• TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I’m so envious.

    The ironic part is that I live in West Michigan. A huge portion of the population here calls themselves “Dutch” because their families immigrated here from the Netherlands a few generations ago. There’s a saying around here, “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much.” So many names have “Van” or “Vander” or “stra” somewhere.

    But of course they aren’t Dutch, they’re American. And their families left the Netherlands for many reasons, but a major one for the families that have been here the longest is that the Netherlands wasn’t conservative enough for them. So they’re like, the polar opposite of the modern Netherlands.

    But there is a pretty good biking culture here compared to some other parts of the US. Unfortunately, that comparison isn’t particularly useful since most of the US doesn’t seem to care at all about cyclists.

    • BorgDrone
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      6 months ago

      Michigan. A huge portion of the population here calls themselves “Dutch” because their families immigrated here from the Netherlands a few generations ago.

      I never understood that about Americans, claiming to be some other nationality. If you’re Dutch, then show me your Dutch passport.

      It’s so weird, because when I as a European hear someone say “I’m <nationality>” I assume they are a citizen of that country, not that their great-great-great grandparents lived there. I wouldn’t even know where my ancestors lived that far back. I know my grandparents were Dutch, but I have no idea whatsoever about any generations before that.