Navigating Among Trees

The Dutch are a tall people. If you are a Filipino of normal height, you will probably notice this from your first day here. How do we short people cope here in this country full of "trees"? Well, for starters, not all of the Dutch are tall. Generally, people of my age (i.e. around 50 years old) or older are not as tall as the younger ones. And women are also generally shorter than the men, even the young ones.
But this still leaves a lot of tall people.
Well, we just have to live with it. Most of the year, it is not too bad; but in the summer, you should watch out. Because at 165 centimeter (5 feet, 5 inches) height, my nose would just be about the height of the armpits of the taller Dutch. If they don't use deodorant, and it is warm in the summer, you will be treated to their "nice" natural odor.
Being rather small, it is quite uncomfortable when you find yourself in a crowd. You can't see a thing, since there are lots of people taller than you. You have to make sure that you are able to worm yourself to get to the front row, so that you can see things. It is even a problem in places like the movie theater, because the heads of those in front of you gets in the way; you're lucky if a child or a smaller woman is in front of you, otherwise, you have a problem following the show.

But there are advantages. For one, the leg room in the trains and buses is quite spacious; they have to be. Then the doors and rooms are also spacious; since they should accommodate all the tall Dutch.