Day 22 - What's the difference?? Part 1

I was going to save this until the very end of my trip to write, but I think instead I will share it now and then update it again later.

What is different between Canada and Europe??

Of course, each country in Europe is going to be different to one another, but these are things I have noticed so far.

Language. Of course. This is to be expected. So far between Dutch, German and Greek they have all be difficult but Greek is the hardest since its the most different.
With language comes communication, or lack thereof. I noticed in The Netherlands that most people that I encountered or talked to had a pretty good grasp of English and were pretty happy to use it, in Germany however, people seemed to be less willing. It seemed less people spoke English and even fewer wanted to. In Greece it's mostly only young people and people working in tourist areas that know English. I've found it much harder here.

Next up, roads. They are CRAZY here!! So different than home. And different between the countries I have been in. Amsterdam was extremely difficult to adjust to because the roads are layed out differently due to the bike traffic. First you have the pedestrian side walk which is next to the bike lane, there is no separation between them since they are both up on the curb. Next is the driving lanes and in between the opposite driving lanes is a bus and tram lane. I'm not sure if its like this throughout the whole city of Amsterdam though. Because of the amount of traffic and especially bikes, it's quite scary. I was nearly ran over by bikers several times. They aren't stopping, so you better move.
In Germany I didn't get to see much so I can't really comment to much here.
In Greece however, I have seen lots. First and worst, pedestrians don't get to go first, or ever really unless there is a specific walk light. Even then, watch out. Next, the drivers tend to be quite pushy and in a hurry. Lots of honking. It does seem like the rules of the road are different here, or maybe people just don't care..

With that said, all of these countries have excellent public transport. At home we have buses and a very limited LRT. Here they have buses, trains and trams to take you anywhere. And you can use 1 ticket for all of them, with the exception of long distance trains. In Athens a ticket is €1.40 (at home buses are 3.50-5$) and can be used as much as you need within 90 minutes, excluding trips to the airport.
In Frankfurt the bus is €2.50 and Amsterdam is €2.70.

And my last point for "Differences part 1" is about animals.
At home you can go pretty much anywhere and it's basically a guarantee that you will see someone walking a dog, see a family cat, etc.. I have noticed in all 3 countries so far that this is not common at all. It doesn't seem like having pets, or outdoor pets, is very popular.
However, in Greece I can see TONS of animals. Unfortunately they are all living on the streets. Hungry, dirty, sometimes hurt. It's pretty sad to see actually. I asked my host family why there are so many stray animals here and I didn't like the answer I got at all. Because of the economy families can't afford to keep and feed the animals anymore so they just put them out on the street. Can you imagine??? So sad. Someone please come adopt them all.

And that's where I am going to leave you for today. I'm thinking this will be an ongoing "series" so you can be sure to learn plenty more.

xoxo