While I was studying and living in Netherlands, I thought about something interesting in this country. Well, it is very subjective opinion so no judging :-).
Wink : When I went to the store, the clerk said bye in Dutch and winked at me. I was bit surprised since in my culture, people do not really do wink unless they are on a relationship or try to flirt. Besides, between guys, oh no. never. Unless they want to tease you really bad and fine with lots of condemning. :-p. I heard this is the sign of intimacy. I also got wink in the bank by officer. I think it is pretty nice service. It is better than rude service staff. 🙂 This is one of the things I like about Netherlands, most of clerks or staffs are so kind most of the time. Of course there were exceptions, ugh. . . . )
Oh for service, I think you wouldn't expect that amazing service in Amsterdam. It varies a lot there.
Bicycle theft : This is pretty prevailing I guess in this country. Since there are more bicycles than human beings, I guess there is quite good market for bicycle thefts. Especially, if it is impossible to bring the whole bicycle, they do not mind taking one wheel. Or sometimes, they only leave the wheel as a cheer up, but bring the rest. So I heard that people even put the GPS on the bicycle. In Korea one of my friends got the theft in his house while he was away, and the thief was only interested in bringing the fry pan. . . Don’t know why, because he even put the money on the table to pay the rent. But he or she was not interested in, but only fry pan. Quite purpose-oriented thief?
- No more growing pill : People are tallest in the world here. I can feel it as soon as I land in the airport, because I cannot see forward well ;-(. In Korea, many of my fellows are over 180cm, and I am 176cm. But here guys are usually more than 186 or something. I have seen people who are over 2 meters quite regularly. . . Guess it would be quite inconvenient to choose clothes or they might bump into something with forehead. So here it is, pill for stopping your growth!
Openness of house : Even people live on the ground floor, they do not mind opening the curtain wide open. Whenever I walk over I can see many house’s interior and people watching TV. Sometimes when I even make an eye contact, I feel sorry as if I interfere their privacy. But human is attracted to visual thing unconsciously, so I quickly switch my attention to something else. People say that they open the curtain wide open to get more sunshine. Or maybe there are proud of the interior design sometimes.
Birthday greeting : While I was reading the Dutch language book, I found the conversation interesting. People say “Gefeliciteerd: Happy birthday” to everyone. Pretty interesting. Also the one who gets a birthday brings the cake.
Cycling in a rainy day : Whenever it rained, I used tram to go to university. But I found many people still riding a bicycle even though it rains. Well, not only for this, saw people dancing in a rainy day which is quite romantic until they come indoor and take off shows, inducing a cheese smell from the feet. :-p Just kidding hehe. Recently I saw on the news that many still bike in a snowy days...
- Everything is charged : Yup, in many European countries, you need to pay for the toilet (Ireland was free in subway :-p). I am kind of used to it now. And Mcdonald charges you for the ketchup and stuff. Hm. And I went to the library, and the bathroom in public library also charges you for the bathroom. Public library also charges you for the wifi and computer use. Also, usually tourist map is free but not in Amsterdam. . .