Tag Archives: Cultural Differences

From Gaming Faux Pas to Immigration Insights

Posted on September 26, 2016 | 3 comments

Image: innogames.com

Sometimes I go over my blog, to see if there is at least some semblance of balance between positive and negative posts. I don’t want to always sound angry and whiny, especially in my posts that are more directly related to being an immigrant in this ~~crazy~~ country. That wouldn’t be an accurate reflection of my state of mind outside of this blog. Nevertheless, anger and resentment do seem to crop up on a regular basis. How is it that I am still able to keep that up after twenty-three years? Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Psychology, Society, Writing

Tagged computer games, cultural awareness, Cultural Differences, emigration, etiquette, faux pas, Forge of Empires, gaming etiquette, immigration, workshops

Greetings!

Posted on September 8, 2016 | Leave a comment

011_edited-1 Vagabond Urges wrote in yesterday’s post, The Secret to Europe, about greetings in Paris shops. He observed that when a customer comes in, he or she greets the person behind the counter. Who then reciprocates and things go on from there. If you don’t start off with a greeting, you get the cold shoulder. As an American, he had to get used to that.

So I started thinking about different greetings. Continue reading →

Texas Politeness and One of My Rare Better Moments

Posted on October 31, 2012 | 11 comments

(Photo: farmwars.info)

One thing I’ve learned is the difference between Dutch politeness and Texan politeness.

To A Texan, being polite is not just a matter of saying please and thank you, holding the door open for the person coming behind you, not belching loudly at the dinner table, etc. It also means avoiding embarrassing someone. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Language, Society

Tagged America, Cultural Differences, culture, embarrassment, emigration, humor, immigration, language, manners, politeness, society, The Netherlands

Living in a Hospital: The Room

Posted on August 25, 2012 | 4 comments

As I’ve explained in previous posts, we were on vacation when our son B’s appendix ruptured. He had an appendectomy and was in the hospital in Cody, Wyoming for four days. Six days after coming home to Austin, he had pains again, and had to have a follow-up surgery, and he has been in the hospital here in Austin for six days now. And when I say that B has been in the hospital, I really mean our family has been in the hospital. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Healthcare

Tagged America, Amerika, Cultural Differences, culture, Dell's Children's Hospital, gezondheidszorg, healthcare, hospital rooms, Netherlands, ziekenhuizen

A Bit of Uncharacteristic Mushiness

Posted on June 12, 2012 | 12 comments

Okay, for those of you who think I’m too negative about America, let me confuse you again.

Do I seem schizophrenic to you? Well, that’s because I am. Not clinically, but being Dutch in America, I can’t help being in a permanent schizophrenic state of mind. Depending on what I’m Continue reading →

12 Comments

Posted in Education, Emigration / Immigration, Holland, Language, Society, Travel

Tagged America, Cultural Differences, culturele verschillen, emigration, immigration, Nederland, Netherlands, parenting, self-awareness, United States, upbringing

The Big No-no

Posted on May 16, 2012 | 8 comments

photo: http://www.zazzle.com

Brace yourselves!

I am going to commit one of the biggest faux pas you can commit in America. I’m going to correct your grammar, Americans!

Yes, my Dutch friends, it’s considered impolite at best to correct anyone’s grammar here.When you do, people think you’re pedantic, rude, or a “grammar nazi”.

I will write about the inflation of the word “nazi” some other time.

So back to you, my American readers. Let me explain myself. Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Education, Emigration / Immigration, Language

Tagged America, Correcting grammar, correcting mistakes, Cultural Differences, emigration, etiquette, immigration, manners, preposition-pronoun agreement, pronoun-preposition agreement, pronoun-verb agreement, The Netherlands, Writing

Interesting Code!

Posted on April 14, 2012 | 7 comments

We Dutch are world-famous for our directness, so American conversations require a whole new set of skills. In my previous post, I wrote about an example of what Americans say and what they mean. There’s a lot of that. I have figured most of it out by now–at least I think I have. But that doesn’t leave me any less mystified.

Take “That’s interesting”. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Language

Tagged American, conversation, Cultural Differences, emigration, expressions, humor, immigration, indirectness, kultuurverschillen, Netherlands, uitdrukkingen, United States

I Love You

Posted on April 12, 2012 | 4 comments

Another post in the “Weird Things Americans Say” spirit.

When my brand new American boyfriend T–now my husband for 18 years–first spoke to his parents on my phone in the Netherlands, he ended the call with telling his parents he loved them, apparently in response to them telling him the same.

That was weird to me. My parents and I had never Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Language, Society

Tagged American, Amerika, Amerikaans, Cultural Differences, emigration, expressions, immigration, kultuurverschillen, Nederland, Netherlands, uitdrukkingen, United States

The Meaning of Shit

Posted on April 11, 2012 | 5 comments

get-attachment.aspx I opened my oven drawer yesterday, and was immediately reminded of a language misunderstanding I had years ago. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Language

Tagged American, bullshitter, conversation, Cultural Differences, emigration, expressions, full of shit, humor, immigration, kultuurverschillen, language, Netherlands, uitdrukkingen, United States

Boterham ≠ Sandwich

Posted on November 5, 2011 | 3 comments

When I still lived in Holland a Canadian friend came to visit and we went to see my parents, in part because they lived in Enkhuizen, a wonderful tourist destination. At lunchtime my mother set the table with all the different sandwich toppings she had. My parents looked on in horror as my friend first put jam on her sandwich, then chocolate sprinkles, and then pink sprinkles on top of that! Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Food

Tagged America, American, Amerika, boterhammen, Cultural Differences, Dutch, eating habits, eetgewoontes, food, humor, Nederland, Netherlands, sandwiches

Nails

Posted on February 2, 2011 | 1 comment

I had been asked to be a bridesmaid.

This was a big test: could I do it? Could I stand in a row with five American women, in front of a church congregation, without being the odd one out?

Yes. I would just have to do it. I would just have to forget my Dutch sense of individuality and put on a dress that I was ordered to wear – the exact same dress that five other women would be wearing – and walk for several hours in high-heeled shoes of someone else’s choice.

I would have to ‘have my hair done’ – in a style, at a time, and at a location determined by others – and I would have to ‘have my nails done’ with a polish that was handed out at the bridesmaids’ luncheon.

But…

1 Comment

Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Society

Tagged Amerika, bridesmaids, bruiloften, Cultural Differences, emigration, humor, immigrants, immigration, kultuurverschillen, manicures, United States, wedding customs

Sing Along, Now, Girls and Boys!

Posted on February 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

Apparently having good company for your birthday is not enough when you go out to eat. In many restaurants the personnel sings a song for the celebrant. And everyone in the restaurant will know about it. The waiters meet near the kitchen and start clapping as they walk to the birthday person’s table. Often they sing and clap their very own house-birthday song: Continue reading →