I don’t have many friends in the Netherlands yet but I think people are pretty nice and polite here. Dutch people are really straight forward and direct so many people often think that they are just plain being rude. But I would say they are just direct, not confrontational.
Nearly everyone speaks English here but people usually use some simple sentences to get to the point due to the language barrier and doesn’t really notice minor differences in speaking culture. So you might often be left with the vague feeling that they are rude and mean.
You can get away with English in places like Amsterdam or other international places such as Utrecht but speaking English all of the time can lead to some inconveniences, because there are some people who cannot speak English; despite the statistic that the Netherlands is the highest ranked country for English language of all non-native English speaking countries.
And one thing that stresses me out the most here is the food. I’m also not the type of person that can cook fancy meal or eat the same thing every day. I have always been this way ever since I was little. I crave different things all the time.
I love all kinds of American fast food chains(guilty..)but here you only have McDonald's and Burger King. No Chipotle, no Taco bell and etc. That kinda bummed me out a little.
Also, the houses and apartments buildings are mostly really old here so almost like every 3 months you will face some issues like sewage and shower drain blockage, heater or AC issues and so on. Houses are usually ugly here compared to the ones in the other European countries.
But getting mortgage is cheaper than renting a place so if you are thinking of moving to the Netherlands living here for long term then a lot of people will recommend you to consider buying your own place.
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