One of the blog readers asked for more information on weight and eating issues. Since this is a huge topic, I’ll only bore you in small bits.
True life conversation: I am telling a guy from work, “I ride my bike to work. I only live 3 kilometers from the office, so it’s very convenient.” He replies, “3 kilometers isn’t enough exercise for you.” Hmm, what DO you say to that?
At work we received some samples of food from the UK. One lady pulled out the package of Lunchables and declared it child abuse. We also received samples of snack chips from around Europe and the US. The group here was astonished that the bags from the US were so big – huge by local comparison. The price marked on the bag was $4.89 and this was also astonishing. Another shipment brought Twinkies, Rice Krispie Treats, and beef jerky.
The people at work now think that Americans (and British people) only eat large quantities of snack foods and serve their kids Lunchables. The Dutch people are very smug about their weight and healthy eating habits.
But they have junk food here in the Netherlands, too. There are stroopwafels, pannekoeken, apple pies, cheese, chocolate, and a bakery on every corner. They drink loads of milk and eat lots of bread. So, why does the US have an obesity problem and the Netherlands doesn’t? Obviously, it’s far more complicated than Lunchables and big bags of chips.
I’ll spare you the history lesson, but try to remember where our Puritan forefathers came from. You got it, a whole lot of them were Dutch. The Calvinists were the ones who thought that pleasure was the Devil’s work, so they worked hard to make life as uncomfortable as possible. While most modern Dutch people are not very religious, I think this Calivinst attitude kind of stuck.
Food is very much a utilitarian thing. It doesn’t have all the emotional power that we attach to it. Food doesn’t entertain you, or make you happy, or give you extra energy for the day. People don’t expect donuts for a morning meeting or cookies in an afternoon meeting. Fruit is sometimes served with the coffee and tea but most people just take one for later.
Another time, I’ll tell you about the restaurants and grocery stores.
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1 comment:
I just posted on a more recent post a few minutes ago, but I have to tell you I'm loving your blog. I've now picked up that you're actually from Chicago (I live in Chicago right now!), and I'm LOVING reading your blog, because it's very similar to the things I've been hearing from my parents and younger siblings for the last 4 years tehy've been living in Maastricht. It's a fun adventure, but hard to live with the dutch sometimes! Their bluntness is something you'll never quite adjust to, and I agree that they eat an amazing amount of bread. Your blog is just explaining your every day experiences, but it's so funny to someone like me who has experience so many of the same things. You're lucky to have this expat experience, and I look forward to reading more!
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