Happy Travellers Update & Confronting My Cultural Bias
Back on September 9 I updated the holiday travel progress of my daughter and son-in-law. At that stage they were in Nice and had enjoyed every day of their journey. Today they are in Amsterdam.
Actually, they have met up with my son and daughter-in-law in The Netherlands and they will tour around various parts of Holland for the next few days before heading over to England to explore parts of the UK.
My daughter telephoned a couple of days ago and sounded just great, obviously happy and reassuringly energetic. Yes, we know just how tiring travelling can be, but she sounded full-of-beans, as the saying goes.
Evidently Paris went over quite well. My daughter said she could easily spend a month in Paris. She loved seeing the Mona Lisa and exploring The Louvre.
So what will the reports be from Holland I wonder. My parents visited there many years ago and enjoyed it very much. They had Dutch friends living nearby in Australia and I think that helped some how.
Since then I have found the Dutch to be very, umm, how can I put this... mixed. Yes, that's it, "mixed". Some are completely delightful, quite cultured and engaging. They are bright and friendly.
However, many are simply rude and offensive, lacking in even basic interpersonal skills and civility. They employ the defensive claim that culturally they simply prefer to "be direct and to say just what they think."
While that conveys some truth, the fact is they are mainly simply rude and offensive. It appears they have such high levels of self-centeredness that they are insensitive to the feelings of others, know this, and just don't care. They would prefer to justify or explain away their behavior than change it.
This isn't very politically correct is it? Here I am making broad generalizations about a cultural group. This may have me labelled a racist! Well, too bad. So be it. Call me what you like. Just tell me this: how is it that if I say "the Dutch are such a wonderful and friendly people" it is perfectly acceptable, yet if I say "the Dutch are rude and self-centered" it becomes racist?
The truth is that even highly educated, deeply caring, open and accepting individuals, like me, if completely honest, would admit that the broad variations that most certainly do exist between cultures, do create a distinct impression. The challenge then of course, is to deal with individuals on their personal merits rather than to prejudge them as members of that cultural group.
I believe I do that quite well. Those who try to adopt the moral high ground by claiming they form and hold no such broad cultural impressions are either liars (perhaps chiefly to themselves) or extremely lacking in observation and analytic skills, to say the least.
In any event, what I know of Dutch bureaucracy and cultural values informs my own views of The Netherlands. I hope my family travellers will find it an enjoyable place to visit.
Actually, they have met up with my son and daughter-in-law in The Netherlands and they will tour around various parts of Holland for the next few days before heading over to England to explore parts of the UK.
My daughter telephoned a couple of days ago and sounded just great, obviously happy and reassuringly energetic. Yes, we know just how tiring travelling can be, but she sounded full-of-beans, as the saying goes.
Evidently Paris went over quite well. My daughter said she could easily spend a month in Paris. She loved seeing the Mona Lisa and exploring The Louvre.
So what will the reports be from Holland I wonder. My parents visited there many years ago and enjoyed it very much. They had Dutch friends living nearby in Australia and I think that helped some how.
Since then I have found the Dutch to be very, umm, how can I put this... mixed. Yes, that's it, "mixed". Some are completely delightful, quite cultured and engaging. They are bright and friendly.
However, many are simply rude and offensive, lacking in even basic interpersonal skills and civility. They employ the defensive claim that culturally they simply prefer to "be direct and to say just what they think."
While that conveys some truth, the fact is they are mainly simply rude and offensive. It appears they have such high levels of self-centeredness that they are insensitive to the feelings of others, know this, and just don't care. They would prefer to justify or explain away their behavior than change it.
This isn't very politically correct is it? Here I am making broad generalizations about a cultural group. This may have me labelled a racist! Well, too bad. So be it. Call me what you like. Just tell me this: how is it that if I say "the Dutch are such a wonderful and friendly people" it is perfectly acceptable, yet if I say "the Dutch are rude and self-centered" it becomes racist?
The truth is that even highly educated, deeply caring, open and accepting individuals, like me, if completely honest, would admit that the broad variations that most certainly do exist between cultures, do create a distinct impression. The challenge then of course, is to deal with individuals on their personal merits rather than to prejudge them as members of that cultural group.
I believe I do that quite well. Those who try to adopt the moral high ground by claiming they form and hold no such broad cultural impressions are either liars (perhaps chiefly to themselves) or extremely lacking in observation and analytic skills, to say the least.
In any event, what I know of Dutch bureaucracy and cultural values informs my own views of The Netherlands. I hope my family travellers will find it an enjoyable place to visit.
posted by Dr Peter Tylee at
12:40 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home