Amsterdam Adventures

The first Rick Steves article reminded me how aware I became of my own country and my country's values and beliefs while living abroad. That time was the time I learned the most about myself, my country and my perception of the world. I arrived in Holland six days after the September 11th attacks and moved back to Seattle 6 months after the US invaded Iraq. These two experiences were strange bookends to my life in Holland. European sentiment towards Americans was so supportive and positive when I first moved to the Netherlands and so angry at our government when I moved back to the States. But one thing I learned is that Europeans are very good at separating people from their government. When I traveled and people I met found out that I was American, I never felt unsafe or unwelcome. They complained plenty about the US government but not individuals. I wish we could be more like this in this country.

The second article by Rick Steves made me think about how we can take the great things about the EU (human rights, environmental policies, support system for underprivileged) and incorporate those things into this country without losing all the positives we have here (entrepreneurial spirit, work hard and you'll succeed, etc.). There's got to be a way to have both.

Questions:

1. How can we in the US learn to separate a population from its government?
2. What qualities of the EU and US would we like to see strengthened and what qualities would we like to see go away?