10 things you may like to know about the Dutch

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Aad van den Berg
  1. “Lekker” (nice or tasty) and “gezellig” (cozy) are often used in the Dutch language! People often make an effort to make it “gezellig”and make sure that everything they make is “lekker”. !
  2. “Drop” (liquorice) is probaly the most popular sweet! An average of 4 kilo per person per year is eaten.
  3. “Haring” (herring) is a popular raw fish snack and is traditionally eaten hole hanging over the mouth holding it’s tail. haring
  4.  At home people have their dinner between 18-19 hours and in restaurants                 usually an hour later. As a result most restaurants kitchen will be closed after 22:30 hours.
  5. Marihuana is classified as a soft drug and legal to buy in small quantities. “Coffeshops” are special cafés where one can buy cigarettes filled with tabac and marihuana.
  6. When meeting friends and family of the opposite sex it is tradition to kiss 3 times on the cheek starting with the right cheek.
  7. When a baby is born, visitors are treated with a “beschuit met muisjes“, (biscuits with fruit flavored sprinkles) blue for a boy and pink for a girl.images
  8. Prostitution is a legal profession and is allowed behind shop windows in designated areas in practically every town in the country.
  9. Ice skating is one of most popular winter sport with the highlight (extreme weather conditions allowing), the “eleven town race”. In the Northern province of Friesland there are 11 towns wich are connected by canals and rivers. When these freeze over a race is held, the total number of kilometers is nearly 200 !
  10. Cycling is the nation way of transport with many people owning more then one bike.fietsen-578-1
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One Response to 10 things you may like to know about the Dutch

  1. WILHELMINA BLOM says:
    December 10, 2013 at 05:42

    Thanks Aad, I remember all these “typical Dutch” sayings and habits.
    It was fun reading about old memories! The herring sounds delicious!!

    Warm regards,
    Willy

    Reply

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