I'm immediately struck by how kind the people here in Holland are. Maybe it's being in a small town (comparable perhaps to the larger farming communities in Michigan). But what amazes me is how kind everyone is to me because I speak English. The most striking example is when I boarded a train and a stern railway employee was asking everyone for their tickets. He came up to me, and gave me a firm order in quick Dutch. I stared at him and said "...ticket?" He smiled and said "yes, may I see it please?" "Is this it?" "That's the one! Have a nice day!"
Not to go on an anti-American rant, since I think America is awesome and has the best people on Earth. But these people are eager to help a foreign visitor (or, from what I've heard, it's more about showing off their command of the language); isn't that something we could learn in America? To be more hospitable, as opposed to the American Anglophilic attitude?*
And my English even got me out of some trouble with the locals... There's a neighborhood here in Heemstede with streets named after famous composers, so I HAD to walk over there and take pictures of the signs! It occurred to me that I might look suspicious.. oddly dressed, alone, taking pictures of the neighborhood.. but I shrugged it off. Anyway, before taking a picture of Beethovenlaan, a woman came up to me on a bicycle and asked who I was and what I was doing. She was very kind about it, and explained to me that I was worrying people, and that their neighborhood had a problem with crime. I explained what I was doing, and left - after all, I got a picture of Bachlaan!
*I'd like to clarify that I'm not referring to anything to do with immigration, one way or another.
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