Brief Little Observations

As we strolled around the different countries of Eastern Europe, I noticed little things that people seemed to have in common and some small differences as well.

Hair: a lot of women seemed to have this poorly dyed red hair--not natural looking at all. Also saw a remarkable number of mullets, especially the fem-mullet variety (mullet on women). A lot of people had dreds, too.

Build: It seemed of the three countries I went to, most people were a lot smaller than Americans are weight wise. Hungarians I remember as being the skinniest and tallest, then the Polish, and the Czechs seemed the shortiest and most "ordinary" of the three--although these are purely my observations and have nothing to back them up scientifically. But I definitely felt very weight-conscious there.

Dress: You could pick out the tourists by their clothes, us included. We were quite underdressed by Euro standards. My sense of pride urged me to go buy some nicer clothes, but my sense of practicality shut that voice up for the most part. I just hate looking more plain than everyone else--lol.

Attitude: Most people weren't that friendly. Not that they were out and out rude, (although there were a few of those people, too), but they just either stared at us for being obviously out of place, or completely ignored us. The first time someone smiled at me in Hungary, I took one look at his clothes and realized that he, too, was a tourist. That was on our final day there.

Final thoughts: even though it's a challenge sometimes to deal with cultural differences (like the fact that you have to tell a waiter over there that you want your check or that if you ask for water, you will have to pay for it; you will usually have to pay for use of a toilet, too, if you're out and about), I really think everyone should travel abroad at least once if he/she can afford it. Otherwise, it's too easy to think that everyone should see the world the way we in America do, and the rest of the world just doesn't because their lives are very different. We truly have the most amenities of any country in the world just for our average citizens. Like we expect free toilets and water, and to be able to own our own cars, and to have air conditioning, and to be able to eat till we make ourselves sick. I guess I'm saying that I realize how much I have when I'm in other countries; I realize how high my standard of living is. For these first few days or maybe even weeks after I get back to the States, I know I will appreciate some of that. But I also know it won't take long before I just accept this life as standard, and I will just keep wanting more. Someone wise once said that happiness is wanting just what we already have. I must laugh at myself when I read that, for based on that definition, I've only been happy for short periods of time in my life and the rest I've just been wanting something more. Ah well.