'Dealing with the Dutch before they deal with you'

"So this must be Holland, honey... Get your camera ready and watch out for the natives", said an American tourist ariving in Amsterdam.
Reading this survival kit will prevent you from sharing his fate. It introduces nothing less than the very soul of the Dutch. Packed with humorous descriptions it explains their remarkable habits and peculiar behaviour. Whether on business or vacation, this book will guide you and make your stay more enjoyable by teaching you how to deal with the Dutch. Before they deal with you.

Offering as an international ring for the 2010 Bookcrossing Convention, held in Amsterdam (see: http://www.bcconvention2010.nl/index.html ). Please read the following rules carefully:

1. Upon arriving: read super quickly (1-2 weeks), this will allow as many people as possible to join before they're headed to Amsterdam next year. (Of course, if no one is interested in reading this one, you've got about a year to read it ;-) )
2. Please journal upon arriving, finishing (tell us what you thought of the book) and sending it out. It might keep me from harrassing you (I'm Dutch, maybe you'll find an explanation in the book about Dutch Directness, don't take it the wrong way)
3. If the next reader is not responding to PM or mail, please skip to the next reader to keep it moving.
4. If you're being skipped you can always join in again.
5. Please leave a footprint somewhere in the book, don't use more than 1cm2 (square centimeter, it's tiny), don't write your name, but make a little drawing (a footprint, fingerprint, smiley, et cetera), maybe at some point you thought there was a brilliant tip.

Ring order:
jaybob, NL (int'l shipping)
alassante, IT (EU shipping)
lucy-lemon, UK (UK shipping)
PussInBooks, UK (EU shipping)
voveryte, UK (int'l shipping)
Scruffykaz, UK (int'l shipping)
uppity, CA (CA shipping)
rebeccaljames, US (US shipping) <-- now here!
2of3Rs, US (int'l shipping)
KiwiinEngland IE (EU shipping)
chamonix44 NL (NL shipping)

And back to me!

Want to join? Please send a PM including shipping preferences and I'll add you ;)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed out to Jaybob. Have a safe trip!

Plenty of historically information & references here but at the same time tongue in cheek comments about the Dutch and their idiosyncrasies.

Was able to smile in places when I recognized traits but still learnt things that I did'nt know even after living here for 7 years.

Did expect to read more information that was current regarding holland and its people as per the book title suggests instead of much Dutch history but still worth a read!!

Thanks again Laui.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

posted to alassante.

Enjoy the book!

It took a bit longer than usual to arrive -maybe due to the unusual weather condition we're experiencing ;)
But anyway, the book is now here, safe and sound, and I admit I have started reading some bits and smiling already :D

I adored this book!
I might be biased, since I love everything holland-related, but I found the historical information very interesting, and the humoristic approach quite witty and brilliant :DDDD
It made me smile in several points, but I am going to mark a specific bit with a smiley face :)

Thank you loads, Laui! I think I will probably buy a copy to keep, next time I go to the Netherlands.
Yours is going to start its journey again tomorrow :)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

The book is now travelling again, on its way to Lucy-lemon.

Sorry I kept it for 2 days longer...I wanted to re-read a few pages and bits :))

Arrived over the weekend. Looks ace, but have a couple of rings ahead of it. Will try and read it asap.

Received today, thanks! I'll get reading straight away.

I kind of flicked through this as I wasn't in the mood for too many facts and figures, but this was light-hearted and funny, and explained the habits of some of my Dutch colleagues!
Now PMing Voveryte for address...

Received today! Looks fun, so will try to read as soon as possible!

Great! Thanks Laui for a chance to read this one! Funny, witty and informative. My favourite chapter is the one that tells about gezelligheid! Also, it really amazes me how Dutch can be patriotic without being too much patriotic or making things into their own, national symbols. However, the only critisism would be the the book was a bit like a jigsaw puzzle for me, with still scattered pieces. One page tells about middle ages, the other - about modern times, then I also found paragraphs which would have been more appropriate for a different chapter... But maybe that's another thing we didn't know about Dutch yet? :)
And another thing... I have noticed that the only foreigners mentioned in the book (who consider Dutch as "weird" people), were American, Australian or Singaporean, and I have this idea that maybe for a European many Dutch features are closer and more understandable?? Or maybe it's just me, as I come from Lithuania, where we also have clogs and are weird enough to go crazy for herring...

Sending to Scruffykaz today, as I have already got her address..

Arrived a few days ago - sorry for the delay in registering....I've been up to my eyeballs in revision and assignments.

Looks like a good fun read!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Forgot to journal that I posted this book to the next on the list last week!

Unfortunately I didn't have time to read it. I sent this book to the next on the list so it can continue it's journey.

The book arrived today. Thanks.
I've read a few chapters so far and although I left the Netherlands 54 years ago I think it's bang on so far. lol

July 15,2008I enjoyed this tonque in cheeck (?) book. I still try to buy salt Dutch licorice and rookworst.
By surface mail to rebeccaljames

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

To rebeccaljames by surface mail.
Enjoy.

I received this book today. I am looking forward to reading. I will get to it as soon as I can and then pass it along to the next person. Thank you for sharing.

I'm sorry to hi-jack the journal entries for a bit, but there's a game of Bookcrossing Monopoly being organised in the Netherlands and we're open to people coming to the convention (or if you intend to come to Amsterdam next april). Right now we're still a bit short on 'foreign' members (we've got 8, but there's about 9 more 'needed'). You can see more about it in this thread: http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/22/6445751/27

You'll be partnered with 2 Dutch people playing the game, thus forming a team of three. I'm in one of these teams and I'm absolutely psyched about playing, but I'd love for someone from abroad to join our team, and so do all the other teams (17 teams in total, so there's teams who won't be having someone from abroad to join them, which is incredibly sad, of course!).

You can post in the aforementioned thread, or send a PM to iiwi (he's organising the game) or me. I really do hope some of you will join, because it will be hilarious! Thanks!

This book is being mailed out today.

This book has safely arrived in Ireland, ready for me to do some research before attending the BC convention in the Netherlands in 2010.

Thanks for posting the book on rebeccaljames.

Some of it was interesting, I finally learnt the difference between Holland and The Netherlands (at my primary school we were taught the country was called Holland.) But being introduced to a stereotype about the dutch I didn't know before, and then have pages of gentle mocking of this stereotype wasn't that funny. Maybe if I'd know the character trait before it would have been more funny.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:





Travelling to the next on this ring.

I received this book today. Thank you KiwiinEngland for sending it on to me. I'm really curious to read it, and I'll try to get around to reading it as soon as possible.

There were two cards inside the book, and I will leave them in the book!

I found the book interesting in places. I could relate to some of the things I read, but not to others.
I am grateful that I had a chance to read the book.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I am sending this book back to Laui. Thank you for letting me read the book. I learnt some things that I didn't know about Holland!

It's back. Thanks everyone for taking good care of it!