4 Things My American Friends Never Believe About The Dutch

1. People can party hard without drinking alcohol

没有酒也可以聚会

That includes students and other party with young people. My American friends in university looked at me really funny when I said this, and assumed I was joking.

这包括学生和其他一些年轻的政党。在大学里当我说起这件事的时候，我的美国朋友觉得很好笑的看着我，认为我是在开玩笑。

Don’t get me wrong, the Dutch are great drinking buddies. But being sober for a night only makes it easier to party in a more coordinated fashion.

别误会，荷兰人是很好的酒友。但清醒冷静的一晚只会让我们更容易以一种更加协调的方式参与聚会。

2. At birthdays, we congratulate everyone in the room

生日的时候，我们会为在场的每一个人表示祝贺

I never realized how odd this is until international friends pointed it out. It is customary to shake hands and/or give 3 kisses to everyone congratulating them with the person who’s birthday it is. E.g. You congratulate the mom with “congratulations with your son”.

在国际友人指出这一点以前我都没有发觉这点有多么的奇怪。握手或给每个人都祝贺生日的人3个吻都很常见。

3. We don’t understand what other countries call polite behavior

我们不能理解被别的国家称为礼貌的行为

• If we offer you something and you say no, we won’t ask again or politely ‘insist’

如果我们给你某件东西，而你拒绝了，我们便不会再问或者礼貌的“坚持”

• If you ask us how we are doing we might actually tell you. We are also used to being allowed to criticize anyone. And we expect that person to thank us. We see it as a favor that we help you develop.

• 如果你问我们是如何操作的，我们也许真的会告诉你。我们也曾被允许批评别人。我们希望那个人会感谢我们。我们会认为我们是在帮你进步。

4. We don’t tip but not because we are cheap

我们不给小费不是因为便宜

In the Netherlands you only tip if the waiter was particularly nice. A tip is also called a gratuity, a reward out of gratefulness. So that is how we see it.

在荷兰只有当服务员特别好的时候才会给小费。小费也被称之为赏钱，感激之外的一种奖励。所以那就是我们的看法。

We expect that the price on the menu includes a fair wage and profit for everyone involved. Otherwise it is just bad business management.

我们希望菜单的价格里包含了公平的工资一个参与的每个人的利润。否则，那就只是一种糟糕的商务管理。

The Dutch grow angry and frustrated by the American habits of assumed tipping and prices excluding tax.

荷兰人会因为美国人给小费的习惯和价格中不含税而愤怒和无奈。