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View Full Version : Anybody deal with the Dutch much?



royalfan5
2/23/2006, 08:01 PM
As I am beginning my career search, two of the companies I am interested in working for are Dutch owned Rabobank and Claas. Does anybody have any insight into the Dutch Culture and their business practices?

SoonerInKCMO
2/23/2006, 08:08 PM
Their athletic teams wear a lot of orange. That's a negative.

royalfan5
2/23/2006, 08:13 PM
Their athletic teams wear a lot of orange. That's a negative.
I like the color Orange, it was the dominant color of my high school, my undergrad instition, and my families farm equipment.

SoonerInKCMO
2/23/2006, 08:22 PM
I like the color Orange, it was the dominant color of my high school, my undergrad instition, and my families farm equipment.

:confused: Where is it that you went?

GDC
2/23/2006, 08:28 PM
Just the red light districts.:)

royalfan5
2/23/2006, 08:32 PM
:confused: Where is it that you went?
Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. Tommie Fraizer and his former Sooner OC, Brad Davis led our football team to a 2-8 mark last year.

Stitch Face
2/23/2006, 08:34 PM
Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. Tommie Fraizer and his former Sooner OC, Brad Davis led our football team to a 2-8 mark last year.

Ah, a Cretin.

royalfan5
2/23/2006, 08:37 PM
Ah, a Cretin.
The proper term in Nebraska is Cretian, as in:
Q. What happens when some one leaves Crete?
A. The become an ex-Cretian.

Stitch Face
2/23/2006, 08:57 PM
The proper term in Nebraska is Cretian, as in:
Q. What happens when some one leaves Crete?
A. The become an ex-Cretian.

Ba-dump-bump!

Jimminy Crimson
2/23/2006, 09:25 PM
I like the color Orange

What the hell is wrong with you, son? :mack: :confused:

Orange? You like orange?

Oh, and I what's the story behind the Dutch's orange? Their flag is red, white and blue. What gives?

Oh, they like to have sex and do drugs in Dutch Land, so they have that going for them, if you like that sort of thing.

royalfan5
2/23/2006, 09:28 PM
What the hell is wrong with you, son? :mack: :confused:

Orange? You like orange?

Oh, and I what's the story behind the Dutch's orange? Their flag is red, white and blue. What gives?

Oh, they like to have sex and do drugs in Dutch Land, so they have that going for them, if you like that sort of thing.
As a Nebraska fan, a dislike of orange isn't bred into people up here like it is in Oklahoma. I understand why y'all don't like orange. Plus, Allis-Chalmers/AGCO tractors are pretty sweet.

Jimminy Crimson
2/23/2006, 09:31 PM
Plus, Allis-Chalmers/AGCO tractors are pretty sweet.

Nothing runs like a Deere! :texan:

...or something like that

But still, orange has no redeeming qualities to it. Doesn't ever look good. EVAR.

olevetonahill
2/23/2006, 09:35 PM
Just dont try to put your finger in the dyke you might get ur butt whooped :eek:

SoonerInKCMO
2/23/2006, 09:38 PM
Just dont try to put your finger in the dyke you might get ur butt whooped :eek:

Heh. There was a guy at OU we called 'Dutchboy' because he was hitting on this lesbian on a trip to Houston. Good times. :eddie:

royalfan5
2/23/2006, 09:39 PM
Nothing runs like a Deere! :texan:

...or something like that

But still, orange has no redeeming qualities to it. Doesn't ever look good. EVAR.
Deere products while well built are for people with more money than brains, just like Angus cattle.

Hatfield
2/23/2006, 11:00 PM
i am familiar with giving people their ovens.

Stanley1
2/23/2006, 11:21 PM
The Dutch hate Natalie Holliway.

SoonerWood
2/23/2006, 11:22 PM
Don't expect any free meals, they always make you pay for your own.

Tiptonsooner
2/23/2006, 11:25 PM
i am familiar with giving people their ovens.

I can't believe it took 16 posts............

picasso
2/23/2006, 11:33 PM
"there's only 2 things I hate. people who are intolerant of other cultures and the Dutch!"

proud gonzo
2/23/2006, 11:35 PM
I know 2 Dutch bus drivers (or former bus drivers) and a Dutch translator/tour guide. :D

Penguin
2/24/2006, 12:00 AM
I know 2 Dutch bus drivers (or former bus drivers) and a Dutch translator/tour guide. :D



And then what happened?

pb4ou
2/24/2006, 12:43 AM
And then what happened?

Duh, they turned into chocolate.

proud gonzo
2/24/2006, 01:11 AM
And then what happened?
um... we flew back to kansas and they stayed in Europe? :confused:

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
2/24/2006, 01:18 AM
working for european companies is, ah, different. the biggest issue you run into is when they have no idea how badly americans will abuse the bennies if they let them. we are bastards like that ;)

if you work for a foreign company the key item to ask is whether they grant stock and whether its on a foreign exchange. i worked for a danish company for a little bit and you got killed when you cashed in the stock with the exchange fees and then having to report it as foreign income.

Okla-homey
2/24/2006, 06:28 AM
I have a good friend who is a Dutch air force officer. His name is Vince and his wife is named Els (nick for Elisabeth). Their two kids are named Maxime and Oliver and are sweet kids who they sent to the school my kid graduated from.

Very cool people. Els is hawt, 'cept she smokes ciggies like a fiend -- Marlboro lights. On the positive side of the ledger she used to swim topless in their pool which was next door to our house in Montgomery AL -- and yes, they are still quite perky even after two kids :D

All that aside, they are back home in Holland now. Vince was pretty liberal in his political views as you might imagine, but he really dug America because it is comparatively so free and cheap to live over here.

Vince also indulged his love for golf, big cars and guns while they lived among us --drove a big 'ol four door Buick and shot/went hunting and attended gun shows every time he got a chance. Els dug the fact it was so warm in Alabama she could do the pool about 9 mos out of the year and ciggies are much cheaper here.

just saying.

captain_surly
2/24/2006, 10:24 AM
As I am beginning my career search, two of the companies I am interested in working for are Dutch owned Rabobank and Claas. Does anybody have any insight into the Dutch Culture and their business practices?

Rabobank is the premiere agribank in the world. It's actually a cooperative founded and owned by Dutch farmers. I have extensive dealings with their Atlanta office and know several people there quite well. The head of their U.S. operations is a former Big Ten offensive lineman. Everyone I know who works there has been there for a long time and loves their job. IMO a top notch operation.

Frozen Sooner
2/24/2006, 11:07 AM
What the hell is wrong with you, son? :mack: :confused:

Orange? You like orange?

Oh, and I what's the story behind the Dutch's orange? Their flag is red, white and blue. What gives?

Oh, they like to have sex and do drugs in Dutch Land, so they have that going for them, if you like that sort of thing.

The Dutch Royal Family is the House of Orange.

Like William of Orange and stuff.

handcrafted
2/24/2006, 11:45 AM
Lemme see...sex...weed...speed skating...soccer. That pretty much sums it up. Don't let the windmills and tulips fool you. The Dutch aren't quaint little Euro types.

However, they are very friendly, and just about all of them speak very good English. They don't hate on Americans like a lot of Euros do. Amsterdam is a nice town and not too expensive (except the hotel rooms) and the countryside is very pretty. It kinda looks like Oklahoma except on a sea coast, i.e., it's flat with a lot of grassland and farms and stuff.

GDC
2/24/2006, 11:47 AM
If you go, stay in Haarlem and take the train into Amsterdam itself.



http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-open19.html

Okla-homey
2/24/2006, 11:51 AM
and they make hella good gin.

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/8536/bolsvogenever750pottery4ae.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Pricetag
2/24/2006, 01:35 PM
Points or no points. . .you're dead meat.

goodonya
2/24/2006, 01:49 PM
My company is Dutch registered and I travel to Amsterdam each quarter for the management meetings. We have most of them in Noordwijk which is a local beach community for the city folk. I also spend a bit of time in Rijswijk which other than being HQ for Shell has no redeeming qualities. What specifically are you concerned about / interested in?

royalfan5
2/24/2006, 01:55 PM
My company is Dutch registered and I travel to Amsterdam each quarter for the management meetings. We have most of them in Noordwijk which is a local beach community for the city folk. I also spend a bit of time in Rijswijk which other than being HQ for Shell has no redeeming qualities. What specifically are you concerned about / interested in?
Any cultural quirks that could potentially throw me off guard is what I am most interested in.

goodonya
2/24/2006, 03:14 PM
Well I can only relate to my experiences so here goes. For such a small country (and if there is a storm, 2/3 go away), it is actually quite diverse. Some people are genuinely friendly and great to get along with, good for a laugh and easy going and informal. BUT others are arrogant as hell and will lecture a Texan on how to cook his beans given half a chance. You have to develop a thick skin regarding such people, and just ignore what they are saying (as they will never be swayed by silly arguments such as “I was born and raised there!”).

The Hague is the best place for foreigners living there. Amsterdam is a tourist zoo, good for a laugh but hell to live there. The East of the country is dull, and the people tend to have lower language skills (in the west they are 90% fluent in English).

The Amsterdam folks (a breed apart, very different from the rest of the country) position socialists on the far right of their political spectrum (everything further to the right is labeled as fascists). There is monumental hypocrisy in such people, I remember one in Shell ranting about the oppression of capitalism and some shady aspects of the Company’s business in embargoed South Africa. All the while, he had no problem taking a fat pay check from the same company!

Truth is, the country was/is spoilt by its hydrocarbon riches. When you have a prolific gas field in your back yard pumping billions of dollars into the economy, you can afford to run empty buses across the country day and night, have one social worker for two children, bicycle paths equipped better than a German autobahn, and then lecture the world about how they should be more socially developed, etc..

Another interesting trait is how tight they are with money. All the BS about Scots pales in comparison to the Dutch. The expression “going Dutch” (i.e. everyone pays for their own) responds to their national culture of never been taken advantage of, ever, in any way. They go on holiday to Southern France, home to some of the best fruit orchards on earth, but because they are afraid of being taken advantage of, they take canned peaches along so as not to have to deal with the locals.

Although travel and television has helped them improve some their palate, fundamentally they eat to live (the French live for the next meal). Their compliment to a restaurant will often be “it was cheap and there was plenty”. They think the Earth of their beer, which I would compare to elaborate washing-up water, produced with excessive amounts of wheat and corn flour (real bear is made with barley).

Rudeness is common, and mostly neither personal nor intentional, it just the way they are. If you remember that New York started out as New Amsterdam, and that if I have my facts right New-Yorkers have a certain reputation, well you can add 2 + 2 right there.

They are keen tradesmen, but do get malicious at times. Read contracts thoroughly. I remember a seismic contractor bidding a large, low margin marine acquisition on which he was calculating a very thin profit in order to win the business. The procurement guy (Dutch) knew that the contract stipulated “covered life boats” as part of the HSE commitments, and that this contractor’s boats did not have such equipment, but he let him sign the deal, and then informed him with a smile that he had to spend much more than his margin equipping the boat, probably incurring a late-start penalty in the process.

They suffer a VAST inferiority complex relative to the Germans. A few world wars did not help (nor the fact that while many heroic Dutch resistance folks fought against incredible odds, many other did not hesitate to collaborate with the eradication of Jews, and anybody else they did not like). But the real issue is that Dutch is a dialect of German, and there are cultural affinities in abundance for the objective eye. Do not under any circumstance ever verbalize this observation to a Dutchman unless you have copious health insurance.

Let’s face it: the Lord has been trying to drown them for centuries by programming the progressive subsidence of their corner of Europe (accelerated by the depletion of gas fields). They are forever building dikes to push back the day their land will be returned to the cultivation of fish J.

Choosing a good neighborhood and getting to know the nicer folks makes living in Holland a pleasant experience. Ride a bike, visit the market places on Saturdays, patronize Indonesian restaurants and drink beers in the pubs, and it is not such a bad place. Don’t own a car (the nearest parking lot is on the Belgian border), instead ride trams, buses and trains, and rent a car for those rare occasions when you need one. Note that they compete in the first league for the title of worst drivers in the universe. Arrogance (“red lights are for suckers” etc..), low vehicle skills (when do they ever practice a hill start, there are no hills), and the distraction of dodging suicidal cyclists makes them a poor bunch behind the wheel. Make eye contact before stepping onto a pedestrian crossing (and watch out for the bikes). Bus drivers on the other hand seem to have a wide quota of allowed pedestrian casualties before being reprimanded, I recall frequently being able to make detailed observations of fine rust specs on a bus mirror as the vehicle came within a hair (positioned longitudinally) of knocking me over while I was standing on the curb.

OK, now you must promise NEVER to show this to anyone Dutch

royalfan5
2/24/2006, 03:38 PM
So your saying I should not brag about my Prussian heritage, and to work on my human frogger skills?

goodonya
2/24/2006, 03:42 PM
I think you assess the situation correctly.

GDC
2/24/2006, 03:43 PM
I would be so stoked to go back to Holland.

12
2/24/2006, 03:46 PM
I have a friend who, through his work, regularly interacts with the Dutch.

He's not a big fan of the Dutch.

Hope this helps.

Chuck Bao
2/24/2006, 08:40 PM
I love me some croquettes. with mustard.

The Dutch are great. They should be a good group to join. I've been to the Rabobank HQ a few times.

Palermo10
2/27/2006, 04:52 AM
I was in Amsterdam in early January. F*** was it cold.

Dutch people are also the tallest people in the world. Although I heard about that one African tribe, so maybe they are the tallest white people in the world.

Schipol also has the longest f*ing runway I've ever seen in my life. And every street in Amsterdam looks the same because of the canals. I didnt really like it, but then again I dont do the things that Amsterdam is famous for.

But most Dutch (like their German friends) speak English. Because honestly, who speaks Dutch?

If you get the chance, laugh at them for being in the Group of Death at this summer's World Cup :)

LoyalFan
2/27/2006, 08:47 AM
The proper term in Nebraska is Cretian, as in:
Q. What happens when some one leaves Crete?
A. The become an ex-Cretian.

Then there's Emory U. in Atlanta...The Emorrhoids.

LF

picasso
2/27/2006, 09:29 AM
I'm from...Hhholllland. Isn't that veird?