Index nieuws

Feb 2003

Sunday, 2/2/2003
Cultural differences: dinner parties
We organized a diner party shortly after new year's day, and this was the first time I ever prepared a (enormous) turkey. I have to admit, it's quite interesting to do this, although for a normal family it's waaay to much.
This highlighted an interesting cultural difference. When we hosted dinner parties in the Netherlands, we usually would get yet another bunch of flowers or a plant, which is very nice of course. I was never big on buying those type of things myself. Cooking for a group had to big a big hobby (which it has always been in my case) however; after all it's a big hassle and is not cheap as well.
Most people I know in the Netherlands could sometimes talk about a "dutch party" (which is called an "american party" in Dutch interestingly enough!) in sometimes a bit denigrating terms. In the Netherlands however this is often associated with cheap student parties with booze and potato chips. In the US it is quite normal that if you are invited for diner somewhere, you ask if you can contribute something. Very often you bring wine, appetizers or desert. That reduces the hassle and cost for a host and makes for a bigger incentive to organize something more frequently. It has a cosy touch to it as well, and you meet more people quicker (friends of friends), where the food serves to "break the ice" when people don't know one another very well.

© Wilma & Erik van de Pol, 2000-2008