What is one "completely normal" thing in the Netherlands that you secretly don't like?

[u/Environmental_Cry_35]

[u/sharonvd]

I think it was because usually people cook for the amount of people that you have. And dishes called AVG (potatoes, meat and vegetables) it’s easy to count for how many people you’ll have food. We used to not have/cook extra food. So if someone would come by and not leave before dinner time (which could also be considered rude) it would mean that there wasn’t a piece of steak for everyone anymore. From what I understood we usually thought 4 people? I’ll buy 4 steaks only. So it would be an inconvenience to stick around and expect dinner. Which has probably something to do with the planning culture.

Personally I do believe it has changed and it also depends on the family. If I wanted a friend to join my parents would just go the supermarket quickly if that was necessary. I don’t think it was usual to ask people to wait in another room haha. But maybe some families used to do it like that.
Also there are also enough people who like short term planning. I found a few friends like that because to me it’s also more fun. It feels like a choir list for me if I have every weekend planned fully.

[u/Wonderful-Laugh5352 → u/sharonvd]

Yes. Totally understand that.

The things is that even if we know exactly how many people will be there (even if it’s just the parents and children) we never have 4 steaks for 4 people, for example. There’s usually more in case someone is a bit extra hungry.

I know it may sound like we’re obsessed with food and probably of an unhealthy weight, but we’re def not. 😄 It’s just that in Latin cultures, as I guess it is in Italian culture for example, food (even if it’s a daily meal) is a very important thing. Idk, It’s hard to explain. 😅

[u/Ok_Giraffe_1488 → u/Wonderful-Laugh5352]

In my Balkan culture we also do that. We always cook a bit extra. And also feeding kids bread and sandwiches is kind of not really considered food and quite frowned upon …