I'm preparing to move to the Netherlands to be with my partner of 5 years, and he just recommended me this channel! I'm nervous about going from rural Texas to just outside Amsterdam but I'll definitely be checking out more of your channel as I prepare!!
@@T.O.P. We are not Dutchies, just as we are not fatties, blackies. Look up the phrases and one-liners in the (American) English dictionary and you will find out it is all negative. Please understand the context and the meaning of it. It is plain said that the subject adopts the derogative term as a compliment of some sort.
@@gerhard6105 Well, that's just wrong... The "degrees" should only be dropped when using the Kelvin scale (because it is absolute instead of relative). Also, I don't think I've ever in my life heard anyone say "it's 80 Fahrenheit" so your comment baffles me in several ways.
Groningen, Leeuwarden, Zwolle, Kampen, Deventer, Zutphen, Nijmegen, Amersfoort, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Hoorn, Leiden, Delft, Gouda, Dordrecht, Middelburg, Bergen op Zoom, Breda, Den Bosch, Maastricht (might have forgotten a few) are all really beautiful! Not to mention all the small historic cities, like the Frisian Cities, Doesburg, Enkhuizen, Zierikzee and many more.
It doesn't fit into the American objective that The Netherlands is anything more than Amsterdam. They are used to get culture from a brochure or a big neon arrow next to the road. Hence, the family car, grandma's cupboard and a ghost in every house older than 40 years. The perception that it can be anywhere is beyond their imagination and perception. All Dutch cheese for example, they also call Gouda but have no clue how to pronounce (like Parmesan with an added "sjjjjjj"), while their own American cheese is nothing more than cow fat and preservatives without any dairy in it.
@@Hrn250 Not that I don't agree about it's beauty, but Leiden was already mentioned. Might be difficult to see Marken for the tourists. Maybe Monnikendam as back-up.
Once, 15 years ago, when my teenage daughter and I, her mum, visited wonderful New York, I became very homesick. We missed the true history in the stones of the buildings. We felt so lonely. Never had that feeling in England, Scotland, France, Venice, our country, Amsterdam. Anerica is extra ordinary and very special, however Amsterdam - the Netherlands- feels "very safe and at home" to us and many people from all around the world.
When it comes to trees, most cities follow the 3-30-300 rules: from your house you can see (at least) three trees. Roughly 30% of the space is covered by the canopy of the trees. And every house is a maximum of 300 meters away from a park, tiny forest etc.
@@robinbaggio89I don’t know where you live, but if you mail your city/ town and ask if they follow the 3-30-300 rule, I am sure you will get an answer because it is an important concept in spatial planning.
Twenty five years ago I was in Orlando at a McDonalds. It was 34°C and a bit humid, like in The Netherlands when it is that warm. I wanted a big coca cola and sit on the terrace, but my hotel had no restaurant and no terrace. McDonalds has and was nearby and they had a sign that the terrace was at the back. It was a bummer to see they had it covered with glass, it was an airconditioned greenhouse. And aircos in the US are always on north pole temperature stand, not fine at all. I decided to sit outside on the curb at the front of McDonalds where cars raced by. Americans don’t know how to enjoy life and sit at a terrace in the sun (or shade) enjoying a drink. You hardly see a terrace at a restaurant or cafe. By the way, I had a medium size coke and it was huge, bigger than the biggest one I had ever had in The Netherlands and it was filled to the rim with ice cubes. You had to drink fast or you had a watered down lemonade instead of a nice coke.
Yeah, even when it was 40°C in Malta we mainly sat outside in the shade. Only once did we flee to the airconditioned inside when it was becoming very hot, but it was also surprisingly humid that day. I really don't like how cold the AC is in many places during summer. Going from 40°C to 20°C is so jarring. Sitting in the shade at a terrace is great.
And if you are a smoker( not fully extinct yet) and you like a beer you are in real trouble, at least in N.H. You are not allowed to smoke inside, but it was allowed on the terrace, but you are not allowed to take your pint to the terrace, alcoholic drinks only inside. USA logic.
@@stevemann1299 That is just dumb. Take the percentages how many people are cycling daily and 300, although too many of course, becomes a percentage of a permille at best. Expats love to vlog that there are more bicycles than people in The Netherlands, although, of course, not everybody cycles. So that's is 300 out of 22.8 million bikes. Quote: "Cycling is the second-most common mode of transport in the Netherlands, with 36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day, as opposed to the car (45%) and public transport (11%). Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide." I looked it up and in 2022, there were 1,360 cycling deaths in the US, all with helmets while hardly anybody cycles, unless for leisure at only a few places, hence the verb "biking". We CYCLE for means of transportation. Quote: "In the US, cycling is the 3rd most popular outdoor activity with more than 51 million Americans riding a bike every year. Around 870,000 Americans, or 0.6% of all employees in the US, bike to work. In big cities, 1.1% of commuters go to work by cycling." Even if you compare every day use in The Netherlands with once a year in the US, our numbers are lower. If you take 1,630 out of 870,000 it becomes more than frightening. What's your point?
@@AlexK-yr2th In America they are crazy. So nothing surprises me about that country. There is poor infra structure for cycling in most of the country. And too many cars. No you had to see what I saw to understand. Dutch people flying everywhere like their head vs the floor isn't gonna be a problem. And more concerning was many carry their children with them and even they never had helmets on. It's complaceny at its worst. As a cyclist for 50 years believe me helmets save lives. I know of 3 people who died from head injuries. I had some falls that had I not been wearing a helmet. I could have died or had brain damage. When people get away with something for a number of years they think it will never happen to them until it does.
In case you haven't stumbled upon this one yet, there's a 2nd-hand English bookshop near the American Book Center called The Book Exchange. I've made a habit of visiting it every two weeks or so, followed by ABC in search of new books to read!
Very nice to hear you talk about our architecture, streets, habits etc. A fresh perspective on the familiar! You could be a unique tour guide for the Dutch visiting Dutch cities!
Hey Ava! It's nice to see you do a full vlog outdoors, I would love too see these more often! And Heineken Brewery really isn't worth it, it's just one of the hundreds of tourist traps basically :) And I can relate to you not really liking the warmer temperatures. I can recommend some places to check out when it's warm outside (in Utrecht). Wilhelminapark in the shade by the water, you occasionally get some runaway spray from the fountain (not sure about how clean that is though haha). On Neude in summer some terraces have inflated kiddie pools with water under the table to dip your feet in (at least Le Journal had that last time I was there). The locks near the Munt have shaded spots to throw down your towel and swim. Enjoy the summer!
Living in Lombok-area of Utrecht i can agree: swimming or bbq-ing near De Munt is a must do. Especially near sunset it’s beautiful: busy and very gezellig
i salute you for blurring the people and that you're considering others their privacy this should be the norm and standard for everyone who's using any type of camera. these days people just record and shoot everything and anyone without any consent i hate that, so thank you eva
We have freedom of press, news-gathering, religion, speech, opinion. The law on intellectual property (Auteurswet) is old and limited, especially internationally. If you have been to art school, photography school, maybe studied Dutch Law, then you ought to or might know that in public space everybody can shoot images of everybody/everything without permission. In public space, I don't need your consent to include you in my image, nor do I need to have your permission to publish. Because all those freedoms. You can object against publication if a reasonable interest of you would be damaged by publication, but in general before a judge forbids publication, you probably have to be recorded drunk in the street's gutter and be a minister or member of the royal family. Dutch jurisprudence, today, is more protective of minors, though, and we cannot publish their image without serious consideration or consent of those responsible for children. An important aspect is your expectation of privacy. Our public space is full of (security, tax, supervisory) cameras anyway. But a paparazzo shooting your wife sunbathing topless on your balcony without neighbour views, with a 2,500mm telephoto lens from a balcony in another building is certainly violating her expectation of privacy. And in this case, getting the court to block publication should be easy. That is, you may find out you want to prevent something that already happened and the first hurdle will be if you can get approval for a fast track court case (Dutch: kort geding). Then the damage to your obvious reasonable interest is already done and the effect of publication can no longer be fully rolled undone. In Dutch jurisprudence a victim being awarded financial compensation is ~always held to a minimum and this plays a role in how paparazzi work, or other unethical types.
Hey Ava, have you ever been to Leiden? It has some great canals too! I can also recommend Delft, Haarlem and Amersfoort if you like canals or terrasjes. Actually did a canal tour in all four of them, all very nice. But just walking around is already nice. If you are looking for ideas a short city impression / city tour is something viewers might enjoy.
Hey Ava, have you noticed that you're smiling all the time now..? And your appearance is so relaxed now... and altough you speak your "old" language you do seem to be a true Dutchy...I therefor think it is safe to say that you are happy in a Dutch way to be in The Netherlands amongst fellow Dutchies and of couse to be with your wife and soon kid; so integration wise spoken you're an success and an example for many USAmericans whom have chosen to go live in The Netherlands. It is an honor to have you here as a fellow Dutchy, and yet still claiming to be an USAmerican... --> you may want to change that somehow maybe in; "used to be American" ;-)
But shese not dutch american.. shese american dutch. Nobody says american-afro. (We do say american-itslians because theres not much italian legt anymore lol)
@@vessema Yes and no. In general: It is all about giving the new to you country you immigrate to and it's culture and it's language and so yourself a chance to success; you will have to choose between being the "old" country person, or being the "new" country person. The priority always must be to become the "new" country person, since you've left the "old" country behind and so your future is in the "new" country. This does not mean you will have to forget where you are from obviously, but if done well your history in that other country becomes exactly that: your personal history. So you basically will have to choose to be the "old" country person (in this case USA) or to be a "new" country person (in this case The Netherlands): it is the one or the other since not many people are able to be both; being fully bi-cultural, bi-lingual, bi-social structural, bi culture shockproof and so forth. The highest achievable what you can achieve is to be the "old" country person from the year you left the "old" country since time goes on and all countries and cultures keep on changing in details permanently, so the "old" country you left is not the same country you will find when you visit the "old" country a year or a few years later. In fact; the "old" country will change over time so much that it no longer will feel like the "old" country you left. You will feel yourself a stranger in your own "old" country where you were born and grew up in. And over time the "new" country you will feel in more and more at home and so the immigration is an success and the details in which the "new" country changes over time will come in a natural way to you and so you may not even notice them since you take fully part in the "new" country's society and the "new" country's language and the "new" country's culture... just like all inhabitants of the "new" country do ;-) So being fully American whilst fully living in The Netherlands, nah not really. And the longer one lives in the "new" country the less it feels like the "new" country and so it becomes the new Normal and so the "old" Normal is slowly but surely getting less and less important and so this "old" Normal becomes the new No longer- Normal especially in the "new" Country where one lives fully, and one has a spouse and soon raising a family...
Been a while since I've watched your vlogs Eva. Happily surprised to see how you've evolved concerning the editing (de montage klinkt sjieker toch ;-) ). Great one. And the audience seem to like it too. Stil I have the feeling your are missing out on a few things. In time.
She shows Amsterdam because most tourists will land there. But it is not like she only goes there. She has been living in the Netherlands for years now, you know.
Those church bells playing tunes are called beiaard or carillon in Dutch. The person playing them is called a beiaardier. Probably words you didn't learn yet, but you might surprise me there. You should visit one where they are actually playing as most are automated these days for the hourly tunes. It's pretty interesting how all that works and it requires quite some skill to to play them.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ava knew about this! The Dom tower carillon is played live by the city beiaardier, Malgosia Fiebig, every Friday afternoon at 4 and (apparently) at 11 on Saturday morning. Ava must have heard these concerts so often when she lived around the corner!
Er was ooit een niet zo handige winkelbediende die meneer Roelofs hielp in de groentewinkel (Kros, Apeldoorn). Meneer Roelofs was de beiaardier. En blind. Ze zei, terwijl ze een zak sinaasappels aangaf: "Ziet u eens!" En meneer Roelofs antwoordde "Kijk eens aan."
I have only seen like 5 of your video’s but I like the the fact that you also spend time in Utrecht. Much less tourisme, really relaxt vibe. Keep it coming!
Thanks for sharing Ava. Some other beautiful cities: Haarlem, Groningen, Maastricht, Valkenburg, Giethoorn, Franeker but also a small village like Garnwerd is worth visiting.
Your videos are enlightening to say the least. It's always interesting to see your own country through the eyes of someone not born here. It also highlights the things I think we should be thankful for, as they're by no means universal and should not be taken for granted, such as the effort to keep towns awash with greenery. Whenever I watch videos such as this, I'm reminded, to quote a certain Hobbit: "But today, of all days, it is brought home to me, it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life."
@@bengeurden1272Both can, and do, claim to be the oldest city in the Netherlands. The difference is that the oldest proof of human presence is in Maastricht. But the city that has the longest period of proven continuous (uninterrupted) human settlement is Nijmegen. Disclaimer: while I wasn’t born here, I live in Nijmegen, and have lived here longer than anywhere else.
Hi Eva, what I like about you, is your independance and not being afraid of going it alone.. as a bicycle guide I meet so many Americans and great as many of them are, yet often I think talking to them, you haven't got a clou.. if only you would step out of your role as a tourist right here.. or Berlin, or whatever..place you're curious about.. yes, imagination, I know! But you're doing it.. and you get rewarded all the time, thank you for sharing😅
excellent video. Would really like to see a video encompassing the 4 seasons for what you experience. Visited Haarlem with the family and rented bicycles, thanks to your videos and notjustbikes.
I bumped into you a couple of weeks ago, in Utrecht. I was the guy with the picknictable! It was so cool to meet you in person, keep on the good work!!! ❤
Greetings from Overijssel. I’m really pleased that you’re enjoying living in the Netherlands! You talked about visiting nice cities. My recommendation would be that you tour the 12 provinces. Every province is uniquely different. My two top recommendations would be Zeeland and the Waddeneilanden
Love your videos! Very refreshing to see NL from a non-native perspective. Quite confusing video edit though haha switching between Amsterdam and Utrecht so rapidly
Under Dutch law, you don't need to blur people that accidentally (as by catch) come into view and nothing of note happens to them (for example they are in an intimate situation). The rules for fixed camera's are stricter, but you film handheld so those do not apply. People can make a problem while you are filming for commercial purposes (for example a company advertisement), and then you must ask permission in writing, but for youtube vloggers that is a stretch and that never happens. If they don't give permission they must have a good reason not to give that permission (your freedom of information gathering by you is strong). Beware that in Germany the privacy protection rules are much stricter.
In the public space you can film everybody unless it is targetted, then you'd better ask permission or call 112 while filming (them committing a crime). People complaining while you're randomly filming, from a juridical point of view have no standing.
While true, there isn't just Dutch law to take into account. RUclips policy may also result in a video being taken down when there are children in a video that aren't blanked out and the comment section is enabled.
Did you also notice how the houses in the center often have a floor almost below the ground floor. And stairs as the entrance? What many people don't know is that the houses in Amsterdam are actually sinking into the ground! You are actually living on top of swampland! The rocky bottom that you find in many other places is about a kilometer below ground level. And on top of that is basic sand and ground. And old buildings that completely sunk already, centuries ago. The houses in Amsterdam are built on top of a sand layer that's about 15 meters underground. They have hammered piles into the ground to this depth so the houses won't sink too fast. Yet, over the centuries, many monuments in Amsterdam have sunk and what used to be the ground floor is now the cellar.
1:20 for those who want to know. Its super simple. Just swiped the public transport cart and the bike unlockeds. And bring it back to the station afwards. And payment is done trough the ov card the same way as the train and bus. And dont worry explanation is also in english.
Regarding the 'being on time', I realised pretty soon when I started travelling most warm countries are different. I started giving a window when to expect me. And that works pretty well, even when I know I will arrive at the middle of that window. 😂
I live in Portugal. when i expect someone, even if it is a plummer or what not, I give them my phone number an dgo about my day. I don´t even stay at home, they can call when they ae about to arrive and I get back. this way, you are not anxiously waiting. I also use a note on the gate (and you see this in little shops too) with "be right back" in Portuguese.
Speaking as a Dutch there are so many more things to see in my country then Amsterdam. Try going to Zundert to the Bloemencorso. Vincent van gogh was born there. And many museums are in the Netherlands. Big party events with rave music. Get a boat trip in Giethoorn. Or attraction park the Efteling. To name a few. If you have time do not only go to Amsterdam. Many things here
Luggage locker/vault at Amsterdam Central Station (CS) is most expensive of all stations in the NL. Small locker, day1: €10 roughly, day 2 & 3 are +50%/day, day 4 & more are +100%/day - but note that you can rent for 3 days max, so to keep luggage in there longer you need to go to the station to manage the extension. The large locker is roughly +30%. Can you do this cheaper? For example: if you travel from Utrecht CS to Amsterdam CS, you could stop over at the Amsterdam Amstel station and put your luggage in a locker there for 45% of Amsterdam CS rates.
Where I work, we get 32 vacation days per year. In such cases it is a lot easier to 'take a random day off' 🙂 I myself use these days to do home improvement: 'klussen'
Hello Ava, I just recently started watching you because I am just started learning Dutch via Duolingo but I feel I need to watch and hear the language the whole time lol so I can learn it faster and better I guess. I also want to thank you for recommending the Netherlands tv channels. I started watching 'wie is de mol', and I am absolutely loving it. have to listen to what they say tho but luckily they have subtitles, however I can understand the language up to a point as my home language is Afrikaans from South Africa. Thank you for the videos. Can you maybe recommend anymore tv programs that I am able to get on youtube?
Keep looking up to the facades of buildings! I do too and it drives my other half crazy ;-) Even in the city I live close by and visit regularly, I just have to look up and admire the craftmanship and beautiful "unneccesary" decorations. It often is nicer to look at than the same old shopsigns...
As a Dutch guy from the South, i have to say you talk about Holland instead of the Netherlands. Those cities like Amsterdam are so typical you see in Holland (the west of the Netherlands). When i go to Amsterdam it feels like a whole other country to me as a Dutchman, because it is so different with the canals and the narrow streets and trams. So to me (and lots of Dutchies nòt living in Holland/Randstad ) it is not typical Dutch but typical Holland. But i think you are right that typical cities like Amsterdam are more interesting to American viewers because it suits the image more they have from the Netherlands. Nevertheless i often click your videos just out of curiosity. I wish you a pleasant summer.✌🏻
I know plenty of people who do not arrive exactly on time, and typically when going to meet people we just say "around such and such time" rather than "at that time". Leaves you a bit of whiggling room, and account for traffic etc.
In Brabant on time could also be 15 minutes later. It`s called Brabants kwartiertje. I also was always 15 minutes late. My friends and family called it kwartiertje van Max for me.
I do not live in Holland atm and you bring my country back to me in a wonderful way. I thank you for this! Besides, your english has a slight dutch accent nowadays 😉🥰
In that temperature, many Dutch folk go to beaches along the sea or the many lakes. I can be very busy there, when temperature is above 30 degrees Celsius.
On the subject of time, being on time is preferred, being early really isn't as the dutch tend to plan ahead up to the last minute. which means not being able to change shirt/take a short shower after a hot summerday or not being able to go to the toilet before the guests arrive. (so your stay will either be shortened for them to finish their schedule or you'll be sitting in the living room staring at the dishes they planned to move to the kitchen before the doorbell rang whilst they're in the bedroom/bathroom doing what they planned to do)
1:59 I wonder if some people in the Netherlands ever refer to these warm, sunny summer days as "Movie Weather". As in, the kind of weather that (in northwest Europe) you normally only see in the movies/on TV. Where I live, we similarly go crazy over even a light dusting of snow, because almost all the snow we've seen in our lives was on screens. The last time I experienced snow (late 2017) I really felt like I was in a Christmas movie.
The Dutch habit of sitting outside is perhaps to a large degree due to the air quality being (by city standards) really good: traffic infrastructure is focused on bikes, roads are narrow, and there's a lot of plants. This makes for a clean air and dampens extreme temperatures. Whereas in the US, you have large swathes of tarmac and little vegetation, resulting in a pronounced heat-island effect and heavily polluted air.
The USA has a much wider range of climates, from arid desert, semi-arid, humid subtropical to humid continental climates, making it often not feasible to enjoy food and drinks outside. But most of all, the USA has a car-centric culture which makes it hard to reach places on foot to get a drink and open terraces with seating on the street are forbidden by law if alcoholic beverages are served. It is a culture thing that the streets in the USA are only meant for cars.
Ava- thank you for highlighting such an amazing country - I can see your true joy in living there. I too hope my partner and I can move there with our son (currently tied to CA with family, etc) but I don’t feel like this is my true home. I have loved the Netherlands since I was 13 and do plan to live there soon. Be well ❤
We Dutch people are very diverse. Don’t think we are the same everywhere. What counts for Amsterdam doesn’t count for other cities. Go to Maastricht or Arnhem instead and see for yourself. P.S, there, they love tourists instead of hating them.
Keep looking at the houses. And in the centre of Utrecht look at all the levels above the shops. There is lots of cool architecture there hidden in plain sight.
you can see, still today New York have similar similarities even though the dutch buildings are long gone the greenery in the streets / the central park / the little stairs to the buildings / little terraces to sit and eat and drink outside. etc there many books about Amsterdam and the Newyork connection. Amsterdam From Russel Shorto or De Tawl from Philip Droge about the dutch/english language connections.
Having been driven/driving around a few cities in the UK, our streets are not even that narrow in most cases. In the UK the streets are more narroq (at least feel more narrow) and then they also park the cars half way on the street. Making it even narrower for cars to drive, not uncommon i saw quickly that cars were missing side mirrors.
But in Summerset you have signs saying "Oncoming vehicles in the middle of the road" which you can sing to the tune of "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
Hoi Ava, wat leuk deze vlog met muziekje en alles... Echt een gezellige vlog!! Ook super dat mijn sportschool De Workout nog even voorbijkomt 🥰 Af en toe denk ik dat ik je zie in Utrecht maar ik weet het nooit zeker!
It’s 25C in Tokyo … at night!! And a delightful 35C during the day 🥵 all with max humidity Dutch streets are so large, my point of reference is biased. Me too, when visiting the Netherlands, I loved the greenery in the city. It’s so nice, really have a cooling effect and is good for the moral
In Belgium people also take random days off. In my previous I could even take half days. So if I saw in the morning that it was going to be a beautiful afternoon, I would take the afternoon off to sit on a terrace, go shopping or work/read in the garden. You see hand towels in the bathroom in places in Belgium too but it's very rare (especially since Covid) and it is disgusting! Everyone using that one towel, yehhh! I just use some toilet paper to dry my hands when that is the case.
Excellent video Ava. It's rare but I have nothing much to comment. It is nice that you explain how Dutch people live, not the American perception of what is going on. Books, i think, just like vinyl, are coming back as more and more people reject social media and trying to move away from the digital episode of their lives and realize all the negativity that comes with it. Small note. Most places are nicer, older, safer and more beautiful than Amsterdam and Utrecht. If I'm not mistaken, there is a environmental rule from the 70's that every house needs a tree and that's why you see trees in every street. It is even in the points system of social housing. Don't remember exactly how the rule goes though.
I wonder... have you ever been to the Dutch speaking part of Belgium? And do you sense the differences between the two countries? To us, the Netherlands seem to be a different world, on some points. But I think it's interesting to see what foreigners experience on this topic.
1. as if NL is the only country with lockers. Every European country has this. 2. the train checkin you conventiently didn't mention, is atrocious. 3. pretty cool until you see the price. And good luck not getting it stolen. 3:58 amusing theory but no. We don't buy books to read them, we buy specimens to collect and sell at a profit. And NL is not just Amsterdam. Don't generalize. 5:00 taking a day off to randomly walk around in a town is what nobody does. It may look like it but those are dinner/business meetings. 5:20 it's true the architecture is amazing, and nearly nobody has the time or energy to appreciate it except for the first few days. 5:35 if Amsterdam is a pretty city, all NL cities must be pretty. And ask a non-Amsterdam dutch, he finds Amsterdam dirty and atrocious. In other words, you aint seen nothing yet! 7:45 first of all it's more eco friendly, second, you just washed your hands they're clean right. 8:20 that's true. They have a fixed workpace, and you just have to wait. Going out for dinner can easily cost you 3 hours, most of which is waiting. Since the food is usually poor, I don't do that much anymore. Poor as in dispassionate, but far superior to what Americans eat. 8:30 Utrecht is fantastic if you're a student. To actually work/live there, it's very cramped. 9:10 yes we are averse to waiting, time is money, and you start to think about all the things you could have done. You can lose friends that way.
Just a few facts on the 4-day work week: People who work 4 days tend to work 9 hours per day, so in total they will work 36 hours per week. Others choose to work 4 and 5 days of 8 hours every other week. Personally, I work 4x8 hours and 1x4 hours a week. And 36 hours is officially considered a full work week here since last year, although you will still see 40-hour contracts in some sectors.
re being on time: This doesn't go for the entire Netherlands (of course not, duh). where I live, we have this expression "Brabants kwartierke" because apparently in the province of Brabant we are that chill that we arrive everywhere fifteen minutes late.
How did you cope when you 1st encountered a Dutch who was direct to you? Also how did you make friends? (Considering moving to The Netherlands 1 day) As heard Dutch people can be very...direct toward people.
Dutchie here. Yes we are direct, but we also just have rude people. I am Dutch but I am socially more shy and sensitive than the average Dutch person. Most people here are friendly, don't worry. We just tend to be less ashamed of certain things compared to other cultures. But saying something like "omg you are so fat" is considered rude here as well.
Heineken brewery is kind of cool, but very much a touristy thing. It's not just "see the inside" though, there are displays, presentations .... not "rides" but "experiences". I would say it's not a waste, but not a must-do
Every street a 'terrasje'? Only in the centre of Amsterdam or in other old city centers or touristic areas. There are a lot of boring suburbs where people only come to sleep. Only in the old city centers steets are really narrow
Ha Ave (Eva), question: you're coming up towards your first 5 year jubilee, and your Dutch is so unbelievably well...... could you do a (small) video...in... Dutch? Like the other way around, e.g. "..what NOT to do when you go to New York as a Dutch?" Since you are Dutch now, congraz, and you are the expert 🤗 Oh please please, pretty please? Love your vids
I agree about the towels in bathrooms. But 95 out of 100 bathrooms use paper towls, a hand blower or those 1-time-use towels on a roll. But single towels, I almost don’t see them anymore and that’s a good thing 😅 Did you know that all trees in cities in the Netherlands are registered? We treat them as valuable. They are great to see and give, like you said, much needed cooling in the cities. You also need a felling permit to cut a tree down in your own garden 👍 Indeed, not every city in the Netherlands is like Amsterdam or Utrecht. But, even the smallest cities and villages sometimes are real gems. Have you ever visited a fortified city? Try Naarden, Willemstad or Bourtange and there are many more. By the way it always sound a bit strange to me when Utrecht is mentioned. I’ve been to the convention area in Utrecht many times, but apparently never to the old center. Going to make up for that this summer ✍️😂👍
Dear, there is a big difference between Amsterdam style and other cities and villages. This was an Amsterdam review. I know we in A’dam see everything outside of A’dam as a foreign country, but still.
Eva Groetjes uit de Zaanstreek. The place where people in Amsterdam look up too. Maybe its good to present some out of the cities. As you know The Netherlands is not really about city life. You do a good job; so applaus. just a thought!
The Netherlands are built basically on bogs or other wetlands. And bog people are not used the get a lot of sunlight. So even now, when the sun is out, even in autumn or winter, the Dutch take the opportunity to enjoy it fully😅.
😆😆 In the North (or rather "boven de rivieren") they don't know "Het Brabants Kwartiertje". Here in the South people are quite accustomed to people arriving 15 minutes later. In a way you could say it's almost ingrained in Brabant 😆😆 And thanks for another fun video! I always like seeing your perspective as an American living in the Netherlands!
Uhm when I meet up with friends or colleagues we always give each other wiggle room like 10/15 min. And they’re Dutch, also most of the time when people show up early for a party, it’s to help prepare
The richer people could obtain the privilege to be buried inside the church. Generous donations would be helpful of course. The common people could just rot outside, literally and figuratively.
ava in that case i am a tourist too in my own country love to watch architecture specially the amsterdamse school and art deco area near the amstelstation across the berlage brug amsteldijk❤❤
I'm preparing to move to the Netherlands to be with my partner of 5 years, and he just recommended me this channel! I'm nervous about going from rural Texas to just outside Amsterdam but I'll definitely be checking out more of your channel as I prepare!!
What stood out to me is that you automatically used: ''30 degrees'' Celsius!
Instead of (86 degrees) Fahrenheit. Well done, Ava. 🧡
Haha, I noticed that afterwards too!
@@DutchAmericano lol. You're doing great as a Dutchie! 👌
When talking about Fahrenheit, you do not use the word degrees.
@@T.O.P. We are not Dutchies, just as we are not fatties, blackies. Look up the phrases and one-liners in the (American) English dictionary and you will find out it is all negative. Please understand the context and the meaning of it. It is plain said that the subject adopts the derogative term as a compliment of some sort.
@@gerhard6105 Well, that's just wrong... The "degrees" should only be dropped when using the Kelvin scale (because it is absolute instead of relative).
Also, I don't think I've ever in my life heard anyone say "it's 80 Fahrenheit" so your comment baffles me in several ways.
Groningen, Leeuwarden, Zwolle, Kampen, Deventer, Zutphen, Nijmegen, Amersfoort, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Hoorn, Leiden, Delft, Gouda, Dordrecht, Middelburg, Bergen op Zoom, Breda, Den Bosch, Maastricht (might have forgotten a few) are all really beautiful! Not to mention all the small historic cities, like the Frisian Cities, Doesburg, Enkhuizen, Zierikzee and many more.
And there are even smaller towns that are quite beautiful and interesting, like De Rijp, Woudrichem or Leerdam to just name a few.
It doesn't fit into the American objective that The Netherlands is anything more than Amsterdam.
They are used to get culture from a brochure or a big neon arrow next to the road. Hence, the family car, grandma's cupboard and a ghost in every house older than 40 years. The perception that it can be anywhere is beyond their imagination and perception.
All Dutch cheese for example, they also call Gouda but have no clue how to pronounce (like Parmesan with an added "sjjjjjj"), while their own American cheese is nothing more than cow fat and preservatives without any dairy in it.
Zoals zoveel buitenlanders denkt ook zij dat Nederland hetzelfde is als Amsterdam en vice versa. Effing irritant en dom.
Even aanvullen 😛 Groningen, Medemblik, ( Twisk) Marken, Vlissingen, Zaltbommel, Leiden. All beautiful
@@Hrn250 Not that I don't agree about it's beauty, but Leiden was already mentioned.
Might be difficult to see Marken for the tourists. Maybe Monnikendam as back-up.
I am born in Canada and raised by Dutch parents, I am always early for everything. :)
Once, 15 years ago, when my teenage daughter and I, her mum, visited wonderful New York, I became very homesick.
We missed the true history in the stones of the buildings. We felt so lonely.
Never had that feeling in England, Scotland, France, Venice, our country, Amsterdam.
Anerica is extra ordinary and very special, however Amsterdam - the Netherlands- feels "very safe and at home" to us and many people from all around the world.
When it comes to trees, most cities follow the 3-30-300 rules: from your house you can see (at least) three trees. Roughly 30% of the space is covered by the canopy of the trees. And every house is a maximum of 300 meters away from a park, tiny forest etc.
Really? Hier heb ik nog nooit van gehoord 😱
@@robinbaggio89I don’t know where you live, but if you mail your city/ town and ask if they follow the 3-30-300 rule, I am sure you will get an answer because it is an important concept in spatial planning.
nou wij wonen vlak bij de tu in delft en die bomen hier zijn zeker 70% voor en achter. wij hebben in de zomer geen overburen, alleen bladeren.
Twenty five years ago I was in Orlando at a McDonalds. It was 34°C and a bit humid, like in The Netherlands when it is that warm. I wanted a big coca cola and sit on the terrace, but my hotel had no restaurant and no terrace. McDonalds has and was nearby and they had a sign that the terrace was at the back. It was a bummer to see they had it covered with glass, it was an airconditioned greenhouse. And aircos in the US are always on north pole temperature stand, not fine at all. I decided to sit outside on the curb at the front of McDonalds where cars raced by. Americans don’t know how to enjoy life and sit at a terrace in the sun (or shade) enjoying a drink. You hardly see a terrace at a restaurant or cafe. By the way, I had a medium size coke and it was huge, bigger than the biggest one I had ever had in The Netherlands and it was filled to the rim with ice cubes. You had to drink fast or you had a watered down lemonade instead of a nice coke.
Yeah, even when it was 40°C in Malta we mainly sat outside in the shade. Only once did we flee to the airconditioned inside when it was becoming very hot, but it was also surprisingly humid that day. I really don't like how cold the AC is in many places during summer. Going from 40°C to 20°C is so jarring. Sitting in the shade at a terrace is great.
In a car-centric culture, sitting outside is neither pleasant not healthy. That's why it's not popular in the US: bad air quality.
@@willietorben560 Mmm…I don’t think “bad air” is the reason.
And if you are a smoker( not fully extinct yet) and you like a beer you are in real trouble, at least in N.H. You are not allowed to smoke inside, but it was allowed on the terrace, but you are not allowed to take your pint to the terrace, alcoholic drinks only inside. USA logic.
Well done, I enjoyed watching and learning a bit more of the Netherlands
Always interesting to hear the foreign perspective on living in the Netherlands and Dutch culture - lovely videos!
I just came back from Amsterdam. The culture shock for me is how many people cycle. It was insane. Between that and the tram system.
When one is used to nothing, everything is a shock really.
Cycling is not insane, it is wise
@@paultijink9966
It is when you see how many don't wear helmets. I Google it and around 300 Dutch are killed a year in bicycle accidents.
@@stevemann1299 That is just dumb. Take the percentages how many people are cycling daily and 300, although too many of course, becomes a percentage of a permille at best. Expats love to vlog that there are more bicycles than people in The Netherlands, although, of course, not everybody cycles. So that's is 300 out of 22.8 million bikes.
Quote: "Cycling is the second-most common mode of transport in the Netherlands, with 36% of Dutch people listing the bicycle as their most frequent way of getting around on a typical day, as opposed to the car (45%) and public transport (11%). Cycling has a modal share of 27% of all trips (urban and rural) nationwide."
I looked it up and in 2022, there were 1,360 cycling deaths in the US, all with helmets while hardly anybody cycles, unless for leisure at only a few places, hence the verb "biking". We CYCLE for means of transportation.
Quote: "In the US, cycling is the 3rd most popular outdoor activity with more than 51 million Americans riding a bike every year. Around 870,000 Americans, or 0.6% of all employees in the US, bike to work. In big cities, 1.1% of commuters go to work by cycling."
Even if you compare every day use in The Netherlands with once a year in the US, our numbers are lower. If you take 1,630 out of 870,000 it becomes more than frightening.
What's your point?
@@AlexK-yr2th
In America they are crazy. So nothing surprises me about that country. There is poor infra structure for cycling in most of the country. And too many cars. No you had to see what I saw to understand. Dutch people flying everywhere like their head vs the floor isn't gonna be a problem. And more concerning was many carry their children with them and even they never had helmets on. It's complaceny at its worst.
As a cyclist for 50 years believe me helmets save lives. I know of 3 people who died from head injuries. I had some falls that had I not been wearing a helmet. I could have died or had brain damage. When people get away with something for a number of years they think it will never happen to them until it does.
In case you haven't stumbled upon this one yet, there's a 2nd-hand English bookshop near the American Book Center called The Book Exchange. I've made a habit of visiting it every two weeks or so, followed by ABC in search of new books to read!
Oh cool, I used to go there years ago, pleased to hear it s still there!!
Very nice to hear you talk about our architecture, streets, habits etc. A fresh perspective on the familiar! You could be a unique tour guide for the Dutch visiting Dutch cities!
A towel in a public restroom is very rare, I'm Dutch and never seen it :)
I have, in the smaller bars, however youre right, it is not common. Its not very popular either lol.
Hey Ava! It's nice to see you do a full vlog outdoors, I would love too see these more often! And Heineken Brewery really isn't worth it, it's just one of the hundreds of tourist traps basically :)
And I can relate to you not really liking the warmer temperatures. I can recommend some places to check out when it's warm outside (in Utrecht). Wilhelminapark in the shade by the water, you occasionally get some runaway spray from the fountain (not sure about how clean that is though haha). On Neude in summer some terraces have inflated kiddie pools with water under the table to dip your feet in (at least Le Journal had that last time I was there). The locks near the Munt have shaded spots to throw down your towel and swim. Enjoy the summer!
Living in Lombok-area of Utrecht i can agree: swimming or bbq-ing near De Munt is a must do. Especially near sunset it’s beautiful: busy and very gezellig
i salute you for blurring the people and that you're considering others their privacy
this should be the norm and standard for everyone who's using any type of camera.
these days people just record and shoot everything and anyone without any consent
i hate that, so thank you eva
We have freedom of press, news-gathering, religion, speech, opinion. The law on intellectual property (Auteurswet) is old and limited, especially internationally.
If you have been to art school, photography school, maybe studied Dutch Law, then you ought to or might know that in public space everybody can shoot images of everybody/everything without permission.
In public space, I don't need your consent to include you in my image, nor do I need to have your permission to publish. Because all those freedoms.
You can object against publication if a reasonable interest of you would be damaged by publication, but in general before a judge forbids publication, you probably have to be recorded drunk in the street's gutter and be a minister or member of the royal family.
Dutch jurisprudence, today, is more protective of minors, though, and we cannot publish their image without serious consideration or consent of those responsible for children.
An important aspect is your expectation of privacy. Our public space is full of (security, tax, supervisory) cameras anyway. But a paparazzo shooting your wife sunbathing topless on your balcony without neighbour views, with a 2,500mm telephoto lens from a balcony in another building is certainly violating her expectation of privacy. And in this case, getting the court to block publication should be easy.
That is, you may find out you want to prevent something that already happened and the first hurdle will be if you can get approval for a fast track court case (Dutch: kort geding). Then the damage to your obvious reasonable interest is already done and the effect of publication can no longer be fully rolled undone.
In Dutch jurisprudence a victim being awarded financial compensation is ~always held to a minimum and this plays a role in how paparazzi work, or other unethical types.
Hey Ava, have you ever been to Leiden? It has some great canals too!
I can also recommend Delft, Haarlem and Amersfoort if you like canals or terrasjes. Actually did a canal tour in all four of them, all very nice. But just walking around is already nice.
If you are looking for ideas a short city impression / city tour is something viewers might enjoy.
And have a look inside the Pieterskerk.
Hey Ava, have you noticed that you're smiling all the time now..? And your appearance is so relaxed now... and altough you speak your "old" language you do seem to be a true Dutchy...I therefor think it is safe to say that you are happy in a Dutch way to be in The Netherlands amongst fellow Dutchies and of couse to be with your wife and soon kid; so integration wise spoken you're an success and an example for many USAmericans whom have chosen to go live in The Netherlands. It is an honor to have you here as a fellow Dutchy, and yet still claiming to be an USAmerican... --> you may want to change that somehow maybe in; "used to be American" ;-)
I think the channel name says just that.
But shese not dutch american.. shese american dutch. Nobody says american-afro.
(We do say american-itslians because theres not much italian legt anymore lol)
Because she still is an American.
You don't stop being an American after moving out of the USA...
@@vessema Yes and no. In general: It is all about giving the new to you country you immigrate to and it's culture and it's language and so yourself a chance to success; you will have to choose between being the "old" country person, or being the "new" country person. The priority always must be to become the "new" country person, since you've left the "old" country behind and so your future is in the "new" country. This does not mean you will have to forget where you are from obviously, but if done well your history in that other country becomes exactly that: your personal history. So you basically will have to choose to be the "old" country person (in this case USA) or to be a "new" country person (in this case The Netherlands): it is the one or the other since not many people are able to be both; being fully bi-cultural, bi-lingual, bi-social structural, bi culture shockproof and so forth. The highest achievable what you can achieve is to be the "old" country person from the year you left the "old" country since time goes on and all countries and cultures keep on changing in details permanently, so the "old" country you left is not the same country you will find when you visit the "old" country a year or a few years later. In fact; the "old" country will change over time so much that it no longer will feel like the "old" country you left. You will feel yourself a stranger in your own "old" country where you were born and grew up in. And over time the "new" country you will feel in more and more at home and so the immigration is an success and the details in which the "new" country changes over time will come in a natural way to you and so you may not even notice them since you take fully part in the "new" country's society and the "new" country's language and the "new" country's culture... just like all inhabitants of the "new" country do ;-) So being fully American whilst fully living in The Netherlands, nah not really. And the longer one lives in the "new" country the less it feels like the "new" country and so it becomes the new Normal and so the "old" Normal is slowly but surely getting less and less important and so this "old" Normal becomes the new No longer- Normal especially in the "new" Country where one lives fully, and one has a spouse and soon raising a family...
Been a while since I've watched your vlogs Eva. Happily surprised to see how you've evolved concerning the editing (de montage klinkt sjieker toch ;-) ). Great one. And the audience seem to like it too. Stil I have the feeling your are missing out on a few things. In time.
Dear Ava, there’s a lot more to see in The Netherlands than only in Amsterdam. Go and visit the outskirts of our beautiful country, you’ll love it.
Funny, she lives in Utrecht.
She shows Amsterdam because most tourists will land there. But it is not like she only goes there. She has been living in the Netherlands for years now, you know.
Grand duke is an idiot
Those church bells playing tunes are called beiaard or carillon in Dutch. The person playing them is called a beiaardier. Probably words you didn't learn yet, but you might surprise me there. You should visit one where they are actually playing as most are automated these days for the hourly tunes. It's pretty interesting how all that works and it requires quite some skill to to play them.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ava knew about this! The Dom tower carillon is played live by the city beiaardier, Malgosia Fiebig, every Friday afternoon at 4 and (apparently) at 11 on Saturday morning. Ava must have heard these concerts so often when she lived around the corner!
Er was ooit een niet zo handige winkelbediende die meneer Roelofs hielp in de groentewinkel (Kros, Apeldoorn). Meneer Roelofs was de beiaardier. En blind.
Ze zei, terwijl ze een zak sinaasappels aangaf: "Ziet u eens!"
En meneer Roelofs antwoordde "Kijk eens aan."
I have only seen like 5 of your video’s but I like the the fact that you also spend time in Utrecht. Much less tourisme, really relaxt vibe. Keep it coming!
Actually, she lives in Utrecht
Thanks for sharing Ava. Some other beautiful cities: Haarlem, Groningen, Maastricht, Valkenburg, Giethoorn, Franeker but also a small village like Garnwerd is worth visiting.
Dordrecht to!
Or Nijmegen, Naarden-vesting, Doesburg, Leerdam
Haarlem sowieso. Mooiste stad achter de duinen.
Hidden pearl: the little white city Thorn, during nine centuries governed by women.
Winsum, Zwolle, Woudenberg and Zeist are really pretty too. And just outside the border you have the Belgium cities Gent, Leuven en Namen.
Your videos are enlightening to say the least. It's always interesting to see your own country through the eyes of someone not born here. It also highlights the things I think we should be thankful for, as they're by no means universal and should not be taken for granted, such as the effort to keep towns awash with greenery. Whenever I watch videos such as this, I'm reminded, to quote a certain Hobbit: "But today, of all days, it is brought home to me, it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life."
Nice video! You also should visit cities outside the Randstad. Like Arnhem, Nijmegen or Breda. :)
Especially Nijmegen indeed. That's about the oldest city in the country.. or is it Maastricht?
@@bengeurden1272Both can, and do, claim to be the oldest city in the Netherlands. The difference is that the oldest proof of human presence is in Maastricht. But the city that has the longest period of proven continuous (uninterrupted) human settlement is Nijmegen.
Disclaimer: while I wasn’t born here, I live in Nijmegen, and have lived here longer than anywhere else.
Hi Eva, what I like about you, is your independance and not being afraid of going it alone.. as a bicycle guide I meet so many Americans and great as many of them are, yet often I think talking to them, you haven't got a clou.. if only you would step out of your role as a tourist right here.. or Berlin, or whatever..place you're curious about.. yes, imagination, I know! But you're doing it.. and you get rewarded all the time, thank you for sharing😅
excellent video. Would really like to see a video encompassing the 4 seasons for what you experience. Visited Haarlem with the family and rented bicycles, thanks to your videos and notjustbikes.
I bumped into you a couple of weeks ago, in Utrecht. I was the guy with the picknictable! It was so cool to meet you in person, keep on the good work!!! ❤
It was lovely meeting you too!
@@DutchAmericano I still have the picture!! 😃😃
@Vloeki You were also the dirty guy sneaking to her in the bushes?? 🤣
@@bengeurden1272hey.. hey.. hey… we don’t do that over here…
We jump from trees 🤣😂😂
Greetings from Overijssel.
I’m really pleased that you’re enjoying living in the Netherlands!
You talked about visiting nice cities. My recommendation would be that you tour the 12 provinces. Every province is uniquely different.
My two top recommendations would be Zeeland and the Waddeneilanden
Lots of places/cities have unique things. It's worth it to just visit random places :)
I lived in almelo for 14 years😊
@@doloresmikolajewski7640 Almelo o, Almelo. There is always something to be seen. Sometimes the traffic lights are red. Sometimes they are green.
Love your videos! Very refreshing to see NL from a non-native perspective. Quite confusing video edit though haha switching between Amsterdam and Utrecht so rapidly
Under Dutch law, you don't need to blur people that accidentally (as by catch) come into view and nothing of note happens to them (for example they are in an intimate situation). The rules for fixed camera's are stricter, but you film handheld so those do not apply. People can make a problem while you are filming for commercial purposes (for example a company advertisement), and then you must ask permission in writing, but for youtube vloggers that is a stretch and that never happens. If they don't give permission they must have a good reason not to give that permission (your freedom of information gathering by you is strong). Beware that in Germany the privacy protection rules are much stricter.
In the public space you can film everybody unless it is targetted, then you'd better ask permission or call 112 while filming (them committing a crime). People complaining while you're randomly filming, from a juridical point of view have no standing.
Nevertheless it s a good habit to blur people 👍
While true, there isn't just Dutch law to take into account. RUclips policy may also result in a video being taken down when there are children in a video that aren't blanked out and the comment section is enabled.
We blur the ugly people!
I personal think, time is time. Its not polite to be late
Did you also notice how the houses in the center often have a floor almost below the ground floor. And stairs as the entrance? What many people don't know is that the houses in Amsterdam are actually sinking into the ground! You are actually living on top of swampland! The rocky bottom that you find in many other places is about a kilometer below ground level. And on top of that is basic sand and ground. And old buildings that completely sunk already, centuries ago. The houses in Amsterdam are built on top of a sand layer that's about 15 meters underground. They have hammered piles into the ground to this depth so the houses won't sink too fast.
Yet, over the centuries, many monuments in Amsterdam have sunk and what used to be the ground floor is now the cellar.
A UNDERGROUND FLAT
1:20 for those who want to know. Its super simple. Just swiped the public transport cart and the bike unlockeds. And bring it back to the station afwards. And payment is done trough the ov card the same way as the train and bus.
And dont worry explanation is also in english.
Regarding the 'being on time', I realised pretty soon when I started travelling most warm countries are different. I started giving a window when to expect me. And that works pretty well, even when I know I will arrive at the middle of that window. 😂
I live in Portugal. when i expect someone, even if it is a plummer or what not, I give them my phone number an dgo about my day. I don´t even stay at home, they can call when they ae about to arrive and I get back. this way, you are not anxiously waiting. I also use a note on the gate (and you see this in little shops too) with "be right back" in Portuguese.
Speaking as a Dutch there are so many more things to see in my country then Amsterdam. Try going to Zundert to the Bloemencorso. Vincent van gogh was born there. And many museums are in the Netherlands. Big party events with rave music. Get a boat trip in Giethoorn. Or attraction park the Efteling. To name a few. If you have time do not only go to Amsterdam. Many things here
Luggage locker/vault at Amsterdam Central Station (CS) is most expensive of all stations in the NL. Small locker, day1: €10 roughly, day 2 & 3 are +50%/day, day 4 & more are +100%/day - but note that you can rent for 3 days max, so to keep luggage in there longer you need to go to the station to manage the extension. The large locker is roughly +30%.
Can you do this cheaper? For example: if you travel from Utrecht CS to Amsterdam CS, you could stop over at the Amsterdam Amstel station and put your luggage in a locker there for 45% of Amsterdam CS rates.
Where I work, we get 32 vacation days per year. In such cases it is a lot easier to 'take a random day off' 🙂 I myself use these days to do home improvement: 'klussen'
Vergeet de oude lullen dagen niet, kan je nog meer klussen 😂
Your high taxes pay for those days off.
Hello Ava, I just recently started watching you because I am just started learning Dutch via Duolingo but I feel I need to watch and hear the language the whole time lol so I can learn it faster and better I guess. I also want to thank you for recommending the Netherlands tv channels. I started watching 'wie is de mol', and I am absolutely loving it. have to listen to what they say tho but luckily they have subtitles, however I can understand the language up to a point as my home language is Afrikaans from South Africa. Thank you for the videos. Can you maybe recommend anymore tv programs that I am able to get on youtube?
You want books? Come to Deventer on the first weekend of August.
Keep looking up to the facades of buildings! I do too and it drives my other half crazy ;-) Even in the city I live close by and visit regularly, I just have to look up and admire the craftmanship and beautiful "unneccesary" decorations. It often is nicer to look at than the same old shopsigns...
So true. Especially in older cities like Maastricht or Nijmegen, you see SO much more when you look up!
you're so sweet about the slow service. it just sucks honestly, 20 years here and it still amazes me.
As a Dutch guy from the South, i have to say you talk about Holland instead of the Netherlands. Those cities like Amsterdam are so typical you see in Holland (the west of the Netherlands). When i go to Amsterdam it feels like a whole other country to me as a Dutchman, because it is so different with the canals and the narrow streets and trams. So to me (and lots of Dutchies nòt living in Holland/Randstad ) it is not typical Dutch but typical Holland. But i think you are right that typical cities like Amsterdam are more interesting to American viewers because it suits the image more they have from the Netherlands.
Nevertheless i often click your videos just out of curiosity. I wish you a pleasant summer.✌🏻
I keep taking pictures of pretty buildings too and I was born here 🤭 I'm happy to see you enjoying yourself!
I know plenty of people who do not arrive exactly on time, and typically when going to meet people we just say "around such and such time" rather than "at that time". Leaves you a bit of whiggling room, and account for traffic etc.
In Brabant on time could also be 15 minutes later. It`s called Brabants kwartiertje.
I also was always 15 minutes late. My friends and family called it kwartiertje van Max for me.
People from Brabant are like people from Spain 15 minutes later, like good food, a good glass of wine, chilling out and fun to hang out with :)
I do not live in Holland atm and you bring my country back to me in a wonderful way. I thank you for this! Besides, your english has a slight dutch accent nowadays 😉🥰
In that temperature, many Dutch folk go to beaches along the sea or the many lakes.
I can be very busy there, when temperature is above 30 degrees Celsius.
On the subject of time, being on time is preferred, being early really isn't as the dutch tend to plan ahead up to the last minute.
which means not being able to change shirt/take a short shower after a hot summerday or not being able to go to the toilet before the guests arrive. (so your stay will either be shortened for them to finish their schedule or you'll be sitting in the living room staring at the dishes they planned to move to the kitchen before the doorbell rang whilst they're in the bedroom/bathroom doing what they planned to do)
1:59 I wonder if some people in the Netherlands ever refer to these warm, sunny summer days as "Movie Weather". As in, the kind of weather that (in northwest Europe) you normally only see in the movies/on TV.
Where I live, we similarly go crazy over even a light dusting of snow, because almost all the snow we've seen in our lives was on screens. The last time I experienced snow (late 2017) I really felt like I was in a Christmas movie.
The Dutch habit of sitting outside is perhaps to a large degree due to the air quality being (by city standards) really good: traffic infrastructure is focused on bikes, roads are narrow, and there's a lot of plants. This makes for a clean air and dampens extreme temperatures. Whereas in the US, you have large swathes of tarmac and little vegetation, resulting in a pronounced heat-island effect and heavily polluted air.
Little vegetation? We have millions of trees.
Gaslighting alert.
The USA has a much wider range of climates, from arid desert, semi-arid, humid subtropical to humid continental climates, making it often not feasible to enjoy food and drinks outside. But most of all, the USA has a car-centric culture which makes it hard to reach places on foot to get a drink and open terraces with seating on the street are forbidden by law if alcoholic beverages are served. It is a culture thing that the streets in the USA are only meant for cars.
Ava- thank you for highlighting such an amazing country - I can see your true joy in living there. I too hope my partner and I can move there with our son (currently tied to CA with family, etc) but I don’t feel like this is my true home. I have loved the Netherlands since I was 13 and do plan to live there soon. Be well ❤
Hi Ava, it was indeed nice meeting you in person!
You were on het Spui with the bookshop and Artmarket on fridays...nobody told you to walk also into that quaint secluded Begijnhofje...
We Dutch people are very diverse. Don’t think we are the same everywhere. What counts for Amsterdam doesn’t count for other cities. Go to Maastricht or Arnhem instead and see for yourself. P.S, there, they love tourists instead of hating them.
Yeah, those foreigners coming to visit the Netherlands and don't look further than Amsterdam :D Though I think Ava has a much broader view by now :).
Keep looking at the houses. And in the centre of Utrecht look at all the levels above the shops. There is lots of cool architecture there hidden in plain sight.
Hi Ava, thanks for vlogging outside, 😊
you can see, still today New York have similar similarities even though the dutch buildings are long gone
the greenery in the streets / the central park / the little stairs to the buildings / little terraces to sit and eat and drink outside. etc
there many books about Amsterdam and the Newyork connection. Amsterdam From Russel Shorto or De Tawl from Philip Droge
about the dutch/english language connections.
Having been driven/driving around a few cities in the UK, our streets are not even that narrow in most cases.
In the UK the streets are more narroq (at least feel more narrow) and then they also park the cars half way on the street. Making it even narrower for cars to drive, not uncommon i saw quickly that cars were missing side mirrors.
But in Summerset you have signs saying "Oncoming vehicles in the middle of the road" which you can sing to the tune of "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
Blessed be be the engineer who had the devine idea of side mirrors retracting when you lock the car.
@@flitsertheo Or the one who invented duct tape, which is used a lot to put them back on, haha
Well ava i enjoyed your vlog. Keep doing that! You are funny as well
Hoi Ava, wat leuk deze vlog met muziekje en alles... Echt een gezellige vlog!! Ook super dat mijn sportschool De Workout nog even voorbijkomt 🥰
Af en toe denk ik dat ik je zie in Utrecht maar ik weet het nooit zeker!
If you like buildings, may i suggest making a video about open Monumentendag. I think you would really enjoy it. Greetz from Zwolle
Hele leuke video! Zoals altijd, eigenlijk!
What are ur toughts about the metric system?
You are unamericanly civilized and spontaneous... thank you!
I don't know if it is already mentioned, but someone put pictures of Utrecht in between!
It’s 25C in Tokyo … at night!! And a delightful 35C during the day 🥵 all with max humidity
Dutch streets are so large, my point of reference is biased.
Me too, when visiting the Netherlands, I loved the greenery in the city. It’s so nice, really have a cooling effect and is good for the moral
Visit some smaller towns like Zutphen, Deventer, Zwolle and plenty more. The Netherlands is bigger than the big cities
Deventer is really great.
In Belgium people also take random days off. In my previous I could even take half days. So if I saw in the morning that it was going to be a beautiful afternoon, I would take the afternoon off to sit on a terrace, go shopping or work/read in the garden.
You see hand towels in the bathroom in places in Belgium too but it's very rare (especially since Covid) and it is disgusting! Everyone using that one towel, yehhh! I just use some toilet paper to dry my hands when that is the case.
Hallo Ava . How is the baby and mother doing ?
9:09 It's not that strict, you can be five minutes early or late. But when you make an appointment at 5:03, it is strict!
Excellent video Ava. It's rare but I have nothing much to comment.
It is nice that you explain how Dutch people live, not the American perception of what is going on. Books, i think, just like vinyl, are coming back as more and more people reject social media and trying to move away from the digital episode of their lives and realize all the negativity that comes with it.
Small note. Most places are nicer, older, safer and more beautiful than Amsterdam and Utrecht. If I'm not mistaken, there is a environmental rule from the 70's that every house needs a tree and that's why you see trees in every street. It is even in the points system of social housing. Don't remember exactly how the rule goes though.
How did you get a place to live in Amsterdam?
I wonder... have you ever been to the Dutch speaking part of Belgium? And do you sense the differences between the two countries? To us, the Netherlands seem to be a different world, on some points. But I think it's interesting to see what foreigners experience on this topic.
2:35 The streets were build before the invention of cars thats why they are so narrow :)
1. as if NL is the only country with lockers. Every European country has this.
2. the train checkin you conventiently didn't mention, is atrocious.
3. pretty cool until you see the price. And good luck not getting it stolen.
3:58 amusing theory but no. We don't buy books to read them, we buy specimens to collect and sell at a profit. And NL is not just Amsterdam. Don't generalize.
5:00 taking a day off to randomly walk around in a town is what nobody does. It may look like it but those are dinner/business meetings.
5:20 it's true the architecture is amazing, and nearly nobody has the time or energy to appreciate it except for the first few days.
5:35 if Amsterdam is a pretty city, all NL cities must be pretty. And ask a non-Amsterdam dutch, he finds Amsterdam dirty and atrocious. In other words, you aint seen nothing yet!
7:45 first of all it's more eco friendly, second, you just washed your hands they're clean right.
8:20 that's true. They have a fixed workpace, and you just have to wait. Going out for dinner can easily cost you 3 hours, most of which is waiting. Since the food is usually poor, I don't do that much anymore. Poor as in dispassionate, but far superior to what Americans eat.
8:30 Utrecht is fantastic if you're a student. To actually work/live there, it's very cramped.
9:10 yes we are averse to waiting, time is money, and you start to think about all the things you could have done. You can lose friends that way.
Just a few facts on the 4-day work week: People who work 4 days tend to work 9 hours per day, so in total they will work 36 hours per week. Others choose to work 4 and 5 days of 8 hours every other week. Personally, I work 4x8 hours and 1x4 hours a week. And 36 hours is officially considered a full work week here since last year, although you will still see 40-hour contracts in some sectors.
Nice vid! Im from Leeuwarden, perhaps also a nice city for you to visit. Lots of older buildings from around 1700 and lots of green.
Have you. Een to a city in the east. Like Enschede?
re being on time: This doesn't go for the entire Netherlands (of course not, duh). where I live, we have this expression "Brabants kwartierke" because apparently in the province of Brabant we are that chill that we arrive everywhere fifteen minutes late.
you should inform us about peculiar American habits, I would be interested
How did you cope when you 1st encountered a Dutch who was direct to you? Also how did you make friends? (Considering moving to The Netherlands 1 day) As heard Dutch people can be very...direct toward people.
Dutchie here. Yes we are direct, but we also just have rude people. I am Dutch but I am socially more shy and sensitive than the average Dutch person. Most people here are friendly, don't worry. We just tend to be less ashamed of certain things compared to other cultures. But saying something like "omg you are so fat" is considered rude here as well.
Heineken brewery is kind of cool, but very much a touristy thing. It's not just "see the inside" though, there are displays, presentations .... not "rides" but "experiences". I would say it's not a waste, but not a must-do
Every street a 'terrasje'? Only in the centre of Amsterdam or in other old city centers or touristic areas. There are a lot of boring suburbs where people only come to sleep. Only in the old city centers steets are really narrow
Ha Ave (Eva), question: you're coming up towards your first 5 year jubilee, and your Dutch is so unbelievably well...... could you do a (small) video...in... Dutch? Like the other way around, e.g. "..what NOT to do when you go to New York as a Dutch?" Since you are Dutch now, congraz, and you are the expert 🤗
Oh please please, pretty please?
Love your vids
I agree about the towels in bathrooms. But 95 out of 100 bathrooms use paper towls, a hand blower or those 1-time-use towels on a roll. But single towels, I almost don’t see them anymore and that’s a good thing 😅
Did you know that all trees in cities in the Netherlands are registered? We treat them as valuable. They are great to see and give, like you said, much needed cooling in the cities. You also need a felling permit to cut a tree down in your own garden 👍
Indeed, not every city in the Netherlands is like Amsterdam or Utrecht. But, even the smallest cities and villages sometimes are real gems. Have you ever visited a fortified city? Try Naarden, Willemstad or Bourtange and there are many more.
By the way it always sound a bit strange to me when Utrecht is mentioned. I’ve been to the convention area in Utrecht many times, but apparently never to the old center. Going to make up for that this summer ✍️😂👍
nice video i enjoyed it, take care & you seem to me a very nice person. greetings from belgium
Hey Ava, the streets are that narrow because the streets where there already before Columbus discovered America.....
Dear, there is a big difference between Amsterdam style and other cities and villages. This was an Amsterdam review. I know we in A’dam see everything outside of A’dam as a foreign country, but still.
Eva Groetjes uit de Zaanstreek. The place where people in Amsterdam look up too. Maybe its good to present some out of the cities. As you know The Netherlands is not really about city life. You do a good job; so applaus. just a thought!
The Netherlands are built basically on bogs or other wetlands. And bog people are not used the get a lot of sunlight. So even now, when the sun is out, even in autumn or winter, the Dutch take the opportunity to enjoy it fully😅.
Love this video ❤
😆😆 In the North (or rather "boven de rivieren") they don't know "Het Brabants Kwartiertje". Here in the South people are quite accustomed to people arriving 15 minutes later. In a way you could say it's almost ingrained in Brabant 😆😆
And thanks for another fun video! I always like seeing your perspective as an American living in the Netherlands!
Nice to see your video, thanks 👍
Always kind of hoping to run into you when visiting utrecht or amsterdam...
Uhm when I meet up with friends or colleagues we always give each other wiggle room like 10/15 min.
And they’re Dutch, also most of the time when people show up early for a party, it’s to help prepare
It really depends in what sector you work in. most people work 5 days
Have you visited an old church . If you do look at the floor, some have tombstones
The richer people could obtain the privilege to be buried inside the church. Generous donations would be helpful of course. The common people could just rot outside, literally and figuratively.
Come up north and visit Groningen!
I have once! It’s a gorgeous city!!
ava in that case i am a tourist too in my own country love to watch architecture specially the amsterdamse school and art deco area near the amstelstation across the berlage brug amsteldijk❤❤
Je zou ook in zaandijk naar zaanse schans kunnen kijken. Ik denk dat jij dat ook wel leuk vindt