Where Oh Where Wednesday: Roads

Having just returned last Wednesday from New York to Belgium I thought it appropriate to mention in this ‘where’ a ‘who’ who makes some of our travels possible. The roads which take us to so many places are everywhere - except in some places - have a link to Belgium.

When we were in Texas, we noticed that the roads and highways are constructed of concrete slabs. And in some other areas we visited in the Midwest, the roads were simply compacted dirt. But in most places, in the US and all over Europe, roads are made of asphalt. 

The Germans are very proud that their highways are extremely well-cared for. They have to take a lot of very fast-driving cars. The Dutch have quite a few kilometers of highway for such a small country, and they are also well-maintained. In Eastern Europe, it used to be that roads were horrible, making a trip of 7 hours into a trip that could take 14 hours because the asphalt was not well-maintained. 

Belgium had one of the first modern highways and has an extreme amount of road for the size of the country. But every Belgian will let you know that there is plenty to complain about when it comes to roads. The asphalt is often pockmarked. Cities are required to place a sign if there is a pothole. But they are not required to fix it. If you see a sign and hit a pothole which damages your car, the insurance will not pay. There was a sign, after all. 

All of this to say that asphalt was first done by a Belgian - Edward de Smedt - in 1870 when he laid a stretch of road in Battery Park and 5th Avenue in New York City. So whether you are driving in Minnesota, Michigan, Maryland, Maine or Malta, whether the road takes you from New York to Connecticut or from The Netherlands to Belgium, it is most likely an asphalt road, originally created by a Belgian (in the US). 

The language of love

We are back in Belgium and are thankful for our own bed - although we are also thankful for having had the chance to be in so many other places and seeing so many people. We arrived Wednesday morning and tried to stay awake all day - to beat the jet-lag. It didn’t work. We crashed for an hour in the afternoon. 

But we were able to hang on in order to share the Bible study that evening online, which meant that we stayed up at least until 8 pm, making it almost a normal day. More importantly, we were able to share thoughts about some of the Psalms, which is what we have been studying on Wednesdays. This time it was Psalm 42 and 43, a song of the sons of Korah. Looking back on this weekend, this Psalm was a great preparation. 

On Saturday as many from the congregation in Maastricht as could went down to camp for a day together. We spent the morning looking at the ‘Bible that Jesus Read’ and then shared lunch together with some from the church in Liége and some young folks from Harding University (who also speak French). We sang together in Dutch, English and French. We stood and talked in various languages about many meaningful things, and we shared a walk up to the ‘Love Tree’. 

What hit me was how good it is to have any language to talk about God and His goodness. We had people speaking in French, English, Dutch and Russian. Our conversations were about how God has blessed us in the last time, about how we can reach out to those around us with this wonderful message of true life and eternal life. 

When we made it up to the ‘Love Tree’, it became clear that the idea of ‘love’ can be varied. The ‘Love Tree’ is a tree at the top of the mountain into which young people have carved their names (the tree behind the group in the picture). You know the sort of thing: M+C surrounded by a heart, perhaps with an arrow through it. I personally know that several of the initials are the same person, changing partners year after year. Is this love? 

The next day we were finally able to be back together with the family of believers in Maastricht to worship the King of kings, our gracious Father in heaven. We were reminded how good and important it is to remember that only in Christ do we have salvation. How important it is to remember that we can only be with Him if we listen to Him, disregarding all other sounds around us. 

These are words of love. God wants us to come to Him and He has made it possible for us to be with Him eternally - if we obey Him. If we try to do it on our own - like Korah in his rebellion - then we meet death and disappointment. But, just like the sons of Korah, we can be different and put our hope and trust completely in doing what God says, as He says it. 

Our songs on Saturday and Sunday, our conversations on both days (again in various languages), reminded us once again that it is GOOD to be in Him, no matter where we come from. But that we want to be IN HIM. If I am not telling someone how important it is and how good it is to be In Christ - perhaps because I am afraid that it might come across as not loving - then I have not understood love. 

The language of love is not transient, like the wounds made on that tree. The language of love is eternal and is willing to speak truth that is sometimes hard to hear - in any language. 

Have you thought about your identity? Are you in Christ? That is the only identity that matters and is only according to HIS will, not mine. We are thankful for those who spoke to us in love so that we could find grace and joy in Jesus. And we pray that we, along with those we work with, will continue to speak in love in every language we use. 

New York, New York (Home Assignment 2023 New York City)

Our last stop on this whirlwind tour brings us to the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps: New York City. While New York City is certainly more than what is on the island of Manhattan, Sean and Jill live in Manhattan, so that is where we went. 

Our first evening was taken up with arriving (our flight landed after 9 pm) and getting from the airport to our lodging. We would be staying at a small hotel/hostel on the edge of Chinatown. This placed us fairly close to Sean and Jill and also gave opportunities for public transport while keeping the stay “reasonably priced” at least for New York standards. 

We got settled in our room, let Sean we had arrived, and headed back out into a warmish evening to find something to eat. After 10 pm many places were closed for the day, but we found some good dumplings and even ate them with chopsticks. In the coming days this would be the pattern as well - being introduced to new foods and new ways to purchase them. Each meal was an adventure in itself. 

Thursday morning we met Sean and Jill - and Pierre, their dog - at a coffee place in our neighborhood. Jill showed us some vegan rice triangles at a Chinese bakery before taking us to her work and showing us around. Her store is in a Chinese market mall with some other stores offering different types of vintage clothing or special jewelry or other options. 

Our first lunch was sitting at a high table at the side of the East River. Now maybe that doesn’t sound very appealing, but it is one of the most enduring memories of the stay. The views of downtown Brooklyn on one side and downtown Manhattan on the other, a soft breeze blowing on what would become a warmer day. The ever-present sounds (see the previous post) enveloped us as we caught up on life. 

We walked Sean to his work, just around the corner from where Jill works, and then headed uptown using the metro for the first time. We had decided to visit the New York Public Library, but this would end up being a real visit a few days later. On this day the main exhibition hall was closed. Still, we enjoyed the architecture and went outside to enjoy Bryant Park. NYC is full of public parks and everyone makes good use of them. Of course Bryant Park is next door to the library and is not far from many tourist spots (Times Square etc), so there were also plenty of tourists about, including us. 

Throughout our stay here we heard all sorts of languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, and so many others which we couldn’t correctly identify. Did I mention that it was like being in a foreign country? There is an energy in the city. Everyone is busy going somewhere, doing something, wanting to experience something. And we moved along with the current of people moving and doing and talking. 

We were more than able to do some very special touristy things on this stop, not only because we had time, but because we were blessed by givers who especially wanted us to be able to enjoy and who knew how expensive things can be in the City. We are so very thankful to so many who made many of these moments possible, not only in NYC, but all along the way. Your giving hearts have been amazing!

So because we could and because we are museum nerds anyway, we visited various places, some which were free, others which were made possible. We returned to the library (which was free) on Saturday because we really wanted to see the Gutenberg Bible and other gems on exhibition. We spent a day at the Met (Metropolitan Museum) seeing as much as one can on what in the end were fairly sore feet. And we went to an off-Broadway play that went horribly wrong (No seriously, that was the name of the play!). 

But we also visited various parks around the city. The city planners were clearly convinced that green spaces were essential for city dwellers, and they were right. We found beautiful oases of green, filled with the laughter of children with parents and the fluttering of pigeon wings as people walked through. Central Park, of course, is always amazing. This time we visited other sections than when we came in 2019. There was music at Bryant Park, pigeons at a stop at Seward park nearby where we were staying, a dog walking area at Sean and Jill’s park and conversations in each of them. 

What do you like best about a good city park? After seeing how small many of the living quarters are in the city, we understand completely how many people basically lived as we did for the time we were there: using the bedroom only in the evening when needing to sleep. The rest of the time was spent at the myriad restaurants and parks in the neighborhoods. 

Our last full day was spent with Sean, Jill and even Pierre at Coney Island, making like every city tourist. Gaudily painted amusement rides, ridiculously long lines waiting for overpriced hot dogs or snow cones or crinkle fries or other fare. The boardwalk stretching out passed the amusement, bordered by the beach leading down to the ocean. It was a gloriously sunny day (we all burned) and we had a blast sharing rides and time together. 

We all went on the Wonder Wheel, but it has a twist which shocked us all and got a good squeal out of the girls (or was it the guys too). Sean and Scott competed at the arcade gathering points from tossing basketballs into moving baskets, bowling of a sort and racing arcade motorcycles (Sean won everything). Jill showed her hand at ‘the claw’ and won two prizes. In between we all walked barefoot in the wet sand, surf kicking up against our legs. 

Our time was coming to an end. The day before, Shirley and I had decided to take the Staten Island Ferry out to Staten Island and find a restaurant there. Shirley had been wanting some good night shots of the city, which meant waiting until at least 8:30pm. A trip into what seemed another country was just the answer. We spent a wonderful dinner together, sharing delicious food before heading back on the ferry. 

We stood at the front of the ferry, the wind making it almost too cold, but actually just right because it was so exciting. The sun set behind Lady Liberty as we passed by and the lights of Manhattan and Brooklyn lit up as if they were doing it just for us (and everyone else on the ferry). 

New York City is a tease. It is a place that seems to have everything, but it doesn’t give its prizes away for free. You have to be willing to deal with the metro, walking, the crowds, the noise and the life that is the city. It is like the city knows that what it offers is worth the trouble you have to take to experience it. We were glad to have some time, especially to have that time with Sean and Jill in what is now their city. 

We have way too many pictures for this stop, but it is what it is. If you are wanting to spend a while looking through our experience of this city, feel free to check them out here.

Sights, sounds and smells

There are so many things that seem different when you are in a foreign country. This is even true when you are in an unfamiliar city. Our time in New York has been filled with all sorts of different sights, sounds and smells. Later I will be able to share the too many pictures we have taken in this amazing place. But for today, use your imagination and go with me to these sights, sounds and smells that struck us as remarkable for this stop. 

Sounds

- The shriek and scream of the slithering snake of a subway. 

We have been taking the metro (subway) everywhere. On the platform as the whoosh of the wind of an oncoming train sweeps along the darkened tunnel, or even in the train itself as it bumps around a corner, screeching in seeming pain, the sound never stops. Even when we visit Jill’s or Sean’s workplace, a train thunders and screeches through regularly, halting all conversation until it passes and the normal thrum of the daily traffic returns. 

- Sirens throughout the day, which one would expect in a city, but also the almost genteel “whoop, whoop” of the police car wanting to get through the inevitable traffic stopped up the intersection. Not that the police car is hurrying on to an event, it simply wants to get through. 

- Other cars are constantly honking. The drivers who are obviously familiar with the streets and intersections frustratedly honk at the noobies blocking the way. Cars honk a nanosecond after the light has changed color, telling the car in front of them emphatically to move along. 

- Our hotel is a stacking of rooms around beds in a second floor block of flats. The walls are all very thin, so we hear everything that our neighbors do or say, including their snoring through the night. And we are more than aware that they can all hear anything going on in our room as well. 

Smells

- A sickening sweet smell hangs in pockets throughout the city or as you pass someone on the street, the smell of a common weed. It hangs in the air as you pass someone smoking, or hangs in their clothes and hair. Often you cannot avoid it as the people walking in front of you smoke an exhale into the air, the cloud slowly wafting through the air. In this case it is an upscale group of young professionals on their way to an evening out together. 

- It is a city, and although it is not filthy, your nose gets used to the everyday smell of urine in various places. Trash is also stacked up on every street. 

- Baking bagels, donuts, croissants and various other kinds of bread wafting through the air from street corners. Moving along the streets, trying to keep up with the flow, you pass back and forth through more pleasant into unpleasant and back into normal smells. 

Sights

- As we emerged from the metro station one evening on our way to Sean and Jill’s place, we passed a father with his young son. The boy was throwing a tennis ball to his father who was playing catcher, baseball glove on hand. This occurred rght on the square where many people were beginning to gather for the evening, ready to enjoy their evening of dining. It was a sight seen in many other places, where families took advantage of any spot to be a family. 

- People moving determinedly through the day and the streets - on their way to wherever they are going where they need to be very soon. 

- As we walked down the street (moving at a stiff pace as the rest were doing) we passed a young boy stretched out on a balustrade, looking at his mother and brother and repeatedly recounting what he clearly wanted to eat that evening: “Cotton candy, French fries and chicken fingers. Cotton candy, French fires and chicken fingers. …”. 

- Dog walkers holding the reins of 5 or 6 dogs as they cross a street from one beautiful neighborhood to the next, the dogs smiling in pleasure or sniffing at the last dog’s “signature” along the way. 

- Men tightly curled up in a dark ball on a park bench in the morning as the day is beginning, older Chinese people down the way doing their tai chi. A man sleeping standing against a light pole, the sun warming his face, the familiar smell wafting away in the slight wind of the morning. 

- A young couple getting on the metro and finding a seat together among the throng of people on the train. They sit together, talking into one another’s ear when the screech of the rails rises too loudly, his hand around her shoulders. 

- From almost every corner appears an amazing view. IN Colorado we thrilled t the changing face of the mountains. Here in New York City, the skyscrapers peek through every street view, standing tall above you. Some seem shorter when you walk among them, but always they amaze. One is never lost for something to look at: fire escapes trailing down blocks of apartment buildings, tree-lined avenues full of blinking-lighted cars and trucks and buses, flashing billboards in the sky screaming the newest play or movie or insurance scheme. As you walk, you glance down a street and are met by the towering giants peeking through, ever present. 

California Dreaming (Home Assignment 2023 California)

It’s the land of making dreams come true - or at least that is what many think when they think of California. Hollywood, Disney, surf and beaches, sunshine and palm trees. And truly, our first sight this time was something we had not yet seen in all of our trips to California - the jacaranda in bloom. It could have been a dream. (The picture at the beginning and in our pictures, here). 

And yet, California is like any other place, full of people trying to live, of stories and conversations and memories. We originally came out to Long Beach in the summer of 1990 just after Stephan was born. He celebrated his first birthday here with this church family (dressed like a little bunny). It has been good to see old friends and make new relationships here, even if the sun has not shone that much (they talk of “June gloom” here, which comes every year). 

Our time here has been filled with visits and conversations with the church members, as well as some time to look around and even do some tourist things. We made it down to Seal beach and stood in the wind amazed at the few people who braved the water and sand. We spent an evening at Harbor Village shivering in the evening sun that finally peaked through the clouds, but enjoying the boats in the marina and the people along the pier. 

Later in our time, we were treated to a visit to downtown Los Angeles. You would think that we had been there before, but this was our first time. We even took the “metro” there (a mix between a tram and a metro). It is always fun to visit places with people who know what they like and share it with you. In this case it was a very short but very busy (in years) funicular tram, an office building straight out of a 1930’s detective novel, Union Station and the old roots of this very large city, grounded in Spanish and Mexican culture. 

We of course spent time with members of the congregation, telling about how God is working in The Netherlands and Belgium. Scott preached on Sunday and we enjoyed a potluck afterwards. The song leader even made Scott feel at home (unknowingly) by raising the last verse of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” - just like often happens in Maastricht on a Sunday. 

Sunday evening was an interesting time. We shared a meal of leftovers with the Jablonski’s. These were leftovers from the various meals since arriving and brought with them the various memories of good conversations. So we also enjoyed the conversations and memories a second time. 

And food has definitely been a part of this stop. A fish restaurant with a sort of fish tex-mex, O’Malley’s Irish pub for a breakfast, authentic Mexican fare including Mole enchilada’s (spicy chicken with chocolate), Angus beef steaks as well as good ol’ home-cooked meat and veggies. We may have to be rolled home when it is finally time, but we have enjoyed the varieties and especially the conversations along the way. 

Our trip these past 7 weeks has seemed like a dream. Even more so as we look back on all the people we have seen and places we have visited. And we missed seeing so many! But we have been able to share memories and make new memories along the way. 

Here in California we are blessed to stay with our friends, the Jablonski’s, who live on a golf course. They have plum and avocado trees in their yard. We have enjoyed the avocado’s almost every evening while being spoiled by their hospitality. Their Egyptian cat mewls and rubs your leg as the wind lightly plays with eh flowers growing around the swimming pool. 

And yet, life is still life whether it is elsewhere or here in what to some seems an idyllic surrounding. Gas prices are the highest here than anywhere we have yet seen and families still do their best to deal with all the struggles we are given in this life. We are so thankful not only to have family in God, but to have strength and security and a future in God. This is not a dream, but the real reality - wherever we are. 

Very soon we will be on the last leg of our trip, visiting with Sean and Jill in New York, after which we will be heading home. But that is another story. 

Looking ahead

We have almost been on the road for two months now. By next Wednesday we will be in our own house, our own bed, perhaps sweating from what we have heard is a heat wave in Belgium. Here in the US we have been able to visit with family and church family in so many places, sharing about what we are doing as well as picking up on what God is doing in these various places. 

We still have a day in California and then a few days with Sean and Jill in New York, but at times our minds are already turning to what is to come when we get back home. We fly on a Tuesday and arrive on Wednesday morning. That evening we will be able to share with the Maastricht family again in a Bible study we have missed for the last 8 weeks. 

On Saturday we will head down to camp with the congregation to share time together in God’s word and with God’s family. IN the morning we will study and discuss. We will then share lunch with the congregations from French-speaking Liege and Verviers. Following lunch we will join in song together - probably in at least three different languages. We are so thankful for these opportunities to encourage one another and be a family of Christ together. 

As we head into July we will be preparing for a week with the teens at camp. Shirley will be helping in the kitchen, Scott will be sharing the lessons and training new leaders and teachers. The week is full with 24 campers signed up. Please pray for these young people and the team leading them in this week. 

The week afterwards Scott will be down at Family camp once again helping with the lessons for the teens. This week is always a good opportunity to reach out to families who attend. We pray that we will be good examples while there and that God can use us in all of our conversations. 

Looking past the summer months we are looking at how we as a congregation can be God’s light and love in our community. Some of the things we have discussed while on our trip will come up with the congregation. How can we be reaching out to families? How can we be encouraging one another in remaining in the truth? We already have some plans for walks together, studies with students, games days and/or evenings for families and more. 

In all of this we are thankful that God is mighty, that we are speaking of His truth and love and that He is the One using all of us mightily for His kingdom. What is planned for your coming months? How is God using you now? What are you looking forward to? Let us know. And thank you so much for your prayers, your faithfulness as you walk with God and your example to those around you if you are walking with Him. 

Colorful Colorado (Home Assignment 2023 Colorado)

Although “Colorado” means “red” in Spanish, the State itself says it is “Colorful Colorado” and our visit here was full of colorful life. We landed in the middle of a lightning storm out at the airport and had to stay still on the tarmac until there were no direct strikes. Everything cleared up, we took a shuttle to our rental car and headed off for the drive from Denver down to Colorado Springs. This is usually a drive of about 1.5 hours, but it was rush hour, so it took a little longer. No worries, I was thrilled with the view of “my” mountains off to the right. 

Although some people might consider the Rockies just big piles of rocks (preferring mountains like the Appalachians), it has always enthralled me to see how the view of the mountains changes: daily, by the hour, and even by the minute. It is like watching the ocean, except that the peaks climb into your view on the horizon, stabbing into the sky and rolling into the city at their feet. 

As we made our way further south, my heart beat faster, feeling the pull of home. We have many “homes” around the world, and we are so thankful for all of them. But for me (Scott), this is where my heart skips a beat and I melt at the beauty. Memories fill my mind of so many drives along this route, from the beginning of middles school/high school to the beginning of university when I first left home and “coming home” first pulled those heart strings. 

We spent the first half of our too short visit down in Colorado Springs with Scott’s brother and wife, John and Yumiko. We always have a place here, but it has been four years and the dogs have changed. We were greeted at the door by Cowboy and JoJo. Check out our pictures for more on them. They were a real treat. JoJo may be the little one, but it is she who sleeps in the big bed, Cowboy lying with just his head on the edge. 

In the Springs we were able to do some visiting things, including Scott disc golfing nearby, Shirley looking through deals at the thrift store and taking walks in the area. We usually take a trip down to Old Colorado City where we have bought coffee at a place called La Baguette for VERY many years. Sometimes we would, in the past have visited a mystery book store down the street, but it was gone. So instead, Scott stopped at the barber and got a haircut. Since he always does his own hair, this was quite a treat.

Freed of long hair and bushy beard we spent the evening with John and Yumiko. The next evening was reserved for a meeting at Fargo’s Pizza. This is a special pizza place where Scott first spent time with young Christians who would later help bring him to faith in Christ. In the past years it has been a good place to plan family get-togethers on our home trips. This time it was also Scott’s sister, Barb’s, birthday. Good food, good sharing of memories, good conversations in a fun place. 

On the Saturday we got up early so that we could drive up north of Denver where Ruby Mirror planned a special online concert in order to include Scott in the singing and playing. Ruby Mirror is a group made up of Scott’s brother, John, Bret Carter and Julie Oehlert (brother and sister) and Kenny and Jack Carter (brothers, cousins of Bret and Julie). Since they live (relatively) close to one another, they play together often and sing concerts at coffee places and elsewhere. 

Scott and Bret are best friends, having met in junior high. Bret is Scott’s “brother from a different mother”, you could say. Or more clearly, they both have the same Heavenly Father. Bret’s dad had a singing group and they invited Scott and John to join. This was before Scott and John were Christians. The other members were all young Christians. This influence was crucial in Scott’s growth in faith. “Summer Breeze” sang in various places and even traveled to Alabama, and California as well as playing at York College in Nebraska. So to join voices again with parts of this group was a real thrill. Scott was less interested in how professional it might sound and was excited to simply be harmonizing again. The concert is online if you are interested. You can find it here.

After the concert we were also able to continue sharing memories. We saw Karsten Rog, who lives nearby, and spent a short time talking (everything on this visit has been too short). In this same time we were all praying fervently for a young woman we all knew (Julie’s daughter) who was having a pregnancy emergency. Fear, sorrow, trust, compassion. A full spectrum of every emotion possible in such a short time. How do you deal with the loss of one so young - without the loving embrace of a Mighty Father and brothers and sisters around you?

On Sunday we were able to worship with the Pikes Peak Avenue congregation in Colorado Springs, saying hello to people we have known since the beginning of our work with the church in Belgium and The Netherlands. We drove on after worship time to make it to the potluck of the Miller Street congregation in Denver. It was here back in 2019 that we held a song workshop and gained some wonderful new songs. (You can hear one of them here)

This is also where Bret Carter works with the congregation. The next few days saw us getting to know his wonderful family before we were to move on to our next stop. We shared a donut breakfast, a birthday party for the second eldest daughter, a day win the park, another day in another park where Scott and Bret were able to disc golf, and a visit to a German bakery with very special treats. We even finished up the visit on the last evening with a film night. 

Colorado is indeed a colorful place. From the first moment of seeing the mountains off in the distance to the joy of seeing family again and celebrating birthdays, from windy, stormy weather making the dogs howl and frightening realities of losing loved ones to laughter and memories shared with longtime friends - every color of emotion was present in this visit. We are so thankful for the moments that God continues to give us as we travel. 

Unfortunately, we are not able to see everyone we would love to be able to visit. Even in the places we stop, we do not seem to have enough time to see everyone. We were able to video call with Scott’s Dad, but in Colorado Springs, we missed seeing Scott’s younger brother Marc and his family. We are thankful for the time that we did have, however short.  Check out our pictures here.

Culture shock

When one visits or moves to a new country, it is to be expected that there be a certain element of “culture shock”. This is a feeling of amazement of frustration at certain elements ion a culture which are unfamiliar. At first this might take the form of wonderment. “Wow, look at how good they do it here. Why don’t we have something like this?” But it can also be a frustration at the smallest things. “What is with these people? Can’t they even do the simplest things? What are they thinking?”

This still hits us every time we visit. Most often it is in things that simply surprise us. Here are some of the things we have noticed on this trip. 

People will talk about religion. From the moment we entered the US, it has struck us, once again, how normal it is for people to talk about Jesus and their faith. Even though this may a polarizing subject for many, most people here have no problem hearing that we work with the church. In fact, they will mention first where they go to church or that they are praying for someone or something. Even the billboards along the highways are full of religious messages. This hits us as a breath of fresh air. 

Choice is astounding and confounding. There must be 39 different sorts of Oreo cookies these days. We don’t even like Oreo’s. (Or at least Scott doesn’t like them. Shirley loves them.) But so many flavors? And a whole aisle of the grocery store is dedicated to breakfast cereal. This is heaven top Scott until he has to make a choice. And when we go to a coffee place, looking for a good dark roast coffee, we first have to wade through the unending choices of coffee desserts on offer. 

And that brings up the next point: sizing. A “grande” should be large. But this is the smallest size of coffee at Starbucks. And it is in no way small. Every normal home will offer a cup of coffee in a mug, filled to the brim (although the coffee itself is nothing to write home about). At the fast-food places, they simply hand you a cup (a HUGE cup) to fill up yourself. And you can get refills anytime you wish. For the life of me I cannot figure out why anyone would order anything more than a small drink under these circumstances. 

Talking about sizing, the cars on the roads all seem to have received the message that bigger is better. It seems every John, Mary and young teenage Tommy drive super cab pickup trucks that thunder past you on the local neighborhood street or on the highway. And they will pass you on the right on the highway! That is something to get used to very quickly if you want to remain safe while driving. 

Something seemingly mundane for everyone here, but very surprising for us was the expectation that you pass over your pay card to pay for things. Now paying by card is not strange at all for us. As a matter of fact, we were paying by “tapping” in Belgium long before they were in the US. But here, one has to give the store worker one’s card, literally allowing the card to leave one’s hand and often leave one’s sight. This means that you cannot be sure what is being done with your card. This is not something that would be done in Europe. I had to ask a few times at the beginning to make sure that they wanted my card in their hand. In Europe a machine would be extended to the payer who would then “tap” and pay. 

These are just a few of the things we notice when we travel again in the US. We are usually back every three years, so there is plenty of time for things to change slightly and be noticeable. There are always the things like how trash and recycling is different. But often there are newer cultural differences that we find remarkable. What are some things you have noticed when traveling in other countries or even in other States?