Food:
- The Dutch eat lots of sandwiches. I personally do not mind this - I enjoy a good sandwich. Some people, especially those from countries where sandwiches are not a lunch item, have complained about the fact that the university canteens (eateries) do not serve lunches other than sandwiches, for the most part. A typical sandwich is a roll/ mini baguette with cheese (mozzarella, goat, oude, or jonge), hard boiled egg, cucumber, tomato, and/or lettuce.
- Potatoes are a big deal here. In my classes when the professors talked about immigration during the '70s and '80s, they semi-joked about how Indonesians and Surinamese immigrants had to learn to replace rice with potatoes to properly assimilate.
- Expect to drink a lot of coffee and/or beer. It's what people drink socially. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting in a café, slowly sipping on a cappuccino. It's bliss. When out pubbing, beer is the cheapest and (therefore) most popular drink. Plus, it's the Dutch way. Do not worry if you are not a big drinker, there are plenty of opportunities to socialize without drinking.
- Cafés ≠ Coffee Shops!!!! Learn this now! As they told us in orientation, coffee shops.... are not for coffee. Lets leave it at that.
- Tap water does not exist here in restaurants. It's just not an option. When you order a water (still or sparkling), you will be given a veeeeery small bottle of water and that's it.
- Raw herring is very popular, very Dutch, and very smelly.
- There is a big market every Saturday that lines the Niewe Rijn where you can buy all sorts of yummy foods and there is a smaller version every Wednesday.
- Stroopwaffels are AMAZING! They're very thin disks of waffle dough freshly pressed, cut in half, and filled with gooey, carmel/honey syrup. Chocowaffels are also extraordinary.
- Dutch kids eat chocolate sprinkles on buttered bread. This was my #1 source of culture shock. They don't even toast the bread. It's just.... bread... with butter.... and sprinkles. The sprinkles are called Hagelslag - it's worth trying.
- Some vocab: Kip = chicken; Kaas = cheese; Saté = not sautée, it's chicken or pork skewers in a heavenly peanut sauce; Knoflook = garlic; Slagroom = whipped cream; halfvolle melk = somewhere in between whole and skim milk; Karnemelk = I think that's whole milk; 0% vet melk = skim milk; Vla = pudding; Muesli = granola; Suiker = sugar
- Don't be afraid to ask for an English menu. Many restaurants have them.
Language:
- Unfortunately, I have not been able to take Dutch lessons (the course filled up too soon and did not fit my schedule). This really hasn't been a problem. Nearly everyone speaks English and if they do not, they usually turn to someone who does to help translate. Most people are very kind about speaking English. I've had many Dutch people ask me in surprised voices why I would ever want to learn their language, indicating that they do not expect me to learn or to want to learn.
- The language course costs extra, but I think Clark would be willing to pay for it.
- I've gotten by pretty much on: Goedemorgen (good morning), goede middag (good day), dank je wel (informal thank you), dank u wel (formal thank you), or bedankt (thank you).
- Some Dutch words resemble English, so you can kind of figure things out just by sounding the mystery word out loud.
Transportation:
- Everyone either walks or bicycles everywhere. There is no need to buy a new bike. I bought a new bike, found out too late it was too tall for me, and can't find anyone to buy it. I found a used bike that is in really decent condition. Many purchased bikes at the used bike sale at the beginning of the year for 30 to 60 euros.
- Bikers here are amazing. I see people selecting music on their ipods, texting, and holding groceries/ umbrellas while biking. I've seen parents carry two kids on their bikes at once.
- Be careful not to illegally park your bike. I did that at the train station and it got taken away by the city. I had to pay a 26 euro fine (besides having to walk across town to get it back).
- Lock your bike! It will get stolen otherwise.
- Trains work very well here. There's a station in every major city. Trips to the Hague and Amsterdam leave very fifteen minutes. It's a good idea to get a discount card so you can get 40% off each trip including up to (I think) two passengers.
- For trips to other countries, most people use Easyjet or Ryanair. I took Easyjet to London and it was very nice. I used Vueling to go to Barcelona. These cheaper airlines tend to be really picky about the amount of luggage you have, so make sure you only have ONE carry-on item (including purse). Also, charging for bathroom use is common on these airlines. Side note: charging for bathroom use is just plain common here in the Netherlands.
- Thalys is a high speed train from Amsterdam to Belgium and France (and possibly other places).
Hope some of these tips are helpful to anyone planning on coming here! It's fairly easy to figure everything out, just ask around. Cheers!
