Thursday, March 31, 2011

I am proud at being Orange

Making fun of people is one thing Dutch really love! We have our own word for a person who does that in public for his job: Cabaretier - also know as a standup comedian. We know quite some (in my opinion ) good cabaretiers, like Hans Teeuwen, Youp van 't Hek, Guido Weijers.
A condition that jokes are funny, is that you are not involved in them. Making fun of people and positive stories doesn't go together. Simply, because that's not funny. What is funny, is when people make stupid mistakes, when they say odd things or when they are convinced of A but act like B.

Yesterday I have been to a performance of Greg Shapiro, who is a comedian as profession. He calls himself the American Nederlander. He has lived here for a long time and is maried to a Dutch woman. Therefore he has quite some experience with the Dutch and our culture.  



Besides because I'm Dutch, I also thought it could be interesting to go to his performance to get inspired for my workshop Dutch Habits & Traditions (which by the way, will take place 14th of April again). In his show 'Pride to be Orange' he tries to go a bit further besides the normal prejudices like cheapness, (non) openness. What he did in quite a good way is to turn negative prejudices into a positive light. Like, the reason we keep the cookie tin closed after serving 1 cooky, is not being stingy, but it is for YOU - to keep the contents fresh, in case YOU want more. Isn't that sweet of us!

He also discussed the 'inburgerings cursus' (integration course). Man, what are some of those questions difficult!! Why do immigrants have to know all those things like 'where does nutmeg come from?' I really don't have a clue. But yes, other questions really made me proud if you look at our history, all the entrepreneus, painters, writers. And yes, we created our own land: Flevoland. Not that everybody is really proud of that provence, but besides that, it is new land!

I'm already looking forward to Koninginnedag, 30 April. I will wear ORANGE, with PRIDE!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Belgium, so close but so different

We have the same history back in 18th/19th century. Just a couple of hours by car and you're there already. We both love beer, we both make fun of each other.

The differences between the neighboring countries are bigger than you think
We talk the same language, but we don't understand each other. In terms of power distance, difference are enormous. And that's exactly the area in which I made a huge mistake:


I had the nice opportunity again to organize a workshop for my work. The participants of the workshop were a reflection of the organisation and the whole footprint. This means a variety of cultures together in one room. I had prepared everything very carefully: an interactive program, clear objective, drinks/snacks, energizing movie to prevent the after-lunch-dip, everything. At least that's what I thought... Everybody received a badge on entry. A badge with their name, location and position. Although positions are not very important to me, this day I learned for Belgiums they are. I indicated a 'director' as a 'manager'.  Ouch! As mentioned in my previous post, Dutch are not that strict in power distance and openly show disagreement with their superior. In Belgium, the most powerful will receive most respect. From childhood the Dutch get the oportunity to express their opinion openly. Unlike the Belgiums, who learn to esteem older generations. Belgians are hierarchical set and it seems to be very important to show your function. Of course, the higher, the more important to express it.


Identification with the culture is very important. Even though they seem similar

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Typically Dutch, or is it just me?

I work for an International company. Our parent organisation is located in US and our affiliates are spread out across Europe. When I joined this company close to 1 1/2 year ago, I was really faced with myself; I didn't agree immediately with everything my manager said and I wanted myself to keep to my calendar. I had a serious tight one of course. No no no, Joƫlle, wrong!! You may have different ideas than your manager has, but you don't pronounce it. At least not in countries like Hungary, Poland, Czech or Romania. And of course it is important to be in time for meetings and it is important to you that people are in time, but your schedule must not be a reason to end a discussion with a senior, although people have to wait for you. We are one and a half year later and it is still difficult for me. Or are these situations difficult for all Dutchies?

As mentioned before, my colleagues are spread out over the world. In my department we try to see each other at least once a year. We know each other from calls and emails. We have a slight idea of the other characters, but nobody is really aware of all cultural differences. You can imagine, that brings along quite some hilarious situations. Put an American and a Romanian in one room and of course discussion clashes. I don't mind. Although both are my seniors, I saw this one coming and I interupt them to explain the different situations. Luckily they where happy with this intervention. But none of the others in the room even had the intention the spend some time on this little incident. Was it me who came in between or was it a typically Dutch reaction?   

Every day a face such situations and everytime I ask myself again: Is this typically Dutch, or is it just me?

Saturday, March 12, 2011

The beauty of faces

Like many people who love photography, I love faces! Faces interest and inspire me. Faces of both the young and the old. Faces show how people feel, their experience in life. They may show innocence and joy of life. But also the opposite. The funny thing is, when I'm travelling, I allow myself to take pictures of people. But at home, when I take my camera out to take some pictures in the neighbourhood, I feel it's not appropriate to observe people. But what's the difference between an Indian woman cooking in the forest and a business man working behind his computer. Both have their own story, experience and feelings. Both can inspire in a different way. Both may show passion, dedication.

Perhaps because I don't like posing myself, I don't want to ask people to model for my photo. I prefer situations in which people are not aware of the camera. Unawareness shows people at their purest. Besides that it is not really nice if you don't ask permission first. Well, best locations to go to take pictures of people without a feeling of guilt are Jordan and Syria: people really love posing!! They acually approach you if you would like to take a picture of them. They don't have to have or even see the picture.   

I would like to show you some pictures I have taken on my trips. First two lovely children in Brazil, then a very nice nomad I met in the Sahara in Marocco, followed by Inians in Surinam Jungle and finally a little boy in Palmyra, Syria. In some way, the expressions on their faces tell me their stories. If the stories are true, I'll probably never know...


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Workshop Dutch Habits & Traditions

Let's kick-off with the introduction of the workshop I'm organizing: Dutch Habits & Traditions. The idea of this workshop came when a friend asked me 'what really inspires me'. Several topics immediately popped up: meeting new people, cultural differences, connecting people, make people happy. 

The idea of the workshop is to bring people together, who are new to The Netherlands, to Amsterdam and to discuss issues they are facing, or funny things they have noticed about Dutchies. Participants will meet people who are in the same situation. Experiences will be shared and you never know what kind of click people may have. I'll do my best to give you tips & tricks on how to get into contact with Dutchies and to make life more interesting over here. Overall, it will be a nice evening with snacks and drinks.

The next workshop is planned at Thursday evening 24 March from 20:00 - 22:00 For further details, please see attached flyer. Feel free to subscribe (by sending me an email) or to forward the flyer to people for whom it might be interesting. I would love to welcome you at my place in the Jordaan.

Of course I've posted information on several sites:
http://classifieds.justlanded.com/en/Netherlands_North-Holland_Amsterdam/Classes_Other/Workshop-Dutch-Habits-amp-Traditions-401669