Do you feel FREE in the NETHERLANDS?

What is FREEDOM like in the Netherlands? Do you feel FREE?

That's the question we asked to foreigners/expats in the Netherlands.

At the 5th of May (5 mei) we celebrate Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) - to mark the end of the occupation by Germany in World War II. The 4th of May (4 mei) is 'Dodenherdenking' Remembrance of the Dead - to remember those who gave their lives so we can live in freedom.

More #dutchculture videos in the following playlist:

Video produced by:
Bart de Pau
(online Dutch teacher and founder of the Dutch Summer School)

Editing: Nicolas Balbontin, Claudia Macchiavelli
Music used under license: Mehilovesound

Video was recorded at the BLC Dutch Summer School in Amsterdam

To know more about our:

[jonnysmokesmusic]

I moved to Holland from America and never felt more free or safe to express myself. People here are generally respectful and intelligent so they don’t jump to negative conclusions so quickly. Ik hou van Holland!

[bakvetteef]

In my opinion the Dutch are easy (I think most of us dutchies think about it this way). You are welcome and free to believe what you want as long as you dont hurt other people with your believes and dont attack anyone because YOU think it shouldnt be that way. As long as you dont cause any harm in any sort of way believe what you want to believe en be who you want to be.

[bUtLUtu]

well shit, had niet verwacht dat mijn land zo opgehemeld zou worden.

[modaluxa]

I've been living in The Netherlands for almost 2 years now. I've lived in Enschede and in Rotterdam, so I've experienced 2 completely different sides of the same country. Always felt free so far. I've heard a lot that things are not really as they look, but I've never felt directly that. The Netherlands is an amazing country, and if all this emigrants feel free and safe it is also because they can compare it to their own country. Most of dutch people I hear complaining about the country never lived in other place to understand how blessed they are to live here 😊 of course not everything is perfect, but there are no perfect countries.

[DorianTheReaper]

The american called us the country with most freedom. Thats one thing i never expected an american to say. Its true tho.

[PoiColle]

"We are united in diversity"
Thats a beautifull line.

[casperhermans]

I'm just happy that we're giving these people the feeling that they're welcome, which they absolutely are. Thanks for these kind words.

[taniathewise]

I fell in love of how Dutch people treat others, they are so polite and friendly, always willing to help, honest and hard working people. And as a woman that lives in Spain I can definitely say that I was treated way better by Dutch males than Spanish ones.

[Semmy-bvph]

After travelling a lot around the world for decades, this is the reason why I was always happy to be back in NL. Seeing this realizes me not to take the freedom we have in NL for granted. A lot of people in other countries would wish they had this freedom.

[fijnman]

*"Dat zijn de regels meneer."* LMAO

[ClaudeSac]

In my 53rd year of being Dutch, I am still so very grateful for having been born here.

[PeterM_K]

Most of the people in the comments saying they do not feel free have not experienced other countries... No it is not perfect, yes we are ways ahead of many countries.

[gerbentvandeveen]

Nederland is een land dat open staat voor iedereen, maar we willen geen geloofs oorlog.!
Iedereen is hier vrij, en laten we dat zo houden.

[mischake]

United in diversity, that's what I've been saying for the longest time now. Let's celebrate our differences through the things we have in common

[cristina_garcia]

Well, I think that the Netherlands is a free country that let you in, and I think that young people is very tolerant with other nationalities. But I also think that if someone wants to live there in a long term, they have to follow strict rules and laws. And we can't ignore that in all countries there's a bit of xenofobia and if something bad happens, foreigners are the first ones to be accused of all trash. I'm Spanish and it's similar here. It's true that we are more welcoming and that we also accept people who don't have a legal visum. We try to help them as long as we make the situation legal. Most part of them stay here forever. In the other hand, immigrants are seen as one of the causes of low salaries, because they're very poor and accept any kind of job even if it is paid very little. I'm very sorry for them. And some people see immigrants as the increase of robberies and stealing personal objects, specially money. I have never been to the Netherlands, but I guess that the situation is similar as it is a country with a high quality of life and it receives a lot of immigrants. Of course it is a tolerant country like Spain, but it is simple to ignore the complexity of reality and the thinking of people. There is a big part that accepts foreigners as long as they respect the culture of the Netherlands, but there's another part who doesn't look with good eyes to immigration. So freedom is there, but there's always a tension behind it. I can only explain my vision as a Spanish woman who has many immigrant friends.

[pornsiribordeerath]

I’ve never been to the Netherlands but I already fell in love with this country. Wish I could live there 🌈

[linacomet]

Ik hou van Nederland ❤️ I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to live there sometimes. My goal is to permanently live in the Netherlands. It is a dream country.

[CrownRider]

Now and then this video pops up every quarter or so. It reminds me that we have to nurture our freedom here in the Netherlands. We actively have to protect our freedom.

[oliverkalali]

With that background music, it doesn't seem like the creater was looking to investigate different sides of the matter, however, this topic is very important to me and I'm thinking if the mentioned freedom might be contradictory to the "just be normal" attitude which the Dutch people have, according to this channel's other videos.

To me, "be normal" means you're not free to be or behave whatever you wish.

I'll be thankful for more insight about this question.

[x-raycat]

I visited Blaricum in the mid-seventies for the summer I learned how to sail and have been sailing and boating ever since I've always remembered how friendly the people were