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...
by Willem van Hoorn | Sep 11, 2021 | Dutch Culture, Settling In
(Or: a quick look into the Dutch government and parliament). Roughly two weeks ago, to be precise: on Tuesday, September 16th, such ‘pomp’ and tradition as still surrounds the Dutch parliament and royal house was displayed once again during ‘Prinsjesdag’ (Little...
by Willem van Hoorn | May 29, 2021 | Dutch Culture, Settling In
In the introduction of another blog, , I mentioned how low the Netherlands are. The name itself indeed already indicates that, as it means nothing other than ‘the Low Countries’. We didn’t look any further at it then, but today we will. We will look a bit at the...
by Willem van Hoorn | Mar 2, 2021 | Dutch Culture, Settling In
If you would, for instance, be in New York and ask where to find a particular store, someone could tell you to go to the intersection of 42nd street and 7th Avenue. That is not the sort of answer you are likely to get in the Netherlands. As opposed to for instance, in...
