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What Is The Difference Between British and Dutch Mentality?
Ross Boardman, lives in England
Answered 11th May 2018
I work in the Netherlands quite a lot. On the whole, I find their mentality refreshing.
A Brit will often bite their tongue or try and be diplomatic but the Dutchie will come straight out with it. This has started to rub off and I tend to be very direct when working with Dutch folks or in interactions when I am in the Netherlands but dealing with people from the UK.
There is a distinct pecking order in commuting. Cars give way to bike lanes, bikes give way to pedestrians on crossings over bike lanes. Some town squares are every man form himself but the general order is there. If you want to see truly integrated public transport then go to the Netherlands, they really get it. Trains run on time, are clean and cheap compared to UK. The train will often run alongside a motorway and a shipping canal and a bike track and people just walking along.
Politics? Don’t get them started, they don’t get born with a safety switch.
Status and status symbols. Generally the Dutch do not give a fuck about this kind of stuff. My perception is that they believe it’s crass to discuss or show off such things. Bosses tend to be very open to their staff and some frank conversations can happen without many repercussions.
Drinking? We are pretty close on that one but they organise holidays around it. Carnaval is a big thing in the south of the Netherlands, traditionally Catholic. It’s like Dutch Mardi Gras over a long weekend. Then there is King’s Day, which is the King’s birthday. Generally it goes something like this, Carnaval the south of the country gets very drunk for about 4 or 5 days. For King’s Day, the whole of the country gets drunk for one day but maybe make the weekend out of it. The Dutch love beer and they brew some of the World’s best beer. In the UK, we brew some amazing beer too but then fall back on foreign lager to get bladdered!
Burgers, steaks and donner kebabs. We both like those. Fries / Chips, pretty much a joint love there.
There is one minor annoyance and that is the pre-paid right associated with dog licences. A Dutch dog owner pays a lot of money each year, per dog, in the form of a fee. A number of dog owners just let their dogs crap anywhere. In the UK we go berserk about dog crap and try, ineffectually, to fine people for it, but we don’t have a licensing scheme anymore.
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