The Differences in Europe and the US

It’s one simple difference that I never realized until I met another European

One of the biggest things about moving to the United States after an extended stay in Europe was freedom.

But freedom meant something completely different in Europe. Freedom meant you were free to travel your city on foot, using tickets and public transportation as your primary method. When it was dark, you were expected to call a taxi.

Meeting places were the central plaza and social locations. Spacious areas that allowed the freedom to watch others move freely about the plaza.

I would rather this, the face-to-face contact over how we meet in the US.

In the US you need a car to go anywhere. Adventures are on the road, scattered about the landscape. Want to go to the beach: It’s an hour drive.

In Europe, going to the beach often involved trains or another country. It was just easier to congregate in one area of the city.

I never noticed this subtle difference until I had my Spanish friend point it out to me. At that time, I had been in the United States for four years and he and I were drinking coffee underneath a heating lamp in the middle of November in New York City.

“You walk fast.” He told me.

“I try to keep up with everybody.”

“In Spain we walk slowly.”

“I noticed.”

We both took drinks then looked out at the crowd. People were staring at us as snow fell on our eyelashes.

“They think that this is strange. It’s normal in Spain.”

“It doesn’t snow in Spain, at least where you’re from.”

He laughs.

“It’s so different here, you need cars to meet anyone. In Spain, we have plazas like this everywhere. Don’t you miss it? It’s the same in Belgium.”

“I never noticed it, I haven’t been to one of these since I moved back.”

“Move back to Europe please.”

I took a long pause at this statement.

Going back to Europe would mean a loss of my freedoms as an American. Sure, I feel like I belong there more, but the use of my car and the inherent freedom of going anywhere I wanted to so long as there was gas was perfect. It allowed me the adventure that train tracks could barely get me.

It’s not that I dislike trains, but the fact is, trains can only go where they’re told. That loss of freedom is heartbreaking to me.

I spoke slowly when I answered him:

“I want to, but I can’t. This is home.”

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