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The Netherlands

Some Dutch history

Comparative culture




Dutch customs and characteristics

Gedogen [v.] — to actively tolerate...

• The Dutch café, a rustic pub with good coffee...

• "Alstublieft" — a hyper-polite social custom...

Quitting English — confrontational....

John Paul II, 1984 — a misadventure...

Dutch gestures (gebaren) ...

• "Eet smakelijk" — the Dutch "bon apetit" ...

Gratuitous conversation with strangers is not customary....

• "Afgesloten" — "road closed" in downtown Amsterdam. Go back or wait....

Holland is safe — civilized....

• The "Nieuwe spelling" of 1996 — an official preference of one orthography over another...

• The "coffeeshop," or hash bar...

Bicycles...

Peperduur — "as expensive as pepper" ...

Dutch pedestrian habits...

Drinking in the Netherlands...

Dutch toilets...

• The Netherlands can be exasperating, it's true....


Domtoren van 2deHands