Comments on: How to be Dutch https://rachelsruminations.com/how-to-be-dutch/ Taking the road less traveled Sun, 03 Jun 2018 17:54:22 +0000 hourly 1 By: Rachel Heller https://rachelsruminations.com/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-8663 Fri, 19 Feb 2016 06:32:47 +0000 http://rachela.edublogs.org/2007/03/04/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-8663 In reply to Jessica de Korte.

I don’t know if you’ve read my posts on Zwarte Poet, but you’re right: complete denial!

]]> By: Jessica de Korte https://rachelsruminations.com/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-8659 Thu, 18 Feb 2016 21:09:23 +0000 http://rachela.edublogs.org/2007/03/04/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-8659 In reply to Danielle.

‘They’ (I am one of them, oops) always have their opinion about Ireland as well. My boyfriend is Irish. He loves to hear stories about how backwards his country is, how better it is to live in Holland… But don’t talk about the colony time, or Zwarte Piet.

]]> By: Danielle https://rachelsruminations.com/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-4 Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:28:42 +0000 http://rachela.edublogs.org/2007/03/04/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-4 Don’t forget the sitting in a circle thing at Dutch gatherings – no matter how small the living room, all the chairs that can be found within the house are put into a circle around the coffee table. find a chair and whatever you do, do not vacate it or it will be gone….sit in the same circle for hours and hours…converse, mention gezelligheid, smile and nod politely when Dutch people go on at length about how terrible Americans and America are (say “why do you think I left and moved here?” – this gratifies them and shuts them up)…but if you really wanna stir things up, do what Rachel and I did, and hide the extra chairs!! Wait for the reactions when ther is no place to sit and they must stand and mingle!! I’ve actually had neighbours go home and bring their own dining room chairs….gotta love it!!

]]> By: Brian https://rachelsruminations.com/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-3 Sun, 04 Mar 2007 19:28:55 +0000 http://rachela.edublogs.org/2007/03/04/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-3 Rachel,

How about?:
Always enjoy your celebrations with friends and family the same way: start with coffee with huge cream cakes. Wait twenty minutes. Be offered another cup of coffee – NEVER ask for a third cup; the world will end. Wait twenty minutes. Be offered a beer or some wine out of a dripping wet glass. This is followed by piling the table with nuts, crisps, cheese and enough other snacks to be able to feed a small village. Wait twenty minutes. Be offered a second drink. Wait twenty minutes. The table will be replenished with another village’s food supply. Whatever happens always comment about how gezellig it all is. Last of all; don’t fotget that whatever the topic a Dutchman will always have an opinion.

Lots of luck with your blog

Brian

PS The gentle art of negotiation would be a reasoble translation of overleggen.

]]> By: Julia https://rachelsruminations.com/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-2 Sun, 04 Mar 2007 18:07:19 +0000 http://rachela.edublogs.org/2007/03/04/how-to-be-dutch/#comment-2 How to be Georgian:
1. Have your children apply to the University of Georgia and walk around saying, “How ‘bout them dawgs,” “Let the big dawg eat,” and “Who let the dawgs out?” Put a concrete red and black bulldog in your front yard. Why not two?
2. When the weather report calls for freezing rain (or snow, as we might get 1 day per yr), haul as fast as you can drive to the nearest grocery store and buy at least 3 gallons of milk and 2 loaves of white bread.
3. When people leave your house, stand in the front yard and wave goodbye until they are out of site. Then talk about them.
4. Sugar in tea and coffee is not an option.
5. Two-wheel riding is primarily reserved for the 10 and under crowd. (Except for my son, who at 14 rides to school every day and everyone things it is quite a novel idea.)
By the way, my daughter just got accepted to the Georgia Institute of Technology—engineering school-top 5 in the nation!!!! Beauty AND Brains, what can I say? Definitely not a UGA fan!

]]>