D.U.W.S.W.T.S.C.H.
D.U.W.S.W.T.S.C.H. – Drug Using, Wooden Shoe Wearing, Tulip Sniffing Cheese Head
Yep, that’s usually the first thing people say (online anyway) when I tell them I’m Dutch. It seems that everyone thinks that all Dutch people use drugs.
Sure, The Netherlands is known for it’s weird1 drugs policy but that doesn’t mean everyone here uses drugs. Actually our drugs policies are pretty complicated but one of the main goals is ‘harm reduction’. The policies aren’t just plain black and white, there is no ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’. Not directly anyway, it’s very difficult to explain.
Now that is sort of cleared up now let’s move on to the second ‘accusation’ from the title. Wooden shoes.
Believe it or not, they are actually really good for your feet! At first they will be uncomfortable (kind of like leather shoes, they need to set to your foot) but once you’re used to them they are really good for your feet to wear. That doesn’t mean everyone here wears them though, I used to have a pair, my dad owns a pair and wears them a lot around the stables. Mostly they are used by farmers and gardeners still. A long time ago nearly everyone wore them, but since than, the Dutch fashion industry has surely progressed 
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Tulips are such beautiful flowers, I love them. I like having them in my house. They really brighten things up. But I bet you didn’t know they originate in Turkey rather than The Netherlands? Surprising eh! They weren’t introduced here until 1593. So despite of what most people think, The Netherlands isn’t where the tulip originates from. To me that doesn’t really matter as I love them anyway. So yes, I’m a tulip sniffer2, don’t worry at least 1 accusation stands 
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Uh oh… cheese head? Me? Ha! You might just have met the first Dutch person who doesn’t like cheese. Actually I hate it, I can’t stand the smell and you won’t find it anywhere in my fridge. As a matter of fact, I even joked to my mom that if she ever wanted to eat cheese at my house, she had to bring her own.
Even the Belgian call us Dutchies cheese heads. Maybe some of it is true, after all there is the famous cheese market in Alkmaar. As far as this accusation goes for me, it’s a total misconception, I’m definitely not a cheese head.
After all this invalidating of the conceptions made, I suppose it’s time to make some confessions about the Dutch. Believe me, we do some weird things and have some very strange habits.
Let’s start with breakfast, most people here start the day of by putting chocolate sprinkles on their bread. Yes, the same kind of sprinkles most of you put on cakes. Go into any Dutch supermarket, find the sprinkles section and you will find loads of different variations of the sprinkles, to put on your bread! They are sold in big packages so we don’t have to run out to the store every day to buy new ones!
If you thought that was weird, check this, most families here eat their dinner at 6 PM sharp. Sure there are exceptions (like yours truly as I have to leave for work at 5.30 PM and eat before I go) but overall 6 PM is the time to find Dutch families at the dinner table. And to top that off, they usually have their curtains open, even if it’s dark outside.
Taking things a bit further, let’s talk about the birthday calendar (and that’s the last confession I’ll make for now about our weird habits!). You’re probably wondering what’s so weird and ‘typically Dutch’ about a birthday calendar, well the fact that in most Dutch households, you’ll find the birthday calendar…. not in the kitchen but on the toilet door! Yes, the smallest room of the house is where we hang our birthday calendar. I guess that’s how we come up with crappy ideas for presents. On the bright side, it’s hard to forget a birthday if you hang the calendar where you certainly won’t forget to look at it 
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Ok, let’s face it, this post is completely useless but I hope it was entertaining anyway. Maybe some day you’ll get more confessions of ‘The Dutchess’. I think it’s for the best if I just leave now and go back to my strange habits.
Plugged: Carly
Later dropsticks x
1 To foreigners maybe, but to me they are completely normal.
2 I don’t even know if that’s a word but if it wasn’t it is now!
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I get the exact same reactions when I tell people I’m Dutch. The birthday calendar thing is actually funny if you think about it… I never really thought of another place to hang it. The toilet door seems like a logical place to me, haha.