How to be a European

I've gathered much of this information from relatives or observations. I find it interesting. I love the European people. They are very nice, just with a different culture to get used to.

Number One: You are a people watcher. You sit at a bench or a table outside (or even inside) and you really focus and stare at people until you see them look around because your stare is so intense they can feel it. Though that's just the foreigners that can feel it. After awhile you don't notice when you are being stared at. Currently, I can look outside and watch the older couple that live next door sit on their bench with their binoculars and look across the valley to the other mountains or the roads or I don't even know what. But Europeans like to watch.

Number Two: When you walk you don't smile. You especially don't smile to people you say hello to. But you do say hello or else it is like a slap in the face. But they think you are odd if you are smiling. Unless you're members of the church. They like to smile.

Number Three: If you wear a hat, it's part of your religion or you are very wealthy and you have an extremely attractive looking hat.

Number Four: School children all have the same uniformal backpack with different fabric. The schools expect the children to have all their different school supplies in the same place in every backpack.

Number Five: You bike. A lot. It doesn't matter what you are wearing, a business suit, a skirt, jeans, shorts, dresses, etc. You still bike.

Number Six: Children are to be well behaved. All the time. If they are not, then you feel extremely apologetic for your children.

Number Seven: You do not make lots of noise. You don't talk with a loud voice. Your laughter is even muted. You never yell.

Number Eight: You must be very fashionable. You wear expensive clothing. You do not wear PJ's or sweats in public which is anywhere outside the doors of where you live. You wear whatever fashion from any time period you want, but it must be expensive looking.

Number Nine: You know how to get from Point A to Point X without asking for directions or having a map or checking the schedules of the trains, buses, and trams. You know it by heart.

Number Ten: You must know at least three other languages. Not just know, but be very nearly fluent in all of them both in speech and writing.

Number Eleven: A one and a half hour trip to anywhere is classified as a very, very long ways.

Number Twelve: Owning a home is only for the very well-to-do families.

Number Thirteen: You find riding on the public transportation system with people in military dress carrying guns not very odd at all.

Number Fourteen: When you plan your vacations, you schedule and reserve places years in advance.

Number Fifteen: You are skinny.

Number Sixteen: You smoke and you don't mind it when others smoke right next to you either.

Number Seventeen: You own expensive, lovely cars and you drive fast.

Number Eighteen: You would never look for hotdog buns, hamburger buns, sliced bread, or peanut butter in the grocery store because the store doesn't stock them and you'd have no use for them anyways.

Number Nineteen: You have an assigned laundry day and time on that day.

Number Twenty: Do anything that could be considered work on Sunday will give you dirty looks. This includes any type of gardening.

Number Twenty-One: You only eat or make foods that are in season, because you won't be getting any food that is made out of season.

Number Twenty-Two: Drinking alcohol and tea is a cultural thing, and you are extremely rude to refuse. Unless you have a very good reason not to.