I find this all fascinating that resonates well with me. I used to work in Germany but found them too formal and official in both working and personal relationships. Perhaps I should have tried it in the Netherlands.
Both 'groups' have their own pros and cons though, to be fair. The Dutch can be horribly rude and argumentative...
As a Russian, so can I. It can be a useful trait under circumstances, but I generally try to keep it in control.
If I get an idea to work in Europe again, I'll pay closer attention to the Dutch opportunities. It's important for the people to "click" on a cross-cultural level in order to work well as a team, and I'm afraid I didn't click nearly enough back in Germany.
Anyway, no culture is perfect. We're supposed to learn from each other and work on our bad sides as recognized in others and by others.
That said, my experience is also that it's more bark than bite. We love arguing and we love telling others our views unasked, but in practice we tend to be pretty, uh, pragmatic about our beliefs. We're essentially a country of merchants/salesmen, we have been for a long time, and getting into real arguments over beliefs is not good for business. It's something I both love and hate about our culture.
(This is generalizing, of course, but I've been shocked to find out more and more how strong a 'culture' can be, even on a national level.)