| But I have met a number of Europeans who literally have no concept for the size of the United States. The most obvious case was a German friend visiting me in D.C. who asked if we could go to LA for dinner. Though that is extreme, I've known a number of folks who have wanted to just go check out New York (five hours away) or Philadelphia (three hours away) or what-have-you. An old joke: What's the difference between an American and Brit? To a Brit, 100 miles is a long way, to an American, 100 years is a long time. When I last lived in Europe, I had neighbors who were aghast when I had a 20Km commute to work. In fact, I ended up moving after about a year to where I was about 2Kms away. Today, back in the states, I drive over 100 Kms each way to my office. I pointed it out, because in my experience --which of course leads to a huge stereotype on my part-- Europeans and Americans have very, very different concepts of distance. Not because I think you're daft. |
