Worldly Chatter

Part one of this found here.

I wrote about Princess Maxima and her comment about the Dutch people not having an identity the other day. I wrote about how the Dutch people feel she isn’t Dutch enough to understand the populous, either individually or as a whole. Because she is from Argentina and only a Dutch national for 6 years they feel she doesn’t get them. They have an identity, individualistic and collectively.

So I tossed Dutchie a thought. When I was still living in America, Dutchie and I got into some heated debates about America and the American population. She gave me her opinion on the government and the people as she saw them there in the US and abroad. I saw the country and its people one way ad she saw some completely different things. How can this be? She saw American news as bias and misguided. I knew that the news on particular channels was favored one way or the other but what do you mean misguided? According to her, we didn’t everything she did. Preposterous and around we would go for another round of debates! When I arrived I finally understood. The news was different; the way Americans are perceived here is different from how we see ourselves. But how was I going to know that unless I stepped outside my one limited line of sight? One must really step outside the bubble to see everything that is inside it. If it is too crowded where you stand how are you going to see what is on the other side?

With that said, when I landed here in this little country I had a loud smack of a culture shock and a wakeup call when it came to my own country and previous way of living. What I saw about my own country from their eyes was astonishing. The way they saw our personalities, our policies and government was strong, sometimes good and sometimes bad but definitely had a thought on it all. The continent of Europe deals with America on many levels. Our American culture floods over theirs in the movies, television and other forms of media and entertainment. It is hard to move away from another country when it is all around you. What the government does what the celebrities do and what America creates spills over here. It is the same way on the other side. Business, fashion, government policies etc but not everyone sees it, or cares to. You would have an opinion about such a force too.

If Dutchie steps up to me with her thoughts on my country and all that that means then why can’t someone coming into their country? We now talk a great deal about my experiences here, my thoughts on how I see things and we don’t always agree. I may see something one way and she gets insulted or upset because it is different from what she sees. It is the same thing as when I was living in America. Did that make her think? I am outside her Dutch bubble just as she was outside my American bubble. Maybe the Princess was just trying to say that the Dutch person is an individual and that there is not one personality type that dominates the Dutch population, that they are truly all different and in that respect, isn’t that a compliment? They aren’t mindless drones but rather individuals in their own right. Again, why didn’t the Princess just say that? I haven’t a clue but maybe that is what she was trying to say. One really only knows but like I mentioned earlier the prime minister was trying to straighten it all out. It wasn’t meant to be taken that way. The Princess is in the same position I am and Dutchie is when she goes to America. What do you think? Was she wrong for speaking about the people when she wasn’t one herself or was she simply making an observation about what she sees as an outsider looking in?

Princess Maxima, Worldly Chatter, Dutch Culture, Dutch Identity