After I spent a couple hours at Lises house finishing up the last post, we met up again and went to Femkes house to fix dinner with Julia and a nice Frenchman whose name escapes me. The weather was something awful but we decided to go out anyways. We met up with Femkes boyfriend Mekkie and a mess of his friends at a club downtown. The club was a lot of fun and the dress code was tacky. For those without suitably outrageous attire a face painter was on hand. I got an eye scar, Fem got hearts, Mekkie sported a French flag, and the painter went over the top on Lises cat whiskers. It was a hell of a party.
On the long ride home I was riding my bike carelessly and side swiped a curb but all was well as I didn't damage the bike and miraculously landed on my feet despite having a few too many drinks. Hell, I nearly went into the canal! It makes for great memories at least. The next day I said goodbye to Lise and Fem walked me to the metro stop so I could make my way to the airport. I've never left anywhere with a heavier heart, other than home perhapps, but new adventure called and I'm the type to answer. I'm gonna miss those two girls and their awesome city.
I think that it will take me a long time to forget the wonders of Europe. I don't know that they're wonders exactly, but it's like Jules from Pulp Fiction said, "They got the same shit over there that we got here, but it's just... just there it's a little different". I think of how the bike lanes in the streets are real, and not just a painted line on the side of the road next to speeding cars. Hell, in Amsterdam the bikes have their own traffic lights. In most places in Europe it's acceptable to drink a beer most anywhere. The Europeans seem to be a lot less religious than in America. In the Czech Republic, the official religion is Atheism and in Germany the federal government will automatically tax you 10% income tax as a tithe for your designated church. This causes a lot of people to avoid the church.
Public transportation is better than anything than I've ever seen in the states. Of course every moderately large city has got an above ground tram system and the buses come every 10 minutes instead of the 30 or 60 minute intervals back home. Politically of course there are a lot of differences but in my cynical view of my own government I can't help but believe that Europe is simply more democratic. That's because they mostly have coalition governments that force opposing factions to work together while in my own country (the USA) our two parties are nearly identical in most issues (not the ones they hilight of course) and they have no reason to ever work together. If one party crashes the country and the next party fouls up the recovery... who then do we turn to? The only party that reflects my values (fiscal conservative, social liberal) is the Libertarians but it's impossible for them to get a seat at the table of governance in our system.
Some other things that I approve of in Europe include that mustaches are in style, education is so cheap that students can stay in school into their late 20s, nudity is not shameful, the bars are open LATE, it's possible and encouraged to live without a car, beer is often cheaper than water at the stores, and people are more fit than at home.
There are some things about Europe that suck of course. It's difficult/impossible to get a free glass of water at a restaurant, you can't buy ice at any store that I've seen, they've never heard of jello shots or the ice luge, they are not as friendly to strangers as we are back home, stuff closes on Sundays, and street signs are often non existent. Still, it's a nice change of pace.Now that I'm in Asia I'm in a whole new world of hassles, smells, and adventures. I'll give you some of that as soon as I can focus in this heat.
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