Three Random Things

After living in the Netherlands for 18 months, things that once seemed odd are now commonplace. Having visitors and explaining things to them reminds me that indeed, some things here are strange. 

So here are some random things for the day:

Tandenstokers

Hate flossing? Feel guilt ridden every time the dentist asks if you are a regular flosser? Maybe you should consider moving to the Netherlands! Here, flossing is frowned upon. Instead, everyone is encouraged to stoke their tandens with this glorified toothpick. Pete is totally on the tandenstoker bandwagon and prefers his "extra dun" whatever the heck that means! I can't quit on flossing though so I may never be a true Dutchy.  

The Green Machine

So this nifty device isn't actually called the green machine. It is an "e.dentifier" provided by your bank when you sign up for an account. In this country, debit is king. This is good for our day to day budget management, but bad for our airline mile accrual. So anytime you want to buy anything online, instead of entering your debit card information, you are asked to use the green machine to make the transaction. It works like this:

1. Make purchase online
2. Select "IDeal" payment method
3. Insert your debit card into the top of the green machine and login with your pin code
4. Enter 8 digit code provided by merchant online
5. This generates another 8 digit response, which you then type into the merchant website
6. Confirm and voila! payment

Our recent visitor explained that this is a way to ensure 2 point encryption (or something like that). Yes, it is fun to use, but Jude likes to use these as "phones" so we often have a hard time finding one that works!

Alcohol-free Beer

So this product shouldn't require any explanation. It is not the alcohol-free beer that is strange, it is how I came to get it. At my first midwife appointment around 6 weeks, I was given a cardboard box full of goodies for pregnant people. Mostly literature and magazines in Dutch. But also, this non-alcoholic beer. So strange! The fact that 5+ months later, it is still in the fridge is a sign of how I feel about drinking beer that doesn't contain any alcohol! 

We were attending an outdoor festival this summer and I was horrified to see children drinking from beer cans being given away by a promo vendor. I looked at the nearby trashcan and saw it overflowing with alcohol-free Amstel beers. Phew. But seriously, giving it to children? So strange! 

This country is filled with plenty more strange things. I just need to remember what they are since things seem so normal now! I'll report back when they occur to me!