 Alright, so welcome to part 2 of the discussion, we're going to go straight into it from where we left off. So we'll talk about, oh, we'll talk about what we've learned from each other's cultures. Yes, so if you listened or already watched the first one, this is a continuation of the same conversation. Yes. Enjoy. Yeah, and we just do, if you didn't watch, we made these cards and then we'll talk about the different elements of each other's cultures. That's how it works. So let's go. If there was the first one, they'll see. Okay, all right. Okay, next. Holidays and exploring. This one's for a Dutch thing. Yes. What do you want to comment on that? Yeah, so I learned that structure doesn't always make things fun, but Dutch people have also been able to structure holidays and fun into their planning. So social activities are something that are taking very seriously. I used to fight with her a lot when we started talking because when Elaine goes out with her friends, when she says we're having a coffee, we're having a beer, we're going this, she turns her phone off, she's present because they know that when they're working, and when they decide to go and have a holiday or have fun or explore something, they tune out and they are present and they enjoy it as much as they have to. So there's no in between where you're on holiday, but you can still answer some messages or some phone calls, whatever it is. Yeah, it's mostly very well planned and they make sure that they enjoy everything because when they come back to work, they're stuck in the workspace or in the work frame of mind. And holidays and adventure is something that, yeah, it's culturally been ingrained into, yeah, been ingrained into their way of living. Here, holidays, exploring, traveling, it's now building up, it's now becoming a thing. That's because travel for us, again, we've said that in previous videos, travel for us has always been a practical thing. For family. We're going here today to see family and we're not going to travel for the sake of it and just have fun somewhere else. So it's one thing I really appreciate about, you know, social activities and the importance of social activities in your lifestyle schedule and making room for it actually, like they make real room, save for it, plan for it and make sure they actually execute it and have fun. Yeah. Yeah, holidays are very important in Netherlands. Yeah. Like they're like holy and there was, yeah, it's something people really plan for and look forward to and like some people even, their life is like, you say, spins around their holidays. You know, that's how important the free time is. It's really sacred in Netherlands. Yeah. Okay, next. Bread. Bread. We've talked about it. Bread. My favorite bread. Bread. That's it. You want to say something about it or something? Yeah. So we eat a lot of bread, like bread for breakfast, bread for lunch, even for dinner. Yes. You can eat bread. Yeah. Bread is soup. Bread, bread, bread, everyday bread. That's our main meal. I have to say I came back from my opinion on bread because of Ghana. At first, I really missed it when I was in Ghana. The bread, like the bread, like whole wheat bread. Yeah, because you have variety and it's fresh. Such a variety. That's the thing. Yeah. They like bread, but it's not boring in my opinion. It's a bit much because culturally that's not how I grew up. But it's not boring. Different types. Always fresh. Always like. Yeah, you can go to any bakery and get fresh bread. Fresh. Any time of the day. Fresh. Always fresh. So yeah, it's not boring, but yeah. When you go to restaurants, it limits your options a bit. For example, when we go to restaurants in Netherlands and comments used to a warm meal during lunch, right? My God. In Netherlands, it's difficult to get a like a warm meal for lunch. And yeah. So the bread, it's a cultural thing. And we just have to live with it. But I think we can make our find our own middle way with it. Because sometimes you wouldn't mind bread. I was adapting. I was adapting because then I was now researching fun sandwiches, different ways to eat bread. So that's yes. And sometimes you build our own sandwich like with a lot of egg and bacon. I'll find my eggs. I'll put my mayo or whatever inside. Put a cured ham. Put some, you know, rockets. You know, make it more, you know, juicy and yeah, yeah, I'll eat. I'll eat. But I need to. We've learned. I can't just pick up bread and cheese or bread and just eat it because. And bread is here is not seen as a meal. Whenever I eat a sandwich at work, people are like, Oh, when are you going to eat? I'm like, I just ate bread. Over here, you go to the hospital and you've had maybe bread and maybe hot chocolate or Milo is what we call Milo is the most popular chocolate drink. Yeah, that's an art. God damn. We want to be sponsored by Milo. So you have your bread and Milo, which you call tea as well. Why are you breading it tea? And then you go to the hospital and they ask you, have you eaten there? Like, no, you've not anything today. Oh, I had bread and Milo in the morning. So he will go to the branch like a new meal on its own. Okay, yeah. This is yours. I know. Ironing. Yeah, I've learned from Ghana how important ironing is. Yes. I never ironed in my life. I only iron things. If there would still be a bit wet, like from the washing machine, from when you wash it, you iron it to dry it out a bit. Then I would take out the iron. I had never ironed in my life to make it look neat. It was not. I found it very surprising that I would see somebody just pick up a shirt, a shirt, like a dress shirt, from the laundry, like, you know, it's dry from her closet. And just put it on. Yeah. And pants and just put it on. In Netherlands, ironing, or at least in my experience in Netherlands. And just show up. It's not a thing. Ah, yes. Did you look in the room before you left? Honestly, like, I am now the opposite. Yeah, now she wouldn't wear anything. Now she wouldn't wear anything without ironing. I traveled to Niger. I was in a hotel. I brought a few things. I wanted to iron. There was no iron for two days. Wow. I literally texted him. There's still no ironing. There's still no iron. I'm getting itchy. When it was iron, I was so happy. I went out for dinner. I was like showing off my shirt and my, my skirt. It was nicely ironed. I was like, oh my God, who am I? I was literally overflowing with joy because I finally got my iron. If you would have told me this five years ago, I would have laughed at you. Joy of ironing. Can you imagine? So he really like took this to the next level for me. Yeah, because like when we, when we started dating and started living together, anytime she would visit before we go out, like, oh, we're about to go out to go eat somewhere. And I'm ironing my, even t-shirt. Yeah. I'm ironing my t-shirts or shirts, you know, and then she's just picking up her clothes to just like bring it. You bring ironing for you. Yeah. Ram is very good at ironing, I have to say. We're not going out with you looking, oh, like. But there's also another side. There is a dark side of ironing. What is it? Because now sometimes when I wear something, I get very anxious that I'm not sure if I should iron it or not, or if I iron it well enough. And then I have to ask him like, is this okay or should I iron it again? When it comes to flowy dresses. So ironing also, when you do learn ironing, especially when we do from very early, you know the kind of fabrics and how to iron them. So linen, cotton, you know, polyester and all those things. Polyester don't touch with heat because it's just gonna melt. So you know which ones to iron and which ones not to iron and how to iron them. And when it comes to flowy dresses, I think that you don't necessarily have to iron pleats and lines because they're also, you know, they just need to be seamless, like, you know, so that it's also flowy. So yeah, it's, it's, yeah, it's a thing. Yeah. But honestly, adding to that, Ghana, Ghanians, oh, I generalize now, but okay, I'll generalize. Ghanians are very good at, like, presenting well. Yeah, keep it tidy. And dressing needs tidy, smelling good is also a thing here. Yeah, but smelling good is a form of good manners. Yes, but it's taken very seriously here. Wow, in Netherlands, it's, I mean, people like to smell good, but you know how people dress in the Netherlands. They just put on something and go. Sometimes it is not. Also because, no, also, yes, and also because one, the weather is different. Yeah, you're not sweaty all the time. That's true. So it's not musky in the air and everything. That's true. But over here, it's easier to stay neat in Netherlands, yes, but people also put less effort into it. Here in Ghana, sometimes when we go for dinner or we go out somewhere, and I'm just looking at how amazing all the ladies look. Yeah. Whoo! And properly ironed. Properly ironed. Nice dresses, makeup done. Yes. Hair done, nails done, perfume. Yes. Small back, cute back. Everybody's looking like, and I am enjoying it so much. So we go by the dress by how you want to be addressed. Yes, definitely. That's how we like it. But for me, it's such an inspiration to see all these amazing ladies and how they dress. And I'm just admiring them sometimes to give them some kind of look like, girl, you're looking fine. Because it is such a joy to look at. And of course, there's also another side of that, that sometimes it might give people stress and all, but I really learned that to look a certain way. I mean, it can give people pressure as well. Yes, there's a pressure, but okay, yeah, the extra. But when it comes to the basics of ironing, bathing, ironing and perfume, there's no pressure because we've been raised. So it's not difficult when you've been raised like that. Yeah. But for me, it also shows a bit of self-care. Like how you go to the barber, like you make sure everything is neat. It's a moment for yourself. You are taking care of yourself. You are worth it. So for me, I also see the self-care, which I think is great. Yeah. Wow. Hi, Renee. Respect. You want to say something about it or should I say something about it? You can say it and I can say. So respect is really, it's connected to greetings as well. So it's respectful to greet somebody and acknowledge them. Respect is a big thing in Ghana society. You have to greet somebody. If somebody is elder, you need to make sure you approach them respectfully. It's a thing. And there's a lot of hierarchy in Ghana as well. I don't know why that is. I feel it's more, Netherlands is more horizontal. Yeah. So even if you are. Fortunately, we are, I think we roll with bottom up. The youngest child is the one doing the most chores. Yeah. And then there's respect, respect. And even in junior and senior high school, your seniors, there's this hierarchy. Yeah. And in Netherlands, even I remember from, I had a training with a lot of different people from all over the world, and they were so amazed by how the Dutchies in the company would address the manager. Like, hey. You just go by your first name. First name and here. No, no, no. Yeah, no. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't go by your boss's first name. You don't respect. Yes. Especially, okay. Especially also when they have like some qualification in terms of like a doctorate or, you know, something. You need to put it always. Please. Don't come and say Philip. Just like Philip. Do you know how long it took me to get this doctorate? Yes. Who do you think you are? But also respect is also in a marriage. Sometimes, like the role of the man or the traditional role of a man in the household and the traditional role of the wife in the household, it has a certain respect kind of dynamic, right? Yeah. Maybe more, less with our generation, because yeah, our generation is a step further than maybe your mom's generation. But I remember that sometimes when I speak to women in public, I mean, I just speak to them like we have discussions also in public. It's not that I don't respect them, but we exchange thoughts. But I know it's not normal, for example, to have such discussions in public because it might look I don't respect you as a husband, because I'm talking back. Yeah, I've never, have you ever seen somebody react? It is subtle. Oh, okay. I've never paid attention. They know. I've never paid attention to people looking and feeling like, ooh, she's talking or she's because. Yes, I talk. I'm not looking there at all. But I don't see that. It's a lot of respectability or respectability politics. Yeah. Yeah, that we play and sometimes somebody's wrong, but you can't tell them they are wrong because you respect them. Which is detrimental to our development, in my opinion, because yeah, I can tell you you are not doing your work or just think you said was silly or stupid or not wise enough. If you think you're old and you're wise, your age doesn't come with all wisdom in the world. And sometimes it would find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that the fact that they are older doesn't mean that somebody who's younger than them can't be wiser than them. Yeah. Your brain is not all knowing. To add to that, I do like, I mean, I like the horizontal way of working, yes, but I think and then you have the Ghana, I'm pretty much the other side of the coin. But I like a lot from Ghana, how you treat your elderly. Because in Netherlands, it is not good. We see maybe because we're so focused on productivity and efficiency, but we see elderly people because they don't produce anything, right? They're old, like they're not working. We see them a bit like liability. Yes. Well, here in Ghana, I like that you go to elderly people for advice or to learn something how your mother cooks. I can learn so much from it, you know, because she has done it for years and years and she can teach me well. So I like that there's also certain respects. And I like that because you honor more their experience and how they have already lived. So yeah, our respects when it comes to that in the social aspect is more of life experience. Yeah. And you value that. Yes. While in Netherlands, it's like, I can speak for everybody, but I feel it is less respected in that way. Yeah. It is your last part of society once you are past a certain age. And unfortunately, that is also changing in Ghana. Unfortunately, it's not extreme yet, but it's that the generation after us, or is it a Gen Z or something? I don't know. They do less of their respectability politics and life experience thing. Yeah. But it's, I learned that from Ghana culture. For example, somebody would get up and let an elderly person have their seat in the car. I think in Netherlands, people do that, but it's rare. Yeah. So these small things. Anyway, it is me. It's me. Checking in. I wrote this from Ghana culture. So in my experience is that Canadians are really good at checking in. So they will call you just two, three minutes checking in on you. How are you doing? How's family? How's this? How's that? It's nice. In Netherlands, at least when I call with my friends and family, it's often long. Yeah. But the average person won't check in on you. They won't check in. Well, WhatsApp is a good way to check in. But I rarely get a text like, hey, I'm thinking of you. I hope you're good. Like something like that. It won't happen. Well, in Ghana, I feel people do that more often. And I like that. Yeah. That it's a bit like community of you. Thinking of you without necessarily like having an hour or something to spend with you. It's just like, hey, or people call a lot when they're in the car from work, like, Hey, how was your day? My day was like this. Oh, cool. What are you going to do this? We get not sure yet. Okay, let's text something like that. It's breezy. It's flowy. I like that a lot. And I still need to learn that a bit. Because I sometimes forget with my friends in Ghana, like, Oh, I can just send the text like, Hey, what's up? What's up? How you doing? Yeah. You know, and even that two minutes is enough. Yeah, or even do like drop a voice note and stuff. I as well as when you come and visit somebody they want to stay and make sure that you got home, text me that you got home. Yeah, it's important. It's not a joke. Yeah. Yeah. Let me know you go home. I'll text. Have you got to know? Okay, good. Now I can like, I know that you came to visit me and you've made it back home safely. I can sleep. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I appreciate that. And the final one for you. I wrote this one. Entitlement entitlement. Whose can I comment on it? The Dutchies. So I notice a lot that Dutch people are a bit entitled. They even if you look at our history, please people look at our colonial heritage, going to places and claiming that we're going to random places and saying this is mine. You've discovered land. You've discovered humans there. I'm so like, I have loads of feels about this part of that colony. English colony. I won't unpack that now, but there's a certain entitlement even to that train of thought. And it's not only Dutch people. I know the whole the West has this kind of entitlement who goes to a place you don't know and say, this is mine. I have never done that in my life. I'm a guest. Anyway, let's not unpack it. So that's one thing our history shows a bit of entitlement, not a bit. But also in this system, because in Netherlands, we have like a welfare system. And people often have the kind of the feeling that they have a right to something, a right to comfort, a right to care, a right to like, they we deserve this. And I don't think it's necessarily a bad mindset. But I think instead of always looking out for this other person should do this or the the government should do this, or I have the right to check yourself. Yeah. And that I like about Ghana, the people check themselves, what can I do? How can like, what is that? We could also we could also use some level of entitlement. That's true. Because don't ask for a lot. Yeah, we could also use some level of entitlement. We settle. Yeah. Yeah. So I think there is a negative aspect of entitlement, which we've seen from, you know, history till now, which is helping a lot of the Western countries and Western people. Because somebody can just move from America to Ghana. And nothing twice about it, because they feel that they can go anywhere, they can be anything. So it's ingrained in their minds that it gives them some kind of confidence. It's the confidence tends to cross certain lines at most points. But at least they have the confidence to feel that they can do certain things without thinking twice. And they can just be because they have a right to be. And I think it's something we can also learn from, especially with keeping, you know, governments and leadership and people who in charge of development accountable, because we do also deserve certain things. Yes. That we are entitled to as a people. And if we're choosing you as, you know, leader, then we demand that this happens. You're accountable. You're doing this. It affects us in the most positive way, because that is why you're there to do it. So I think that level of entitlement also needs to be learned over time for us, because on average, I would never think that, oh, I'm just going to up and go and start a new life, you know, somewhere on the planet. Like I'm just going to move from Ghana and start a new life because you go with a lot of caution. In that sense, you go with a lot of caution, but Europeans, Americans, people from the West would just buy a ticket and go up and leave and come and exist somewhere and form a new life and deal something from scratch. So yeah, entitlement has good and bad parts. But I like how you connected entitlement to like accountability. So there's another side that entitlement also kind of keeps you accountable. Like this is what you should do. We have the right to do this. So as leadership, you should do this. Yeah. And we deserve it. Yeah. So that I do, I mean, I'm a foreigner, so I can't say much, but I feel that Ghanaians settle quickly. Wow. You deserve so much more. Yeah, we deserve everything good. Yeah. Give it to us. But people don't really demand it from leadership. And sometimes that makes me sad. Because it's also tied to that respectability politics. Oh, so many layers. Yeah. Yeah. You don't want to offend them by saying that, ah, please. But I have to say what I, and it's not on the cards. That's probably my last point because we talked long. I do like that in Ghana, you can talk freely about politics. Like, if you drop into a taxi or a truck troll, something is on the radio, this is something that binds us together. Yeah. Like, and even on the radio, like, look at the city breakfast show. Yes, we want to be sponsored. No. They talk freely. They call literally the leadership. Like, what's up with this? I also, yeah. You promised. But it's not exactly too free. Why not? People get in trouble for saying things. But it's not like, okay, I'm not going to name countries because maybe they'll come after us. Okay. But there is a certain freedom of expression that I really appreciate in Ghana. No. It's similar in Netherlands. You can say anything which sometimes is also a problem. We won't go into that now. But I do appreciate that there's something I've learned from Ghana as well to, you can talk to anybody about certain developments in Ghana or what do you think of this or the president did this and you have a whole half an hour discussion and there are so many angles to it. People really like to talk and discuss and they're interested in what you have to say. I think it's a good thing. It's unique, I think. I agree. So yes, this comes to, all this brings us to the end of this video. My name is Kwame. I'm Elay. And if you haven't already subscribed to the channel, subscribe, like the video, share it. Let us know what you agree and disagree on in the comments. Yes, it will be nice. Please. Will I say please? Yes, please. But please let us know in the comments what you think of the different elements. And then we are always, not always in the comments, but we do see it. So if you have anything to add, we would like to hear it. Our channel is called Me. Plus you. It's us because we talk about our experiences. And I'm happy we did this, sharing about our cultures and what we've learned. I enjoyed it. Good. We'll catch you in the next one. See you. Dag liever mensen. Bye. Bye. I told you it was long.