You can spot 'em a mile away

While that's not entirely true, we don't have much trouble identifying an American when we see one. We've got ourselves as the perfect example after all.

It's a bit hard to explain and there's nothing positive or negative about the difference. There's just a difference.

When we were in Holland checking out the tulip fields, we saw a couple and Jim said "You think they're American?" To which I replied "No doubt".

One, the man was wearing a baseball cap.

Jim and this guy are two of the few people I've seen wearing a baseball cap.

Two, he was overweight.

While not everyone in the States is overweight and not everyone in Belgium is thin, in general, everyone here is average. Yes, there are some overweight people and yes, there are quite a few skinny people, but mostly just average-weight people.

Three, the woman was wearing jogging shoes with jeans.

Me and this woman are the only ones I've seen wearing this combination. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but I don't do it anymore.

When we were at the Beer Weekend in Brussels, we were standing next to a group of people and we all knew they were American. Yeah, they were speaking English, but they didn't have to utter a word to know it.

The two young women in the group had on diamond stud earrings.

Me and these two women are the only ones I've seen with diamond earrings. Yes, women wear jewelry, but diamonds don't seem to be a girl's best friend around here. Which seems particularly out of the ordinary since 80% of all diamonds pass through Antwerp. Apparently on their way to the States.

Perfect hair, glistening teeth, plastic surgery and acrylic nails.

When we lived in Ruston, I worked full-time and for some reason I thought that entitled me to spend money more frivolously than I normally would. I had a standing appointment to have my hair colored every 3 weeks and for a while I went every 2 weeks to maintain my acrylic nails which I loved.

If there's a nail salon here, I haven't seen it.

Teeth whitening doesn't seem to have caught on here either.

While coloring your hair is pretty common, it's rarely of a natural color.

And although there was a time I might have considered some plastic surgery, I've always said I wouldn't know where to start. I have so many things needing altering. And ironically, they aren't the same things I would have altered 10, 20 years ago. If anyone here has implants, they are keeping them well hidden.

It just seems that for the most part people here are very content with what they have.

I think, in general, people are thin or average because they ride their bike or walk a lot and there's almost nothing that could be considered fast food. Not that Taco Bell is to blame for my poor eating habits, but I sho do miss it.

Europeans have a style about them and they rarely go out of the house without some, if not a good deal of consideration for their outfit. I can't always say I like what they've put together, but it's obvious they put thought into what they put on before going out.

I have yet to see anyone in a jogging suit or sweatpants. That is, once I put mine away.

I have to say there are a few cultural difference as well. At least from my perspective. And I can only speak for my little corner of Belgium vs my little corner of N. La/E. Tx.

Of course there's the obvious differences that continue to challenge me like metrics, celsius, and time and date. But there's more.

In the States, a family might save for a college education from a child's birth. Here, it's "free". And a family in the States may go bankrupt due to a tragedy and lengthy hospital stay. Here, it's "free".

In the States, a person rarely speaks another language fluently. And, frankly really don't need to. Here, it's commonplace to speak 2-4 languages fluently. And when I say fluently, I mean - vocabulary bigger than mine, , near-perfect grammar, and knowing all the slang terms and common phrases like "dog and pony show" or "no-brainer".

In the States, going to church is common. At least where I come from. Here, it appears it is mostly the elderly who attend church regularly. I'm not saying people are or are not religious, I'm just saying church attendance isn't common.

In the States, we think nothing of driving across the country. Here, a trip to Brussels (1 hour) is major. The young girlfriend of our neighbor told me she was so happy her grandfather had moved near Hasselt and she was getting to know him better because they saw him more often. I asked her where he used to live. Brussels. You know, an hour away.

In the States, religion and politics are often mentioned together. Here, almost never. Separation of church and state appears to be taken seriously.

In the States, all schools from elementary through college have organized sports teams. Here, as far as I can tell, there's no organized team sports in the school system. Our kids never particularly enjoyed team sports, but we encouraged it just the same. It's what everybody did.

In the States, almost all cars have an automatic shift. Here, just the opposite. Driver's licenses here are issued based on manual or automatic. Driving schools are very common too. I already knew how to drive a stick shift and thankfully it's like riding a bike.

I won't say it's common in the States, but verbal and physical abuse of children in public happens. I never spanked our children. My parents never spanked me. In my opinion, spanking is reserved for the parent who isn't smart enough to figure out a better way to redirect inappropriate behavior.

I can remember walking away from my filled shopping cart in a Walmart one day when I witnessed a mother verbally and physically abusing her child. I still vividly remember that sick feeling and wanting to call 911.

I won't say it doesn't happen here, but I have not personally witnessed a physical spanking and furthermore, very rarely a verbal scolding. Maybe all the kids are drugged, but I haven't seen any behavior that warranted much attention.

In the States, ancient is a 200 year old house. Here, it's a 2,000 year old castle. We have seen some spectacular ancient architecture here. As you might guess, the churches are open to the public and free to enter. I can only imagine it is expensive to maintain buildings thousands of years old. Time will tell if the US restores and cherishes their few historical buildings.

Holding hands. In the States, I almost never see anyone holding hands. Including us. Here, it is almost a "given" that if you are walking next to someone you will either lock arms, put your arm around their shoulder, or hold hands. Older women, a mother and daughter, friends of both sexes, and definitely couples. Jim and I have held hands more here than all our previous years added together.

Tolerance. I'd have to say this is the most obvious to me. It appears to me there is near universal tolerance for others. Judgment of others is apparently reserved for some higher power 'cause from my perspective, regular people aren't judging others. The European Union has only been around for about 50 years. It currently consists of 27 countries and about 500 million citizens (US has about 300 million). That's a lot of integration of different lifestyles, laws, religions, currencies, governments, . . . Basically, it's mind-boggling. And it's a helluva lot of tolerance - befittingly.