What is your opinion about the Dutch? It seems a bit ... corny to ask, but I wonder whether the stereotypes which exist about the Dutch are also common in Canada.
What is your opinion about the Dutch?
- Thread starter Rick van Opbergen
- Start date
Well since my grandfathers brother was part of liberating holland in the second world war, and of course stories are big part of peapods life, I always heard good things about the dutch people. Especially about their gratitude and kindness. Also who does not like mass tulip plantings and blue deft.
I have found that each Dutch person I have ever met (quite a few) has an unusually good sense of humour, sharp wit, above-average grasp on world affairs, and very strong opinions. They are always fun to be around, and they have an open way of looking at things that I appreciate. They like to get into political arguments, they don't easily tolerate fools, and they are somewhat 'creative' in business dealings.
fubbelskag did mention some good stereotypes (especially the wooden shoes, we all wear them :wink: ) The kindness and gratitude are more and more becoming something of the past I'm afraid peapod - Dutch society is changing 
Haggis I do have to say you are the first person who mentions our humour - didn't know we had such a good sense of humour.
Because of your reactions I will share my view on Canadians (or how Canada is portrayed as on this side of the pond). Now, a lot of Dutch people "know" Canada, but I don't think a lot of people can identify it with something. Of course there is the Mountain Police, typically Canadian, as well as a country of incredible nature, forests, lakes, mountains, prairies and so on. Personally - and I hope I do not offend you by this - I always look at Canadians as the Europeans of North America, for I always have the feeling Canadians share a lot of views which are similar to European views, secular (socialist) views, a country that seems to be so much different compared to its neighbour (the USA). According to a friend, it can also be considered as a country where the English language has some sort of weird accent :wink: , with éh and aboet (according to him that is). And I see it as a country where a lot of Dutchmen went to (I thought some 500,000 Dutchmen - including offspring - live in Canada), and as a country where people don't have the necessity to lock their doors (Bowling for Columbine :wink: ).
Haggis I do have to say you are the first person who mentions our humour - didn't know we had such a good sense of humour. Because of your reactions I will share my view on Canadians (or how Canada is portrayed as on this side of the pond). Now, a lot of Dutch people "know" Canada, but I don't think a lot of people can identify it with something. Of course there is the Mountain Police, typically Canadian, as well as a country of incredible nature, forests, lakes, mountains, prairies and so on. Personally - and I hope I do not offend you by this - I always look at Canadians as the Europeans of North America, for I always have the feeling Canadians share a lot of views which are similar to European views, secular (socialist) views, a country that seems to be so much different compared to its neighbour (the USA). According to a friend, it can also be considered as a country where the English language has some sort of weird accent :wink: , with éh and aboet (according to him that is). And I see it as a country where a lot of Dutchmen went to (I thought some 500,000 Dutchmen - including offspring - live in Canada), and as a country where people don't have the necessity to lock their doors (Bowling for Columbine :wink: ).
Thanks for your remarks, you now have given me a new phrase that I will use....mountain police :lol: :lol: I love it, and so true out here in british columbia where we have nothing but mountains. They call them the royal canadian mounted police, but now I like mountain police better 8)
Speaking of dutch, how odd...first the time thing...now this is my spring cleaning day...clean the whole place from top to bottom, right now I am cleaning my bathroom and guess what? I am using dutch cleanser...really truly I am....I think I will buy a lottery ticket today 8)
Speaking of dutch, how odd...first the time thing...now this is my spring cleaning day...clean the whole place from top to bottom, right now I am cleaning my bathroom and guess what? I am using dutch cleanser...really truly I am....I think I will buy a lottery ticket today 8)
Oh you call it Mounted Police. Whoops But come on, they always end up in the Rockies, not, in every adventure in every TV-show, cartoon etc.?
First the reply after exactly 12 hours on another thread, now the Dutch cleanser ... go buy that lottery ticket NOW! :wink:
But come on, they always end up in the Rockies, not, in every adventure in every TV-show, cartoon etc.?First the reply after exactly 12 hours on another thread, now the Dutch cleanser ... go buy that lottery ticket NOW! :wink:
Yes I am going to that right now! and the mountain police is much better 8) And most of the time they never get their man, they do get a man, but its usually the wrong one :wink:
One thing many people like to do on Vancouver island is fish. My whole family fish, in fact thats about what we do most of the time. My dumb ass brother (a term of endearment) is always quoting and spouting crabby Joe the fisherman... he applies fishing to many of the things he sees around him...for instances here is one is one of his observations 8)
I was at the mall, sitting in the food court, sipping on a coffee while I waited for the cobbler to put new soles on my wing-tips. I'd already done the word jumble and the search-a-word when I looked up and saw this kid with an amazing number of fish-hooks in his ears and eyebrows! I’m not sure, but I think that he may have even had one stuck in his nose!
Now I've done a fair bit of fishing in my lifetime, and I've got my share of hooks pierced through my skin. And yes, they hurt like a dang. Bob Takahashi has even caught me a few times with his pitiful casting techniques, but only one hook at a time. Now I don't know what kind of fishing accident this kid was in, but it must have been painful! Maybe he fell face-first into the tacklebox? There were so many hooks in this kid's face that the surgeon probably couldn't remove them without tearing the boy's ears out.
Maybe this kid was herring fishing, or possibly jigging for cod. Who knows, maybe he was at some sort of crazy fishing derby where people have no idea how to fly cast!
I was feeling sorry for him. He'll never be able to wear earmuffs or those furry hats with the flaps on the sides.
But then my thinking changed. This kid never gave up! Hooks had caught him over a dozen times, but he never threw in the towel! He loved his fishing and kept at it! He had more hooks in his face than I have on my fishing hat, but he didn’t let that stop him. He must've stood tall and kept fishing!
That boy may have to spend his allowance on Bactine, but he sure made me proud to be an Canadian.
I was at the mall, sitting in the food court, sipping on a coffee while I waited for the cobbler to put new soles on my wing-tips. I'd already done the word jumble and the search-a-word when I looked up and saw this kid with an amazing number of fish-hooks in his ears and eyebrows! I’m not sure, but I think that he may have even had one stuck in his nose!
Now I've done a fair bit of fishing in my lifetime, and I've got my share of hooks pierced through my skin. And yes, they hurt like a dang. Bob Takahashi has even caught me a few times with his pitiful casting techniques, but only one hook at a time. Now I don't know what kind of fishing accident this kid was in, but it must have been painful! Maybe he fell face-first into the tacklebox? There were so many hooks in this kid's face that the surgeon probably couldn't remove them without tearing the boy's ears out.
Maybe this kid was herring fishing, or possibly jigging for cod. Who knows, maybe he was at some sort of crazy fishing derby where people have no idea how to fly cast!
I was feeling sorry for him. He'll never be able to wear earmuffs or those furry hats with the flaps on the sides.
But then my thinking changed. This kid never gave up! Hooks had caught him over a dozen times, but he never threw in the towel! He loved his fishing and kept at it! He had more hooks in his face than I have on my fishing hat, but he didn’t let that stop him. He must've stood tall and kept fishing!
That boy may have to spend his allowance on Bactine, but he sure made me proud to be an Canadian.
One thing I never did understand about the Dutch... how come they call themselves that? I mean, they live in Holland, or the Netherlands, right? Canadians live in Canada, the French live in France, the Spanish in Spain... see the pattern? Then along come the Dutch who just screw it up.
Don't get me started on the Finns. Everyone knows they live in Finland, right? So how come their hockey jerseys say "Suomi"?
:?
The Dutch have windmills, cheese, dikes, those cute white hats with the wing-like projections, and everybody rides bikes wherever they go.
My parents loved Holland when they went there several years ago, and next spring one of my cousins is marrying a girl he met there.
I think the most prevalent image we have of the Dutch is that they are very friendly and hospitable - especially to Canadians.
Don't get me started on the Finns. Everyone knows they live in Finland, right? So how come their hockey jerseys say "Suomi"?
:?
The Dutch have windmills, cheese, dikes, those cute white hats with the wing-like projections, and everybody rides bikes wherever they go.
My parents loved Holland when they went there several years ago, and next spring one of my cousins is marrying a girl he met there.
I think the most prevalent image we have of the Dutch is that they are very friendly and hospitable - especially to Canadians.
Where is bjork from? Is it finland? she rocks! I really like her, unusual, and not packaged 8) and a great wardrobe.
The dutch also seems to have some of the greatest painters around to.
The dutch also seems to have some of the greatest painters around to.
little...well I am not sure what you are now? are you this slow all the time? if so than your bragging is just that "bragging". As in fishing which is much about bragging, the person who usually brags as "little" to offer in the way of proof 8)
Guess I am just posting to myself again 8) my own personal diary. Sparky has aquired photoshop, so now I am bombared by picutures from her. I know they are altered so why bother? most of all they are not even funny. I am washing my kitchen floor and she calls me, she can hardly speak, she is laughing so hard, she tells me to check my mail and see his works of art. God, why do I have to endure this kind of stuff? Hopefully just like the lego set she got last month, this to shall pass and photoshop will end up in the toybox with lego.
Oh..yes my reason for writing this...rick, once I was laying around on the couch, reading a book, a breeze might have been fluttering
( a touch of whismy there}.....anyway the tv was on and this voice started talking....after about a minute I put the book down to look at this person, I could not believe what was coming out of her mouth. Her name was sister Wendy Beckett. She had a series on televsion about great works of art. This women could make anyone interested in art, she was so unbelievable and amazing, she could articulate and express beauty and meaning about paintings. Her voice felt like something spiritual and she was a odd looking person, but her inner beauty blinded you. She was so humble....ah...what am I her agent?...anyway one thing unique about her was that she was a nun, so not only did express her knowledge of art, and her preceptions, but also a religious one in the most refreshing way. I wish they would bring her back
I will cut and paste her impression of one of vermeer's painting, which will give an idea of what she is like, but you need the whole picture to see how extrodinary she is. Ok here is sister wendy beckett commentary on light depicted in vermeer's "young women with a water jug"
"The gate that silence opens up within us leads to light. Light exposes with an almost merciless radiance and, in the exposure, reveals the beauty of the real. Vermeer always painted this holy light. He may seem, on first looking, to be depicting a young women, standing at a half-opened window, wrapped peacefully in her own thoughts, but she and her surroundings are merely the pretext. Vermeer's intensity is focused on the light itself, only visible to us as it falls on the material world. It shimmers on the woman's white headdress, glimmers on the copper of the jug and ewer, gleams with ineffable softness on the walls. Every element in the painting celebrates the presence of light, revealing and transforming. No painter has ever believed more totally in light than Vermeer - and hence the profoundly contemplative nature of his art."
She does most of vermeer paintings, and talks on all aspects of his work. I will try and find the website that has her writings on vermeer.
Ok now I gotta go and vaccum and stuff like that...I hate spring cleaning, but dutch cleanser is good.
Oh..yes my reason for writing this...rick, once I was laying around on the couch, reading a book, a breeze might have been fluttering
( a touch of whismy there}.....anyway the tv was on and this voice started talking....after about a minute I put the book down to look at this person, I could not believe what was coming out of her mouth. Her name was sister Wendy Beckett. She had a series on televsion about great works of art. This women could make anyone interested in art, she was so unbelievable and amazing, she could articulate and express beauty and meaning about paintings. Her voice felt like something spiritual and she was a odd looking person, but her inner beauty blinded you. She was so humble....ah...what am I her agent?...anyway one thing unique about her was that she was a nun, so not only did express her knowledge of art, and her preceptions, but also a religious one in the most refreshing way. I wish they would bring her back
I will cut and paste her impression of one of vermeer's painting, which will give an idea of what she is like, but you need the whole picture to see how extrodinary she is. Ok here is sister wendy beckett commentary on light depicted in vermeer's "young women with a water jug"
"The gate that silence opens up within us leads to light. Light exposes with an almost merciless radiance and, in the exposure, reveals the beauty of the real. Vermeer always painted this holy light. He may seem, on first looking, to be depicting a young women, standing at a half-opened window, wrapped peacefully in her own thoughts, but she and her surroundings are merely the pretext. Vermeer's intensity is focused on the light itself, only visible to us as it falls on the material world. It shimmers on the woman's white headdress, glimmers on the copper of the jug and ewer, gleams with ineffable softness on the walls. Every element in the painting celebrates the presence of light, revealing and transforming. No painter has ever believed more totally in light than Vermeer - and hence the profoundly contemplative nature of his art."
She does most of vermeer paintings, and talks on all aspects of his work. I will try and find the website that has her writings on vermeer.
Ok now I gotta go and vaccum and stuff like that...I hate spring cleaning, but dutch cleanser is good.
May I remind you the English (or the English language) calls us "Dutch". :wink: We call ourselves in our own language "Nederlanders", as we live in "Nederland" (the Dutch translation of the Netherlands); for the Dutch people who say they live in "Holland" (both the same in the English and the Dutch language), they are "Hollanders". 8) Good stereotypes by the way: we do have windmills, but there are few nowadays. Oh yeah we do love cheese. We also have a lot of dikes, I agree ("dike" comes from the Dutch word "dijk" by the way, we call them "dijken" (plural)), but the number of people wearing those white hats is VERY small :lol: And you are right about the bikes.LadyC said:
Peapod: Bjork is from Iceland. 8) And that was a nice story, I've personally never heard of sister Wendy Beckett before, but I'll check it out on the Internet! Thanks! (and good luck with your spring cleaning :wink: )
I have been to the Netherlands a couple of times, and enjoyed my experience immensly. I had the good fortune to visit as a young girl on the anniversary of the liberation, and I have NEVER been treated so nicely just on the basis of my nationality. Most recently I was there when I was 18, and only had 7 hours at the airport.
If you ever get a chance to visit, go!!!! I'm sure you can stay with Rick.
I have to say, one of the most haunting experiences I have ever had was going to the Anne Frank house, and one of the most incredible was the Van Gogh museum. And I still remember the way the country side looked from the plane. Beautiful.
The Netherlands rock.
If you ever get a chance to visit, go!!!! I'm sure you can stay with Rick.
I have to say, one of the most haunting experiences I have ever had was going to the Anne Frank house, and one of the most incredible was the Van Gogh museum. And I still remember the way the country side looked from the plane. Beautiful.
The Netherlands rock.
You're flattering me Jillyvn :thumbleft: I suddenly realise I've never been in the Anne Frank house...