Today I want to talk about prejudices. There are some common Maastricht prejudices for example about the “car-Germans” who live near the Dutch border and drive home every day. But let’s look at prejudices from a totally different perspective. I want to tell what stereotypes I was confronted with when telling my friends in Munich that I would study in the Netherlands.
First of all, nearly everyone asked me, whether it was the Dutch drug policy, that had convinced me to come here and nobody took my negative answer serious. Does it throw a bad light upon the Germans, that they are so obsessed with the consumption of cannabis, being tolerated in the Netherlands? Or is this really a crucial part of the Dutch life style? Then the conversation between my friend and me would normally proceed to Gouda, tulips, bikes and Heineken beer.
Hardly anyone knew some facts for example about Dutch history, politics or literature. Why is it, that our knowledge of a neighbour country, whose language is pretty similar to German, is so limited? How does it come, that we can only name stereotypes without being able to give evidence? In this light, I think it is even more important, that the Germans who come to live here try hard to learn as much as possible about the country they are studying in. Although, the differences between life in Germany and in the Netherlands may be not too significant, it is still worth finding out, where they are.
When I get back to Munich for the first time, I want to be able to tell my friends in detail what the Dutch life style means to me.