Dutch culture: spend less to impress
“Always be on time”, is the advice that Maaike Wachters gives to the international students during her workshop ‘Getting to know the Netherlands’. Sixty internationals get taught about Dutch culture in the Academia building on Thursday afternoon. Another thing to impress the Dutch: talk about saving money. Maaike is satisfied when another group of 30 students fill up her classroom again at 1.30 p.m., only 15 minutes later then planned. Most of the newbies have never been to The Netherlands before. The vast part of them is from Asia, the rest is from other continents. “We will be talking about being on time”, she starts off. Her workshop is part of the Top Winter Week for international students. In one hour she aims to give the students a good base of the Dutch culture, by playing an interactive quiz.
“Being late is the worst thing you can do”
Marijuana, social tolerance, punctuality and croquettes. That’s what the students associate Dutch culture with. Their knowledge is expanded with information about equality and the use of bicycles. A photo of Prime Minister Mark Rutte on his bike clarifies the lesson. “He is a man of the people”, a student notices. Maaike then talks about the most important aspect of Dutch culture according to her: being on time. Being late is the worst thing you can do to a Dutch person, she explains. She quickly corrects herself: “Killing someone is probably the worst thing, but being late is definitely second.” The reason: it’s an offense to let someone waste his time waiting.
During the workshop the students can choose between a stroopwafel or a speculaas-cookie. Not a tough decision for Beknur Rakhmankulov (21), law student, from Kazakhstan. He goes for the stroopwafel, or as he likes to call it: a Holland waffle. ”I love stroopwafels, even in my own country I eat them”, he says. Apparently different companies in Kazakhstan sell the Dutch treats.
“I don’t buy anything now, unless it’s an offer”
Maaike continues and shows a photo of a cheese slicer. The students need to guess what this object is. A few people think it is a callus rasp, but most know that it’s used for cutting cheese into neat, thin slices. “By using it you can get a lot of slices so you don’t need to buy a new cheese soon”, Maaike explains. “The Dutch love saving money. Actually the Dutch love saving everything, including time.” She ends the lesson with her best advice: “Talk about saving money with the Dutch. If you’re in a bar and don’t know what to say to that nice person, just talk about beer being 20 cent cheaper there than in another bar.”
Beknur’s main lesson of the day: it’s rude being late. “I didn’t know being on time is that important”, he says. What he learned about money is correct according to him. “Guys here don’t just talk about politics, women and cars. They also give advice about saving money.” Beknur, who has only been in The Netherlands for one week, already started talking about that himself. “I love the AH-bonus card. Today I bought peanut butter because the second one was free. I don’t buy anything now, unless it’s an offer.”
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