i'm not here to argue in terms of which is better, but i'd like to discuss some cultural differences. you can address really any area -- western, eastern, southern -- but i'd like to be able to get a feel for how, say, maybe poland is different than new york.

i get an overall feel that most of europe is more laid back than the united states and doesn't seem to have the problems we have, but that may be because i don't live there and read about it everyday.

i've met alot of people that are either from europe or have traveled to europe, and they all say europe is better. but that's mainly france, spain, uk, and italy. so i'm sure more representation would be needed to make a firm decision.

Soccer is queer.

yeah, and even flow is the best PJ song

once again, bammer makes a fine contribution to a news and debate thread.

Thanks everybody for the fascinating examples of our cultural differences.

from what i understand, one of the major cultural differences in europe and the u.s. is the amount of time we spend working. a few of the europeans i've known are just in awe of how little time we actually get off of work over here. the owner at my local bike shop orders his team uniforms from a company in italy, and last year they didn't have the order finished by their "summer break" so we ended up getting only shorts and gloves until they came back from break, and then we got the jerseys about 2 months later.

For whatever reason, many Europeans think we're crazy for taking our water with ice, and without minerals or carbonation. You can say what you want, but I shall continue to drink water the way the good lord made it- "ohne Gas".

with chlorine and fluoride?

Preferably without either of the aforementioned commie mind control agents, but most important is the lack of bubbles

any input from europeans on this subject? have you been to the u.s.? are there things you like better or worse in the u.s. than in europe? just wondering.

"Europe" is much too diverese to be compared to America as such. Even "America" is much too diverse in culture, albeit a little less so than "Europe".

Sorry, that's the best I can do.

I can compare Holland, England and Texas to your heart's content, though.

One big difference that I think the US really needs to adress is the ease and availibity of public transportation in Europe and the lack thereof in most US states and cities. I would love to see bullet train networks between most major cities. Yes, we have Amtrak, but it's slow and not many people use it. It would be great to have hi-speed trains running along the same routes that the major highways cover now.

Another thing is the eating culture. Places like New York have lots of quaint restaurants, but many areas of the US only have chains and a few local favorites. Cities like Paris destroy most US metro areas when it comes to diversity and quality of food, even if it's just street vending.

And yes, most Europeans do not work as much. This is something I really wish US employers would change on, but we work more every year if anything. Having talked to my roomate from Romania about differences, he cites Europe as being objectively better in most areas, a notable exception being universities, which he says are much, much better in the US.

If not for all of my family living in America and my love for Texas, California, and New York, I would be trying to move to Europe ASAP.

Good point, overall. Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland have excellent public transport. But, then you also have a bunch of countries in Europe which don't. Italy, Greece, and the former Eastern bloc countries.

The other thing is that America's distances are much bigger than Europe, which has cities far more clustered. The only area in America where this is pretty similar is the North East. It doesn't really make sense to have bullet trains servicing Dallas-Houston, or LA-San Diego. No one would use them.




Also a good point, depending on where you are in Europe. That said, Austin and Houston has some of the best food I've had anywhere in the world.



Work-- American labor laws make it a little too easy to fire people. My uncle is scared to even take his full allotment of 2 weeks holiday a year, and he works for a semi-gov't institution. But on the other extreme, countries like France go the other way, where firing people is near impossible, even where the employee is patently lousy at his/her job.

Universities is an interesting one. The top 20 universities in America destroys the top 20 in Europe generally, but after that, America drops off pretty fast and European universities, even the worst ones, are streets ahead of America.



Somehow I doubt this.

Believe me, I would. What I said is a pretty huge "if", but if that "if" was true, and I thought I could find work, I would definitely try it out.

Good luck on that whole "finding work" thing.

I'd worry about the whole language thing first.

Unless of course he has England in mind, where neither language nor jobs is much of a problem. But I think he's talking about countries where the women are prettier.

Especially if your black or muslim.

Enough people speak English in Europe that I'd be ok for a while, and I know some Deutsch. Besides, Ireland seems like a nice place for me.