It makes me really uncomfortable when a waiter interrupts the conversation every couple of minutes just to check if everything is fine. Here in Berlin it luckily only happens at touristy places that can easily be avoided
I really prefer a more European style of serving tables. I don't like being bothered by waitresses constantly asking me "if everything is still okay" or immediately snatching my plate after I've just eaten the last bite of my meal. It makes me feel like I'm in a factory instead of in a diner or restaurant...
I love the free refills on coffee though, I don't feel stressed about having to tip to compensate service I didn't request then. But as a Dutch man when I went to the US I was just doing a dinner I get asked if I am okay for like 5-6 times. I know it's cultural, I'll let you know if I need anything. And yeah in The Netherlands it can take a while before you get noticed. But what makes me feel annoyed is the expectation of extra money/compensation. It's an unclear transaction. (And yeah, of course I do tip waiters in the US)
European style? Don’t compare The Netherlands to Southern European countries, where service jobs are a profession and they actually serve you. There’s little ‘European’ about the ‘service’ in The Netherlands.
@@tyasbank Same here; love the free refills :-) And I prefer European table service; especially when I ask some one for dinner and I don't want a "who's paying" game. I just excuse myself pretending to go to washroom and pay at the bar.
I never felt culture shock when I left my native California and moved to the south of France. However I an obligatory return two years later was a nightmare. I couldn't get back to the EU fast enough. I am minutes from several gorgeous Mediterranean beaches and can be in Spain in under one hour. I chose a charming village surrounded by vineyards. Sixteen years and counting, why would I want to be anywhere else. If I want to go anywhere, a ticket on our wonderful rail system will take me anywhere I care to go.
Yep. Besides, you can be pretty much anywhere in Europe within a day or two thanks to the extensive highspeed railway. No need to drive to a damn airport first. Have croissants for breakfast near Paris gare du nord and "sipping" pastis in Marseille at night. Have a ristretto in Naples and shop in Milan without the use of a car. Myself, I'm pretty much smack in the middle, Ghent, Belgium. London is just a chunnel away.
@@johnmaletic898 I live inner city in the US and don't own a car, and its honestly its a pain to rent a car, if you don't advance book its really expensive, and I have to go to a airport to pick it up and return it. There are car sharing programs, I never bothered to figure them out, they might be easier. I lived in Orlando for a bit and the complete lack of public transit confuses everyone from overseas.
@@bearcubdaycare The main problem I see with those is that they tend to have a very small service area. Every single one I've encountered so far (EU and US, haven't been to Canada) only covered the central city in a metro area, so if you live just next town over you don't have access.
As a Belgian, I can identify with just about every part of your reverse culture shock, from back when I was working in the US for a while. Especially the part about the health care system. In fact we had a joke among the colleagues that wasn't really a joke - we regularly mentioned "if anything ever happens to me - don't call an ambulance, but a taxi, and book me a first class plane ticket". And that was true for all the Europeans working in the group. It is beyond me how a civilised country can have a "health care" system for their citizens that is so utterly terrifying and has so much potential for total individual financial ruin.
Not only that, but how so many Americans are afraid of a national healthcare system, and convinced that it could “never work” here because we’re a big country. 🙄
As a Belgian, when you're just traveling as a tourist to the US, then your medical bills will be refunded by the Belgian health care system if you need medical attention in the US. You do have to pay for it, so you actually must be able to "pony up the dough", but it will be refunded. That's why it's recommended to jack up your credit limit when traveling to the US. Still, the taxi and 1st class ticket will probably be cheaper...
Fellow Belgian here, I lived in Austin, TX and Mooresville, NC. I ended up moving back to Belgium because even though I love a lot about the US, the social catch net that exists here is a luxury I wasn't willing to give up. It was fine by myself, because I had good employment, but the moment you start thinking about a family where things might not go perfectly for your children it becomes a risk you do not want to take. If life throws you a curveball at the wrong time in your life, it can ruin you. And even though I earn far less here in Belgium, my living standards haven't dropped.
I’m German and I love the „server let’s you have your meal in peace and with a nice conversation, while always looking (but rarely asking) if you need anything“ kind of service. I really felt rushed in US restaurants. It felt like they wanted to throw me out as soon as I finished eating.
In Ameirca my favorite Thai restaurant gave me the bill before I was finished eating. I ate there several times a week, alone, and quick, so they probably were justified. It as embarrassing when I brought my German boyfriend there. But in Germany last week my beverage never arrived and there was no getting the attention of the staff, they were just too busy. So everyone toasted their drinks with me excluded. Finally the owner came, gave me my beverage, didn't apologize (!??!) ...but that's Germany and I'm used to it. I would have loved to have been able to ask for something or mention something but so often in Germany you are alone at your table like an island in a wild ocean. No one is coming for you. One request Germany: Just ask me ONCE if everything is OK or not. Tha'ts all. In Germany they never know why you tipped so low, cuz they have no idea what they could have done to make you satisfied.
@@LythaWausW you seem to have found some of the worst restaurants. I’m sorry for your experience. The only times I had experiences like „no one asking even once“ was when I was in fast food restaurants (Döner, sausage and fries,…).
@@jennyh4025 I can forgive cuz there are always circumstances. I just accumulate experiences between the two countries and it's a strong pattern. (Oh but fast food/imbiss I would never expect feedback on the food, just like I wouldn't at McDonalds.)
As a Dutch person who lived in the US for about a decade, I quickly got used to it. It's rare (outside of very busy tourist areas) they actually rush you, though I can totally see how it would feel that way. They can read you well enough to know when to back off a little, and otherwise it's just quick "I'm ok, thanks!". I never really liked the slow pace in the Netherlands myself because it can be chore to chase down staff, and often it just takes very long between courses when I'm hungry. So given the two options, I'd pick the US way.
For American wait staff it would seem to me that getting customers in and out as fast as possible, hence the hovering, quick removal of plates and quickly placing the bill on the table, means they might be able to make more tips that will help pay their rent, since the restaurant isn't paying them a living wage.
Yes, but take your time and eat your food at your leisure. Just nicely say you are a slow eater and they will get the message and back off. They not want to risk their tip.
@@simonledoux8519 As you said, if you are the type who needs more time (dining alone, for example), just ask, and they'll understand. They have to, they're getting the tip based on it. I know, however, how hard that is, cuz you feel their pressure in their body language and speech.
@@LythaWausW So basically I am obligated top pay extra (tip) for having a nice dinner? I am not gonna lie, that sucks and I always hated it when travelling to the US. In Europe it is not rare that you might spend the whole evening in a restaurant, have a nice dinner with friends, order drinks an espressi, maybe later a dessert. And you leave late and drunk.
@@muskelpaulkleber7413 No, that's not how it is. I worked as a server for a while when I was finishing my Master's degree, for a national restaurant chain that only prefers to move the tables quickly on weekend mornings. The reason the wait staff "hovers" is honestly to make sure that everything is going well. First off, Americans complain about everything. Servers have to be around to make sure there are not strange complaints or, secondly, attempts to steal, cheat, or leave without paying. Remember, we mostly serve Americans. Here's the saga of one of my worst experiences as a server: I once had a family of 4, the wife ordered a sweet ham with her dinner, the husband a salty ham. When their dinners came, the wife tasted her husband's ham before she ate any of hers. Then she called me over to the table to tell me we gave her the wrong kind of ham because hers was salty. I explained to her that you can SEE the difference in their hams, she had the correct one, that her taste buds were still reacting to the sample she had of her spouse's ham. She became indignant and insisted I take her plate back to the cook. Yes, a cook who looked at the plate and said, "she has sweet ham, what am I supposed to do?" I said, "taste it and tell me it's sweet." He did just that. I called the manager to the back to tell him that he was going to have to come to my table in about 5 minutes. I knew what was happening. She had eaten that salty ham on purpose. When I took the plate back, and told her that the cook tested her ham and it was sweet, she wanted ALL OF THEIR MEALS COMPED. ALL 4 DINNERS. Written off. I saw it coming. I motioned for the manager. He told them that he could not give them 4 free meals, and offered her a free dessert. She was LIVID. They had not one nice thing to say the rest of their time. At the same restaurant, different shift, I had a table where one of the diners called me over and complained that there was a hair in her meal. There was a hair carefully laying on top of her food, the same length and color as her own. It was interesting, considering all of us servers were required to wear our hair in ponytails, and the cooks working that day were bald. Besides that, one of the people at a nearby table told me they saw her pull the hair out of her head and place it on her food - other people in the dining room do not hold secrets for strangers. Neither do I. I think my manager comped her meal anyhow. These kinds of antics are the reason we "hover" over our tables. You might not be psycho, but that can't be said for everyone we serve.
I am from Sweden and I was blown away of how helpful many in the U.S was when it came to everyday stuff. They really went out of their way to make me feel welcome, driving me places, inviting me over, getting me stuff. It was truly wonderful and inspiring! When it comes to social welfare politics though, their views could be terrible with very little empathy and readiness to be helpful, and that was such a strange paradox to me. In Sweden, people are generally way more grumpy on the outside (haha), but you can mostly count on that there is an empathetic basic view of humanity and an understanding that we can all get into trouble and need help sometimes, and thus a willingness to pay taxes and stand up for general social safety nets. If you could combine the two - that would be great!
I waited tables in the Netherlands and our way of doing it comes from not liking the small talk as much. We go out to dinner to have a conversation with the people at our table, no with the person serving us. It is really annoying to constantly get interrupted. As the wait staff is getting paid a fair wage, there is no pressure to get a good tip. Anything you get is an extra but there is not the stress of not being sure you're going to make ends meet. This way they can focus on efficiency, quality and service. The customer also doesn't feel ripped off. A good business can pay its people, otherwise it isn't viable to keep going. Proper wages means staff are more relaxed, not trying to please you every 2 minutes and are not trying to be overly nice. For us, the wave or eye contact isn't awkward, unless you time it poorly. It also means the customer decides when to get the bill, which can be annoying as some people stay for hours. There are ways to get rid off them, by saying the table is reserved from a certain time, but bringing them the bill without being asked is not done. Not better or worse than the American way, just a different way of doing it. I prefer the Dutch as I am Dutch, but I get why people would like the American style.
@escorpiuser I like tipping if its good but I like it BECAUSE here in Netherlands I know its extra. I know its a bit extra for them which I LIKE to do. But I wouldnt like it if I knew it kept them alive...
"we"? Speak for yourself, I am the extravertest extrovert on the planet (level: my favorite anime convention is in Budapest, I fly there every 3 months for it, and one of the reasons its my fav is the free hug line with a 1000 people thats always there, best thing ever xD), I love small talk, I had a whole ass random conversation that lasted 30 minutes (because they wanted to know everything) about my cosplay costume and then Chinese BL novels with a random nice pair of old people on the train to Duch comic con... Small talk good. Convo good. Talking to people good. :D
@@ukeyaoitrash2618 Good for you but that is not how the vast majority of people in the Netherlands are. Doesn't mean that it is a bad thing, society is just based on how most people are. If the majority were like you, it would be more like America. As I mentioned in my initial comment, that is also not a bad thing. It is just a different way of doing it.
@@ukeyaoitrash2618 My apologies if my other comment came across as dickish and blunt, it was not meant that way. The "good for you" opener was a bad move. I tried to be funny, which it wasn't. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, at all. The point I so poorly tried to make was that a large majority of Dutch people are generally more private and introverted. That is not a good or a bad thing, it is just is the way it is. Not being that way is also not a good or a bad thing, it is just who you are. Fortunately, in todays world there are anime cons where it sounds like you would be amongst a majority, also in terms of your interests. It's great that the cons have become so big, they seem like a lot of fun. I wouldn't last an hour at an anime con though. Absolute sensory overload for me. Again, not bad, not good, it is just the way I am. Fortunately, I have the choice not to go and leave that to people who do enjoy it.
When you showed the dutch cheese section I missed that we also have cheese in 2 different places in most shops. The prepacked cheese you showed but also cheeses in the 'fresh counter' where you can also find some specialty cheeses. Would you still better go the a cheeseshop if you want something special? Absolutely! But I personally don't think we have little choice in cheese in shops like Jumbo and AH.
And also while the Dutch areas take up less space it doesn't mean less variety. In the US, if you have 10 brands, 3 sizes each, (total 30 SKUs) of the same kind of cheese, each one takes up a lot of space. In the Netherlands, any brand is unlikely to have more than 2 sizes and each, there's a handful of brands for each kind of cheese, and each individual SKU is given less space. You can end up with a lot more variety (more kinds of cheese) in a lot less space.
I'm an American living in Denmark (been living here for 34 years now). I can totally relate to "reverse culture shock" whenever I go back to visit family in Washington DC and Maryland! My overall impression about the cultural difference between Denmark (as well as other European countries) and The US, is that in Denmark, it feels like people prioritize a feeling of security and safety over economy, and the kind of false "freedom" that is offered in The US. Daily living issues, like getting around (transportation), employment, and other financial issues, and social "fairness" and a lack of poverty make living so less stressful. So yeah, it would definitely be difficult for me to acclimate to living back in The US. Come on up to Denmark if you're interested in cultural differences! It's just around the corner from The Netherlands!
Western Europeans in general don't feel the need to scream out to the world that they are free, they just know they are and quietly get on with their lives.
A YT summarized quite well. In the USA, people value being "free to", whereas in the EU we value being "free from". Free to be healthy vs being free from being sick, freedom to owe a house vs being free from homelessness, freedom to become ultrarich vs freedom from being poor, freedom to kill for your survival vs being free from kill or be killed...
@@billybudd5854 Western Europeans don't "feel the need to scream out to the world that they are free" because of things like NATO, OPEC and the U.S. global military power structure -- ALL of which backs up Europe around the world. So yes Europeans (on the surface) can "get on with their lives" (for the most part) but it's because U.S. is Europe's attack dog globally. Also the U.S. rebuilt most of western Europe (esp. the Netherlands and Germany) with the Marshall Plan. And the U.S. is still very much on the European continent. Which is why Russia mostly leaves Europe alone for the most part. If the U.S. stepped away from Europe and NATO, the dynamics of "freedom" for Europeans would shift greatly!
I've been visiting friends and family in the USA for over 30 years. A common thing was for us to compare things like taxes, healthcare and personal liberties. I was really surprised to find there were loads more rules in the US versus the UK - small stuff like getting a ticket your car being parked on the street on street cleaning day. Everything seems so regimented and proceduralized (😉) sometimes. I used to make a joke of it and refer to the UK as "the real land of the free." I don't do that now because it's not funny anymore.
When traveling to the US, it is very much recommended to get travel insurance. This is not very expensive. You can also take a “doorlopende reisverzekering “. You pay a monthly fee and then all your trip are covered. This is much cheaper and is very handy, as you are traveling quite a bit.
Yes taking Travel health insurance for a few months or weeks when visiting other countries is very cheap we talk 1-2 restaurant visits cheap ;). I would strongly suggest always taking travel insurace when traveling outside of EU, and especially USA, it's such a small cost vs risk of costs if something happends.
yes, exactly this. Take out a travel insurance. An additional health insurance (aanvullende zorgverzekering) sometimes also covers extra emerency health costs abroad. Read carefully, USA might not be covered.
Did you read the fine print on that one? I checked it when my son was going to the US from NL and surprise surprise they only cover the part of the fee that is at the Dutch price of a hospital and you're on your own for the rest.
@@StCreedyour normal (Dutch) health insurance should cover the portion that is "reasonable". You get the travel insurance (with health care cost expansion) specifically to cover whatever additional costs you make that aren't covered by your normal health insurance. I can highly recommend ANWB for their excellent coverage and support when something does happen when you're on a trip. Their "doorlopende reisverzekering" is quite reasonably priced. Always read the specific terms and conditions to check that unexpected costs you want to cover are indeed covered, though. It always gave me great piece of mind when travelling to countries with more expensive health costs.
I’m an American living in France. My husband and I moved here in 2017. We love it. I am currently in treatment for melanoma. When I was diagnosed, my doctor filled out a form and I took it to my pharmacy and they logged it in. Everything is covered. I have paid €60 out of pocket. I was a nurse in the states and I love my healthcare here…not only because of the price.
Grocery prices are high because of inflation. The inflatable is actually hogher than what is stated. The Obama administration changed the inflation measurement to make it look lower by removing certain items
In Holland we typically dont calculate how much we tip. If you go to a restaurant and its 23,10 we just say make it 25,- and thats it. We often just round it up to the next big number. You give them a tip and on top of that you save the store/restaurant having to deal with change (they're always short on change). If the service is really poor you pay what you're owed and dont come back.
I once understood that if you think the service is poor, or non existant, you give a very small tip of like 10 cent or 20 cent. So the staf knows you're not stingy (or just paying what is owned), but you didn't appreciate the service.
@@StartPlayFinish en daar moeten we mee stoppen! ik ben nederlander en brabander, het voelt als een belediging om mij hollander te noemen, ik woon niet in dat arrogante gedeelte van ons mooi landje weet overigens ook maar even dat de staat bezig is met een campagne in het buitenland om holland uit het systeem te halen door aan te geven dat het nederland is
@@StartPlayFinish praktisch gezien was Holland gewoon altijd de hart van Nederland, daar zaten de grote koloniale bedrijven of tenminste hun warenhuizen. Daar was de meeste welvaart en ga zo maar door.. Als buitenlandse handelaren/reizigers het hadden vroeger over hun (handels)reis naar Nederland dan gingen ze naar "Holland" oftewel de regio rondt Amsterdam, Rotterdam en weet ik veel.. Dat is sindsdien gewoon altijd in het buitenland blijven hangen. Betwijfel of je dat er ooit nog uit gaat krijgen
NL supermarkets also have specialty cheese sections. The reason why the packaged cheese section in the supermarkets isn’t that big is because that cheese isn’t that good. A lot of Dutch prefer the ‘fresh’ cheese
Our daughter and son-in-law moved from Arizona to London in 2019. They will be making their first trip back to the US in March. They love their lives in the UK and have no plans to return to living in the US. They recently enjoyed a visit to Amsterdam. They are coming with a combination of excitement and trepidation.
It's a bit late now: but next year you might want to get a Dutch health care plan with 'world coverage' (werelddekking) in the additional package (aanvullende zorgverzekering). The cheapest options are just a couple of euro's extra every month. Some insurance companies allow you to get the additional package in january if you already have their basic insurance. You can also get this with your travel insurance
*I FELL DOWN CONCRETE STEPS* last winter in the ice - I had a massive hematoma on my a$$ that required 8 separate hospital visits here in Bulgaria - I dont get free healthcare as I am British - €40 is what it cost me. Last year I had a none dangerous skin cancer removed - €175 start to finish.
Happy to hear you still want to stay here. I never had the feeling of moving to another country. NL has a strong identity that i love. Born and raised here and i will die here 🇳🇱 😍. Great video. ❤❤❤
Moving to another country is really good for you - it allows you to see your home country for what it truly is, good and bad. And if you decide to stay in your new country you have to accept the bad with the good cos its YOUR choice. Either way a few years away is really valuable - My opinion of course.
Well I can agree with you, though I wasn’t born or raised in the Netherlands, I’ve lived here since my 17th, immigrated back after my Dutch parents had migrated away to live in Kenya , reluctantly to live in the Netherlands at first but now wouldn’t really want to live anywhere else, except maybe another European country. I’ve been to most places in the USA, love visiting but wouldn’t want to live there permanently although some things are better there. ( i.e. taxes are considerably lower, more wilderness and space, larger houses, etc)
@@piccalillipit9211Very true!! Im Dutch, but live in Portugal, for 9 years. Never went back and left mainly for the (bad) weather in The Netherlands. And its too crowdy (always traffic jams etc). I love my new home country and wont go back!
Ben heel benieuwd hoe groot onze shock is als wij in juli 2 weken op vakantie gaan naar Californië. Heb nu al veel gelezen en gezien over Amerika en laat het allemaal maar over mij heen komen.
I always walk up to the cash register if I want to pay the bill in a restaurant in The Netherlands. I have no patience for waiting or the hand-waving thing. (I'm Dutch)
@@EGO0808 no I am for real.. they should bring it to your table, if you go to the cassier yourself you are actally saying.. the waiter let us sit unneccsary and is ignoring us
Welcome to Netherlands! Being Dutch myself and living in the US (AZ), I can relate to what you say. The Netherlands have changed dramatically though over the last 10-20 yrs (like most of the world) and although I still think it is the best country to live, it is unfortunately letting go of much of the charm that made it so cool… So I like the US? Mweh… sometimes, yeah. What I don’t like: if you have a million dollar in the bank (which I don’t have by the way) this country is paradise. If not, it sucks. This country is basically ruled by rich people and hence a plutarchy…. That’s a shame as it is truly a beautiful country. Have fun back ’home’ 😊
As an American who's lived on three continents, I have to call nonsense. I know plenty of Americans who live well on modest amounts. I think that expats often work in big, expensive cities, but there are plenty of smaller, affordable cities with jobs that cover the cost. Sure, the largest cities have gotten crazy pricey, but that's true of many major cities around the world.
The selection in Dutch supermarkets is smaller mostly because the supermarkets themselves tend to be a lot smaller. The Albert Heijn XL in my area is about the same size as the small-ish neighborhood Kroger I frequented when I stayed in the US for a bit, and the selection was comparable. I loved and hated the car culture in the US when I was there. Cars are affordable and they are a great way to get around. But in many cases they're also the only way to get around.
I’ve lived and worked in the US for a number of years. The thing I remember most is that my monthly paycheck was around five times the amount it’s here in NL. You can suffer some hardship with this amount of money (and afford bigger boxes of cereal if you’re into that).
I'm a historian, and I've often told people that the revolution that had a more lasting impact on the United States was not the American Revolution, it was the Bolshevik Revolution. The reason we continue to have the horrible healthcare system we have is because "socialized medicine is communist," whines a certain element in Congress and their supporters. Anything that smacks of communism - AS DEFINED BY THEM - won't get far in the USA. It doesn't matter that it's NOT communist or socialist, they call it that, and that's all that matters. It also doesn't matter that the alternative is inhumane, insultingly evil, or plainly inadequate. They can justify it as somehow upholding their social and religious virtues, without a hint of hypocrisy. They say ignorance is bliss.
What is funny is that universal health care in Germany was introduced by staunch conservative Otto von Bismarck in 1883. So much about socialism and communism.
The tipping culture indeed is quite insane in the US, and my experience is that even having a discussion about that with a lot of Americans is impossible. Its so drilled into the culture that they think "but restaurants and such that pay their staff more will go bankrupt" and "staff earns more this way"... Meanwhile.... why isnt this the case then in basicly all the rest of the world... 🤷. Its just a dumb system to let customers pay for the staff (forced) instead of the employer.... ugh. It also causes the whole pushy/clingy waitress/waiter constantly coming by. And lets not forget how dumb percentage based tipping is... The same amount of work gets more tip just because u ordered something more expensive? 😂
... " so, no we're not moving back to the us anytime soon - we'll stay in the Netherlands as long as the Netherlands will have us". In Belgium they say: "We zien u graag..."
As someone who lives in the Netherlands and has travelled a lot to the U.S., I could relate to all of these things. Whenever I had to go to the supermarket in the States to get a few items, if a coworker was with me, I would ask, “What do you usually get?” then get that one. I don’t want to waste too much time looking over the countless items on the shelves. The sales tax is also another. Whenever I buy something from Target, Best Buy or whatever, I initially forget that the price tag doesn’t include the sales tax which was around 20% give or take. So it’s always a surprise when I pay. The necessity for a car is another thing. You can’t just quickly walk somewhere unless you’re in the center of the city or town. But my biggest and unreconcilable shock for me are the bathroom stalls! These are CLOSED, hence private, wherever you go in the Netherlands. Why are there gaps in the bathroom stalls in the U.S.?!? You can’t do your business privately! 😂
Getting stationed in Japan, I never had culture shock there. Returning to the US after 4 years, it hit me hard. It was depressing. It took me over a year to get over it.
Next time your going to the states take a travel insurance, it’s an insurance only for your trip and it will cover medical bills. It’s also not that expensive
I find eating out in Holland more relaxed than in the US. You can just eat at your own pace and sit relaxed afterwards where in the US I find its more that other people are waiting for a table (also something you dont have in Holland) and the staff wants you out as soon as you took your last bite.
Nice to see you back "home" 🙂 The mentioned issues are the things I already imagined. Plusses and minuses 🙂 Hope you still like to live in Dordrecht. 🙂 It is just so much fun to watch your videos!
In the US, your Government decided it was more important to spend your taxes on the Military. In Europe, most Governments spend less on the Military and more on it's population's healthcare, because peoples health is very important!
If your livelyhood depends on the tips, you make sure the customer knows you are offering top service. So you keep coming back to the table to see if everything is okay. Here in Belgium (as in the Netherlands) waiters get a salary. Giving a tip is optional. So people give between nothing and 10%, depending on their mood (or generosity) and the quality of the service.
About the cheese section example: do they actually have more variety, or just more real estate per variant? In the Dutch store, each package you see is a different variant. In the American store each variant is like 20 items wide and four rows tall. And Dutch stores also have the "speciality cheese" section, which is where most variants are.
the cheese section shown at the US grocery is just shredded cheese. it doesn’t even include the sliced cheese. and there’s a ton of variety, from cheddar, to monterey jack, to swiss, and so on… the similar section in dutch grocery stores does have some variety but it’s mostly just dutch cheese aged differently, which isn’t a common thing in the US outside of specialty cheese
I work as a flight attendant and my favourite passengers are people from the US in general. Because they are so easy to communicate with. It’s important for me to know how you feel and what you need. I feel at home too in the US but you’ve mentioned some things that I struggle a bit with too. Decision fatigue in supermarkets. I don’t want to choose between 10 different kinds of peanut butter for example. Also tipping is a thing. I’m used to it now but eating outside is so expensive ( just came back from New York, now I’m broke 😉) My husband and I discussed moving to the US in the future (as pensionados) but the healthcare system made us decide not to.
Hey guys, always great to watch your take on the Netherlands! (We've learnt a lot from you, even before we emigrated) We moved here 6 months ago from South Africa & we're now based in Rotterdam (loving it!). Please let me know what that restaurant is you mentioned as we're foodies at heart & would love to try it! 🙂
If I may also put a 'duit in 't zakje'. Rotterdam (& Den Haag) have amazing Vietnamese restaurants called Little V. For us it's more than an hour to drive, so we don't eat there often, but if we are ever in the neighbourhood we always go there!
@@buncharted Good call! Rotterdam-Zuid (South for the non-Dutch speaking part). Try Oliva in the Witte de Withstraat as well. We (my wife and I) are a Canadian/Dutch couple and we travel to the US and Can regularly. Groceries and dining have become expensive in the US since 2021. Don't ask me why. About the Dutch health plan being cheaper: don't forget that the Dutch pay a lot more taxes than the Average Joe in the US. The price of gas, heating, and income taxes are a lot higher in the Netherlands.
@@mennovanrij9334 The Netherlands is about situated at the lattitude of Vancouver. Heating in winter is very nescesary. Driving is also expensive in the Netherlands but luckily distances are small.
@@StephanSpelde Yeah, i can vouch for that. Having worked in the Rotterdam horeca, Little V was a well known place to visit for me and my kitchen colleagues. What i also love is that, next to the staple places who are here for decades the city does has a good share of frequently changing establishments and new concepts. Living in the Oost park since a few years and as a fan of the Indonesian cuisine, i recently discoverer Minang Kabau at the Kralingse Plas. Which has, imho, one of the best quality dishes from that region in Zuid Holland and possibly thé best of Rotterdam. A good second place goes to Samalain but that one is literally across the street from where i live so i do consider myself spoiled rotten when it comes to getting a quick but good bite. And as always, Rijsttafels is a good way to get started when one never been to an Indonesian restaurant and want to familiarize themselves.
Hello there, this video got recommended to me by RUclips. But I think that is due to the fact that I am Dutch but have been living in Ontario, Canada half my life! I had to laugh at the Dutch NOT tipping or very little….They are notorious for that(cheapskates😬) And the supermarkets are the same here in Canada, huge. I went back to Holland in September 2023 after 5 years not visiting my family(they all still live there) and when I came back I thought the same thing! Too much choice😲 Thanks for sharing your experiences and comparisons with the USA/Holland. I enjoyed your video…..I will subscribe. De groetjes vanuit een koud(met veel sneeuw…)Canada🙏🏼🥶👋🏼🇨🇦
*I LIVE IN A 15 MINUTE CITY* in Bulgaria [Burgas] - I have not driven in 8 years - I LOVE it. I can get everything I need within 1km of my apartment for day to day living. i dont even have a refrigerator - I just decide what I want to eat and go get it...!!!
Number 1 can be mitigated by using a "Reisverzekering", just get a "Doorlopende Reisverzekering" for a couple € a month and have some piece of mind when traveling.
Both your cereal aisle shot and the wall-refrigerator cheese shot in this video illustrate that while the volume is large, the selection in US stores is not that large. Stores fill up aisles with multiple feet of the same product. So the selection is not as large as you are implying. When you showed the specialty cheese compartment (probably in the "deli" section?) there was more selection, so that part is true. In America, size is important. Bigger is better. So yes, American stores are huge but the actual selection between _different products_ an American will face is not so large.
I’m Dutch although my father is American (never seen him again after I was 5).. on behalf of our King Alex, I have good news you can stay here! Did you pledge allegiance to our flag? Do you promise to keep eating Tompouce and bitterballen? 😂😂❤
You don't understand. US grocery stores are not on every corner. People have to travel miles to get there. Thus they do not shop every day or week. They come in once a month! And a US grocery store is more than just a place to by your cereals. They have restaurants and sell hardware too. It's more an all in one place. Not all but most of them. It's all about getting the costumer in and give him the experience of a great time staying.
I like your posts very much, living abroad is a huge step and i like it that you show us how your experiences are. After a holiday abroad i am always glad i am back home and it doesn't matter how beautiful the visited country was (Costa Rica for example). So welcome back and enjoy the rest of our country (and inhabitants 😉).
Tipping is not expected here in the Netherlands, but if I'm satisfied with the meal and the service, I do give some tip. Usually by rounding the amount, and generally around 5-10%, and I think this is the normal for most of the people here.
As a server; People don't always like to be "bothered" or pushed to consume/buy more. Some places you do have to keep an eye out for empty glasses, ask for refill or if you can take the glass to be cleaned and possibly re-used. But again, most people are there to enjoy 1. the food; they did not want to, or know how to, cook the meals they want to consume 2. their company, they came there with them, it be social or professional. The professionals are the ones you should ask for re-fills, if they want more service, etc. They don't pay for it themselves the company pays. This are simple facts of life and the realtiy of a server. Of course there are minor details like ambiance or service, or the service speaking about the pretty individual servers. And it is not like we don't get tips. Since it is not a must - you know this means something! They really appreciated it. Not social conformity (I call this freedom, and not like the extreme wage-slave work the US implements)
YES Please STOP TIPPING! We all work hard but why should just some people receive additional pay. NO all employees should have a reasonable salary and pay taxes upon it. STOP TIPPING IN THE US! an everywhere else for that matter.
Great that you made this video.. After your previous video I forgot to ask you your experiences traveling back to the USA. Anyways, It's always great to see family and friends again. Do some of them also visit you here in the Netherlands?
I was surprised by what you said about cheese in the Netherlands. In France we had a very famous ad on TV that said "La Hollande, l'autre pays du fromage" (Netherlands, the *other* cheese country) 😊. Netherlands cheeses are renowned!
My wife moved here 19 years ago. We could not move me there (DOMA) every time we go back to Long Island, we experience culture shock. This last trip in October, we were shocked at how much more expensive grocery shopping was. We generally go to stop& shop and Lidl when we are there. I missed our Saturday market so much. It seemed as though our budget got drained so much faster than before. And going to Nashville for a week, that tapped us out altogether. That said, we had the best vacation ever. And I did het to go to the Grand Ole Opry twice😊. We were so happy to be able to walk al over our little town of Hilversum. And hop back on our bikes as well.
I think the transportation system in the Netherlands is great. We were visiting my aunt in Koedijk and were flying back to the US. I left my parents, who were still eating breakfast at my aunts. My sister and I drove the rental car from Koedijk to Schiphol Airport. However long it took travel was smooth and we seemed to be making good time on our travel. When we got to Schiphol, My Aunt and parents were waiting for us. I was shocked how they took the train and beat us there. I have family all over the Netherlands and could live anywhere and be content. Probably around Vlissengen, my ancestral providence.
The last time that I was in the California a few years ago the waiter service was only mediocre...but of course the tips were high. In Spain the service seems about as good...but no tips, so I know what I have to pay before I get a meal, because the price indicated is the final price.
My first full on shock was in 89 after a year and a half in Paris...flew to DC and was hit in a mall, EVERYONE was speaking English...I had just gotten tuned into my thoughts being surrounded by multiple languages being spoken. After 30 years and the passing of my parents I just don't see a need to go back unless I want to have FUN in NYC....otherwise I can Eurostar to London, or go to Carnaval in Venice for some cultural changes with cheaper voyages which means nicer hotels and more shopping!!!
As a Dutch, I dont get the grocery one. Any major supermarket here has quite an amount of specialty cheese and normal. my SMALL local jumbo has everything from stilton with alcohol to French to red cheddar to... I think 50 types? More?
Well I lived in the Netherlands for 30 yrs *i am a Brit...It was also a culture shock for me At that time the country was almost closed to foreigners we were rarities We however lived near Eindhoven which with Philips was growing into a multicultural city I wouldn't-t recognise it today as it attempts to pull in over 355,000 new citizens, mostly foreigners .I appreciated the way Dutch were so professional as wait staff ,well trained and often speaking other languages than Dutch and English They had decent wages and therefore didn-t rely on tips. It was difficult at first to chat to people when we didn-t speak Dutch...We did notice however that Americans were becoming flavour of the month and wait staff sometimes fell over themselves to be extra nice.. probable knowing the tipping that was common in the USA...Once we learned Dutch however * 3yrs* everything changed and we could have good conversations. Whilst I found the Dutch a somewhat -hard nation I will never regret bringing up my two daughters there They had a magical childhood
The servers being overly friendly in the US comes down to the fact they depend on your tips. If they're not friendly, they won't get tipped (as much) so yeah, to us Dutchies this comes across as fake.
In some countries you have to actually be wary that hospitals don't keep you longer than needed, because they can max out the bill knowing your insurance will pay anyway. It's crazy how different healthcare costs are around the world. Dutch healthcare is pretty expensive, so for most places you are covered, but the US is on another level. My insurance provider specifically recommends extra insurance for three countries: the US, Canada and Singapore. Everywhere else is cheaper or similar enough that it won't ruin you.
One reason for taking out insurance when going abroad is the cost of repatriation. Even if the healthcare you need is affordable, being flown home by air ambulance with a doctor and at least one nurse on board won't be cheap.
Think the grocery store bit is a little misleading? You are clearly in Albert Heijn, and you show the "cheap"-cheese display, albert heijn has at least 1 more cheese section with better quality cheeses, farm cheeses and foreign cheeses, big albert heijn's have a 3rd cheese section too. Sorry it just stood out to me as "okay but you're showing only 1 cheese section, AH has at least 2, even the small one in my neighborhood has a "factory" cheese rack like the one shown and a more artisan/farmer and foreign cheese rack. Show the other/better one too" (same for sandwich meats, budget and non-budget sections in a sense, slightly apart from each other usually.) You can also if you live close or don't mind the travel go to one of the AH XXL stores for example, those are more like an aisle full of variations on the same, like a whole cereal aisle as opposed to a rack or 2. Not a real complaint or anything, for all I know you just never noticed the rest of the cheeses and haven't come across a cheese-shop. If you want the real gouda e.g. don't go to the supermarket, if that's your only option then go to the other cheese rack than the one you showed and get a "boerderijkaas 50+". The 50+ is important, it's the fat content, most if not all of those cheeses in the "factory rack" are cheeses with half or less the fat content of "real" cheese, no flavor, no creaminess etc.. Barely cheese in my opinion.
I know this is going to be a little bit outside the point, but there might be people here who've always wondered why google maps and other gps systems send you to a road you can't drive/walk/bike on, so here you go. To be fair, knowing how geographical databases are structured, how map API's work and knowing (sort of) how google maps gives you directions, the walking trajectory is sending you to that bridge because there's nothing in that specific line of road's database that indicates walking/cycling isn't possible like it does in lines of roads categorized as highways, for example. It's a simple fix from Google's backend, but they probably don't even look at that stuff until someone reports it or people who made the initial survey notes those issues on the spot, if they have someone dedicated to doing so in the first place in the car. And those issues are the most common ones of them all, too. You look at a stretch of road from satellite imagery and you think a car can go through there, so whoever/AI that's filling those database tables marks it as, for example, offroad, but light-vehicle worthy, and GPS ends up sending you there only for you to find out that yes, the road is driveable up until a certain stretch that goes into a very small ridge that cars have difficulty going through without damage or something of that nature. Besides, every country has road categorizations that says you can and can't walk on since they usually either have or don't have pedestrian sidewalks by default in their construction, and if it's roads like the one you showed in 5:25, they usually don't have the guard rails (and if they do they're categorized as something else that prohibits pedestrians by nature, whether it's because of speed or something else - nuances at this point) that prevent pedestrians from at least *trying* to dodge an uncontrolled vehicle veering their way without having to vault over a guard rail in the process. So, in hindsight, google maps assumes you can walk on those bridges because they're categorized as something they're probably not, and the system assumes that, with that specific category of road, there's pedestrian sidewalks to walk on or to do so in a rather safe manner. It's a simple database issue, but not the type of issue where it's realistic to expect none should exist to begin with. It's like expecting tens of millions of lines in an excel table being filled by hand or AI following a specific set of guidelines to never have an error, especially in case specific lines. The system is good, but it's not perfect, and it probably never will be. Hope that helps clear some of your doubts as to why GPS tends to send everyone into some questionable stretches of road, regardless of your transportation method 😅 EDIT: On the other hand, looking at that bridge again, it's quite long with practically no shoulders, so it's something that google shouldn't be aware of. Either the bridge is somewhat recent or whoever is in charge of taking care of the database in that area has either been asleep for quite sometime, simply doesn't care about the pedestrian/cycling side of their database maintenance or they work in a report-based system rather than having someone scout street maps as a part of their daily-job routine looking for issues like that since it's a rather easy/obvious issue to spot.
Welcome home and Happy New Year 2024! I went back to California to visit family over the Thanksgiving holiday and immediately came down with that horrible RSV virus. So, I was mostly self-quarantined with the person I was staying with during my whole stay. I have medicare and travel insurance for when I return to see friends and family. Also, Dutch health insurance will reimburse you if you keep your medical receipts. I don't know how much though, as I've only used the medicare system once during the Pandemic when I needed a test done before flying home to the NL. And medicare paid for the whole test, which was expensive... I think $250. I agree with you about the high costs of food and tipping, which gets annoying. Did you also know that the wait staff have to declare a portion of their tips to the IRS? An unbelievable as well as antiquated system for the commonly employed. Other costs, such as gas and clothing, are much cheaper in the States than in the EU. And, yes, service people are friendlier in the States but are also motivated by tips and, well, getting customers seated and gone for a higher turnover and more tips.
our health care here in the netherlands only covers us up to the equivalent dutch costs, unfortunately. unless we want to pay for an add-on (which we don't, haha).
I can recomment a travel insurence. ' reisverzekering' . Youre health insurence pays up to the price of healthcare in the Netherlands. But the travel insurrence pays everything above that. So if you need to go to the hospital, you're getting 100% back in those 2 insurrenses. Most people in the Netherlands have a travelinsurrense when they go on a holliday.
I like having some time to decide if I might want dessert after the main course, instead of receiving the bill when the starter is served 🤭 Good to see you back safe and sound! 👍🏻
I tipped a girl who cut my son’s hair and even though I know tipping isn’t really a thing I still felt compelled to give her something on top of the price of the haircut. I gave her €5 that I had in my wallet. She was so excited and showed all of her coworkers. 😅 Also I love the in floor heating, it’s so much more cozy than a heater . Glad you made it back safely and you didn’t need to use the US healthcare 😊
We just had dinner this night in a restaurant. About the waitress: she was friendly (it was very busy this night), but in this particular restaurant they keep an eye on you. Empty glas, so they ask you if yoy want more, asking you if everything is oke, and after we were finished, she came and asked us if there was anything she could bring, so I asked for the bill. Ofcourse we tipped her. So it is not always waving hands.
Exactly, if the restaurant is any good here in The Netherlands, the waiters watch you closely from a distance and recognize the signs for if they are needed at the table before the waiving has to kick in.
Same in Germany: When you are ready to order, you close the menue. When your glass is empty, the waiter offers more. When you place your knife and fork at five o'clock on the plate, they can see that you finished your main course and ask, if you wish anything else. No waving needed, at least not at restaurants, where they learned their craft. Besides, waving is considered bad behaviour in a good restaurant. It is ok in a Kneipe.
Just came back from my girlfriend in america we have been binging your videos since she wanted to see how other americans view living in the Netherlands 😁 P.s. a hidden gem to explore in the Netherlands the orchideeënhoeven beautiful botanical garden and you can feed flamingos
Dat je in de VS eigenlijk nooit gezellig lang kan tafelen vond ik de eerste keer zó stom en niet gastvrij. Ik werd er eigenlijk chagrijnig van😅 Oh en de fooi, dat is echt te veel. Hier ronden we meestal af naar boven. Dus als iets €56,- kost maak je er 60,- van ofzo
It happened to me but two fold. I lived in Germany for 5 years and also in the Army. When i came back ot too me a couple years to adjust. I still want to go back.
When I go out to a restaurant it is mostly with others. That basically means eat and talk. Basically I have no need for the waiter, unless I need something. And I hate the service in the USA, the over friendly people ready to screw me over. 🎉
Service worker small talk is my pet peeve. There are so many places (post office, hardware store, etc) where I stand in line while the friendly checkout person tells the customer ahead of me about her daughter's wedding while I wait to buy light bulbs.
I noticed that the system goes to great lengths to discourage walking. I was in Sacremento visiting my brother’s family and went to a mall. The mall was spread out on two sides of a main road and there was no way to cross that road on foot without getting run over. We needed a shop on the other side, we could even see the store but got needed to get into the car to get there!
That couldn't possibly be because the USA is 237 TIMES BIGGER ( look it up, it's a fact) than the Netherlands now could it!!! The US is too big for walking everywhere.
@@rickherrell9451 what a dumb reply, who cares if it’s 300 or 3000 times bigger, that’s not the point! The shop was on the other side of the road, 2 minute walk, but there was no pedestrian crossing to cross the road and that is just so silly. What is the point is that a 2 minute walk is 2 minutes everywhere no matter how big a country is. Think before you comment.
@@rickherrell9451 Who said you had to walk everwhere ? Do you know that the average American walks 1.4 miles a week !!! I walk more than that in day !! You lot are damn lazy.
That cheese thing is strange. They don't have that many cheeses in the US and most of them taste the same. I never shopped in the Netherlands but in Spain, France, Belgium or Italy there are a lot of cheeses to choose from.
You can take out travel insurance, which costs a few euros per day of your trip or you can choose a continuous one that provides coverage all year round. If necessary, travel insurance will pay the difference between what your Dutch insurance reimburses and the actual costs
my chase card does too, but it's not unlimited, and health care costs in the US can be expensive. you'll easily exceed the limit of what your amex gold card would cover, i'm sure @@highs_and_lows4665
My experience was, even in a "fine dining" restaurant, the staff did their best to get us out a.s.a.p. Great video as always. And I have a similar picture of my hip. Has been removed now to make place for a total hip prosthetic. Currently in a "zorghotel" recovering from that surgery.
Lol, ik ben nog nooit naar de VS geweest, maar dankzij dit filmpje heb ik daar ook geen enkele behoefte aan. Ik wist het al, Nederland is gewoon beter 😛. En Cereal is nog ongezond ook, dus waarom zou je daar 2 lange schappen vol mee willen hebben? Ik ga m'n eigen land nu nog meer waarderen, thanks voor het filmpje. (You can Google translate if you don't speak Dutch)
Regarding medical Costs: you could take a separate travel Insurance which will coverage the refund gap between Dutch rates and the much higher rates in the States.
Personally I would like to have something of both worlds. The service quality of the USA and the more relaxed atmosphere here in Europe where you can sit as long as you like at your table even if you have payed or don't consume anything anymore. But I don't like unfriendleness or waiters that are more busy with talking to eachother instead of serving the customer, like you see to often in Europe. People are generally more friendly in the USA and even if it is superficial, I rather hear a "Good morning sir, how are you doing" with a smile, then getting ignored and have to wave my hands for two hours to get the attention of him or her and wake up the next time with muscle pain from waving.
about the waiters, they are not friendly, they are just being like that just cos they want to have a proper tip at the end, they dont care about you as a person at all....
Ok, ik got into your trip from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport trip to Lindenwald Ohio... That's a 65km trip (40miles). * By car 45/50 mins which is pretty decent. * By public transport is 8hr30m * 10hr walk *3hr by bicycle I'm going to create a comparable Dutch trip. Schiphol airport to Amersfoort (Which is VERY well connected). (64 kilometers or 39 miles) * 49m by car * 40m by public transport * 13hr walk *3hr30m by bicycle The difference for public transport is ridiculous. 510 mins in the US, 40 in the Netherlands. The Dutch train ride, without any reduction is €12, most used reduction is -40% which reduces the price to €7,20. And for some ridiculous reason, from the US international airport to the nearest bus service takes a 23 min walk (1,6 miles). 😮 Not sure why, but here you go.
But the walk/bike ride to Starbucks can be done, in the same time, on S. Main St. with only a 100 metres or so w/o sidewalk (still a pleasant enough street, traffic-wise). Well, there's always next time:)
I would rather have a private meal then having waiters hovering over me, no matter how friendly they are!
Very Dutch….
and i wanna sit and talk to whoever im eating with awile longer when meal is over even if im in a resaturant. Not stressing out the door
I agree and I would always wonder if are they’re really friendly or are they sucking up to you so they get a better tip?
@@EGO0808 As a dutchy i agree still prefer the private meal though but them i'm dutch.
It makes me really uncomfortable when a waiter interrupts the conversation every couple of minutes just to check if everything is fine. Here in Berlin it luckily only happens at touristy places that can easily be avoided
I really prefer a more European style of serving tables. I don't like being bothered by waitresses constantly asking me "if everything is still okay" or immediately snatching my plate after I've just eaten the last bite of my meal. It makes me feel like I'm in a factory instead of in a diner or restaurant...
I love the free refills on coffee though, I don't feel stressed about having to tip to compensate service I didn't request then. But as a Dutch man when I went to the US I was just doing a dinner I get asked if I am okay for like 5-6 times. I know it's cultural, I'll let you know if I need anything. And yeah in The Netherlands it can take a while before you get noticed. But what makes me feel annoyed is the expectation of extra money/compensation. It's an unclear transaction. (And yeah, of course I do tip waiters in the US)
Some Dutch restaurants also do this, just not all
European style? Don’t compare The Netherlands to Southern European countries, where service jobs are a profession and they actually serve you. There’s little ‘European’ about the ‘service’ in The Netherlands.
@@EGO0808what? LOL, no. There isn’t much difference.
@@tyasbank Same here; love the free refills :-) And I prefer European table service; especially when I ask some one for dinner and I don't want a "who's paying" game. I just excuse myself pretending to go to washroom and pay at the bar.
I never felt culture shock when I left my native California and moved to the south of France. However I an obligatory return two years later was a nightmare. I couldn't get back to the EU fast enough. I am minutes from several gorgeous Mediterranean beaches and can be in Spain in under one hour. I chose a charming village surrounded by vineyards. Sixteen years and counting, why would I want to be anywhere else. If I want to go anywhere, a ticket on our wonderful rail system will take me anywhere I care to go.
Yep. Besides, you can be pretty much anywhere in Europe within a day or two thanks to the extensive highspeed railway. No need to drive to a damn airport first. Have croissants for breakfast near Paris gare du nord and "sipping" pastis in Marseille at night. Have a ristretto in Naples and shop in Milan without the use of a car. Myself, I'm pretty much smack in the middle, Ghent, Belgium. London is just a chunnel away.
@@johnmaletic898 I live inner city in the US and don't own a car, and its honestly its a pain to rent a car, if you don't advance book its really expensive, and I have to go to a airport to pick it up and return it. There are car sharing programs, I never bothered to figure them out, they might be easier. I lived in Orlando for a bit and the complete lack of public transit confuses everyone from overseas.
@@Gee-xb7rtThe car share that I joined in Calgary (what the British call a car club) worked pretty easily. That was a long time ago.
@@bearcubdaycare The main problem I see with those is that they tend to have a very small service area. Every single one I've encountered so far (EU and US, haven't been to Canada) only covered the central city in a metro area, so if you live just next town over you don't have access.
@ErinDahlgren I am down in the Mediterranean less than one hour from the border to Spain. Good luck 👍.
As a Belgian, I can identify with just about every part of your reverse culture shock, from back when I was working in the US for a while. Especially the part about the health care system. In fact we had a joke among the colleagues that wasn't really a joke - we regularly mentioned "if anything ever happens to me - don't call an ambulance, but a taxi, and book me a first class plane ticket". And that was true for all the Europeans working in the group. It is beyond me how a civilised country can have a "health care" system for their citizens that is so utterly terrifying and has so much potential for total individual financial ruin.
Not only that, but how so many Americans are afraid of a national healthcare system, and convinced that it could “never work” here because we’re a big country. 🙄
As a Belgian, when you're just traveling as a tourist to the US, then your medical bills will be refunded by the Belgian health care system if you need medical attention in the US. You do have to pay for it, so you actually must be able to "pony up the dough", but it will be refunded. That's why it's recommended to jack up your credit limit when traveling to the US. Still, the taxi and 1st class ticket will probably be cheaper...
Fellow Belgian here, I lived in Austin, TX and Mooresville, NC. I ended up moving back to Belgium because even though I love a lot about the US, the social catch net that exists here is a luxury I wasn't willing to give up. It was fine by myself, because I had good employment, but the moment you start thinking about a family where things might not go perfectly for your children it becomes a risk you do not want to take. If life throws you a curveball at the wrong time in your life, it can ruin you. And even though I earn far less here in Belgium, my living standards haven't dropped.
I'm glad I live in Belgium, I don't see what would be so great about the Usa.
Americans are terrified of "socialism" @@sazji
I’m German and I love the „server let’s you have your meal in peace and with a nice conversation, while always looking (but rarely asking) if you need anything“ kind of service.
I really felt rushed in US restaurants. It felt like they wanted to throw me out as soon as I finished eating.
In Ameirca my favorite Thai restaurant gave me the bill before I was finished eating. I ate there several times a week, alone, and quick, so they probably were justified. It as embarrassing when I brought my German boyfriend there. But in Germany last week my beverage never arrived and there was no getting the attention of the staff, they were just too busy. So everyone toasted their drinks with me excluded. Finally the owner came, gave me my beverage, didn't apologize (!??!) ...but that's Germany and I'm used to it. I would have loved to have been able to ask for something or mention something but so often in Germany you are alone at your table like an island in a wild ocean. No one is coming for you. One request Germany: Just ask me ONCE if everything is OK or not. Tha'ts all. In Germany they never know why you tipped so low, cuz they have no idea what they could have done to make you satisfied.
@@LythaWausW you seem to have found some of the worst restaurants. I’m sorry for your experience.
The only times I had experiences like „no one asking even once“ was when I was in fast food restaurants (Döner, sausage and fries,…).
@@jennyh4025 I can forgive cuz there are always circumstances. I just accumulate experiences between the two countries and it's a strong pattern. (Oh but fast food/imbiss I would never expect feedback on the food, just like I wouldn't at McDonalds.)
They DO want you out asap so that the table can be occupied again by others so they can get the next tip.🤷🏼♀️
As a Dutch person who lived in the US for about a decade, I quickly got used to it. It's rare (outside of very busy tourist areas) they actually rush you, though I can totally see how it would feel that way. They can read you well enough to know when to back off a little, and otherwise it's just quick "I'm ok, thanks!". I never really liked the slow pace in the Netherlands myself because it can be chore to chase down staff, and often it just takes very long between courses when I'm hungry. So given the two options, I'd pick the US way.
For American wait staff it would seem to me that getting customers in and out as fast as possible, hence the hovering, quick removal of plates and quickly placing the bill on the table, means they might be able to make more tips that will help pay their rent, since the restaurant isn't paying them a living wage.
Yes, but take your time and eat your food at your leisure. Just nicely say you are a slow eater and they will get the message and back off. They not want to risk their tip.
@@simonledoux8519 As you said, if you are the type who needs more time (dining alone, for example), just ask, and they'll understand. They have to, they're getting the tip based on it. I know, however, how hard that is, cuz you feel their pressure in their body language and speech.
@@LythaWausW So basically I am obligated top pay extra (tip) for having a nice dinner? I am not gonna lie, that sucks and I always hated it when travelling to the US. In Europe it is not rare that you might spend the whole evening in a restaurant, have a nice dinner with friends, order drinks an espressi, maybe later a dessert. And you leave late and drunk.
@@muskelpaulkleber7413 No, that's not how it is. I worked as a server for a while when I was finishing my Master's degree, for a national restaurant chain that only prefers to move the tables quickly on weekend mornings. The reason the wait staff "hovers" is honestly to make sure that everything is going well. First off, Americans complain about everything. Servers have to be around to make sure there are not strange complaints or, secondly, attempts to steal, cheat, or leave without paying. Remember, we mostly serve Americans.
Here's the saga of one of my worst experiences as a server:
I once had a family of 4, the wife ordered a sweet ham with her dinner, the husband a salty ham. When their dinners came, the wife tasted her husband's ham before she ate any of hers. Then she called me over to the table to tell me we gave her the wrong kind of ham because hers was salty. I explained to her that you can SEE the difference in their hams, she had the correct one, that her taste buds were still reacting to the sample she had of her spouse's ham. She became indignant and insisted I take her plate back to the cook. Yes, a cook who looked at the plate and said, "she has sweet ham, what am I supposed to do?" I said, "taste it and tell me it's sweet." He did just that. I called the manager to the back to tell him that he was going to have to come to my table in about 5 minutes. I knew what was happening. She had eaten that salty ham on purpose. When I took the plate back, and told her that the cook tested her ham and it was sweet, she wanted ALL OF THEIR MEALS COMPED. ALL 4 DINNERS. Written off. I saw it coming. I motioned for the manager. He told them that he could not give them 4 free meals, and offered her a free dessert. She was LIVID. They had not one nice thing to say the rest of their time.
At the same restaurant, different shift, I had a table where one of the diners called me over and complained that there was a hair in her meal. There was a hair carefully laying on top of her food, the same length and color as her own. It was interesting, considering all of us servers were required to wear our hair in ponytails, and the cooks working that day were bald. Besides that, one of the people at a nearby table told me they saw her pull the hair out of her head and place it on her food - other people in the dining room do not hold secrets for strangers. Neither do I. I think my manager comped her meal anyhow.
These kinds of antics are the reason we "hover" over our tables. You might not be psycho, but that can't be said for everyone we serve.
I am from Sweden and I was blown away of how helpful many in the U.S was when it came to everyday stuff. They really went out of their way to make me feel welcome, driving me places, inviting me over, getting me stuff. It was truly wonderful and inspiring! When it comes to social welfare politics though, their views could be terrible with very little empathy and readiness to be helpful, and that was such a strange paradox to me. In Sweden, people are generally way more grumpy on the outside (haha), but you can mostly count on that there is an empathetic basic view of humanity and an understanding that we can all get into trouble and need help sometimes, and thus a willingness to pay taxes and stand up for general social safety nets. If you could combine the two - that would be great!
I waited tables in the Netherlands and our way of doing it comes from not liking the small talk as much. We go out to dinner to have a conversation with the people at our table, no with the person serving us. It is really annoying to constantly get interrupted. As the wait staff is getting paid a fair wage, there is no pressure to get a good tip. Anything you get is an extra but there is not the stress of not being sure you're going to make ends meet. This way they can focus on efficiency, quality and service. The customer also doesn't feel ripped off. A good business can pay its people, otherwise it isn't viable to keep going.
Proper wages means staff are more relaxed, not trying to please you every 2 minutes and are not trying to be overly nice. For us, the wave or eye contact isn't awkward, unless you time it poorly. It also means the customer decides when to get the bill, which can be annoying as some people stay for hours. There are ways to get rid off them, by saying the table is reserved from a certain time, but bringing them the bill without being asked is not done.
Not better or worse than the American way, just a different way of doing it. I prefer the Dutch as I am Dutch, but I get why people would like the American style.
Good comment. On point
@escorpiuser I like tipping if its good but I like it BECAUSE here in Netherlands I know its extra. I know its a bit extra for them which I LIKE to do. But I wouldnt like it if I knew it kept them alive...
"we"? Speak for yourself, I am the extravertest extrovert on the planet (level: my favorite anime convention is in Budapest, I fly there every 3 months for it, and one of the reasons its my fav is the free hug line with a 1000 people thats always there, best thing ever xD), I love small talk, I had a whole ass random conversation that lasted 30 minutes (because they wanted to know everything) about my cosplay costume and then Chinese BL novels with a random nice pair of old people on the train to Duch comic con...
Small talk good. Convo good. Talking to people good. :D
@@ukeyaoitrash2618 Good for you but that is not how the vast majority of people in the Netherlands are. Doesn't mean that it is a bad thing, society is just based on how most people are.
If the majority were like you, it would be more like America. As I mentioned in my initial comment, that is also not a bad thing. It is just a different way of doing it.
@@ukeyaoitrash2618 My apologies if my other comment came across as dickish and blunt, it was not meant that way. The "good for you" opener was a bad move. I tried to be funny, which it wasn't.
I'm not trying to make you feel bad, at all. The point I so poorly tried to make was that a large majority of Dutch people are generally more private and introverted. That is not a good or a bad thing, it is just is the way it is. Not being that way is also not a good or a bad thing, it is just who you are.
Fortunately, in todays world there are anime cons where it sounds like you would be amongst a majority, also in terms of your interests. It's great that the cons have become so big, they seem like a lot of fun. I wouldn't last an hour at an anime con though. Absolute sensory overload for me.
Again, not bad, not good, it is just the way I am. Fortunately, I have the choice not to go and leave that to people who do enjoy it.
When you showed the dutch cheese section I missed that we also have cheese in 2 different places in most shops. The prepacked cheese you showed but also cheeses in the 'fresh counter' where you can also find some specialty cheeses. Would you still better go the a cheeseshop if you want something special? Absolutely! But I personally don't think we have little choice in cheese in shops like Jumbo and AH.
And also while the Dutch areas take up less space it doesn't mean less variety. In the US, if you have 10 brands, 3 sizes each, (total 30 SKUs) of the same kind of cheese, each one takes up a lot of space. In the Netherlands, any brand is unlikely to have more than 2 sizes and each, there's a handful of brands for each kind of cheese, and each individual SKU is given less space. You can end up with a lot more variety (more kinds of cheese) in a lot less space.
I'm an American living in Denmark (been living here for 34 years now). I can totally relate to "reverse culture shock" whenever I go back to visit family in Washington DC and Maryland! My overall impression about the cultural difference between Denmark (as well as other European countries) and The US, is that in Denmark, it feels like people prioritize a feeling of security and safety over economy, and the kind of false "freedom" that is offered in The US.
Daily living issues, like getting around (transportation), employment, and other financial issues, and social "fairness" and a lack of poverty make living so less stressful. So yeah, it would definitely be difficult for me to acclimate to living back in The US.
Come on up to Denmark if you're interested in cultural differences! It's just around the corner from The Netherlands!
Western Europeans in general don't feel the need to scream out to the world that they are free, they just know they are and quietly get on with their lives.
A YT summarized quite well. In the USA, people value being "free to", whereas in the EU we value being "free from". Free to be healthy vs being free from being sick, freedom to owe a house vs being free from homelessness, freedom to become ultrarich vs freedom from being poor, freedom to kill for your survival vs being free from kill or be killed...
@@billybudd5854 Western Europeans don't "feel the need to scream out to the world that they are free" because of things like NATO, OPEC and the U.S. global military power structure -- ALL of which backs up Europe around the world. So yes Europeans (on the surface) can "get on with their lives" (for the most part) but it's because U.S. is Europe's attack dog globally. Also the U.S. rebuilt most of western Europe (esp. the Netherlands and Germany) with the Marshall Plan. And the U.S. is still very much on the European continent. Which is why Russia mostly leaves Europe alone for the most part. If the U.S. stepped away from Europe and NATO, the dynamics of "freedom" for Europeans would shift greatly!
I've been visiting friends and family in the USA for over 30 years. A common thing was for us to compare things like taxes, healthcare and personal liberties. I was really surprised to find there were loads more rules in the US versus the UK - small stuff like getting a ticket your car being parked on the street on street cleaning day. Everything seems so regimented and proceduralized (😉) sometimes. I used to make a joke of it and refer to the UK as "the real land of the free." I don't do that now because it's not funny anymore.
When traveling to the US, it is very much recommended to get travel insurance. This is not very expensive. You can also take a “doorlopende reisverzekering “. You pay a monthly fee and then all your trip are covered. This is much cheaper and is very handy, as you are traveling quite a bit.
Yes taking Travel health insurance for a few months or weeks when visiting other countries is very cheap we talk 1-2 restaurant visits cheap ;). I would strongly suggest always taking travel insurace when traveling outside of EU, and especially USA, it's such a small cost vs risk of costs if something happends.
True! Your travel insurance pays the difference between what your health insurance pays and the hospital bill (for the most part).
yes, exactly this. Take out a travel insurance. An additional health insurance (aanvullende zorgverzekering) sometimes also covers extra emerency health costs abroad. Read carefully, USA might not be covered.
Did you read the fine print on that one? I checked it when my son was going to the US from NL and surprise surprise they only cover the part of the fee that is at the Dutch price of a hospital and you're on your own for the rest.
@@StCreedyour normal (Dutch) health insurance should cover the portion that is "reasonable". You get the travel insurance (with health care cost expansion) specifically to cover whatever additional costs you make that aren't covered by your normal health insurance.
I can highly recommend ANWB for their excellent coverage and support when something does happen when you're on a trip. Their "doorlopende reisverzekering" is quite reasonably priced.
Always read the specific terms and conditions to check that unexpected costs you want to cover are indeed covered, though. It always gave me great piece of mind when travelling to countries with more expensive health costs.
Michelle: "as long as The Netherlands will have us"
Oh dear, that means forever! 😄❤️
Yes, we grant Buncharted a lifetime residency, because we don't want to miss you.
hmm.. Should we make them 'honorary Dutch' you think?
They are cute, aren't they? 😁
Geert hasn't said anything bad about Americans so I think they're safe. Lol
Stay as long as you feel like. We like good folks like you. 👍
I’m an American living in France. My husband and I moved here in 2017. We love it. I am currently in treatment for melanoma. When I was diagnosed, my doctor filled out a form and I took it to my pharmacy and they logged it in. Everything is covered. I have paid €60 out of pocket. I was a nurse in the states and I love my healthcare here…not only because of the price.
Best wishes for your good health in future.
Grocery prices are high because of inflation. The inflatable is actually hogher than what is stated. The Obama administration changed the inflation measurement to make it look lower by removing certain items
Ik ben blij en opgelucht dat jullie in Nederland blijven en ook filmpies blijven maken, ik kijkk er namelijk graag naar met veel plezier! 🙂
Toppie😉🇳🇱👍
Bork Bork Bork.
In Holland we typically dont calculate how much we tip. If you go to a restaurant and its 23,10 we just say make it 25,- and thats it. We often just round it up to the next big number. You give them a tip and on top of that you save the store/restaurant having to deal with change (they're always short on change). If the service is really poor you pay what you're owed and dont come back.
I once understood that if you think the service is poor, or non existant, you give a very small tip of like 10 cent or 20 cent. So the staf knows you're not stingy (or just paying what is owned), but you didn't appreciate the service.
Het heet Nederland, niet Holland, of anders The Netherlands
@@justincredible. Give it a rest man, nobody cares. Everybody knows what we are talking about. We shout "Hup Holland Hup" at our national teams ffs.
@@StartPlayFinish en daar moeten we mee stoppen! ik ben nederlander en brabander, het voelt als een belediging om mij hollander te noemen, ik woon niet in dat arrogante gedeelte van ons mooi landje
weet overigens ook maar even dat de staat bezig is met een campagne in het buitenland om holland uit het systeem te halen door aan te geven dat het nederland is
@@StartPlayFinish
praktisch gezien was Holland gewoon altijd de hart van Nederland, daar zaten de grote koloniale bedrijven of tenminste hun warenhuizen. Daar was de meeste welvaart en ga zo maar door.. Als buitenlandse handelaren/reizigers het hadden vroeger over hun (handels)reis naar Nederland dan gingen ze naar "Holland" oftewel de regio rondt Amsterdam, Rotterdam en weet ik veel.. Dat is sindsdien gewoon altijd in het buitenland blijven hangen.
Betwijfel of je dat er ooit nog uit gaat krijgen
Fijn dat jullie in Nederland blijven! Jullie zijn toppers!
NL supermarkets also have specialty cheese sections. The reason why the packaged cheese section in the supermarkets isn’t that big is because that cheese isn’t that good. A lot of Dutch prefer the ‘fresh’ cheese
They probably missed the real cheese because they didn't recognize it as actual cheese?
I haven’t been in the Netherlands for many, many years but I still miss it. It was such a happy place for us.
Thanks 🥰🥰🥰
Our daughter and son-in-law moved from Arizona to London in 2019. They will be making their first trip back to the US in March. They love their lives in the UK and have no plans to return to living in the US. They recently enjoyed a visit to Amsterdam. They are coming with a combination of excitement and trepidation.
Dutch cities are designed for people, US cities are designed for cars.
That doesn't really make any sense.
It's a bit late now: but next year you might want to get a Dutch health care plan with 'world coverage' (werelddekking) in the additional package (aanvullende zorgverzekering). The cheapest options are just a couple of euro's extra every month. Some insurance companies allow you to get the additional package in january if you already have their basic insurance.
You can also get this with your travel insurance
I have one off those too the whole year around, so every trip is covered that I take. But it really pays of when something happens
*I FELL DOWN CONCRETE STEPS* last winter in the ice - I had a massive hematoma on my a$$ that required 8 separate hospital visits here in Bulgaria - I dont get free healthcare as I am British - €40 is what it cost me.
Last year I had a none dangerous skin cancer removed - €175 start to finish.
Happy to hear you still want to stay here. I never had the feeling of moving to another country. NL has a strong identity that i love. Born and raised here and i will die here 🇳🇱 😍. Great video. ❤❤❤
Moving to another country is really good for you - it allows you to see your home country for what it truly is, good and bad. And if you decide to stay in your new country you have to accept the bad with the good cos its YOUR choice.
Either way a few years away is really valuable - My opinion of course.
Well I can agree with you, though I wasn’t born or raised in the Netherlands, I’ve lived here since my 17th, immigrated back after my Dutch parents had migrated away to live in Kenya , reluctantly to live in the Netherlands at first but now wouldn’t really want to live anywhere else, except maybe another European country. I’ve been to most places in the USA, love visiting but wouldn’t want to live there permanently although some things are better there. ( i.e. taxes are considerably lower, more wilderness and space, larger houses, etc)
@@piccalillipit9211Very true!! Im Dutch, but live in Portugal, for 9 years. Never went back and left mainly for the (bad) weather in The Netherlands. And its too crowdy (always traffic jams etc). I love my new home country and wont go back!
Ben heel benieuwd hoe groot onze shock is als wij in juli 2 weken op vakantie gaan naar Californië. Heb nu al veel gelezen en gezien over Amerika en laat het allemaal maar over mij heen komen.
I always walk up to the cash register if I want to pay the bill in a restaurant in The Netherlands. I have no patience for waiting or the hand-waving thing. (I'm Dutch)
we do that a lot too, i'm glad we aren't the only ones :)
Same
thats just rude.. you are given a sign the waiter did not do a good job
@@JustMe-sh8ndI surely hope you’re being sarcastic….
@@EGO0808 no I am for real.. they should bring it to your table, if you go to the cassier yourself you are actally saying.. the waiter let us sit unneccsary and is ignoring us
Welcome to Netherlands! Being Dutch myself and living in the US (AZ), I can relate to what you say. The Netherlands have changed dramatically though over the last 10-20 yrs (like most of the world) and although I still think it is the best country to live, it is unfortunately letting go of much of the charm that made it so cool…
So I like the US? Mweh… sometimes, yeah. What I don’t like: if you have a million dollar in the bank (which I don’t have by the way) this country is paradise. If not, it sucks. This country is basically ruled by rich people and hence a plutarchy…. That’s a shame as it is truly a beautiful country. Have fun back ’home’ 😊
I do have a million dollars in the bank and I will probably go broke with health costs and elderly care as I get older.
As an American who's lived on three continents, I have to call nonsense. I know plenty of Americans who live well on modest amounts. I think that expats often work in big, expensive cities, but there are plenty of smaller, affordable cities with jobs that cover the cost. Sure, the largest cities have gotten crazy pricey, but that's true of many major cities around the world.
Having diner in the USA I always feel the need to hold my plate, because a waiter will grab it before I’m finished 😂
No idea what kind of dodgy, high-stress places you go. I have never had to hold my plate. Maybe you are in an unfriendly place.
@@mfratus2001 it's obviously a joke (well anyone with a IQ > 70 will think it's a joke lol)
Glue your plate on the table ! 😅
The selection in Dutch supermarkets is smaller mostly because the supermarkets themselves tend to be a lot smaller. The Albert Heijn XL in my area is about the same size as the small-ish neighborhood Kroger I frequented when I stayed in the US for a bit, and the selection was comparable.
I loved and hated the car culture in the US when I was there. Cars are affordable and they are a great way to get around. But in many cases they're also the only way to get around.
I think the 'aren't we happy and chatty' approach from service staff in the US is entirely linked to the tipping culture.
I’ve lived and worked in the US for a number of years. The thing I remember most is that my monthly paycheck was around five times the amount it’s here in NL. You can suffer some hardship with this amount of money (and afford bigger boxes of cereal if you’re into that).
I'm a historian, and I've often told people that the revolution that had a more lasting impact on the United States was not the American Revolution, it was the Bolshevik Revolution. The reason we continue to have the horrible healthcare system we have is because "socialized medicine is communist," whines a certain element in Congress and their supporters. Anything that smacks of communism - AS DEFINED BY THEM - won't get far in the USA. It doesn't matter that it's NOT communist or socialist, they call it that, and that's all that matters. It also doesn't matter that the alternative is inhumane, insultingly evil, or plainly inadequate. They can justify it as somehow upholding their social and religious virtues, without a hint of hypocrisy. They say ignorance is bliss.
What is funny is that universal health care in Germany was introduced by staunch conservative Otto von Bismarck in 1883. So much about socialism and communism.
The tipping culture indeed is quite insane in the US, and my experience is that even having a discussion about that with a lot of Americans is impossible. Its so drilled into the culture that they think "but restaurants and such that pay their staff more will go bankrupt" and "staff earns more this way"... Meanwhile.... why isnt this the case then in basicly all the rest of the world... 🤷. Its just a dumb system to let customers pay for the staff (forced) instead of the employer.... ugh. It also causes the whole pushy/clingy waitress/waiter constantly coming by.
And lets not forget how dumb percentage based tipping is... The same amount of work gets more tip just because u ordered something more expensive? 😂
Great to have you in The Netherlands guys, you are more than welcome. It's always nice to see people being happy here.
... " so, no we're not moving back to the us anytime soon - we'll stay in the Netherlands as long as the Netherlands will have us". In Belgium they say: "We zien u graag..."
As someone who lives in the Netherlands and has travelled a lot to the U.S., I could relate to all of these things. Whenever I had to go to the supermarket in the States to get a few items, if a coworker was with me, I would ask, “What do you usually get?” then get that one. I don’t want to waste too much time looking over the countless items on the shelves. The sales tax is also another. Whenever I buy something from Target, Best Buy or whatever, I initially forget that the price tag doesn’t include the sales tax which was around 20% give or take. So it’s always a surprise when I pay. The necessity for a car is another thing. You can’t just quickly walk somewhere unless you’re in the center of the city or town. But my biggest and unreconcilable shock for me are the bathroom stalls! These are CLOSED, hence private, wherever you go in the Netherlands. Why are there gaps in the bathroom stalls in the U.S.?!? You can’t do your business privately! 😂
Getting stationed in Japan, I never had culture shock there. Returning to the US after 4 years, it hit me hard. It was depressing. It took me over a year to get over it.
Next time your going to the states take a travel insurance, it’s an insurance only for your trip and it will cover medical bills. It’s also not that expensive
I find eating out in Holland more relaxed than in the US. You can just eat at your own pace and sit relaxed afterwards where in the US I find its more that other people are waiting for a table (also something you dont have in Holland) and the staff wants you out as soon as you took your last bite.
Nice to see you back "home" 🙂 The mentioned issues are the things I already imagined. Plusses and minuses 🙂 Hope you still like to live in Dordrecht. 🙂 It is just so much fun to watch your videos!
In the US, your Government decided it was more important to spend your taxes on the Military. In Europe, most Governments spend less on the Military and more on it's population's healthcare, because peoples health is very important!
If your livelyhood depends on the tips, you make sure the customer knows you are offering top service. So you keep coming back to the table to see if everything is okay. Here in Belgium (as in the Netherlands) waiters get a salary. Giving a tip is optional. So people give between nothing and 10%, depending on their mood (or generosity) and the quality of the service.
About the cheese section example: do they actually have more variety, or just more real estate per variant?
In the Dutch store, each package you see is a different variant. In the American store each variant is like 20 items wide and four rows tall.
And Dutch stores also have the "speciality cheese" section, which is where most variants are.
the cheese section shown at the US grocery is just shredded cheese. it doesn’t even include the sliced cheese. and there’s a ton of variety, from cheddar, to monterey jack, to swiss, and so on…
the similar section in dutch grocery stores does have some variety but it’s mostly just dutch cheese aged differently, which isn’t a common thing in the US outside of specialty cheese
Aren't the servers extra friendly because it's tip-dependable?
i think it’s partially a cultural thing but yes, that absolutely plays a part in it
@@buncharted My mind would be suspicious of such overfriendliness...but I guess that might be a very Dutch thing lol
US-people are generally very friendly in my opinion. Perhaps waiters try a little extra for more tip money...
I work as a flight attendant and my favourite passengers are people from the US in general. Because they are so easy to communicate with. It’s important for me to know how you feel and what you need. I feel at home too in the US but you’ve mentioned some things that I struggle a bit with too. Decision fatigue in supermarkets. I don’t want to choose between 10 different kinds of peanut butter for example.
Also tipping is a thing. I’m used to it now but eating outside is so expensive ( just came back from New York, now I’m broke 😉)
My husband and I discussed moving to the US in the future (as pensionados) but the healthcare system made us decide not to.
You'd have to have to legal right to live here.
You exaggerate. No one picks between 10 kinds of peanut butter. They have a brand they like and buy it consistently. The same goes for other products.
@@robertcuminale1212You are missing the point
Hey guys, always great to watch your take on the Netherlands! (We've learnt a lot from you, even before we emigrated)
We moved here 6 months ago from South Africa & we're now based in Rotterdam (loving it!).
Please let me know what that restaurant is you mentioned as we're foodies at heart & would love to try it! 🙂
burro e salvia!
If I may also put a 'duit in 't zakje'. Rotterdam (& Den Haag) have amazing Vietnamese restaurants called Little V. For us it's more than an hour to drive, so we don't eat there often, but if we are ever in the neighbourhood we always go there!
@@buncharted Good call! Rotterdam-Zuid (South for the non-Dutch speaking part). Try Oliva in the Witte de Withstraat as well.
We (my wife and I) are a Canadian/Dutch couple and we travel to the US and Can regularly. Groceries and dining have become expensive in the US since 2021. Don't ask me why. About the Dutch health plan being cheaper: don't forget that the Dutch pay a lot more taxes than the Average Joe in the US. The price of gas, heating, and income taxes are a lot higher in the Netherlands.
@@mennovanrij9334 The Netherlands is about situated at the lattitude of Vancouver. Heating in winter is very nescesary.
Driving is also expensive in the Netherlands but luckily distances are small.
@@StephanSpelde Yeah, i can vouch for that. Having worked in the Rotterdam horeca, Little V was a well known place to visit for me and my kitchen colleagues. What i also love is that, next to the staple places who are here for decades the city does has a good share of frequently changing establishments and new concepts.
Living in the Oost park since a few years and as a fan of the Indonesian cuisine, i recently discoverer Minang Kabau at the Kralingse Plas. Which has, imho, one of the best quality dishes from that region in Zuid Holland and possibly thé best of Rotterdam. A good second place goes to Samalain but that one is literally across the street from where i live so i do consider myself spoiled rotten when it comes to getting a quick but good bite.
And as always, Rijsttafels is a good way to get started when one never been to an Indonesian restaurant and want to familiarize themselves.
US supermarkets dont appear to have much more range, just more of the same.
Hello there, this video got recommended to me by RUclips. But I think that is due to the fact that I am Dutch but have been living in Ontario, Canada half my life! I had to laugh at the Dutch NOT tipping or very little….They are notorious for that(cheapskates😬) And the supermarkets are the same here in Canada, huge. I went back to Holland in September 2023 after 5 years not visiting my family(they all still live there) and when I came back I thought the same thing! Too much choice😲 Thanks for sharing your experiences and comparisons with the USA/Holland. I enjoyed your video…..I will subscribe. De groetjes vanuit een koud(met veel sneeuw…)Canada🙏🏼🥶👋🏼🇨🇦
*I LIVE IN A 15 MINUTE CITY* in Bulgaria [Burgas] - I have not driven in 8 years - I LOVE it. I can get everything I need within 1km of my apartment for day to day living.
i dont even have a refrigerator - I just decide what I want to eat and go get it...!!!
Number 1 can be mitigated by using a "Reisverzekering", just get a "Doorlopende Reisverzekering" for a couple € a month and have some piece of mind when traveling.
And you can get an insurance for additional costs of health care in foreign countries (=your original country), beyond the costs of Dutch insurance.
Both your cereal aisle shot and the wall-refrigerator cheese shot in this video illustrate that while the volume is large, the selection in US stores is not that large. Stores fill up aisles with multiple feet of the same product. So the selection is not as large as you are implying. When you showed the specialty cheese compartment (probably in the "deli" section?) there was more selection, so that part is true.
In America, size is important. Bigger is better. So yes, American stores are huge but the actual selection between _different products_ an American will face is not so large.
I’m Dutch although my father is American (never seen him again after I was 5).. on behalf of our King Alex, I have good news you can stay here! Did you pledge allegiance to our flag? Do you promise to keep eating Tompouce and bitterballen? 😂😂❤
They liked the crompouce, that counts against them. (J/k)
Allegiance to our flag?? We don't do such silly things in the Netherlands
Huge selection and American Grocery Stores don't sound right. It's mostly the same thing with very small differences.
You don't understand. US grocery stores are not on every corner. People have to travel miles to get there. Thus they do not shop every day or week. They come in once a month! And a US grocery store is more than just a place to by your cereals. They have restaurants and sell hardware too. It's more an all in one place. Not all but most of them. It's all about getting the costumer in and give him the experience of a great time staying.
I think this needs to be commented on: Michelle, your hair looks amazing!!
13:31 it is common when you traveling outside europe to have a “reisverzekering”. It. Cost a maybe €5 or €10 a month
I like your posts very much, living abroad is a huge step and i like it that you show us how your experiences are. After a holiday abroad i am always glad i am back home and it doesn't matter how beautiful the visited country was (Costa Rica for example).
So welcome back and enjoy the rest of our country (and inhabitants 😉).
A huge selection of processed crap
Also happy to hear that you want to stay in The Netherlands! Please stay as long as you both like... het is toch gezellig!
😄
Tipping is not expected here in the Netherlands, but if I'm satisfied with the meal and the service, I do give some tip.
Usually by rounding the amount, and generally around 5-10%, and I think this is the normal for most of the people here.
As a server; People don't always like to be "bothered" or pushed to consume/buy more. Some places you do have to keep an eye out for empty glasses, ask for refill or if you can take the glass to be cleaned and possibly re-used. But again, most people are there to enjoy 1. the food; they did not want to, or know how to, cook the meals they want to consume 2. their company, they came there with them, it be social or professional. The professionals are the ones you should ask for re-fills, if they want more service, etc. They don't pay for it themselves the company pays. This are simple facts of life and the realtiy of a server. Of course there are minor details like ambiance or service, or the service speaking about the pretty individual servers. And it is not like we don't get tips. Since it is not a must - you know this means something! They really appreciated it. Not social conformity (I call this freedom, and not like the extreme wage-slave work the US implements)
YES Please STOP TIPPING! We all work hard but why should just some people receive additional pay. NO all employees should have a reasonable salary and pay taxes upon it. STOP TIPPING IN THE US! an everywhere else for that matter.
Great that you made this video.. After your previous video I forgot to ask you your experiences traveling back to the USA. Anyways, It's always great to see family and friends again. Do some of them also visit you here in the Netherlands?
yep, both of our parents visited us here at some point over the past year and a half :)
I was surprised by what you said about cheese in the Netherlands.
In France we had a very famous ad on TV that said "La Hollande, l'autre pays du fromage" (Netherlands, the *other* cheese country) 😊. Netherlands cheeses are renowned!
My wife moved here 19 years ago. We could not move me there (DOMA) every time we go back to Long Island, we experience culture shock. This last trip in October, we were shocked at how much more expensive grocery shopping was. We generally go to stop& shop and Lidl when we are there. I missed our Saturday market so much. It seemed as though our budget got drained so much faster than before. And going to Nashville for a week, that tapped us out altogether. That said, we had the best vacation ever. And I did het to go to the Grand Ole Opry twice😊. We were so happy to be able to walk al over our little town of Hilversum. And hop back on our bikes as well.
I think the transportation system in the Netherlands is great. We were visiting my aunt in Koedijk and were flying back to the US. I left my parents, who were still eating breakfast at my aunts. My sister and I drove the rental car from Koedijk to Schiphol Airport. However long it took travel was smooth and we seemed to be making good time on our travel. When we got to Schiphol, My Aunt and parents were waiting for us. I was shocked how they took the train and beat us there. I have family all over the Netherlands and could live anywhere and be content. Probably around Vlissengen, my ancestral providence.
The last time that I was in the California a few years ago the waiter service was only mediocre...but of course the tips were high. In Spain the service seems about as good...but no tips, so I know what I have to pay before I get a meal, because the price indicated is the final price.
My first full on shock was in 89 after a year and a half in Paris...flew to DC and was hit in a mall, EVERYONE was speaking English...I had just gotten tuned into my thoughts being surrounded by multiple languages being spoken. After 30 years and the passing of my parents I just don't see a need to go back unless I want to have FUN in NYC....otherwise I can Eurostar to London, or go to Carnaval in Venice for some cultural changes with cheaper voyages which means nicer hotels and more shopping!!!
Drop by my neighborhood in Brooklyn. You will hear a lot more people speaking Chinese, Russian, Spanish and other languages than English.
As a Dutch, I dont get the grocery one. Any major supermarket here has quite an amount of specialty cheese and normal. my SMALL local jumbo has everything from stilton with alcohol to French to red cheddar to... I think 50 types? More?
Well I lived in the Netherlands for 30 yrs *i am a Brit...It was also a culture shock for me At that time the country was almost closed to foreigners we were rarities We however lived near Eindhoven which with Philips was growing into a multicultural city I wouldn't-t recognise it today as it attempts to pull in over 355,000 new citizens, mostly foreigners .I appreciated the way Dutch were so professional as wait staff ,well trained and often speaking other languages than Dutch and English They had decent wages and therefore didn-t rely on tips. It was difficult at first to chat to people when we didn-t speak Dutch...We did notice however that Americans were becoming flavour of the month and wait staff sometimes fell over themselves to be extra nice.. probable knowing the tipping that was common in the USA...Once we learned Dutch however * 3yrs* everything changed and we could have good conversations. Whilst I found the Dutch a somewhat -hard nation I will never regret bringing up my two daughters there They had a magical childhood
The servers being overly friendly in the US comes down to the fact they depend on your tips. If they're not friendly, they won't get tipped (as much) so yeah, to us Dutchies this comes across as fake.
In some countries you have to actually be wary that hospitals don't keep you longer than needed, because they can max out the bill knowing your insurance will pay anyway. It's crazy how different healthcare costs are around the world. Dutch healthcare is pretty expensive, so for most places you are covered, but the US is on another level. My insurance provider specifically recommends extra insurance for three countries: the US, Canada and Singapore. Everywhere else is cheaper or similar enough that it won't ruin you.
Singapore’s healthcare is top notch world class for a very decent price. It is nowhere near The USA and cannot be compared.
One reason for taking out insurance when going abroad is the cost of repatriation. Even if the healthcare you need is affordable, being flown home by air ambulance with a doctor and at least one nurse on board won't be cheap.
Think the grocery store bit is a little misleading? You are clearly in Albert Heijn, and you show the "cheap"-cheese display, albert heijn has at least 1 more cheese section with better quality cheeses, farm cheeses and foreign cheeses, big albert heijn's have a 3rd cheese section too.
Sorry it just stood out to me as "okay but you're showing only 1 cheese section, AH has at least 2, even the small one in my neighborhood has a "factory" cheese rack like the one shown and a more artisan/farmer and foreign cheese rack. Show the other/better one too" (same for sandwich meats, budget and non-budget sections in a sense, slightly apart from each other usually.)
You can also if you live close or don't mind the travel go to one of the AH XXL stores for example, those are more like an aisle full of variations on the same, like a whole cereal aisle as opposed to a rack or 2.
Not a real complaint or anything, for all I know you just never noticed the rest of the cheeses and haven't come across a cheese-shop. If you want the real gouda e.g. don't go to the supermarket, if that's your only option then go to the other cheese rack than the one you showed and get a "boerderijkaas 50+". The 50+ is important, it's the fat content, most if not all of those cheeses in the "factory rack" are cheeses with half or less the fat content of "real" cheese, no flavor, no creaminess etc.. Barely cheese in my opinion.
We are happy to have you here!
I know this is going to be a little bit outside the point, but there might be people here who've always wondered why google maps and other gps systems send you to a road you can't drive/walk/bike on, so here you go.
To be fair, knowing how geographical databases are structured, how map API's work and knowing (sort of) how google maps gives you directions, the walking trajectory is sending you to that bridge because there's nothing in that specific line of road's database that indicates walking/cycling isn't possible like it does in lines of roads categorized as highways, for example. It's a simple fix from Google's backend, but they probably don't even look at that stuff until someone reports it or people who made the initial survey notes those issues on the spot, if they have someone dedicated to doing so in the first place in the car.
And those issues are the most common ones of them all, too. You look at a stretch of road from satellite imagery and you think a car can go through there, so whoever/AI that's filling those database tables marks it as, for example, offroad, but light-vehicle worthy, and GPS ends up sending you there only for you to find out that yes, the road is driveable up until a certain stretch that goes into a very small ridge that cars have difficulty going through without damage or something of that nature.
Besides, every country has road categorizations that says you can and can't walk on since they usually either have or don't have pedestrian sidewalks by default in their construction, and if it's roads like the one you showed in 5:25, they usually don't have the guard rails (and if they do they're categorized as something else that prohibits pedestrians by nature, whether it's because of speed or something else - nuances at this point) that prevent pedestrians from at least *trying* to dodge an uncontrolled vehicle veering their way without having to vault over a guard rail in the process.
So, in hindsight, google maps assumes you can walk on those bridges because they're categorized as something they're probably not, and the system assumes that, with that specific category of road, there's pedestrian sidewalks to walk on or to do so in a rather safe manner. It's a simple database issue, but not the type of issue where it's realistic to expect none should exist to begin with. It's like expecting tens of millions of lines in an excel table being filled by hand or AI following a specific set of guidelines to never have an error, especially in case specific lines. The system is good, but it's not perfect, and it probably never will be.
Hope that helps clear some of your doubts as to why GPS tends to send everyone into some questionable stretches of road, regardless of your transportation method 😅
EDIT: On the other hand, looking at that bridge again, it's quite long with practically no shoulders, so it's something that google shouldn't be aware of. Either the bridge is somewhat recent or whoever is in charge of taking care of the database in that area has either been asleep for quite sometime, simply doesn't care about the pedestrian/cycling side of their database maintenance or they work in a report-based system rather than having someone scout street maps as a part of their daily-job routine looking for issues like that since it's a rather easy/obvious issue to spot.
Yay, nice to hear ya'll be staying for a while. Plenty left to see and experience! 😄
Generally speaking, people working in service jobs are talkative and genuine friendly, or simply are "tip diggers"?
Welcome home and Happy New Year 2024!
I went back to California to visit family over the Thanksgiving holiday and immediately came down with that horrible RSV virus. So, I was mostly self-quarantined with the person I was staying with during my whole stay. I have medicare and travel insurance for when I return to see friends and family. Also, Dutch health insurance will reimburse you if you keep your medical receipts. I don't know how much though, as I've only used the medicare system once during the Pandemic when I needed a test done before flying home to the NL. And medicare paid for the whole test, which was expensive... I think $250.
I agree with you about the high costs of food and tipping, which gets annoying. Did you also know that the wait staff have to declare a portion of their tips to the IRS? An unbelievable as well as antiquated system for the commonly employed. Other costs, such as gas and clothing, are much cheaper in the States than in the EU. And, yes, service people are friendlier in the States but are also motivated by tips and, well, getting customers seated and gone for a higher turnover and more tips.
our health care here in the netherlands only covers us up to the equivalent dutch costs, unfortunately. unless we want to pay for an add-on (which we don't, haha).
So there was no snowboarding on Mad River Mountain? 🤣
Yipes, so no skiing, snowboarding, skating or cycling while in the States!
I can recomment a travel insurence. ' reisverzekering' .
Youre health insurence pays up to the price of healthcare in the Netherlands. But the travel insurrence pays everything above that. So if you need to go to the hospital, you're getting 100% back in those 2 insurrenses.
Most people in the Netherlands have a travelinsurrense when they go on a holliday.
I like having some time to decide if I might want dessert after the main course, instead of receiving the bill when the starter is served 🤭
Good to see you back safe and sound! 👍🏻
I tipped a girl who cut my son’s hair and even though I know tipping isn’t really a thing I still felt compelled to give her something on top of the price of the haircut. I gave her €5 that I had in my wallet. She was so excited and showed all of her coworkers. 😅
Also I love the in floor heating, it’s so much more cozy than a heater .
Glad you made it back safely and you didn’t need to use the US healthcare 😊
You forgot the most obvious one: bicycles! The Netherlands are bicycle rider's paradise.
We just had dinner this night in a restaurant. About the waitress: she was friendly (it was very busy this night), but in this particular restaurant they keep an eye on you. Empty glas, so they ask you if yoy want more, asking you if everything is oke, and after we were finished, she came and asked us if there was anything she could bring, so I asked for the bill. Ofcourse we tipped her.
So it is not always waving hands.
Exactly, if the restaurant is any good here in The Netherlands, the waiters watch you closely from a distance and recognize the signs for if they are needed at the table before the waiving has to kick in.
Same in Germany: When you are ready to order, you close the menue. When your glass is empty, the waiter offers more. When you place your knife and fork at five o'clock on the plate, they can see that you finished your main course and ask, if you wish anything else. No waving needed, at least not at restaurants, where they learned their craft. Besides, waving is considered bad behaviour in a good restaurant. It is ok in a Kneipe.
Just came back from my girlfriend in america we have been binging your videos since she wanted to see how other americans view living in the Netherlands 😁
P.s. a hidden gem to explore in the Netherlands the orchideeënhoeven beautiful botanical garden and you can feed flamingos
Dat je in de VS eigenlijk nooit gezellig lang kan tafelen vond ik de eerste keer zó stom en niet gastvrij. Ik werd er eigenlijk chagrijnig van😅
Oh en de fooi, dat is echt te veel. Hier ronden we meestal af naar boven. Dus als iets €56,- kost maak je er 60,- van ofzo
It happened to me but two fold. I lived in Germany for 5 years and also in the Army. When i came back ot too me a couple years to adjust. I still want to go back.
When I go out to a restaurant it is mostly with others. That basically means eat and talk. Basically I have no need for the waiter, unless I need something. And I hate the service in the USA, the over friendly people ready to screw me over. 🎉
screw you over?? what’s your waiter going to do? 😄
@@bunchartedthat 'screw you over' was more directed towards the clothing stores... They act like they have skin in the game.
Service worker small talk is my pet peeve. There are so many places (post office, hardware store, etc) where I stand in line while the friendly checkout person tells the customer ahead of me about her daughter's wedding while I wait to buy light bulbs.
I noticed that the system goes to great lengths to discourage walking. I was in Sacremento visiting my brother’s family and went to a mall. The mall was spread out on two sides of a main road and there was no way to cross that road on foot without getting run over. We needed a shop on the other side, we could even see the store but got needed to get into the car to get there!
That couldn't possibly be because the USA is 237 TIMES BIGGER ( look it up, it's a fact) than the Netherlands now could it!!! The US is too big for walking everywhere.
@@rickherrell9451 what a dumb reply, who cares if it’s 300 or 3000 times bigger, that’s not the point! The shop was on the other side of the road, 2 minute walk, but there was no pedestrian crossing to cross the road and that is just so silly. What is the point is that a 2 minute walk is 2 minutes everywhere no matter how big a country is. Think before you comment.
@@rickherrell9451 Who said you had to walk everwhere ? Do you know that the average American walks 1.4 miles a week !!! I walk more than that in day !! You lot are damn lazy.
That cheese thing is strange. They don't have that many cheeses in the US and most of them taste the same. I never shopped in the Netherlands but in Spain, France, Belgium or Italy there are a lot of cheeses to choose from.
You can take out travel insurance, which costs a few euros per day of your trip or you can choose a continuous one that provides coverage all year round. If necessary, travel insurance will pay the difference between what your Dutch insurance reimburses and the actual costs
yeah, it was just expensive to have the travel insurance cover the US and we’re cheap
@@buncharted typically Dutch 😜
My travel insurance covers the US and costs next to nothing for the whole family.
Even my Amex gold card provides me with global medical assistance.
my chase card does too, but it's not unlimited, and health care costs in the US can be expensive. you'll easily exceed the limit of what your amex gold card would cover, i'm sure @@highs_and_lows4665
Try living in a third world country for a while. Most of the commenters here are clueless how much of the world lives.
My experience was, even in a "fine dining" restaurant, the staff did their best to get us out a.s.a.p. Great video as always. And I have a similar picture of my hip. Has been removed now to make place for a total hip prosthetic. Currently in a "zorghotel" recovering from that surgery.
so true! honestly, at the fine dining restaurants, it's even moreso
ik wens je beterschap en veel sterkte met de revalidatie
@@JustMe-sh8nddankjewel!
Lol, ik ben nog nooit naar de VS geweest, maar dankzij dit filmpje heb ik daar ook geen enkele behoefte aan. Ik wist het al, Nederland is gewoon beter 😛. En Cereal is nog ongezond ook, dus waarom zou je daar 2 lange schappen vol mee willen hebben? Ik ga m'n eigen land nu nog meer waarderen, thanks voor het filmpje. (You can Google translate if you don't speak Dutch)
Regarding medical Costs: you could take a separate travel Insurance which will coverage the refund gap between Dutch rates and the much higher rates in the States.
Or get a health care insurance supplement with world coverage so that all health care costs are covered.
Always make sure you have a travel insurance with world coverage of medical costs.
The broken medical system is to me the biggest problem with living in the US, above all others.
This is so spot on! Thanks for making this content
Personally I would like to have something of both worlds. The service quality of the USA and the more relaxed atmosphere here in Europe where you can sit as long as you like at your table even if you have payed or don't consume anything anymore. But I don't like unfriendleness or waiters that are more busy with talking to eachother instead of serving the customer, like you see to often in Europe. People are generally more friendly in the USA and even if it is superficial, I rather hear a "Good morning sir, how are you doing" with a smile, then getting ignored and have to wave my hands for two hours to get the attention of him or her and wake up the next time with muscle pain from waving.
"Cheese" in the US is a odd term and concept. It's mostly 'orange stuff'.
Please eat meat when you want meat and no replacements. It does not make any sense.
about the waiters, they are not friendly, they are just being like that just cos they want to have a proper tip at the end, they dont care about you as a person at all....
Ok, ik got into your trip from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport trip to Lindenwald Ohio...
That's a 65km trip (40miles).
* By car 45/50 mins which is pretty decent.
* By public transport is 8hr30m
* 10hr walk
*3hr by bicycle
I'm going to create a comparable Dutch trip.
Schiphol airport to Amersfoort (Which is VERY well connected). (64 kilometers or 39 miles)
* 49m by car
* 40m by public transport
* 13hr walk
*3hr30m by bicycle
The difference for public transport is ridiculous.
510 mins in the US, 40 in the Netherlands.
The Dutch train ride, without any reduction is €12, most used reduction is -40% which reduces the price to €7,20.
And for some ridiculous reason, from the US international airport to the nearest bus service takes a 23 min walk (1,6 miles). 😮
Not sure why, but here you go.
But the walk/bike ride to Starbucks can be done, in the same time, on S. Main St. with only a 100 metres or so w/o sidewalk (still a pleasant enough street, traffic-wise). Well, there's always next time:)