17 October 2004
living in my head
How to order a beer in the Netherlands:
"En biertje" ("un beertchuh") in the general direction of the bartender. No need to mess with "please" or other such niceties---that would not be as direct and therefore very un-Dutch.
Leave 2 euros. Don't worry about if it's 1.50 or 1.90 (at one place a beer is 1.30). Leave 2 euros.
The brilliant (cough: Russian) thing about this country is that beer (like vodka in cough: Russia) is often cheaper than coffee, tea, or soda.
And when you drink, everyone assumes you're having a good time.
I can actually go days leading into weeks not having an Actual Conversation about Anything with Anyone using this technique.
Although I would like to ask someone about that lion skin that's been hanging in front of the Heineken brewery for months now.
Poor guy, I know how he feels.
betholindo at 09:56