Europe cares.
There’s a care about design, efficiency, life, food, conservation, arts, history, culture. Europe cares.
As I navigate Europe a bit more each time, I’m making more friends. Now, the trips here turn into me saying I simply don’t have time to visit specific places even though a friend invites me because I’m already planning on seeing another friend. Invites come from France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy and England. A random friend in Utrecht Netherlands offers to show me around and a photographer in London insists I come stay for a while.
My network is growing. I’m lucky to visit Europe and be in three continents in the past 6 months. Europe continues to impress me with their caring about everything.
Last night, I debated taking a photo of my toilet. Yeah, it was that great. The toilet seat had a curve at the rear to make for easier “departure” while using it. The toilet paper roll was covered with a metal arch that looked nice and concealed the ugly paper roll and the added benefit is you push down on the metal arch to tear off a sheet. The brush and plunger sit attached to the toilet concealed in matching metal and there’s no aspect of this setup feels useless and the flushing mechanism works great every time so the absence of a well sitting behind the toilet is simply not needed and this also conserves water.
I awoke at six AM. I was on the beach in France and fog consumed the pasture but the church steeple still persevered the fog and still show through. I put on my running shoes and walked a kilometer to the center of the village. There was only one street lamp and three places of business. The first was a small market and cafe that opened at 9AM and the other was a pub that had only one beer on tap and was open from 11 to 23:30.
I stepped into the 3rd shop, the nearest shop within 30 minutes drive that was open at this time of the morning. It was a shop attached to someone’s home. She greeted me with “Bonjour!” and she meant it. I replied and asked for 12 croissants and two loaves of bread and butter. The butter bore her family name and she explained in broken english that she and her husband owned a dozen cows and let me sample cheese as well. It was phenomenal. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted grass-fed dairy milk that was produced only meters away.
Phenomenal.
The croissants melted in my mouth with warm buttery aftertones that paired well with our juices and jams. Shops like this aren’t threatened by the big box retailers that you see along the interstate. In fact, those guys don’t scare the shop owners that operate in villages like this one.
Citizens are only allowed to shop at the big box retailers twice a year. The government restricts citizens from visiting more than twice a year as it allows local businesses to remain competitive. This way, you will stay pay 3 Euro for butter down the way than 2 Euro at a large retailer. In this model, big box retailers can’t compete with local shops and it’s great.
Every trash receptacle in Belgium is actually four receptacles. You pre-sort your recycling and failure to do so will get you stares from those who follow the rules. Everyone follows the rules. It’s cool to do the right thing.
You won’t get a speeding ticket in many parts of Europe. You’re treated like an adult in most cases. If there’s a place that you can’t go, you can do it anyway just know that this restriction is for your safety. You won’t be arrested but you may get injured..but we’re not going to stop you from doing something. You can carry marijuana on you and you can own plants but it’s illegal. We won’t arrest you or fine you but you’re not supposed to have it. So don’t do it. Okay, go enjoy your weed. We’re going to print “smoking kills” on every cigarette box and allow you to smoke in bars and we’ll let you eat all of the processed foods you want but the price of a cola and the price of an Evian are identical where, in the US, Cola is 50 cents for a can and Evian is $2.50. Also, the calorie count is in large font on each and every item that has them. When the calorie count is that large with a percent of your daily allowance, you think twice. Coke has something like 20% of my sugar for the day. Should I or do I want to really waste 1/5th of my sugar on this can? Thanks for letting me know. Yeah, the label is on the back as well but this large front label takes away from Coke’s branding and it worked on me a few times.
Many museums are free entry, many monuments are preserved with plaques explaining the story. Europe is itself a museum and modern architecture is discouraged in most places. Homes can be a few hundred years old and it’s not really a bad thing.
Transit by bus or subway was free for me during my 2 weeks. I didn’t pay once and in many times asked if this was the right bus. It’s okay, taxes pay for the operations of this completely and I never have Euro coins. The train system was phenomenal. For most purposes, a train is all you need to ride when getting around Europe. It’s 1.5 hours to Gent from Amsterdam and 2.5 hours from Brussels to Amsterdam. I paid 28 Euro each way since I’m under 26 years of age.
Trains are the way to go. I’m writing this from a train with plenty of leg room, a power outlet and the entire seat to myself. The plane journey would be 1/4th the time but when you add security and airport transit, it can take the same time as it would to cross the street from my hotel to a train station. While in Europe, always book your hotel near the train station….always.
America is respected in Europe. Everyone loves Obama versus Bush Jr. However, it’s understood that America is well sometimes pretty dumb. “We have an army but it’s not really a big money spend for us. We don’t really have many conflicts and most kids go to University and not into the army.” This was a Belgian’s response to my question about America’s army and doesn’t it seem really huge compared to other military from other countries.
He added something and urged me not to become defensive but that, “Americans love to try something until it works. They rush in and invent, take over, start wars, throw rocks and turn up the heat and continue to force something until it works. Most of your military is considered expendable as the guys that just rush in and end up dying while the well trained guys do their stuff. That’s America. half of the country is just there to work an assembly line, clock in and clock out, toil and turn screws and sometimes try too hard and fail and there are very few that actually work it out. Europe doesn’t concern itself with things that don’t make sense for everyone. People don’t move around much, Belgians might move away and then come back and pick up their parents’ trades. Education comes before defense budgets and small is always better than big. Keep things simple and focus on the finer things. It’s why our beer is so good!”
That’s a summary but I have to admit that I agree with him. There’s no reason for us as Americans to feel defensive here. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to changing things. I don’t think my country is perfect but I love it and its people. I’ll always be an American no matter where I live. The US Defense Department is our largest spend among the budget that doesn’t include Medicare / Medicaid. We spend trillions defending our country and invading others. Cutting back on that is not the American way. It’s not in our culture to promote the men and women of science and literature and instead we promote super heroes who blow shit up. Europe doesn’t have a “run in and kill everyone” fantasy character that kids look up to as kids. They look up to Sherlock Holmes who is a genius. They look up to guys like Einstein and we look up to Superman. The culture is to love Jersey Shore and hate anything on the BBC or History Channel. Heck, even the history channel has almost all reality TV shows now about things unrelated to history.
I wish things were different but then I realize that we’re not ready for that yet. My parents can’t make me into someone they think I’ll turn out to be. I’ll try things, perhaps try too hard and then, when I realize my failures will I end up at the place I was destined to be. That’s okay and that’s a part of growing up. That’s America. Europe is the old man on his rocking chair doing what he does best as he’s been here for a thousand years. His house is far older and his vineyards have been growing for quite a while. He has recipes that are 800 years old. America, well the burger is simple but awesome but ya know, we’re only a country that’s a couple hundred years old. We’re an awkward teenager and will continue to evolve. Europe loves us for our strengths but doesn’t try to change us too much because we’ll learn what’s right from wrong soon enough.
Europe cares about the finer things and, in my trip across a few countries these past two weeks has taught me that. It’s a beautiful thing to experience this first hand.
I look at friends who graduated school with me who have never left their town or state and it’s sad. There was a rant from someone who said, “flying isn’t a big deal! Anyone can fly! Anyone can buy a ticket and go somewhere. It’s not a big deal to get on a plane because everyone has done it. Don’t tweet about being at an airport. NO ONE CARES!”
I respond, “It’s not about the plane ride. It’s where you’ll go once you get on that plane.”
Then again, the majority of people I was in school with still haven’t boarded a plane or a train. They haven’t seen Atlanta much less Europe or India or Japan. California is a distant land for homos and movie stars.
Sigh.
America has much to learn. But I love her all the same.
*I would have included more photos in this post but I’m saving those for my Europe Photo post*