Going Dutch

• The Netherlands is light not bright- a world of grey, greens and browns.
• Vincent van Gogh was born in Holland.
• The Dutch are clean, thrifty, well spoken, and able to get along well with others.
• 495 people per square kilometers, the Netherlands is Europe’s most densely populated country.
• The term ‘going Dutch’ was so the Dutch could sit back and enjoy their coffee in peace. Without worrying about who was going to pick up the bill.
• The Dutch ‘think with their pockets.’
• Remembrance Day- 2 minutes of dead silence in remembrance of the two world wars- everyone and everything stops.
• To assure their neighbors and them that they have nothing to hide the Dutch build houses with big windows and do not draw their curtains at night.
• Holland is the province of the Netherlands.
• ‘First give my bike back!’ this joke referrers to the fact that the Germans confiscated all bicycles during WWII.
• Nearly half the nation’s babies are born at home and few Dutch mothers use anesthetic or painkillers during the delivery.
• The Dutch work fewer hours per year than anyone else in the Western world.
• For the Dutch, no meal is complete without meat.
• The jolliest holiday is the King’s birthday (Koningsdag).
• On holidays people on social security get an allowance to help them recover from the stress of being unemployed.
• The most significant Dutch novel was written about coffee.
• The Netherlands coffee is served black, strong, and usually with a biscuit. Their coffee is strong enough to double the rate of your pulse.