I hate to do this, but I want to gripe a bit about a couple things that have been building since I arrived in Europe. I don't know if I expected everything to be a perfect little utopia over here or what, but it's not.
First, the Dutch make you pay for water when you eat out. I don't know about you, but I consider water to be a public good and have trouble with the notion that a restaurant will charge you no small fee for a tiny bottle of water. And they pour it like it's a damn bottle of wine, which makes it even more obnoxious. Alas, though, there is irony. Would one not expect Americans to have adopted this practice first, where the capitalist mindset stirs endless privatization frenzies and we continue to debase every human interaction into a commercial transaction? The Europeans, with their famous social welfare policies and who pride themselves on their extensive protection of the public good, charge for water. Water! What the hell gives?
Furthermore, the Dutch charge for use of their bathrooms. When I first encountered this, I laughed at the poor guy who was asking me for change and did not pay. (Part of it was racism too, because he was black and therefore I thought he was running a scam of some sort.) After relieving myself I asked another guy in the bathroom about it and he confirmed that I was supposed to have payed. So I found the poor guy and paid up and apologized. (Sometimes we Americans can't help our arrogance.) Nevertheless, what the hell is the deal with charging for a bathroom???
Next. There are no sidewalks in Greece. You walk in the street. Actually, you stumble, weave and regularly jump for cover as loud, smelly motorcycles and cars buzz by you in all directions. You see, there are no road rules here. It's kind of like a mean game of "survival of the fittest". And I'm not fit. Alexia, of course, has no trouble whatsoever. Every time we walk somewhere (which is everywhere and all the time) I clutch onto her hand like a frightened little boy.
Next, what the hell is up with the European constitution? First, they are trying to disguise a treaty as a constitition. That's just messy. Second, the referendums in France and Holland were non-binding. That's not democratic (unless you live in America). Third, the constitution will permanently subordinate any European armed forces to NATO. Why? Fourth, the constitution will reverse many of the social welfare policies that the Europeans have enjoyed for the past half century. Health care, pensions and maternity and paternity leaves will soon be under attack if this thing is passed. The unelected bureaucrats in Brussels have designed a document carefully calibrated to facilitate the new economic plundering enshrined in neoliberal policies. This document is not about the end of war or creating a multipolar world order as much as it is about depleting Europeans of their excess wealth, just like we are doing to the American middle class right now.
There are various other things that we do better in America than they do here in Europe (admittedly, we have more to learn from them, nevertheless...). Our continents are ripe for political and cultural cross-pollination. Unfortunately, we seem to be adopting the worst aspects of one another rather than the best.