So, I have been living in the Netherlands for about a week now. Long enough to start getting a bit used to things but not so long as to stop noticing things that are different here from the US. If you have spent much time in Europe much of what I will comment on will seem obvious to you, but if you are like me and have never been to Europe or the Netherlands before you may find yourself as surprised as I have been.
First things first, you need to understand that I am living in Tilburg, the 6th largest city in the Netherlands, which has a population of around 200,000. This is not Amsterdam but the Dutch who live outside of Amsterdam will be quick to tell you that their capital city is not a good representation of the rest of their country. Yes, there are a few "coffee shops" here in Tilburg where one can indulge in marijuana but they are far from common place (and no, I have not visited any of them) and while prostitution may be present here I have seen no evidence of it. Again, this is not Amsterdam, this is simply a working class/ university town that does not rely on tourists for its survival.
So what has stood out to me as being different? First off is the food. In the Southern US we love our food spicy and fried. They don't shy away from frying here, but they have a very different idea of what spicy means. Instead they seem to enjoy making most everything sweet. Yesterday we were at a weekly open air market right outside our apartment building and we picked up some sausages that were baked into a croissant like pastry with a curry sauce. The sauce was much less spicy than it was sweet and everywhere you go you see fresh baked, sweet pastries. You can get French fries with a sweet peanut sauce. I have tried paprika flavored Pringle's and they had a bit of sweetness to them, even many of the cheeses are a bit on the sweet side. The Dutch like their food sweet.
They also like it cheap. In general groceries seem about 20% cheaper here than they did in Nashville and the prices in Nashville are rock bottom when compared to a place like New York City. Restaurant prices however seem slightly higher here. I don't even remember seeing a dollar... I mean Euro menu at the local McDonalds. But that's OK because they have the McKroket sandwich which is quite tasty. Drinks, for example soft drinks, are pricey when you eat out. You can easily pay €2 to €2,50 for a coke in a restaurant, but it will probably come in a bottle instead of a paper cup. If it does come in a paper cup you probably won't be dispensing it yourself as is common in the US and even if you do there probably won't be an ice dispenser as most of Europe seems to think that putting ice in a drink will kill either them or you so for safety's sake they just won't do it.
Of course the differences with food don't stop there and I'm not even going to get into the love the Dutch hold for pickled herring. No, I am talking about the inevitable outcome of eating, a visit to the toilet. Many, if not most, toilets in the Netherlands are a bit odd by American standards. First off the toilet in a Dutch home will not be found in the bathroom. The bathroom is used for bathing, the toilet, along with a tiny sink, will be found in the water closet. Once you have located the water closet the real fun begins. Look at an American toilet and you will probably see an open container holding a fair amount of water that serves as a landing, or splashdown point, for human waste. When you look at a Dutch toilet you will probably see a large, relatively dry, expanse of porcelain that angles down into a small reservoir of water at the front edge of the toilet. I have nicknamed this exposed area of porcelain "the observation deck". You see I have no idea why Dutch toilets are designed this way but the end effect is that the product of your efforts are left high and dry and on perfect display. The other effect is that none of the odors are sealed in by water and so elimination becomes a very sensory experience. Not every toilet here is designed this way but it seems the majority in homes, including our home, they are. I am sure there is a good reason for it but I am at a loss as to what that reason may be.
I will end this post on that as I don't want to give you too much to digest at once (pun intended) so check back soon and I am sure I will have more interesting tidbits about living in the Netherlands to share with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment