I live in the Netherlands for a bit more than 4 years, and happily adopted some of the Dutch traditions.
I eat bitterballen with a “lekker wijntje”at a borrel. I love having a chocolate letter for Sinterclaas. Kissing three time( a bit too much to my taste, but ok) when saying hello and good buy, even if you talked for just 5 minutes.
But there are some things that just never stop surprising me. “You cannot explain it, but it’s a fact”
Have you ever used public transport in the Netherlands ? There is this special kind of people that commutes by bus: every morning I go to work seems like everybody travels with an imaginary friend sitting next to them. There always will be a bag next to a Dutch person, even if the bus gets full, like no one is allowed to take that place. Not sure if it’s extreme sensitivity to personal space or the bag’s second name is “my precious”?
For some people it’s enough to just smile and they move the bag. But for some it takes really asking and giving the look:
And they look back at you like:
The mystery is really challenging to solve: what it is about the bag??
Katya in Wonderland 
placing your bag on the seat next to you is indeed to “create a personal space” haha. When for example the whole first wagon is empty and you go and sit there, the next person will go to the second wagon xD so many people keep standing while there are enough empty seats. We live a quite individual life.
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well, true; but for me it’s sort of good manners,to consider interest of others in public spaces. Otherwise to get the personal space- get a car 😉
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exactly 🙂 it feels as if people are afraid of each other these days. it has absolutely to do with good manners 🙂 it’s also polite to put your bag on the ground if someone wants to sit.
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