Attitude differences between the Dutch and Spanish

As most of you will know, I visit Spain, especially Barcelona and a coastal town near it, quite regularly. Being there, exclusively on vacation for varying amounts of time (long weekend or for multiple weeks), I might not get the most correct impressions but hanging around a lot with locals should counter the vacation attitude I might have and should reinforce my credibility in me stating the following.

The Dutch attitude seems extremely lacking when it comes down to simply enjoying life. 

Every time I return from Spain I notice my outlook on life has changed a little bit, and this keeps happening to me over and over again. My newfound appreciation for daily life and its events slowly fades to a background while I get sucked in the negative energy most Dutch people portray. 

As and example I will tell you something that actually happened to me often enough for it to become significant. When I go out of the house, I try and take good care of my outward appearance. This is very important to me, not just to feel good about myself, but also to state to myself that the day or activity I am about the emerge myself in is worth it. When I do this to go partying, most often, when talking to girls you do not know, they will ask me why I am dressed up, did I just finish work?  When in the same situation in Spain, the most common remark would be that they appreciate the way I dress/look good.

Obviously the point of this example is not to convey that I dress well, look good, or want to be flatttered more while in the Netherlands. The point would be that both girls notice my appearance, but where the Spanish girl would give her remark a positive twist, a Dutch girl would do the exact opposite. My personal opinion would make that this is caused by the Dutch attitude towards being remarkable, most Dutch people think that blending in and belonging is the situation to strive for. We actually have a saying for it; “Je kop boven het maaiveld steken”, which roughly translates to “Sticking your head above the field of crop” Or they could use the even more negative “craving for attention”.

My frustration is this; people should not worry all the time about what they are supposed to do or look like. If all people would start making their descisions based on what makes them happy, I think a lot of the problems we have today would become absolete. 

Any thoughts yourself, you know where to find the comments!