How to Be Orange: An Alternative Dutch Assimilation Course

Book excerpt: Gregory Shapiro - the American Netherlander - brings you a must-have alternative to the Dutch assimilation course. What is the true Dutch identity? Shapiro shares his hilariously clumsy assimilation into Dutch culture and blasts some well-known stereotypes along the way. The book includes questions from the real Dutch Assimilation Exam, whose logic Shapiro delightfully dissects to reveal the Dutch identity they'd rather you didn't know. How to Be Orange includes a photo essay of the most awkward Dutch product names and is illustrated by award-winning cartoonist Floor de Goede. How to Be Orange makes you redefine the Holland you thought you knew. Shapiro examines the dialogue from Pulp Fiction to find out how many 'little differences' have changed. He asks 'If Holland is the Drug Capital of the world, why is it so hard to get antibiotics?' And Shapiro tells how the Dutch tradition of Zwarte Piet made his children into little racists. If you're looking for an official guide to Dutch culture, this is not it. If you're looking for one man's completely subjective and utterly biased impression of Dutch culture, this book is for you.