Our penfriend from the Netherlands!

Project "MY ROOTS"

Regarding our project, we decided that it would be amazing if we had the chance to really contact a friend from another country, and establish a communication by e-mail, where we could talk about Argentinian traditions, and at the same time read about other customs. So, at last, we were able to contact an old friend of mine, Nicolas, who has been living in the Netherlands since 2009. Technology is such a fantastic tool! Here's our little conversation:


 Hi Nicholas,

How are you? We are Ale’s students,  Joaquin, Guillermo and Solange, and we hope you are fine.We are writing to you because we want to tell you about our traditions in Argentina.

First of all, if you are in an informal situation you can greet someone with a kiss on the cheek, but if you are in a formal situation you can greet with a handshake.

 Secondly, you can talk about whatever you want, we don’t have taboo topics. However, if I were you, I’d avoid talking about politics.

 Finally, about punctuality, it depends what will you do. For example: If you are invited for dinner, you should try to get there early, but if you go to a birthday party you don’t have to be on time.  

  Well, that’s all for Argentina’s etiquette, but now we would like to know something about your country. Can you tell us the traditions, conversation topics, and customs as regards punctuality in your city?

We’re really looking forward to hearing from you!

Regards,

Joaquín, Guillermo and Solange

Response

Hello / hola / hallo Joaquin, Guillermo, Solange and Alejandra,

First of all: my apologies for not responding sooner: apparently the e-mail got lost when it was first send, so while you were waiting on a response, I was waiting for an e-mail to arrive! Long story short: Alejandra was so nice as to send the e-mail again and luckily this time I received it just fine. :-)

Thank you for writing me about some of the customs and traditions in Argentina. It was interesting to actually think about our customs, and what might be normal to us, but not so much to someone from another part of the world. Here are some examples I came up with for The Netherlands:

* When we greet with a kiss on the cheek, it is a Dutch custom to always kiss three times: First one cheek, then the other, and finally the first cheek again. I never thought about it and as far as I know in all other countries it is only 2 kisses. I have no idea why this is different in The Netherlands. :-)
* When you visit someone for a birthday, it is custom to not only congratulate the person having his or her birthday, but also all the family (parents, siblings...), friends and other guests present.
* Similarly, when someone dies, we also not only give our condolences to the direct family, but also all other guests that are attending.

* When you visit someone, even for example for a birthday or a game-night,  it is customary to greet everyone present with either the 3 kisses on the cheek or a handshake, or a hug depending on how comfortable you both feel with that option. When someone leaves, everyone still present is once again given 3 kisses or a handshake (or a hug). (Unless you are in a big hurry, of course!)

* When going out with a group of friends (to dinner, movie, an amusement park or any other activity)"then "Going Dutch" is a thing: It is customary that everyone present pays a small part of the total bill. Unless someone explicitly states that he, she or they pay for everything, it is safe to assume everybody pays a share.

These are some of the Dutch customs that I know of that seems to differ from what is customary in other countries, as far as I know. I hope this was interesting, and I wish you all all the best. :-)

Best of luck and goodbye / ciao / tot ziens!

Nico.