A Dutch perspective on American college life

[Daviiid_]

Moving from the Netherlands to the US was an interesting experience. The Dutch are well-known for being cheap; our thriftiness knows no boundaries (my neighbor actually registered his dog as an employee of his company so he could dodge the annual $15 dog tax!). As a stereotypical cheap Dutchman, 'the land of the free' sounded like music to my ears. So with bags filled with liquorice and 'stroopwafels' (look it up, they're delicious!), I moved to the US to go to college. Although quickly discovering that 'the land of the free' meant something else than I had hoped, I still had high expectations of my time amongst the Americans. I could write entire books about my experiences and observations, but the thing that stands out the most has to be school spirit.

Just to give you some context: in the Netherlands, extracurricular activities such as sports are completely unrelated to school - your high school is nothing more than the place where you get educated between 9 and 4. Hence, imagine my reaction when the first thing I learned at college in the States was the school song. I had never heard of a concept like this, and although it was clear to me that others felt a lot of pride (I swear I saw a girl shed a tear while emotionally wailing along), all I could see was a crowd of rich-looking kids yelling "HECK YEAH, this is the place where I get EDUCATED" while wildly fist bumping into the air. I tried to explain the concept of a school song to my friends in the Netherlands, but to this very day they are convinced I'm making the whole thing up. I am also still on the lookout for the first Dutch person who wears a sweater with the name of their school, I will personally buy the first reader who comments with a picture of this rarity a pack of stroopwafels. Although many things are similar between the two countries that I love, school spirit really isn't one of them.