- The cars… BIG cars. Big engines. Beautiful sound. (yes I don’t care for pollution.)
- The fuel price (gas (what we call ‘Benzine’) is 4 times as cheap).
- Driving on the left side is allowed.
- Passing on the right is allowed.
- Motorcyclists don’t need to wear helmets.
- Refills on drinks! (and on a lot of sides too).
- Driving from 16.
- The friendly people over here.
- The tipping in restaurants which makes the waiters and waitresses a lot more friendly.
- Flavors in the store. SO many.
- (also a flavor, but it’s SO important:) Maple syrup!
- Guns are allowed. Over here you still have the right to protect your property. We gave that up long ago in Belgium.
- Everybody here is American in the first place. And then they are Christian / muslim / whatever…
- The school system (I wrote about that in my previous post).
- The government is not ‘Big Brother’ over here.
Let me elaborate on the last one: A lot of Americans do think that their government is Big Brother, while compared to what we have in Belgium, theirs is really not that worse. We’ve got social security which some people think is good (I don’t) since a lot of people have to pay for somebody else’s disease (like when they need new lungs because of cancer).
Also the government over here did not sign the Kyoto protocol, they don’t ask ridiculous taxes on gas / electricity / … that is really a cash cow in Belgium. And on the cars: over here you pay insurance and some taxes. In Belgium those IDIOTS ask taxes based on your engine’s cc (2.0 liter, 2.5 liter …). Just sad.
While every medal has it’s downside: here are the ones I discovered:
- There is no mandatory car checkup each year.
- Drinking age is 21.
- McCain is not president.
Mmm I do not agree with some of your points.
1.I used to have the same the vision on our social security system as you but it is not bad at all. I am sure our social security is a very good system. What If you get cancer in the US, and you do not have an insurrance ( which is very expensive in the US). … In Belgium it is not expensive and it covers a lot of costs. Without our social security system a lot of people would not been able to pay these hospital costs. Even If you have a well payed job.
2. Cowboys are not allowed in Europe
3. Obama is a much better choice then McCain
4. Taxes are used well in our system, for eduction, research and so on. The general level of eduction in the US is not even close that high to ours.
1. If you have a job, and a good insurance BEFORE you get the cancer you will be fine. (costs based).
2. Yea well if criminals want a gun in Belgium they’ll get it anyway. If there is a burglar in your house what can you do to scare ‘m away? Yell at m? Right… over here you take your gun and pop m in the head. Problem solved. Just make sure you don’t shoot ‘m in the back.
3. He’s first decision was to close Guantanamo. You call that much better? Terrorists DO NOT deserve the same rights as an US citizen.
4. No taxes in Belgium are used to fund the lower part of Belgium, and support the ongoing migration. Over here there isn’t so much migration just because not everybody is educated. US does not need to get people from all around.