USA vs The Netherlands: The 5 Huge Differences I First Noticed

USA vs The Netherlands: The Huge Differences

“I wish I could just up and move to another country like you did, Zack”

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, my full-time job would never see me again.

But seriously, so many of my loved ones are so concerned with different aspects of the move to another country. They let thoughts like,

“They might be racist there”

“I don’t think I’ll like the food”

“I’m so used to how everything is here”

Stop them from taking that leap of faith that they feel drawn to do.

But that’s why I’m here, right?

I’ve gone through the move from the US to The Netherlands a little over 2 years ago (2019).

So it’s safe to say, I’ve got all the answers you’re looking for when it comes to comparing the USA vs The Netherlands.

I’ve already covered all of the basics of my move out of America (how I found this opportunity, legal work, preparation, etc.) and that entire process, so if you missed that video, check it out here.

Now let’s get more into how my life changed when I moved to The Netherlands.

First Impressions

I got off the plane in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport with my life packed up in 3 luggages, a duffel bag, and of course my camera bag.

My new manager picked me up in a car, and the first thing I noticed were the grey skies and rainy weather— not the most welcoming introduction to my new home.

Now I’d heard that the Netherlands can be a super rainy and gloomy city, but in late May?! C’mon now.

I had an apartment locked in already, but the previous tenants were still living there for that next week and then they’ll just pretty much pass me the keys and I’ll swap out with them.

Real smooth-like, right?

So instead of dropping me off in my future apartment, my manager drops me off at the NH hotels that I’d be staying at for the next week.

Even though I was exhausted, jetlagged, and I had airport all over me, I was way too hype to lay down so I took a quick shower and left the hotel to afrowander around my new city.

Afrowandering The Netherlands

The sun came out as soon as I decided to go out in the city! It’s like Utrecht knew I’d arrived!

I immediately started to see how modern and clean the city center was.

I thought it all would look very medieval with centuries-old structures but there were a lot of modern architecture, glass buildings, and super wide streets.

Could you guess what else I noticed?

BIKES. Bikes, bikes, and more bikes.

If you don’t know anything about the Netherlands you better learn about bikes. It’s their favorite mode of transportation!

I also noticed so many giants wandering the city alongside me.

Something I didn’t know before I got there was that the Dutch are extremely tall people. As a matter of fact, they’re the tallest country in the world.

Eventually I learned that the average guy is 5’11 and the average woman is 5’6.

I’m talking averages, so it’s nothing to see a group of 6’4, 6’5 guys walking down the street that ain’t never even touch a basketball.

And it ain’t nothing to see a group of 6 foot women headed to the club.

No they’re not supermodels, they’re highschool freshmen.

Not too long after, I sat in a diner for a bite and grabbed a coffee so I could use their wifi to see how I can get to my next destination– The Gemeente AKA the municipality.

I walked to the municipality which is literally an escalator away where I set an appointment to get an official ID and my BSN number in the future.

The jetlag kicked in super hard, and my feet started to fail me so I went back to the hotel and passed out for like 3 weeks. Or more like the rest of the day and night.

I’d say it was a super eventful first day and I’d seen enough of The Netherlands for a first impression.

But we all know first impressions aren’t always the most accurate…

Adapting

Let’s fast forward a week to where I’m not getting a sensory overload of new shit everywhere I look.

At this point I’m moved into my new apartment, and I can move around the city freely with a Dutch phone, and a Dutch bank account.

…Pretty much everything to consider myself a Dutchman if you ask me.

Before even thinking about adapting to things out in the real world, there were things in my own apartment that I had to get used to.

First of all, everything is much smaller in The Netherlands than in the states.

Amenities

Now my apartment is actually pretty large for one person. There’s definitely more room than I need– so much so that I have an extra room that I don’t even use here.

But everything in the apartment is smaller.

My oven is the size of a microwave, and my microwave… well, it’s the size of my oven.

My fridge is enough for one person, but it’s considerably smaller than anything that I’m used to having back in the US.

My washing machine doubles as a dryer. And then I learned many Dutch people don’t even have a drier in their homes.

Usually they just have a drying rack that they hang their clothes on after washing.

At first, I thought it was odd but now I see, it’s the three E’s. It’s economical, environmental, and obviously it’s effective.

People have been hanging clothes to dry as long as cleaning clothes was a thing.

And honestly, my dryer sucks so I’ll probably invest in a drying rack soon.

Other than everything being smaller, the biggest thing I had to get used to were my Dutch bathrooms. Yes I said bathrooms… plural.

And that’s because typically they split up the toilet from the shower room.

They call the room that you do your dirt in, the toilet (french-like) or the water closet (wc).

They call the room where you rinse all that dirt off in the shower and you brush your teeth the bathroom. Or badkamer in Dutch.

That was really confusing to me for a long time because when I had to pee, or God forbid, the other thing, I would walk into the bathroom for at least the first week, and then run out and go to the toilet.

A small inconvenience for a small amount of time, but it was something to adapt to.

Heating and Cooling Systems

I’ve also had to get used to the heating and cooling systems in my apartment.

For heating, there are these external radiators that you have to turn the knob on each one in order to get more heat out of them.

And they actually work pretty quickly and effectively.

Which is nice, because the rooms that I don’t spend time in I can save energy by leaving those radiators off.

Also, it rains a lot here and when people get their clothes wet and want to get it dried quickly so they can put it on again soon they’ll just toss them on these radiators which is cool.

Something that the winter brings other than the cold is also dry air. So these radiators typically come with these little humidifiers hanging off the side.

You fill these vessels with water and when the radiator is active, the water evaporates into the air and it increases the moisture content in the room.

I know this all sounds super elementary to many of you out there that are like, “yeah we used to put a bowl of water next to our radiator or lay out wet cloths on the radiator for humidification,” but my American ass has never done it this way.

I’d usually just press the “humidify” button on some black box and again let the underworld do it’s magic. I don’t ask questions.

I noticed in the winter that I was waking up with a scratchy throat every morning and one of my big banana plants started to die. But it was getting plenty of light I thought, and I kept it warm in my house.

I filled up those little humidifiers and my voice was golden again, and my plant stopped turning brown.

As far as the summer time, there’s not much of a cooling system in most homes in the Netherlands.

Some of the more newly-built and luxury apartments will have a central cooling system, but in my home the best you can do is turn off the heat and pray for the best.

So it’s safe to say those standing fans are essential indoors in Dutch summers nowadays..

Staircases

Now there are other small things that you have to get used to in Dutch homes like the staircases here tend to be extremely difficult.

The steps are usually very narrow, like you can hardly get your whole foot on them.

The angle of the staircase is very steep, and for some reason they like to make them windy and just at weird curling angles.

Not only that, but the walls around the staircase are usually very narrow, as well.

Truly a great combination for busting your ass.

In my apartment that isn’t the case, I have wide steps and linear staircases, but when I visit friends who live in older style Dutch houses I find these most of the time.

I’ve definitely tripped up the stairs plenty of times especially after having a couple drinks.

But don’t worry about that if you’re thinking of moving here…

Many of these older style buildings usually have hooks on top that they connect cables to and hook up to big bulky home items like furniture and they hoist it up from the ground outside until you can receive it through the upper level windows.

Ain’t that some shit!

If there’s a problem with something here, rest assured that there’s a way around it.

so basically...

I’m 95% sure that I’m forgetting other things in my apartment because I’ve fully adjusted to the Dutch lifestyle by now.

But the bathrooms, heating and cooling systems and all those amenities? Definitely the big ticket items.

These are also things I had no idea about before moving here, but you can find an even more detailed outline of changes in this video.

The Netherlands is an incredible country to live in, and although many of the things I talked about may seem like inconveniences, I’ve adapted extremely quickly and none of these things have made me doubt my decision to move here in the slightest.

It’s just a part of the process of moving to a new country.

Also, the Netherlands is ever-evolving and constantly making changes and developing to become more efficient.

I love this place and if you’re thinking about moving here I say it’d be a great decision.

If you need more tips for making this kind of move, check out this freebie I created just for YOU.

A checklist for all of your solo travels!

If you live in the Netherlands or are thinking about moving, let me know any other questions you might have about the process– I got you!

You can also check out this blog post to prep yourself for your solo travels or move!

If you’ve moved to a new country in general, and have had to adapt to similar changes in the home I’d love to hear about it too. Let me know any and all thoughts, questions, and comments below.

Ya boi,

Zekarias