I really enjoy your videos! In this case, when I watched the title I thought of totally different things, such as the way you open and close doors and windows, flush the toilet, switch the light on and off, etc. All the best wishes for 2025, greetings and love from Germany to the Netherlands!
@@sabineausmg9543 Thank you so much, Sabine. I’m glad that you like my videos. It means a lot to me. ❤️ The things you mention are also different, indeed. There really are a lot of differences when you think about it. Thank you for your good wishes. All the best to you, too. Groeten uit Nederland. 😊
In the US most old residential neighborhoods, i.e. laid out before the car, or at least before car dependency, all of the streets are through streets and are used by suburban commuters to rat run from the major roads avoiding traffic signals etc. so you never get much time without a car driving by your house. In my case it is often my immediate neighbors driving 1-2 miles or less to the nearby shopping street where they inevitably complain about parking. The rest are people from other neighborhoods who don't want to use the freeway that we destroyed an entire neighborhood to build for them. But the newer neighborhood built with the intention of car dependency usually have culs de sac and dead end streets so that there can be no through traffic. All the streets empty onto the main collectors that funnel people to the highways, stroads, and stripmalls. Yet when you ask someone to do a modal filter in your old neighborhood they don't want them because either they might be inconvenienced, or as I was told once, they like to rat run through others neighborhoods so don't want to block others from doing the same. Yet they will complain endlessly about fast cur through traffic and even full size tractor trailer trucks driving down small residential streets. We wonder why kids don't play outside anymore.
@@stink1701 Thanks, Scotty, for giving us a glimpse (and me a glaring reminder) of American urban planning and car dependency. You paint quite a picture! Your closing sentence about kids not playing outside anymore is especially sad. It’s a far cry from when I was a kid in the States in the late 70s (the last of the good ol’ days). I spent most of my days outside, riding bikes with friends. Different time; different world. Well, thanks, my friend, for watching my video and taking the time to comment. All the best to you from Haarlem. 😊
I moved to NL from the UK. In the UK the first thing you ask someone when you meet for the first time is: what do you do for a living? Of course you're not interested in what they do; you just want to know roughly how much they earn and where they sit relative to you in the food chain. Not so here. I knew a guy socially for a long time before I learned he was a judge. So much better here.
@@tarquinmidwinter2056 I’m with you 100%. I really minded the whole “what do you do?” routine in Washington, DC. It felt so competitive…and over something that ultimately doesn’t matter. It is wonderful to be free from all that, isn’t it? 😊
I was born in The Netherlands in 1949 and always had a car after I turned 18. We loved to travel to out of the way places in Germany, Austria, Belgium and France. To get to those places, not the big cities, you need a car. Also going to work with an international pharma company, we used the car, although the trip to the office in the small town where we lived, only took 15 minutes. We never lived in the Randstad but in the eastern part of the country in a real house. Not in a pigeonhole in the big cities.
@@qualitytraders5333 Thanks for sharing your experience. I recognize that many Dutch people do have cars. I do not, and it’s just something I do differently now that I live here. 👍
Yes this is true, Arjen Lubach had a video on this called "train shame". While the EU has borders you can cross freely, the transportation accross those border is basicly horrible. Even the punctual germans arent running trains on time. I live in Nijmegen, and its quicker for me to reach Germany by bicycle then public transport. And it gets even worse when you want to access specific more natural area. Like its so hard to get to northren italy lakes without a car, or to any place that isnt a major city(and then you have to take a plane for the record). So yeah, I agree, there is allot of infrastructuur work we have to do in the EU.
You should meet Itz Sky (youtube channel). He is also an American in the Netherlands and also living in Haarlem. He has also many vlogs about the differences between Holland and the USA.
Again very nice video. You are productive! Complaining about the weather...it is the best! Helps against anxiety (will the sun really return?) and depression (how gloomy can it get in winter...having to have the lights on in the back of the room) from lack of sunlight. And complaining about the neighbours...also very important! If you have perfect neighbours you are missing out 😂...so be happy with them not taking their shoes off..🎉
@@annemieke186 Thank you so much, Annemieke. I have been keeping busy, it’s true. Funny you should mention not taking shoes off. We have a “no shoe” policy, but it is sometimes tricky to enforce. 😂 I gather that you have a similar policy. Thanks again for watching and commenting. 😊
Thank you for your kind response back on past video, as a Dutch Man I'm Americanized but with Dutch( 30+ years )habits.maby in a later video you can share what American habits you can shake off. Dutch Man living in AZ USA .
Another fun video, Mike, thank you. 🎉It's interesting to learn of the differences you experience. The U.S. has caught up with the garbage/compost/recycling, but that could vary state to state.
Mike, I fully agree about all those you mentioned especially the peace and quiet. I live on a main thoroughfare and have two tramlines in this street but it always amazes me how quiet it is. The HTM are really quiet these days and for other traffic there is none in the evening/morning. Just in the day time is there some noise but that is so minimum. Dutch cities are so much quieter.
You pass with flying colors Mike now that you have succesfully mastered 'klagen over het weer' Having worked in public transport for the past 36 years I rarely use it myself. Around town I walk or ride my bike and on longer trips I drive my 24 year old Camry 😊 By the way, would you consider doing a video in het nederlands?
Thank you, Gert. Klagen over het weer is certainly a Dutch tradition, for good reason. These long, grey days of winter give us plenty to complain about. But soon it will be sunny and warm again. Then we can complain about the blistering heat! 😂 I suppose you get plenty of bus rides with your daily work.🚍 Kudos to you for holding onto your reliable (I hope) Camry. 🚙 As I mentioned, for longer trips, I occasionally rent a car. I will have to give some thought about doing a video in het Nederlands. My Dutch suffices, but I don’t know what some of my viewers would make of it. I have viewers throughout Europe and the U.S. and as far afield as Australia, Thailand, Philippines and South Africa. I am devoted to my Dutch viewers, of course, but wouldn’t want to alienate anyone. Still, I can’t help but drop a few Dutch words/phrases from time to time. 😉 Thank you, as always, Gert, for sticking with me. I appreciate your good words.
@BetterTogether-UnIr1 My pleasure Mike, I wasn't thinking of your global audience so best stick to english videos. I have a profound dislike of modern cars and it is more sustainable to keep a car for decades other than switching every five years or so. Plus a Camry is a rare sight in Nederland. Through my many visits to the US I got addicted to them. Mainstream has never worked for me, suits me just fine 🤗
Great video again, Mike. You really are more Dutch than American now. 4 years ago I bought a car for 650 euro and I still drive it everyday. I can only laugh thinking about what my neighbour paid for his Mercedes. Complaining has benefits. Pointing out what's wrong can make things right. Our infrastructure eventually is also the result of people complaining. (but offcourse the weather never gets better here haha) I have been in Canada and the tipping there is the same. Waitresses really depend on their tip I think and for that reason they were always very nice to us. But what really bothered me was the fact that VAT is never included. That's considered scamming and not transparent here in The Netherlands. Fahrenheit... it just makes no sense at all since the guy used two different things for it ( 0F salt water and 100F blood). Imperial system... a bit because you can divide 12 in more steps. But multiplying is way harder.
Thanks so much for watching, and thank you for your comment. I agree with you about the fact that tax is not included in the U.S. It’s always a surprise when it’s time to pay. I hate that! I love that, here, you know exactly what something costs, including tax, and there are no surprises. The U.S. approach seems somewhat deceptive to me. $1.99 $9.99 and so on, when in reality that’s not what it’s going to cost. I guess the Fahrenheit system has its quirks. I’m far more comfortable with Celsius now. Same goes with the 24-hour clock, which I could have mentioned. It is so clear without the potential for confusion or the need to indicate a.m. or p.m. Lots to love about living here. I could go on and on. ❤️ 🇳🇱
De beste wensen voor 2025. Ik heb niks te klagen wat betreft je video. Als ik vroeger op de Riviervischmarkt in Haarlem uit ging, gaf ik de portier vaak een Gulden. Tippen doe je alleen als bevoorbeeld het etentje en dus het eten en de bediening beter was dan gedacht. Of voor het gemak rond je af naar boven.
I am glad that you have no complaints about my video. 😊 What you describe is, indeed, my understanding of tipping in the Netherlands. It took me some time to get used to it, but I prefer it over the expected handout in the U.S. Thanks for watching my video, Gerhard. Ik wens je een jaar vol gezondheid, geluk en nieuwe avonturen. ⭐️
The same water that comes out of your faucet in Den Bosch/'s Hertogenbosch is the same as a brand that is sold in supermarkets. It's ridiculous to buy bottled water here.
@@BetterTogether-UnIr1 It is not uncommon to pay about €1.40 for about 1 liter of bottled water (though cheaper alternatives certainly exist). Using this price tag water from the faucet is literally a 1000 times cheaper.
But the Netherlands is car-infested (it has among the highest car proficiency in all of Europe ) It's all about infrastructure which is highly thougt-out all over the country (which is small but defenitly not that tiny as people from the U.S. presume it to be. Commuting can take you 3 or more hours by highways within the country.
@@jsb7975 No doubt about it, the urban planning here is first-rate. The Dutch know how to make the most of limited space. This plays out in the layout of the cities as well as the design of the houses. But the country is tiny by American standards. Commuting can take 3 hours here because of the density, not the size. The U.S. is 237 times the size of the Netherlands. California alone is 10 times bigger. The Netherlands is about the size of the small state of Maryland, where I was born. Unless you have been to the U.S., you can’t quite grasp the scale of it. It surprises even me when I visit. The highways, the cars, the houses. On my last visit, as I was approaching JFK airport and passed a train depot, I saw dozens and dozens of rail lines as far as the eye could see crowded with cargo trains. So, indeed, by U.S. standards, the Netherlands is tiny. Tiny but mighty! ❤️ 🇳🇱
My best mate has a long distance relation with a very sweet lady in Maine and a few days ago he said to me It was -12 where she was so my initial reaction was "meh.. cold but ok" ... then he followed with "Fahrenheid" and I went O_O oops.... Holy Mooly that is almost -25C. NOT funny temps. I do now that Americans use a surprisingly amount of metric without realising it like with medication, automotive measurements, etc. Well.. nowadays everyone in DC is either a conman, crook or thief...... (just kidding Mike, not everyone obviously I always tip hospitality workers. Cafe, Restaurants, Hotels... they deliver good srevice, they get a tip. It is just not the US mandatory 20%
I really enjoy your videos! In this case, when I watched the title I thought of totally different things, such as the way you open and close doors and windows, flush the toilet, switch the light on and off, etc. All the best wishes for 2025, greetings and love from Germany to the Netherlands!
@@sabineausmg9543 Thank you so much, Sabine. I’m glad that you like my videos. It means a lot to me. ❤️ The things you mention are also different, indeed. There really are a lot of differences when you think about it. Thank you for your good wishes. All the best to you, too. Groeten uit Nederland. 😊
In the US most old residential neighborhoods, i.e. laid out before the car, or at least before car dependency, all of the streets are through streets and are used by suburban commuters to rat run from the major roads avoiding traffic signals etc. so you never get much time without a car driving by your house. In my case it is often my immediate neighbors driving 1-2 miles or less to the nearby shopping street where they inevitably complain about parking. The rest are people from other neighborhoods who don't want to use the freeway that we destroyed an entire neighborhood to build for them. But the newer neighborhood built with the intention of car dependency usually have culs de sac and dead end streets so that there can be no through traffic. All the streets empty onto the main collectors that funnel people to the highways, stroads, and stripmalls. Yet when you ask someone to do a modal filter in your old neighborhood they don't want them because either they might be inconvenienced, or as I was told once, they like to rat run through others neighborhoods so don't want to block others from doing the same. Yet they will complain endlessly about fast cur through traffic and even full size tractor trailer trucks driving down small residential streets. We wonder why kids don't play outside anymore.
@@stink1701 Thanks, Scotty, for giving us a glimpse (and me a glaring reminder) of American urban planning and car dependency. You paint quite a picture! Your closing sentence about kids not playing outside anymore is especially sad. It’s a far cry from when I was a kid in the States in the late 70s (the last of the good ol’ days). I spent most of my days outside, riding bikes with friends. Different time; different world. Well, thanks, my friend, for watching my video and taking the time to comment. All the best to you from Haarlem. 😊
I moved to NL from the UK. In the UK the first thing you ask someone when you meet for the first time is: what do you do for a living? Of course you're not interested in what they do; you just want to know roughly how much they earn and where they sit relative to you in the food chain. Not so here. I knew a guy socially for a long time before I learned he was a judge. So much better here.
@@tarquinmidwinter2056 I’m with you 100%. I really minded the whole “what do you do?” routine in Washington, DC. It felt so competitive…and over something that ultimately doesn’t matter. It is wonderful to be free from all that, isn’t it? 😊
I was born in The Netherlands in 1949 and always had a car after I turned 18. We loved to travel to out of the way places in Germany, Austria, Belgium and France. To get to those places, not the big cities, you need a car. Also going to work with an international pharma company, we used the car, although the trip to the office in the small town where we lived, only took 15 minutes. We never lived in the Randstad but in the eastern part of the country in a real house. Not in a pigeonhole in the big cities.
@@qualitytraders5333 Thanks for sharing your experience. I recognize that many Dutch people do have cars. I do not, and it’s just something I do differently now that I live here. 👍
Yes this is true, Arjen Lubach had a video on this called "train shame". While the EU has borders you can cross freely, the transportation accross those border is basicly horrible. Even the punctual germans arent running trains on time. I live in Nijmegen, and its quicker for me to reach Germany by bicycle then public transport. And it gets even worse when you want to access specific more natural area. Like its so hard to get to northren italy lakes without a car, or to any place that isnt a major city(and then you have to take a plane for the record).
So yeah, I agree, there is allot of infrastructuur work we have to do in the EU.
You should meet Itz Sky (youtube channel). He is also an American in the Netherlands and also living in Haarlem. He has also many vlogs about the differences between Holland and the USA.
I know of Itz but have never met him. I believe he’s been in Haarlem for a few years now, but our paths have not (yet) crossed.
Wat leuk!! Dankjewel!
@@hondenmens6470 My pleasure. Glad you liked it. 😊
Again very nice video. You are productive!
Complaining about the weather...it is the best!
Helps against anxiety (will the sun really return?) and depression (how gloomy can it get in winter...having to have the lights on in the back of the room) from lack of sunlight.
And complaining about the neighbours...also very important! If you have perfect neighbours you are missing out 😂...so be happy with them not taking their shoes off..🎉
@@annemieke186 Thank you so much, Annemieke. I have been keeping busy, it’s true. Funny you should mention not taking shoes off. We have a “no shoe” policy, but it is sometimes tricky to enforce. 😂 I gather that you have a similar policy. Thanks again for watching and commenting. 😊
Thank you for your kind response back on past video, as a Dutch Man I'm Americanized but with Dutch( 30+ years )habits.maby in a later video you can share what American habits you can shake off. Dutch Man living in AZ USA .
@@donaldvanberkum8666 That’s a great idea, Donald. Thanks for the suggestion. 😊
Another fun video, Mike, thank you. 🎉It's interesting to learn of the differences you experience. The U.S. has caught up with the garbage/compost/recycling, but that could vary state to state.
@@kristiina-f9h Thank you, Kristiina. That’s good news that the U.S. is recycling. ♻️ It’s been a loooong time since I lived there. 😂
Mike, I fully agree about all those you mentioned especially the peace and quiet. I live on a main thoroughfare and have two tramlines in this street but it always amazes me how quiet it is. The HTM are really quiet these days and for other traffic there is none in the evening/morning. Just in the day time is there some noise but that is so minimum. Dutch cities are so much quieter.
Absolutely, Joe. 😊 The contrast is felt, and what a difference it makes to our peace of mind. Thanks for your comment. 👍
You pass with flying colors Mike now that you have succesfully mastered 'klagen over het weer' Having worked in public transport for the past 36 years I rarely use it myself. Around town I walk or ride my bike and on longer trips I drive my 24 year old Camry 😊
By the way, would you consider doing a video in het nederlands?
Thank you, Gert. Klagen over het weer is certainly a Dutch tradition, for good reason. These long, grey days of winter give us plenty to complain about. But soon it will be sunny and warm again. Then we can complain about the blistering heat! 😂 I suppose you get plenty of bus rides with your daily work.🚍 Kudos to you for holding onto your reliable (I hope) Camry. 🚙 As I mentioned, for longer trips, I occasionally rent a car.
I will have to give some thought about doing a video in het Nederlands. My Dutch suffices, but I don’t know what some of my viewers would make of it. I have viewers throughout Europe and the U.S. and as far afield as Australia, Thailand, Philippines and South Africa. I am devoted to my Dutch viewers, of course, but wouldn’t want to alienate anyone. Still, I can’t help but drop a few Dutch words/phrases from time to time. 😉 Thank you, as always, Gert, for sticking with me. I appreciate your good words.
@BetterTogether-UnIr1 My pleasure Mike, I wasn't thinking of your global audience so best stick to english videos. I have a profound dislike of modern cars and it is more sustainable to keep a car for decades other than switching every five years or so. Plus a Camry is a rare sight in Nederland. Through my many visits to the US I got addicted to them. Mainstream has never worked for me, suits me just fine 🤗
@ We are a lot alike, Gert. But I knew that already. 😊 Mainstream has never suited me either. You be you! We all benefit.
Great video again, Mike. You really are more Dutch than American now.
4 years ago I bought a car for 650 euro and I still drive it everyday. I can only laugh thinking about what my neighbour paid for his Mercedes.
Complaining has benefits. Pointing out what's wrong can make things right. Our infrastructure eventually is also the result of people complaining. (but offcourse the weather never gets better here haha)
I have been in Canada and the tipping there is the same. Waitresses really depend on their tip I think and for that reason they were always very nice to us. But what really bothered me was the fact that VAT is never included. That's considered scamming and not transparent here in The Netherlands.
Fahrenheit... it just makes no sense at all since the guy used two different things for it ( 0F salt water and 100F blood). Imperial system... a bit because you can divide 12 in more steps. But multiplying is way harder.
Thanks so much for watching, and thank you for your comment. I agree with you about the fact that tax is not included in the U.S. It’s always a surprise when it’s time to pay. I hate that! I love that, here, you know exactly what something costs, including tax, and there are no surprises. The U.S. approach seems somewhat deceptive to me. $1.99 $9.99 and so on, when in reality that’s not what it’s going to cost. I guess the Fahrenheit system has its quirks. I’m far more comfortable with Celsius now. Same goes with the 24-hour clock, which I could have mentioned. It is so clear without the potential for confusion or the need to indicate a.m. or p.m. Lots to love about living here. I could go on and on. ❤️ 🇳🇱
Great, interesting video Mike
Thank you, Jan. Thanks for watching. 😊
De beste wensen voor 2025. Ik heb niks te klagen wat betreft je video. Als ik vroeger op de Riviervischmarkt in Haarlem uit ging, gaf ik de portier vaak een Gulden. Tippen doe je alleen als bevoorbeeld het etentje en dus het eten en de bediening beter was dan gedacht. Of voor het gemak rond je af naar boven.
I am glad that you have no complaints about my video. 😊 What you describe is, indeed, my understanding of tipping in the Netherlands. It took me some time to get used to it, but I prefer it over the expected handout in the U.S. Thanks for watching my video, Gerhard. Ik wens je een jaar vol gezondheid, geluk en nieuwe avonturen. ⭐️
Imagine. Going to a shoe shop in the us and they are asking your shoe size. Well it’s one foot.
@@dgraveth Good one. 😂 👞
Complaining: how does it feel? 😅
You mean geciviliseerd!
Exhilarating! Liberating! And addictive. 😊
The same water that comes out of your faucet in Den Bosch/'s Hertogenbosch is the same as a brand that is sold in supermarkets. It's ridiculous to buy bottled water here.
@@gertvanderstraaten6352 You got that right, Gert. I’d rather spend that money on stroopwafels. 👍
@@BetterTogether-UnIr1
It is not uncommon to pay about €1.40 for about 1 liter of bottled water (though cheaper alternatives certainly exist). Using this price tag water from the faucet is literally a 1000 times cheaper.
@@wimahlers Gosh, that is shocking, Wim. Makes my faucet water taste 1000 times better! 💧
But the Netherlands is car-infested (it has among the highest car proficiency in all of Europe ) It's all about infrastructure which is highly thougt-out all over the country (which is small but defenitly not that tiny as people from the U.S. presume it to be. Commuting can take you 3 or more hours by highways within the country.
@@jsb7975 No doubt about it, the urban planning here is first-rate. The Dutch know how to make the most of limited space. This plays out in the layout of the cities as well as the design of the houses. But the country is tiny by American standards. Commuting can take 3 hours here because of the density, not the size. The U.S. is 237 times the size of the Netherlands. California alone is 10 times bigger. The Netherlands is about the size of the small state of Maryland, where I was born. Unless you have been to the U.S., you can’t quite grasp the scale of it. It surprises even me when I visit. The highways, the cars, the houses. On my last visit, as I was approaching JFK airport and passed a train depot, I saw dozens and dozens of rail lines as far as the eye could see crowded with cargo trains. So, indeed, by U.S. standards, the Netherlands is tiny. Tiny but mighty! ❤️ 🇳🇱
My best mate has a long distance relation with a very sweet lady in Maine and a few days ago he said to me It was -12 where she was so my initial reaction was "meh.. cold but ok" ... then he followed with "Fahrenheid" and I went O_O oops.... Holy Mooly that is almost -25C. NOT funny temps.
I do now that Americans use a surprisingly amount of metric without realising it like with medication, automotive measurements, etc.
Well.. nowadays everyone in DC is either a conman, crook or thief...... (just kidding Mike, not everyone obviously
I always tip hospitality workers. Cafe, Restaurants, Hotels... they deliver good srevice, they get a tip. It is just not the US mandatory 20%
@@mavadelo I love your DC remark. You couldn’t resist, and I don’t blame you. Not one bit. 😊
complaining hahaha, then you are realy dutchified😇😂
Haha. Yes, the hallmark of a true Dutchman. 😊
Klagen! Ik klaag niet over je video's!
@weiareinboud6990 Daar ben ik blij om. 😃