Intercultural Interview/Procrastination Nation

The following is related to the Netherlands.

What are the norms in regards to courtship? Are there rules governed by tradition and/or Religion?
Diverse, depends on the subculture you're a part of. We've got hardliner christians, hardliner muslims, some closed off asian subcultures, and the rational atheists, they all have different standards and those tend to clash, sometimes harshly. I consider myself an atheist, borderline anti-religious. My terms for courtship are simple: I declare my feelings in a way I think will be endearing to my prospective partner and hope they are reciprocated. If not, I have my answer. If so, I have a relationship. Currently I am single with no real interest in changing that.

What are the expectations of education? Are they different for men and female?
More or less. There is still a bias towards more men for the tech-y studies, and more women choose the social/care studies. But it isn't enforced, seems more a matter of affinities.

What were some of your preconceptions about your country that you think Americans have?
I doubt most of them could even point to our nation on the map (despite the fact that New York, originally New Amsterdam, was founded by the Dutch). The few that do know of the Netherlands likely associate it with pot use, due to our liberal soft drug laws.

What do you think the biggest culture shock would be to a visiting American?
The lack of patriotism (having lived in the US, I know Americans to be -extremely- patriotic, with flags flying on the corner of every street - literally). The dutch are more down-to-earth.

How were things such as substance abuse or sexual education handled?
Both are part of the public education system. Every child gets taught the basics in public school. Private (mostly religion based) schools can opt to leave this out of their curriculum - and leave their subjects ignorant. Yea, I'm annoyed that they're allowed to withhold information like that.

Are there any rites of passage or puberty customs that are practiced?
Not that I know of.

How does the American media compare with that of your country?
Dutch media is less biased (looking at you Fox!) and less flamboyant. We also don't have commercials every 5 minutes... annoying as hell those are.

What is the biggest social taboo?
Telling imported cultures that there are limits to what is acceptable in our nation. "Tolerance" is the key word there. Naturally, forced tolerance is causing some friction that is slowly boiling, out of sight of half-blind politicians. Won't last.

How are clothes marketed differently? Are there cultural rules on what’s acceptable?
Not sure what you mean by this. Some sub-cultures, especially the muslim and orthodox christian ones, get bent out of shape when women walk around wearing rather little. But short of going completely skyclad, I don't think there's any real rules.

How is your gaming viewed in your society?
Something to be done in your free time. Like most hobbies.