The basic rule every dutch person grew up with is: when the street light turn on, go home. Parents dont care where you've been haha. Just get home on time
Dutch building laws: It is not allowed to enter a toilet directly from the livingroom or kitchen so in most houses you have to go to the hall entrance to go to the toilet it is a hygiene issue
Exactly, (old) building regulations said that there have to be 2 doors between living/kitchen and toilet. Does not apply for flats/appartements. Mr H: in the 70s I also met with “hover over hole” toilets in Greece! A pure joy for flies !
The most stupid law there is. Not as stupid as the weed law though. That one is just crazy... coffeeshops may not buy weed, but they are allowed to sell. So in other words, they basicly have to grow it themselfes, but then you got the law where you are not allowed to grow weed on a professional level.
@@iamhereforever Don't forget that every city can choose how they handle personal weed plants/usage. Some get kicked out include all family living in the house just for 1 plant. It is technically not legal since the municipality can choose if they allow it or not. So its way more fucked up if you think about it. As a Dutch I know this from young age cause it never made sense to me but I know many who do it and wouldn't even know what could be the consequences because its so normal to use here. Thats what's fucked up IMO we have generations who don't know all this and think it is completely OK
As a Dutch person, I am wondering.. where is a ‘normal’ place for a toilet? Because from my perspective it seems really easy and convenient. It’s a corner of the house, often it has a small window to ventilate. And you always know the general direction of the toilet!
I was thinking about it, and I guess it's a design thing. We often have the stairs on the side of the house leaving a convenient corner to prop in a toilet besides it or sometimes even under it. The (very) few times I was in the UK, the houses I went to had the the entrance in the middle of the house with rooms left and right of it. That changes the 'flow' of the house and caused the toilets (and stairs) to be elsewhere and also. At least, that's what I think now.
@@patverum9051Having 2 toilets is just convinience. One in the bathroom and one in the hallway. So if someone is at the shower you can still use the toilet
@@patverum9051 that sounds so inconvenient. Here the toilets are often separate, or there is a second toilet in the bathroom. You rarely have only bathrooms in a house :o
In "social" housing (rijtjes huizen) the "next to the front door toilet" is closest to the sewer system. When you build multiple blocks of houses (as corporations do) that saves a lot of plumbing!
Toilet next to the front door. Its so easy. There are multiple reasons though. The first one, its for our guests. In the Netherlands we sleep upstairs, the stairway is in the hallway. So that means there isn't any bathroom downstairs. So the toilet is in the hallway. Its the most hygienic place, since we do not want that thing next to our kitchen. Easily accisable. The second reason is the plumbing. Since the plumbing in the Netherlands is located under the streets the most logic place of our toilets in in the hallway. The fastest way for the plumbing to exit the dwelling. Come on people, it aint that hard! Edit: The reason bedrooms are on the 2nd floor. We do not have much space in the Netherlands, we are the most crowded country in Europe. That means, buildingground is so expensive, we go straight up in the air. To give ourselves privacy bed- and bathroom are upstairs.
Toilets near the door is also a more efficient usage with overal limited space of a Dutch house, door, hallway, toilet, coat rack, fusebox and stairs often within like 3 to 4 m2 in a corner of the ground floor, wich means the rest of the living room and kitchen can be placed in a way where you have most use of the m2 you have left, without alot of 'dead' area's wich you can only use as storage then.
And, there is a guide that says there have to be two doors between the living space and toilet. This means hallway door from the living room and the toilet door itself is 2.
You forget to mention that because of the crappy weather each and every house in the Netherlands has a hallway between the frontdoor and the livingroom. Where else than in the hallway would you put a toilet. Old houses have a bathroom behind the kitchen (only place with plumbing and a logical successor of the out-house)
Every Dutch house usually has a toilet in the hallway thay's just the way it is. And with birthdays I think it's showing respect. Like hey: congratulations with your friend. That way you acknowledge the friendship and celebrate together the birthday of the person you both have a certain relationship with, I like it. We're together, not a group of individuals
when its somebody's birthday we celebrate it with every friend or family member. we greet everyone and give them 3 kisses. i think its because when its someone's birthday we know we had another year with that person. and we appreciate all the persons that have come for that person. its not just a party but its really a celebration of the life of that person. and all the people that love that person
@@SL538 Yes me too I don't do it. I congratulate the person whose birthday it is, and I just make a vague wave in the direction of the others, like: you too people
I just pop up in the room, greet everyone and and only kiss and hug the people that are in my "circle". Even though it's typical Dutch do kiss and hug everyone.. I personally just like my own space too much to go all crazy on everyone lol
Her dutch pronunciation is so good. And normally you congratulate the birthday person and their family but I guess because people are not sure who is family or not they just include everyone in generosity, versus only doing it for one person, haha. As a female a lot of kissing is involved too, we're used to it. And yeah toilets are in a hall and the hall is where the front door is. There is only one bathroom and that tends to be upstairs. So you wouldn't usually go into anyone's bathroom if you came to visit, just the toilet...with the birthday calendar.
About the toilet by the front door "just guessing" isn't that just good planning ? The suer is on the street, if it is blocked/broke for some reason do you want to have it blocked under your living room ? The hall is also accessible for everybody (kids/2nd floor) in the house if there is no toilet on the second floor without walking through a room full of adults. I think it's the best location for a normal house, close to upstairs and downstairs.
@@erikaverink8418 It's dutch design so obviously it's practical in some way, I think the bathroom upstairs is also often located above it for the shortest sewer and waterlines. Though the kitchen doesn't have any close links anymore. In my old house there was no toilet upstairs at all and I always had to go down but that was a very old house and has since been torn down.
The reason we say Gefeliciteerd to everyone there is that we all sit in a circle around the coffee table. It's an integral part of the chant for summoning ritual for the birthday spirit. Aside from that we stay all around that circle and get up to congratulate newcomers while we ritually sacrifice snacks, beer, wine, and soft drinks.
The traditional dutch birthday treats, liverpate in sausage shape and blocks of cheese. I'm not sure if you get the right mood without those and some lawn furniture in the livingroom. I don't know if they eat that liver sausage a lot the rest of the year but it comes out in dutch circle birthdays for sure. I'm glad I'm from an Indo family so those were different, birthdays were with dinner and cake/pie/vlaai and most of the family had their party specialty meal. Neighbours and friends were usually at another celebration, this was mainly family.
@@lydiavandodeweerd2984 I havent lived in a house with a toilet next to the front door. Mostly my toilets were located in the back of the house close to the garden. And then of course 1 up in the bathroom. In both my grandparents house in Germany and my house in germany i had a toilet at the front door. But those houses are huge , 1 with 3 and the other with 5 toilets.
It takes a village to raise a kid...........The Dutch are social people. We congratulate all people on a birthday/wedding because all of us, in our own way, contributed to the well being of the one who is celebrated. Same with the kids outside playing. There will always be someone who is keeping an eye on them. From a distance, sometimes even from inside the house. And if all children of the neighbourhood play together they all have eyes and a brain to keep the group safe.
I'm dutch, but in our family we first congratulate the person who's birthday it is, and then the family, but not friends. And we sit mostly in a circle, because our houses aren't big and it's easier to talk with whomever is there, without looking at someone's back.
There is a law that concerns buildings. A toilet should be separated from living areas by two doors. One of the 'smallest room' and another one. The hallway is not a living area. Going through the front door you do not step directly into the living room in the Netherlands, there is always a hallway to keep the cold and draft out. Therefor a very suited area for the toilet, that contains the actual toilet and a hand washing sink. A complete bathroom is found upstairs in the bedroom area or in the back of the house. The hallway is also used for wet rain coats, umbrellas, boots, hats, shawls and gloves, to dry in our sometimes wet country.
Btw the hallway is also the place where you find the utility closed, with electra meter, gas meter, water meter, telephone connection, cable tv and radio, glass fiber internet connection etc. They are NOT outside, like in the US.
My boys from the age of six and up were allowed to play outside by themself. I told them how far from home they could go (like two blocks away and when they were older 4 blocks and so on) and they knew if they didn’t stay Within those limits they had the privilege taken away again; I just told them I trusted them and they earned the trust by listening. So they are happy to just walk out the door and see if there are any other kids around to play with. My oldest is 11 and just goes around the village on his bike. When they are 12 kids go with their bike to high school by themselves and That can be up to 10km or more. They get independent, strong and confident that way. Also, my friend moved to Denmark and her kids also just bike everywhere, to school, and stuff from quite a young age, so either she took the Dutch tradition with them or it’s also normal there.
I live in the south of the Netherlands and when somebody celebrates his/her birthday, we only congratulate him/her, the parents, her brother and sister. Not all visitors, we just greet them.
I have family (and other people) who congratulate everyone in the room. Personally I don't because I find it annoying and weird and I am not that outgoing. So its also a personal thing.
I'm dutch as well, living in Gelderland. Even though I see people congratulate everyone at the party; I don't. 20/30 years ago no one did (I think), it slowly developed into this weird new tradition....
The funeral thing has happened to me too, being a native Dutch. At funerals you shake the hand of the deceased’s family and friends and say; ‘Gecondoleerd’ (something like: my condolences for you) which is quite similar to ‘gefeliciteerd’. It was my first funeral and I was a child so the nerves made me say gefeliciteerd (congratulations!)to several people 🤡
More videos of Casey please, i love how she explains thinks, and i love her enthusiasm, she speaks dutch really well, ..and as a dutchie living in Australia i agree with everything she says...
Yes, the toilet is right by the front door. It is in its own ‘little room’, with a door, so it is not like there is a toilet in the hall way….sometimes the toilet fits right under the stairs.
@@sergeleon1163 Yes thats treu but if it a kid I can see that they can get confused about it. As an example: In Dutch you say congratulations when you congratulate someone and condolences when someone has passed away. Even Dutch children sometimes make mistakes. But that's no shame that his childhood mistakes. Nu even in het Nederlands. Dat een kind zich vergist (soms ook volwassenen) is omdat congratulate is in het Nederlands gefeliciteerd en condolences is gecondoleerd. Its a mistake every one can make. Dont take it to hard we understand
@@jannekekarst2678 ik meen me te herinneren wel eens ' van harte gecondoleerd met het verlies van.....' , ervan uitgaande dat 'van harte' betekent vanuit je hart.... ofwel een welgemeend gecondoleerd.... 🤔
I am Norwegian and most houses here have a toilet by the front door too, not sure why but I find it handy when "having to" arriving home or when we have people over, not having to let them into main bathroom. I did see this in the US when visiting, bedrooms were upstairs and so was the main bathroom. Congratulating others for a friends birthday, strange, but I do strange things to, I tend to congratulate the parents of the one having a birthday ;)
saying congrats to other guests is like saying congrats for being nice enough to be invited to our mutual friends party like ''congrats for being able to celebrate our friends party together''
The toilet being next to the front door or the main entrance of a house is the most normal thing in the Netherlands. I don't even remember a house that has it different. It's just a handy place. I often need to go to the toilet just before arriving home and I can quickly go.
In the past, and currently in many old houses, the hallway and the toilet are both unheated and have stone floors, which makes them easy to mop. People come in with dirty shoes, or someone pisses on the floor after drinking too much, or has any type of bathroom accident, all you need is a bucket and a mop and an open front door to get everything clean. Every street has drainage out front of the house to dump the dirty water in. Also, where else would you want to put a toilet? Modern houses usually also have a toilet in the bathroom upstairs but people generally only use that to pee in the middle of the night or when they really need to go. And downstairs you dont want any smell in your living room or kitchen!
About the toilet thing: It's true, most houses do have this indeed. For the house I currently live in most people use the backdoor (it's where you park the cars and it also has a doorbell) to enter my house. When they want to go to the toilet they always automatically walk to the backdoor hallway, but they can't find a toilet there because it's the backdoor. I then have to redirect them to the frontdoor hallway. No matter which house you are in (with minor exceptions) you can find the toilet by going to the front door, both in old and new houses. If people see your backdoor as a frontdoor they will go look for a toilet near the backdoor.
No toilet next to my frontdoor 😂. But I agree: I’m not living for my work, I work to live. And I love that children can play freely and explore their own opportunities make their own mistakes and overcome their challenges and take responsibility.
It’s located behind the door in the living room leading to the stairs. So first the hallway with a build-in closet and the meter cupboard/closet, then the living, there’s a door and behind the door the toilet is located. Hope I made myself clear 😄
2:33 sewer is beneath the street, so the pipe is shorter and less likely to be jammed.. And you don't have the toiletsmell anywhere in the house, because entry hall where frontdoor is, is closed by door.. no poop sounds throught he wall when the rest of the geuasts are having dinner :D
The reason why the toilet (small bathroom with just a toilet and a little sink to wash your hands) is close to front door is, I think, because it is the closet to the street. It's practical, because it's the shortest distance to cover with the big waste pipe that connects to the sewage system. The big bathroom (where you shower and stuff) is almost always located right above that, so there's just one vertical pipe going down. Every drain in the house connects either to the vertical pipe (for the upper floors) or the almost horizontal tube leading to the big sewer (ground floor).
Productivity has increased 300% in the past couple decades and purchase power adjusted for inflation has decreased. Conclusion: we still work way too hard lol
Casey is good! She has the ability to make me look less indifferent to the "normal" Dutch stuff. I subscribed to her channel a minute ago. BTW, your cats need a hug xx
Possible confusion here. When a Dutchman says "toilet" he means a small bathroom. It will have just a toilet and a hand basin. In the old days houses had just 1 "toilet". Nowadays, there is often an additional bathroom (loo, bog or whatever you want to call it) on the 1st floor. Remember the 1st floor is the one you Yanks would call the 2nd floor!
The toilet one sounds like there is a random toilet next to the front door in the hallway, haha. In a lot of houses the front door enters in a hallway that has a door the toilet, a door to the livingroom, the stairs, and usually a little door to the utility room/closet. Don’t know why that’s perceived as weird. It’s nicely tucked away with a nice separation from the living area. It beats having to listen in on someone taking a dump because the toilet is connected to the livingroom!
The reason why we congratulate every single member of a party is because we are happy/excited for the people close to the one whom's birthday it actually is. Its like saying: "I'm are happy for your friend/relative, and also happy that you attend his/her birthday, this must mean you're close to him/her and." Congratulating the whole party shows you're commited to a certain friendship/relationship, or "honor" your family. It's a pride thing. Think of it like being the opposite at a funeral and saying "Sorry for your loss" to all the people who are close to the person who passed away. It's all about showing empathie and letting people know you care.
I think the main reason they putted the toilets next to the front door here is that it's the cheapest. Because it is the closest near the street. So you can use a shorter sewer.
The sewer line usually does go to the back and upstairs for the washing machine, central heating unit, other bathrooms. Having it in the hallway is just convenient to connect to the sewer line going out and for cleaning. Lets say someone (kids mostly) has a little accident in the bathroom. You can just mop it and empty the bucket in the sewer grate out front on the street. The bathroom and hallway often have stone tiles for easy cleaning. Also, a lot of people have their washing machines in the upstairs bathroom and bathe there, so you dont want any smells in there after someone takes a dump. And you wont smell it in the living room or kitchen either. A lot of old houses dont have any central ventilation or air conditioning, but they often have a little ventilator in the bathroom that blows the air outside through a small vent. Just convenient and cheap overall. The only issue is, it gets very cold in there in the winter, so foreigners may have trouble "going".
Toilet location is for practical reasons . As the front of the house is directed at the road , and under that road a sewer system . Therefor we can use short straight pipe lines to connect the toilet to the sewer . Also we don’t have to come up white eleborate pipings trough the house “ if toilet would have bin located elsewhere in the house . So its practical , simple , not much effort , and cheap in construction . Thus efficient and effective in manny ways . Also handy when leaving the house , as you pad trough the hallway to your door you can make a neccecery pitstop before leaving . And if you bin out long and return , you can quickly relief yourself if needed .
It's the same in Ireland. If there's a toilet down stairs it would often be in the entrance hallway.. or if there a passage at the back of house with a utility room it would be beside there. Either way we generally just call it 'the downstairs loo'
At parties and birthdays I will just yell congratulations to all!! Instead of congratulating everyone specifically. I think with covid now, it's getting normal😂😂😂
2:23 yes, that is the answer. If a stranger wants to use your toilet, he can, while not going beyond the fore-hall of the house! For the mailman, or children, or just for yourself when you get home.
Yes we congratulate everyone. The birthday person with his or her birthday and the rest we congratulate with the sun daughter of friend and we kiss 3 times. So when there are 30 people do 90 kisses. Hahahahaha!
In American houses you enter the livingroom directly when you go through the front door. In Dutch houses you first have a hallway with a door to the livingroom, a staircase to go to the upper level (bedrooms and bathroom(s) most of the time), a toilet and a 'meterkast' where all the electricity, gas and sometimes internet is distributed from into the house. In the bathroom you can find a second toilet most of the time.
The toilet next to the front door is by design because the plumming and water and electric comes in the house there. There is also the fusebox next to it.
At my last job I worked 40-hours spread over 5 days (and occasionally worked on Saturdays as well ). Since September I've been working an IT job in the Dutch healthcare and went from a fulltime 40-hours job to a fulltime 36-hours job. They gave me the choice to work 7 hours and 15 minutes for 5 days a week or to work 9 hours for 4 days a week and have a three-day weekend. Eventually I chose the latter This really made me more well rested and relaxed :)
36 and 32 hour work weeks are so much better. 3 day weekend or 5 days with shorter work days. Most people dont get anything done after 3:30 or 4PM anyway. It makes me a bit sad that 40 hour weeks are now the standard again due to international influences, my parents both worked 32 hours after they had kids and it gave them at least time to pick me up from school 2 days a week instead of having to go to after-school care. A lot of well-paying jobs now in the private sector demand 40. Government jobs are still 36 but they also pay less. Research has shown that the difference in productivity between 32 and 40 hour jobs in most office jobs is actually higher for 32 hours! People get more done in less time if they are in better health, more well rested, and more motivated.
i'm dutch and was today years old i found out the toilet is not normally near youre front door but let me explain when you enter your home you enter like a hallway where you put youre jackets/shoes and you have a control cast for electrisity/water/gas and then you enter the living room/ kitchen and we rarely have bedrooms on the first floor edit the most houses in or around city's with expensive land have 2/3 or sometimes even 4 floors because we are a crouded country so we have expensive ground
A couple of years ago I lived in street with a lot of little children. When I was working in my front garden the kids automatically assumed I was the responsible adult. When they got hurt they came to me, when there were some problems between the kids they came to me to complain. Funny thing was that they spoke dialect, so I didn’t understand what they were saying. Especially because this were toddlers still learning to speak . But that didn’t matter at all. Since I watched the video of Casey, now I also think it’s crazy to congratulate everybody. And I don’t do it anymore. I just wave when I enter the room. (Also to avoid giving everyone three kisses)
So funny. In old houses (the not cookie cutter houses) the toilet can also be in a very different place in the house, often in the back, far away from the front door. The gefeliciteerd thing is something that is done in certain area's in the Netherlands, not where I grew up. I didn't get it either when I first saw it. Most places are indeed very safe for kids to play outside together.
It’s not weird at all, when you come in our corridor when you walk trough the front door, there is also a toilet downstairs, the most houses have three levels, 1th, corridor, living room, kitchen, garden, 2nd, three rooms, bathroom with 2nd toilet, 3rd floor is for storage, like Christmas stuff, Hometrainer an x’tra bed etc. and it works perfectly, and the children all play in our front yards, with each other and together with the parents they learn to cycle at very early age, over all we are very happy over here, love your reaction 🥰
What i believe the situation is with the toilet is: Because of the fact that our bedrooms are second floor, our bathroom is also second floor. (Toilet, shower/bath, sink, mirror) so if we only had 1 toilet in the house every time we are in the living room (ground level) or the garden we need to go up the stairs. Since the stairs are in the hall (where the toilet is, the metercloset, front door, where you hang your jackets) its quite a travel from the garden. Though having it near the front door is still a ways away but no stairs luckily 😂 So the toilet downstairs is small and only has a toilet, small sink and maybe a small mirror. Very functional. We actually have a different word for gefeliciteerd at a funeral: “gecondoleerd”. It means im sorry for your/our loss, be strong.
Saying gefeliciteerd is one of those cultural things that is hard to explain and has several meanings. If I say it to family and friends I congratulate them also with this joyful day because they are part of the (inner) circle. Followed by hugs and kisses. If I say it to a stranger at a party in a small setting I am just being polite without having to introduce myself. And because you congratulate family and “close” friends it it not polite to exclude someone you don’t know at a party 🤪
1 toilet in hallway by the front door, Hallway is usually a sort of hub for toilet, shoes and coats, the connection to the living room and stairs. 2 is like a congratulation to the parents at a wedding, you congratulate them for the happiness of the person they’re connected to.
When someone dies, you give your condolences, because we understand that when someone dies, that's not just a bad thing that has happened to them, a bad thing has happened to those who love them as well. Congratulating close friends and family is just the other side of that coin, when someone good happens, it doesn't happen to you in isolation, you're a unit, a group, you share in each others happiness, one persons cause for celebrating is everyones cause for celebrating, so we congratulate each other.
we have indeed more free time than people in america, i was shocked how many hours they work. i always say i dont live to work but work to live. 8 hours work, 8 hour free time, 8 hours sleep, 5 day's a week.
The toilet had a reason like its in every house the same, so everybody knows where the toilet is. So visitors ask if they can use the bathroom not where is the bathroom.
Car drivers are very aware of cyclists. They know how cyclists ride and that don't always (or never) follow the rules. When there is an accident between a car and a bike the car driver is automatically at fault. The vulnerable are protected by law.
Yes, it is also the case that almost all car drivers are also cyclists at different times. And they know how cyclists usually act and react on the road.
Several connections enter a house at one spot. Electricity, gas, water, internet. It is the closesed to the street and main tubes. So also toilets get placed near the frontdoor.
Toilet next to the front door is closer and cheaper if something breaks u can acces it better. We also used to allow strangers to ring the door to use the toilet. the congratulations is a formality u celebrate together that Ur friend/fam survived another year and u hd the pleasure to enjoy life among that person The kid story so real 😹
It's pragmatic to have the toilet near the door: it's close to the street sewer, shorter pipe is cheaper and almost none of it runs through the house in case of issues, though modern houses can have them anywhere but usually still only have one, rarely more...
In my house, the main sewer pipe is directly from the front door to the kitchen sink and the toilet is in between. Later, the upstairs bathroom was built (without a toilet, just a bath and sink) and was connected to that line. But it is a very old house. Modern houses have ppes all over under the floors and going upstairs through walls. But the hallway toilet is still convenient. Often houses have stone or otherwise easily cleaned floors in the hallway and bathroom. So you dont have to take off your shoes to go pee when you come inside. And if someone has a little accident, its easy to mop up and empty the bucket out front in the sewer grate on the street. And its hygienic to have a bit of insulation between your living room and open kitchen to the toilet so you dont get the smell in there.
Toilet by the front door, bedrooms upstairs...I think it has to do with practicality. Because almost every house in The Netherlands has a hallway when you come in the front door (has to do with keeping the cold ou and warmth in the house) and in that hallway it is common to find the stairs as well. So, toilet under the stairs is a practical use of space. And indeed, keep the stinky business as far away from the living room as possible, seems perfectly reasonable to me. What gets me is she is talking about toilets, yet does not mention the (in)famous birthdaycalendars. In a lot of toiletrooms you will find a birthdaycalendar. Why you ask, because it is a place you visit every day and when you are there you have the time to look at it and go, ah it's so ans so's birthday/wedding day. I'll send them a message today (or a card when it is later in the week) Regarding the bedrooms being upstairs: we do have some pretty chilly nights here, so when you have the bedrooms upstairs: warm air rises up. The bedrooms will be warmer when situated upstairs and at night you do not need to keep the heating at the same temperature as during the day (we are thrifty as well).
The chimney also would be next to most of the bedrooms so they would get heated by the wood or coal furnace downstairs, before central gas heating units, that is. Its also convenient, when it isnt freezing, you can turn off the radiators in the bedrooms upstairs and they will be nice and chilly, but you turn them on downstairs in the living room (and kitchen) to 18 or 19 degrees C. If it gets too cold you do have to turn them on to prevent mold. Most Dutch people like sleeping in a cold bedroom, its good for health to have some fresh cold air in the night. In many old houses the hallway and toilet dont even have radiators, theyre unheated, which makes sense because they are often located against the outside wall and have uninsulated stone floors instead of wood or carpet, for easy cleaning. And you dont spend much time there anyway. With all the dirt people bring in and possible toilet "accidents", that kids (or drunk/sick adults) may have, its nice to be able to mop it up and empty the bucket in the sewer grate on the street out front instead of washing it down the toilet or the sink in the kitchen.
There are still some very old houses where you'll find the only bathroom (or even just the toilet) of the house next to the kitchen with a door directly from/to the kitchen. As long as these houses stand, that's okay, but you're right, It's not allowed to build new houses that way anymore.
Toilet near the front door=shortest, therefor cheapest, route to the main sewage system. The second toilet in the bathroom (if there is one) is right above, linked up to the same pipes.
The congratulation thing: well you know the person whois birthday it is. We all celebrating that. So we say in extention version: Congratulation with that person. So we are all glad we all know that person and having a year with us so we can celebrate together. And the same with dying: you say "condololeerd". Cause we all known this man/woman, and we grieve all together with this loss.
In Holland it is very normal to have two (or three) levels in your home. Getting through the front door will lead into a small hallway, where there is place to hang coats, there is the stairs to go to the levels above, and there is the toilet. And there will be a door leading to the living room. As normal as kan be. I’d prefer having a toilet in the hall, than having it in the living room…. Some small houses will have a small bathroom (usually the only bathroom) on the ground floor, in those cases, the toilet might be there, in the bathroom, at the back-end of the living room; near the kitchen. I do believe there is also a practical reason for these locations: keeping the water pipes close together as much as possible to a single entry/exit of the house.
Old houses often have 2 doors from the hallway, one in front to the front living room, and one further back leading to the back of the living room or the kitchen. Sometimes even 3. Often these days some of those old doors are torn out and walled off. But if you live in a small house with 10 kids, having multiple doors and an easily accessible toilet is very much necessary. Can you imagine 12 people all having to go 2 ways through one door in the morning before school/work? There would be a traffic jam!
Toilet in the hallway isn't just the ceramic pot against a wall in the hallway, it's actually a small room with a door. But it is near/next to the front door In the young boy's defense: gefeliciteerd (happy b-day) and gecondoleerd (condolences) are two difficult but very similar words in Dutch for a 9 year-old
When one of my granddads died at that age I didnt even say anything, just shook hands and was shocked at how normal everyone was acting with a corpse in the room.
yes most houses have a toilet being the first room you will find after entering the front door hallway. i was riding my bike to school at age 6 , all alone no helmet no nothing for about 5 KM (3.1 miles), in a pretty urban area.
Yes everybody has a toilet close to the frontdoor, you probably dont realize but here you dont immediately enter the livingroom. Every house, condo, appartement and so on all have a toilet in the hallway.
Toilet by the front door is like toilet next to the mudroom, since the front door is usually in a hallway with doors that lead to other rooms in the house. Also probably a thing that originates from the time when toilets were still outhouses in the yard and/or not every house had its own toilet so several homes shared an "outhouse".
Toilet next to the frontdoor had the opportunity for a little window. Smell will disappear. I'm from the north, we are not saying 'feliciteerd' to anyone else than the person him-herselve. I noticed that habbit in the west.
about why the 'gefeliciteerd' thing on birthdayparties.you actually got the answer already when she told about the funeral. on a funeral you bring your condolances to everyone who knew the deceased. in joyfull events you do the same, you could say; everyone close to the birthday person is being part of this joyfull event because you are part of that persons life
back when interior plumbing was just coming into vogue the resistors to the trend would say "i don't want anybody shitting in my house"....if you think about it.....
they place the toilet next to the front door so you have at least two doors between the toilet and the kitchen or the living room. also in a lot of houses they have the opening of the crawl space in front of the front door, so if you need to do something with the plumbing of the toilet it is close by. also some houses have a toilet in the bathroom upstairs. often just one bathroom per house. even me as a dutch person don't get why you have to congratulate everyone. now with corona you just wave your hand and say gefeliciteerd once to everyone at the same time. as a dutch person you learn early on in your live how to read the body language of the other people in traffic, with small movements we can predict what the other is going to do. might seem chaotic if you don't see those clues.
Well, back in the day, people had large families and close communities in small towns. And remember, people back then didnt live as long, life was dangerous. And the climate was a lot colder than the tropical weather we have now. Someone making it another year, was an occasion to be celebrated by everyone around them. So you congratulated everyone at the birthday for their loved one surviving another cold winter.
To make sure "visitors" to your house are not going into "private" places in your house ( like bathrooms, bedrooms etc. ) there is a toilet downstairs, usually in the entrance hal. Also, if you ask for the toilet in a house in the US, they tell you to go upstairs and use the toilet in the bathroom. Now that means that you are downstairs and a "visitor" to your house is rooming the upstairs ...??? That is what we, in the Netherlands, find weird!!!
Gefeliciteerd is translated to Congratulations. but litterally it means Felicitations, meaning; an expression of celebration. And since everyone is at someones birthday party to Celebrate, Felicitations are in place :'D
My toilet is under my stairs also at my moms house. If your toilet is in the same hall of your front door, or like mine in the hall from my stairs, there is alway as far I have seen (in original houses) a second door to your living room so it’s always separated, (You don’t want to come out your toilet direct eye contact with face of..’did you succeed? Or worst the smell with your visits or anyone at home 😂)
Something else about this. The pipe going from the toilet to the sewer will be no more than 5 meters. Houseowners are responsible for this themselves. Every 30 years the whole area is lifted up at least 75 centimeters. This includes the main sewerpipes, cables, tubes, everything. You pay a lot for the couple of meters outside, underground that connect your pipe with the main drain. Think about that.
Under the stairs is usually a cupboard for long term storage, in my experience. Flour, herbs and spices, pots and pans. Things you want to store relatively cold and dry, outside direct sunlight. Alternatively, bicycle storage. Under my staircase I usually have 2 or 3 bikes in the hallway (because I dont have a shed) and shoes, umbrellas, a coatrack, bike maintenance gear, etc. Its very convenient to be able to get a bike inside after a ride without having to mop the whole floor in your house trying to move it out back.
Dutch houses are most of the time with downstairs living room and kitchen, and upstairs the bedrooms and bathroom. So they have a toilet in the bathroom upstairs and one downstairs.
A bunch of people are saying building codes require there to be 2 doors between the toilet and kitchen (which sounds reasonable considering what an explosion of bacteria and fecal matter flushing ones toilet is). But I also recall that the Brandweer (feels weird to call it fire fighters or fire stations) requires you to have your utility room close by the front door (since the water mains go through it and have a connection point there). Thus making near the front door a convenient place to put a toilet since the water mains and drains are right there too.
The ground floor usually has only three spaces, the kitchen, the living room and the hallway. Sometimes there is an extra room or more, bu the question remains the same: In which one would you prefer the toilet?
When I get home, I need to go. Yes, it's the grocery store thing. You go out and you're all good. Half an hour later you get home and, maaaaan you need to go *right now*. I'm not running up a flight of stairs, I need to go *now*.
Can anyone recommend a video to him with a typical Dutch house /layout? I think it is interesting to see the reaction on the size of the house :-) and the rooms... I've seen videos about tiny houses in the US that are considered a 'normal' size here (of course not the 6sqm ones).
Its not generally that small. Even "small" 100m2 family homes have decent sized living rooms. We just have small bedrooms. All you do is sleep and store clothes there anyway. Its just about making efficient use of space. Storage space under stairs, small toilet downstairs, small kitchen, often in the living room, without a separating door. My house is 110m2 and it has a hallway, toilet, big living room, kitchen, washroom downstairs, and 4 bedrooms upstairs. All you need for a family with 3 kids.
The toilet in the same room as the front door is simple. That's the place where the sewer Comes in to your house. Same as al the other cables and exises
The basic rule every dutch person grew up with is: when the street light turn on, go home. Parents dont care where you've been haha. Just get home on time
This also applies in ireland, it's how i grew up
Lol, true
lmao yes. just be home before dark xD
Well, only in the fall/winter. During spring or summer it would be a little late for 10 year olds haha.
Yeah me 2. Come home when the street lights comes on. Everybody saying got to go home now 😂
Dutch building laws: It is not allowed to enter a toilet directly from the livingroom or kitchen so in most houses you have to go to the hall entrance to go to the toilet it is a hygiene issue
Exactly, (old) building regulations said that there have to be 2 doors between living/kitchen and toilet. Does not apply for flats/appartements.
Mr H: in the 70s I also met with “hover over hole” toilets in Greece! A pure joy for flies !
As a dutch person i never knew this!
The most stupid law there is. Not as stupid as the weed law though. That one is just crazy... coffeeshops may not buy weed, but they are allowed to sell. So in other words, they basicly have to grow it themselfes, but then you got the law where you are not allowed to grow weed on a professional level.
Same here!
@@iamhereforever Don't forget that every city can choose how they handle personal weed plants/usage. Some get kicked out include all family living in the house just for 1 plant. It is technically not legal since the municipality can choose if they allow it or not. So its way more fucked up if you think about it. As a Dutch I know this from young age cause it never made sense to me but I know many who do it and wouldn't even know what could be the consequences because its so normal to use here. Thats what's fucked up IMO we have generations who don't know all this and think it is completely OK
As a Dutch person, I am wondering.. where is a ‘normal’ place for a toilet? Because from my perspective it seems really easy and convenient. It’s a corner of the house, often it has a small window to ventilate. And you always know the general direction of the toilet!
I was thinking about it, and I guess it's a design thing. We often have the stairs on the side of the house leaving a convenient corner to prop in a toilet besides it or sometimes even under it. The (very) few times I was in the UK, the houses I went to had the the entrance in the middle of the house with rooms left and right of it. That changes the 'flow' of the house and caused the toilets (and stairs) to be elsewhere and also.
At least, that's what I think now.
In the USA the toilet is found in the bathroom and called...
the bathroom ????
Same in Aussie, only they call it toilet/bog/loo/shitter...
@@patverum9051Having 2 toilets is just convinience. One in the bathroom and one in the hallway. So if someone is at the shower you can still use the toilet
@@patverum9051 that sounds so inconvenient. Here the toilets are often separate, or there is a second toilet in the bathroom. You rarely have only bathrooms in a house :o
In "social" housing (rijtjes huizen) the "next to the front door toilet" is closest to the sewer system. When you build multiple blocks of houses (as corporations do) that saves a lot of plumbing!
Toilet next to the front door. Its so easy. There are multiple reasons though. The first one, its for our guests. In the Netherlands we sleep upstairs, the stairway is in the hallway. So that means there isn't any bathroom downstairs. So the toilet is in the hallway. Its the most hygienic place, since we do not want that thing next to our kitchen. Easily accisable. The second reason is the plumbing. Since the plumbing in the Netherlands is located under the streets the most logic place of our toilets in in the hallway. The fastest way for the plumbing to exit the dwelling. Come on people, it aint that hard!
Edit:
The reason bedrooms are on the 2nd floor. We do not have much space in the Netherlands, we are the most crowded country in Europe. That means, buildingground is so expensive, we go straight up in the air. To give ourselves privacy bed- and bathroom are upstairs.
Toilets near the door is also a more efficient usage with overal limited space of a Dutch house, door, hallway, toilet, coat rack, fusebox and stairs often within like 3 to 4 m2 in a corner of the ground floor, wich means the rest of the living room and kitchen can be placed in a way where you have most use of the m2 you have left, without alot of 'dead' area's wich you can only use as storage then.
Exactly it’s often in space under the stairs. Also I have told it’s close to the connect to sewer pipes in the street.
@@manteltje True. Imagine, having a sh*t at Harry Potters sleeping spot. Wonderfull!
And, there is a guide that says there have to be two doors between the living space and toilet. This means hallway door from the living room and the toilet door itself is 2.
You forget to mention that because of the crappy weather each and every house in the Netherlands has a hallway between the frontdoor and the livingroom. Where else than in the hallway would you put a toilet. Old houses have a bathroom behind the kitchen (only place with plumbing and a logical successor of the out-house)
Every Dutch house usually has a toilet in the hallway thay's just the way it is. And with birthdays I think it's showing respect. Like hey: congratulations with your friend. That way you acknowledge the friendship and celebrate together the birthday of the person you both have a certain relationship with, I like it. We're together, not a group of individuals
Not every Dutch house.
@@wbism most dutch houses!
Exactly!
And somethimes when you don't the person you shake the hand say your name too.So they know who you are.It's a way of knowing eachother.
when its somebody's birthday we celebrate it with every friend or family member. we greet everyone and give them 3 kisses. i think its because when its someone's birthday we know we had another year with that person. and we appreciate all the persons that have come for that person. its not just a party but its really a celebration of the life of that person. and all the people that love that person
Tbh I have always found this custom absolutely ridiculous and have always refused to do so.
@@SL538 Even with close family? brother, sister or mother?
@@SL538 Yes me too I don't do it. I congratulate the person whose birthday it is, and I just make a vague wave in the direction of the others, like: you too people
I just pop up in the room, greet everyone and and only kiss and hug the people that are in my "circle". Even though it's typical Dutch do kiss and hug everyone.. I personally just like my own space too much to go all crazy on everyone lol
@@UrbanVisions nah i only kiss family and close friends.
Her dutch pronunciation is so good. And normally you congratulate the birthday person and their family but I guess because people are not sure who is family or not they just include everyone in generosity, versus only doing it for one person, haha. As a female a lot of kissing is involved too, we're used to it. And yeah toilets are in a hall and the hall is where the front door is. There is only one bathroom and that tends to be upstairs. So you wouldn't usually go into anyone's bathroom if you came to visit, just the toilet...with the birthday calendar.
About the toilet by the front door "just guessing" isn't that just good planning ? The suer is on the street, if it is blocked/broke for some reason do you want to have it blocked under your living room ? The hall is also accessible for everybody (kids/2nd floor) in the house if there is no toilet on the second floor without walking through a room full of adults.
I think it's the best location for a normal house, close to upstairs and downstairs.
@@erikaverink8418 It's dutch design so obviously it's practical in some way, I think the bathroom upstairs is also often located above it for the shortest sewer and waterlines. Though the kitchen doesn't have any close links anymore.
In my old house there was no toilet upstairs at all and I always had to go down but that was a very old house and has since been torn down.
The reason we say Gefeliciteerd to everyone there is that we all sit in a circle around the coffee table. It's an integral part of the chant for summoning ritual for the birthday spirit. Aside from that we stay all around that circle and get up to congratulate newcomers while we ritually sacrifice snacks, beer, wine, and soft drinks.
you broke the first 2 rules of gefeliciteerd club
Don’t forget the blocks of cheese.
The traditional dutch birthday treats, liverpate in sausage shape and blocks of cheese. I'm not sure if you get the right mood without those and some lawn furniture in the livingroom. I don't know if they eat that liver sausage a lot the rest of the year but it comes out in dutch circle birthdays for sure.
I'm glad I'm from an Indo family so those were different, birthdays were with dinner and cake/pie/vlaai and most of the family had their party specialty meal. Neighbours and friends were usually at another celebration, this was mainly family.
LOL
And kaas en worst (cheese & sausage) 😉
Hahahahhaa the toilet next to the front door is SO true, toilet as far away from the living space as possible.
Yep. I haven't seen a house without the toilet next to the front door here 😂
@@lydiavandodeweerd2984 well in my house and by some other i visited have the toilet in the back in the scullery.
The dutch are tall, big people so our "waste material" also is accordingly. You dont want that to happen close to your livingroom or kitchen 😂😂😂
@@lydiavandodeweerd2984 I havent lived in a house with a toilet next to the front door.
Mostly my toilets were located in the back of the house close to the garden. And then of course 1 up in the bathroom.
In both my grandparents house in Germany and my house in germany i had a toilet at the front door.
But those houses are huge , 1 with 3 and the other with 5 toilets.
You know, it's very nice to see how people from foreign countries view our way of doing things. So thumbs up for reviewing this.
It takes a village to raise a kid...........The Dutch are social people. We congratulate all people on a birthday/wedding because all of us, in our own way, contributed to the well being of the one who is celebrated. Same with the kids outside playing. There will always be someone who is keeping an eye on them. From a distance, sometimes even from inside the house. And if all children of the neighbourhood play together they all have eyes and a brain to keep the group safe.
I'm dutch, but in our family we first congratulate the person who's birthday it is, and then the family, but not friends. And we sit mostly in a circle, because our houses aren't big and it's easier to talk with whomever is there, without looking at someone's back.
There is a law that concerns buildings. A toilet should be separated from living areas by two doors. One of the 'smallest room' and another one. The hallway is not a living area. Going through the front door you do not step directly into the living room in the Netherlands, there is always a hallway to keep the cold and draft out. Therefor a very suited area for the toilet, that contains the actual toilet and a hand washing sink. A complete bathroom is found upstairs in the bedroom area or in the back of the house.
The hallway is also used for wet rain coats, umbrellas, boots, hats, shawls and gloves, to dry in our sometimes wet country.
Btw the hallway is also the place where you find the utility closed, with electra meter, gas meter, water meter, telephone connection, cable tv and radio, glass fiber internet connection etc. They are NOT outside, like in the US.
My boys from the age of six and up were allowed to play outside by themself. I told them how far from home they could go (like two blocks away and when they were older 4 blocks and so on) and they knew if they didn’t stay Within those limits they had the privilege taken away again; I just told them I trusted them and they earned the trust by listening. So they are happy to just walk out the door and see if there are any other kids around to play with. My oldest is 11 and just goes around the village on his bike. When they are 12 kids go with their bike to high school by themselves and That can be up to 10km or more. They get independent, strong and confident that way. Also, my friend moved to Denmark and her kids also just bike everywhere, to school, and stuff from quite a young age, so either she took the Dutch tradition with them or it’s also normal there.
Usually the limit for young kids is not crossing busy roads for cars with high speed limits. A lot of neighbourhoods have
We always have a toilet at the front door, rarely anywhere else, when you come home from shopping you can go straight away
The Dutch saying is "Ik leef niet om te werken, ik werk om te leven". Translation: I don't live to work, I work to live.
I live in the south of the Netherlands and when somebody celebrates his/her birthday, we only congratulate him/her, the parents, her brother and sister. Not all visitors, we just greet them.
Yes, only the family!
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. We usually just congratulate the immediate family.
I have family (and other people) who congratulate everyone in the room. Personally I don't because I find it annoying and weird and I am not that outgoing. So its also a personal thing.
When I come to a party it's the family that get a "direct congratulations" all others get a little wave while I say "congratulations to all" 👋.
I'm dutch as well, living in Gelderland. Even though I see people congratulate everyone at the party; I don't. 20/30 years ago no one did (I think), it slowly developed into this weird new tradition....
I loved it as a kid in the Netherlands, you really feel free to explore yourself!
The funeral thing has happened to me too, being a native Dutch. At funerals you shake the hand of the deceased’s family and friends and say; ‘Gecondoleerd’ (something like: my condolences for you) which is quite similar to ‘gefeliciteerd’. It was my first funeral and I was a child so the nerves made me say gefeliciteerd (congratulations!)to several people 🤡
Haha thats cute
Good to know:
We, in the Netherlands, have a 'burgerplicht'. Its a law that says its a duty to help other people when they are in need of help. 😁
Ok, good to know if I have a flat tyre.
@@lienbijs1205 hahah
@@lienbijs1205 emergency's only though..
@@jasper46985 depending on location a flat tire could be an emergency
@@rubenjanssen1672 true, that's why i sayd 'in the Netherlands'. And only in life or Death situations, its your duty to call police or preform CPR.
More videos of Casey please, i love how she explains thinks, and i love her enthusiasm, she speaks dutch really well, ..and as a dutchie living in Australia i agree with everything she says...
Yeah definitely react to some vids of not just bikes. He does an amazing job at explaining Dutch road safety infrastructure.
Yes, the toilet is right by the front door. It is in its own ‘little room’, with a door, so it is not like there is a toilet in the hall way….sometimes the toilet fits right under the stairs.
We don’t say gefeliciteerd on a funural. But we say gecondoleerd/sterkte Sounds almost the same
Exactly, gecondoleerd means my condolences. Sterkte is used in a way to wish them Strength for the hard times coping with the loss of their loved one.
@@sergeleon1163 Yes thats treu but if it a kid I can see that they can get confused about it. As an example: In Dutch you say congratulations when you congratulate someone and condolences when someone has passed away. Even Dutch children sometimes make mistakes. But that's no shame that his childhood mistakes. Nu even in het Nederlands. Dat een kind zich vergist (soms ook volwassenen) is omdat congratulate is in het Nederlands gefeliciteerd en condolences is gecondoleerd. Its a mistake every one can make.
Dont take it to hard we understand
@@jannekekarst2678 ik meen me te herinneren wel eens ' van harte gecondoleerd met het verlies van.....' , ervan uitgaande dat 'van harte' betekent vanuit je hart.... ofwel een welgemeend gecondoleerd.... 🤔
I am Norwegian and most houses here have a toilet by the front door too, not sure why but I find it handy when "having to" arriving home or when we have people over, not having to let them into main bathroom. I did see this in the US when visiting, bedrooms were upstairs and so was the main bathroom. Congratulating others for a friends birthday, strange, but I do strange things to, I tend to congratulate the parents of the one having a birthday ;)
saying congrats to other guests is like saying congrats for being nice enough to be invited to our mutual friends party like ''congrats for being able to celebrate our friends party together''
The toilet being next to the front door or the main entrance of a house is the most normal thing in the Netherlands. I don't even remember a house that has it different. It's just a handy place. I often need to go to the toilet just before arriving home and I can quickly go.
In the past, and currently in many old houses, the hallway and the toilet are both unheated and have stone floors, which makes them easy to mop. People come in with dirty shoes, or someone pisses on the floor after drinking too much, or has any type of bathroom accident, all you need is a bucket and a mop and an open front door to get everything clean. Every street has drainage out front of the house to dump the dirty water in.
Also, where else would you want to put a toilet? Modern houses usually also have a toilet in the bathroom upstairs but people generally only use that to pee in the middle of the night or when they really need to go. And downstairs you dont want any smell in your living room or kitchen!
About the toilet thing: It's true, most houses do have this indeed. For the house I currently live in most people use the backdoor (it's where you park the cars and it also has a doorbell) to enter my house. When they want to go to the toilet they always automatically walk to the backdoor hallway, but they can't find a toilet there because it's the backdoor. I then have to redirect them to the frontdoor hallway.
No matter which house you are in (with minor exceptions) you can find the toilet by going to the front door, both in old and new houses. If people see your backdoor as a frontdoor they will go look for a toilet near the backdoor.
For motorbikes we wear helmets 100%, to use your words. Just not on bicycles.
No toilet next to my frontdoor 😂. But I agree: I’m not living for my work, I work to live. And I love that children can play freely and explore their own opportunities make their own mistakes and overcome their challenges and take responsibility.
Where could your toilet possibly be? Next to the front door seems so normal. Im seriously wondering
It’s located behind the door in the living room leading to the stairs. So first the hallway with a build-in closet and the meter cupboard/closet, then the living, there’s a door and behind the door the toilet is located. Hope I made myself clear 😄
It takes a village to raise a child. We look out for each other’s children and I think it’s great.
At least I greatly appreciated it.
2:33 sewer is beneath the street, so the pipe is shorter and less likely to be jammed.. And you don't have the toiletsmell anywhere in the house, because entry hall where frontdoor is, is closed by door.. no poop sounds throught he wall when the rest of the geuasts are having dinner :D
The reason why the toilet (small bathroom with just a toilet and a little sink to wash your hands) is close to front door is, I think, because it is the closet to the street. It's practical, because it's the shortest distance to cover with the big waste pipe that connects to the sewage system. The big bathroom (where you shower and stuff) is almost always located right above that, so there's just one vertical pipe going down. Every drain in the house connects either to the vertical pipe (for the upper floors) or the almost horizontal tube leading to the big sewer (ground floor).
Productivity is very high here. When we work, we actually work hard and well organized. We get a lot done in a short time.
Yeah amazing what people can do if they are rested and happy. (even if they think they are stressed out)
Productivity has increased 300% in the past couple decades and purchase power adjusted for inflation has decreased.
Conclusion: we still work way too hard lol
When you put a toilet against an outer wall you can fitt a tiny window for fresh air. So it was either the hallway or the kitchen. :p
It's a sign of respect when you everyone say congratulation.
Casey is good! She has the ability to make me look less indifferent to the "normal" Dutch stuff. I subscribed to her channel a minute ago.
BTW, your cats need a hug xx
Possible confusion here. When a Dutchman says "toilet" he means a small bathroom. It will have just a toilet and a hand basin. In the old days houses had just 1 "toilet". Nowadays, there is often an additional bathroom (loo, bog or whatever you want to call it) on the 1st floor. Remember the 1st floor is the one you Yanks would call the 2nd floor!
The toilet one sounds like there is a random toilet next to the front door in the hallway, haha.
In a lot of houses the front door enters in a hallway that has a door the toilet, a door to the livingroom, the stairs, and usually a little door to the utility room/closet.
Don’t know why that’s perceived as weird. It’s nicely tucked away with a nice separation from the living area. It beats having to listen in on someone taking a dump because the toilet is connected to the livingroom!
The reason why we congratulate every single member of a party is because we are happy/excited for the people close to the one whom's birthday it actually is.
Its like saying: "I'm are happy for your friend/relative, and also happy that you attend his/her birthday, this must mean you're close to him/her and."
Congratulating the whole party shows you're commited to a certain friendship/relationship, or "honor" your family. It's a pride thing.
Think of it like being the opposite at a funeral and saying "Sorry for your loss" to all the people who are close to the person who passed away.
It's all about showing empathie and letting people know you care.
I think the main reason they putted the toilets next to the front door here is that it's the cheapest. Because it is the closest near the street. So you can use a shorter sewer.
The sewer line usually does go to the back and upstairs for the washing machine, central heating unit, other bathrooms. Having it in the hallway is just convenient to connect to the sewer line going out and for cleaning. Lets say someone (kids mostly) has a little accident in the bathroom. You can just mop it and empty the bucket in the sewer grate out front on the street. The bathroom and hallway often have stone tiles for easy cleaning.
Also, a lot of people have their washing machines in the upstairs bathroom and bathe there, so you dont want any smells in there after someone takes a dump. And you wont smell it in the living room or kitchen either. A lot of old houses dont have any central ventilation or air conditioning, but they often have a little ventilator in the bathroom that blows the air outside through a small vent.
Just convenient and cheap overall. The only issue is, it gets very cold in there in the winter, so foreigners may have trouble "going".
Toilet location is for practical reasons . As the front of the house is directed at the road , and under that road a sewer system . Therefor we can use short straight pipe lines to connect the toilet to the sewer . Also we don’t have to come up white eleborate pipings trough the house “ if toilet would have bin located elsewhere in the house . So its practical , simple , not much effort , and cheap in construction . Thus efficient and effective in manny ways . Also handy when leaving the house , as you pad trough the hallway to your door you can make a neccecery pitstop before leaving . And if you bin out long and return , you can quickly relief yourself if needed .
It's the same in Ireland. If there's a toilet down stairs it would often be in the entrance hallway.. or if there a passage at the back of house with a utility room it would be beside there. Either way we generally just call it 'the downstairs loo'
At parties and birthdays I will just yell congratulations to all!! Instead of congratulating everyone specifically. I think with covid now, it's getting normal😂😂😂
Me too! It’s just easier and quicker lol
And.., as finishing touch, evolution created the Dutch!
2:23 yes, that is the answer. If a stranger wants to use your toilet, he can, while not going beyond the fore-hall of the house! For the mailman, or children, or just for yourself when you get home.
Yes we congratulate everyone. The birthday person with his or her birthday and the rest we congratulate with the sun daughter of friend and we kiss 3 times. So when there are 30 people do 90 kisses. Hahahahaha!
Personally I'm happy that because of Covid the "3 kisses habit" is history, at least for now. I hope that won't come back. 😏
That’s new to me! Kissing direct familymembers oké but friends?..
Just not kissing new or unknown guests. Most of the time at birthday parties you see the same people each year.
@@SAMUDRAMAC that’s true. 😀
@@SAMUDRAMAC True. But those same people are not necessarily my friends, and yet kissing them was kinda normal. No more for me.
we congratulate everyone because we celebrate each other with being part of something, a group or an event.
In American houses you enter the livingroom directly when you go through the front door. In Dutch houses you first have a hallway with a door to the livingroom, a staircase to go to the upper level (bedrooms and bathroom(s) most of the time), a toilet and a 'meterkast' where all the electricity, gas and sometimes internet is distributed from into the house. In the bathroom you can find a second toilet most of the time.
The toilet next to the front door is by design because the plumming and water and electric comes in the house there. There is also the fusebox next to it.
In the old days it was like having an indoor out house. It's easy to empty the bucket outside.
At my last job I worked 40-hours spread over 5 days (and occasionally worked on Saturdays as well ).
Since September I've been working an IT job in the Dutch healthcare and went from a fulltime 40-hours job to a fulltime 36-hours job.
They gave me the choice to work 7 hours and 15 minutes for 5 days a week or to work 9 hours for 4 days a week and have a three-day weekend.
Eventually I chose the latter
This really made me more well rested and relaxed :)
36 and 32 hour work weeks are so much better. 3 day weekend or 5 days with shorter work days. Most people dont get anything done after 3:30 or 4PM anyway.
It makes me a bit sad that 40 hour weeks are now the standard again due to international influences, my parents both worked 32 hours after they had kids and it gave them at least time to pick me up from school 2 days a week instead of having to go to after-school care. A lot of well-paying jobs now in the private sector demand 40. Government jobs are still 36 but they also pay less.
Research has shown that the difference in productivity between 32 and 40 hour jobs in most office jobs is actually higher for 32 hours! People get more done in less time if they are in better health, more well rested, and more motivated.
i'm dutch and was today years old i found out the toilet is not normally near youre front door but let me explain when you enter your home you enter like a hallway where you put youre jackets/shoes and you have a control cast for electrisity/water/gas and then you enter the living room/ kitchen and we rarely have bedrooms on the first floor
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the most houses in or around city's with expensive land have 2/3 or sometimes even 4 floors because we are a crouded country so we have expensive ground
A couple of years ago I lived in street with a lot of little children. When I was working in my front garden the kids automatically assumed I was the responsible adult. When they got hurt they came to me, when there were some problems between the kids they came to me to complain.
Funny thing was that they spoke dialect, so I didn’t understand what they were saying. Especially because this were toddlers still learning to speak . But that didn’t matter at all.
Since I watched the video of Casey, now I also think it’s crazy to congratulate everybody. And I don’t do it anymore. I just wave when I enter the room. (Also to avoid giving everyone three kisses)
most people on weddings or birthdays are family and we always congratulate the whole family
jup toilet next to the front door. In almost every house I lived in.
So funny. In old houses (the not cookie cutter houses) the toilet can also be in a very different place in the house, often in the back, far away from the front door. The gefeliciteerd thing is something that is done in certain area's in the Netherlands, not where I grew up. I didn't get it either when I first saw it. Most places are indeed very safe for kids to play outside together.
It’s not weird at all, when you come in our corridor when you walk trough the front door, there is also a toilet downstairs, the most houses have three levels, 1th, corridor, living room, kitchen, garden, 2nd, three rooms, bathroom with 2nd toilet, 3rd floor is for storage, like Christmas stuff,
Hometrainer an x’tra bed etc. and it works perfectly, and the children all play in our front yards, with each other and together with the parents they learn to cycle at very early age, over all we are very happy over here, love your reaction 🥰
What i believe the situation is with the toilet is:
Because of the fact that our bedrooms are second floor, our bathroom is also second floor. (Toilet, shower/bath, sink, mirror) so if we only had 1 toilet in the house every time we are in the living room (ground level) or the garden we need to go up the stairs. Since the stairs are in the hall (where the toilet is, the metercloset, front door, where you hang your jackets) its quite a travel from the garden. Though having it near the front door is still a ways away but no stairs luckily 😂
So the toilet downstairs is small and only has a toilet, small sink and maybe a small mirror. Very functional.
We actually have a different word for gefeliciteerd at a funeral: “gecondoleerd”. It means im sorry for your/our loss, be strong.
Saying gefeliciteerd is one of those cultural things that is hard to explain and has several meanings. If I say it to family and friends I congratulate them also with this joyful day because they are part of the (inner) circle. Followed by hugs and kisses. If I say it to a stranger at a party in a small setting I am just being polite without having to introduce myself. And because you congratulate family and “close” friends it it not polite to exclude someone you don’t know at a party 🤪
1 toilet in hallway by the front door,
Hallway is usually a sort of hub for toilet, shoes and coats, the connection to the living room and stairs.
2 is like a congratulation to the parents at a wedding, you congratulate them for the happiness of the person they’re connected to.
When someone dies, you give your condolences, because we understand that when someone dies, that's not just a bad thing that has happened to them, a bad thing has happened to those who love them as well.
Congratulating close friends and family is just the other side of that coin, when someone good happens, it doesn't happen to you in isolation, you're a unit, a group, you share in each others happiness, one persons cause for celebrating is everyones cause for celebrating, so we congratulate each other.
we have indeed more free time than people in america, i was shocked how many hours they work. i always say i dont live to work but work to live. 8 hours work, 8 hour free time, 8 hours sleep, 5 day's a week.
The toilet had a reason like its in every house the same, so everybody knows where the toilet is. So visitors ask if they can use the bathroom not where is the bathroom.
Car drivers are very aware of cyclists. They know how cyclists ride and that don't always (or never) follow the rules.
When there is an accident between a car and a bike the car driver is automatically at fault. The vulnerable are protected by law.
Yes, it is also the case that almost all car drivers are also cyclists at different times. And they know how cyclists usually act and react on the road.
Several connections enter a house at one spot. Electricity, gas, water, internet. It is the closesed to the street and main tubes. So also toilets get placed near the frontdoor.
Toilet next to the front door is closer and cheaper if something breaks u can acces it better. We also used to allow strangers to ring the door to use the toilet.
the congratulations is a formality u celebrate together that Ur friend/fam survived another year and u hd the pleasure to enjoy life among that person
The kid story so real 😹
It's pragmatic to have the toilet near the door: it's close to the street sewer, shorter pipe is cheaper and almost none of it runs through the house in case of issues, though modern houses can have them anywhere but usually still only have one, rarely more...
In my house, the main sewer pipe is directly from the front door to the kitchen sink and the toilet is in between. Later, the upstairs bathroom was built (without a toilet, just a bath and sink) and was connected to that line. But it is a very old house. Modern houses have ppes all over under the floors and going upstairs through walls.
But the hallway toilet is still convenient. Often houses have stone or otherwise easily cleaned floors in the hallway and bathroom. So you dont have to take off your shoes to go pee when you come inside. And if someone has a little accident, its easy to mop up and empty the bucket out front in the sewer grate on the street.
And its hygienic to have a bit of insulation between your living room and open kitchen to the toilet so you dont get the smell in there.
Toilet by the front door, bedrooms upstairs...I think it has to do with practicality.
Because almost every house in The Netherlands has a hallway when you come in the front door (has to do with keeping the cold ou and warmth in the house) and in that hallway it is common to find the stairs as well. So, toilet under the stairs is a practical use of space. And indeed, keep the stinky business as far away from the living room as possible, seems perfectly reasonable to me.
What gets me is she is talking about toilets, yet does not mention the (in)famous birthdaycalendars. In a lot of toiletrooms you will find a birthdaycalendar. Why you ask, because it is a place you visit every day and when you are there you have the time to look at it and go, ah it's so ans so's birthday/wedding day. I'll send them a message today (or a card when it is later in the week)
Regarding the bedrooms being upstairs: we do have some pretty chilly nights here, so when you have the bedrooms upstairs: warm air rises up. The bedrooms will be warmer when situated upstairs and at night you do not need to keep the heating at the same temperature as during the day (we are thrifty as well).
The chimney also would be next to most of the bedrooms so they would get heated by the wood or coal furnace downstairs, before central gas heating units, that is.
Its also convenient, when it isnt freezing, you can turn off the radiators in the bedrooms upstairs and they will be nice and chilly, but you turn them on downstairs in the living room (and kitchen) to 18 or 19 degrees C. If it gets too cold you do have to turn them on to prevent mold. Most Dutch people like sleeping in a cold bedroom, its good for health to have some fresh cold air in the night.
In many old houses the hallway and toilet dont even have radiators, theyre unheated, which makes sense because they are often located against the outside wall and have uninsulated stone floors instead of wood or carpet, for easy cleaning. And you dont spend much time there anyway.
With all the dirt people bring in and possible toilet "accidents", that kids (or drunk/sick adults) may have, its nice to be able to mop it up and empty the bucket in the sewer grate on the street out front instead of washing it down the toilet or the sink in the kitchen.
The place of the toilet is subject to building regulations I think: there need to be two doors between it and the place food is prepared
There are still some very old houses where you'll find the only bathroom (or even just the toilet) of the house next to the kitchen with a door directly from/to the kitchen.
As long as these houses stand, that's okay, but you're right, It's not allowed to build new houses that way anymore.
Toilet near the front door=shortest, therefor cheapest, route to the main sewage system. The second toilet in the bathroom (if there is one) is right above, linked up to the same pipes.
The congratulation thing: well you know the person whois birthday it is. We all celebrating that. So we say in extention version: Congratulation with that person. So we are all glad we all know that person and having a year with us so we can celebrate together. And the same with dying: you say "condololeerd". Cause we all known this man/woman, and we grieve all together with this loss.
The toilet in the hallway also makes sure that the bathroom doesn't stink up.
and indeed our toilet is next to the front door haha and yes our bedrooms are on the 1st and 2nd floor.
In Holland it is very normal to have two (or three) levels in your home. Getting through the front door will lead into a small hallway, where there is place to hang coats, there is the stairs to go to the levels above, and there is the toilet. And there will be a door leading to the living room. As normal as kan be. I’d prefer having a toilet in the hall, than having it in the living room….
Some small houses will have a small bathroom (usually the only bathroom) on the ground floor, in those cases, the toilet might be there, in the bathroom, at the back-end of the living room; near the kitchen. I do believe there is also a practical reason for these locations: keeping the water pipes close together as much as possible to a single entry/exit of the house.
Old houses often have 2 doors from the hallway, one in front to the front living room, and one further back leading to the back of the living room or the kitchen. Sometimes even 3.
Often these days some of those old doors are torn out and walled off. But if you live in a small house with 10 kids, having multiple doors and an easily accessible toilet is very much necessary. Can you imagine 12 people all having to go 2 ways through one door in the morning before school/work? There would be a traffic jam!
Toilet in the hallway isn't just the ceramic pot against a wall in the hallway, it's actually a small room with a door. But it is near/next to the front door
In the young boy's defense: gefeliciteerd (happy b-day) and gecondoleerd (condolences) are two difficult but very similar words in Dutch for a 9 year-old
When one of my granddads died at that age I didnt even say anything, just shook hands and was shocked at how normal everyone was acting with a corpse in the room.
yes most houses have a toilet being the first room you will find after entering the front door hallway. i was riding my bike to school at age 6 , all alone no helmet no nothing for about 5 KM (3.1 miles), in a pretty urban area.
Yes everybody has a toilet close to the frontdoor, you probably dont realize but here you dont immediately enter the livingroom. Every house, condo, appartement and so on all have a toilet in the hallway.
Toilet by the front door is like toilet next to the mudroom, since the front door is usually in a hallway with doors that lead to other rooms in the house. Also probably a thing that originates from the time when toilets were still outhouses in the yard and/or not every house had its own toilet so several homes shared an "outhouse".
Toilet next to the frontdoor had the opportunity for a little window.
Smell will disappear.
I'm from the north, we are not saying 'feliciteerd' to anyone else than the person him-herselve.
I noticed that habbit in the west.
about why the 'gefeliciteerd' thing on birthdayparties.you actually got the answer already when she told about the funeral. on a funeral you bring your condolances to everyone who knew the deceased. in joyfull events you do the same, you could say; everyone close to the birthday person is being part of this joyfull event because you are part of that persons life
back when interior plumbing was just coming into vogue the resistors to the trend would say "i don't want anybody shitting in my house"....if you think about it.....
they place the toilet next to the front door so you have at least two doors between the toilet and the kitchen or the living room. also in a lot of houses they have the opening of the crawl space in front of the front door, so if you need to do something with the plumbing of the toilet it is close by. also some houses have a toilet in the bathroom upstairs. often just one bathroom per house.
even me as a dutch person don't get why you have to congratulate everyone. now with corona you just wave your hand and say gefeliciteerd once to everyone at the same time.
as a dutch person you learn early on in your live how to read the body language of the other people in traffic, with small movements we can predict what the other is going to do. might seem chaotic if you don't see those clues.
Well, back in the day, people had large families and close communities in small towns. And remember, people back then didnt live as long, life was dangerous. And the climate was a lot colder than the tropical weather we have now.
Someone making it another year, was an occasion to be celebrated by everyone around them. So you congratulated everyone at the birthday for their loved one surviving another cold winter.
To make sure "visitors" to your house are not going into "private" places in your house ( like bathrooms, bedrooms etc. ) there is a toilet downstairs, usually in the entrance hal. Also, if you ask for the toilet in a house in the US, they tell you to go upstairs and use the toilet in the bathroom.
Now that means that you are downstairs and a "visitor" to your house is rooming the upstairs ...??? That is what we, in the Netherlands, find weird!!!
Gefeliciteerd is translated to Congratulations. but litterally it means Felicitations, meaning; an expression of celebration. And since everyone is at someones birthday party to Celebrate, Felicitations are in place :'D
We have mostly 2 toilets
1 downstairs by the front door
1 upstairs in the bathroom.
My toilet is under my stairs also at my moms house. If your toilet is in the same hall of your front door, or like mine in the hall from my stairs, there is alway as far I have seen (in original houses) a second door to your living room so it’s always separated,
(You don’t want to come out your toilet direct eye contact with face of..’did you succeed? Or worst the smell with your visits or anyone at home 😂)
Thanks for welcoming us Dutchies.
Toilet near the door gives you a private poop away from the busy livingroom
Something else about this. The pipe going from the toilet to the sewer will be no more than 5 meters. Houseowners are responsible for this themselves. Every 30 years the whole area is lifted up at least 75 centimeters. This includes the main sewerpipes, cables, tubes, everything. You pay a lot for the couple of meters outside, underground that connect your pipe with the main drain. Think about that.
Toilets are usually in the hallway yes but usually underneath the stairs....to use that small space for a room that doesn't need much space.
Under the stairs is usually a cupboard for long term storage, in my experience. Flour, herbs and spices, pots and pans. Things you want to store relatively cold and dry, outside direct sunlight.
Alternatively, bicycle storage. Under my staircase I usually have 2 or 3 bikes in the hallway (because I dont have a shed) and shoes, umbrellas, a coatrack, bike maintenance gear, etc.
Its very convenient to be able to get a bike inside after a ride without having to mop the whole floor in your house trying to move it out back.
The toilet is not close to the frontdoor but is the closest to the main sewer connection in the street and therefor most cost effective
Dutch houses are most of the time with downstairs living room and kitchen, and upstairs the bedrooms and bathroom. So they have a toilet in the bathroom upstairs and one downstairs.
A bunch of people are saying building codes require there to be 2 doors between the toilet and kitchen (which sounds reasonable considering what an explosion of bacteria and fecal matter flushing ones toilet is). But I also recall that the Brandweer (feels weird to call it fire fighters or fire stations) requires you to have your utility room close by the front door (since the water mains go through it and have a connection point there). Thus making near the front door a convenient place to put a toilet since the water mains and drains are right there too.
You are telling me the toilet isn't near the front door anywhere else?
The ground floor usually has only three spaces, the kitchen, the living room and the hallway. Sometimes there is an extra room or more, bu the question remains the same: In which one would you prefer the toilet?
When I get home, I need to go. Yes, it's the grocery store thing. You go out and you're all good. Half an hour later you get home and, maaaaan you need to go *right now*. I'm not running up a flight of stairs, I need to go *now*.
Can anyone recommend a video to him with a typical Dutch house /layout? I think it is interesting to see the reaction on the size of the house :-) and the rooms...
I've seen videos about tiny houses in the US that are considered a 'normal' size here (of course not the 6sqm ones).
Its not generally that small. Even "small" 100m2 family homes have decent sized living rooms. We just have small bedrooms. All you do is sleep and store clothes there anyway.
Its just about making efficient use of space. Storage space under stairs, small toilet downstairs, small kitchen, often in the living room, without a separating door.
My house is 110m2 and it has a hallway, toilet, big living room, kitchen, washroom downstairs, and 4 bedrooms upstairs. All you need for a family with 3 kids.
The toilet in the same room as the front door is simple. That's the place where the sewer Comes in to your house. Same as al the other cables and exises