While I was working on the list of 21 signs you have been too long in the Netherlands, I noticed that a few of the things I came up with were, in fact, not generally applicable to the Netherlands, but were specific to Rotterdam.
- You think it was worth it to stand for two hours in line at Richard Visser’s on December 31st to get the best oliebollen in the country.
- You remember the last time Feyenoord actually won something.
- You follow the performances of Sparta and Excelsior in the second league.
- You refer to the capital of the Netherlands as 020.
- You know the bridges in Rotterdam by their nicknames.
- When you cross the Maas to the other side from the one you live on, you get homesick.
- Which is why you actually avoid the other side.
- Skyscrapers built in a couple of weeks no longer surprise you.
- Bram Ladage fries are a healthy snack.
- You have a favourite modern architecture icon in Rotterdam (mine is the Bergpolderflat).
Richard Visser
Bergpolderflat
The Maas
Small European Country 