Sometimes I get pissed off...

Sometimes I get pissed off. Sadly, I sometimes am one of those people who get angry because of cultural differences. I am not proud, per se, of the fact that I get angry when people do not understand me, but I am signigicantly less funny with Dutch people than I am with the Anglophones.

Nevertheless, what pisses me off is when Dutch people refuse to talk to me in Dutch. I have studied Dutch now for a year; hard study in school. These are mainly people that I work with. Most of the conversations go like this...

David - "Hallo Heer Smit, Hoe gaat het met u?"

Mr. Smit - "Oh I am fine David, how are you today?"

David- "Oh it gaat goed."

Mr. Smit- "Yes, well good."

David - "Man, I am so worried about the cars that drive like maniacs around here."

Mr. Smit - "I know, it is a beautiful day, eh!"

This is an actual conversation from today. Now, let me remind you, my dear readers of a few cultural things that you will face, should you move to Holland.

1. If you speak English, Dutch people will not EVER speak to you. You can live here for 30 years, and your job could be to write Dutch novels, or teach Dutch to college Freshmen, and everyone will, if they hear an accent, automatically speak to you in English. (as a side note: asking them to speak to you in Dutch, for practice, will be no solution to this problem, i mean, cultural difference).

2. As of 2005, it is MANDITORY that if you are from out of the EU, so all native English speakers minus GB and IRL, to learn Dutch...fluently. If you fail to speak what the government calls "fluent" Dutch by 3 years of setting up residence, then you will be fined every year that your Dutch is not good enough.

3. Most Dutch people consider themselves to be MASTERS of the English language. This includes correcting native speakers, even when they are wrong.

FOR INSTANCE

people at my work write business letters, to British and American people, whom they have never met, saying...

"Dear Cindy," or "Hello Charles"

They also like to translate words either, a.) directly from Dutch ("Yesterday many Wood Cops died in that fire in Greece.") b.) from really bad English ("The customer needs a lift." translation, the customer requests a forklift for his product).



Well I am done bitching. I love Holland, but I need a way to vent.

More to follow on my summer vaccation to Italy and France, and more hillarious antics of Luxembourg!