. Cutting in line is not ok. Letting someone go in front because they have only a few things or because they have to catch a train is. Also a very dutch thing is to be open to different lifestyles. We say we are tolerant. It is not always the case but most of us try to accept people for who they are. Regardless of colour, sexuality, sex, religion, identity, etc. Only we don’t understand cultural appropriation. That’s not a thing here. I think it’s because we accept people for who they are, how they dress, how they present themselves, even if that’s not in the culture they are born in. So if you are a white swede who dresses like a masai, we still welcome you.

[@Oldschool_Gamer_]

One of my favorite things to put on bread is this white powdery stuff Sometimes some moisture creates lumps you kind of have to chop it up a bit... then you take a straw... Why are you looking at me like that? You put the straw in a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. and enjoy your toast with gestampte muisjes (an anis powder spread)

[@P1nkR]

"Doe normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg" is a typical Dutch saying, which translates to "Just act normal, that's already weird enough".

[@BlacksmithTWD]

Two of the most famous Dutch musical bands (performing songs in Dutch, as otherwise the golden earring would count as well) were called "Doe maar" and "Normaal".

[@BlacksmithTWD]

@Frank Heuvelman Toontje lager.

[@BlacksmithTWD]

@Frank Heuvelman Braken met Joop Kookhekke was van veel later.

[@BlacksmithTWD]

@Frank Heuvelman Niet meegekregen, ik was toen hooguit 5.

[@BlacksmithTWD]

@Frank Heuvelman Ik weet het, mijn hele jeugd heb ik zonder internet gedaan. Ik zou niet zeggen meer, maar het was wel vrijer en meer open. Helaas heeft de rampstadmentaliteit van niemand aanspreken die je niet kent veel aan terrein gewonnen en het internet heeft het nog een stukje erger gemaakt. Daardoor zijn mensen zich steeds meer aan het terugtrekken in hun eigen bubbel en praten steeds meer mensen lang elkaar heen in plaats van met elkaar en blijft de monoloog aan terrein winnen ten opzichte van de dialoog.

[@tjerkheringa937]

Are there more Americans like you? Bring'm over!

[@aardhond]

Tjerk Heringa busy whit that but that damm corona fuckt things up

[@robertheinrichvonseyfenste267]

Tjerk, she has a GIRL friend.... got it?

[@markrutte5637]

fear not, im coming

[@markrutte5637]

@Dennis Bakker im coming over. im swimming right now

[@kevartje1295]

But... if all the smart ones come here, there would be nothing left in America....

[@pim1234]

Work at a company full of expats and the get Dutch lessons during working hours. And I always love the way the girls say things like Nootjes of Broodjes .... zo schattig (so cute)

[@5223lp51]

Originally 'borrel' was slang for a glass of jenever. Later the name for any alcoholic drink and now how you described it. It's nice to hear what you think of our little habits.

[@edwinvenema1017]

Keep up the good work Dutch Americano! I really enjoy your videos! I'm a fan!

[@jimmymiata]

i think you forgot how much we enjoy the sun, even in winter we love to sit outside close our eyes and enjoy the the first rays of the sun

[@johanhoevink4050]

As a dutch person I like to see the video's you make. Kinda puts me being Dutch in a perspective that I can't see. Also I am learning things like about the olifantenpaadjes and Luns talking with JFK about horse fokken. I also want to add something about doe even normaal. And that's "met je kop boven het maaiveld komen". Freely translated: being very good at something. Dutch really good soccer players complaining about it when they come back to the Netherlands. After having lived a superstar live abroad and then being back in the Netherlands again, they have to "doe normaal" again. So they have to put their head back into the soil.

[@hugoblack4096]

As a Dutch guy, I think you summed that quite nicely. Good job!

[@benengel6555]

One of the most beautiful funerals I ever attended was preceded by cycling our friend's coffin in a (really large) bakfiets to cemetery Zorgvlied in Amsterdam followed by all his family and friends on bikes. I think some 150 people were in the cyclist procession. And one police motorcyclist - a former friend of the deceased ...

[@erikmulder2574]

Borrel is actually a name for a high alcoholic drink, like gin, whisky or cognac e.g. a collective name. So using the word as a verb, borrelen, means going out for a drink, like the friday night drinks. Borrelhapje then means a snack to accompany a drink. So although it is used frequently to indicate a social event, that is not the original meaning of the word borrel.

[@JasperJanssen]

A true alcoholic would borrel with a kopstoot - one jenever plus one beer, drunk quickly.

[@TheEvertw]

About flashy outward displays: Dutch usually prefer to outdo the other on quality and style, not flashyness. The Nouveau Rich can usually be recognized for flashy "bling" instead of style.

[@DavidvdGulik]

Critical difference between borrel and happy hour. A borrel is 100% about having a relaxing time with friends to unwind. The price of the drinks is a complete non-factor. Happy hour is all about the fact that there's a discount on alcohol. A borrel is organised around having drinks, but it's not about having drinks

[@pietergreveling]

The Dutch word for society is samenleving and it translate to, togetherliving, that's why you have to doe normaal! 🙂

[@casperk7310]

Society can also mean maatschappij

[@jpdj2715]

Borrel used to reference hard liquor (like Dutch gin - genever). These drinks would also be called "bitter"and this is from a time when certain herbs and veggies with a bitter taste were considered beneficial to one's health. Some of them also would preserve - think of hops in beer. So, borrelhapjes (little borrel bites) would more formally have been called "bittergarnituur" and bitter with its garnituur would typically be served after 5pm and before supper. The "bitter" thing was international and Italian "amaro" means bitter or "amaretto" means little bitter. All sorts of European herbal extractions got distilled and sold as bitter. The best known item in a Dutch bittergarnituur could be the bitterbal - a ball-shaped croquette that is not bitter at all, but just named so because of its association with the bittergarnituur. Then you have these drinks and accompaniments at a table that you could call "borreltafel" - the table at which the drinks and snacks are served - which gives rise to the word "borreltafelgeklets" where this type of "geklets" (banter) references the tipsy nonsensical kind.

[@JasperJanssen]

Perhaps the most famous bitter worldwide would be the Jägermeister. Although I prefer Weduwe Joustra.

[@jpdj2715]

@@JasperJanssen - after distillation, a hard liquor from grains with gluten can still contain gluten. I am so sad I have to limit myself to grape derived like cognac, armagnac and different eaux de vie, including Italian variants. Jaegermeister may be most famous worldwide, but the concept of "bitters" is attributed to the "Old Egyptians" (where old means before Cleopatra ;) ) Bitters have to be based on herbal infusions and were intended as "preventive medicine". Note that the word for bitter in Italian is "amaro" and the name "Amaretto" means "little bitter" (etto and ino postfixes are diminutive like Dutch "tje". Italian has the "augmentative" that indicates the big or great variant: melone literally big apple - Amarone - a wine - grand bitter.) The "bittertje" tradition in the Netherlands was very old but it is little documented as high alcohol drinks often got associated with abuse. Your widow Joustra is certainly part of that tradition, with a latish start in 1864. You could argue that Dutch jenever (a juniper berry based drink) or English gin (a juniper berry based drink) are simple approaches to bitter. English gin was developed using Dutch gin (jenever=genever=gin) as reference model. The invention of distillation to tasteless led to "jonge jenever" (meaning of recent invention, rather than old recipe). An example of modernization causing loss (of taste). Preventative herbal medicine IS the history of "Beerenburg": a medical doctor in Amsterdam who had developed a herbal mix to protect the stomach that got blended into genever in Friesland by the widow.

[@BlacksmithTWD]

"borrel" literally means a strong alcoholic beverage like distilled alcohol. Hence my disappointment when I got invited to 'een borrel' once and the strongest drink available turned out to be wine. In the old days when someone asked if you wanted 'een borrel' and you said yes, you would get a tiny glass (they are still called 'borrelglas' and you still get served any distilled beverage served in it in a cafe unless asked otherwise or being in a more fancy cafe that has separate glasses for separate brands of beverages) filled with jenever (a dutch distilled beverage, alcohol percentage equal to whiskey or cognac) optionally served with a sugar cube.

[@Paul_C]

About three, four years there was an ad campaign for a jeans brand, large posters at the bus stops. The slogan (of course in English): Fit in to stand out.

[@samsunggalaxys3neo645]

smiles.. another American here.. a slight correction.. croquet/kroket/bitterbal is not a fried dough ball/stick.. it's a solid ragout rolled into a ball/stick, then breaded n fried..

[@desireedavina-vloon5667]

I life in the east of the Netherlands, We like hiking, (wandelen) we like it so much we will go out and to the same woods(bos) and walk the same path over and over again. We like to meet friends or familie and hike together. Not as a sport. Not as a exercise, but as a "gezellige wandeling" and after this walk/hike we like to go to a bar and drink a koffie or some alcoholic beveridge's.

[@nienke7713]

For a borrel you don't need to go to a cafe or pub. It's just having some drinks with friends or co-workers or classmates or something like that, and often (but not necessarily) accompanied by some borrelhapjes/bittergarnituur*/snacks/bites. It usually has a starting time but no end time, and people can come and go as they please. Particularly common are the WoMiBo and VrijMiBo (Woensdag MIddag Borrel = Wednesday Afternoon Borrel/Drink, and Vrijdag Middag Borrel = Friday Afternoon Borrel/Drink), which serve as a mid-week leisure moment or closure of the work/school week (they're especially common to be held by workplaces or by studen associations). Other types of borrel are the kerstborrel (christmas borrel/drink), nieuwjaarsborrel (new year's borrel/drink), afstudeerborrel (graduation borrel/drink), constitutieborrel (constitution borrel/drink; this is not constitution as in the US constitution, but constitution as in a new board of a company or association being constituted/formed/recognised). Sometimes a borrel is also held after a (formal) event to allow people to just talk a bit with other attendees in a more casual environment afterwards. Borrel also means a glass of high proof spirit, especially when talking about Jonge Jenever (New/post-WWII style Dutch Gin/Genever; literally young Dutch Gin/Genever; in contrast to Oude Jenever which is Old/Pre-WWII style gin), which is probably where the name for both the social event and the snacks comes from. *Bittergarnituur (as well as Bitterballen) is another name derived from a type of alcoholic drink, een (kruiden)bitter(tje), which are herbal/botanical digestive bitters (e.g. amaro, jägermeister, beerenburg, campari, aperol); garnituur means a garnish, so bittergarnituur is a garnish for with your digestive bitters, and bitterballen (which are a subset of bittergarnituur) are balls served with your digestive bitters. I'd say bittergarnituur is a subset of borrelhapjes specifically describing the deep fried snacks, whilst borrelhapjes may also include other snacks/bites eaten with your borrel, such as nuts, or cheese & crackers. As for bitterballen, they're not really dough balls as you describe them. the filling is a thick roux based sauce/filling, (in Dutch we call it a ragout, which is also eaten in pasteitjes, in Flanders this is known as vol-au-vent. I think the closest thing to a Dutch ragout in the English speaking world is an American white gravy), and then they're coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried.

[@mariozaal]

I learned the word indeed from cristoffer judge who played tealc in stargate sg1.he was almost every episode saying indeed.

[@jeroenvanrooijen1086]

Normaal doen: no doubt you have heard about biking Dutch queens and kings. Brood eten instead of a warm meal for lunch is also a form of "normaal doen." A famous story is about a French king (if I remember it well) who visited the Netherlands. During a trip they stopped for lunch but instead of a rich banquet the caravan stopped to, to the surprise of the king, eat "broodjes" at the side of the road. Also minister- president "vadertje" Drees was "well-known" among important people from other countries because he always offered only broodjes for lunch.

[@FreekVerkerk]

Your pronunciation of dutch words is remarkably good

[@Suteruni]

I really enjoy watching your video's, nice to see my own country through someone else's eyes. Am glad you feel happy here and only saw a flash of your cat but what a beauty

[@leengorissen82]

About dunglish. A Dutch politician visited Churchill in WW11 in het voorjaar. During a walk in the garden Churchill remarked "Spring is in the air "" after which the Dutch politician asked " Why should I ?? "

[@jimmymiata]

in winter, especially when its really cold we tend to eat more warm stuff for lunch with our bread of course. do we have a (soft) boiled egg with our breakfast, we love a fried bacon and egg(s) on our bread for lunch, or a sausage, meatball or soup on the side. It seems that the colder it is the more we need something warm to eat with our lunch

[@Belfastchild1974]

Eating a warm lunch is not so uncommon, but because people often eat lunch at work/school it's easier to bring some sandwiches in a lunchbox than to cook a meal in the short lunch break, and of course nobody likes to eat microwaved food for lunch. But of course when you had a warm lunch, then you eat bread for dinner.

[@petermv2320]

Hi Eva, (I'm born Dutch, but I've worked for British (=English) companies for years, so I'm used to communicate with colleagues about language issues). The going name for mixed English/Dutch is Netherish, every native speaker of Netherish is easily recognizable (soft of like a speech impairment). My British colleagues had a special name for the English/Dutch mix, they called it "Middle Atlantic", because most English speaking Dutchmen tend to mix pure English and American English, without ever being aware of these not being 100% the same (nobody told them). The Dutch tend to learn the language mix via different channels (books, records, tv/radio, films and school) without necessarily ever being aware of which is which and therefore mixing things up into a confusing mess (e.g. color vs. colour and initialise vs. initialize). Even as I'm typing this, I must be careful as I try to type English, but Google is an American company so I'm being watched by an unanticipated spelling checker who doesn't like "colour".

[@esiebring7436]

Yup. During high school lessons focused on British English, but on TV American English is dominant. So my English pronunciation is a blend (with a wee bit of Scottish mixed in). I still tend to write my English mostly in a British manner. The British are our neighbours, after all. Though I've been on holiday in both countries. And I relate better to the British humour. And yes, when speaking Dutch I mix in quite a lot of English. It sometimes just conveys better what I want to say. I like the term Dunglish. I think it is highly appropriate when I hear some of my countrymen's English. Steenboerenkool-engels. But I may be too hard on them. I practiced hard on my 'th'-sound, and I was so disappointed when I discovered that around Cambridge they dispensed wif it! My husband works for an international company and has colleagues from all over the world. He states that everyone (China, India, Russia, Bosnia, Poland, the Netherlands, South Africa etc) speaks international English really well. The confusion sets in when native English/American speakers partake.

[@Linda-hs1lk]

Never heard of 'olifantenpaadjes'. Never too old to learn I guess.

[@freerkottema]

We say ko paatjse (koeiepaadje), but hey I m from Fryslân ...

[@NL-001]

Saartje de Hond We call it ezelspaadjes.

[@harrysarso]

its a pretty common term

[@reznovvazileski3193]

Same :') I knew about them but never knew they had a name lmao

[@gentlebabarian]

Ik noem de het altijd sluip paadjes of afsnij paadjes.

[@atarvos8686]

:) about a "borrel" or as we sometimes call it a "neutje" Lots of drinking litle to eat , is only in the west of the country. In south and east netherlands food is a more important part. Over the decades that changed a bit to. But it is still to see when people marriage. In the eastern and southern part from the country with marriages you often (depends on the couple their budget) see a warm and cold buffet and free drinking till 12, the coffee with gebak. Where in the west of the country often you get served 3 drinks and the rest is on your own pocket. And you are delighted if you get snacks served.

[@therealcleany]

"free drinking till 12"? What? "Where in the west of the country often you get served 3 drinks and the rest is on your own pocket" What?! who does that?! I'm from a town in de Bollenstreek (so between Haarlem and Leiden) and we had cold and warm buffet at our wedding (ofcourse with unlimited food), unlimited drinks (ofcourse) and quite a lot of snacks and the party was over at 1 or 2 AM (not sure, was 13 years ago). I've heard it was quite uncommon to let all the day guests stay for the evening as well (I thought that was weird) or invite people only for a reception. We didn't want that, so everyone was welcome to stay for the evening. It was great.

[@You-mr3lo]

Boterham is a slice of bread Broodjes/puntjes are round soft little breads. Worstenbroodje are a kind of sousageroll form the south Kadetjes are white Hubkes with anijs

[@shinidice]

Another form of the "doe normaal" is the "wat moeten de buren wel niet denken"/"what should the neighbors think" you see this more in smaller villages and tells a lot about not standing out of the crowd

[@huugiemoor9663]

They have like a stopword..like Dusss They like eating cheese And what is different is eating mayonaise with fries instead of ketjup. They don't eat bread like us i mean they put stuff on it but not like filled with everything we can find in the fridge

[@JasperJanssen]

You have that the wrong way round, what is different is the weird habit of eating fries with ketchup instead of mayo or frietsaus!

[@huugiemoor9663]

@@JasperJanssen hahah yea that too😁

[@ezimaukel1]

Dunglish: didn't know of it's existence until you mentioned it. But I use it.. on purpose.

[@kevartje1295]

2:48 Arn't those egg rolls? (loempia's) They could be cheese sticks but I've never seen cheese sticks being served as a snack for a "borrel".

[@jpdj2715]

"I speak English very well, nog niet zo snel, maar dat komt nog wel".

[@erik5374]

From where I grew up: I speak English very well, Aber nog nicht so schnell Mar dâ kumt nog wel.

[@jpdj2715]

@@erik5374 - Interesting. A German German language scholar told me my language (Netherlands) is cute and anachronistic. My reply was that my version of Germanic must be older and less helixed up by illiterates changing things and scholars trying to make my language more like Latin. No sensitivity or rivalry, but academic talk to make things clear. Basically, Dutch is Frankish. When I look at your version, I'd say it could be a Frankish dialect that has suffered more from high deutsch influences. That could be somewhere between Eindhoven NL and Bern CH ... Or north of Hanover through to Hamburg and Berlin. (Oh, a helix is a screw.)

[@erik5374]

JP dJ 😉 25 km ten noorden van Eindhoven, 15 km van de Duitse grens. Het Duitse zinnetje zit er, denk ik, in om de draak te steken met meertaligheid. De derde is Brabants.

[@justincredible.]

Een borrel is a kind of (alcoholic) drink, mostly jonge jenever. The verb is borrelen (That is kind of "gathering" for drinks) and that is what you are descibing.

[@Harrypjotter7]

In Utrecht they even shut down the traffic lights on de Neude, because no one was using them.

[@rotflol6666]

eons ago in Amsterdam the rule was to cross at the red light so you won't get hit by anybody doing the same from the other side....., fr pedestrians/bicycles vs car!

[@jannetteberends8730]

My mother used to say “doe normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg” Translated: act casual, because in that case you already acting crazy. And I love your channel. I’m binge watching it right now. Your observations are so to the point. And interesting. I’m learning a lot of new thing. F.i, the vrymibo. I’m 67, and that was something that started in the beginning of my work life. And now it’s so common.

[@Cl0ckcl0ck]

Yup, you don't have to be normal, just act as if you are normal. Be your crazy self when people aren't looking.

[@ThomDeWit]

Haha now in Dunglish: do normal then you’re doing already crazy enough

[@JJMarkin]

I'm learning how much Dutch has changed in the decades since we still lived in the Netherlands. "Vrijmibo" is completely new to me, for example.

[@RackaCity]

honestly, i dont think dutchies like to bend rules, but rather we know to recognize the difference between the letter, and the spirit of the law. like the difference between the most literal interpretation of a rule, and whatever the results are the rule is trying to accomplish..

[@BobNarings]

These 6 things just show the level of creativity of us, Dutch people, a little bit.😘

[@nienke7713]

Brood is bread, Broodje is little bread (the -je, -pje, -tje, -ke, and -kje suffixes in Dutch is used for a small version of things, although sometimes it's also used to cutesify things) and describes what in English would be called a bread roll (or simply a roll). Broodje is sometimes also used for a sandwich, although mostly if the sandwich is made using a bread roll. A boterham (literally: butter ham, I have no clue why) is a slice of bread. One of the reasons why eating bread is common and encouraged here is because it is baked with a high Iodine salt called bakkerszout (baker's salt) and Iodine isn't very common in other products of a typical Dutch diet, so to prevent people from getting Iodine shortages, it's used in baking bread and then encouraged to eat bread. People who don't eat bread, who make their own bread (without using baker's salt), or who get their bread from some organic hipster bakery that uses pure sea salt instead of baker's salt risk getting iodine shortages which can cause birth defects in the baby if a person is pregnant, hampered growth in children, or goitre in adults.

[@tjallingletterie5943]

We also had a prime minister in the seventies (Den Uyl) who said: We are a country of undertakers, where he ment: We are a country of entrepreneurs :-)

[@jpdj2715]

"Bend the rules" as long as you "doe normaal"

[@noortjevanoo1837]

😂😂😂

[@dancesurfer9922]

Yup that's the real skill here ;)

[@reznovvazileski3193]

Bending the rules: The skill of choosing whether to follow the spirit or the letter of the rule at one's own discretion :') We do very much love this not gonna lie.

[@Uuuuuuurrgggggghhhhh]

Your pronounciation of the Dutch language is very good! Great video's!

[@damouze]

Don't forget our prospensity to complain about just everything, be it the weather, politics, the neighbours, the price of day-to-day things, you name it. And we love to be open and direct about things. I work for an American company and one of the first things I learned was to inform my American colleagues about it. I told them that if a manager tells a Dutch employee to do something, that person's first reply will most likely be "WHY?". I learned early on that this fact has a tendency to create the perception that Dutch people are difficult to work with, especially if the Dutch person is told once again to simply do it (after which he will most likely grumble and do it anyway). The "WHY?" is not because the Dutch employee does not want to do what he has been told, simply that he is genuinely interested in the motivation for it. He (or she) wants to be involved in the process, and is interested in knowing the bigger picture. Knowing the bigger picure will not only help him do his job better, but will also allow him to give his manager (and his peers) feedback in the form of informed advice. Most Americans whom I have told about this then go and say "oooh..." Usually we have a good laugh about the misunderstandings of the past afterwards. In all my years working for this company I have not met many people who were not open to learning this and going the extra mile for us, "difficult" Dutch people. It is a two-way street of course, we need to go that extra inch as well (and complain about it). Pun intended. Cultural differences are fun. They make good conversation topics and they help us learn a lot from eachother. To quote JMS: understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, my side and the truth somewhere in between.

[@benjik3161]

you dont have to go to a bar for a borrel you also can just go to family or friends before dinner then just hang out for an hour of 2 then go home and make dinner

[@TheSmuey]

Bitterballen are quite certainly not dough balls. In fact, there is no dough involved in a bitterbal whatsoever. It's a little ball of ragout (beef), rolled in breading and then fried. It's sort of a mini-kroket and very popular with a little bit of mustard!

[@DannyMaas]

Yes, drinks are cheap, but then again, you get 6 bitterballen (made from breadcrumbs, potatoe, and very little meat), weighing 100 grams (3.5 ounches), for the price you can have a all you can eat steak diner in the USA. ;-) In the south, they have a "hot lunch", and they eat brood for diner. This might be even weirder. oh, and you forgot about eating Drop.

[@Psy12358]

I'm from the Netherlands, but i wouldn't say i like to bike allot. I mean, i do bike allot, but that's just because it's practical. I almost never go biking for the hell of it, only to get somewhere. And i think that's true for a big part of other peeps here.

[@hoihoi9585]

Vorig jaar nog een mooi stukje Dunglish gehoord op Schiphol. Bij een koffiekraam stond een rij mensen bij een kassa terwijl een andere kassa vrij was. Waarop de dame bij de vrije kassa naar de rij riep "You can also pay here, hoor." Dat geeft "hoor" dan toch een heel andere lading.

[@bornwithoutprivilege2050]

I have to comment about your use of the term “expat”. We are immigrants! Expat was coined so that when we emigrate to other countries we don’t want to be considered negatively. As a contrast to foreigners that come into “our” countries where we consider immigrants a negative thing or perhaps just as lesser citizens. We are immigrants to the Netherlands just as my grandfather was an immigrant to the US when he arrived just after WW1.

[@SoopaFlyism]

I used to get lunch from a food truck close to my work. Patat oorlog met slachtoffers (frites with mayo, pinda sauce, onions), pita shoarma, bereklauw. Deeelicious.

[@nienke7713]

"zin" in Dutch does not mean "sin" (that would be "zonde" in Dutch, we also use it like "dat is zonde om weg te gooien"='"that's sin to throw away" but it really doesn't have the religious connotation when used like that anymore, and in case you thought that should be "a sin" or "sinful" then you're wrong, in Dutch that'd be "een zonde" or "zondig", but no, we use "zonde" without an article in front of it), it's just a mistranslation where someone assumes that if it sounds the same it will have the same meaning (which is the case for a lot of phrases in "I always get my sin"; I have that book as well). "zin" in this context/meaning is difficult to translate, like "zin hebben in..." ("having 'zin' in...") "is "looking forward to...", "being excited about..." "wanting...", "je zin krijgen" ("getting your 'zin'") is "having it your way" or "getting it the way you want it", so it's it's kind of like something you want. "Zin" can also mean "sentence/phrase", and it can also mean "meaning/purpose (of [your] life)" in a spiritual/religious/philisophical sort of way, and it's also part of the word "zintuig" which is a sense but would literally be a "'zin' tool/instrument".

[@lolpower2174]

A whole dutch lesson here lol

[@tabestorm5339]

It's really cool that you actually understand the dutch sense of humor. Then you're really 'ingeburgerd' :v . I think you managed to explain really well the things that are almost impossible to translate. Things that are so deep down in the culture. Like the 'doe normaal'-thing. Well done!

[@rotflol6666]

Meer gedraag je, behave yourself

[@PleaseUnsubscribeHaha]

When Dutch people say "doe normaal", I feel like a more fitting translation is "stop acting crazy" instead of "act normal" It's a slight semantic difference but I really feel like that bit is why the phrase sounds so weird in English.

[@tabestorm5339]

2:48 Wait.. I don't think those are kaasstengels. I think they are loempia's.

[@MarcelL-DM]

I've got two books (also available as sites) : 'make that the cat wise' and the undutchables

[@brinky605]

An english speaking person says to a dutch person "Spring is in they air" answer from the dutchman "why should i???"

[@FianneFaber]

🤣😂

[@SilveradoNL]

lol, that's a good one.

[@gerwinpot4230]

I think you mean "the air"

[@dennishendrikx3228]

🤣 Springing haai up in de eir

[@Saiharachii]

Nice... gotta be NL to understand

[@pieterstedehouder8441]

A borrel is a small glas of jenever (where the english get their gin from)

[@williamwilting]

You can get a beer for a lower price, yes. But I think the glass is a lot smaller as well. I don't know about the US, but I've been to the UK once, and there all drinks come in half pint size at least. Compared to that, a simple beer is about 1/2 or 1/3 a half pint. So, in terms of price versus quantity, it might be just as cheap as a beer in the US, that is if a beer in the US comes in the same size as the UK half pints. You want to see crazy bikes? Come visit North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands in February, when Carnaval is celebrated, especially in and around the city of s-Hertogenbosch (or Den Bosch). You'll see what they call a beerbike, basically a kind of mobile bar with a beer tap on a very big bike. Only recommended if you're planning to get drunk while biking together with about 10 to 20 people. Now, that's crazy!

[@wijnenjonkman]

A friend of mine (indian descent) tried some sentences/words in Dutch. He said one time... "Snail is fast".... I told him that a snail is not fast at all, more the opposite! He was very confused because he just learned the word "snail". After a while i figured out he pronounced the word "snel"... to "snail". And yesss "snel is fast".... 😂

[@BlacksmithTWD]

Yea, it's the pronunciation of vowels that makes the Dutch language hard to master for foreigners. A dutch comedian from maroccan decent (Najib Amhali) often makes jokes about that, for instance about his poorly dutch speaking neighbour, who calls him 'bierman' (beer man) in stead of 'buurman' (neighbour), and then said he needed 'hoersubsidie' (subsidiary to pay for prostitutes) instead of 'huursubsidie' (subsidiary to pay for rent) and got into trouble when trying to apply for it.

[@casaamaril]

You have a nice personality and a good sense of humor Ava, it's fun to watch and yes, we do like to bend the rules, especially in large cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht, I'm happy with that civil disobedience

[@daankromhout9701]

There was a park where they didn't create paths and after a while natural pathways came to be and than they created the paths on the routes that came natural

[@remcohoman1011]

13:22 diamonds do not shine, they reflect..

[@benengel6555]

I think you said it yourself: 'Doe normaal' is not so much not making the most of what you can be, but is being down-to-earth about it. Act like a grown up and don't be all shiny and glorious about it .... ;-) That's where the not-so-fancy cars etc. come in .... We don't do 'status' very well and that's both a blessing and a curse .....

[@BlacksmithTWD]

Indeed, one of our most popular queens was that popular because she told her driver to stop got out and took the time to commonly talk to common folks in stead of just waving while being driven past them in her golden carriage.

[@SicSeb]

Borrel is more for work drinks. At least for me. Every friday there is a borrel at my workplace

[@robvanlent1008]

My girlfriend eats rice for breakfast and lunch. I can't eat it! I only eat dinner. But I adjust. Always keep rice leftover. And dinner includes or bread and meat! Love is the answer. On everything

[@TheAquaelle]

I didn´t know those paths were called Oliefantenpaadjes, tbh it always makes me laugh when I see those paths, its just so funny to me that no one wants to waste a second.

[@nienke7713]

Olifantenpaadjes (elephant paths) are not exclusively Dutch: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_path

[@robdegast3612]

OMG, 'olifantenpadje'? I'm Dutch, 61 years old but even I didn't know that! 🤣🤣🤣 I knew the story about Luns and Kennedy, but I had to laugh so hard, I almost spilled my tea when you mentioned that. 🤣🤣🤣

[@robvanlent1008]

Watching your video, I understand how difficult it must be. Trying to be dutch. Maybe it's something you can not learn. You can only fit in , accept!

[@roelkomduur8073]

Best lunch in the Netherlands, zakelijk 1kroket, kopje (tomaten) soep, uit een Sodexo pakje, (karne)melk, 2 plakjes kaas en een paar sneetjes brood..

[@NaomiClareNL]

Don't think I've heard dunglish before, I think stonecoal english (steenkolenengels) is the common expression.

[@gab6468]

You made good observations about us 👍🏻

[@jimmymiata]

What about bread-spreads? like Crabsalad, Filet Anericain, salmonspread and maybe 50 others

[@origami83]

You are wrong about the brood, we sometimes eat it 3 times a day!

[@Linda-hs1lk]

Officially a 'borrel' is a jenever or something like that and you had 'borreltijd'.

[@marijnfly]

'Borrel' also refers to the people participating and their relationship with one another. They're a little distant from yourself, like colleagues or members of your sporting club. You don't have a 'borrel' with close family. Unless it is at a funeral service or wedding, where you also meet family who you haven't seen for a while. Then 'borrel' is appropriate. A borrel is often after some main activity and before dinner. That's the reason for the small snacks. It's expected and anticipated upon that people will have dinner afterwards by themselves. This can be very confusing for foreigners who think the snacks are going to be their main dish. There's some etiquette too. No one should take the last 'bitterball'. That's considered somewhat rude. But someone always eventually will, because it is considered wasteful to not take it. Pay attention to it. Many times, the one picking the last will put up a show and say some excuse for it out loud. It's fun. And, also important, 'borrel' says something about who is going to pay for it and when. A borrel is always on somebody else his/her bill, usually the company or club. When you're invited for a 'borrel', you don't need to bring any cash. It's quite common that a pub will invoice the bill afterwards.

[@scrappedlives]

Wat een onzin. Wij borrelen iedere vrijdagmiddag vanaf half 5 met mijn schoonmoeder. Doen we al jaren. Gewoon bij een van ons thuis. Op vakanties met vrienden op de camping of met buren eens in de zoveel maanden, bij iemand thuis. Dus het is echt niet alleen iets wat je met collega’s, vage kennissen of begrafenissen doet.

[@botvis]

'Olifantenpaadje' has a name in English too! They're called 'desire paths'.

[@janeirwin9663]

Have you noticed or mentioned in your videos about nederlanders making adverbs out of English adjectives like "smalley"?

[@xMarble]

If there is nobody on the street, why should I wait for the light to turn green? We look if it's safe; if it is, we go.

[@dettmardencker7430]

Hi Eva, I understand your love for the dutch, although I´m german (Bremen). I see them as great neighbours, although they are cheese heads and play a terrible football. They called me a potato and had some other "bad" names for me ;-) Great guys I always had fun with - I love them! I always like to go to Groningen. Have a nice day and a good Edamer Cheese! Dettmar

[@atarvos8686]

Lol after living several years on your doorstep bockel germany..... I just need to ask what the last 4 matches with the mannschaft had as outcome.... :) The current german generation also do have large ears, as their parrents go to the dutch border, lift their childeren up on their eirs to tell and show them "look there they play real soccer" 😂 But without fun i lived for years in germany and had have some of the most happy times there. For the people who dont know, germans are looking grumpy and nors , and ourside their city shopping erea's it looks not really inviting. But behind it there is a great social structure and are lots off people actual sweet and nice & hard working. And i still miss the frühschopping with my old neighborhoid :)

[@dettmardencker7430]

@@atarvos8686 🌷🌷🌷🧀🧀🧀😅😅😅 Hi atar vos, our Mannschaft did win (experiences) all the games!!! At the dutch border, my parents showed me only where all the little caravans come from we saw even at the remotest places in the world. I remember seeing once some orange guys on TV pretending to play soccer. Was it in 1974? Have fun and come back - Bockel is a nice place! Dettmar

[@atarvos8686]

@@dettmardencker7430 😂😂 i do, still lots of friends there , and my brother still lives in germany :)

[@nethervoicevideos]

Have you tried "Broodje Mario" in Utrecht?

[@michaelwitde9800]

nice blog. one thing, doe normaal quits during major football/ soccer tournaments and kings day😁

[@damouze]

On King's day we're obliged to act out. The whole nation turns orange.

[@FB-mz8gq]

Welcome to the Netherlands! I like your vlog and blog. As Jan Folkersma explains: '... when you stick your head out of the crowd, it will be chopped off.' We Dutch think of ourselves as a civilized people, 'een beschaafd volk'. And that adjective 'beschaafd' comes from the verb 'schaven', i.e. planing, flattening wood. Everything that sticks out will be planed away. Btw, I'm curious: have you spent time in Germany? Because the way you indicate 'three' with your fingers is the German way, at least according to 'Inglourious Basterds' by Quentin Tarantino ;-)

[@robheine8087]

Love your videos, tnx!

[@SoopaFlyism]

Goes it well met je? Gaat het goed met je. Also a popular one: wentelteefjes: turn bitches (Slices of bread baked and covered with sugar and cinnamon).

[@greetjeb7030]

French toast

[@ronaldvanbeek4632]

Love your video's

[@BikerMouse80]

Haha the part about 'Bend the rules', so true!

[@JurrBTful]

You should make a vid about the Dutch way of eating a piping hot bitterbal, there is a special technique for it that only the Dutch know about ;)