Nieuws:

Voor vragen rond je registratie, je account of het functioneren van het forum kun je een email sturen naar:
mailaven @ freedom.nl (zonder spaties rond de @).
Vermeld dan ook even de naam waarmee je je hebt geregistreerd.

Hoofdmenu

Studying in the NL

Gestart door Isaac, augustus 21, 2009, 04:18:43 PM

Vorige topic - Volgende topic

0 leden en 1 gast bekijken dit topic.

Ciara

It's true, opening times and such are quite strict, but for us it's a way of knowing what you're up against. I agree that some things (like goverments, post offices, that sort of thing) should be open longer, or in the evening more often, because everyones work hours seem to be the same, so if you have important things to do you have take some time off. I find that anoying, but not much you can do. On the other hand I never have to ask myself if a shop will be open or not, the times are the same everywhere (well, almost anyways).

The self-explainatory answers is something many Dutch people consider the answer to you question, and technically, it is. Don't ask where you are, ask how you should get where you want to go. If they know, they'll most likely tell you. I mean, it could be worse, they could just tell you you're "here" :P

As a pedestrian, just take your spot on the road. If you look firm enough, people will make room for you. Might seem scary, it sometimes is, but as a pedestrain you just have to take your right to use the road sometimes. I lived in Rome for six months, most cars didn't stop at the Zebra's unless someone was actually crosing it, if you stood on the sidewalk waiting you could be there for quite some time. It's not that bad here (I think, by comparison) but the technique works for me. Or dress up like a goth with long leather jackes and spikes, people will actually move out of your way in that case :P (also, from experience, here in leeuwarden, and I'm just a small girl, but it seemed other thought me scary ^_^)

Isaac

Thank for the compression and for your replies. I thought I had been too offensive unto the Dutch collectively. Notice that the Spaniards are the first who criticize Spain, and thus the rule "not unto the others what you would not like for you" doesn't applies here.

I've just gotten a bike, and this has helped me a lot. I'm now something, nobody but something at least. And I can see how the pedestrians are surprised that I stop to allow them cross in no-zebra zones, but I see that it's only me who do this, and the cars of course.

In order to avoid the man-in-balloon effect, I downloaded the map of the town into my mobile. This helps a lot when streets are properly labeled (the only thing properly labeled I've seen here) and it makes useful some replies otherwise useless. But when I told the man-in-balloon joke I was not so literal, but in a broad meaning.

A couple of practical questions. When the road and its bike lanes continues but the sidewalk finish, which lane I'm supposed to walk by the left margin? Is a case I had never found before. I know that pedestrians and riders have priority over the traffic, but between pedestrians and riders? And, in a crossing with no explicit priorization, which side have preference over me? According to the Spanish traffic code, you must yield to your right hand side, unless you were entering a roundabout or a expressway. Is the same in the NL? I felt as if I were yielding wrongly, but I don't expect it to be different but in the UK.

If you've been in Rome, Ciara, you may have an idea of how Mediterranean people are. But about the traffic, it's not a good reference, since every Spaniard who visit Rome complaints about the way Italians drive. Spaniards are more civilized, but the street are still designed for the cars and the non-official law of the heaviest vehicle is still ruling.

Ciara

The traffic here is as following: everything going straight on the same road has prio, on roads with no signals everything from the right has prio, so seems like it's the same like in Spain. Pedestrians only have prio when the sidewalk continues over the road, at zebra's. or when there's other sorts of signaling. When forced to walk on the road, keep to the left hand side, so you'll be able to see what's coming, and walk on the bike lane (mostly you just stick to the far left side of the road).

The survival of the strongest is something you don't see much here, but I agree that the Italians driving is somewhat.. extreme maybe? Although it was worse in Turkey :p
I'm glad you got a bike and manage to get around better.

Isaac

Thanks, Ciara, and congratulations for your 100 posts.

I should have said "Christian tradition Mediterranean world", since "Islamic tradition Mediterranean world" have a crazy, chaotic and dangerous traffic, at least in Egypt.