So I got a book called “Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away from Home” (Mark McGrum). It covers 2 of my favorite concepts: ‘gezelligheid’ and ‘lagom’. And now I’ve learned a new concept I’ve come to like: ‘yoyuu’. It’s very amusing/funny (without insulting any particular culture—it just pokes fun at how people’s well-intended, innocent acts can offend their hosts/turn themselves into foreign laughingstocks). I read the first chapter at the store and finished the rest one day later. Anyone been through a bad case of ‘reverse culture shock’?
I also recently found out that Indonesian soccer fans have nicknamed the Dutch soccer team ‘Hollandonesia’ (because of the amount of Indo players in Oranje). Very amusing. Definitely will be supporting “Hollandonesia” in 2010!
This is entry 3 of 3 this week.
