In the Netherlands there is a website name openingstijden.nl that lists lot of opening hours, especially for supermarkets and stores. Very handy.

It is snowing here in Hoofddorp. The snow is falling down softly while the neighborhood kids, and few parents, are playing on the ice in the pond on front of the building. In Iceland this would not happen. The snow would not fall down softly, it would blow with the howling wind. The neighborhood kids would not be allowed outside and almost all ponds have been filled up so that kids don't play there (to keep them save from harm). The parents are too busy to spend time with their kids. We sure miss a lot.

New post. The first in a while. I guess I have stopped noticing the differences between cultures/countries since I've been here so long. Today the first snow I've seen here in Hoofddorp fell. It was a lot like Iceland, only there is almost no wind and the bus got stuck, on very slight incline. By default, all inclines in the Netherlands are small.

One of the things that distinguishes The Netherlands from Iceland is Christmas. In the Netherlands they don't give presents on Christmas. They give presents in the beginning of December (5-6th) at Sinterklaas which is a winter festival. The character Sinterklaas is a bit like Santa Claus but is dressed like a pope and has little black helpers called black Petes (Zwarte Piet). The Christmases themselves are held in peace and quiet with family. In Iceland there is no Sinterklaas. Everyone goes overboard buying expensive gifts that no one wants, at least not long. People stress themselves out doing preparations and trying to get into the holiday spirit. In Iceland the Christmas begins on December 24th, at six o'clock when Christmas dinner is eaten, after which children open their presents. Then everyone sleeps for the rest of Christmas, exhausted after the preparations.

One possible explanation, of the jump start people in Iceland take on Christmas, is that in the old days it was traditional to give books at Christmas. If they packages are opened  up at the beginning of Christmas, everyone has something to read so no one is bored during the beginning of the holidays.

One of the places I'm having difficulties in finding here in The Netherlands is a musical instrument store. I'm looking to buy a classical guitar. There are not many stores with musical instruments in Iceland either, but I know where they are. :)

The reason we keep having more and more unwanted features thrust upon us in all our tools; phones, computers, cars and other thingies, is that a stupid highly educated person in charge of some design team is desperately thinking about extra features, to add to their thingamingies, to make their product stand out. Since this is all done by design teams and no one wants to object, for fear of losing their jobs we, the customers, end up paying shi,, well loads of money for features we don't want or need. I'm sure that soon we end up with phones that don't make voice calls and the sheeps public will praise them for their good looks and high quality sound the sms message beep plays in. They have to praise them because they spent so much money on them that to actually critisize them would be admitting that they made a mistake by buying them. Hey, maybe that is why Apple has such a fanatic following.

The most popular type of Rice in Iceland is Yasmin. It is not available in The Netherlands. The most popular tomato sauce in Iceland is made by Hunt's it is not available in The Netherlands.

In The Netherlands the average width of corridors is about 1 meter and the average lean angle of stairs is about 30° from vertical. In Iceland the corridors are 2-3 meters wide and the lean angle of stairs is 60° from vertical.

What I've learned from the Italians on how to be manly. Leave the top 3 buttons on your shirt unbuttoned, the top 4 if you're feeling extremely sexy. Never leave the 5th one unbuttoned, it indicates that you have low standards. Women like uneven yellow teeth so if you're lucky enough to have them, flaunt them. Don't brush your teeth, be wary of showers and baths too. Be obnoxious and loud. Give women cheap gifts, as long as the gifts have thin layer of goldish looking metal they're happy.  Be browsing the internet on your Iphone when the plane lands, the air-hostesses are strapped in and can't stop you. Use your hands while talking, no matter if you hit something or someone. Use your hands while driving, one hand should be out the window, the other on the button for your horn. Feel free to abandon either location for short while while you make gestures at other drivers or people on or close to the road. Markings on the road are not rules. They're not even guidelines. They're decorations. 

The Dutch people are usually very polite and considerate but they could take a look at how the British behave in lines. There is no such thing as a line in the mind of The Dutch people. It's a battle of who can be first. And there are no prisoners taken. Cutting in front of someone is the normal way of life here.

Jasmin, my local Asian restaurant has small containers (about 1 teaspoon) of something they jokingly call "sauce" but in reality is pure pepper in liquid form.

I was told this morning that in Romenia they have no word for sneaker or sport shoe. Instead all sneakers are called Adidas.

"Sjonge jonge jonge". The most common sentence in Dutch that I don't understand yet. :)
Google translate says it means "Oh yes young" If I put "Tjonge jonge jonge" in Google translate it says it means "Wow young". Either way doesn't make much sense to me but the natives say that it has no real meaning, it's more of a shake your head while muttering "Oh, the young people's behaviour".

In The Netherlands you take a break from work, in Iceland you take a pause from work.

I finally have an internet connection here in the lower lands. In Iceland it generally takes 3-4 working days to get internet. Less if you request speedy handling. Here in The Netherlands it takes about one month.