UNEXPECTED THINGS ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS (dutch culture shock)

In this episode, Michelle and Alex discuss the stranger side of the Netherlands. They (very obviously) love living in the Netherlands, but in this video, they'll talk about some of the surprising and unexpected things that they've learned about the Netherlands only after moving here.

Episode 94 · Filmed on September 18, 2023 · Dordrecht, The Netherlands

0:00 Introduction
0:26 Number 10
1:17 Number 9
2:05 Number 8
3:13 Number 7
4:20 Number 6
5:15 Number 5
6:26 Number 4
7:12 Number 3
8:22 Number 2
9:10 Number 1
10:26 Wrap up

#netherlands #expatlife #cultureshock

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WHO IS BUNCHARTED?

We're Michelle and Alex, an American expat couple living abroad in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱

In 2020, we quit our jobs to travel the world, and... well, that didn't happen. So in 2022, we decided to make an even BIGGER change by packing up our lives (and our cats 🐈) and moving from Austin, Texas, in the US, to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Subscribe for new videos like this every week!

[ConnieIsMijnNaam]

A tip for people, especially women, who don’t want the stress about finding a toilet during a day trip: buy a museum-jaarkaart. Then every museum turns into a great public toilet. Except on mondays when most museum are closed. Then you are on your own.

[atropatene]

I was in the US once maaany years ago when I was 18 or something. I was invited to a birthday party. I didn't know anyone so I started shaking everyone's hand, congratulating them and inteoducing myself and how I knew the birthday guy. All of them looked at me like i was crazy and told me it wasn't their birthday party. And I was like ok duh I just told you how I know Alex, I know it is his birthday not yours. And then much later I found out that this isn't normal in most of the world. Oops.

[dagmarhoendervanger-gankem]

The reason why I always try to be the first person to arrive at a birthday party? So I don't have to congratulate everybody when I come in and make a huge round but they come to me because I was already there🤣

[nivilla]

We're a boston couple that relocated to eindhoven. Its so awesome watching your shows now that we are actually here. This country is a dream!!

[basvanderwerff]

How those towel dispensers work is they reroll themself on a different spindle inside (it basicly a one way VHS) so when it all used, a new roll gets put in and the other one gets taken and washed.

[bassuijkerbuijk]

Actually the reason bikers feel safer in the Netherlands is that there’s this traffic law (article 185) that calls them the ‘zwakke verkeersdeelnemer’. This puts a lot of the liability on the ‘stronger’ traffic like cars, busses, lorries etc., because weaker traffickers can be hurt easier.
And btw: goeie goeiemorgen zeg!

[casperrozenboom]

Your 'Goedemorgens' are getting better every episode!

[EdwinHofstra]

We also offer our condolences to everyone at a funeral, including the coffee waiter, whom we usually mistake for som distant cousin we haven't seen in a while. ("Can't he wear something other than black? It's a funeral! Try to stand out if you're staff.")
Seriously, some things are lost in translation. We don't say birthday, we say verjaardag (anniversery) which literally means the day one becomes one year old, not older. The custom dates back to times when 50% of newborns would die within the first year. If they survived that, neighbours, friends and family would gather at the infants house and convey their happiness (felicitations) to every member of the family as well as any other who cared enough to show up.
Celebrating every following birthday past the first came later, as did the habit of including the birthday-boy or -girl in the round of felicitations.
The first year they would've just stared at you wild-eyed and smacked their lips, which isn't very satisfying.

[gmdiona]

Have you experienced the Dutch Birthday Circle yet?
When the friends and family come over they start with a little circle of chairs in the living room. Then some more folks come, chairs are pulled up and added to the circle, which is now a bit larger. And then some more folks, and chairs. Sometimes the chairs from the shed in the garden needs to be collected as well, and fitting the circle in the livingroom becomes really tight. Until some new folks come and it does not exactly fit anymore, but some others are stuffed on bitterballen anyway so they go home and the chairs get new occupants.
And eventually, as the birthday party ends, the circle will get smaller again because the empty chairs will be removed. Empty chairs are not gezellig, at least that is what my grandma used to say.
It never seemed weird to me, until a friend who was not Dutch was being flabbergasted about that weird ritual.

[zomerkoningin]

Someone else mentioned it already. Stoofvlees isn't usually prepared with horsemeat but with beef. Eating horsemeat isn't usual at all. What I can get in the supermarket is sometimes "paardenrookvlees" which is meat to put on top of your sandwich. That's all.

[ronaldderooij]

Congratulating everybody is because you must assume that everybody present is happy that the one having the birthday is getting a year older. Besides that, it also is a good way of introduction to the group. It makes mixing in easier.

[Blackadder]

the congratulating thing with birthdays is very alien to my Dutch family, we never do that and I never encountered it until I was an adult and lived on my own in a different part of the country.
my family only says congratulations to the actual birthday boy or girl (no matter their age)

[peli]

The origin of “iedereen feliciteren” lies in the decency to greet everyone in person. Over the years this has evolved from saying hi to gefeliciteerd. Even with the three kisses 😊 To make things more complicated, there are some cultural differences within the country. In Limburg feliciteer je alleen de jarige.

[timandkt]

New (American) subscribers here! After spending ten days in Kaatsheuvel, Sevenum and Amsterdam on a recent trip - and coincidentally stumbling across roughly half of the items on your ‘unexpected’ things list - we fell in love with the Netherlands and are genuinely hoping to move there in a few years’ time. 🥹 Loving all of your pro tips and experience vlogs! We’re working our way back through your past videos to get as much intel as possible haha excited to follow along with your journey as expats!

[noabakker]

You guys are looking more healty and glowing each vid .

[velovoice]

Kinda felt old when you hit the bathroom infinity towel - because that was the default in public restrooms in the USA when I was a kid (1970s). Paper towel dispensers were a whole new type of magic.

[nielsdebakker]

At the butcher you can/could find paardenrookvlees, it is sweeter than the normal rookvlees. There is also paardenbiefstuk (horse steak).

[AlYahudiyya]

I have lived in New York City for almost 24 years now, but I am originally from (first Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht and then) Dordrecht, and I really love seeing all those familiar places in Dordt...!

[gjalie]

Did you hear about the Brit meeting a Dutch Horse breeder?
Brit: What do you do for a living?
Dutchie: i fok horses.
Brit: Pardon!?
Dutchie: Yes! paarden.
😄

[BKT]

6:39 I mean, surviving a full year is quite amazing when you think of it.. but also, "feliciteren" (coming from the French féliciter) means to wish someone luck, which makes a bit more sense. Although it's also used to congratulate someone with an accomplishment, which can be confusing for people who use different words for those two things in their native language.
By the way, some Dutch-speaking people would say "Proficiat!" instead (from the Latin proficere, making progress), but I believe that's more common in the southern regions.

Regarding what was said about congratulating everyone at the party, maybe there are people who do that but in my experience it's usually limited to family members / spouses etc. And it probably varies a bit what kind of crowd it is. But it certainly is a thing. I sometimes send friends a message for their kid's birthday, maybe you could see it a bit as an extension of that.