by Willem van Hoorn | Sep 5, 2022 | Dutch Culture, Expats Netherlands, Settling In
I once witnessed a little incident, dear friends. And it gave me quite a bit of food for thought. I will detail the incident first, and then share the little contemplation that it brought to me. I was in The Hague for a work meeting. My way back home started in a...
by Willem van Hoorn | Jul 4, 2022 | Dutch Culture, Expats Netherlands, Settling In
I’ve mentioned it in earlier blog posts: when you talk cultural differences, you talk ‘comparison’. The characteristics of a particular culture are usually not defined in absolute terms, but in relation to other cultures. A culture is more this or that compared to...
by Willem van Hoorn | Apr 4, 2022 | Dutch Culture, Expats Netherlands, Settling In
Soon after the publication of this blog post, the ‘Keukenhof’ will once again open its doors to the public, after a long winter break. And when I say ‘Keukenhof’ (pronunciation: [ˈkøːkə(n)ˌɦɔf]), I also say ‘one of the best known Dutch tourist attractions’. It is...
by Willem van Hoorn | Feb 23, 2022 | Dutch Culture, Settling In
A recommendation that I sometimes give to international friends and colleagues is this one: ‘If you want to start a conversation with a Dutchman, just say something about the weather. Before you know it you will have a conversation going on’. The weather makes a...
by Willem van Hoorn | Oct 4, 2021 | Dutch Culture, Settling In
(A calendar as the backbone for living your life) Sometimes, in a new culture, people come across habits or ways of doing things that they’re not used to: a cultural difference. And in response they may show different reactions. On the one hand there may be curiosity...
