8 Surprising Facts about the Netherlands! DUTCH CULTURE SHOCK
#Dutch #Netherlands #Holland
In this video I`ll share 8 surprising facts about the Netherlands that really shocked me as a foreigner here. We came to Holland as expats family in Fberuary, 2021 and settled in Almere. Let's discuss the most interesting and strange things about Dutch culture together!
What's inside?
0:00 Intro
0:40 Recycling
1:20 Transportation system and city structure
3:36 Kids without hats at cold weather
4:45 No small shops in the neighborhood
6:30 Dutch food
7:16 Ticket system
8:16 The numbers of the flats
9:20 Working kids
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Strange Dutch Facts 🤭🤔 Part 2kzhead.info/sun/jLamoKqEbGqCjJE/bejne.html
Thinking about escaping from Kalifornia… interesting video, thanks.
Thank you, Steven. Why are you considering leaving California?
@@expatfamilylive9041 I gave a detailed answer, but it is no longer here.
I guess my honest response backed by common knowledge facts has been censored. Maybe that fact answers your question.
Thanks for giving Almere some love! It may not have history, but it has modern and unique city design and can be a great place to live
Thank you for the comment!
Well, first: Welcome in the Netherlands! I hope you will enjoy it here. I like your positive attitude towards a different culture. I have Friends who are russian (from Siberia) and live in Amsterdam. They really like it here and i'm glad that they do. We Dutch welcome people with other cultures and are always very curious about learning from them. Like you like to learn ours, we love to know more about yours too. So make vids about the differences. How are things in Russia and Poland compared to here.
Thank you, Ferry, you are very supportive! It's so interesting to discover the Netherlands, it has so much to see and learn !
Thanks for your video, i never thought about the flat numbers, even though i regularly get lost when looking for someone's appartement in the Netherlands.
Just discovered your channel via a reaction video. Firstly, welcome to the Netherlands! I have lived in Almere for a couple of years and however my apartment was really great, I didn't like the city itself. Mostly because of lack of history. Regarding your observation about our clothing habits during winter, I recognise my Russian partner who can't stand the cold here :-) . Could be the different cold here (humid versus dry).
Thank you for the comment 😀 it will be great to exchange opinions with you!
@@expatfamilylive9041 have you seen the reaxion-video, and the question he asks you ? (youtube collaborations are fun & get you more views ;-) !
There used to be little shops everywhere but when the big supermarkets came they couldn’t compete with the prices so the had to stop because everyone don’t want to pay higher prices.
Thank you for the information 🙏
@@expatfamilylive9041 Honestly it's also simply where you live. You said not many dutch people like towns like Almere and I am one of those people, but that is precisely because it is all so planned, sterile and a bit boring. It does not have a lot in the way of a soul or some character to it. When you go to other places you will find much more diversity like more shops and other establishments within the neighbourhoods themselves. For example, in the "volkswijk" where I live you have houses, flats and parks, but also a couple of schools, shops, supermarkets, a football stadium and much more, all within a 5 minute walk.
@@P1nkR thank you for the comment!
Hoelang geleden was dat dan? Want ik woon hier mijn hele leven, maar ik ben redelijk jong, dus ik wist nooit dat dat een ding was.
@@boredmoodlet3611 ben al oud 😀 maar is vanaf jaren 70 steeds slechter gegaan met kleine winkels
Thank you very much for your nice talk about our country. It is so normal to live here if you were born here, but now that you mention certain points I look different at the Netherlands myself. Very eye opening to hear it from you.
Thank you, Rayder, for your comment! You are very supportive!
Nice video 👍😊
Thank you 😊
Positiv surprises though tfs stay connected
Thanks 😊
Hello, welcome to the Netherlands!
Dank je wel!
About the Dutch culture shock, success, my friend
Thank you 😊
i always had to eat one sandwich with ham/meat or cheese and then one wih chocolade sprinkles and so on
Sounds like a very Dutch lunch :)
I still do lol
Positiv surprises though 😊
Absolutely
I can understand in Almere you can recycle everywhere. In haarlem and a lot of other cities recycling everywhere is not available. I live here for 12 years now. Hope you are enjoying it though!
Thank you for your comment, Elon! Why did you choose Haarlem?
In Philippines, the condominiums have names instead of numbers. Units inside have numbers. It seems, each country have own variation of address rule.
Wow,,that's interesting :)
hello, nice to hear how you experience the transition from Poland to the Netherlands. As far as public transport is concerned, it would be better to opt for a public transport card instead of individual tickets. per ticket you save 1 euro but can also be used anywhere, anytime. you only pay for the trip you make.
Thank you for the information, Chris! We have already got our chip cards :)
Hats in cold weather? Gloves? You know the definition of a sweater - a garment that kids have to wear when mothers feel cold.
5:44 ... you've been to The Hague :)
Of course, the Hague is amazing 👏
Well, my Dutch parents forbade me to work for money until I was 18. They said that every child has the right to be supported and live children's / teenagers life. Working is for the rest of your life. I am grateful they thought that way.
It's also a sustainable approach! Thanks for sharing 👍😊
We do too ;)
@@yvonnecampbell7036 Awesome 👌👏
FML I had to help out in my fathers company since I was like 9 or something. I guess that's why I hate working nowadays :P
Did get paid though!
Hi, I would just like to suggest using an OV-chipcard instead of buying tickets. You can have one bound to your name or an anonymous one. you can either put money on the card and just check in and out, or you can set it up that it automatically charges to your bank. This way you don't have to think about buying tickets and it works on bus, metro, tram, train & ferries. Also about the shops part really depends on where you live and what your standards are. Idk if this is what you mean, but everywhere I have lived we had shops on like a 10-15 minute walk. But it really differs per city.
Thank you a lot for your comment! We already have the ov-chipcards :)
At my work I met more people from east Europe who lives and work here and learning Dutch, most of the people are nice and cooperative, welcome to my country.
So happy for you! Still, Dutch is harder than English but still easier than Chinese for us :)
Older people do wear hats because they know it’s better for you. In older cities, you can buy you daily shopping within 5-10 minutes walking or biking. A bit of sugar and fat for breakfast for children isn’t very bad and they eat breakfast that way. For lunch you can give them Volkoren bread with cheese etc. Dutch children play unattended from the age of about 5. They are the happiest children in the world
A lot of cities in the Netherlands actually have shops underneath the houses. Especially big cities. I think because Almere is a relatively new city that they don't have it there
I totally agree. It also often depends on how old the neighbourhood is and the size of the city as mentioned above.
Welcome!!
Thank you 😊
There is a hint of health around dark chocolate. This is due to the antioxidants in the cocoa, the flavonoids. Research shows that the specific flavonoids in cocoa (flavanols) have a beneficial effect on the heart and blood vessels and could prevent diabetes.
Thank you for the information 🙏
Its funny that you commented that the stores are far away, since generally there is a supermarket within walking distance. I usually see the Netherlands being compared with the US, where it usually requires a long drive. Its interesting to see how it compares to Russia.
Thank you for the comment 😊🙏
That's an Flevopolder thing I think, we usually have smaller shops almost everywhere in older cities. Probably not as much as in poland or russia, or spain but way more than in Almere
Great video🤗 i have such a stupid question but how important is Frédéric Chopin for Polish people anno 2021? Thx in advance
Chopin is thought to be one of the greatest Poles who ever lived. His oeuvre is considered in Poland as the perfect manifestation of Polishness in music.
@@MK-lm6hb thank you so much for your answer :) im so happy to hear that
There are still cities with little shops in the neighbourhood. The problem with Almere is that it's a very, very new city, so it lacks that historic setup. The second thing is that you really need to be sure you can keep up with the supermarkets. Obviously that can only work if you are a household name, which is impossible in a new city like Almere.
Thank you for the information 🙏
But we don’t have the small convenience stores that you see in most other countries. Maybe a few tourist trap shops in Amsterdam but that’s about it.
I just started to live in almere from amsterdam so its a big difference but almere is a amazing modern city. Lots of beaches and nature aswel a good shopping area. So i hope the rest of the dutch people will agree that almere is way better then lets say 10 years ago. Especially now that most big cities are just over populated
Thank you for your comment, Ross! As far as we explore old Dutch cities, we understand that they are beautiful to visit but Almere is perfect for daily life.
They've learned from their Lelystad mistakes and it shows!
I'm glad you like Almere. Its really annoying to me when Dutch people complain and they don't realize how nice they have it compared to other countries.
Absolutely! The bike roads in Almere are awesome and other facilities as well.
👍👍👍
A LIKE JOU 🇳🇱😀🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Love back to you!
You are not allowed to work when you are 12 years old. if you are 13 or 14 years old, you are only allowed to do chores. You can also help with light, non-industrial work. Such as helping to fill boxes in a store. A number of activities are prohibited when you are 13 or 14 years old. Nice video!
It's still work and companies more than gladly abuse it because they just want cheap labor.
@@thenonexistinghero I don't know where you are from but that's not how it works in the Netherlands.
@@brozius Yes, it is how that works. I've lived here my entire life. Heck, most stores and supermarkets don't have employees over the age of 20 simply because they are far cheaper than adults. Fact is that children are misused as cheap labor.
@@thenonexistinghero No they are not, ask any teenager if they think they are misused, they will say no.
@@brozius It doesn't really matter what they think. Children and teens are easy to manipulate compared to adults. If there's a ton of companies and corporations that practically only survive thanks to what's practically child labor, then they are misused.
You are obviously living in a "nieuwbouw" area maybe even a "Vinex" location. In over the coming 10 years the small shops will appear. You probably only have one of the major supermarket chains in your area or if you are lucky 2. How old is your neighbourhood?
back in the eighties...when i noticed kids eating cookies on white bread at school.... i almost got smacked by my parents when i suggested that could be my lunch to bring with me the next day...
Thank you for the comment
The flats don't have numbers but they do often have different names. That can be a little bit confusing also because it's more common use to have a streetname and number but then you also have to consider different flat names. Also the numbers in some flats are ridiculous. For instance in Hoofddorp there are flats with numbers as high as 16000 but there are not that many apartments.
Thank you for the comment! That's strange!
Great information love from Pakistan 🇵🇰🇵🇰
Thank you 😊
How is coronavirus in Holland
@@adeelahmed6031 A lot if things are allowed again (restaurants, cafes etc.) in a very short period of time (I mean that a month ago everything was closed, and instead of gradually opening again everything is allowed again at once). The vaccines are rolling out at a fast pace too. Most around the age of 55 have had their second jab, and people around the age of 25 can now get their first jab. So overall quite good. What's it like in Pakistan?
Cycling or re-cycling, the Dutch lead the way for the rest of the world.
So true 👍👌
Pro trick: you can watch movies at flixzone. Been using them for watching a lot of movies during the lockdown.
@Royal Anson Definitely, have been using flixzone} for years myself :)
@Royal Anson yea, been using flixzone} for months myself :)
Let me share an open secret about Dutch recycling. When you as a consumer separate waste in order to get it recycled, it does not mean it gets recycled. Paper for instance, they WILL recycle at periods of time when the price of used paper is high enough, they will burn it during other periods. Only a small portion of plastic waste will be recycled as it is really hard to separate types and colors of plastic well enough to enable recycling the rest will get burned. The only thing that works properly probably is glass.
Could weather… Wim Hof power.!!! 💪🏻
Wim Hof is great 👍
Здравствуйте, добро пожаловать в Нидерланды :-) Я уже почти год изучаю русский язык. Mеня зовут Xанс.
Супер! Рады вас видеть!
Your live dear actually on the bodem of de zee .
I know and it is mind blowing
Такая нумерация кадастровых объектов сложилась скорее всего из местной ментальности - ведь голландцы фактически сами создали свою страну (физически 1/3 теперешней территории) и для них нет как для совков чего- то государственного - т.е. ничейного. Здесь все чье-то. И поэтому многоквартирники сразу после заложения кадастрово разделяются несколько кадастровых объектов. И тогда в случае с многоэтажкой где покупные квартиры - при покупке квартиры ты покупаешь не квартиру а часть здания и это призывает к ответственности. А эта кадастровая единица естественно имеет свой номер на этой улице и номер здания уже не нужен, его просто не чему присваивать...
Спасибо за информацию!
- Our garbage disposal plants are so big we have to import garbage from other countries to make them profitable. As for recycling, we could still do a lot better. There's been a documentary series on TV about that "De Vuilnisman". - A lot of people didn't like Almere because it's (relatively) new and as you say set up in a more pedestrian friendly way. From what you say it doesn't sound that bad. Of course, there are actually three Almere's... - I think hats are a very Russian thing... But really, when it's freezing, we wear them too, don't we? - Small neighborhood shops have disappeared because of big(ish) supermarkets. - Sugar, fat, carbs, poor cooking skills. That's what we're famous for.... And licorice. - Haven't used public transport in 20 years or so.... No opinion. - Sometimes flats do have numbers or even names, but it's rare. The way you describe it it could be useful, but when you're used to the Dutch way, it's not so bad.
Thank you for your comment, Eef, you are very supportive!
You seem to be a sweet lady, but you'll have to make a decision: Do you want to be entirely on your own, and maybe get to know a few other expats, then by all means stick to English. Do you want to mingle with the Dutch, get a good taste of True Dutch culture, and leave those other expats for what they are for a brief moment? By all means learn Dutch. Even though the vast majority of the Dutch population speaks more or less English, it really is Dutch which is the native language of The Netherlands. Dutch it is and Dutch it will be. To the Dutch it is like this: OK you speak English, so you do not take the trouble to learn Dutch, so you must be temporary here and you must be on your way out soon. We (The Dutch) lost interest in this person. Or: Hey well so nice of this foreigner to learn Dutch, he or she respects this country and its inhabitants and this person obviously wants to mingle with us: let's invite this person into our lives! English for us Dutchies is a way to talk to strangers whom want to stay stranger, or maybe to a person who really want's to learn Dutch but just arrived... Let there be no misconception about this: English is to talk to strangers and Dutch among friends! This is The Netherlands after all and our language is Dutch and absolutely not English, although to strangers we will talk English. By choosing English as a language, you choose to stay a foreigner ! And so doors stay closed for you! Doors that will open for you when you speak Dutch ;-)
Volgens mij is dat niet zo. Ik heb Nederlands geleerd maar toch blijven Nederlanders bij elkaar. Het komt dat meeste mensen hebben al zijn vrienden kring hebben en het is moeilijk in hun kringen te komen, Het maakt niet uit of je een Buitenlander ben of niet, jij ben gewoon geen van hun vrienden. Ze zijn allemaal aardig, maar je krijgt bijna nooit een kans om een kopje koffie of thee met hen te genieten. Het is zoals het is. Vaak ligt het aan de persoon zelf.
Голландские дети благодаря этому не становятся тепличными растениями а растут здоровыми со здоровым иммунитетом.
Это супер!
Bullshit about the hats, Dutch people love wearing woolly hats in colder weather. Flats depend on the city, as in Utrecht we had a flat: Huistevlietlaan - 10-2
It is NOT DONE to look into houses... even small kids know, not to look into houses..., we learn as kids, windows are there for people to look out of their house..
Thank you for the comment!
Есть можно все - если в меру.
Lacking the little shops is a bad thing in the Netherlands and not helping with a nice city environment to live in. It is a big mistake to build only houses without local shops.
Thank you for the comment!
We had little shops but we decided to go for the convenience of big shops and let the little shops suffer and go bankrupt. And now we’re complaining the the big shops are f-ing us….
Buildings with numbers is typically Eastern European...
You are right!
JOU Re rusian 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰no solder 🇳🇱🏳🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
No war 🙏
Hats and scarsget wet when it rains, that might be the reason.
Maybe ;) but you also can take an umbrella 🌂
normal people eat cheese on their bread..chocolate is for kids..
We also love cheese on our bread :)
All the plastic and garbage go in the same burner
Dutch people are more responsible with money because most start working from a young age? No, it's just the opposite. There's a minority of people where that does happen. But for the majority I'd argue they're actually less responsible with money because of it. They often earn their own money and can spend it on whatever they like, but on top of that their parents also still spoil them with extra money on top of that. These days more people start working at a young age than ever... and at the same time we also have more people with huge debts than ever. It's nice on paper, but doesn't really work out that way in reality most of the time thanks to shoddy parenting.
Thank you for the comment!
Our children will burn the chocolade sprinkles they eat for breakfast during the bike ride to school. We don't want them to go to school without nutrients to feed their brains, do we?
Not sure about that chocolate is a good nutrient :)
@@expatfamilylive9041 It is loads of sugar. When you don't burn it immediately, it gets stored as fat, but children have so many energy they'll immediately turn it into energy. That's why (most) kids don't have huge asses. Yet.
The ugliest city in the Netherlands is nicer than the nicest neighborhood where I live
That food is very individual. I never eat that crap.
Good for you 👍👏
In normal cities you do have small shops...
What do you mean with a normal city. What do you consider small. Very vage as always mister V. You better gaze at the moon oldie.
None of this was very shocking now was it ?
We got more facts :) and the video will be on Saturday!
Number 7 is completely wrong. Please don't believe that's true everywhere. When there is an appartment, you get a street number: Marktstraat 12. Then you get either an: A,B,C,D that distinguishes what appartment it is. It even goes further when a couple of apartment buildings have the same number. Jozeflaan 13 (the block), A, B, C, or D, referring to which building, and THEN you get a number. So the whole adress could be like: Jozelflaan 13 D-5. People that don't use proper identification when they live in apartment buildings are very annoying for delivery drivers, etc. Also could lead to miscommunication with postal services... All in all, please doublecheck you're using a correct adress :P
Thank you for your comment, Dominique!
@@expatfamilylive9041 Very welcome!
Yup they all eat so unhealthy that they all grow old and are the tallest people on Earth. Why do i feel there's something wrong here? 😂
Spekulaas koekjes op de boterham!
Ugly cities in the Netherlands: drachten, Almere, Lelystad, Eindhoven, Zoetermeer, Apeldoorn, Almelo, Venlo but it can be good to live their only they do not have a nice old centrum that's all.
Thank you for the comment!
Naatherlands......
Kut Expats...
This is a government website on labour for young people (dutch only..): www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/bijbaan-vakantiewerk-en-stage-door-jongeren 13-14 year olds are only allowed to do limited things like restocking work in supermarkets on days that they have no school - weekends or in the holidays.