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GUIDE CULTUREL

Culture Smart! Netherlands will take you beyond the stereotypical windmills, clogs, cheese, and tulips to understand the complex layers of Dutch identity. There are tips on what to expect and how to behave in different circumstances, and there is a section on business style and working practices

This small, densely populated, low-lying country on Europe’s northwestern seaboard punches above its weight. As the name “Netherlands,” or lowlands, suggests, nearly 25 percent of it is below sea level and the Dutch have spent centuries keeping the North Sea at bay — hence the saying, “God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland.”  In the seventeenth century their maritime trading empire straddled the globe, and the scientific and intellectual life it stimulated ushered in our modern age. Today the Netherlands is a prime economic hub of Europe and the port of Rotterdam is the largest in the world.

The Netherlands has an international reputation for championing justice and human rights. It is also famous for its liberal attitudes, reflected in Dutch law and especially evident in the capital, Amsterdam.  Intelligent, cosmopolitan, outward-looking, enterprising, and modest, the Dutch are people worth getting to know and Culture Smart! Netherlands offers the perfect insight into their customs and attitudes.

SHERYL BUCKLAND is an English management trainer and business studies tutor who lived for sixteen years in the Netherlands. While living in the Netherlands, Sheryl immersed herself in Dutch culture, conducting research on cultural acclimatization, the role of Dutch-language teachers, and child development. During this time she also worked as an Associate Lecturer for the British Open University Business School, and as a Business Communications Tutor for undergraduates in the Utrecht Hogeschool’s Faculty of Economics and Management.