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Jackie: For this week’s podcastsinenglish.com I’m talking to Hendrik, hi Hendrik…

Hendrik: Hi, Jackie

Jackie: …who comes from Holland, or is it the Netherlands?

Hendrik: Well, it’s er… the Netherlands er… Holland is er… a district, a county, from the Netherlands, so it’s only a part of the Netherlands.

Jackie: Oh, it’s only a part. So why do people call the Netherlands, Holland?

Hendrik: I have no idea but I think it’s due to the fact that Amsterdam and other big places are in Holland but er… I come from the south of the Netherlands and we um… although we don’t take offence of it we er… feel quite distinctively different from the people in Holland.

Jackie: Ok, so I’m talking to Hendrik who comes from the Netherlands.

Hendrik: Yes, exactly.

Jackie: Ok, now Hendrik, the first thing I noticed about you when I started speaking to you is that you’re wearing a pair of pink trousers. Now, is that a Dutch thing?

Hendrik: Um, no, that’s a me thing.

Jackie: It’s a Hendrik thing.

Hendrik: It’s a Hendrik thing, yes. Er… but er… I did buy them in the Netherlands, you’re correct in that and I think in the Netherlands there’s a bit more choice in colours than there is in the UK.

Jackie: But do you think that Dutch men are more likely to wear brighter clothes than maybe British men?

Hendrik: Er… I think so, yes. Er… I think… Yeah, I don’t know why but I think that the clothes in the UK tend to be quite subdued, I find.

Jackie: Right

Hendrik: And I got quite some comments at the local sailing club when I came with these trousers and er… I always ask those people if they were confident in themselves for I have no problems with wearing pink trousers.

Jackie: But if you were wearing the pink trousers in the Netherlands would you have the same comments?

Hendrik: Er… my sisters looked a little bit puzzled [Jackie laughs] when they saw me but they are a little bit older and maybe er…. a bit more conservative.

Jackie: Right, ok. You’re a… you’re a Dutch man living in England, would you say there are differences or not then between the two cultures?

Hendrik: Er, there are but it’s… it’s quite difficult to say it’s between the Netherlands and the UK for I found for example, I’m living in the south of the UK, I find that the people from the north of the UK are er… quite different from the south and er… and I think er… that sometimes I feel more akin with them than the people in the south er… I think in the south they’re more reserved er… not very out- spoken…

Jackie: Than the north?

Hendrik: In the north they can be quite open and er… quite er… strong in their statements and I have been called rude in the past but er… in fact I think it’s more the openness and directness so there is…. I er… it’s very difficult to distinguish that and say it’s a Dutch thing or it’s a national thing, yeah.

Jackie: But do you think there is a Dutch trait at all?

Hendrik: Yeah, there is. I left Holland* when I was eighteen and I lived in Belgium for eight years…

Jackie: Ah

Handrik: …and the Flemish find the Dutch very loud and er… stingy.

Jackie: Oh, mean with money.

Hendrik: Mean with money, yes. Er… and er… I… there might be something in it but again I don’t really want to comment on it because I don’t want to put the Dutch down. [Jackie laughs] At the other end I think the Dutch are more open and straightforward and they come over then as sometimes a bit rude. Er… they can be a bit too direct. I must admit going on holiday sometimes I hear Dutch groups and I don’t tend to go to them for they can be quite loud in their… just in their er… just in their general demeanour. But then if you come to groups of people they’re always a bit louder, isn’t it?