# Ask the Dutch guy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480 "2010-04-17T20:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/61 "2010-04-21T16:53:21Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Can you understand the East Frisian dialect? It is supposedly the ancestor of english. > Also, those people who live on barges (in the canals) -do they have to pay property taxes? Can’t understand Frisian at all. Maybe I can pick out a couple of words here and there, but it’s really a whole different language and doesn’t sound all that much like English either. I would expect you’d pay property taxes on house boats. Not really sure how that works, but I do know that in Amsterdam the spots the boats are moored tend to be at least as expensive as the boats themselves. > [@lshaw](#): > > Superfluous Parentheses, what do you think about **Maastricht** ’s assessment of Dutch guys (and gals) [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11148980&postcount=26)? It’s true I suppose. At least, I’ve heard more than one of my US-born female friends comment on it. They also think we dress shabbily. 🙂 But I’m not so sure the difference is all that big compared to Germany and Sweden, for example. ETA: there’s also the fact that marriage is pretty much completely optional here (except for the strict religious types). Relationships happen, and if they work, they work. If not, split up. ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/62 "2010-04-21T17:55:46Z")
what is the name of your country? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/63 "2010-04-21T18:17:27Z")
> [@clarkstar](#): > > what is the name of your country? Nederland. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/64 "2010-04-21T20:33:43Z")
How’s the smoking ban impacting the coffee shops? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/65 "2010-04-21T20:51:50Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > How’s the smoking ban impacting the coffee shops? 😕 You are allowed to smoke anything containing THC but not a normal cigarette. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/66 "2010-04-21T20:53:43Z")
> [@clarkstar](#): > > what is the name of your country? Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden. [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/67 "2010-04-21T20:56:39Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > This is the most shocking thing I’ve read all day. I thought I was pretty savvy to these things, but I was positive that Hans Brinker/the boy with his finger in the dike were real Dutch folk tales. (And nitpick: Wiki says they’re of American origin, not English.) Correct. An american story. (Dutch childern know you can’t repair a dijk with your finger.) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/68 "2010-04-21T21:09:26Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > 😕 > > You are allowed to smoke anything containing THC but not a normal cigarette. > > 😕 It’s not that confusing! 😛 So tobacco smoke is a no-no but weed smoke is still ok. I did wonder whether everyone had had to move to solid and use vaporisers or some other contraption. ---
**Author:** ![Improvisor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/50afbb/32.png) [@Improvisor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improvisor)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/69 "2010-04-22T00:54:41Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Currently, I’m living on relatively dry soil (in Utrecht… Awesome. I lived at the Holiday Inn across the railroad tracks from the Hoog Catharijne for a couple of months for work a few years back. That is a great city with a cool old-town. I remember eating at the “66 Route Diner” and eating Filet American… raw ground beef on a bun with a raw egg on top. Something no American in their right mind would eat in America. Also, I miss the delicious beer… mmmmm, Palm. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/70 "2010-04-22T13:31:59Z")
What is your favorite home grown author and music? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/71 "2010-04-22T14:05:31Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It’s not that confusing! 😛 So tobacco smoke is a no-no but weed smoke is still ok. I did wonder whether everyone had had to move to solid and use vaporisers or some other contraption. The few coffee shops I’ve been in since the smoking ban either don’t allow smoking inside or they converted to a huge “smoking room” and a tiny “shop window”. Note: the smoking ban only applies to areas where personnel is supposed to be working. > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > What is your favorite home grown author and music? I mostly read English language books and even then mostly non-fiction. Fairly recently I did like Tommy Wieringa’s “Joe Speedboat” and (Belgian author) Dimitri Verhulst’s “De helaasheid der dingen”. Music: [Andre Manuel](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL3eR6LWnNU) is an amazing singer and songwriter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480.md?page=3)