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Hi! If you haven't seen my other thread, I'm moving to the Netherlands in a month for work, and I have some questions. Since my company is taking care of all the bureaucratic stuff, I'm really just wondering about the culture/daily life. Feel free to answer as many or as few of these questions as you want.
1. Easily the most important question: I've been offered two apartments by my company, one in the city center of Amsterdam, and one in Utrecht (I would have to commute to Amsterdam every day). Which one would you take?
2. How do guys my age (just out of college) dress?
3. What's the dating scene like in Amsterdam and Utrecht?
4. Is it worth getting a car, or will a bike do?
5. Sinterklaas vs. Christmas, which is more fun?
6. What do most people drink (assuming beer, but you never know)?
7. What are some popular foods there?
8. This is a really random question, but it's something I've been wondering for a while. I know the Dutch have a thing for milk, but what are we talking here? Skim? Whole? Low fat?
9. How common are beards? Just wondering because I like to keep a light full beard
Last edited by netheramerican; 12-26-2014 at 10:44 AM..
1. Easily the most important question: I've been offered two apartments by my company, one in the city center of Amsterdam, and one in Utrecht (I would have to commute to Amsterdam every day). Which one would you take?
Always live as close to work as possible.
2. How do guys my age (just out of college) dress?
Google images
3. What's the dating scene like in Amsterdam and Utrecht?
They are large, major cities with universities and companies. What do you think?
4. Is it worth getting a car, or will a bike do?
How far do you plan to go? If it is too far for a bicycle and there is no train, a car might come in handy.
5. Sinterklaas vs. Christmas, which is more fun?
Entirely subjective. Mostly irrelevant.
6. What do most people drink (assuming beer, but you never know)?
Mostly alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. But there are several internationally famous brands of beer and spirits from the netherlands.
7. What are some popular foods there?
Cheese sandwiches. Herrings. Everything else.
8. This is a really random question, but it's something I've been wondering for a while. I know the Dutch have a thing for milk, but what are we talking here? Skim? Whole? Low fat?
All of the above. Are these questions a joke?
9. How common are beards? Just wondering because I like to keep a light full beard
Don't you dare! Oh, just kidding, go ahead.
I get the feeling you have never left your home village from these questions. Have fun.
OP, you can't know everything about a place in advance. You just have to go there, take the plunge, and find out after you arrive. How to dress, you can look up online. Skinny jeans are in all over northern Europe.
You can Google around, and see if you can find a forum for Holland. If you're this helpless, I worry about you coping with life in a foreign country. But your efforts to learn the language partially redeem you.
i find mixed drinks are hard to find (for the missus) beer is everywhere. they sell 6 packs of grolsch in the movie theaters. in bottles.
krokets, belgian fries, kibbeling, haring. street meat! dont be a wuss. just stick it in your mouth and chew. your forefathers beat up on nazis and indians some horsemeat wont kill ya.
chocolate and regular
not common. needs to be neat. cant be looking like a fur trapper.
at work men wear suits. not every one of them but way more than i was used to.
skinny jeans - wear denim on your bike in the rain. BOOM - skinny jeans.
when offered space cake, only eat half.
dont buy cocaine from street dealers
appearance is very important if you wanna be taken seriously as a foreign tongue speaking young man in the hash capital of the world. wear shorts and sneakers and forget it. you're just another dirty backpacking dopehead.
try it when you get there. go to the same store, once in your "yo bro - dude" get up and once in your "mr netheramerican was my father but you can call me sir" outfit and see how you get treated
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