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| My grandfather, Opa Postma, operated a bridge, by the time that I was aware, this was in Gouda. He turned The red bridge (De Rode Brug, or: Rooie brug) many times a-day to let the barges through, travelling from Rotterdam, north to Amsterdam.
He was a bit of a character. He had very many sayings, to make sense of life, and his daughter, my mother, one of nine children, passed these on. And, I have heard quite a few of these from fellow Dutch-Australians, like: Doe is gewoon! Dan doe je al gek genoeg. ( = Act normal. That's weird enough). Marc Resch quotes this expression as being an example of a Dutch norm, i.e, the Dutch (generally) "having an unobtrusive, unassuming manner." Marc frequently, in the book, compares how other nationalities, in Europe and in the United States, would act differently to the Dutch in given situations. In these types of books, the stereo-types are avoided as much as possible but often The Dutch do this or The Americans do that cannot be avoided. Having been in Australia for 50 years, I understand a lot of how this American author sees the Dutch and the situations. |
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| I would like to make these comments, on his book, an on-going, work in progress. Reading his book was like a fifth, but virtual, visit to the Netherlands, for me. It also, constantly, made me think of how my Australian-born daughter, (then age 20) experienced the Netherlands and, in particular, Amsterdam, at roughly the same time but with a background of having grown up with a Dutch (-Australian) Opa and Oma, and a father who was still into many aspects of Dutch-Australian activities. | ||
| A small, quirky aspect, I cannot help mentioning, as a retired primary school teacher, who marked many, many books, in 37 years. There are just a few strange/odd spellings, in the book. In at least two places Marc writes about where something 'lied' instead of lay. Being absolutely aghast OVER a display, rather than AT this display. It's not worth the trouble to go looking for examples, from the book. To me, possibly as a teacher, they are like little hiccups, which momentarily interrupted my flow of concentration on the content. | ||
| I like the statements, like: With the Dutch it's what you is what you get. They are direct, blunt, brutally honest and, to some cultures, politically incorrect. The Dutch are not concerned with the presentation or delivery of the message, just the content of the message.
These statements are then followed up by examples.
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