On Tolerance: Mahatma Gandhi would have been proud of the Dutch on their tolerance. Not only me but my wife and daughter too, have never ever felt any sign of bias during our 3 years stay. They are also tolerant when they know we cannot speak their language. They do however appreciate when we say , even with faulty pronunciation, words like Dank u wel and Tot ziens
On Generosity: I will not be rude by saying generosity is a word that cannot be found in the Dutch dictionary. It is there and called – Vrijgevigheid. But then you see, it is very difficult to pronounce,even by the Dutch, leave alone practice it!
On W W W : No, this is NOT World Wide Web – but Wealth, Week-end and Weather.
Wealth (Money), the Dutch are (in) famous for their extra ordinary love for money. They hate parting with money, however small it is.
Week - end. Count down for the week-end starts as soon as the week begins. Come Friday, shouts of "Prerthak Week end" reverberate along the office corridor!
Weather - The Dutch are obsessed with the weather, about which they keep complaining endlessly. I try to part with some of my oriental philosophy, telling them that some weather is better than no weather. But they don't seem to understand.
On Friendship: They are friendly indeed and easy to get along. Developing deeper friendships do take time as anywhere else - but once formed, I have experienced some really true, selfless and deep friendships with them.
On Openness: It is common knowledge that the Dutch are very open. But beware – when a non- Dutch is open in communicating an unfavourable comment to a Dutch, it may not always be taken in the same manner as they would among themselves! I learnt it the hard way in the course of my work.
The Last Word: If I were given another opportunity to work abroad in an European country and asked which one I would prefer, I will have no hesitation in my reply.
Yes, it would be Netherlands.
