I go say what I think about Netherland:

1- Good and entertaining fans of the national team.

2- More countries should legalize soft drugs, because it allows people to stop buying drugs by the dealers and start buying in coffee shop, that also give money to government.

3- I think is probably one of the most modern country of Europe.

4- Have amazing flowers (I'm not a big fan).

5- I love the architecture.

6- Channels with boats are generally fantastic.

7- I think the red zone is amazing, modern and also sophisticated, and how it work so well.

8- Good and interesting museums.

Is a country that does not mind living at least one semester :)

Extremist right wing

Sorry, If this is negetive comment but I didn't visit Netherlands but I saw one of those extremists here and I took a very bad image about Netherlands from him. I know I can't judge the whole country because of one person. Probably, people from Netherlands are nice and open minded. 

Best!

Very nice to hear the stories from all over the world about my country. 

Dan Smith
It is nice to read that you like Jan de Hartog. The walking with huge plastic balls is not really a sport but more of an event or fun to do during holidays, weekends, etc. The relationship between the Netherlands and Germany is always kind of special. We tend to make a lot of jokes about Germans. Dutch humor is very direct and can be harsh for some.
- It is good the Germans broke down the Berlin Wall but let them rebuild it on the Dutch – German border!
- I feel like a German man who is drowning and waiting to be saved by the Dutch coastguard. At the same time knowing that the coastguard knows that I am German!

Torusan
You are right that soft drugs can be found everywhere although Holland (and especially Amsterdam) still has the reputation of a free place.

Kraut9
Indeed the reputation of the Netherlands regarding drugs is not good for some countries but there are many foreigners (also Germans, Belgiums, Frenchmen, etc) who travel to Holland only for the drugs.

Haru
I do know myself that for about 200 years Holland was the only country that had a relationship with Japan. There are places in Holland which are not so good indeed. Dutchmen are among the tallest people in the world. I am 1,78 m and in the army I was below average!

Jmat
About the furniture is so true. There are people who take their car and go from one street to another just to look for interesting old stuff. When you want to get rid of your furniture you can call the counsil and they will pick it up for free when you leave it outside. It happened many times that we put stuff outside, but by the time the truck arrive to pick it up it has already been taken by someone else. 

Under a pseudonym.
The reputation for Holland is not always good but what scandal are you talking about?

There were some political and sex scandals that ruined the reputation of this country for me. Although during the friendly match between Russia and the Netherlands in Moscow, I saw many Dutch people singing their national songs and dancing and to me they seemed to be nice and fun. I also liked their national costumes, especially these cool wooden shoes. =)

Orange, Gouda, Marihuana.

But I believe the drug tourism has a bad effect on the Country, specially on Amsterdam.