REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK: 5 American things I find weird after living in the Netherlands
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- Since I moved to the Netherlands from the US last year, I have gotten used to Dutch things to the point of experiencing reverse culture shock when I went back to the US. In this video, I talk about 5 American things that are no longer "normal" to me. All part of life in Holland as an American expat!
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I like to share my experiences of an American expat in the Netherlands. I describe both the unique and everyday aspects of Dutch culture, and life in Holland while enjoying every bit of it!
Blog website: www.dutchamericano.com
Instagram: DutchAmericano
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The home owners maintain the buildings, not the government.
What is understood in the Netherlands, is that litter attracts litter.
Once you have things in disrepair and junk, people tend to care less.
So, you need to keep things repaired and clean, and other people will be a lot less likely to make a mess.
The owner can get money from the government if the building (or the view) is considered historical. I believe it's about 40% of the cost of maintaining it.
Also due to planning purposes of available land, there is limited space for real estate. You can’t just let a building go to ruin and simply build something new in a different spot. Those ruins are taking up valuable space.
@@ronrolfsen3977 But those buildings are not owned, managed, or maintained by the government, but by the people who own, manage, and maintain the buildings. These people then, I can imagine, apply for support usually from the municipal government (and not _the_ government), if they cannot afford such maintenance on their own.
In Tallinn, Estonia, the municipal government has had one of those "make façades great" projects to soup up the exteriors of apartment blocs and maybe other buildings, if the owner or the owner's association makes such a request. But such projects in that city remind me a little of shock construction projects (rus. ударная стройка) from the Soviet era.
Here in the US, there is even a difference between the north and south. People really are friendlier in the south, conversation is even more fun and interesting, it looks better kept in the South for the most part, food is cheaper in the south, wages are generally less though. The Netherlands sound awesome.
As an Australian, the biggest culture shock in the USA was seeing signs showing no guns allowed in a cafeteria! It didn't occur to me because no one carries guns here.
In the US you need a gun, if you want to start a mass shooting.
When I visited the USA, the number of beggars and homeless people shocked me. The richest nation in the world, yeah right. Not rich in good works.
USA is a nice place to live if you are rich. If you are not, it is a third world environment. If you pay no taxes, government will not do anything for you, because there is no budget , not even for repairing potholes in the roads.
When I was in Boston M.A. There was a veteran begging, I gave him on my last day there 10 dollars and we sat down and talked for almost an hour and when I left he started crying
Really ??? I never saw one single beggar at the airports in the US, but at Schiphol you can't light a cigarette w/o some asking for one ...
Big, big desparities between the rich and the poor.....its capitalism...the truth
@@jankoevoet4042 That would be an official to give you a fine. Smoking is probihited almost anywhere at Schiphol Amsterdam. Tobacco junkies should go elsewhere.
I am American, but I visit Netherlands often. On returning, the most shocking thing is the high rate of obesity. People generally look sickly as well, which is hard to explain. They just look unwell.
health starts with what you eat.
@@RF-et2kv active transportation is also foundational. They have amazing dedicated cycling infrastructure.
@@eriklakeland3857 yeah we do have and I think he knows sins he is from the Netherlands. I don't even own a bicycle and I'm healthy so I think eating healthy and the work and free time is a big part of the happiness of the Dutch I have my workfoon off when I don't work and don't even think about work. I work to get money to life, I don't life to work.
also comparitively alot more limping, walking canes etc. It seems to me that that's because of the difference in health systems. people choose not to undergo treatment in the us to not go bankrupt is my guess.
True. I had never imagined, much less seen people THAT morbidly obese until I moved to the US. It certainly has to do with y'alls diet choices. So much sugar. So much meat products. I knew someone who was one of these triple plus sized people, and he'd go to his favorite all you can eat food court in the morning. Stayed there all day, just eating eating eating. That's where he went every day.
The reason why in eu the food is beter. Its because the higher foodstandars for food in eu laws.
@Boer de you don't know even what the standards are. Out of your stuppid excample of that crooked banana. Beccause there is no law for that.
The. Standards ho about what kind chemicals can be used, or no hormones, not putting water in a steak, about health and safety, no genetic modified, that if you sell cheese or chocalat you have to sell also rzaly cheese and chocolat in it. That the ingridients in it have to stand op the box.
@Boer de and there you go. Pheeeeeeeeh bomb to the ground. No argument so make it personal. And even there your stuppity wins. Im not from Italy. By the way itzly is a great excample why eu standards are beter. They promote locale food and natural grew foods so the Taste is beter. 👊👊👊👊👊
@Boer de why are you doing it then 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@Boer de for someone living in the EU you are really ignorant about it! No law about bendy bananas......
@Boer de Wat lul jij nou jochie, het klets verhaal over de bananen kwam nota bene van Boris Johnson. Allemaal onzin. En de EU Food Law heeft de hoogste standaards ter wereld. Kletsmajoor.
After being away two years, I went back for three weeks. The cars! Everywhere you go is by car. It’s inconvenient, difficult or impossible to safely bike or even walk nearly everywhere. I rarely saw people. They all sat hidden away in these steel boxes called cars. I moved to the Netherlands because of the bike infrastructure, btw.
Are you aware of ua-cam.com/users/NotJustBikesvideos, Jason does explain a lot and he is Canadian who moved to NL for the lifestyle.
Yeah, honestly I can't fathom how it is in the USA.
I went to Nederland for 5 days (in Den Haag), then I went back to my small country (south of Belgium), in a rural area and I was still shoked by all the cars and the lack of tram and buses ^^'
and I can understand why they use their cars for everything.
I felt like a game animal visiting Ottawa, Canada 3 years ago and having to cross 1 road to get to the supermarket across from my hotel taking like 10 minutes. WTH build an 8 lane roadway that only sees like 2-3 cars a minute, then put traffic lights on it that stay red for 5 minutes or more every hundred meters.
Of that 10 minutes I was waiting for the ped crossing light to turn green for 8 of those minutes, with no traffic.
@@jwenting Not Just Bikes has just published a video on that kind of roads: ua-cam.com/video/ORzNZUeUHAM/v-deo.html (All of his videos are worth watching in my view.)
Flags. I saw a lot of flags. Everywhere! It made me feel I was in an newly occupied country.
Well it kind of is.. 😜
Mag niet in NL wegens nationalistisch
@@TonySlug Er is geen wet die dit verbied. Je mag gewoon de vlag uithangen.
@@ronrolfsen3977 Ik bedoelde meer in overdrachtelijke zin. Uitingen van vaderlandsliefde worden doorgaans niet gewaardeerd in NL.
@@TonySlug Dat klopt echt totaal niet. Nederland is een van de meest uitgesproken vaderlandslievende landen in Europa. Alleen als je het vergelijkt met de VS is het weinig, maar de VS heeft ook een ongezonde zelfliefde.
I was totally shocked by how sweet everything was in the US, even bread and cheese. I couldn’t get anything savory at all. I was also shocked by the ridiculous jobs, like holding a sign saying you cannot pass (instead of just putting a sign there), also how old and badly kept everything is like you said (the Brooklyn bridge fir instance looks like it is going to collapse at any moment). But the most shocking thing was the difference between rich and poor and the segregation that was there in plain sight. I took the bus one time (in the town of Rochester, where Kodak is from in New York State) and was the only white person on it. I never felt anything like that in my life, I felt totally out of place, as if everyone was watching me and asking themselves what is a white woman doing on a bus??? Crazy! And I have actually studied American history at University and was still shocked that segregation was still so visible.
As an American, it’s true. I personally did not grow up on processed foods (this is seen as “weird” here), and am still grossed out and surprised at the amount of sugar in EVERYTHING.
sad
Try to imagine how my mom felt in the eighties when she went out to get some medication for my dad who got seriously ill while they were on holiday in the USA. First of all she was (ofcourse) used to walking, so she started on a walk to find a pharmacy, which was a long journey: the distances are just completely different.
She ended up at a few drugstores, but as she needed a pharmacy, they couldn't help her and also could not provide directions to one (in hindsight, they probably didn't want to, but I'll get to that in a moment).
After the directions from another store brought her back to the point where she started, she was a bit lost, saw a police car coming and flagged it down. She explained the situation and they were keen to help: they said something like 'it's there' (meaning as: x part of town) so my mom said thanks and would look on a map how to get there. She was about to walk off again, but they opened the doors and she had to get in: 'This is a very dangerous part of town! We can not let you walk here alone!'. She was brought to the pharmacy, and when she got out of the car, thanked them for their help and was about to walk off to the mall where the pharmacy was located.
"Madam! You can not go on your own! That's far too dangerous!' and thus she was escorted inside and brought back to the hotel where she was staying: it was then that the officers told her she was very close to a black neighbourhood, with the shortest route to that mall going directly through it. It was most likely the reason all the store clerks did not give her directions to it, because it was just too dangerous in their opinion. She then also found out why so many people had been staring at her as she was walking. As she grew up in Amsterdam, she was used to seeing people of colour, even had friends with a different skin colour so she was just oblivious about it and couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.
Sweet cheese?? HOW?? WHAT??
@@samusa4581 The cheese in America was mostly cream cheese or cheddar. The cheddar tasted sweet to me. I don't know if they just put extra sugar in or coloring. The cheddar is also orange. As someone who has been to Cheddar, England and has tasted the original, the American cheese just tasted like a totally different thing.
I never can get used at the transactional nature of eating a restaurant in the US. It's getting seated, drinks and shoved your food as fast as possible on your table after which the death stare of "why aren't you asking for the check already?" ensues. Contrast that to 2, 3 or even 4 hour restaurant dinners where it's not just merely an eating experience but also a social event where you get to relax and chat with friends or family.
I never had that issue anywhere. The only issue I ran into was that they'd stop coming around to do refills (one thing I really miss since I drink a lot), but if I asked they never made an issue of it and I've spent 2+ hours after finishing the meal while it was busy in some places. On rare occasion (think it happened once or twice in 20 years living there) my party and I were asked to leave after finishing, but they'd already mentioned it before seating us and they were really bursting at the seams. Might make a difference where you are and what type of servers you have, I'm not sure.
This is because American waiters and waitresses have to work for tips.
The longer you occupy that table, the less pay they make.
@@TonySlug I understand why and don't blame the waiting staff for it either -- we all know where the problem lies. I just said I can't get used to it, it just makes for a very off-putting dining experience. Having a nice dinner shouldn't be just about being functional.
@@forkless Okay, I can accept that, but the US has more to offer than truckstop diners, there are really fancy ritzy, expensive restaurants too. Everywhere. What bothered me a little at first was waitresses coming to our table every 5 mins to ask "you alright ? Can I get you guys anything else ?" Then I realized they were just fishing for tips. SERVICE : very important in the US. Not so much in NL.
Once I requested some mayo to go with my fries, the waitress rolled her eyes and sighed "Ugh ! You must think you're SO COOL, just because you saw 'pulp fiction'." I'm like "No, I REALLY come from Holland." She goes "Yeah, riiiiight." So I cussed her out in Dutch, No tip for you, bitch.
and then compare what you pay in the US for a steak and full meal compared to Europe...and customer service is MUCH better in the US because the person gets a good tip or a bad tip depending upon service...in Europe its in the bill and waiters could care less...especially France.
The thing that really baffled me in the US (NYC), was when I was at McDonalds, I wanted to order some chicken nuggets, there was a medium size for $4.25 and a large portion for $4.10... The large portion was cheaper than the medium one... explain that to me..
@V O Wasn't there some sort of return of investment philosophy behind that? I think it went something like this: you buy a large menu this time, eat it all but you usually feel empty after an hour or 2. So next time you buy the large menu and an extra hamburger or something, finish all of that, rinse and repeat. Like they're training your body to forget the 'I've had enough' trigger.
may also have been a temporary discount on the large.
Happens sometimes.
Though I've alerted supermarket staff in the Netherlands only last week that the price for a 4 pack of bottled water was 20 cents higher than the price of 4 separate bottles of the same product.
They were surprised and said they'd pass it on to corporate to adjust the pricing :)
@@jwenting No need to 'alert' them, that's most likely all done on purpose. It is well known that seeing the word 'Aanbieding' ('special offer') triggers special parts of the brain, which makes most people think they are getting a good deal, while looking at the small numbers that state the price per kilo/liter (those numbers are mandatory in the Netherlands) can reveal a lot about if you are getting a good deal or being fooled.
@@weeardguy no, this was on the regular price, no discount price. And was indeed corrected the next time I was there with the 4-pack having had its price lowered to exactly 4 times the price of a single bottle.
@@jwenting Wow ;) they don't do that here ;) Well, even if it was not a special offer, I would not have been surprised if it was done on purpose: seeing a pre-packed 4-pack of bottled soda will probably make most people buy that one instead of buying 4 single ones because '4 in 1 pack? that múst be cheaper!'
I am sorry you didnt get a grumpy welcome at Schiphol. We will try harder next time around. 😂
I am an American expat. My husband is Dutch. We live in Belgium. Last time we flew into Schiphol, the customs guy asked: "Why (do you live in Belgium)?" Dutch directness.
With my husband I visited the US several times in the '90"s and early 2000. The last time was right after 9-11. That is when the rudness of the Immigration-officers started.......as if everybody was a criminal !
During our last days we visited a restaurant in Atlanta and the waiter asked where we were from. As we answered "Netherlands/Amsterdam, he said: "oh, that is where gay people can marry now, which is filthy ! "
We stood up immediatly, paid for our drinks and have never visited the US again.
Jij deugt, zeg. You really showed them.
I'm very sorry that's what you encountered in the US. In some regions homophobia is real.
People in the USA are more grumpy and on edge is because there are more things to worry about in the USA.
Healthcare, income stability, personal safety, etc.
I don't want to judge but I think it is. But we are also an example of an order that is good and not, for example, a crime is more difficult to commit in the eu than in the usa. The question of freedom of land is better than the USA. why. the ground remains of the state only in the Eu the bricks are yours.but believe me everything is corrupt in general. Europe and a few more countries are a test tube for the world order. what eu is now was what Hitler wanted to create. a 3rd empire. Nwo becomes the 4th and the last. freedom of one vote is still possible in the USA. People must send the leaders not the leaders us. we put them on the throne for the promises they never keep. politics always has a 2nd agenda. wake up and learn from each other. greetings from Belgium
I haven’t been up north much but in Cali, AZ, Fla people are very open, warm, welcome, laidback, nice. I think it’s a climate thing.
@@RustOnWheels yes, in the US it's very much regional. Saying New York or DC are what the USA is is like saying that Denmark is all of Europe.
Massive cultural, economic, and social differences between the states. The northeast of the US is pretty much like Eva describes, the southeast and northwest are completely different.
I've little personal experience with the southwest and central states.
If u buy yoghurt for 3 euro's it must have some gold in it
Zaagvis That’s because yoghurt in the USA has 2kg of sugar in it.
Does yoghurt mean ice cream in the US? Or just... well, yoghurt
@@armosa no, that's frozen yoghurt. Which isn't yoghurt at all, it's what we call softijs in the Netherlands.
Or maybe that is what we should be paying in The Netherlands if we want to have the farmer that provides the milk for it to be able to make a decent wage instead of getting every penny pinched from their pockets like the big supermarket-corporations all do.
We have the same toilets as at the US airport in the Netherlands in primary schools.
Exactly, I immediately thought of my school years, there they had that kind of toilets.
@@ezomomonga321 Yea same here. My primary school said it's for safety concerns though which I've always taken as a fair enough answer.
Mine didn't. Only for the 4 & 5 year old classes but they have lowered seats and sinks as well. But all the other classes had normal toilets build into the wall. You know? No stalls just normal toilets.
I’m from Belgium and what stood out when I visited the US was
1. Definitely the shouting at JFK haha
2. The huge portion sizes in diners
3. The brown paper bags around alcoholic beverages
4. The very low cost of menu items at motels
5. The incredible landscapes
You realise you need to tip right?
Yes
@@Markuden nah i never tip when im in america
@@ssjrgoten3381 you realise the staff has a unliveable wage and they feed their children of the tips? (specially in smaller towns, in some big rich cities the staff makes sometimes more than the owner from tips).
@@Markuden I know but tbh i don't really care, i pay the price for the food/drinks not more not les.
Funny how Americans comment on chocolate sprinkles for breakfast and they stuff their faces with sugar in each breakfast cereal. Ah well.
Yes, but TV, Radio etc bombards the viewer with this crap everyday of the week...not so in Europe.
Pure (puur) Chocolate sprinkles dont have a lot of sugar, or none, it isn't healthy but its also not unhealthy
@@ydidishitmyself353 LOL @ nick
As a Dutch person I find chocolate sprinkles ridiculous. Yes it tastes good, but so unhealthy. Can’t believe people let their kids eat that.
Funny how this entire "Zwarte Piet Discussie" started with an American journalist visiting the NL while racism in the US is RAMPANT.
I visited california once, and stayed with an american family. The weirdest was probably how paranoid everyone is! People constantly think about is it safe, is he a mugger or a criminal. One time i was going for a walk for a while and i wanted to take a shortcut over this "park". I took like 4 steps and a lady with a wild look in her eyes came running towards me, demanding i leave the premises. Apparently it was a school campus! I was still like "but i just wanna walk over there thats all!" but no, if i didnt leave immediately she'd call the cops!
Chill lady!
No, that lady potentially saved you a lot of trouble. You would have been a suspicious person and had the cops called on you if not by her by some one else. We've had people shoot up schools. We don't play around with unknown people on school campuses.
Also people are sadly paranoid for good reason. If you don't, you make yourself an easy target.
@@Persephoneia01 But those school shootings are almost all the time done by (ex) students. I'd say it's safer to let the odd tourist walk on the campus than some students... I understand that this is a society where you can get a bullet from anyone at any time but for us that's unimaginable. We don't need to label unknown persons as suspicious and don't have to be so afraid of them. That's preventing us from a lot of stress.
The lady was in the right here, simply because it often isn't safe.
@@Persephoneia01 but why dont you fix these issues ?? ok ok i know the answer, gunlobby gives moneyprofits
At 3:48 : 'I think that's why you pay high taxes here...'
Well..., if you add it all up; Sales Tax, VAT (which is actually shown on the price tabs over here as you may have noticed), Income Tax, Capital Tax, Real-Estate Tax, Municipal Tax, Healthcare Premiums, Scholarship Tuition Fees etc. , you may find out that at the bottom line the amounts of income that normal-wage-earning people are paying in taxes is about the same in The Netherlands as it is in the US.
The real issue is what governments are spending those taxes on..
Michael Moore gave a nice insight in his 2015 movie 'Where to Invade Next' on that issue.
Yes, yelling at airports. Even in Hawaii, security people were literally screaming at passengers. Ridiculous, why? We are just tourists on our way.
On the other hand, our leader in Holland is really a boring guy and he says sensible things all the time.
It's really hard to make fun of him.
He is a dweeb who hides behind bad jokes and even worse policy.. he hasnt given a straight answer in his life and therr is nothing straight about him.. pretty sure there is enough grounds for jokes
@@VRBLNSLT ye, fuck him, he laughs his way out of dodgy shit and promises things will get well...
Yes your so called leader in Holland is a traitor.
Waarom praat iedereeen Engels tegen elkaar?
@@ws5712 cause we can 🤷🏽♂️😂
awesome video!!! I’ll be moving to the Netherlands in some months and this video was really helpful!
Me: "ok, new york is overly expensive then?"
-"they are scandinavian prices!"
Me: cry in swedish.
In Sweden you earn enough to afford those Swedish prices, in the US many of the people will not enough to afford them.
Love your channel, always nice to hear about the differences, I feel really Dutch then. Nice also how you bring it with humor.
As a dutch guy going to the US several times i never could get over the breakfast. It seems so one dimensional, also finishing a plate in any restaurant any time of the day was an achievement.
The first time my Dutch husband came to America with me, the grapevine broadcast: "He eats sandwiches for breakfast!!!"
Your commentaries on your experiences in The Netherlands and how that have changed you are very helpful to me. Thank you. :)
Keep on going! You are the best commentator about the US and the Netherlands.
US person : let's go for a drink tonight, I'll pick you up, I know a nice place you'll really like, it's just an hour drive.
Dutch person : *WIGS OUT* WHAT !!??? an HOUR drive ? An HOUR ??? That is SOOOO FAR !!!!
Conversely when I was in the US our host was going to pick us up for dinner at our hotel, then drove literally one block over. We pulled out, went left, took the next left and we were there. We were all "uuuuh we could've walked?!".
@@piderman871 Some people (including my aunt) even drive down their own driveways to collect mail from their mailbox.
Some decades ago if you were saying it's just an hour away they would reply "Ok I prepare my passport".
That actually happened to me in Rotterdam a few years ago. Turned out there was this super nice place in Antwerp I had to see. Yes, Antwerp in Belgium. Makes me, as a Swede, want to move down to the continent were stuff is so close by!
Cheap prices? You should go to the supermarket in Germany, then you'd be shocked again.
Netherlands recently won a price for the best food available. They look at how close are supermarktets aroud you and how much choice do they have (from health super markets to cheap ones) and how fresh is it and how local etc. We have a amazing density and availability here.
@@Markuden because we walk or go by bike sometimes daily. We have them close and because the authorities do not allow big supermarkets out of the neighborhoods. Like in France, Carrefour
During my studies I travelled to Amsterdam and almost everything was way more expensive than in France. However Fast food restaurants in the US cost nothing compared to what we have here.
@@Markuden my memory of living in Netherlands for a year (like 10 years ago) is a lot of food in plastic...like pre peeled, pre cut vegetables - packed in plastic etc
For me opposite of fresh food and I remember how surprised I was.
And yes, also how it was much cheaper to go to germany to buy alcohol etc ( I used to live close to the border)
Now try to get the same quality in Germany as you get in the Netherlands and the price difference disappears, and then some.
Yes, store brands in Germany are quite a bit cheaper, but they're horrendously bad more often than not, where most (not all!) Dutch store brands are at least halfway decent.
Germans are constantly complaining about the poor quality offered by their supermarkets, and then go on avoiding the quality goods because they're "too expensive", causing those to go away.
Same thing is sadly happening in the Netherlands as well, but not quite at the same speed.
I used to live in Enschede, Germans would come in droves to buy food there. Weekends they'd even come with busloads at a time, brought in from hours away.
At the same time the locals would go to Germany to buy electronics, sometimes clothes, furniture, because that was a lot cheaper there for higher quality because of the lower VAT across the border (something that's no longer the case, as Germany raised their VAT faster than the Netherlands have).
OMG number 5!!! I try to explain this to my parents every time I come home from the NL! All the veggies you need to make a nice soup for 2-3 people, boxed nicely for you in the AH - 3€, in the US (if you can even find something that healthy?) $12.
Hi Eva, love to hear you talking :-)
Followers will come, give it time.
Very good sharing. Thanks for the sharing 😊😊😊
Hi Ava, I like your take on all things Dutch, but mostly I watch your videos just to hear your voice. It cheers me up.
Pronunciation of Dutch names: 👍
I agree with you about the rudeness of security and customs employees on US airports. A horrifying experience again and again. 💀🙈
I moved to the US under Bill Clinton, wavered under Bush and then finally fled under Trump. Before the BLM protests, it looked like there was no limit as to how authoritarian it would go.
Things that really stood out to me, a lot of things are bigger in the US: cars, houses, etc. Very friendly people (I went to the south of the US). Bicycling or walking is not really that much of an option. Lack of old buildings. Of course, you know all these things, but there is a difference between knowing something and experiencing something.
You could fit about 6+ Europes in the land mass of the US.
@@phillipweissburg1882 I think you're overestimating the USA, or underestimating Europe.
USA: 9.834.000 km² (~3.796.929 mi²) (according to google, wikipedia says 9.826.675 km²)
the 27 European Union countries: 4.237.700 km² (~1.636.185 mi²), which is a bit less than half the US land mass. 2,32 European Unions fit in the USA.
(used to be 4.482.000 km² with the UK included)
The European continent (50 countries, only counting the European portion of Russia, etc): 10.180.000 km² (~3.930.520 mi²), which is a bit more than the US land mass. 0,97 Continents of Europe fit in the USA.
Love the Netherlands, been there 3 times wish I could move there.
Always welcome here. :D
Come in, you are welcome.
The cheese! Definitely. My wife just sent a giant box of assorted cheese to relatives in Toronto! Also, houses in north America (aside from the well kept old actual brick houses) are rubbish. Based on what I saw in Ontario, it's cheap material (sometimes made to look expensive) which is primarily chosen because of installation ease. There are gaps, mold, leaks, a lot of silicone to fill the gaps, electrics are ancient, most town houses are basically pine and plywood with a metal or plastic sheeting. It's basically how we in Europe would build a decor for a play. Also; yes supermarkets and prices are ridiculous in America. Makes you understand why most people go out for breakfast and lunch, which is a sugar fest (great to indulge in during a holiday however).
50 years ago, my American mom was inquiring at the Dutch supermarket about what kind of cheese "do the Dutch like?" The sales lady replied "Dutch people like French cheese!"
20 years ago I went to Orlanda, Florida with my parents and my sister on a Holiday. We visited al the Disney parks, MGM studio's, Epcot Spacecenter, etc....but the one thing i still remember are all the place's where you could have all-you can-eat breakfast for just 1$ per person and they litteraly served anything you could possibly think of. There was even a soft-ice cream machine, for breakfast!! Absolutely ridicilous
Really interesting to hear the reserve pov. especially for somebody thinking of going there.
Yes all the things you said I did notice also. When I go to a steak house in the USA I will order the smallest one and already have trouble finishing it. And what about the roads. They are one big disaster in the USA. Even the Belgium roads look beautiful compared to the roads in the USA.
In the Netherlands the roads are smooth and the tires have profile, in Belgium...
😂😂😂
Onno Geenen Yep, roads in Belgium is a disaster. You can actualy feel and hear the moment you leave or enter Belgium.
@ja nee Not true. German roads are not as well maintained any more as they used to be, but still quite OK.
@@Euroka2000 I live close to the drielandenpunt and think it can't be generalized. You can see very bad maintained roads in all three countries but after a year in Austin Texas, I can say it's much worse in the US. A lot of the smaller roads in the Netherlands are pretty good because they have improved the bicycle infrastructure a lot in the last 10 years.
Hey you mentioned a bunch of cities you've lived in, Washington, Mumbai, NY etc... it would be cool if you did a comparison of all of them.
Prizes in the Netherlands are with tax included. So you know what to pay. No suprices at the casier.
I love your voice!!!! I could listen to it all day
Hi! Small nitpick, upkeep of private homes is paid for by the owners directly, not via taxes. However, the streets, streetlights, curbs, public greenery is paid for by tax money. Combine the two and you get a pretty nice looking street. Obviously, results vary based on income levels in a certain street.
Yes. Apartment Buildings in the US are (mostly) owned by private owners, who don't particularly care about the quality of life IN them. In the Netherlands, they are mostly owned by a type of foundation that is highly regulated.
I have two different experiences while traveling to the US. In New York I was being shouted at me by a couple of security staf, and the customs officer complained about the extra time he had to do that day, but when my wife and I traveled to Sanford Florida, we were picked out of the line (my wife has disabilities) and were processed trough an empty counter. They were extremely nice!
#1 American movies would be robbed of some great moments, if the bathroom stalls would be closed off. Zombieland, Witness, Austin Powers, Karate Kid, The Warriors and how many scenes have there been where someone lifts their feet pour of view? 😊
Dutch here! I went to the US in 2009, 2011 and 2012, to NYC, Philly, DC, Boston, and Missoula, MT.
First things I noticed was, indeed, the frikkin' toilet stall on Newark. I mean, there was seriously a gap on either side of the door of more than an inch! What the f*!
But apart from customs and police, people are so friendly over there! I mean, I was half expecting the Coming to America kind of newyorker, but I had awesome exchanges with locals in Bryant Park, and everywhere really. Oh, and I don't remember the supermarket prices being overly expensive. But I did notice how cheap breakfast at those street carts were. The real culture shocks were about the sheer number of homeless people, and the sheer number of disabled people without physical aid devices like wheel chairs etc.
Loved the driving style, that keep your lane system is so relaxing. But people generally are quite poor drivers. Oh, one thing I don't like about driving there is the amount of stop signs... Wow, it's utterly crazy. Also almost got a ticket for that in Boston. 😂
Overall, I love the US as a vacation destination, but would not want to live there.
On my visit to the US what I found remarkable were the prices of eggs in supermarket, so crazy high as well. Flags everywhere and signs everywhere stating you need to do something because it is the LAW!
And always a surprise how much you need to pay at the register in stores because the tax isn't included in the price tags and as a visitor I've got no clue how much tax will go on top.
Oh and indeed the enormous portions of food, difficult to get healthy food and how not Italian the Italian pizza's are, not even close. But maybe that depends on where you are in the US🤔
I really like the way you are describing life in the Netherlands as compared to the US. Good luck!
I lived in America for a while last year . And the things you say I experienced too. Exept the prices in the supermarket. I didnt find it more expensive than in the Netherlands. I loved shopping in the super market. So much to see ;-)
Haha, indeed, you can learn a lot about a place from their supermarkets!
I did experience the high prices in supermarkets in the US. A bag of potato chips: $4,50 in the US, €2 in NL. Frozen pizza: $7 in the US, €2,50 in NL. A jar of pasta sauce: $6-8 in the US, €1,50-3,- in NL. You get the idea. It's insane.
I've visited 20+ states in the US and it was like that everywhere. Although I have to say: Canada is even worse ( CAN $3 for a tiny leek, can you imagine?)
Nederland has the greatest choice of food in the world in it's supermarkets. Official.
@@DutchAmericano Don't get too high on our tax system now. Anything public if maintained.
People buy those houses and the Dutch goverment isn't gonna pay for your own upkeep.
House owners would jump for joy if that was the case. ;-)
MEAT PRODUCTS. Any big supermarket outlet, Oscar Mayer or Safeways : the meat products isle is INSANE. 40 meters with nothing but meat products, I would see families with 2 (or even more !) shopping carts piling up steaks the size of bed pillows. STACKS of them, whole chickens : let's take SIX of them. And so on. Incredible amounts of meat products. Later I realized these people might live in the outbacks, and have to go shopping for a month once a month.
those dutch supermarket prices are even more amazing when you remember how many there are in your city.
they spend more on real estate, more workers, more logistics
yet prices are lower...
Most of Europe(I know it's the case in Germany, as well as Belgium) profit margins are TINY.
I live on the big road connecting 2 towns about 4 miles apart.
If I travel just on that road through both I come across 5 big supermarkets. Ignoring a lot of other small shops for meat, bread, fruit, etc.
We had a big and cheap one like 3 miles away.
A few years later one of it's competitors decides to place itself on the same road like less than a mile away.
I really love your way to comment the Dutch habbits. It’s so refreshing to hear some “new” things about us, Dutch, in stead of all the old clichés. We know those already, it’s nothing new and it’s so not true nowadays, so boring, superboring! I really hope you to explore more of the Netherlands, like the countryside(yes we have), the east part, the north and the south, you will be surprised. We have/are a very small country, but a tastefull country with a lot of differences within just a few square km. Enjoy!
Your Dutch prononciation is getting really good!
The government does not maintain our houses/buildings, we do that ourselves...
We pay higher taxes so we have equal healthcare, scholing, infrastructure etc.
Unless the houses are rented from a social housingcorporation, then the corporation maintains them. Maintenance keeps up the value of your house, so it's a good investment. I'm not sure if maintenance is tax deductable. I guess it partially is when it concerns certain energy efficiency and insulation measurements, or an enhancement.
Wuppie62 Well, if you’re a business then everything is deductible if it’s concerns the business. This is for sure the same in the US as it is in NL.
But the assumption made was that the government must keep up our houses, witch is frankly idiotic.
And then, maybe it isn’t for an American. Here so many things are legally implemented by our government and even the EU, to improve and stimulate equality. For us this is normal. My impression is that in the US this has a marginal input of government, depending on the state. But it isn’t the core value of the ‘free-market’.
So then maybe it is really hard to understand how our societies differ.
Here the government takes up a large part of the responsibility and that doesn’t mean we are all enslaved and puppets. On the contrary. But for an American it might seem so.
@@Wuppie62 Might be a mortgage interest deductible too if it's not tax-deductible. With the house as collateral the bank has a great interest in anything that keeps up the house value so wouldn't surprise me if they want to encourage it that way.
Historical buildings however are subsidized. You get about 40% of the money you spend on maintaining the historical aspects.
Ron Rolfsen you make it sound so simple. It is not. Yes you can apply for loan or a subsidy for you building, but there are differences depending on what kind of monument your building is.
Not every old building is a monument and in the end it is the owners responsibility to keep their building in good nick. With or without the help of governmental, provincial or county subsidy, loan or whatever.
Thank you for recognizing how beautiful DC is! Not my home city, but I sure love spending time there. New York is an especially dirty city, though. On the other hand, Central Park is very nice. Yes, a Pop-Tart to my mind is a snack food.
I think that a pop tart isn't even a decent snack!!!
Here in the Netherlands its by law that prices for bread, milk, water and a few more items must be low because you need it every day. Yes you have bread that cost you more but the normal ones are cheap.
By using friendliness they gain a lot more information.
I can relate to the second one. When I came back to the states after 2 weeks in Korea I was shocked at how dingy and dilapidated everything seemed. I actually cried at the airport Starbuck's in Portland when I saw all the discarded stained napkins and worn out furniture. I think it took me at least a month back home before I got used to the grime again.
How many people in Korea own a home with a yard, AC etc? How many people in Korea actually own a car? How any Koreans can afford a horse? About zero.
Phillip Weissburg wow, you’re getting really hung up on this whataboutism of yours. Really can’t stand to see even a little bit of criticism of the US I guess?
When i was in NYC a couple of years ago i remembered that a lot of people gave me compliments that i was sooo polite. I was like: this is just how i interact with people. I ask something and when they answer, i say a well mend thank you. This was really strange to experience for me.
Also the prices, the taxes, the water with ice that tasted like it came from a pool..😅 (i only bought bottled water after that), how big the food portions are, how i couldn’t pay with a debet card in a lot of places.
But it was still a great experience and i learned a lot 😄
(Btw, i’m dutch 🇳🇱)
Oh.. and the litter of course. I remembered this day that the streets were full of trash bags. I asked why it was like that and they answered that it was garbage day.
In the netherlands we have garbage bins with lids, or garbage bins underground. So you don’t have that smell..
It was a strange experience 😉
@@annelaurijssens until not to long ago, in the city of The Hague you'd also put your trash bags in the street on garbage day. Some parts still do it that way.
"Way too friendly, I couldn't handle it" LOL
TYPICALLY Dutch : "doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg"
As an American, I’ve always had the problem that I rarely am able to finish eating restaurant portions, and it bugs me. I feel like I’m forced to pay extra for food amounts that I shouldn’t be eating. And sometimes taking it home in a box isn’t always worth it because I tried to stuff myself and failed, so there wasn’t much left.
What I find shocking in the US is how people still want to work in the service sector where their income is so dependent on tips and they don't demand a proper wage. It does not make sense in a country that focuses so much on work for a living and not relying on handouts.
Handouts are not really that. I pay monthly just in case i need WW.
It's been so long since I lived in the US that I remember the food being quite cheap. I would say eating out in Northern Europe can feel quite expensive. But the supermarket food is generally pretty reasonable. Cost wise, I think taxi's cost way more in the U.S. then in Europe. Except maybe in Stockholm ... lol. But if I were to go to Riga, it's like 3€ to take a cab across the city.
This is why cultural exchange is so important - you get to see your own country from the outside, both the good and the bad, while at the same time learning about different ways to do things.
I heard of a lot of Dutch people who where shocked by the rude behavior of security staff at american airports. But I actually enjoyed the friendliness and service-with-a-smile in shops in New York.
23 years ago my first big travel was to New York. Absolutely amzing. Met a girl there and she loved it too. "It is so clean here" she said. What?! I was truly shocked. It was exciting but also the dirtiest place I'd ever been! Much later after visiting Mumbai I remembered that chat withe Indian girl and it all made sense now!
This is so nice to hear and never tought about these things so maybe i take the high tax for granted now haha
About the tiollets in the USA its just the cheapest way to have tiollets i know because i work in the construction for 33 years now ;)
Tho I must say the amount of toilets in the USA is so much better as in the netherlands.
@@nulian not in this video
Some items you didn´t mention which is very afordable in the Nertherlands. Buying fresh fish or cut flowers. I now live in Luxemburg City. Working from home in the last four months I brighten up my appartment with some cut flowers/tulips. 15 stems of Tulips is between 4,50-6,00 Euro. In the Netherlands it would be 20 stems for the same price. Fish is a luxury product which I eat seldom now. As you like bread and cheese you should come and visit Luxembourg. It used to be part of the Netherlands some 150 plus years ago.
Yes! And men receive flowers as gifts, too! "Bloemen houden van mensen. Haal ze in huis!" (Flowers love people. Bring them home!")
Salaries in the Netherlands are lower than in the USA. But with that lower income you can have a great life. As you explained. You might address the healthcare system too. It is so much better organized.
lower? i saw on tv men working for 8 dollarsi in usa. the miminum is a bit higher in the netherlands and the average is more
ekim andersom Of course not. You cannot compare American states to European countries.
Purchasing power should be compared, not how high the salaries are. Dutch people in the Netherlands have an higher purchasing power, than Americans in the States.
@@Daniel-hp3tk And the Dutch work fewer hours and have many more vacation days per year. No wonder more and more Americans are coming to the Netherlands.
ekim andersom Ava is comparing life in the USA with life in Netherlands. So that is the comparison.
Another one : obsession with PUMPKIN (SPICE). My gf was rocketjumping around the room with excitement over pumpkin spice. Pumpkin pie. Everything pumpkin. Go to Safeway : pumpkin stuff everywhere ! WHY ???
I'm moved to the Netherlands from the UK, and I was shocked by how expensive Dutch supermarkets are compared to the British.
Now I understand why they say that fast food is cheaper in the USA than healthy food. I always interpreted it that fastfood was so cheap, but somehow it didn’t fit. I just didn’t think that basic food was so expensive.
schools in The Netherlands also have those grose open toilets. Now im on highschool/college and finaly have some quality bathrooms
When I went to the US I remembered my sister's stories about how they were herded across New York Airport. I went to LA and was kinda scared for what might happened, being from the Netherlands and looking like a pothead. But they were really pleasant, cracked some jokes (after which I felt really confident) and I didn't get arrested when I asked if it was true dogs can't smell pot hidden in a jar of peanut butter.
So yeah, LA Airport. Good times :)
Even though they weren't allowed to answer my peanut butter question.
one of my theories about the US is that Americans are actually all depressed. the whole country suffers from this epidemic and tries to make up for it by acting fake like everything's fine and tries to mend their wounds by spending as much money as they can whether it's on therapists that never want you to stop coming or shopping or plastic surgery anything to get that temporary fix only nothing ever lasts cause the truth is everyone's just so damn unhappy and as long as the country profits of that unhappiness it's never gonna go away
Omg for #5 I remember a bag of Doritos being like, 4 or 5 dollars. I was flabbergasted! 15 years ago you could get a bag of brand chips for 1 euro here (although inflation has made them almost 2 euros now)
Me and my son and daughter are all baseball fanatics) more particulary The Boston Redsox have been to Boston for a week.What struck us the most was the potholes everywhere you looked and the garbage, also everywhere. The people we met were all really nice, but we were constantly gazed upon because of our length. People shouted from the other side of the street for which NBA team we played for. We went to a sports store to buy a softball mitt for my daughter and a pitchers mitt for my son. The store owner came to us and said with a sigh, 'Damn I was the tallest man in this store and then you three came in. My daughter is 5 feet 10, I'm 6 feet 5 and my son is 6 feet 6 47.
Have you informed the shop people your Dutch family name is "Small" ... ?
@@jpdj2715 No we didn't, we had attracted a lot of attention already. I actually heard some people say " Let's go left where the tall guy (my Son) stands, they used him as a markingpoint
@@johankleinentink3410 - the fun side is, you never need a "meeting point" you can always say, we meet at "him".
If you are a modest family from Twente, then you will have felt embarrassed. You can always play back at those "little people"
Ha, ik had ooit eens Amerikaanse vrienden op bezoek en die keken hun ogen uit hier. We zijn hier in het noordwesten gemiddeld nog wat langer dan de rest van het land ook. En dat was al zeker 15 jaar geleden. Toen was ik met mijn 1,88m / 6 ft 2 nog lang. Tegenwoordig niet meer.
I was absolutely shocked the first time I landed at Schipol from UK by the height of adults; seriously, was it due to selective breeding to not drown in the water? I prefer to go on holiday in Spain (I am 167 cm) so I feel tall ;)
The government only maintains buildings it owns. They sponsor the maintenance of official monument houses with tax benefits. Home maintenance is something owners do.
Yes... And no. There are loads of subsidies for house owners, and a mortgage tax deduction.
@@bomcabedal _ the government does not maintain your house (i.e. the house you own). You have to decide when and how yourself. And pay yourself. Subsidies AFAIK are generally related to very specific things and not generally visible on the outside. Except in the case of listed houses (i.e. national monuments).
Mortgage tax deduction is not related to maintenance but just to the interest you pay on a loan for real estate (where "mortgage" references the real estate that is give as collateral).
Your just scratching the surface on so many differences between two continents. North America is much more isolated in many ways. Your experiences here will make you realize that and it will be hard to go back the longer you stay. But that is normal because you’ll find it harder to be able to relate to your old life and friends since they won’t understand you and what you have experienced. It’s a beautiful experience that only those of use who have experienced it can relate to. Welcome to Europe!
I went to the US two years ago. Completely recognise your comments about airport security (I arrived at LAX). The flight arrived mid day in LA together with some other intercontinental flights from both Europe and Asia. A terminal full of arriving passengers (must have been at least 2000 people based on the number of big planes that taxied in at roughly the same time) and what did Border Control do? They went on lunch break... There was a huge line of desks for passportcontrol and only three were open... Took me two and a half hours to pass the border. (I’m tall and have long legs so I can walk pretty fast, so I was among the first to arrive at the border security) I had arranged a taxiservice to pick me up from the airport and drive me to my final destination North of LA, so three hours after arriving in the US the taxidriver was the first person to say ‘welcome to America’ and actually smiled at me... There wasn’t a shred of friendlynes before that, only uniformed staff barking orders. I travelled from LA to Oakland by train (Amtrak Coast Starlight) and that was the complete opposite: very friendly and helpfull staff and passengers. Had some really nice conversations with fellow passengers who showed genuine interest. What shocked me as a Dutchman however was the huge amount of homeless people and tentvillages. I visited Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego and Lancaster (Ca) and never felt really save in the city’s. The nature and landscapes on the other hand were very impressive. So I had very mixed feelings when I returned home. I don’t know if I will ever go back to the US. There’s still plenty to explore much closer to home in Europe.
California has everything that France has and lower prices...too many people move to CA without a clue as to how they will support themselves, so they live on the streets.....its like you can afford a 25 year old VW but U want a Mercedes, so U camp out at the dealer waiting for the prices to come down...they wont
@@phillipweissburg1882 There are strange schemes in other U.S. states, where they pay homeless people a one-way ticket to Cali...
Absolutely, the same thing for me as a Brit. I was shocked when I first arrived at a US airport and saw the toilet cubicles. They may as well not bother with a wall!
I'm from Estonia, and went on a family holiday trip in Stockholm, Sweden in 2012 (one of the rare foregin trips, as I don't travel often). One of the large eateries in Stockholm had a fairly big men's room with a wide common space for "letting go", but not enough individual stalls, and the toilet was crazy crowded in the middle of the workday, and all the individual stalls were taken >:(
Hi! Hope you have a good stay!
1. Bathroom stalls vary quite a lot throughout the Netherlands, Amsterdam and Utrecht are pretty touristy, and therefor really nice, and mostly best kept.
2. We definitly have our less cute, less looked after neighbourhoods. The well kept houses you are speaking of aren't being payed by taxes, but bv home owners. Some of these home owners rent out entire houses (multiple) therefor the renters are paying these taxes. I'm not sure if you've had to pay all the taxes we do? But it's absurd, including our health insurrance etc.
3. Those breakfast isles, those are just over the border in Germany, or in xxl supermarkets (every place usually has one) We might not eat obvious sugars, but there's a lot of hidden sugar in what we eat.
4. The airport, and grumpy people. Utrecht and Amsterdam Almost all speak english, it has become super touristy and a lot of people don't even speak Dutch, that's not a bad thing, but it's all played out to make people feel a certain way, so the Netherlands doesn't seem grumpy, we are, we really are, we are just so tiny, we can't afford to seem like that.
5. Money. Have you drove a car here? Have you seen how expensive driving one is? Filling gas, insurance and taxes? Do you know how much rent we pay and then our yearly taxes over our rent, over our sewage, over electrical bills, our house insurance, and so on. We can't afford to buy houses because our income is to low, so we have to keep renting expensive houses. There is a real rough future coming up if this goes on.
But yeah. Utrecht and Amsterdam are really pretty in most corners.
Love your Holland-US comparisons videos! But I guess for us to go to the US it's a bit different since we already know so much about the culture and people since so much we see on television is from or about America.. I went to NYC myself and loved seeing everything from television in real life but really there wasn't anything new or surprising to me..😊
Prices at roadside restaurants like Denny’s et al shock me every time. It’s so frickin expensive to eat in the US and then you have to pay 20% on top… a day on holiday in the US will easily cost you $100 per day per person just for food…
Rudeness at US airports, definitely. The first time I went it quite shocked me. It was Newark, and specially the people that assigned lines were *so* rude. The customs officers however were pretty decent.
Yeah, experianced that several times in the USA, you're visiting another country and you're greeted as if you were a criminal
I went to a BIG FIVE sporting goods outlet with 300 bucks in my pocket, stepped out with a Mossberg shotgun, 4 boxes 12 gauge shells/ammo, a new pair of sneakers and I still had enough money left to buy a couple of sixers at "Jed's Liquor". And this Lowlander hilljack is thinking "America, f yeah !"
I once read that the open bathroom stalls are to prevent vandalism. The idea was that people feel less 'safe' so they behave better.
When I got off the plane in Las Vegas the guy at the airport was very friendly, he asked me if was here for... whatever he was saying. It was very awkward because I had no idea what he was talking about until I understood that he was talking about some sports event... At the airport in Texas the guy was very grumpy. I tried to lighten the mood by humming 'Yellow Rose of Texas'... but it didn't seem to work...
What do you think about the difference in Dutch and US election systems?
As a dutch guy I really agree with what you said about the people working at the airport. In America they were so rude. Like.. I know you have to be professional and everything, but you don't have to yell at me or raise your voice as if I'm not cooperating.
And when we were taking a breakfast in a hotel, the employee would just ask: 'Okay'. Instead of: 'What would you like to have?'
Now, I haven't been on too many trips to the US (at least, no road trips or true city trips), but I did go to Hawaii a couple years ago, and the candy in the US is just so awful compared to the Dutch stuff, and so expensive as well...
Now, the same goes for candy at Disney World in Florida and at Disneyland in California, but the pricing there is probably high even compared to the normal pricing in the US.
Also, what is it with American stores and not listing prices +taxes, it would be so much easier, and save me a lot of mental arithmatic. 😄
Was in America on a ship, the caterer purchased a load of bread, white fluffy stuff with a dark brown shinny and sweet soft crust. We all complained to no avail, and went back to sea with this stuff still onboard, a least after a couple of days it will be stale or mouldy, nope, this stuff lasted forever, finally the captain stepped in and it was all ditched, it was very expensive to buy as well, the caterer did admit he thought it was a premium bread, and as on a limited budget could not afford to get rid of it.
When I went to the US for the first time I was indeed really surprised by the public bathroom stalls. I thought the lack of privacy was to prevent certain activities...
Also, I noticed that Americans are really generous with compliments. I was wearing these very old Nike sneakers and every time I entered a shop I instantly heard "oh my god I love your shoes!" And I was like "hi? thanks... they're old... but thanks". Oh and everybody thought I was French? Don't know why...
And the grocery store prices confused me... the prices are mentioned without tax, so the total costs was always a surprise at the register.
And, the ice tea tasted very different than in the Netherlands. Like cold tea with (or without) sugar... which might sound weird, but the ice tea in the Netherlands tastes very different.
I visited New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC (and stayed with family in Princeton) and I loved it! Can't wait to go back some time.
I loved the space in the us. There are so few people there compaired to here. The food though was kind of shocking to me. It was impossible to buy veg and whole grain bread. And half a liter of coffee with the option of a refill. What?
Hi Eva, so recognizable your observations. Especially the arrival with the grumpy people at JFK, and you where in the 'nice' line for US citizens.
The last time I arrived in Washington and had to change to a domestic flight. It was horrendous, took more than one and half hour for foreign visitors, and all the Americans in the mean time could go to the short line. And when people started to complain they where going to miss their connection, some horrible people said bluntly "That is not our problem sir, we are not the airport, we are the NSA!" And then the thing with the shoes and belt, all on a barking tone as you said. Off course I missed my flight, and friends had to come back to Salt Lake City in the middle of the night to pick me up from the late flight, that was the last time I will ever visit the USA.
Dat moet toch wel een grote tegenvaller voor je geweest zijn, jammer is dat hé.
Never had any issues, besides the barking.. but thats what amaricans do.. they cant handle even the least amount of power without being dicks about it..
LOL. Safety comes at a price !
@@VRBLNSLT US cops aren't pussies like euro cops.
@@TonySlug In Europe it is safe too, and security people can be a lot more respectful at the same time
Nice sockpuppet! It looks like a fox. By the way, your Dutch pronounciation is fantastic. The way you say "hagelslag" or "brood" really sounds Dutch.
Recognize everything you said, EXCEPT for the clothing store experience. I find the people in clothing stores in NYC very very friendly.