Europe vs the US

Last night I was talking to a house guest and we ended up talking about differences between Europe and the US. Being new here, lots of things about the US and California seem strange to the point of absurd to me. But I like it, at least experiencing them. I'll be the first to admit that I look humorous when I once again forget to look twice for cars that legally get to turn in intersections despite having red lights. If pedestrians didn't have the right of way here, I'd probably been served up as roadkill by now. But there are also differences here that make me wince. Homelessness is a real problem here. I'm not sure how much this is an effect of the current economic recession, the recent subprime housing scandal, or just that the California climate and social benefit system are survivable. Probably a unique combination of all factors in each case. I'm aware that there are homeless people in Europe as well, but I'm not used to being confronted with it at this level. Hmm, I'm getting off topic here. Anyway, the discussion turned to what is better on each continent. My first thought about what was better with the US was the spirit of ambition here. Europeans mock it as it sometimes takes absurd expressions (and it's fun), but seriously, it is something almost palpable here. People work to make it happen, invest time and effort, and follow their dreams. Sure, it might be more common around a world-class university and the capital of the IT revolution, but it is really inspiring. Which is a large part of why I'm here. But today I realized once again what really is better here. Much much better. TV. It's just ridiculously much better. Take the best shows you've seen on European TV, multiply their number by 10, and air them back to back in 5 different languages on 500 channels. Even the commercials are better. Commercials here are researched, budgeted, themed, shot, and targeted in superior ways. Sure, most of them build on faulty premises and attempt to create artificial needs, but they're just better. Even less annoying! Unfortunately, the products are not. Ah well, can't have it all I guess. At least I can drop into the couch and channel surf a couple of hours if my back goes out. Not very inspiring though. Luckily other things are.