To be Dutch means

I have learned since living here that there are 6 things that are mandatory to be Dutch:

1 Ride a bike - going to work on your bike wearing your suit & best shoes or high heels are "de rigeur" here or using an umbrella if it's raining whilst your on the bike. A Dutch person who doesn't ride a bike is like an Italian that doesn't do Pasta! Just weird.

2 Own a boat whatever size small or big or @ the very least have a healthy interest in boats.

3 An obsession about saving money. Dutchies will always want to tell you what a bargain they got & if it says buy one & get one Gratis - it's snapped up immediately! It's called "going Dutch" for a reason.

4 Drink Milk - these people just love milk! Lunchtimes consist of potato crockets or sandwiches followed by a glass of milk - its difficult to take your boss seriously when he has a milk moustache;-) They also have a thing called Carney Melk here it comes in a Red carton & it tastes like a Yoghurt gone bad.

5 Wearing Orange @ all national celebrations, Queens day or when following the National teams. I think it's impossible to find a Dutch person who's not sporting the colour on this day. Orange Is Everywhere on Queen's Day really! I remember seeing a cow painted Orange one year, that really freaked me out - I was on the train looking out the window & I'm still not sure to this day!

6 Making fun of the Belgians:
"The Belgian king asked the Dutch queen to do something stupid so people would stop thinking the Belgian are always so stupid, so she built a bridge in the middle of the Sahara. After a few months, the Belgian king called the Dutch queen again and said, okay, you can take the bridge down now, and the Dutch queen said, yeah, I could do that, if it wasn't for the three Belgians sitting there fishing."