The Weirdest Things About The Netherlands

I've been missing the Netherlands a lot lately and was thinking about all the little and strange things that make The Netherlands, The Netherlands. These are the weirdest things about the Netherlands some you may have heard before and some might be new or some might not even be that weird for you.
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🌿Table of Contents🌿
0:00 Intro
1:20 - Sinterklaas
2:17 - Gourmetten
3:40 - Surprise
5:04 - Andre Hazes
6:27 - Swear Words
7:05 - Bouwvak
8:20 - Three Kisses
9:17 - Say Please
9:55 - Stairs
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[@lauradevries9242]

"alsjeblieft" is short for "als het je belieft", which roughly translates to "as long as it pleases you" which can be used as a substitude for both "please" or "you're welcome".

[@HasanHasan-jg7ul]

Wow! dat ik dit op KZbin commentaar zou leren...

[@jasek911]

Like "s'il vous plaît" in French?

[@seppemestdagh6341]

@@jasek911 yeah basically

[@anneh1890]

@@jasek911 we use the abbreviations of both: call me back please = bel me terug aub/svp 'Si' is 'if' is 'als' so perhaps a better translation is 'if it pleases you'.

[@gustavscholten597]

Tim de vries. It’s not AS LONG AS it pleases you, but IF it pleases you.

[@HansHammertime]

"surprises are stressful" is a vibe all dutch people will agree with

[@WPPatriot]

I laughed so much I had to pause the video for a while after she said that 😂

[@p_mouse8676]

As a Dutch person I don't agree 😉😄. I love surprises

[@StorckOnBass]

Yup. I can definitely agree to that.

[@jpmillman1]

I hate surprises.. So no Sinterklaas for me (isn't fun anymore even without surprises it's the most stressful period of the year due to 'black pete' discussions and extremists on both sides taking over the discussion. So let's forget Sinterklaas entirely, focus on Christmas

[@TheNewPatsyBailey]

I'm convinced the reason it's called 'surprises' is because the biggest surprises each year are a) what in the world am I going to do, and b) now that I know what it is, how on earth am I going to get this done in time 😂😂

[@MusicKyara1995]

Sinterklaas en kerst zijn in Nederland twee verschillende feestdagen. Het maken van surprises hoort bij sinterklaas niet bij kerst.

[@sullie09]

Kyara de Leur wie geen kleintjes in de familie heeft schuift dat wel eens door naar kerst maar zo hoort het idd niet

[@MusicKyara1995]

@@sullie09 true!

[@johannesgroot1768]

Inderdaad, and not forget to mention the original poems..

[@HvV8446]

Johannes Groot gedichten... bah, als ik ergens een hekel aan hebt is het dat wel. (p.s. het schrijven voor een ander dan, een gedicht krijgen is niets mis mee)

[@RustOnWheels]

Sinterklaas is in de herfst, kerst is in de winter 🤡

[@okidoki878]

It is not weird it is bijzonder

[@irisrosmulder9870]

😂

[@tjerkletzer7994]

Bizar zelfs!

[@melissadedroog5520]

het is gezellig!

[@jeannebouwman1970]

Dat noemen we niet raar maar gesoon heel bijzonder

[@sophiedevries9028]

dat vinden wij niet gek, dat vinden wij niet raar, dat vinden wij gwn héél bijzonder

[@djopdam199]

First Monday of the Month at noon scared the bejusus out of my Mexican friend

[@Apipoulai]

the national siren test is scheduled to be replaced by NLAlert notifications on smartphones in 2021

[@MAUVE5]

@@Apipoulai i hope not :(

[@Apipoulai]

@@MAUVE5 it was actually supposed to happen this year. But if they delayed it for a year once... they could just as easily delay it again.

[@lionelkeijzer8008]

@@Apipoulai that shit actually scares the shit out me tbh

[@robertfennis6449]

Yes that's one for the immigration leaflet. At my university, all the asians are also scared shitless that day if no-one told them what's up.

[@bomcabedal]

The three kisses thing REALLY becomes awkward when the recipient only expects two and a friendly gesture suddenly escalates into assault.

[@caseykilmore]

hahahahaha the unexpected third kiss haha

[@HegenSteg]

Still better then in France...

[@lukeuntld072v3]

Its true because not everybody uses it. Thats why i stopped with doing that only with family and people close to me.

[@the11382]

@@HegenSteg What’s with France?

[@HegenSteg]

@@the11382 there the men amongst each other also kiss on the cheek (twice), that would also be awkward if you don't expect that 😁

[@mischake]

... sinterklaas' horse flies?!?!? ... like, yeah they go on the rooftops horse and all but I never pondered how it gets up there but... nowhere have I ever explicitly heard it said it's a flying horse xD

[@_fvdb_9669]

SAME

[@22AbsolutelyNaomi55]

Honestly a flying horse is not as weird as 6 or 8 flying reindeers and one with a glowing rednose...

[@jojanneke1239]

hahahaha, 8 flyings reindeers, that makes me laugh. But the horse of Sinterklaas doesn't fly on the roof, it climbs on the roof (also weird, I agree). And suprises are done with Sinterklaas, not at Christmas time. About swearing with illnesses, there's only a group of people who does that. Most Dutch people dislike it as well, especially older people. It's more a thing highschool kids do.

[@honema123456789]

@@jojanneke1239 except for klere, tering, tyfes, pleuris, pest, en pokke. which a lot of people aren't even aware of are diseases. I've only ever heard two dutch people not swear with diseases and they both just straight up don't swear

[@bramvanbeurden731]

So true! Very confronting! Always assumed it 'just' hopped on hahahaha

[@ppkoning]

Bouwvak: If everybody is on vacation in the same period, everybody will be back at work at the same time so productivity does not suffer. It's just a simple efficiency scheme.

[@trottlesnot]

yup, construction work is done with the cooperation of many small companies and individual construction workers (zzp-ers). So you just cant have 5 builders waiting idle on the site while your crane driver is on holiday.

[@jasperkok8745]

Also, with climate change things have shifted a little, but unlike Australia, the period we are enjoying really good weather is not that long, so it kind of makes sense that most people want to take time off then.

[@jugler07]

Was looking for this.

[@kallisto_ofzo]

The Dutch are known for their planning. I mean, litterally everything. No wonder we have "bouwvak" if you think of it :)

[@thunderbirdvg4797]

In Flanders it exists too, it's called 'bouwverlof'. It is becouse the weather is to hot to work and

[@Masterbreel2]

Not everybody loves Andre Hazes. That's just Amsterdam. His songs are generally known yes, but def not everybody loves them or him.

[@bobjansen6632]

Hij is Elvis van Amsterdam.

[@70Films]

Not just Amsterdam. I grew up in Brabant and lived in multiple cities across the country, and generally everywhere people know his songs. Whether they like them or not is a different matter, but to me it's also a certain mood. When it's late and you're having a fun night, shouting "bloed zweet en tranen" from the top of your longs just creates good memories for me

[@melbourneknuffeler]

Definitely not just Amsterdam. Grew up in that area but have been living in Rotterdam, 's Hertogenbosch, Utrecht and now Tilburg. Every place i go out they know pretty much all the lyrics of all the songs (as do i) and some people will indeed request the dj to put it on in the late hours.

[@Gijserklh]

Klopt

[@reptilesceptile1035]

I dont really like him

[@Liessssssssssss]

you didn't mention the weirdest thing about andre hazes: His son is also named andre hazes and so is his grandson

[@Apipoulai]

junior and senior whats weird about that?

[@joey6923]

willem van oranje? iedereen in de hele bloedlijn heet willem

[@trottlesnot]

the weird thing is that Andre Hazes is a singer like Andre Hazes was, using the same name, eventhough he cant sing.

[@HAL.9000]

The weirdest thing is that his son can’t even sing, but he’s still a succesful singer

[@therealdutchidiot]

Nah, the weirder things are his ashes got tattooed into his immediate family, and what was left was shot up into the air. My mom had the following to say about it, because it was around the H5N1 outbreaks: "H5N1? H5 en 1? H6? Hazes!"

[@HenkJanBakker]

""Alstublieft" "Als het U blieft." It literally means: "As you like (it)" or "If it pleases you". Something between those two meanings.The verb 'blieven' is similar to 'gunnen'. There is no straight English translation for it. When asking for coffee; "Een koffie alstublieft." -One coffee if it's not to much trouble. (One coffee please). And when giving coffee you say; "Alstublieft, uw koffie'" -Here is the coffee if it pleases you. (There you go. One coffee) Not that you'd say "no thank you", but there is the implied option. So it makes total sense in Dutch.

[@Triodes]

The closest thing in english to "Alstublieft" is probably: "you're welcome". Though not in the literal meaning of the words but more in a sense of courtesy.

[@SomeLoops]

I think the translation to 'please' works better than people realise. In english, there is 'to please' as verb, as well as 'please' as adverb. So the uses of 'alstublieft' (formal) and 'alsjeblieft' (informal) can be translated as "a coffe, please" and "to please you, one coffee".

[@andrehof7876]

@@SomeLoops and maybe, but i'm just going a bit here, " blieft " and "beloved "is close to...I always say that Dutch pre-dates German and English .

[@hildelouisevrijs774]

Het is niet blieven, maar believen......

[@SomeLoops]

@@hildelouisevrijs774 they're synonyms

[@kilianhekhuis]

Stairs are only that steep and narrow in old houses. Modern houses have very shallow ones with broad steps (as required by law).

[@bramharms72]

Bouwvak is rather simple, efficiency. You were almost there when you thought of the suppliers. If you have a large (or any) infrastructure project, you have to have everyone on board to be able to work and you have to be able to get the supplies you need. So it's better to send everyone away for 4 weeks then to muddle on for 12 weeks. And if suppliers know there isn't any work being done then it's more efficient for them to send their people on vacation too, and then it's better for the schools to have the vacations aligned and then it's better for everyone in that region to align their vacation. So bouwvak really becomes iedereenvak. It is getting more flexible these days but it's still something very noticeable.

[@caseykilmore]

Iedereenvak hahaha nicely explained thankyou :)) Dan the man below pointed out that construction is a lot bigger than other industries which is why it needs to be staggered, this also makes sense. Living in the city you only see office workers so I don't think I realised how big the construction was in the netherlands and how limited camping spaces are in such a small land. In australia there's always room to camp, its so big.

[@RealConstructor]

I work in construction all my working life, but haven’t had a bouwvak in 25years. The companies I work(ed) for aren’t closed during bouwvak. Bouwvak is nowadays a ‘terugvaladvies’, don’t know the translation of this word. But it is an advice from our profession representatives, a sort of guild, upon which construction companies and deliverers can rely on to close for the holidays, so company-wide closure in that region.

[@nlbergsma]

Bouwvakvakantie was adopted after worldwar II when there was a dramatic shortage of housing due to destruction and the baby boom. Bram has explained the rationale behind it above.

[@Blueberryminty]

bouwvak or we call it bouwverlof in belgium, is for as far as I know still very common in our country. But I am actually not aware if it's still compulsory... it could very well be, as we were without a governement for a long time again, there is probably no priority for changing it.

[@johanwittens7712]

In Belgium we have ''bouwverlof'' similar to bouwvak. The traditional period for bouwverlof is July/August. And they also get 10 days around Christmas. This is because as already said it's easier and more efficient when an entire sector can goes on holiday and doesn't work, than having to work at half capacity for longer periods. But this is changing due to the ''flexibility'' mantra/dogma that seems to be permeating our economics these days. But it also has a more historical reason in climate. The summer break falls in the period that used to be the hottest, making roof work more difficult. Due to climate change these days the entire summer has become much hotter rendering this a bit obsolete, but the efficiency reason still holds up which is probably why bouwverlof hasn't changed much. And also modern building materials and techniques are much more resistant and can be used in much broader temperature ranges, making the need for holidays in certain climate conditions much less necessary... And the winter break falls in the traditionally coldest part of winter when it's freezing often, making digging in the frozen wet ground very difficult. Even though machinery and modern digging equipment have rendered this obsolete, the holiday period never really changed. And it allows builders to spend the holidays with their families, so who wouldn't want that? In western Europe we've had a large socialist influence for 70-80 years with often strong unions. So the idea of worker rights and right to vacations, especially for difficult or demanding professions is much more engrained here and often considered almost a basic human right. This also explains why bouwvak or bouwverlof hasn't changed much even in the 21st century. I mean in Belgium we legally have the right to a minimum of 20 vacation days and 10 national holidays if you work full-time 5 days per week. If a national holiday falls on a non-working day they have to give it to you on another day, making for a total of 30 days of guaranteed paid holiday days per year. In many countries, often Anglo-Saxon ones in origin, this is something only to be dreamt of... Especially in the USA. But in Europe or the EU, this isn't that exceptional at all.

[@GerbenWierda]

Some of the things are more "Amsterdam area" or "Randstad" (west Netherlands) than all of The Netherlands. Also, 'surprise' is one way of creating SInterklaas presents, but another variant is adding poems. All/some gifts come with a poem, sometimes short, sometimes pages long and the poem is used to make fun of the receiver, often going into a character flaw, something funny that happened or just plain fun. It is getting less popular, but it still exists. Surprise is also more for kids. Poems is more for adults. "Alsjeblieft" is used as "here you go" or "here is your ...". (The meaning of a phrase lies hidden in correct use, after all). "Bouwvak" = "Building (=bouw, 'building' as a verb not a noun, 'building' as a noun is 'gebouw') profession (=vak)" hence "Bouwvakker" is "builder" (someone whose profession is building). "Bouwvak" is also short for "Bouwvakvakantie" ("building profession's vacation"). Bouwvak in the last sense is actually a private agreement between the building companies (which are organised in societies where they make those agreements). When workers originally got the right for two weeks vacation, the building companies (where people and companies need to work together at the same time to get something like building a house done) made this deal where they would all go at the same time so the efficiency of the building process would not be hit for months, but just that period. Vacations are longer these days, but the original two week periode for "bouwvak" has remained in place.

[@kirathal]

Sinterklaas was a bishop from Turkey who also liberated a lot of Moors. out of gratitude, many stayed with him to help him distribute his own wealth to the poor. this is how the tradition of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet started

[@b.m.wammes4774]

It is so much more complex than that. That is mostly just a made up origin story.

[@nicohart2366]

Wat een goeie definitie van het Sinterklaasfeest. Dankjewel...

[@Jacob-W-5570]

ja joh negeer even de compleete germaanse geschiedenis. Sinterklaas komt eerst van een feest van Wodan, die door de lucht rijdt op een paard met acht benen, Sleipnier, aanvoerder van de Wildjacht.

[@bwammes4191]

@@Jacob-W-5570 Het is een leuke hypothese, Sleipnir, Wodan en de zwarte Raven... maar waarschijnlijk onzin. Ik volgde een paar jaar geleden een werkcollege bij Theo Meder waar dit o.a. dit onderwerp ter sprake kwam. De conclusie was dat dit vooral een stukje projectie is... het klinkt logisch en is leuk als het waar is. Het probleem is echter dat de hele Germaanse mythologie gedurende de Middeleeuwen compleet is verdwenen. Er is geen enkele indicatie dat er in Europa nog mensen waren die de mythes kenden. Het is bijna 1000 jaar volledig onbekend geweest. Daardoor is het niet waarschijnlijk dat het de Sinterklaasmythes heeft beïnvloed. Het stukje over "liberating Moors" is trouwens ook onzin. De hele tegenstelling tussen wit en zwart lijkt eerder terug te gaan op de Christelijke legenden uit de derde en vierde eeuw. St. Nicholaas is een beschermheilige van onschuldigen en de vals veroordeelden, en daarmee ook van ongehuwde vrouwen en kinderen en zeemannen in stormen die ze niet hadden verdiend. Hij beslist tussen goed en kwaad, wit en zwart en verschijnt aan de onschuldigen om ze te redden. In oudere Nederlandse mythen kwam St. Nicholaas met een zwart gezicht op een wit paard over de Waddenzee aangereden.

[@auroriankunstenambacht7014]

Er is nog een andere invloed en dat is de Krampus traditie uit Oostenrijk, die ook weer veel raakvlakken heeft met het samengesmolten sinterklaas verhaal. Helpers met de roe en de zak bijvoorbeeld Zoek maar eens op.

[@Hatzaflatze]

the stairs thing is an old houses thing. and the appelmoes on everything is something picky eaters do mostly.

[@Status1985Quo]

The reason the stairs in Amsterdam are so steep is that it has been prime real-estate since the 1700s and most houses on the canals have been renovated and subdivided countless times to squeeze in as many separate housing units as possible. That has led to situations that wouldn't go down well in newly built flats and apartment buildings due to ergonomic and safety concerns. In a few places alleyways were even filled up with really slim, but long buildings.

[@Robin-rk2hf]

You forgot the bit with the 'surprise' that you have to write a poem 😂 or the super efficient Dutch part where instead of having to think of what to give to someone they make a list of like ~5 "suggestions" that are within the set budget. I LOVE that part to be really honest I am so bad at coming up with gifts! The dutch "please" (in the situation you describe) is more a "here you go" or "my pleasure" than the english "please" which might make more sense if you know the full word is technically the phrase "als u blieft" which means "as you wish/want"!

[@caseykilmore]

hahaha not going to lie I love this too, too just look at the list and think oh yep easy haha but you're right the best bit is the 'gedicht' that's where the real thought goes into it. :))

[@TedvanLieshoutkanaal]

'Alsjeblieft' after 'thank you' means the same as 'graag gedaan'. It means: you're welcome.

[@jnfvandriel]

The horse of Sinterklaas can not fly (the name of the horse was Amerigo, but this horse retired. His new horse is called Ozosnel). And the surprise is primarily a Sinterklaas tradition (mainly at primary schools, sometimes at home) not a Christmas tradition. But there are people who do it with Christmas. Bouwvak is 3 weeks (instead of 4) and it's all about efficiency. It's better to put the constructionbuilding on hold for 3 weeks (including suppliers and every other connected companies) than to have 6 weeks at 50%. You can not do construction if the supplier is closed. Due to the Bouwvak, going on holiday in The Netherlands are the most expensive during these weeks. The 3 weeks bouwvak are spread out during 5 weeks of summer because the 3 region (north, middle and south) have different holidays. Last summer it was week 30-32, 31-33 and 32-34. Practically the constuctionbuilding is pretty much on hold for 5 weeks.

[@AnymMusic]

ozosnel..... I mean cmon I know we're direct but my god that is a bit TOO on the nose

[@jonesyfromtheblock9635]

In belgium the horse is called “slecht weer vandaag”

[@ouropa5695]

Well... The ORIGINAL story of Sinterklaas is Odin. His horse was named Sleipnir and it did rode the skies. ᚺᚨᛁᛚ ᛟᛞᛁᚾ

[@Genesizs]

Fun fact's Sinterklaas, Saint nikolaas is actually from Turkey not Spain, Also Fun fact 2 , Santaclaus is based of Sinterklaas, made up by Coca Cola, but they adopted it from The Dutch Holiday.

[@merwinmortier8284]

@They should have never given me internet Everything he said is right though. He stated something factual about Sinterklaas. Then you start calling it bullshit (without any argumentation) and go on to say it's racist. These are two completely different things though. Yes, a lot of people find Black Pete to be racist and that's why they're changing his image in many places. But how is that related to what Genesizs said? Santa Claus was based on Sinterklaas and Sinterklaas is based on a historical figure from Turkey. Sorry but you're the one with the kindergarten level rhetoric (that's how you spell it correctly) here.

[@arthurjacobs2876]

Some words in a certain context cannot be literally translated between languages. If you give another person something back or if you give money when you are buying something or you keep a door open for someone in a store, we would say 'alstublieft' or 'alsjeblieft'. In English it would be similar to 'here you are, sir' or 'there you go' or 'please ma'am allow me'. The other person then should reply with 'dank u wel' or 'bedankt' or nothing. I can imagine that this is weird, but we would have similar situations with English or other languages where we do not understand the context of a word or phrase.

[@katharinevanwijngaarden700]

The original tradition for a surprise is to do that at 5 December with Sinterklaas so not with Christmas!!! I’m Dutch... (😊)

[@Milo.2610]

Zwarte piet wiede wiede wiet ik hoor je wel maar ik zie je niet😁

[@mauroheylen383]

@@Milo.2610 bedoel je "witte piet" (ik vind echt dat ze daardoor de traditie weghalen)

[@reptilesceptile1035]

@@mauroheylen383 je bedoelt zeker roetveegpiet

[@ifer1280]

About bouwvak: this is because of the many dependencies in construction. Smaller companies cannot continue operation when essential employees are on holiday, so bouwvak keeps them viable.

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Sinterklas is a real person on a flying horse. You learn something new everyday.

[@TualCor]

Not everyone likes Andre Hazes. Maybe in Amsterdam yes, but the rest of us don't really care about him.

[@cezmensink64]

Really? I live in Salland (Overijssel), and almost everyone I know knows and likes Andre Hazes.

[@gossicraft]

@@cezmensink64 I live in the same place and i know a lot of people who don't like him. I know him as every dutch person but i really don't like his music.

[@cezmensink64]

@@gossicraft Oh sorry, i didn't mean to say that everbody likes him. Ofcourse there are people who don't, and everybody is entitled to think that. This is just my experience.

[@anglerfish61]

preach

[@studentrsg3357]

But even though not everyone likes him, almost everyone knows about him in the Netherlands.

[@beautyneytiri]

wait a minute, if you're talking about amsterdam.... oh girl, that has nothing to do with the rest of the netherlands...

[@Pfooh]

I hear that a lot from dutch people that have never lived in Amsterdam. They are, just like some tourists, assuming that Amsterdam is only the city center. I've grown up in the east of the Netherlands, my family is from the north, have lived in multiple cities, including Amsterdam (and a bit abroad), and believe me, most dutch cities are very similar in culture. The smaller towns and villages have a different culture, but any city with a university is quite comparable, even to amsterdam. Just note that 'Amsterdam' is a lot more than just the grachtengordel.

[@anglerfish61]

@@Pfooh Ive lived in Rotterdam and Amsterdam and I can confirm that outside of the city centre Amsterdam was pretty similar to Rotterdam when it comes to liking things. But as soon as you move towards the city centre it becomes a circus. (I lived in De Pijp)

[@jasperkok8745]

@@Pfooh I’m not quite sure how the distribution is, but quite a lot of people don’t live in larger cities with a university. I was born in the west of the country, spent my primary and secondary school years in a small rural town on the German border and have lived in Nijmegen (a city that’s also in the east and has a university, for those who’ve never heard of it), and I can assure you that there is quite a difference between the big cities and the rural areas in the east (and probably those in the north and south as well).

[@Pfooh]

@@jasperkok8745 Of course there's a big difference between rural areas and small towns and cities. That's always the case. But the 'Amsterdam is not representative for the Netherlands' just strikes me as very funny, since the difference between Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands is really small. Cities like London and Paris are really different from the rest of the cities in those countries. And in the Netherlands, you could say that 'the Randstad' is different from the rest. But Amsterdam vs the rest, that's just weird.

[@jasperkok8745]

@@Pfooh Couldn’t it be that many people use Amsterdam as a pars pro toto reference to the “Randstad”?

[@rudolfrednose7351]

I knew an Iranian who fled to The Netherlands. When I asked what he liked most over here, without hesitating he said “André Hazes! He sings with so much real honest passion, he could be an Iranian.” I complimented him on how integrated he was. The three kisses are taken care of by all the Coronaism that’s going around.....thank God!

[@woutervanr]

I do know who Hazes is, not because I like his music though, but because I don't.

[@carimavandijk1091]

HAHAH SAME!! Thought this the whole time she was talking about him

[@caseykilmore]

This is exactly how I feel hahahha

[@Claudia_Koster]

Yeah, fast move to turn of the sound. Same for jantje Smith. Brrr bad music

[@Engenifffo]

Spijtig

[@xrinco7.65]

Zeg maar niets meer Ik ga wel weg, als je dat wilt Zeg maar niets meer Laat me maar gaan, wees nu maar stil

[@markjacobs1086]

A hot plate in the middle of the table *with children* , why would we do that? Very overprotective there, you *should* actually do that at least once, if they burn themselves I can guarantee you they'll never be touching any source of heat directly ever again. Although most human beings with common sense won't even need to actively touch heat sources at all to instinctively know those bear bad news when touching them.

[@missitheachievementhuntres560]

We kinda do the same with bike riding.. who needs a helmet? :P Okay nowadays some kids wear helmets when riding their bike.

[@RolandWolters67]

I agree. there is actually a term for this: "Rubberen Stoeptegel Generatie" (rubber pavement generation) wich refers to kids playing ground where the concrete pavement is replaced by rubber to cushion the fall when kids fall but in fact when we need to teach children is: If you fall to are going to get hurt so don't fall.

[@sullie09]

Mark Jacobs worse yet, we fondue with oil heated on an actual flame. And yes, lots of accidents happened with either the pot falling over or when refilling the burner.

[@Nikolais_sanity]

Precies dat gwn. En ik vind dat je een coole profiel foto hebt luf sao!

[@Dave-gw6wh]

Actually the word alsjeblieft derived from the combination of words: 'Als het u blieft' which literally translates to something like: 'If you are pleased with it' or 'I hope you are pleased with it'. Knowing this it isnt weird at all to say alsjeblieft when u either get something from something or ask something of someone. Three kisses from Amsterdam

[@HarveyHaans]

*belieft, so "if it is beloved by you". But yes your translation is more natural I think. It came into Dutch as a direct translation of the French "s'il vous plaît".

[@Status1985Quo]

The main confusion with this I guess is because like so many things there are multiple meanings for the word dependent on context.

[@Dave-gw6wh]

@@HarveyHaans ahhh thanks for your addition!

[@wazzalord3]

"everyone knows andre hazes" yes "everyone knows the lyrics and waves arms" ... aight let me stop you right there, clearly you just have the wrong friends, i mean, unless you are into those kinds of activities...

[@maarkuhitaaa8995]

Ohh well I do know the lyrics but I rather sing along with metal or rock music hahaha

[@sennacookie5043]

honestly, while I'm not one of them, I really enjoy being around people that are just so DUTCH. The people that know every song, gather in orange clothes to watch football etc. (Also, everyone knows at least some André Hazes lyrics whether they want to or not. It's in our DNA)

[@Partyaap050]

Kom uit het land waar Andre Hazes over 100 jaar in elk café nog steeds de baas is.

[@nimmen]

Ik heb er niks mee. Maar goed, ik ben dan ook een Fries 😅

[@eldertmohr1366]

@@nimmen it is in taal, net in dialekt

[@bwzes03]

Amsterdam is not the Netherlands.... Those steep narrow stairs, do not exist in modern buildings, only those from the old days. The rules about taxation on property in those old days was, how 'wide' your house is along the street. Thats is why most old buildings along the canals in Amsterdam, are very narrow, but also very deep and have high ceilings. In a so called 'portiek' there is a steep, narrow common staircase, with three or four houses on different levels, on one staircase. That is when you can have a street addresses of 11a,11b, 11c, 11d.... About Hazes, I personally hate his music .. can't stand it..

[@Man-in-the-green]

Amsterdam is de hoofdstad, maar niet Nederland. Gekkie! Langs de hoofdgrachten staan juist de grote huizen.

[@Treinbouwer]

@@Man-in-the-green Dat ligt aan de ring. Er zijn een of twee dure grachten en de rest was voor de middenstand en pakhuis. De middenstand had kleinere huizen omdat ze niet zo rijk waren en bij pakhuizen wil je zo veel mogelijk ruimte voor opslag, dan is de trap ook klein. Je betaalt je er nu blauw aan, maar die huizen waren goedkoper.

[@soulangela7154]

Yeah but those stairs are also outside of Amsterdam :) They are in a lot of really old houses as well, I lived in one in Aalsmeer for a bit and those stairs were absolutely terrifying!

[@carolinethomas7811]

@@soulangela7154 - agree! I live in a house built about 20 years ago and it also has tiny stairs especially compared to the US.

[@DanAndHoe]

Compared to many other countries, even newly built Dutch houses have quite steep stairs, and even a bit narrow.

[@pineapple2891]

also, everyone in the Netherlands and in Belgium knows k3.

[@dutchuncle3310]

Everyone with children (female) grandchildren under the age of ten.

[@pineapple2891]

@@dutchuncle3310 everyone

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Alsjeblieft literally translates to "If it pleases you"

[@nvwest]

alsjeblieft is like a literal translation of "If it pleases you" Dankjewel / thank you alsjeblieft / if it pleases you Makes a bit more sense like that right? but since nobody literally says 'if it pleases you' it's just translated as 'please'

[@naomidibbets2760]

En dan heb je ook nog de 'alsjeblieft' als vraag en ook als antwoord. Dus alsjeblieft kan zowel vertaald worden als 'please' en 'if it pleases you'. Ik snap wel dat Engels sprekenden dit gek vinden.

[@nvwest]

Naomi Dibbets op zich kan je ‘if it pleases you’ zeggen bij het geven en bij het ontvangen toch. Misschien dat wij vroeger wel voluit ‘als het u blieft’ zeiden.

[@naomidibbets2760]

@@nvwest Zeker waar, niet eens over nagedacht eigenlijk. Wat is taal toch soms ook lastig

[@dikkepoema1]

@@nvwest om helemaal precies erover te zijn was het 'als het u belieft' van het oubollige werkwoord believen. Ik heb dat volwassenen in een formele setting in mijn jeugd nog wel horen zeggen. (Shit ik ben oud) En nog steeds bestaat het woord als zelfstandig naamwoord wel in de uitdrukking 'iets naar believen doen'. Als herkomst kun je ongetwijfeld terug gaan naar de directe vertaling van s'il vous plaît.

[@nvwest]

@@dikkepoema1 ah dacht ik al dank je voor de bevestiging 😁

[@Mhvn1987]

@3:30 That is exactly what makes gourmetten fun. Making your own weird food combinations as a kid and experiment (with supervision). It is all about doing it in a responsible way, Dutch kids learn to quite a few things themselves early on. I had to help cook once a week, learn to fix my own bike tires, mow the lawn (with a motor operated lawnmower) etc. all before or around the age of 10.

[@yvonnewinters9699]

When as a kid we used a gourmette-grill every Christmas and when cleaning my mom/sisters always used the leftover pancake batter to put over the top plate so all the little pieces and bits would stick to it and made the cleaning easier... And about the constructionsholidays: the summer used to be the ‘low’ tide, as in it was a time when there wasn’t much work. With that in mind, to make sure that the roads and other holiday events (like amusement parks) aren’t over crowded, the country was divided in three parts. And these holidays shift (so for instance this year the north could have week 30-33, middle 31-34 and south 32-35 and next year north could have 31-34, middle 32-35 and south 30-33)

[@maud4772]

We put cinnamon in our appelmoes. You should find a homemade dutch appelmoes recipe. It is very easy and lekker!

[@caseykilmore]

Sounds great! I'll give it a go for sure :)

[@System6879]

Fun fact : in south Africa we have a language called Afrikaans and it's pretty similar to Dutch and we also use lekker all the time :)

[@eefaaf]

@bobbelonie If only Eva had had the same attitude...

[@lisaschmoutziguer8875]

This was very fun to watch as a dutch person, however one thing with suprises, she mentions it like you wrap every present like this, it is usually treated as a seperate thing more like a secret santa and then other presents are done sperately.

[@svenieboygaming9670]

Fun fact: christmas comes from the Nederlands, when dutch people immigrated to america the name Sint-Niklaas (sinterklaas) changed to santa klaus and then there was santa

[@joachymschiltz5739]

Christmas doesn't come from the Netherlands, only Santa Claus.

[@svenieboygaming9670]

@@joachymschiltz5739 🤡

[@stevanoutdoor]

Santa does come from the Netherlands. Christmas itself comes from a pagan celebration where they celebrate the days getting longer again. The christmas tree was a German invention.

[@BramLastname]

Apparently people think it's weird to congratulate the entire family at a birthday party, Whenever I arrive at a birthday party The family is lining up for me to congratulate them And I think it's normal to do so.

[@Laurayoutube22]

Ik ben blij dat we geen drie kussen meer geven sinds corona. Ik haat het om alle ooms en tantes enzo te kussen op verjaardagen,😂

[@caseykilmore]

hahahaha gelukkig voor jou is de tijd voorbij 😂

[@lienbijs1205]

Of ooms met snorren en baarden. Of op het einde van een verjaardag met allemaal een alcoholwalm.

[@ConsciousAtoms]

Ik ben nogal lang, dus ik heb soms de neiging om gewoon rechtop te blijven staan als een of andere tante me wil kussen. Kunnen ze er lekker niet bij :).

[@Sjaan_Banaan]

Ik mis het wel met vrienden en naaste familie. Het is nu alsof je elkaar helemaal niet begroet, raar.

[@lienbijs1205]

@@Sjaan_Banaan Ik kus en knuffel wel met naaste familie, ik vind het geestelijk ongezond om zolang op anderhalve meter te moeten blijven met mijn dierbaren.

[@AestheticNailsbyLin]

The surprise thing is I think something that came from Sinterklaas. Lots of families where the children are at a certain age don't celebrate Sinterklaas the same as when the children were little, so the the surprise got moved to Christmas. Also some years ago a lot of families didn't do presents with Christmas because they already did that with Sinterklaas. About the swearing thing; I, and many other Dutch people find it very disgusting to do so. Unfortunately we hear it more and more especially from the yought at school age.

[@arinborgdorff7422]

It was very weird for me when she said surprises with Christmas. I always do that with sinterklaas. At school, with friends and at home.

[@cahayawaters9403]

Hey hey, I love your videos! Keep up the great work :D About Andre Hazes, I'm a Dutchy myself and I don't know any of his music.. no idea if I should feel bad about that now or not haha

[@stella_hc]

The thing about the stairs sooo true !! What times those when you could travel... Love your videos keep it up!

[@maha9781]

And you never added: schoen zetten in the three weeks before Sinterklaas.

[@EmmyEmber8]

In my family we would sometimes go 'gourmetten' and when I was a kid there would always be pancake batter and eggs too, and my cousins and I would always work together making different things, try and properly crack the eggs, and try to make caramel in the little pans. It was really fun.

[@caseykilmore]

Gourmetten is fun, this sounds fun. We didn't have any pancake batter or eggs, just meats and veggies for kerst but the first time I did it, it was so weird for me haha

[@EmmyEmber8]

@@caseykilmore The pancake batter and eggs made it easier for us kids, they aren't hard to make, plus we liked pancakes better than veggies.

[@karelklumpers]

I really like your analysis of my culture. I am a Dutch who did study in Sydney for 6 months. Fun to hear your view of Netherlands.

[@quill3554]

I'm Dutch, and my burning passion for hating Dutch folk music cannot be compared to anyone

[@bomcabedal]

Try me.

[@Apipoulai]

so I guess you're NOT a TROS subscriber :) :)

[@gerbenverschoor4584]

I hate the dutch music too.. its so bad

[@kaatjestee2858]

I'm with you. It's horrible

[@dalstein3708]

I hate most of it with a vengeance, but there's some good stuff, too: Boudewijn de Groot, Cornelis Vreeswijk, Daniel Lohues, Ede Staal, Rowwen Heze, ... Well, lots of good stuff, actually. But not Hazes. Never.

[@micheltibon8872]

When I came to Amsterdam to study there was this young man standing on the flatbed of a small truck, singing in our school yard, HES Raamplein. Never liked the Amsterdamse levenslied but strangely enough I know a lot of the songs. During 40 years in Amsterdam, I think you inhale it with air you breathe or the Heineken beer you drink.

[@Spirifiume]

True, you must be drunk to appreciate Haas.

[@Hephaestios01]

Not my type of music at all. But somehow when i'm drunk and in a club or bar/pub at the end of the evening its nice to sing along with everyone. Its more the feeling of the moment than the songs itself.

[@eisikater1584]

My personal surprise about the Netherlands (I'm a Bavarian German) is how narrow their roads are. I drove from Munich, Bavaria, to Amsterdam, Netherlands in about 11 hours, breaking speed limits at times, and driving at night. Being German, I like the way the Dutch react to us. I have never met a Holländer who talked to me in an insulting way. And, you lads out there who are hungry, Dutch food can really be good. They know a lot about chicken and peanut butter sauce. If you haven't eaten a "kip sauté", you haven't been to the Netherlands.

[@TheJH1015]

it's just peanut sauce, not peanut butter sauce :)

[@LMvdB02]

@@TheJH1015 veel mensen maken saté met pindakaas hoor

[@crisvanhoogstraten4160]

11 Stunden?? warst du auf ne Fahrrad??

[@maresolaris]

Thank you so very much for these beatiful videos. I am a native Dutch, and really love your keen observations on "us" and our weird and sometimes funny habits. I hope you will continue making them. Best wishes!

[@ConsciousAtoms]

I really hate André Hazes. Seriously, I will leave a venue if they are playing a song of his, I really can't stand it.

[@janvanrenselaar5998]

He same here,when i hear hazes i throw the money on the bar and leave running. They day he left the world i celebrated it,and now his son thinks also he is famous, A typical case of a big heap of shit fallen into the air and not dropped on the floor

[@marten73]

Vak means craft/profession/trade. A vakman can be a plumber, painter, artisan. Vak is also a study subject in school (french, math). Bouwvakker is someone who has a profession in building. In 'Bouwvak' however, vak means not profession but is short for vakantie, vacation.

[@Apipoulai]

we just dont bother saying bouwvak-{vakantie}. most people understand what you are referencing by the context of the conversation.

[@LordGingerBerry]

I remember when I was 8 or something, I heard some news article about diamond smuggling by putting diamonds in the rectums of horses. So when we had to make "surprises" for christmas I made a horse out of cardboard because the girl I had to make one for really liked horses, and then I made it so you had to ram you arm up the horses arse to get the present. This was at school btw.

[@jenn.7227]

I love this Dutch practice: at someone's birthday celebration, the family - and close friends in my experience - of the person whose birthday it is are also congratulated and kissed/ hugged.

[@caseykilmore]

Yes I found this also really weird, at first when I couldn't speak dutch I thought people were introducing themselves and I use to reply with my name hahahaa 😆😆

[@jenn.7227]

I think it's lovely, and celebratory, as in : 'Aren't we all lucky to be part of this person's life?'. I wonder where/ who else has this custom?

[@jennifergal6791]

As you said, steep stairs save space, and this was especially important in Amsterdam where the houses are built on poles to keep them from sinking down into the ground (water). Therefore houses tended to be made with as small a ground plan as possible, and rather go up in the air.

[@gaolen]

i think the andre hazes thing is mostly in the west, or amsterdam where he is from. in groningen, of course we know him and also there are of course fans, but its not THAT prominant

[@terabbs]

the south the same story. he's definitely not big in Eindhoven.

[@VexonCross]

Definitely mostly an Amsterdam thing. Amsterdammers are off their rocker when it comes to their music.

[@Roozyj]

True, plus the country is very devided over either their deep felt love or deep felt hate for his music xD But I think there's enough English songs that everyone knows the words to, like Bohemian Rhapsody (which is a Rock opera and not a 'gezellige meezinger' at all xD) or something like Sweet Caroline

[@AnnekeOosterink]

Yeah, there are local singers everywhere. Amsterdam has Hazes, rest of the country has plenty of other artists. :)

[@Spirifiume]

De muziek van Hazes spreekt me helemaal niet aan. Het is een vrij ordinair genre en dus houden de Amsterdammers er van; maar de rest van Nederland vindt het maar niks, dat geldt ook voor zoonlief. Als ik Haas hoor dan zet ik het uit of ik neem de benen. Geldt ook voor Frans Bauer en zijn kompanen.

[@gm-fi9lt]

I am Dutch and still find it spot on, the things you've said, how strange we are.

[@Kazeryu11]

Bouwvak is also from a time we still had harsh winters. If you do construction and it freezes right after the concrete or most other building materials will split and the building/road whatever you are building is ruined. Nowadays we have way milder winters and it isn't that much of a problem anymore

[@groerd]

What I like to do as a "surprise" is to purposaly misunderstand an item on somebody's wish list. For example if somebody is asking for a potato masher give him / her a piece of wood on which you write with a sharpie "potato masher". And give that as the gift.

[@lentevanvliet3359]

The stairs thing is especialy in old houses, like Amsterdam, but not everywhere

[@sasskiaa18]

Bouwvak is not weird. It’s Dutch efficiency at its finest. In countries like France and Spain where they don’t have it. Literally all the works stops in summer. The fact that for us it’s divided amongst north, middle and south means you always have a running market. If in the north you have bouwvak, you can still build your house from suppliers from the middle or south if needed. So the work can always continue. At the same time the bouwvak is connected to the schools. So families can holiday without the roads getting too overcrowded because everyone is off. Most of the things that you find “weird” if European related (kisses happens in most European counties, appelmoes is also German and Belgian) and other things like Andre Hazes and the Stairs are related to Amsterdam. Most foreigners that live in Amsterdam think the entire Netherlands is weird... I highly recommend you travelling around the country and really getting to know the Netherlands.

[@Gnomelotte]

Appelmoes (on fries): I used to do that as a child, and I absolutely loved it, appelmoes and mayo combined on fries. Then I became older and suddenly I absolutely despised it ! (That said I love buttermilk now, which I hated as a child).

[@NineALaMoi]

Loved your video! It's so funny to reflect on my culture trough someone else's eyes. There are a couple of things I like to point out though... 1. The horse of Sinterklaas does not fly, but he can walk over rooftops. 2. Surprises are used to give gifts during Sinterklaas, not during Christmas, and this tradition is often adopted by households who no longer have small kids that 'believe' in Sinterklaas. 3. The 'alsjeblieft' when offering something to someone can best be translated to 'there you go' or 'voila' in French. Thanks again for this video!

[@NineALaMoi]

Oh also, it very much depends on your city/region whether you are obsessed with Andre Hazes. You will find that people in Amsterdam are obsessed with Andre Hazes, yet people im Brabant are obsessed with Guus Meeuwis.

[@BramLastname]

There is a distinction between Sinterklaas and Dutch Christmas, As both exist alongside each other. Sinterklaas is as you described and ends 20 days before Christmas. However Christmas is based on the Biblical depiction of Christmas not the USA version, It's a time to celebrate life with family And forgetting about materialistic ideals. "A time of giving" for the Dutch doesn't mean physical presents, It means symbolic acts of kindness and selflessness.

[@esmaystokhof]

Amerigo is not a flying horse, but they walk on the roof. Oh and those stairs you talked about are mainly in old buildings to save space. Newer buildings generally have beter stairs.

[@rutgervandijk5005]

Oh, this is really good! I was laughing at every example you gave, so funny to hear about the Dutch weirdness. And you pronounce the Dutch words really good, almost without an accent. Keep doing these videos, thanks!

[@bamm59]

You can buy appelmoes at Woolworths at the Dutch/international section. And sometimes at Aldi, they have Dutch week at least one time a year:)

[@jorandon7438]

2:04 the horse isnt flying it only can walk on roofs

[@sebastiaanfraikin9481]

a logical deduction would be, to get onto the rooftops it must be able to fly or jump very high... I don't see it carrying around a ladder ;)

[@Lillyrosechan]

I really hated making suprises xD it's always been a hassle and never had like any inspiration to do it

[@markvandervelden7034]

"Bouwvak"is more of a vacation for people that build houses, work wood,... the thing is, in the netherlands those jobs can mostly be done past the winter, so the builders/woodworkers etc, get 4-6 weeks of vacation in the summer

[@28samsey]

Bouwvak was invented in 1929 and was actually cancelled in 1981, but the most companies still use it. Originally bouwvakkers would get 3 days off and some "vacation coupons". The coupons could be traded for money. The whole construct was built on the idea that people would spend their whole paycheck at once. The system changed and now it is 15 days without the coupons. Hope this helps a bit :)

[@theherooftempest9701]

Speaking of the whole “using disease as swear words”. It’s very weird, I know. I’m 100% Dutch and I first questioned it as well, but then again, there is a constellation for the crab that in Latin is a very bad disease, so I didn’t find swearing that weird 😅

[@charlotteowen8971]

appelmoes!! so great you pointed this one out - I'm also from Aus and it's one of the highlights for me of Dutch life :D

[@caseykilmore]

Appelmoes was so strange for me in the beginning. Putting in on pork was normal but potatoes??? I am a convert though its delish 🤤🤤

[@mormacil]

@@caseykilmore Well it's just a fruit sauce, like ketchup :P

[@kiwidutch9778]

@@caseykilmore Having Tomato Sauce with every meal, as Aussies do ...now that is Weird/ bijzonder

[@harmbooij8241]

Appelmoes is weird, then what the hell is marmite :P

[@caseykilmore]

@@harmbooij8241 hahahah good point

[@lottieluiks]

This is so funny to watch, really nice to see the other perspective. :)

[@TamaarN]

Bouwvak are for multiple reasons (atleast what i have always been told) its to regulate traffic to vacation spots, most of the netherlands is on vacation cause bouwvak is during school breaks so there is little to no work. And due to weather. Summers are usually not great working conditions. This is also why in some cases construction is (partly) halted during winter months

[@Raptorrat]

Re: stairs, as others mentioned it's mostly in older houses. And not just the Netherlands, it wasn't the late victorian era they figured out the optimal angle and step. (dangers of the victorian home, BBC kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmLZooSfarmfbZI ) Hazes isn't nearly as popular in the rest of the country. More a case of projecting the Randstad on the rest of the country. Each province has their own hero of folk music. For Groningen it's Ede Staal. ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnKUiHyGa5yfj8k ) The horse is named Amerigo after Amerigo verspucci, an explorer during the age of sail. Or it was, that horse was retired last year. Also, it couldn't fly, it was a normal horse, amazing, but normal; like Binky.

[@jipoudeweernink9364]

Amerigo does walk on roofs tho, that deserves some credit

[@BenjaminD84]

Gourmetten is the definitive proof that the Netherlands is a blind spot in the culinary world.

[@kiwidutch9778]

You've probably worked out by now that Casey is also used in the NL : 'Keessie' which is the diminutive form of Kees (which is short for Cornelis)

[@marks.6480]

Those super steep stairwells can mainly be found in the three big cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag) where floorspace is very limited and expensive. So they developed tall and narrow houses with steep stairs.

[@janjanssen9629]

Just be careful how you pronounce “Bouwf*ck” 😂

[@Nikolais_sanity]

Jaa whahahaha dat dacht ik ook al 😂

[@larabehr4212]

Haha, loved how you dodged the Zwarte Piet bullet by not mentioning him while discussing Sinterklaas. Or are you going to tell me that ZP is not weird to you? Anyways, smart move. Otherwise, this comment section would have been flooded with lots of opinions....

[@michaelsmelt2596]

Yes indeed, and yours is one of them.

[@AmazingCorn21]

Gourmetten: where you have a fire extinguisher at the dinner table just in case the spiritus refill goes wrong. We've always gourmetted (??) with actual fire and little pans. It sounds so stupid but it is so much fun and very gezellig!

[@bonmbzool]

Bouwvak is a vacation for the builders working on building homes, the workers have 3 weeks of and also the industrie that are making windows, kitchens

[@jokescholte5847]

a ¨surprise¨is someting you make at Sinterklaas, not at christmas.

[@SnowCalmth]

In all honesty, these aren't weird things about the Netherlands itself, but weird things to you as Australian. Besides, many of these aren't even typically Dutch to begin with. I am neither Dutch, I'm Ukrainian by birth and live in Poland, I just visit the Netherlands because of family and friends. I am also looking at all this from a foreign perspective. So let's get to it, shall we? 1. "Sinterklaas" - This isn't specific to the Netherlands, nor even to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and its former colonies. Most of Europe has similar celebrations on at least Saint Nicholas Day. Also, the horse was called Amerigo, not Amigo, which is actually no longer the name of the horse. The current horse is called "Ozosnel"(Oh so quickly). Beyond this, there is no tale in the Dutch version that the horse can fly, this is only told in certain parts of Belgium and in an old Belgian Sinterklaas television series. How the horse would get on the roofs is left unsaid in the Dutch folks tales of Sinterklaas. It's a children's festival and many children don't even think about it regardless. 2. "Gourmetten" - You call this Dutch, even though it's not Dutch at all. The origin of this is Switzerland. 3. "Surprise" - You need to pronounce the "E"! And again, not a Dutch practice. This is actually an interesting one as the Dutch recognise the origin as the United States. 4. "André Hazes" - Have you actually been anywhere beyond the Western part of the Netherlands? I have visited the Southern and Eastern parts of the Netherlands and none of my friends and acquaintances in these parts of the Netherlands like André Hazes. 5. "Swear Words" - Wait, weren't you Australian? Most male Australian KZbinrs which are focused on younger audiences talk the exact same as what you're saying is weird. On top of that, the Dutch are even quite polite compared to many other nationals. Most Dutch people actually need to be offended by something to start using swear words, this is different in many other cultures. 6. "Bouwvak" - There was actually a reason for this. When it comes to building things, you have a lot more people than just builders. You have the suppliers, subcontractors, installers, and a lot of other people. They need to work in sync as otherwise they will cause the building to be extended unnecessarily. Like actually when they all go on vacation at different times. This is why there was a common vacation previously, the so-called "bouwvak", so everyone related to building had vacation at the same time and would be working in sync the rest of the time. 7. "Three Kisses" - Again, it's not typically Dutch. It's rather a typical European and Middle Eastern thing to do. Either 2 or 3 kisses, that's typical in almost all of Europe and the Middle East. 8. "Say Please" - Urrr... Maybe it's not usual in Australia, but I have to admit that I have never come across anyone from any country who doesn't use the word please that way too. 9. "Appelmoes" - Typically European, not typically Dutch. 10. "Stairs" - Like with André Hazes, I think you need to visit more of the Netherlands than just the Western part of the country. As for what I personally think is weird, and also typically Dutch, is the ability to understand when to use "Het" and "De", as there is no true rule to the usage of these 2 words.

[@TheJH1015]

there is a rule to the usage of 'de' and 'het'. 'De' is used for masculine and feminine gendered words (or rather 'common gender'), 'het' is used for genderless words and diminutives. That's why 'meisje' (girl) gets the 'het' article, because the '-je' suffix indicates it's technically a diminutive.

[@erwinensandykoedijk5489]

I enjoyed your 10 things that are weird a lot. They are so true and it is really funny to look into the mirror this way. I must say you speak Dutchvery well. I don’t hear any accent when you say appelmoes or gourmetten. Watch your video makes me laugh and proud to be dutch and I hope you will visit the Netherlands soon and often again. I live in Almere. A new town near Amsterdam . A lot of the residents are from Amsterdam but also from hilversum, Naarden and Bussum more wealthy Cities. This gives Almere a special mix from different people. I Am going to watch your other video’s. Please post more of them! Dikke kus van Erwin.

[@wolfwingx1]

The stairs thing is mostly something that you see in old houses, or certain cities, mainly the ones with a high student population. In other areas you will find that stairs are much more safe and forgiving.

[@BramVanhooydonck]

Being Belgian, we always mock the Dutch for swearing with diseases. Also we have the same traditions with kissing people on greeting each other: 3 times on the cheek, variating left and right with the women you're familiar with. I always just say I'm very reserved (which is true) and if they insist, then a hug is alright. It's perfectly fine to politely refuse and it can cause a bit of small talk.

[@Gwendalooni]

Now that you mention it, my Belgian (I'm 100% Dutch myself) partner has never used any deseases when he swears lol As for the kisses thing, I immediately offer my hand to shake and tell them that is all they get from me. People often look at me like I have insulted their entire bloodline when I do that lmao. I do not like people getting in my personal space 🙃

[@marceljanssens5935]

Steep stairs: only in old buildings

[@CoachColetteMaat]

Also birthday celebrations. Everyone getting a handshake and a congratulations. That still baffles me :-)

[@AapjeJelleAapje]

4:06 that is still with sinterklaas, some dutch People dont do anything with sinterklaas but the do with christmas. So we selebrate 2 things in december apart from New year.

[@gemberkoekje]

Sommige dingen die je hier beschrijft zijn wat specifiek voor bepaalde delen van het land; zo is Andre Hazes vooral populair in Amsterdam en de drie zoenen is ook iets wat alleen bij bepaalde mensen of kringen voorkomt. Als je bijvoorbeeld een tijdje in Noord Brabant zou wonen zou je waarschijnlijk een aantal hele andere dingen opvallen. Ook zeg je "surprise" verkeerd... De 'e' is niet stil, zoals je zelf eerder al meldde (Had ik trouwens nooit over na gedacht, dat het Nederlands geen stille letters heeft, but here we are)

[@Feeburgproducties]

Elke kroeg in Groningen kan André Hazes meebrullen. Maakt niet uit hoe oud de nummers zijn. Drie zoenen in bepaalde kringen? Wat voor kringen. Ik geef iedereen al zolang ik me kan herinneren al drie zoenen op verjaardagen.

[@HDseriousTV]

"Stairs... they're a death trap..." Get it? Because a stair is a trap.

[@regayaadjoggo6146]

Haha :)

[@johnhogendoorn3786]

Love your sharing Casey. Great all culture difference in the world :-) Bouwvak, you can go on holidays 3 or 4 weeks when the schools are closed.....

[@Chris-dq6eq]

Loved the video, and your Dutch pronunciation and knowledge of specific Dutch stuff is quite impressive! You could make your own applesauce btw, it's supereasy, just peel and clean 1kg of apples, cut them in pieces, boil them in around 100ml water for about 10 minutes, then add some sugar and cinnamon and mash with a fork until it has the consistency you like :) And fyi: Amsterdam staircases are a thing, well-known by everyone and hated by most, and fortunately they are not the standard around The Netherlands :)

[@yvonnecampbell7036]

Alsjebliefd comes from "als het u beliefd" (old Dutch) "If it would please you" sort of....

[@RealConstructor]

Yvonne Campbell It is Alsjeblieft (informal) or Alstublieft (formal). You/je/u is stem plus t. It is shortened for: Als het je b(e)lieft or Als het u b(e)lieft. Blieven is spoken language for believen. Both verbs are hardly used anymore. Alsjeblieft and alstublieft are a sort of relics of the verb. So your explanation was right, but grammatically not correct.

[@caspervanelli6502]

In a restaurant when the waiter brings your food they say alstublieft, but in this context it should not be translated as 'please' but as 'there you are'

[@yvonnecampbell7036]

@@caspervanelli6502 I Agree.

[@Apipoulai]

just like the Flemmish "watblief?" that's used like "what did you say?"

[@yvonnecampbell7036]

@@RealConstructor Oke oke, I'll give you that. You're right (hence my "sort of") ;)

[@nathanael5898]

Just want to say that Santa Claus is actually a rip-off of Sinterklaas :p

[@fabiennevanasselt5625]

Your pronunciation is great!! And you can make appelmoes yourself, it’s really easy!

[@RefeelYoga]

This is cool! The gurmetten looks amazing! Totally reminded me of Jesse "cancer" swearing at me 😂 Thanks for sharing Casey 💖

[@caseykilmore]

Gourmetten is yummy, dangerous but yummy hahaha

[@carimavandijk1091]

"Jezse "cancet" swearing at me" I cant 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂