The official language is Dutch in the Netherlands. What is nice about the Netherlands, though, is that most people also speak English. Since the country is so close to Germany and other western European countries, a lot of people speak a third or fourth language. These languages could be French, German, Italian or Spanish. There are a lot of refugees that live here as well, so they bring their native languages with them, too!
The Dutch use euros because they are a part of the European Union (EU). If a country is part of the EU, the citizens can use their money and credit cards in any other EU country without a problem since the currency is the same.
A bottle of water at Albert Heijn, a popular grocery store in the Netherlands, is about 1.20 euros, depending on the size. For every one euro, the equivalent in U.S. dollars is $1.18. Therefore, 1.20 euros is $1.41 in dollars.
Before my party on Saturday, my Dutch roommate Manon made us vegetarian lasagna. It had pesto, gorgonzola cheese, tomatoes, onions, pasta and garlic. I could have eaten three plates worth of it! And for the best dessert of the week, I had Dutch pancakes, which are called poffertjes. You normally eat them with powdered sugar and butter. YUM!
