Tonight I visited De Vink after enjoying an absolutely great day in The Hague. I was born in this country, but at a very young age me and my parents moved overseas. Moving back to this country and especially to a whole new city has been a tough decision, but I thought as I have been raised by Dutch, been thought about the Dutch values, I can manage this. One of the values my parents and my Dutch family in The Netherlands showed me was the amazing Dutch hospitality. However, since I moved to the most international city in The Netherlands I'm not so sure this hospitality still exists or is only known at the countryside. Unfortunately, tonight was a very good example: I came to De Vink and ordered my pint. The bar man invited me on the patio, which was nice, as there was no one in side the bar. After a while one of their locals joined who celebrated her birthday (yep my Dutch lessons are paying off, TG). She ordered shots for everyone, which was very nice of her. However, it seems I was not part of that 'everyone'. Let me be clear, I don't even think she noticed, so I'm not blaming her, she was lovely and I hope she will have a great night. The bar tenders gave everyone a shot, except me.... Even if this lovely lady would have said 'not him', I have learned in my years as a student, working in hospitality, you should give the 'not him' guy a shot and put it on the expense of the bar, as I was the only one left out. Well, it malybe has nothing to do with being Dutch, in my opinion it is all about inclusiveness, a word that is definitely known in a gay bar. There are not many gay establishments in The Hague so I might have to come back, but I hope I will be seeing more of that Dutch hospitality my partents teached me about and always showed to everyone they met, not just other Dutch! read more