I did not see or hear Bush for a week! Ask me anything

[Turbineguy]

While in the Netherlands, lots of stuff going on. New royal princes, Premier Balkenende, aka Harry Potter, etc, etc.

It was a wonderful week without Bush. Laura should try it!

[cosmicdot]

1. how would you compare the Dutch v. American 'joie de vivre'

their daily attitudes, and coping and such

is their current 'joy of life' different, same, better, worse than the general 'joy of life' stateside

[Turbineguy]

2. Hard to say

They are concerned about the 20 percent rise in prices since the Euro went into effect. People are still out and about though. Roads are crowded. People are in stores. As far as I have been able to tell, not much difference from 3 years ago when I was there.

It just seemed very pleasant not to have to look at Bush's Scheve Smoel (crooked mug) or hear his stupid utterances for a week. The spell was broken after a week when I watched the 8am news.

The capture of Saddam Hussein was big news. Almost as big as the birth of Princes Amalia.

The Dutch Prime Minister is reviled for his sucking up to Bush.

In the end, if the rest of the world did not exist, the Dutch would probably have enough to keep themselves busy anyway.