4 ms·

I find this all fascinating that resonates well with me. I used to work in Germany but found them too formal and official in both working and personal relations

I find this all fascinating that resonates well with me. I used to work in Germany but found them too formal and official in both working and personal relationships. Perhaps I should have tried it in the Netherlands.

mercer 11y ago
Oh yeah. After three years I learned to appreciate the Germans to an extent, but I could never shake the feeling that, as a 'group', they're a bit like the boring, responsible, often humorless older sibling to the Dutch. Both 'groups' have their own pros and cons though, to be fair. The Dutch can be horribly rude and argumentative...
- leap_ahead 11y ago
  >> The Dutch can be horribly rude and argumentative... As a Russian, so can I. It can be a useful trait under circumstances, but I generally try to keep it in control. If I get an idea to work in Europe again, I'll pay closer attention to the Dutch opportunities. It's important for the people to "click" on a cross-cultural level in order to work well as a team, and I'm afraid I didn't click nearly enough back in Germany. Anyway, no culture is perfect. We're supposed to learn from each other and work on our bad sides as recognized in others and by others.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - mercer 11y ago
    In my experience the Dutch get along pretty well with Russians. The main sources of 'conflict' I've noticed usually have to do with the fact that the Dutch like to rub their 'liberalness' in other people's faces, and many Russians I've met tend to be a bit more conservative/traditional in their values. That said, my experience is also that it's more bark than bite. We love arguing and we love telling others our views unasked, but in practice we tend to be pretty, uh, pragmatic about our beliefs. We're essentially a country of merchants/salesmen, we have been for a long time, and getting into real arguments over beliefs is not good for business. It's something I both love and hate about our culture. (This is generalizing, of course, but I've been shocked to find out more and more how strong a 'culture' can be, even on a national level.)

mercer 11y ago

Oh yeah. After three years I learned to appreciate the Germans to an extent, but I could never shake the feeling that, as a 'group', they're a bit like the boring, responsible, often humorless older sibling to the Dutch. Both 'groups' have their own pros and cons though, to be fair. The Dutch can be horribly rude and argumentative...

leap_ahead 11y ago
>> The Dutch can be horribly rude and argumentative... As a Russian, so can I. It can be a useful trait under circumstances, but I generally try to keep it in control. If I get an idea to work in Europe again, I'll pay closer attention to the Dutch opportunities. It's important for the people to "click" on a cross-cultural level in order to work well as a team, and I'm afraid I didn't click nearly enough back in Germany. Anyway, no culture is perfect. We're supposed to learn from each other and work on our bad sides as recognized in others and by others.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- mercer 11y ago
  In my experience the Dutch get along pretty well with Russians. The main sources of 'conflict' I've noticed usually have to do with the fact that the Dutch like to rub their 'liberalness' in other people's faces, and many Russians I've met tend to be a bit more conservative/traditional in their values. That said, my experience is also that it's more bark than bite. We love arguing and we love telling others our views unasked, but in practice we tend to be pretty, uh, pragmatic about our beliefs. We're essentially a country of merchants/salesmen, we have been for a long time, and getting into real arguments over beliefs is not good for business. It's something I both love and hate about our culture. (This is generalizing, of course, but I've been shocked to find out more and more how strong a 'culture' can be, even on a national level.)