Scot Dutchy wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:Tell us more about the Hague, man. What is there to do there? How's the economy? Wilders get shut down yet?

What way do you want to know?
BTW over Wilders is it very quiet. He has to rethink his whole plan because of Cohen. He is still losing popularity.

Geen Wilders.

The economy is going in the right direction exports up 11%. Unemployment has dropped but was never really high. We did not suffer so much from the crisis as much as some countries due to the Dutch banking system. The one problem left in the banking world is well it was meant to be the take over of ABNAmro by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Foris Bank of Belgium.
Well with RBS and Fortis went turtle during the takeover. The Dutch governemnt bought out the ABNAmro bank sold off the Belgium part of Fortis and is now taking over RBS instead of the other way round. The government has made a lot of money on the deal. RBS and the British government are not too happy though.

Remind me never to play poker with a Nederlander...damn, man.

In the Hague there is everything to do.

Restaurants? Bookstores?

It has a large shopping area free of traffic. The are lovely squares which shortly will be filled with terraces.

Define terraces?

There is the beach and dunes. It is a very quiet city as more more traffic is diverted round the city.
It is just a pleasant place to live. Very cosmopolitan in fact English is almost a second language.

Sounds nice enough.

NineOneFour wrote:Geen Wilders.

Well he is still around but more people are more interested what is going to happen to Balkenlende. CDA are still going down hill. The official election campaign starts this weekend. It is the quiet before the storm. Wilders will have to pull off a stunt or something he is approaching the end of his sale by date.
His party's attitude in Alsmere and the Hague council formations is not giving any new friends. He is terrified to take power in any of the two councils as he would have to make rational decisions and compromises showing too much of his hand.

Remind me never to play poker with a Nederlander...damn, man.

I never do.

Restaurants? Bookstores?

Plenty of those. You can eat any sort of food you want.
There are very large bookstores even today with internet. There is a fairly large American bookstore.
Art galleries are also plentiful. Antique markets in the summer time.

Define terraces?

They are like the French street cafes only larger. Service is usually very good. You can sit all day if want. Read a book and watch the world go by drinking a suitable beverage and enjoying some nice food. Bump into friends and pass the time of day. It's great on a hot day (30C is not uncommon). No traffic just the noise of chattering and the occasional street musician.

The beach resort is quite large with a whole row of resturants and sun terraces if you like that sort of thing. It is too noisy for me. I like to the harbour cafes and terraces.

Scot Dutchy wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:Geen Wilders.

Well he is still around but more people are more interested what is going to happen to Balkenlende. CDA are still going down hill.

Balkelende is toast. When people in your own party call for your resignation, I'd say he's through.

CDA sucks.

The official election campaign starts this weekend. It is the quiet before the storm. Wilders will have to pull off a stunt or something he is approaching the end of his sale by date.

Well, I don't know. You keep saying that but polls still put him at the second or third largest party.

It bothers me that so many of your countrymen would consider voting for such a crazed insane fuckwit.

(insert Sarah Palin joke here)

His party's attitude in Alsmere and the Hague council formations is not giving any new friends. He is terrified to take power in any of the two councils as he would have to make rational decisions and compromises showing too much of his hand.

I agree. He's not going anywhere in those two councils.

Remind me never to play poker with a Nederlander...damn, man.

I never do.

The Netherlands and Scandinavia look exceptionally economically well-off right now...

Restaurants? Bookstores?

Plenty of those. You can eat any sort of food you want.

Ummm....Mexican....? Indian? Thai? Greek?

[qoute]There are very large bookstores even today with internet. There is a fairly large American bookstore.
Art galleries are also plentiful. Antique markets in the summer time.[/quote]

Is there an amazon.nl? I guess there must be.

Define terraces?

They are like the French street cafes only larger. Service is usually very good. You can sit all day if want. Read a book and watch the world go by drinking a suitable beverage and enjoying some nice food. Bump into friends and pass the time of day. It's great on a hot day (30C is not uncommon). No traffic just the noise of chattering and the occasional street musician.

Oh. I saw those in Amersfoort, I think I know what you mean. Brilliant!

The beach resort is quite large with a whole row of resturants and sun terraces if you like that sort of thing. It is too noisy for me. I like to the harbour cafes and terraces.

I like the beach very much and beach people because they are usually laid back and easy to get along with, but I and the future wife paradoxically despise the sun. We're both exceedingly white, and turn into large lobsters very quickly.

Ok, so I read that barbecuing is banned in the Netherlands because of the current fire hazard.

What the hell do you barbecue there? Do you use grills like in the States? Beef, as in West of the Mississippi in the States, or pork, which is East of the Mississippi in the States?

NineOneFour wrote:Ok, so I read that barbecuing is banned in the Netherlands because of the current fire hazard.

What the hell do you barbecue there? Do you use grills like in the States? Beef, as in West of the Mississippi in the States, or pork, which is East of the Mississippi in the States?

American barbecue grills are very popular by some. They barbecue just about anything. Chicken, pork, beef and fish are all popular. The small covered barbecues are also very common. We have one for the balcony. Some people prefer the Japenese style babecue. They are very suitable for Indonesian food and use very little fuel.

The ban applies to the countryside not in the cities. It has been so hot here we are having a heat wave (official). That is five days of temperature over 25C and those three have to be over 30C. It is affecting the farmers very much as there is a ban on watering the fields. Hopefully tonight we will have a thunder storm which will mean the temperature is dropping.

Scot Dutchy wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:Ok, so I read that barbecuing is banned in the Netherlands because of the current fire hazard.

What the hell do you barbecue there? Do you use grills like in the States? Beef, as in West of the Mississippi in the States, or pork, which is East of the Mississippi in the States?

American barbecue grills are very popular by some. They barbecue just about anything. Chicken, pork, beef and fish are all popular. The small covered barbecues are also very common. We have one for the balcony. Some people prefer the Japenese style babecue. They are very suitable for Indonesian food and use very little fuel.

The ban applies to the countryside not in the cities. It has been so hot here we are having a heat wave (official). That is five days of temperature over 25C and those three have to be over 30C. It is affecting the farmers very much as there is a ban on watering the fields. Hopefully tonight we will have a thunder storm which will mean the temperature is dropping.

How often do you get massive thunderstorms, like massive booms, lightning, etc.? When I was there, the rains were usually gentle downpours for the most part.

(Yes, I realize this is random)

And are the proposed cuts by the various parties going to be painful for people?

EDITED TO ADD: We'd kill down here for your "heat wave". It has been 33C - 34C for weeks here, with the heat index at 39C.

I was in Amsterdam for a weekend once. I remember one of the first things I saw was a guy, about 6'6", walking down the street with nothing but a long, red leather jacket, a black, leather thong and a pair of high-heels. I remember looking around and no one batted an eyelid. I was thinking Can they not see this? I decided after that that it was a cool city.

Animavore wrote:I was in Amsterdam for a weekend once. I remember one of the first things I saw was a guy, about 6'6", walking down the street with nothing but a long, red leather jacket, a black, leather thong and a pair of high-heels. I remember looking around and no one batted an eyelid. I was thinking Can they not see this? I decided after that that it was a cool city.

I've seen similar stuff in London and no one batted an eyelid there either.

I think that dude you describe would be arrested in Houston.

NineOneFour wrote:

Animavore wrote:I was in Amsterdam for a weekend once. I remember one of the first things I saw was a guy, about 6'6", walking down the street with nothing but a long, red leather jacket, a black, leather thong and a pair of high-heels. I remember looking around and no one batted an eyelid. I was thinking Can they not see this? I decided after that that it was a cool city.

I've seen similar stuff in London and no one batted an eyelid there either.

I think that dude you describe would be arrested in Houston.

I don't think anything would happen to him in Dublin but a lot of heads would be turning.

NineOneFour wrote:

Scot Dutchy wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:Ok, so I read that barbecuing is banned in the Netherlands because of the current fire hazard.

What the hell do you barbecue there? Do you use grills like in the States? Beef, as in West of the Mississippi in the States, or pork, which is East of the Mississippi in the States?

American barbecue grills are very popular by some. They barbecue just about anything. Chicken, pork, beef and fish are all popular. The small covered barbecues are also very common. We have one for the balcony. Some people prefer the Japenese style babecue. They are very suitable for Indonesian food and use very little fuel.

The ban applies to the countryside not in the cities. It has been so hot here we are having a heat wave (official). That is five days of temperature over 25C and those three have to be over 30C. It is affecting the farmers very much as there is a ban on watering the fields. Hopefully tonight we will have a thunder storm which will mean the temperature is dropping.

How often do you get massive thunderstorms, like massive booms, lightning, etc.? When I was there, the rains were usually gentle downpours for the most part.

(Yes, I realize this is random)

And are the proposed cuts by the various parties going to be painful for people?

EDITED TO ADD: We'd kill down here for your "heat wave". It has been 33C - 34C for weeks here, with the heat index at 39C.

It does happen now and again not as bad I have experinced in the Provance in France. They really get some hum dingers.

We will have to wait and see for the definitive plans. Up till now unemployment has been mentioned and reducing sizes and numbers of government departments.

Well I think your buildings are more suitable for it than ours. Very few people have A/C in their houses. Large windows. The houses are night storage heaters.

Scot Dutchy wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:

Scot Dutchy wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:Ok, so I read that barbecuing is banned in the Netherlands because of the current fire hazard.

What the hell do you barbecue there? Do you use grills like in the States? Beef, as in West of the Mississippi in the States, or pork, which is East of the Mississippi in the States?

American barbecue grills are very popular by some. They barbecue just about anything. Chicken, pork, beef and fish are all popular. The small covered barbecues are also very common. We have one for the balcony. Some people prefer the Japenese style babecue. They are very suitable for Indonesian food and use very little fuel.

The ban applies to the countryside not in the cities. It has been so hot here we are having a heat wave (official). That is five days of temperature over 25C and those three have to be over 30C. It is affecting the farmers very much as there is a ban on watering the fields. Hopefully tonight we will have a thunder storm which will mean the temperature is dropping.

How often do you get massive thunderstorms, like massive booms, lightning, etc.? When I was there, the rains were usually gentle downpours for the most part.

(Yes, I realize this is random)

And are the proposed cuts by the various parties going to be painful for people?

EDITED TO ADD: We'd kill down here for your "heat wave". It has been 33C - 34C for weeks here, with the heat index at 39C.

It does happen now and again not as bad I have experinced in the Provance in France. They really get some hum dingers.

We will have to wait and see for the definitive plans. Up till now unemployment has been mentioned and reducing sizes and numbers of government departments.

Well I think your buildings are more suitable for it than ours. Very few people have A/C in their houses. Large windows. The houses are night storage heaters.

Love A/C, but it is a money pit: $200 a month. Bleah. Plus natural gas on top of that.

Too bad about the storms. We like storms.

The Netherlands sounds awesome. I hope I can visit there some day! Do most people speak English or is a basic understanding of Dutch required?

Fishflaps wrote:The Netherlands sounds awesome. I hope I can visit there some day! Do most people speak English or is a basic understanding of Dutch required?

I spoke very little Dutch when I visited there and met exactly two people that didn't speak English.

I bet they were from France.

NineOneFour wrote:

Fishflaps wrote:The Netherlands sounds awesome. I hope I can visit there some day! Do most people speak English or is a basic understanding of Dutch required?

I spoke very little Dutch when I visited there and met exactly two people that didn't speak English.

I bet they were from France.

Fishflaps wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:

Fishflaps wrote:The Netherlands sounds awesome. I hope I can visit there some day! Do most people speak English or is a basic understanding of Dutch required?

I spoke very little Dutch when I visited there and met exactly two people that didn't speak English.

I bet they were from France.

For a visitor the average Dutch persons English is sufficient.
If you are going to live here then a knowledge of Dutch is required. There are ex-pats that live in an English bubble and never learnt any more Dutch than hello and thank you but they live on island.
In Brussels when my sister lived there the English bubble was huge. There were ex-pats that have lived there for than 20 years and did not learn French or Vlaams. You feel sorry for them for missing such an oppertunity.

Scot Dutchy wrote:

Fishflaps wrote:

NineOneFour wrote:

Fishflaps wrote:The Netherlands sounds awesome. I hope I can visit there some day! Do most people speak English or is a basic understanding of Dutch required?

I spoke very little Dutch when I visited there and met exactly two people that didn't speak English.

I bet they were from France.

For a visitor the average Dutch persons English is sufficient.
If you are going to live here then a knowledge of Dutch is required. There are ex-pats that live in an English bubble and never learnt any more Dutch than hello and thank you but they live on island.
In Brussels when my sister lived there the English bubble was huge. There were ex-pats that have lived there for than 20 years and did not learn French or Vlaams. You feel sorry for them for missing such an oppertunity.

I'll never understand that mentality.

How do they function at work, for goodness sake?

I loved Holland/Netherlands (can someone tell me what it should be called and why?) when I went there on a student exchange, I was 17. I found the people very friendly, helpful, relaxed, fun to be around. The parents of the student I stayed with were just fab, they spoke in English the whole time I was in the house even when discussing bills and who's turn it was to vacuum the hallway! Apparently they liked the practice... of English, not vacuuming!

When I went out shopping I tried a little bit of Dutch but I didn't meet anyone that didn't speak English. They giggled at my attempts, corrected my abysmal grammar and carried on the rest of the conversation in English.

The Stroopwafels are damn awesome... and Sainsbury's now stock them! Yey!

I know several Dutchies through gaming, loads in our guild (World of Warcraft) and they're all really nice guys and gals with similar world views. Very down to earth. Just love 'em.

I can safely say it's the only European country I would emigrate to if given a choice.

NineOneFour wrote:

I'll never understand that mentality.

How do they function at work, for goodness sake?

English is the corporate language in all the larger companies, whether they originate in the States or the UK or not.

In Belgium it is now not unusual to hear French and Dutch speaking people talking to each other in English.

pennypitstop wrote:I loved Holland/Netherlands (can someone tell me what it should be called and why?)

Holland (an area comprising of 2 provinces : North and South Holland) is part of The Netherlands. However, because it is inconvenient to be using a country name which requires a definite article all the time, Holland is often used as a pars pro toto.

pennypitstop wrote:I loved Holland/Netherlands (can someone tell me what it should be called and why?) when I went there on a student exchange, I was 17. I found the people very friendly, helpful, relaxed, fun to be around. The parents of the student I stayed with were just fab, they spoke in English the whole time I was in the house even when discussing bills and who's turn it was to vacuum the hallway! Apparently they liked the practice... of English, not vacuuming!

When I went out shopping I tried a little bit of Dutch but I didn't meet anyone that didn't speak English. They giggled at my attempts, corrected my abysmal grammar and carried on the rest of the conversation in English.

The Stroopwafels are damn awesome... and Sainsbury's now stock them! Yey!

I know several Dutchies through gaming, loads in our guild (World of Warcraft) and they're all really nice guys and gals with similar world views. Very down to earth. Just love 'em.

I can safely say it's the only European country I would emigrate to if given a choice.

The official term is The Kindom of The Netherlands (De Koningrijk der Nederlanden).
The Nrtherlands is the proper name. Why Holland came to be used is patially historical. The major ports are in Noord and Zuid Holland. The main fleets came there so when the Dutch were fighting everyone they were called Hollanders and it has stuck. Even a lot of the Dutch in North and South Holland still refer to themselves as Hollanders and say they speak Hollands.

It was snobish in the 18th and patially in the 19th centuries to call yourself Hollands as the other provinces were very rural.
Even today for many Dutch the province where you come from is very important.

Yes they all think they can speak English it is all very superficial. Scratch a bit harder and they dry up. But the problem is convincing them that you can speak Dutch. I have no problem lived here so damn long and I can curse swear as good as the next Dutchman. My wife who has lived here now for five years does still now and again still gets answered in English even though her Dutch is very good (her grammar is better than mine I never followed any lessons she does nothing else. I know it from instinct she knows the rules).

I once did a project with a Dutch guy who was mad about World of Warcraft he apparently was a top warrior (I personally know nothing about the game).

@NineOneFour They usually are working for an English language company on an international level. Their kids go to English language schools. Their social world is that of the other parents of the kids at school. Most official documents are available in English. So basically there is no need.

There are plenty of ex-pats clubs and my wife is a member of the Americam, British, Irish and International women's clubs. She joined when she came here. It provides plenty of social events.
The international club by its rules has to have a 25% Dutch membership and they organise many Dutch events. My wife goes to the Dutch book club there.