The Dutch Culture

Since there exist many different books and guides about the Dutch culture and its specialities, I will tell you about my own experiences when coming to live and study in Groningen.

I was very impressed when I first noticed that most of the people, even the cashier in the supermarket, speaks quite a good English. The Dutch are very openly polite people who in most cases do their best to help and assist you as a foreigner. The country is small and has always been a place where people from all over the world mix and live together. According to me they do not seem to self-occupied and in fact in many rankings Dutch people have proven to be one of the happiest nations in the World.

Despite of the open politeness I found it quite hard to make Dutch friends apart from the IBS context. The fact that I lived and studied with mostly international people surely had an effect on it; however, if one really wants to bond with Dutch people the mastery of the Dutch language is of paramount importance in the long term - just like everywhere else.

I liked the interactions with the Dutch and would definitely decide to come to Groningen again.


If I have caught your interest and you want to get more information about the Dutch culture, please visit: http://www.thehollandring.com/dutchculture.shtml