Revelations

Things I'm learning about the U.S. since being abroad:

1. More Americans use cannabis than Dutch people (a fact the Dutch are *very* proud of). Also, to Bill O'Reilly, who believes that the Netherlands is the prime example of all sin, you'd do well to look at that.
2. Fewer Americans smoke cigarettes. For some reason, I always thought the U.S. was way unhealthy--probably because of our poor health care system, Southern fried foods, and constant driving in cars everywhere (as opposed to biking or walking), and that Europe was super smart and progressive and ahead of the U.S. on every curve.  YET, it turns out we're not as backward as I thought! Europe is actually falling really behind here. I don't want to say that all Europeans smoke...but it'd be easy to say that most of the ones I've met here do. It's crazy. Absolutely crazy. Although, this might improve since it's only been a year since the Netherlands banned cigarette-smoking in public indoor places.
3. The U.S. is gigantic. It turns out the rest of the world isn't tiny, we're just huge. Realllllly huge.
4. The E.U. sees itself as a counterweight to the U.S. and representing all the good values (humanitarian aid, development assistance, saving the environment, fair trade, promoting social welfare and education) that corporate America does not (and that's the image they have of us). I love the E.U. But the counterweight to America? Really? It's getting there, but it needs a bit more time.

Anyway, these are just some of the important lessons I'm learning. But seriously. The E.U. is awesome.