Andrea, familiar with Iran and Iranian culture on personal studies, decided to visit the country to know it better. “I knew the country very well and I came here to see its great cultural and historical heritage; but my family didn’t and had objections; yet I tried to make them familiar with some Iranian traditions such as Yalda Night; I explained for them the tradition and its symbols and even wrote a poem of Hafez in Persian for them.”

 

As a short introduction on Netherlands and lifestyle of Dutch people, Andrea noted the enthusiast of Dutch people for different sports underlining that biking is the most popular sport in the country; “many people say that they learn biking before walking; it is common in Netherlands to bike to school and work.”  She also described traveling and camping as popular activities among Dutch people.

 

Noting the cultural aspects of Netherlands, Ms. Van Acker underlined that Dutch people, influenced by World War II, try to save everything and don’t like wasting their money. Also she added that Dutch people are interested in starting their own company and being entrepreneurs. Touching upon diversity and tolerance, Andrea said people in Netherlands are very acceptable adding that the mayor of Rotterdam is a Muslim from Morocco “and Locals in Rotterdam love him.” She also noted the refugees from different countries who are sheltered in Netherlands; “the government provides special courses for refugees, so they learn language and culture of the Netherlands. They also learn how to find a job. After finishing these classes, refugees work as a volunteer and teach to new refugees to complete the integration phase.”

 

 

 

 

 In terms of social characteristics of Dutch people, she said they are punctual; “Dutch people are really frank and rigid and it is difficult to change their opinion about something.’

 

On politics Andrea underlined that the country has many political groups and parties; “however Dutch people are not so much interested in international politics and they are not aware of international crisis; media also play a crucial rule in forming their awareness the way they prefer.”

 

When asked about education, Andrea explained that university students prefer to work during the education period. However facilities are provided fort them in a proper way; “there are also lots of international students in Netherlands and the government tries to provide free services for them as soon as they are registered.”

 

She briefly talked about the quality of government system in Netherlands. According to her, Netherlands is so well-governed country and there is no corruption, waste of money and violation of rules. “That is why living in Netherlands is so easy,” she concluded.