I’ve pointed out before that one of the things I like about the Dutch is that they ride bicycles. And it’s not just that it’s politically correct, non-polluting, and good exercise. I’ve lived here for 15 years, and the way the Dutch use their bicycles never ceases to amaze me. For example, to the Dutch…
The Dutch weather service reported predicted ice thickness along with weather forecasts.
Everywhere we’ve gone so far, there have been very few foreign tourists like us. Most of the tourists — and in some places all of the tourists — are Chinese. Sometimes they’re in pairs or families, sometimes in groups. When they’re in a group, even if it’s just 5 or 6 people, they hire a…
Note added in December 2019: I wrote the following article years ago in Hancheng, China, and I see now how terribly judgemental I was about toilets in China. I’ve added some tips and comments to update it a bit. My message now is: be aware of how you communicate and behave around the issue of…
When I started teaching a class in intercultural communication this past year at the teacher training college, I didn’t actually know anything about it. Or rather, I didn’t know any of the theory, but I’d had a whole lot of practice. I had plenty of anecdotes to share, for example, about differences in expectations and…
In my last entry, I mentioned how it seemed to me that the Chinese have wholeheartedly embraced conspicuous consumption. Visiting the Forbidden City the other day emphasized that for me. You could say that the emperors of pre-revolutionary China were the originators of the concept for this part of the world. They represent the ultimate…
We were in Rome yesterday and the day before, but apparently so were representatives of the G8 nations and other VIPs. Sights/sites closed or opened arbitrarily to accommodate their whistle-stop visits. A note from 2020: I wrote this post back in 2009, one of my earliest ones. I usually try to keep my articles useful…
I’ve received a couple of complaints – one from Albert, my husband, and one from Robert, a colleague and friend – that I complain too much about Holland in my blog. Well, first of all, in my defence, I’d like to point out that writing a rant is far more fun than writing about good…
Here’s something I wrote about five years ago, but it still applies! How to Be Dutch There’s been a lot of talk in Holland lately about immigrants and about how and how much we should adapt ourselves into the Dutch culture. Clearly we need to learn Dutch, no question about that. But there’s more to…
I’m sure there are plenty of rude supermarket shoppers the world over, but this is something that’s happened to me numerous times here in Holland: I’m in line at the check-out. They’ve just opened up the line, so I’m the first one there. I start unloading the groceries from my cart (a week’s worth for…
