What We Miss About the USA

Last week we looked at some things we love about Europe. This week we take a look at some of the things we miss about the good ole US of A:

You Don't Know Until You Know 

Life overseas can be quite the adventure. Trying new foods, creating new routines, and meeting new people can be a lot of fun. But often when the shine wears off and the mundane necessities of the everyday set in, it can remind us of what we miss about home. When this happens even simple things that aren’t even that big a deal sound heavenly and we suddenly become incredibly thankful for the simple things in life. Here are some examples that we’ve experienced from our time in Europe: 

Free Bathrooms: We have literally planned our errands and nights out on the town around the availability of a free bathroom somewhere in the city. A visit to the bathroom around town can set you back anywhere from about 25 cents to a dollar. Most stores here don’t even have public bathrooms unless you are at a large mall. 

One Stop Shopping: You don’t really realize how convenient a Target or Walmart is until you don’t have one. Gone are the days of picking up supplies for a meal, grabbing a t-shirt, and heading to the medicine aisle all in the same store. Pharmacies here are completely separate stores and that’s where you have to go to get anything related to your health, including vitamins. 

Heart Language: It’s strange because you really never have to think much about the language you speak when everyone around you speaks it. The interesting thing is that when things are flipped and you don’t hear your native language very often then it becomes a very special moment when you do. It’s hard to explain but there’s something incredibly special about speaking to someone in his or her native “heart” language that brings such joy. 

Comforters: The popular bed cover here is a duvet. In fact, I haven’t seen a comforter or quilt sold anywhere… maybe I’ve missed that store. For those that don’t know, duvets come in plain white and are then stuffed into some kind of cover. It can be quite the challenge to keep the inside duvet at the same length as the cover. 

Top Sheet: If the lack of comforters wasn’t surprising, the lack of top sheets surely is. Because duvets are common practice there are no top sheets sold anywhere. Instead the bed consists of the duvet and the fitted sheet. I mean, I understand the idea behind it; it’s much easier to only wash a duvet cover than a comforter and eliminate an additional sheet, but you're also eliminating the comfort. 

Wash Cloths: That’s right, washcloths. The only washcloth I’ve ever seen or bought here is kind of like a mitten. Maybe I’m missing something on this one……. 

.Com: Once again something you never consider until you’re outside the U.S. and are trying to search for something on the web. Each country has it’s own “.com” so where we live it’s “.cz”. So if the same store exists in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, it is necessary to put that specific country's online tag in order to find it. Also, certain websites are not accessible (Hulu) through traditional means, and others (Netflix) contain completely different content. 

Free Refills and Water: Now, I will say that the mall here is now offering free refills at certain fast food chains in the food court. For the most part though, if you want a refill, you will have to pay full price for another drink. Also, I have heard that it is possible to get tap water for free at certain restaurants but usually you have to pay for water. It is often one of the more pricy drinks on the menu. 

Dryer: Again, some people have these, but it isn’t common and they can be quite expensive. The common practice here is to line-dry clothes after washing them which means one has to strategically wash clothes a little at a time unless you want clothes hanging all over the apartment. Oh how I miss the warmth and softness of a freshly dried load of laundry. Our towels are quite crisp line drying. 

What We Love About CZ (and Europe)

Living in a foreign country can be challenging at times. You are constantly learning new things and often feel out of place. However, if you are open to new adventures, you get to meet amazing people and obtain invaluable life experiences that might not happen in your country of origin. Here are a few things we love about this area of the world: 

Slower Pace of Life: There are many things that contribute to the slower pace of life, sometimes it’s necessity and sometimes it’s choice. For example, we don’t have a car here so we use public transportation (metro, trams, and buses). This means that we are at the mercy of their schedule. At first, it can be an adjustment but it can also be very freeing to realize that only so many things can be accomplished in one day and therefore over-scheduling is futile. Getting groceries for the week or even a few days can be the accomplishment of the day and that’s just fine. 

When you make plans to meet someone for dinner, coffee, or to simply hang out, the expectation here is much different than is often the case in the states. We don’t do dinner reservations very often here, but when we do they are offered in 3-hour increments. There is no rush to leave the table; servers aren’t circling the table, even when no reservation has been made. 

Simple Living: I never really realized how much more stressful it can be to own more stuff until I sold or donated a good deal of stuff the first time we came to Prague. More clothes means more outfits to choose from and more time spent picking “the right” outfit. Let’s be honest, we tend to migrate toward the same pair of jeans or t-shirt anyway so why have eight others that we don’t even use? I don’t consider myself a minimalist exactly, but a more streamlined closet certainly makes an already complicated life that much simpler. 

Fresh bread and cheese: Basically every grocery store here has a fresh bread and cheese section. The selection of breads is amazing, from baguettes to pastries. Not only is the selection great but the prices are too. We’ve gotten a dozen or so breadsticks for about a dollar. The same chocolate pastry sold at Panera Bread for around $3.00 can be found here for less than $1.00, which leads to the next category….

Cheaper Prices: Now, I do want to emphasize that in general we do buy way less here since we use public transport instead of a car and because we only have so much space in our refrigerator. However, even though we buy less in any given trip to the grocery store we don’t really skimp on the things that we do buy, and we find that we often spend far less here than we would in the U.S.  

Architecture and Walk-Friendly Cities: It’s hard to believe that some of these structures were built in the 1300’s. One of my favorite markets has been up and running since 1232! Not to mention the fact that Prague is one of the most beautiful places in the world; seriously check out some pictures. Also, I love that we can walk to various places such as grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and public transit with relative ease. 

Cheap, Varied, and Reliable Public Transportation: We can travel to other countries often for cheaper than we could travel within our own state in the U.S. For example, we once took a train to Hungary for approximately $50 round trip. Another time we flew to Venice and returned from Milan for approximately $150 round trip, for both of us!! Now you know why we’ve had the privilege to travel so much!

We take buses, trams, and the metro daily and they are all exceptionally clean. I haven’t traveled as much via public transit in the U.S. but I can’t imagine it would be nearly as clean. 

Work/Life Balance: People are expected to take vacations here. It’s almost strange if you don’t. In fact, one new company just launched this year without offering vacation days because they are unlimited! People love and value the outdoors so much that students will often ask to have class outside once Spring hits, so it’s not surprising that many families have summer cottages in the countryside. 

You are expected to stay home when you are sick, regardless of the number of days it takes to get better. Sick doesn’t necessarily mean the flu or something life threatening as is often the expectation in the U.S. Students and members of the work force often miss due to a cold. A doctor’s note may be requested, depending on the number of days absent, but that is easily obtained. 

There are certainly things we do not like about living here, but why dwell on negative things? A recent sermon series has encouraged us to count our blessings and to be grateful for what we have, and these things we’ve listed are certainly some of the wonderful things Europe has to offer. 

Next time....what we miss about the U.S.