3 ms·

Dutch folks, what are you thoughts about the British — Dutch tables in this article?

• eszed 3y ago
  American, not Dutch, but lived in the UK for nearly a decade, and can attest to the [general] accuracy of the first two columns of the table, down to the precise phrases given. I lost one job, early in my stay, exactly because I hadn't yet figured out those social nuances. The "exit interview" there was rough: as directly as I've ever been spoken to in my life, to the point of verbal abuse. (Among other things mentioned: my habit of saying "sure", in place of "yes", was interpreted as tremendous rudeness.) Those people were mad as a box of frogs - many years later I worked, quite successfully, with a (British) person who'd likewise been employed by them, who concurred, and commisserated - but differing social expectations didn't help. Looking back, I think I alienated myself, though not nearly to that extent, in several other work / social situations for some of the same reasons. I learned, though (having a British romantic partner to "translate" was helpful), and became quite comfortable navigating things there, to the extent that eventually moving back to the US came with some culture shock. (Seriously, why do Americans talk SO DAMN LOUD in public?!?) Still, I'd prefer (even over the US defaults) to operate in cultural milieus as far to the left of all of those scales as possible.