8:51 My wife is a non-native-speaker too. I remember how exited she was when for the first time she went to the market and a market seller answered her in Dutch. A real milestone: you know you upped a level when this happens. 😄

I still cannot get over the fact Americans expect other people to sacrifice their normal living schedules to fullfill your irate requirements for service. "Why can't i go to a shop at 3 am if i want to?" Because some poor schmuck has to BE there at 3 am. Who wants that?

What I really like about Sinterklaas is that everyone believes it is all real! And when they know the truth (at about 6 years old) we all do the grownup thing and keep it real for the (other) kids! I love that tradition!❤❤❤❤

Being proud to found a treasure at the trash might be the most dutch thing i have ever heard i am so proud of you

I never realised I switch to English automatically when spoken to by a foreigner, until I saw a video of Sam from Exploring the Foreign about that subject. In his video I learned about Taalcafé, mostly held in libraries. In a taalcafé foreigners can practice their Dutch speaking in small groups. I will start as a volunteer at my local library in september to help them practice that incredible difficult language. Your Dutch pronunciation is already very good Tammy!

I love watching you two, you are definitely Americans!! lol!, I hope you two get to stay there! You guys are refreshing. In all honesty I’m a full blooded Native American who happens to have Dutch as a second language, I was lucky enough to be adopted by a Dutch family. I spent every summer there with my Oma and Opa, aunts and uncles. It is truly a great country. My favorite place.

Wat ik ook kan doen is voortaan reacties in het Nederlands geven. Heb je de gelegenheid om uit te vissen wat dit nou weer betekent.

i'm having so much fun reading the comments about the dutch language all being in english, het is belangrijk dat men niet alleen Nederlands kan spreken, maar ook lezen . De combinatie van de twee versneld het leerproces. Een fijne dag allemaal

Dutch integration: Going through the McDrive (which The Netherlands does have) on your bicycle. Should be part of the 'inburgeringscursus', in my opinion. 😄

The thing i love most about your videos is how you joke together, laugh with each other and at each other. There's so much love there and it's just really nice to see.

I lived in Portugal for a while and I learned a lot of the language watching TV. Just like in the Netherlands in Portugal they have subtitles for American films and TV shows. So you here English and see the instant translation in the subtitles. After a few weeks I started watching Portuguese news and weather shows too. That worked for me, I could have simple conversations in Portuguese within a year.

About middle names: You can give your children one or more forenames which are placed before the surname (family name). The 'roepnaam', the name by which someone is calles by vriends, is isually derived from the first forename, but may be anything, such as "We gladly announce the birth of our daughter Sophia, we call her Fifi."

You can probably celebrate the original thanksgiving in Leiden on 3 October. The Pilgrim Fathers lived in Leiden for eleven years. They must have know the festivities on 3 October. The American historian and Pilgrim Fathers expert Jeremy Bangs has conducted extensive research into the religious refugees, both in the Leiden archives and in Plymouth. According to him, the design of the holiday is a copy of the Leiden celebration. The church service held, with the use of translated Dutch songs, and then the joint meal: these are elements of the Three October celebration that the Pilgrims took from Leiden and introduced to America. Nice detail We Gather Together’, the hymn associated with thanksgiving is originally a Dutch song, written a couple of years before the Pelgrim Fathers came to Leiden. But the song itself was brought to the USA by the Dutch, and translated in the early 20th century.

The VPRO youtube channel often has Dutch language videos, with English subtitles that will help you with your Dutch, just like the American&British tv series, with Dutch subtitles have helped the Dutch with their English. My first year in the States, everybody guessed I was from Germany. Last week someone guessed, I was from England. /That/ is progress!

At last count, there were 173 Drive Thru Macs in NL. The first one opened in 1987 near the USAF base at Soesterberg. Total traffic mayham.

In the southern part of the Netherlands on November 11th it’s the beginning of Carnaval so St Maartensdag isn’t really populair in the South 😊

If you're learning Dutch, a good way to practice reading is by reading children's stories or Dutch songs. Songs are short enough to stay interesting and children's stories are short and easy.

Yes, there are drive-throughs at the McDonalds, but they are generally at busier spots near bigger roads, but in the city centre, the Maccie D usually cannot be accesed by car, so there is no need for a drive-through

If you have a medical problem, don’t hesitate, call your family doctor, or 112. They have to be ready to help you 24/7, it’s the law.

don't worry, there are drive-thru in the Netherlands. About the shoes and Sinterklaas. Between the intocht and the actual celebration on December 5 it is common to put you shoe (normally only 1) near the fireplace, back door or somewhere else in the house the is deemed convenient by the parents. Then sing a couple of songs, put a carrot in your shoe for the horse and then wait until the next morning and see if the Sint has visited you. This can be repeated daily or just a few times a week until December 5th.

Drive through’s exists, just not every corner of the street. Good to see you guys are enjoying (and seemingly thriving) your decision to stay. All I can say is: the videos are definitely fun but if you want to see other parts of NL: train to the east, north and south for 2-3 hours in one of the mentioned directions. So many nice places to visit with a lot of 2000 year old history that you’ll surely enjoy.

If you need medicines late at night or in weekends there is always a pharmacy on duty 24/7. Ask your pharmacist or if you phone at night a tape will tell you which number to dial.

As a dutchwoman I can totally agree with the mentioned difficulties! I cannot stress enough how important it is to learn Dutch. If you really want to integrate you will need Dutch friends and acquaintences and being able to make yourself understandable in Dutch. About housing; do remember there is more to the Netherlands then Rotterdam and Amsterdam. In the east, north and south of the country there are more options, although the housing problem is true for the whole country. About Sinterklaas; children can put their shoe by "the stove" between Sinterklaas' arrival and December 5th. How many times they can do that depends on their parents. About middle names; some have them some do not (I do not), it is up to the parents.

Always a joy to see one of your new videos ;-) Most of the time it boosts the patriotism of being dutch. lol But the main reason I enjoy it all is to see you enjoy living over here and experience all the stuff we take for granted most of the times. As for the 5 items you spoke of this time: housing can indeed be a major problem these days, but as you advised; start small and check for better stuff while you can without being in a hurry. As for speaking dutch, or trying to learn it. We tend to want to help you with what it is you want, so we quickly change to English to make things easier for you. If you explain you want to learn the language, ask us to speak more slowly and we will try :-) . As for medication; generally your body is pretty good at fixing it itself (apart from the real serious stuff), but a visit to the doctors is no shame, even if it's just to ease your mind, he or she will gladly hear you out and find the right solution without getting you hooked on it. As for holidays, so glad work and private life is well balanced over here so we can enjoy them to its fullest and even travel wherever we want (within budget).I do have a middle name (in fact 4, one from each grandparent) but we don't use them in the same way as in the US. So much for me ranting about all the stuff you posted. Keep it up and enjoy life. If ever in Rotterdam and I catch a glimpse of you, I hope I can say hi without scaring you of. Cheers!

We have middle names, but usually we don't use them actively. That is why we make a distinction between "doopnaam" and "roepnaam". The name(s) you are given when baptized, or in the registry office and the name to which you answer to when called. Someone can be registered as for example Elizabeth Margretha but is called Lies. Very confusing for people outside The Netherlands.

Large waste is household waste that is too large or too heavy for a waste bin. You can take it to a waste separation station in the area yourself. If you are unable to do this, you can make an appointment and they will pick it up for free. You can't put it out until the evening before they pick it up, that's to prevent litter. Some people have made it a hobby to see if people have put anything useful out there. I'm so curious what Eric found. I myself once picked up a nice wooden garden table from the sidewalk, I saw a man working in his garage further on and I asked him if I could borrow a wrench so that I could remove the table legs. Otherwise it wouldn't fit in my car. He was kind enough to help me take it apart and put it in my car. That was about 10 years ago. I still have it and now use the table as a workbench in my shed. Nothing wrong with it.

Laat me beginnen met dat ik jullie videos erg leuk vind, jullie zijn altijd erg vrolijk en erg optimistisch. Top ga daar zeker mee door. Elke keer als ik reageer zal ik dat gewoon in het Nederlands doen. Dat zal jullie dan hopelijk een beetje helpen onze taal te begrijpen. Wat ook erg helpt is Nederlandse tv/radio luisteren. Nieuws voor volwassenen een beetje lastig misschien, Jeugd journaal een beetje makkelijker. Kinderseries kijken. vooral naar die voor zeer jonge kinderen. Klinkt misschien raar, maar het werkt wel. We zullen altijd blijven horen dat Engels jullie moedertaal is. Maar dat is geen probleem. Nummer 3 , Drie, Klinkt als in TREE maar verander de letter T voor een "D". Jullie hebben die letter al in je stem. D Klinkt als D in DRUM of DIRECT. De meest moeilijke letters in uitspraak voor jullie zou de R en de G zijn, de U is ook wel vrij lastig. Er zijn met deze letters geen engelse woorden met die klank. Vrijwel elke andere klank hebben jullie wel in je stem. Hopefully you could read and understood all of that ,if you ddn't, I wil be happy to do both reaction versions next time. And give you the translation for this one.

Very entertaining, you both always make me laugh. You both are so positive! about the experiences and descriptions of living in the Netherlands 🥰Live your life with us 😍 We love you!

love your completely spontaneous genuine discourse and great chemistry! Fun to watch you guys.

Me as an amsterdammer really like your video's guy's! keep up with the good work!

10.000 views in 1 day!! Big hug, a fan,

Heerlijk en herkenbaar! Wat een leuk en gezellig stel!

Deze is voor Tammy... Heel goed van jou dat je Nederlands spreekt.

Trash collection differs per municipality. I just moved and I have now roller bins (rolcontainer or kliko in Dutch), 4 ones, 1 for residual waste, 1 for green waste (GFT in Dutch, Vegetable, Fruit and Garden waste), 1 for paper and cardboard and 1 for PMD (Plastics, Metal cans, Drink cartons, the cans only the not reimbursed ones, those need to be brought to a collection point in supermarket f.e. where you get money back for them). I now have to roll the bins to the curb every time it is collection day. I have an app with notifications for which bin on which day will be collected the next day.

Yes there are drive through. I used one ones a 2 year! If that....as for opening times...everything in its time. Best on u tube you two!! Love it❤

Wow, you guys are getting close to 11.000 subscribers! Well done! About the drive thrus, yes we have them here. But not every location of the chain has one I guess. Depends on how big the village or city is I think.

1 thing I noticed with English speakers that they do not get the vowel pronunciation. Basically, when a vowel is followed by 2 consonants, the sound of the vowel is short like in dog, hat, neck and pig. When it is followed by 1 consonant, the vowel sound is long (in general). Plural is mostly "en" at the end of a word and not an "s" unless it is a word that originates from English mostly. The consonant after a vowel is often highlighted and the 'r" at the end of a word is a "rolling r" like "rrrr". The hard sounds are "ui", "au" "eu" and "ie". Those you have to simply practice hard. We do not put as much emphasis on the "sg" sound as well as foreigners try to come up with. A lot of sounds (or words) roll a lot more and some letters are "swallowed". I hear how Americans pronounce "Parmesan" as "Parmessssjjjjaaaaan" and the hairs in my neck will stand. Who came ever come up with that idea it is pronounced like that. There is also a lot of compound words where other words are put together to form a new word. It is written without spaces as well. It is a national sport to come up with new words that are then accepted in the "Dikke van Dale", our Oxford dictionary. The "sch" sound is another problem. "Sch" at the beginning of the word is pronounced as "sg" but it is a short sound like a race car passing you by. The "sch" at the end of a word is middle Dutch and no longer pronounced as as "sjjjj" but as a short "s". We do not have a silent 'k" like in knee. This is not 100% accurate and in Dutch it seems there are more exceptions than rules but still. It is more a rule of thumb. And for the real carnival, you guyz have to go to celebrate the Carnaval in Den Bosch (Oeteldonk) this coming February. Look for a video of Sam of "Exploring the Foreign" on this. It is excellent.

HCR pointed me to your lovely channel, awesome how you two share your experinces moving here, hope that these difficulties won't make you leave again, please enjoy your stay hre in theNetherlands .. and explore outside Randstad region too, there is so much more :D

There is a drive through mc donalds in Holten😇 Nice to see the two of you together and also nice that you like our little crowded not-perfect country. Groetjes Gert

Well, of course you can go to a hospital for emergency care here. If something bad is going on, you can go there yourself and they will first check how serious it is. Seems logical to me. Reminds me of a bike accident I had, not my fault, where I had two broken front ribs, two broken back ribs and a clavical fracture. I went straight to the emergency room at the hospital and after pictures were taken (which was a disaster) I got the results and then the nurse said "I'm going to give you a treat". I was given an IV of morphine. It worked so well that I said to my wife "come on, I'm all right again, we're going home". Unfortunately, I had to stay. If I got pain again I had to press the red button next to my bed. I pushed the button twice during the night. Good stuff dude, that morphine :-) And we do have drivethroughs here. Hoofddorp has a big one.

Love you guys 😎😎😎

you two are very funny together! And yes we've got drive thru mcdonalds, burger kings etc. You can also go there with your bike, step or whatever moves you :-)

Hearing your experiences I smiled : I moved from NL (Rotterdam area) to Hungary and more or less experienced the same difficulties. Part of the fun those differences imho. Fun vid, thanks!

You guys are awesome 👍

IFF you a medical emergency you can always go to the "Emergency ward" (Spoedeisende Hulp) of the nearest hospital!!! They are open day and night.. They will look into your problem, and treat you if necessary...

Haha I loved the paracetamol story. I laughed so much during this video. Thank you 😁

Of course we have middle names, and usually more than one, too! We don't often use them in our everyday lives, but check out the births, deaths and marriages section in any newspaper and you'll see most of us have between one and five middle names. (although there is no legal limit to the number of names parents may opt to register their children with, the registrar may refuse a higher number than five (won't fit on birth certificate), as well as a name he or she deems detrimental to the child's future wellbeing (no chance of getting an X Æ A 12 registered here!)).

I have a middle name, my partner does and our daughter has one too. It really depends. Some people do, some don't. 🍀

Hearing you found treasure for free makes you almost fully integrated (yes I'm Dutch I can make the joke 🤪) I live in Zoetermeer and we have drive-throughs in the area. Keep up the great content P.S. My middle name's Lucas 😁

Love you two, hope you can stay here.. America is also still great to visit as a tourist❤

Lived in a smaller city for quite some time where they had 1 day every month where everybody put their unwanted big things like furniture, televisions etc outside. And there was a growing group of people walking or biking the whole evening to check if there was something useful in the piles of ‘grof vuil’. Was a lot of fun and I had succes sometimes too. I found a perfect micro wave, speakers from a famous brand, a good bike, a nice grandpa’s chair and so on. Very good way to counter the consumer society! And as a true Dutchie I have to add it safed me a lot of money 😂.

😂,, I really enjoy the video Sam & Tammy!!,, 😍👍👊👊.

I remember when doctors and ERs had walk in hours. In the 1970s and into the 1980s it worked well, but then things got so busy people'd spend 5-6 hours waiting to be seen, and sometimes wouldn't get seen at all and have to return the next day because there was starting to develop a serious shortage of doctors (a shortage the Netherlands still has btw). That's when walk in hours were abandoned and things went to appointment only. The triage nurses came later, when even that wasn't enough to stem the flood of silly complaints that never should have warranted a visit to the doctor at all.

I have two middle names even though I wasn’t raised religious, not even baptized. My parents came from catholic families where it’s normal to get multiple middle names. They named me and my sister after their parents. My sister got our grandmothers names and I got the feminized names of our grandfathers (not pretty 😅😂). My sister continued this tradition with her kids and I would have too if I had had any.

The housing: I was talking to a small hotel owner here in Eindhoven who got his rating lowered (stil pretty good 8,6) by Americans because of the "steep" stairs My tip to tourists do your research stairs are pretty much all steep in comparison to American houses Our country is small and the population is relatively dense So house are not that big (economics with space) The health care: I think the problem is that America overmedicalize things it always astonish me how easy they talk about taking medicine like they are smarties That's why here there is a system of triage in most cases it's influenza (from which you can get really sick, and feel terrible ) but take paracetamol and ibuprofen and you'll be fine And they always say if your condition doesn't change or worsens call us again It's to keep health care affordable But more importantly the overuse of for instance AntiBiotics has got us (the world) in serious problems with some bacteria who became resistent to AntiBiotics And influenza is a virus so AB doesn't help anyway Antiviral drugs get you a up and running just a little bit earlier So take it easy plenty of fluids and rest and Paracetamol and Ibuprofen and you will be (in most cases) be fine (otherwise call them again) Thanks for your videos I really like them and my "direct and blunt" response you should be able to take in good spirits😉🤣

In The Netherlands 'middle names' are called 'doopnamen' (baptism names). It's a Catholic tradition which you mostly find 'beneath the rivers' (in the south of the Netherlands).

Tylenol is just a brand name of the molecule paracetamol. They are exactly the same product. And you’re right : paracetamol and ibuprofen will help you through a LOT. They fix fever, inflammation, muscle and joint pain, some types of headaches, hangovers, etc. I’m 59 and always keep industrial quantities of that stuff in my medicine cabinet.

There are drive throughs here. McDonald’s, Berger King, Kentucky Fried 😊😊 I do enjoy your videos and all your advice is excellent !

if you realy need medicine in the middle of the night, you go to the special pharmacy. There are several in or around Rotterdam. They are called Dienstapotheek and they are often located near a hospital.

In Rotterdam we have doctors in the evening and night for an emergency. the name for it in Dutch is huisartsenpost. mostly nearly by one of the hospitals you can call them , this is for not overloading the ER. in the hospitals

With a few expats at work that like to learn dutch we do a 30 minute dutch chat every friday during lunch. Just to have a safe space to get comfortable with the language. It helps them to take as much time as they need to formulate sentences without feeling rushed or being interupted in english. Some talk, some just listen. Whatever they feel most comfortable with. 'Wat ga je doen dit weekend?' is the topic of conversation and it often also deals with small things people run into in their new daily dutch oddities ... Fun and gezellig....

Stap in auto en rijdt van Rotterdam tot de belgie's grens, je zal verdomd veel golden arce's en big BK zien met een drive true. Ze zijn altijd in buurt van de snelweg bij een oprit en afrit.

The housing shortage has been a problem for decades, but now it's ridiculous. The prices are off the chart.

I enjoy you two so much. You are funny and value our little country. May I recommend that you go to the northern part of Holland. The islands for ecxample.

McDs drive through we have, just look them up, around Amsterdam I know several and near Rotterdam you have those too, The Hague has one thats open until 01:00 AM

About names... My "official name" (in my passport) is Gerardus Cornelis Verbuur. That is typical for a lot of dutch people to have Christian (Catholic?) "birth names" (or doopnamen - baptism names). However, day to day (for example on letters from my bank) I am called Gert which is my roepnaam (calling name). As far as I know, it isn't on any official document, those always use my full name. When I register somewhere (bank account, energy company etc) they always ask for my first name (Gert) and sometimes in addition to that for my full name (Gerardus Cornelis). I lived in Denmark for a year and was always confused (amused) when bank employees greeted me with my name (Gerardus Cornelis) - they don't understand the concept of our "roepnaam" (calling name).

Oooh….. Nice! A cliffhanger !

I would love to watch a video where you both speak Dutch. Just for fun! Cheers, Olivier

There are some evening / night shops in your area (within walking distance, 1km). Avondwinkels / nachtwinkels. Open till 1am or 2am it seems.

I've enjoyed your video an actually wanted to check how the US is different from NL. I am glad that you enjoy our country. I was actually surprised that our means of transport wasn't on your list, since you've probably had to get used to riding a bike or public transport a lot more. What I did notice is some misconceptions and things that can use clarifications. 1. When you want to offer larger things as garbage you will need to make an appointment, otherwise they won't pick it up. They have a fixed schedule and there are even people who before the pick up actually start following the route to see if they can find some interesting items. 2. Paracetamol is used for a lot of things. However, when from common sense you do understand you need immediate professional care, like needing stitches etc., you can go to the emergency room without having to make an appointment. 3. In general I often notice that people start communicating in English, because it's a bit of impatience. We do actually try to utilize our time efficiently, even when we're on our own time.

Paracetamol does help with pain, temperature control and feeling abit better, so it is a sort of a cure-all. But it also has very few side effects, so it's one of the best things to give someone who demands medication if they don't really need it. The Dutch attitude towards feeling really ill is that it means that you actually are sick and thus call in sick, take it slowly and give yourself some rest and relaxation. It's OK to be sick and not work sometimes.

My family is from the Netherlands, We and all of my extended family ALL have at least two middle names.

Yes, there are drive throughs here too. Our Mc Donalds opens at 7am until 1am

It is because humanbeings work at MacDonalds, the times they open, they close very late usually, they all have drive through, well here in the mega city of Zwolle anyways.. Macs near a highways are open 24/7 some times...Moi!

TY for the awesome video. You both looks like such wonderful and delight people ^^ Dutchie here, and no middle name, but my parents/uncle/ants/grandma/grandpa's have, so maybe it is just something that did go away? And we have drivethroughs mcdonalds, but not as many and not in the middle of the city. Here in Delft there is a drivethrough and i think it is even 24/7 but not totally sure as I don't own a car either.

Not to forget, not really a holiday, but a huge event. In the first week of september (mostly friday/saturday and sunday) there are the Wereldhavendagen in Rotterdam. Probably also fun for you to visit :) I just like to mention it when we talk about holidays and you guys living in Rotterdam. (Also there will be fireworks on saturday night then).

In the Rotterdam area there are Drive Throughs. I kow of a McDonald in Rotterdam Charlois near the highway direction Rhoon, Dorrdect etc. and a KFC near the Pathe cinema near the Kuip (Feyenoord voetbal stadion). And a lot of MacDrive can be found near highways.

Enjoying your videos! Learning a new language, especially when you are (un)fortunate enough to speak the standardized language of the time, is hard. And Dutch is a nasty one, cause it looks enough like English to trick you into thinking it isn't hard, but it is. The language is fairly new compared to other Germanic languages still around. I grew up as a Dutch-speaking kid in the province of Friesland, where Frisian is also spoken a lot. I understood the language, but for years wasn't able to speak it myself, and when I tried, everyone switched to Dutch because everyone knows that too. Took me a long time to improve my Frisian. As a kid I mainly learned English by playing video games, to be honest, apart from the school program and pop culture. Here are some ideas to improve your Dutch: - reading indeed. When a language is spoken, sometimes it is hard to differentiate where the one word ends and the next one begins. Written text is much easier for making a language your own. Try children books first, or stories you know very well, but then in Dutch. - The same goes for series, movies. Try and watch a lot of Dutch movies and start using Dutch subs with English audio. Again, Disney/Pixar in Dutch is a good start. - Of course, music. Find some Dutch music you (kinda) like and listen to a few songs every now and then. Pull up the lyrics and read along. Once comfortable, mumble along and within weeks or months you can sing a Dutch song! - Try to find a moment, let's say 15 minutes per week or day that you will only talk Dutch to eachother. Go for a walk and talk about things you see or normal chit-chat in Dutch. Of course that will not work perfectly from the start, but then switch back and forth between languages or look it up real quick before continueing.

Ik hoop dat jullie mogen blijven...❤

There are drive throughs at McDonalds here, just not at the McDonalds in city centers but more those on the outskirts of town and in business parks

Middle names: the Catholics do have middle names (baptisms-> in Dutch ‘doopnamen’). Sometimes people get a middle name when the parents name them after a grandparent or the like. My husband and I both have three names (first name, baptism 1, baptism 2 and then surname). Our son isn’t baptized but has a middle name. He’s named after his uncle who sadly died aged 21, a sort of tribute. Middle names are often not used, only with official documents (diploma, passports and such). The older Catholics often use a short version of their official first name. For example, my father is officially named Henricus Ludovic Marie but is known since day one as ‘Eric’

We do have drive through places. usually those McDonalds also have longer opening hours. There may be one or two that go through the night in weekends. I tend to avoid the window and go inside nowadays. the traffic seems to be worse than the counter

yes we do have drive thru's at the golden arches

When you meed medical help or medicine, during the night or the weekend, at fransiscus ziekenhuis, nearby for you I guess, is the " huisartsenpost noord". You can call them and eitjer handle things by phone or agree to go there if necessary. And also get medication there if needed. There is a farmacy attached to it

Just lovely to see you two , lots of love between the both of you. Years ago it was in almost every city village to put your old house hold stuff "op de stoep"😅, and some people always roam around to use it again. Up circle that's what they call it now. Anyway.... Can't wait to see what you picked up " van de stoep" Tammy's face😂😂😂 hilarious 🤣

Just last Sunday I went to a Starbucks and Burger King with a drive thru. The week before to the same companies at another driveway, also with drive 😅 In the city centers are no drive thru's but further most fast food restaurants do have them, some of them open for 24h. Only Starbucks has just two and it was a coincidence I went to both the past weekends. It is so good of you to have adapted the Dutch life so fast! I can only imagine the difficulties you faced with in the first months but very well done and I really hope you will be staying for a lot more years ❤

So my name is Koos Willem de Graaf, 'Willem' is my middle name. My brother does not have a middle name. But most of us have. We do not use our middle names often. We sometimes have a 'roepnaam' a 'call name' which is kind of an official nickname thought up by your parents. So (using English names as an example), you would be called 'Lizzie' even is your official name is 'Elizabeth' or 'Teddy' if your name is 'Edward'. If you have a religious background, you will have 'doopnamen' ('baptist names', names you received when you are baptized). And the middle names are sometimes (in my case also) used to honor your grandparent's names or even other family names. My grandfarther from my farther's side was called 'Willem' and one of my grandfarther on my mother's was 'Jacobus' of which 'Koos' is a shortend more modern version.

Fyi: Next to the Sint Franciscus Hospital there is a night pharmacy. So when you're in need of (prescribed) medication

Longer business hours do not always bring in more money. Personnel is scarce and expensive to hire for idle hours. Many shops have not seen an increase in sales when expanding operating hours, just a shift of sales to other hours.

In a city a drivethrough isnt really handy. But in the village Berkel en Rodenrijs have longer opening hours and a drivethroug.

Eric, Please start with: welcome back to soul to soul travels! Don't let Tammy bossing you around :p

As far as I know you can go to emergency room directly if it is serious!! However in the Netherlands we try to minimise use of antibiotics and trust more in self healing of the body..

The first McDrive was opened in the late 80's near the then US airforce base of Soesterberg.

The 2 most nice people on you tube

Jullie twee zijn te gek! Zo vrolijk! I hope you can stay here and learn more. I feel proud and blessed to live in this country. I live in Venlo, the south, housing is obviously better here in Limburg, we have a lot less people to house than in Rotterdam. My son studies there at STC. And student housing there is also teribble. I know. Can’t wait wat you found on the street!! By the way, the dutch make an appointment (haha 😂 obvisiously) with the kringloop, to pick this stuff up, only if it reusable. Take care, and oooh everyone has paracetamol and Ibuprofen in house al the time for sudden sickness. So you don’t have to run and get it at night😊

Ooo goodie, een Morgenster. I have been known to do that as well.

To learn Dutch, mingle with the Dutch but planned. Announce a place you will be on a weekend day, and ask followers to approach you, but only speaking Dutch. Time to hide the shyness 😎

Tammy is doing a good job with the Dutch numbers. Just wanted to give her a compliment on that. We have drives for certain fast food chains - MCD is one of them. I can easily point out 3 MCD drives, in Parkstad; Heerlen woonboulevard, Kerkrade, Landgraaf. While just one regular MCD in Heerlen Center. (And more outside Parkstad.) It depends on the MCD, I've worked at MCD and set-up in that location was at 7, the MCD didn't open until 8... but there is/was prep work to do also. Same as closing, it might close at 22 or later but there also is cleaning up to do. Similar to all horeca. There are some 24/7 shops but it isn't that profitable and most don't manage to stay alive for a long time. Germany has shops also closed on Sundays, this was also common practice in my youth in the Netherlands, then it was a few Sundays open in the month then it was up to the stores if they wanted to open or not, and now on Sundays many things are open. In Belgium they still have in some places these Bread machines, they were for Sundays to get bread while the stores are closed. The Sundays having the shops closed was a Christian thing. Not working on Sundays, but secularization happened. And I am fine with that, life has changed a lot also, more single people and relationships where both partners work - thus less time for groceries and shopping. It is so weird to see how America functions but also still identifies as "Christian" nation. The Netherlands can be similar and for me the monarchy is one of these backwards medieval notions tied in with certain religious aspects as well.

There are plenty of Dutch people with middle names, but a lot of people don't, because at least 1/3rd of our country is atheist, and a middle name is usually given only when you're baptized. Also, the paracetamol thing is usually given when people have small complaints, like headaches or a cold. But if you keep having complaints, you should contact your doctor again without hesitation. They will not waive it off if you insist on a different treatment too. And they do take walk-ins in emergency rooms in the hospital. I've been there dozens of times with severe wounds or broken bones. If you feel you need immediate care which cannot wait, they will not send you away, even if you walk into the emergency room. Seriously, don't hesitate to seek medical care or call an ambulance if you need it. They will help you with the care that you need, and you won't go broke.

Wonder drugs. Rather than paracetamol, aspirin was the choice. When I was doing my military service in the marines we had "pink cream" that worked for mechanical things like sprained ankles, twisted shoulders and things like that. Basically muscle and tendon stuff. Nothing serious. So, 3 times a day infra red lamp and rub pink cream. We prepared the cream by mixing cold cream with a red dye and a whiff of menthol (for the smell of "effectiveness"). Miracle! Doctors. When you are born in The Netherlands you'll get your parent's doctor (huisarts). It'll be always your doctor, as long as live in the same city or town. You can't "hop" from one to another. You always first go the your doctor who will take care of your illness or refer you to a specialist. You can't go directly to a specialist.