While at a
bar in Amsterdam, I got the opportunity to visit with a student my age, who has
lived in the city is whole life. Throughout my time here in Europe, I have had
a lot of opportunities to speak briefly with other Europeans, and I have found
it to be very common that they ask us about politics. I personally find this
annoying, but I always go along with it. When beginning a conversation with
this young man, I never thought we would discuss this bothersome topic. However
after about 45 minutes of speaking to him, we began a bit of a controversial
and political discussion.
It was
probably my fault that this subject matter got brought up because I asked him
about the legal marijuana laws in The Netherlands. He informed me that weed is,
in fact, legal in all of Holland, not just in Amsterdam. I also asked him if it
is common for people to smoke marijuana with their families, in their homes and
at a young age. I figured that it would be fairly common since it is legal. He
made it very clear, though, that parents raise their children to believe that
it is a drug with negative impacts, and is seen as low-class and unintelligent.
He then proceeded to tell me that the biggest “pot-head” he knew was a friend
of his who spent a year at an exchange program in Oregon during high school.
This made me laugh but did not really surprise me. It just added to the
thought that when something is illegal and seen as a rebellious activity, it
is more common for young adults. Similar to how many Europeans can maturely
handle their alcohol by the time they are 19 years old, unlike in the United
States.
I think he
thought my reaction to this was amusing, so he then asked me my opinion on
Europeans. I told him that each European country I’ve been to has been so
different that it is hard to make a generalization about everyone. So he said,
“Okay, well then what is the difference to you between Europeans and
Americans?” I thought for a few minutes and said, “You guys are much more into
traditions than we are, and you also pay more attention to beauty, at least in
many places I have been.” He agreed.
So I asked
him, “Why? What do you think the difference is?” To which he quickly replied,
“Well, for example, we don’t walk around with guns in our pockets.”
I nearly
spat out my drink on him, laughed, and asked if he was serious. He told me that
he knows weapons are much more accessible in America and that we all have guns
for hunting and protection. He also told me that in The Netherlands hunting is
illegal.
With the
current controversies around gun control, I found it really interesting to get
the European, or at least the Dutch perspective on the issue. I cleared it up
for him that we do not just walk around with guns in our pockets and that I
personally have never hunted or even held a gun. We continued to talk about
other political differences such as health care, taxes and higher education.
At the end
of the night when I was leaving, he told me that he had never before talked to
an American girl about such topics, and that I had really changed his views.
Although he did mention that he is still not very fond of Americans, aside from
me of course, he admitted he dreams of traveling to The States one day.
Hopefully he will relay the knowledge I gave him to the rest of Europe so that
they can all stop hating us. But the odds of that happening are slim to none.
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