2025 Zimnako´s Blog

1 December, 2025 ___________ This week’s class was about uncertainty avoidance. I immediately recognized how this plays a role in my own life. I always try to prepare for uncertainty, because if you don’t, unexpected situations hit harder and become more difficult to react to. At the same time, I still try to live with a 'go with the flow' mindset. Stress is natural, but only until it reaches a certain point. After that it becomes unnecessary and unhealthy. One quote I always use is: ' You already have a no, but you can get a yes.'  - Mamend, 2025 I change it depending on the situation, for example: ' I already have a bad grade, if I try, I can only improve it.'  This helps me keep my stress level normal while still being ready for uncertainty. When we learned more about uncertainty avoidance in class, I immediately thought about the differences between countries. Hofstede said that the Netherlands scores low in uncertainty avoidance, which means that the people...

 24 November, 2025 _______________ Today’s session was about business cultures. One of the main topics we discussed was punctuality. In the Netherlands, being on time is very important because it shows respect, especially when meeting someone for the first time or in a business setting, like a job interview or a meeting with a client. I am usually someone who arrives exactly on time or a few minutes early when it comes to school or work. But when it comes to meeting friends… I am almost always the last one to arrive. They are so used to it now that they tell me to meet 10 minutes earlier than the real time, and still I end up arriving last. But that is ok. In my opinion. I always tell them: ' Better late than never.' — Mamend, 2025 When it comes to company events or business trips in the Netherlands, it is quite normal to do something with the entire team only once or twice a year, because most people are busy with their families and personal life outside of work. Colleagues s...

16 November, 2025 _____________ This session was about feminine and masculine cultures/countries, the Netherlands is considered as a more  feminine country . That means that Dutch people value equality, quality of life, modesty, and a healthy balance between work and personal life. For example, Dutch society encourages both men and women to show emotions, avoid unnecessary conflict, and focus on cooperation. These are positive points, because it creates a calm, open, and tolerant environment. However, I personally feel more connected to masculine values. I believe a more masculine culture helps people become clearer, more direct, more independent, and less shy when expressing themselves. Even though I was born and raised in the Netherlands, I sometimes feel different from the typical Dutch mentality, maybe because of my cultural background. For example, Iran leans more towards a masculine society where people are expected to be strong, ambitious, and competitive. I often hear...

6 November, 2025 ____________ During this class we talked about different ways of parenting, which was ideal for me because I could compare three styles: Dutch, Japanese, and Kurdish parenting. Parenting is something I find very interesting, especially because I want to become a parent myself in the future. It was nice to reflect not only on how I think about parenting, but also to hear how other students view it. The Japanese way of parenting feels quite similar to the Dutch one to me, as both give children a lot of freedom and allow them to make their own decisions. My own experience was a bit different, because my mother was stricter and taught me clearly which decisions were good and which were not, especially when it came to school. Most of the time my Dutch friends were allowed to do more things, while I often had to say that I couldn't join and had to go home earlier. But after getting older, I started to understand why she did that, it was to discipline me and guide me to ...