Tag Archives: life in the netherlands

Plofkraken and the closing of ATMs at night in the Netherlands The term ‘plofkraak’ and it’s plural form ‘plofkraken’ is a combination of the words ‘plof’ which means explosion and ‘kraak’ which means ‘break-in’ or ‘robbery’. Plofkraak/Plofkraken is the term used for an increasingly common form of ATM robbery whereby …

Amsterdam landlord to tenants: If you get pregnant, rot op! An Amsterdam landlord has made what some might consider being an unreasonable request to their tenants. They have to sign a contract stating that they won’t get pregnant. Sadly, this is not me being sarcastic nor is this satire, this …

Public Transport Strike in the Netherlands on May 28th Unless you live in an expat bubble, you’ll be aware that there’s a public transport strike planned on May 28th. Buses, trams and trains won’t be running with the exception of the train service to and from Schiphol airport. What’s the …

British and Dutch Cultures Compared Guest Blog Post The old saying of “men are from Mars women are from Venus” (the planet not the chain of sex shops) is something that certainly applies to countries too. Being from the UK, I can tell you that the Netherlands is so different that …

Life in the Netherlands My Favourite Things The Shallow Man recently received the following comment from an aggrieved reader. Is it just me? To notice an edge of cynicism (check spelling.) within your recent posts? Could you find another slant? This pisstake has become tedious/odious. Yes, you make a point …

Living in the Netherlands A Song I love living in this country so much that I’ve decided to write a song about it. Based on the music of the late great James Brown and his song ‘Living in America’. Watch the video below if you’re not familiar with the song. …

Dutch tolerance, just when I thought it was as dead as disco, out of blue it makes a grand return!  Which brings me to the subject of today’s post, the uitzwaaidag Islam, Dutch tolerance strikes back! Another day another uitzwaaidag event If social media had existed during the time of the NSDAP …

From Blogger to Amsterdam Vlogger At the time of writing this, my blog has been around for two years. As I’ve stated before, the purpose of my blog, like the BBC is to inform, educate and to entertain. Some might add an additional purpose, which is to annoy, something I’ve certainly …