When I first got here, it was easy to see and feel the uniqueness of the Dutch as a people. Now that I've lived here a while, I don't really notice it any more, people have become individuals instead of representatives of a particular nation.
I've noticed this happening before as well, for example with Americans. From afar they seem a very distinct people (yes they do, go put your melting pot where the Sun doesn't shine) but whe you get to know the individuals, you lose sight ofthe bigger picture. Plus, when you get to know lots of individuals, they start seeming normal and then it's YOU that's weird.
So, what is so particular about the Dutch? Well, usually you can tell they're Dutch just by looking at them. There's two main types: one is medium to tall height and has that rosy-cheeked buttery glow that some people have (never mind that they're actually skinny, they just look so... well... chubby). The second is extra-tall and usually thin often with curly hair.
The Dutch are usually considered very forward and frank but at the moment I can't think of a good example except the fact that (this particularly for the Dutch males) they come off extremely rude in any kinds of (business) conversations. Personally, I prefer this lack of "soft talk" to the American version of business lingo. The Americans keep talking but they have absolutely no idea what about, everything is fine as long as they use all the right big words. So when a Dutchman says something along the lines of: "no, we cannot do it the way you want because you don't understand what I've been explaining to you for the past 2 days at all" then, obviously, the poor American gets a culture shock and stops functioning.
I've noticed this not only with Americans but with pretty much all westerners. Now, coming from the neck of the woods that's considered impolite by most standards, I have to say that even I have a problem with this sometimes. But then I'll just tell myself that this or that person is being like my brother and I should ignore any kinds of perceived insults on my intelligence and concentrate on the actual information instead. This has proved useful in that after a few weeks everyone seems to think me very smart indeed. Or maybe I am very smart indeed. Don't know.
What I really like about the Dutch people is their relationship to religion. There are pretty much all kinds of religions represented here but at the same time the Netherlands is probably one of the most secular countries in the World. Personal religious beliefs are considered pesonal and people don't generally talk about their religion. Belief is considered to be within the person, not around him/her and therfore it is considered unecessary and a little rude to profess it vey loudly. I suppose this has a lot to do with the latent effecs of the protestant branch of Chrstianity. In fact, that is the only reason why I might, if pressed, say that I am Lutheran (as opposed to a thorough agnostic, which most people take to mean "undecided", whereas for me it means "error, impossible to compute", the same answer you get when dividing anything by zero).
I'm sure there are more... and I'll post those cultural peculiarities at some later point.
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