Canadian Reacts To: I asked the Dutch about their biggest stereotypes

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]And the American people are more for me a little bit more fake.

[00:00:03]>> [laughter] >> So, if I ask your opinion, you'll tell me what you think? Yeah, we'll be completely honest. Hello guys, welcome.

[00:00:11]I'm Canadian and if I think of Canadian stereotypes are I guess we are very sorry. We really like maple syrup and hockey. But what about the Netherlands and Dutch people?

[00:00:24]I guess you guys really like Gouda.

[00:00:26][snorts] You are very good at racket sports and you are very tall, which is not really a stereotype or whatever. So, today I think I'm going to learn some things cuz we're going to watch a video called I asked the Dutch about their biggest stereotypes. Okay, let's check it out.

[00:00:44]I'll be there at 9:00 and if someone is 7 minutes late, I'm like, "Why are you late?"

[00:00:47]>> a steak for lunch. She's like, "No, you know, take some bread from home, get a piece of cheese, maybe butter, you know?" And then, yeah, perfect.

[00:00:53]>> You've seen someone only once and you meet them again and it's oh, like you're their best friend. How are you? Oh, come here, going to hug. Okay, come on.

[00:01:00]>> is North Americans, for [music] sure.

[00:01:03]We are like that.

[00:01:08]Dutch stereotypes, we've all heard them.

[00:01:11]Incredibly tall, blonde people who ride bikes, wear clogs, eat a ton of cheese and hagelslag and smoke a whole lot of weed in that one city they all live in, Amsterdam. Dutch are also said to be the most rude people out there who have zero filter. They're also stingy. Dutch are all for saving every single penny. No one is more of a sucker for a bargain in Europe than the Dutch. So, how accurate are these stereotypes according to the Dutchies themselves? Which are so incredibly true that all the Dutch people swear by them and which are more on the false side? I went to Amsterdam and Utrecht. Yes, I know, there there is another city besides Amsterdam to find out just that. What is one Dutch stereotype that you actually agree with?

[00:01:52]You're the Dutch.

[00:01:55]>> [laughter] >> This is what we think of.

[00:01:58]You totally have the Dutch look. They are always very direct.

[00:02:01]>> I agree with that. I'm quite direct. Are you both direct, would you say? Yes.

[00:02:05]Very. Very. [laughter] In which way? In every way, I think.

[00:02:08]Yeah, you know, of course we say something. Actually, I live in Thailand and I met many Dutch people since I live here and I had two friends where they were telling me like, "Hey Martin, I don't like when you do this. Like you're annoying when you do this." And it's like What So this is so direct, but at the same time it's better to tell me than never tell me.

[00:02:32]I'm personally Canadian. We we kind of like we don't really say everything. And I've been in Asia where in Asia it's even worse. You never say anything.

[00:02:43]>> we think about it. Yeah. We can be yeah.

[00:02:46]Like in which way? Like if I ask your opinion, you'll tell me what you think.

[00:02:49]Yeah. We'll be completely honest. Are you direct, both of you?

[00:02:52]>> Not always, no. I've heard that I am, so. Yeah, I'm direct. In which sense? Do you tell people what you think?

[00:02:58]>> Always.

[00:02:59]>> [laughter] >> Always. I'm just honest. I also love that about our culture. We just say what we think. I see it as a good thing because you know what to expect of people, but in different cultures it could come off as rude as well. I don't know, Asian cultures I'd say. This Dutch directness can be sometimes perceived as rudeness by foreigners. Oh yeah, certainly. It's rude. People say that Dutch people are rude, I can imagine.

[00:03:20]>> Yeah. What's your name? Roger. Roger.

[00:03:23]And Dutch for you?

[00:03:23]>> think it's rude.

[00:03:25]Rakhier. Ra Rakh. I really can't do the Dutch accent. If you don't like something that someone is doing, would you tell them directly? Yeah, I would.

[00:03:32]No.

[00:03:33]I wouldn't tell them.

[00:03:34]Should I say that we're really direct, but I don't I would just go away and just not talk to this person again.

[00:03:42]I feel it that way, actually. I am really going like this, like "Mhm, I know what you mean, but." So I personally don't recognize it.

[00:03:50]>> What do you think about like the British way of saying, excuse me. Sorry. Could Could Could Could I please tell you?"

[00:03:55]>> It's probably a good thing, you know, to be well-mannered. Being overly direct is not always good because it comes with the conflict.

[00:04:01]>> When you see other very direct Dutch people, does that bother you?

[00:04:04]>> Close to me, I'm like, "Whoa, you're really direct. That's not That's a bit hard to say, but not really my type of people."

[00:04:10]>> Other cultures like to tend to talk around it because not to hurt any anyone, and we don't like the fluffiness.

[00:04:16]>> So, you don't want to waste someone's time by going around the the issue, right?

[00:04:19]>> yes, certainly. You would probably say right away whether you like something or you don't like something, or you would say to someone whether something is good or bad. That could come off as very blunt as well. If you say, "Yeah, that's not good." I think Dutch people don't like it when people try to hide things from I mean, to be honest, okay, I said I wouldn't say it, but but like let's say in Canada, what people would do is not if they don't like something about a friend, they won't say it to their friend, but they would they will talk in their back, right? With other friends. Which is horrible. It's better to be direct and say it to his face. So, actually, the Dutch way is better.

[00:04:56]>> You they would like to know things straight up, and otherwise, they would see it maybe as ingenuous.

[00:05:00]>> Okay, so if someone says, "I love you.

[00:05:02]Oh my god, you're so great." We would never say that.

[00:05:05]>> [laughter] >> I mean, I I would never say that. How do you feel when Americans or British people express themselves because they're not direct?

[00:05:11]>> Sometimes it's difficult to to get to the point. I'm wondering, "What do you mean? Get to the point. Tell me what what's it?" And the American people are more for me a little bit more fake because if you go in there if you go to an American you go in the shop, you always go, "Oh, how are you doing? Do you have a nice day?" They don't care about [laughter] your answer. They just ask kind of politeness, but they don't care. So, you don't like it? I don't like the Americans, no. Do you like Americans?

[00:05:33]>> the We're like this, too, in Canada. I also felt like when you enter a store, they're like, "Hey, how are you doing?"

[00:05:39]And then I was like, Do I know you?

[00:05:41]>> Hello.

[00:05:41]>> [laughter] >> Sorry? Is it too much?

[00:05:44]>> It's too much. Yeah, it's fake. Yeah, I think they hold a mask maybe sometimes.

[00:05:49]It can be like really nice but not really. I don't know. It can be If a Dutch person is nice to you then it's like sincere. I think. Yeah, for me it sometimes feels a bit ungenuine.

[00:05:59]Somebody saying, "Oh well, no, I really like it." And then you get this feeling that it's not really true. I have a lot of English clients. You know, after living here for so long when I met people from Europe and my Dutch friends, I kind of realized I was like that and I toned down my my small talk over-friendliness.

[00:06:20]I kind of don't like it anymore. And I have to type really long sentences to get across. It sounds something like, man, I just want to say yes and no.

[00:06:28]Okay, if you want something very easy, you can ask it directly to your boss.

[00:06:32]There's no hierarchy. So, if you don't like something you you can tell your boss, "I don't I don't like this idea."

[00:06:37]Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. In America, for example, if I say something, it was okay. That would be a four out of 10 in America. But here it would be a could be a seven or an eight out of 10. You've seen someone only once and you meet them again and say, "Oh, I like you, you're the best friend. How are you? Oh, come here. Come and hug."

[00:06:51]Okay, come on. If you don't like somebody, we just tell them.

[00:06:54]>> Doesn't that hurt?

[00:06:56]>> [laughter] >> If we don't like somebody, we just tell them?

[00:07:02]>> [laughter] >> Why? Just [gasps] You don't need to. Just don't talk to them anymore. No? Yeah. Yeah. So, if someone says like, "You look bad today."

[00:07:11]Yeah. That's okay. Yeah. Yeah, but you know, if you spend a whole day with somebody you don't like, look around how many nice people are here. Then you can spend your time better than that.

[00:07:22]>> [laughter] >> That's quite a culture shock, to be honest. They always complain about everything, about the weather or other people.

[00:07:31]>> They always complain. Yeah, about everything. Dutch people complain? About the crowd, about everything. Yes. Is it because the weather is quite terrible or is it just the style of people? We have It's so good living in Holland, so you complain about everything. When we are in other countries My Dutch friend, every time [clears throat] I was going to the restaurant with him, he was always finding something to complain.

[00:07:52]Like, "Uh, the food, uh, this, something about the restaurant." Uh, every single time.

[00:07:58]>> You can always pick out the Dutch.

[00:07:59]>> Really? How is How can you notice the Dutch? How do they stand out?

[00:08:02]>> in other countries, the way they dressed, you know, the what they wear, how they behave, always complaining.

[00:08:07]"Oh, look, the coffee's here, €4."

[00:08:09]Always complaining. Most of the people eat cheese and sandwich for lunch. They just take bread and they put a slice of cheese on it and they put another bread and it's a sandwich. It's It's good It's good enough for lunch. You eat one or two. It's okay. Nobody complains.

[00:08:24]Everybody thinks it's okay.

[00:08:26]>> With butter and mayonnaise.

[00:08:27]>> With butter. With butter.

[00:08:28]>> Then you're a real Dutch guy. Why go for lunch and have something warm? I don't get it cuz in the evening you are you are also eating warm. Yeah, I'm having a steak for lunch. You're like, "Nah, no.

[00:08:38]You just take some bread from home, get a piece of cheese, maybe butter, you know?" And then, yeah, perfect. For a reason, we're the biggest people on Earth, you know?

[00:08:45]>> Peanut butter also really Dutch. Yeah.

[00:08:47]>> [laughter] >> Peanut butter with hagelslag. For the Dutch people watching, hagelslag hagelslag is the best.

[00:08:52]>> Oh, what's that? HAGELSLAG.

[00:08:55]OH, OH, OH.

[00:08:56]YEAH, that's also typical Dutch.

[00:09:00]What happened?

[00:09:03]>> [laughter] >> Yeah, that's a shame. That's a shame.

[00:09:07]Yeah, her whole bike bag just dropped in.

[00:09:10]Yeah.

[00:09:10]>> [laughter] >> Have you had any culture shocks upon arriving here?

[00:09:18]>> When I arrived to this country, I came here to do a masters. There was orientation. They gave away free lunches. I remember going to the cafeteria, grabbing my bagged lunch, and going to the table, and I open up the bagged lunch. I look inside, it's a sandwich, but there's something missing.

[00:09:35]So, I went back to the table and I asked the lady, "Can I get a new sandwich because there's something missing?" And she looked at it and she was like, "Nope, that's your sandwich." It was a slice of cheese in between two slices of bread, and that was my introduction to the Netherlands. That That's That's weird. Yeah, I've never I mean Yeah, I've never had a cheese sandwich.

[00:09:58]What is one stereotype that you don't agree with about Dutch people? Ooh, one stereotype. In the other countries, people say we are German. Yeah.

[00:10:06]Everybody from the Netherlands hates it when everybody say we sound like German.

[00:10:11]We hate it. Don't say it. We're not German, we're Dutch.

[00:10:14]>> When you're abroad, everyone says like, "Oh, you're from Amsterdam, you smoke weed." But I never smoke weed. I think people do tend to do like illegal things more, and if stuff is not illegal anymore, it's not as exciting anymore.

[00:10:27]Mainly in Amsterdam area, city areas, and for sure tourists that come to Amsterdam smoke a lot of weed, but the average Dutch person does not smoke weed, no.

[00:10:36]No?

[00:10:38]Young people don't smoke more than let's say other popular countries in North America? And very punctual and planning. Planning. If we have a meeting or yeah, just like it it's casual just a date at 9:00, I'll be there at 9:00. And if someone's 10 minutes late, I'm like, "Why are you late?" So, I think that's a bit Dutch, maybe. I'm like this, too.

[00:11:02]Also, the buses and the trains and the yeah.

[00:11:05]>> You have a saying something like just being yourself is crazy enough. Is that true? How do you say it in Dutch?

[00:11:12]Yeah, my my mother always used to say that. [laughter] Yeah. Yeah. Act normal. Yeah, act normal and then that's enough. That's typical Dutch.

[00:11:21]What does that really mean? What does that come down to? Don't do anything that's >> Don't overreact. For example, if you look at the tourist, and you would sit there and you would order a bottle of champagne, then all people around you would thinking something of it. Why would Do I like it? It's like always wondering what others are thinking. Is that it or Did I understand it correctly? If yes, if it's about what people think of you, then I don't like it.

[00:11:49]>> Would you order a bottle of champagne?

[00:11:50]Yeah. Hey, do normal. Behave normal. And what is being normal? Ordering a bottle of cheap wine? Yeah, yeah, >> [laughter] >> cheap wine and a beer. That's That's That's normal. That's what I think. You know, we like to do to order a bottle of champagne. That's why we know that people are always react like Don't be extravagant. the stereotype of Dutch people are They like to save money. They are cheap. [laughter] True. Oh, is it true? cheap Dutch people question >> [laughter] >> True. That is true.

[00:12:16]Yeah, we like discounts.

[00:12:18]>> [laughter] >> Well, that's the the the type I am, I think.

[00:12:21]You finally found your >> [laughter] >> You are Dutch after all.

[00:12:25]They don't count the money, but they don't want to spend it.

[00:12:28]That's the other way around. I mean Dutch people in general would buy the cheapest thing in the supermarket and those kind of things, yeah. That's also a reason why in the supermarket in Netherlands is quite in general quite cheap.

[00:12:37]>> Really looking for the the cheap things uh that you can buy, but at the other side also spending large amounts of money on on holidays and stuff. We also say like, "Don't be so Dutch." You know, we say to each other. But or say like, "That's really Dutch thing to say or to do." And when it comes to like being greedy and with money and stuff.

[00:12:53]>> I always find it interesting because I feel like Dutch people earn quite a lot, but then there is this stereotype that they really like to get a good sale and uh get things cheaper and actually Yeah, I mean it's being smart.

[00:13:04]Is that true? Yeah. Yeah, that happens, too. Yeah.

[00:13:06]>> get a compliment about your clothes.

[00:13:09]First thing you say how much it was and it's actually nice if it was cheap.

[00:13:13]>> [laughter] >> That's like Oh, yeah, I bought it on sale at 40% off and then everybody's like, "Oh, you got it in the sale for 40% off?" I like that.

[00:13:22]I could live here. I do that, too.

[00:13:24]>> [laughter] >> I think it makes sense. I mean, if you paid a lot of money for it, then what is there What's so cool about it, right?

[00:13:29]Why is that? Because I feel like Dutch people earn quite a lot of money. Yeah, that's true. They don't want to spend it because when you're not spending it, you keep it and it's there when you're old.

[00:13:38]Why would you spend it today if you could if you could save it for tomorrow?

[00:13:41]Maybe we used be Protestant country and with Calvinists and that's also Yeah, being very economic about your expenses.

[00:13:51]>> I just think they like to negotiate.

[00:13:53]That's all.

[00:13:56]Mhm.

[00:13:57]I didn't know that.

[00:14:04]In all of the words it's called genieten and there's not really an English word for it, but it just means having a good time and then a lot of Dutch people tend to focus their life on genieten. Enjoy the sun.

[00:14:15]>> Enjoying the moment. Yeah, really in the being in the moment.

[00:14:18]>> Isn't there another word for it? Yeah, we also have gezellig. Yeah, so We have a lot of words for having a good time.

[00:14:23]>> Yeah, actually. We really want to have a good time.

[00:14:26]>> [laughter] >> But I think I think genieten is Gezellig is the word, not genieten. Yeah, yeah, it's gezellig. Yeah, yeah. And I think genieten is more from the inside that you enjoy the moment and gezellig is like the circumstances you're in are gezellig. Yeah, so I know better Dutch than you.

[00:14:40]>> [laughter] [music] >> Interesting. De Jong, I like all of them. Except, maybe I just didn't understand it, but the one that said I don't remember in Dutch, but the one that says act normal, don't overdo things. Meaning people are going to look at you and it's going to be too much.

[00:15:05]I'm not sure about this one if you think about what others think all the time.

[00:15:10]It's a little bit about ego and stuff like this. Anyway, I don't know. Let me know in the comments. Maybe I don't really understand it well. Guys, thank you so much for watching. See you in the next video. Bye-bye.