"And America is a mess indeed!
Makes me realize how wealthy and prosperous Holland is. The difference is mind boggling yet very interesting."

- A Dutch friend visiting internet friends in the u.s.a. - started an email with this.

He is seeing the difference from the other direction than me. Two really different worlds.

And others have seen this too. It really depends on where you go, and what you do. As a tourist, the u.s.a. looks great. But live there a while, or stay with not-so-rich friends, and you see what the u.s.a. is really like. Pretty much true of other countries as well, except the Netherlands (Holland) and a few other countries. Some places, it's just "always" great.

Most people that have told me about being in the u.s.a. were there as tourists, so it is hard to explain what it is really like. A few others lived there, but in wealthier places, good job, and more materialistic people, so to them it's nice.