Roses show a marriage proposal. Marriage proposal is a rather romantic thing, the Dutch are very poetic in this regard, when their daughters to the age of marriage, parents will be in their daughters' bedroom window sill, placed in a pot of brightly colored roses, indicating that young men can come to the proposal.
The wooden shoe is a token of love. According to Dutch tradition, when young men and women get engaged, the groom should give the bride a pair of wooden shoes, a tradition that has been popular for centuries. Wooden shoes are carved from whole pieces of wood, with thick soles and hard edges, sharpened into a pointed head, painted in bright colors, simple and lovely and moisture-proof.
Wedding beds passed down from generation to generation. In Magen Island, every family has a small bed embedded in the wall, the bed is surrounded by beautifully carved patterns, hung with mosquito nets, this small bed is the wedding bed passed down from generation to generation. The wedding bed is reserved for the groom to enjoy on the wedding night, and from the second night onward the groom and bride must move to a regular bed to sleep.
Opening the window on Friday to meet the lover. The village of Staatschester in the Mire region of the Netherlands is known as the "Mysterious Women's Village". Because the village women are tough but shy, they have their own unique way of choosing a spouse: every Friday night, to reach the age of marriage, the girl will open their own back window, to attract young men to meet. When the girl sees her favorite young man, she lets him climb in through the back window to talk about love.
Cigar marriage: when the Dutch young man intends to a girl's courtship, always knock on the door of the girl's home, such as the girl's parents out, they will ask the girl's parents for him to light a cigar, the girl's parents will be a variety of questions on the youth to examine his character and ability, when he asked again to light a cigar, you can give him a very clear answer.
Dutch etiquette
Dress etiquette
Most Dutch people dress much the same as in other countries on the continent. On formal social occasions, such as gatherings and banquets, men dress in a dignified manner. Women dress elegantly. The most distinctive is the dress of the inhabitants of the Dutch island of Magan. The island's girls' shirts are red and green spaced strips.
Grooming etiquette Dutch people in conversation, do not like cross talk, women into the seat, the legs should be together; men should not be seated when shaking legs. They do not pick their teeth with toothpicks in front of people.
Meeting etiquette
On official occasions, the Dutch usually shake hands with their guests. In everyday life, when friends meet, they mostly hug. When meeting with close friends, there is also a kiss, they do not like to cross the handshake, which is considered unlucky behavior.
Dining etiquette
The Dutch eat cold food for brunch. For breakfast, they only eat bread spread with butter or cheese and drink some milk or coffee. The Dutch don't like tea very much and usually drink milk to quench their thirst. The main meal for the Dutch is dinner. It is customary to have a drink before dinner, and then to lay a tablecloth on the table in a very formal way. Usually there are two courses and one soup. The first course is soup, often made of cornstarch, delicious. The Dutch are used to eating Western food, but also quite interested in Chinese food, the local Chinese restaurant in Europe.
Happy Funeral Ceremony
Traditionally, when young men and women in the Netherlands get engaged, the groom must give the bride a pair of beautiful wooden shoes as a betrothal gift. The marriages of young Dutch people living in cities and towns are much the same as in Western Europe. According to the Catholic Church, the funeral service is organized by the family of the deceased or relatives and friends of the funeral procession, walking hearse to the church, the first prayer, so that the soul of the deceased into heaven, and then sent to the cemetery for burial.
Business etiquette
The best months to do business in the Netherlands are March to May and September to November. The Dutch have a strong sense of time, so they are very faithful to their appointments in business. The Dutch love compliments, so they are very happy to receive a few compliments on their interior furnishings during business events.
Travel etiquette
When traveling in the Netherlands, it is a good idea to learn some conversational Dutch, as this is very helpful when traveling; if you are proficient in English, you can also use it, as most of the Dutch know some English. In the Netherlands, it is popular to give priority to women, so no matter what the occasion is, men have to provide convenience for women everywhere.
Major Taboos The Dutch taboo 13 and Friday. They are reluctant to talk about American politics, the economy and prices in their dealings with each other. It is also particularly taboo to be photographed.
Customs: The Dutch are proud to be "misers"
For the Dutch, being cheap is synonymous with being thrifty and is a virtue in life, especially in today's materialistic age.
When I was in China, I heard that the Dutch are so cheap that people often make up jokes to mock them. I read this on the Internet: A student asked his teacher what the meaning of "catty" was. The teacher replied: two Dutchmen fought over a five-cent coin. Another joke says, a passenger in the plane over the Netherlands asked the stewardess: "What are those white ribbons on the ground?" The stewardess replied, "That's the Dutch drying used toilet paper so they can dry it out and use it again."
How do the Dutch take these jokes? A few years ago, I just came to Brussels to work, from the newspaper read a news story: some Dutch people are not ashamed of "cheap", on the contrary, "cheap" for pride. They call themselves "misers", organized a "miser's club", to promote the "live to old age, thrifty to old age" philosophy of life, and published their own newspaper, introducing home life They also published their own newspaper to introduce good tips on living at home and being thrifty. For these Dutch people, cheapness should be synonymous with thrift, a virtue in life, especially in today's materialistic age.
Mr. Henneden, who is in charge of the club, laughed off the world's ridicule of the Dutch. Surely, he said, the Dutch do not dry their drunken tea bags before brewing it, as they used to do in the past. But frugality is still the rule of life, and wastefulness is still the rule of life. For example, not living at home in the winter and turn on the heating, it is a "sin".
Hannaden is a psychologist with a "middle class" income. Frugality for him is more of a spiritual pursuit. 6 years ago he entered the ranks of the "miser", and since then has never entered the door of the restaurant. He sold his car and TV, and when he buys clothes and other necessities, he only goes to second-hand stores. Sometimes even do not go to the second-hand store, from the bottom of the box out of a piece of worn-out clothes to put on the matter. "Being frugal doesn't mean you have to scrimp and save to be frugal; sometimes just cloths and vegetables will do the trick." So explained Henneden. The only thing that Henneden didn't feel very comfortable with was living in the modern world and not being able to keep his ears to the ground. Later, he came up with a way to sign an agreement with his neighbors to go to their houses to watch the programs he wanted to watch when they were broadcast on TV.
Hannerton said he was a "miser", not because he wanted to be a hippie and play the claptrap, but because he wanted to gain experience by being frugal in a variety of ways, which he then passed on to the rest of the world. In the past few years, he and other "misers" published three books to introduce the way of frugality. The subscribers to their newspaper, The Scrooge, have grown from a few hundred in the beginning to more than 5,000 today. Recently, they also sent the newspaper to the Internet. Some French and Swedes have heard about it and are planning to follow suit and start their own miser's newspaper.
Later, as I often go to the Netherlands, I have had a lot of personal experience with this Dutch thrift. More than one Dutch friend has told me that the first thing they look for when buying a car is which model is the most fuel-efficient and practical. Building and buying a house is also about practicality. Once I went to a friend's house and found that the bathroom in the living room was so small that it was hard to turn around and there was no hot water. I later learned that most residents' homes are like this, and even some restrooms along the highway don't have hot water, which is still uncommon in Western European countries.
A Chinese woman who has been married to a Dutchman for many years also told me about her experience. When she was first married, she could only wash her hair with water from a wash basin because of the repair of the shower room, and when she used more water, her husband was a bit disgusted and reminded her to pay attention, saying that this was not economical and would also pollute the environment. She also found that her husband washing dishes especially save water, often the water left over from cooking to wash dishes, which makes it difficult for her to accept. For the first three years of their marriage, the two of them did their own cooking, and only later did they slowly get used to it. According to reason, her husband is a civil servant, the income is not small, but in order to save can be described as brainstorming. For example, once, they went to see a relative, leaving already very late, the relative is not assured, said you get home to make a phone call. Who had thought, her husband immediately told that relative: "I dialed the phone over, ring three times do not answer, it means it is safe to go home."
The author has asked a senior reporter in Europe, Henneden, such as the Dutch why advocate thrift? He said it was related to the spirit of hard work, hard thrift and fairness and mutual assistance that had been nurtured in the Dutch national tradition. Henneden also explained the ideals of the "misers" to a visiting Swedish journalist. He said: "I often ask people for their old clothes, which can actually be used for quite a long time, and some of them are even new. If we could all take what we no longer want to use and give it to those in need, this society would be fairer." I think that people who read this passage may no longer see the Dutch as "cheapskates", "Scrooge", in fact, that may be a modern people should pursue a way of life it.