While I will admit that I have been terribly homesick the past couple of weeks, one of the things that I have fallen in love with in Amsterdam is the Dutch work culture. The Dutch are by no means as liberal with their work as, say, the Italians are, but they make no apology for the fact that work comes in a very clear second to the rest of their life.

The Dutch have generous vacation policies and it’s expected that you take advantage of your vacation time. One of KC’s coworkers is currently on a five week vacation right now — yeah, FIVE WEEKS! And that’s accepted and normal here. A one or two week vacation is considered “short,” and many people will even take additional days off before and after their vacation just to decompress and relax.

The Netherlands also has one of the highest percentages of part-time workers in the world. Skilled part-time work is apparently not only normal here, but fairly easy to come by. And full-time work is much more reasonable here than it is in America. (For example, when KC is really busy at work here he gets home around 7pm — that’s the earliest he used to get home from work in the US.)

Also, if you’re a parent and you work full time in the Netherlands, you have the option to negotiate a “mama dag” or “papa dag” into your work schedule. This translates into a “mama day” or “papa day” — one day a week where you don’t work so you can spend time at home with your child.

I understand that we have a long inbred culture of “live to work” in the US (especially in the Bay Area), but I find the “work to live” mentality to make so much more sense. And even though I know there are a lot of people who “work to live” and prioritize their families and life over work, it’s not a mentality that’s really talked about or openly supported in most work places. (And why? I find it way less weird to say, “my family comes first” than “my work comes first.”)

Anyway, that’s just my two cents on the subject. (And no, I’m not saying that I’m not a hard worker or someone who doesn’t want to work — I’m someone who would rather work efficiently and confine work to normal hours so I can dedicate my time outside of work to the things that matter to me — like my family.)