Customs and Habits
The Dutch have their own customs and characteristics. It might be useful to get familiar with them to avoid misunderstandings and feel more at home in the Netherlands.
Personal social space
Theorically the Dutch compensate for their lack of physical space available in the country by making their personal social space wider. Therefore they can manage living problems in such a crowded society.
The Dutch may stand closer together than Americans for instance. However, Dutch interaction is generally formal. You are not supposed to call someone by a first name, as it is quite common in the US.
As long as you are polite enough to respect other people's social space, they will politely respect yours and tolerate almost anything you would like to do, and of course as long as you keep it inside your personal social space and out of theirs.
Neighbours
It is up to you, as a new arrival, to introduce yourself to your neighbours. If you do not, they will probably think that you do not wish to be bothered and will leave you alone for the rest of your stay. In addition, during your stay in the Netherlands, you could also invite them for coffee or drinks. Make sure to agree a date and time in advance, as genarally the Dutch do not like to stop by informally.
Gifts
When invited to someone's home bring a little gift such as flowers, a bottle of wine, cookies, candy or something from your home country.
Flowers
As Netherlands is the world's largest flower exporter, flowers are quite inexpensive.
Flowers are used for all occasions, i.e. saying hello, goodbye, thank you, for the mother of a new born, birthdays…Red roses stand for love, so be careful whom you give them to.
Greetings and kissing
Unless you are very familiar with each other and on first name terms you might shake hands when you meet. This includes children as well, so do not just say 'hello'.
At a party it is customary to shake hands with everybody. Stating your name as you greet someone is considered basic protocol. Understanding the name that they've just told you is another matter.
People kiss each other three times on the cheek when they are quite familiar and know each other well. This is the case for men to women, women to women, but not men to men.