do you say hello?

Complete rubbish. I am Australian. I live in the Netherlands and I think that it is the same as at home. Please take this comment witha grain of salt as people tend to view their home country in a much more positive light when they are away from it (especially temporarily and when living country with a different language to theirs). Yes, the Dutch have a diferent ways to Australian, some good, some bad, but after all they are different cultures. Yes, there are rude Dutch people out there, just like there are rude Australians. She probably smiles less because she is not as happy as in Australia-just because these countries are Western, don't make them easy to live in-language differences, food difference, no friends, no family, don't speak the language, only become friends with foreigners who complain about the same stuff (which is annoying when you come from a less bearuacratic country). Generally the Dutch are good kind-hearted people, but it just depends on who you meet. And once you understand the language, they suddenly become even friendlier!

I don't understand the newspaper item. I have no idea what it says about the girl's personal experience, perhaps a lot. But the story strikes me as inaccurate as a generalization about Dutch behavior. It's quite common for people in the Netherlands to greet each other in shops, certainly where I am. People even chat with cashiers at checkout lines in supermarkets ..

To be fair to the girl in the article, I think we have to keep in mind that newspapers often take what someone said out of context depending on what slant they want to give their story.

For example, consider Greece and France. (I can't comment on the Netherlands as I have no first hand experience of lving there)

In France when you walk into a bakery, you wait your turn and when served you begin by saying 'bonjour'. If you do not say good morning before asking for what you want, you will be considered rude.

In Greece when you walk into a bakery, you wait a few moments and if the clerk is just chatting with a customer, you step up and ask for what you want, without any greeting. It isn't considered rude to not say 'kalimera' (good morning) first. On the other hand it isn't considered rude if you did say 'kalimera' first either. It would probably just get you a response of 'horista' ('what do you want') which would also not be rude.

Two totally different approaches obviously. Neither one WRONG, just DIFFERENT. It may well be that the girl in the article was trying to explain some cultural difference to the writer but that explanation got left out of the article.

I always remember how shocked I was when I first heard a Greek answering the telephone. No hello, just a 'horista'. Now that would shock many nationalities as a phone greeting. But it isn't rude, it's just a DIFFERENT way of answering a phone. If you think about it, saying hello first is really a waste of time. Saying 'what do you want' gets right to the point. LOL

It is very easy to judge other cultures based on our home culture. It's also very stupid.

I used to live in the Netherlands. When I walked into a small shop the person behind the till usually greeted me.

I'm Australian and learnt very quickly that in Europe it's polite to greet everyone with 'Hello' or Good Day (in the relevant language) when entering a shop. In fact, I was taken to task by the owner of a small French bakery for not doing this. In Australia I say 'hello' to whoever is serving, but many people do not, it's certainly not part of our culture. So I really feel it's possible that the girl's comments have been taken out of context.

On the other hand there are differences: I know I was a bit taken aback the first time I went into a shop in Australia and the assistant said "Hello, how are you today?" I wasn't sure how to reply to that and thought she probably wasn't interested in hearing that I actually had a bit of a headache!
I can't speak for the Netherlands, but in Germany you would only say "hello" and "goodbye" but not enquire any further into the other person's state of wellbeing.

I just spent a weekend in my hometown in Twente, in the east of the Netherlands, for the first time in a few months. It struck me how different the attitude in shops there is towards customers compared to where I live (near Haarlem); generally speaking shopkeepers tend to spend a little bit more time to give individual attention to their customers and tend to keep less distance to them than here in the west of the country. That said, I think the comments in said newspaper (would be interesting if OP could provide a link to the article) are an over-generalization and customers are generally treated in a friendly manner all over the country. Maybe she expected the same "hi, how are you today, it's awesome to have you as a customer today! My name's Jason and I will make sure that you'll have a truly unforgettable experience with us!" treatment that you sometimes get in the USA?
Besides I don't know of a law that prohibits smiling in public, so the girl's comment about having to smile less is IMO total nonsense

I guess this newspaper picked up a couple of generalizations to make its story more interesting; after all, their readers wouldn't care to read that the Dutch eat three meals a day and need to go to the bathroom from time to time, would they?

I am originally from the south of Holland and I now live in Utrecht. I must admit (like #7) that things in the rural areas of The Netherlands are more amicable than in the busier center of Holland. People take the time to have a chat, discuss football and the weather. Though I must admit, after having lived in Utrecht for 4 years... I get 'hallo' everytime when I walk into a store and often have a chat too with the people behind the till. I don't recognise the story in the OP either.

I live in Utrecht too, and I think you would be considered rude not saying hello in a shop, especially if it's quiet and you're greeted by the shopkeeper. I sincerely doubt things are different in Haarlem. Maybe the girl went in saying 'Hi, how are you' in English? Even so, I can't imagine her not getting a reply.
Personally I also think it's rude not to say hi and goodbye to the cashiers at the supermarket.