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South Netherlands and its people

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Shoreline 
#1 ·
I live in Tilburg and I traveled almost every weekend in the country. I am astonished. Some of my coworkers started using deodorant and shampoo after I met them.
Basically a ******* culture. Very gossipy, very small townish, very reduced vegetable lives. I've often met coworkers who were never to other Dutch places 60km away or indeed never heard of them.
I tried calisthenics exercising in parks as I did in London and Budapest. Lots of embellished websites, park here, park there from Breda to Eindhoven, to Rotterdam "hot een cool", so I discovered them. A laughing stock. Some didn't even existed. When I resigned to train in a local park, ETZ Elisabeth, I kid you not, people found my secluded place and congregated in astonishment "you sporten?!".
I went pubbing on Saturdays. Big mistake : basically the neighborhood regurgitated for months in disbelief :"he parties!"
And I could go on with the "plus-minus" work ethic. Not a place to aspire, they resent personal achievement.
 
#2 ·
Generally speaking the Dutch are calvinist. You cannot be better than somebody else and if you are or you think you are better, you must not boast about it.
Every culture has a different mentality.

I lived and worked in the Randstad area of NL for years. Very different mentality than in South Holland province but still calvinist.
 
#3 ·
I had heard that it is easier going in the south ? This suggests to me that maybe it is the same all over because this is how it can be in the north where I am.

It is probably quite difficult to get to know what it is to be Dutch straight off ? It will be subtle. I have been here for three years, and still learning step by step : )
 
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