Strangely, the most awkward situations Ross & I have encountered is when we go for dinner. As we enter a restaurant, no one even glances our way, but being the polite Canadians we are, we don't want to just walk in. We hover at the door for a few minutes, desperately trying to make eye contact with the restaurant staff, who are bustling away, but no one pays any attention. Sometimes they are standing a few feet away, but we feel invisible. Usually we're muttering to each other "What do we do? Do we just sit down? Do they know we're here? Do they see us?" It's not comfortable.
When someone does finally acknowledge us, we take a seat, and ordering and eating is the same as usual, but the awkwardness returns when our plates are taken away. This is where we wait. We waited 45 minutes for the bill the other night. The staff was very busy, so we didn't want to disturb them, but it became clear that if we didn't disturb them we would be waiting all night.
Since then, we have learned that at the end of your meal, we must say, "Rekening, alstublieft." (Bill, please.) or else we'll be sitting as long as we like. Maybe it's the Dutch who are the polite ones?
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I was browsing and found your blog... very interesting.
I've never been to Holland so I don't know what that country is like but we ran into the same problem in Ireland. We didn't have a problem with being seated but when it came time for the check so we could pay and leave we could never seem to catch the staff's attention.
We never really did figure it out. I think your suppose to go up to the bar to pay or ask for more water. It was very frustrating. In the states, I know when I go into a certain type of establishment whether I'm expected to seat myself or be seated. I also know if I should expect the waiter to take my money at the table or if I pay at the counter. Very confusing.
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