First, let me start by saying that quality is in the eye of the beholder and based on their experience. Meaning, that you only know what you know and therefore, what may be of high quality to me, may not to you, and vice versa. With that in mind, as US expats living in Europe, we were surprised by the differences quality and living standards in different countries within the Western Block of the EU, never mind the Eastern portion. I suppose, part of that “surprise” was due...

As a US citizen, there are only two truths in life, death and taxes. While living in the US, we are taught, through our parents and practice, that taxes are a pain. Few can argue that taxes in the US are not a pain. And they are more of a pain if you live in a state which also has an income tax (I'm looking at your California). So we were both surprised and relieved to see how taxes were done in Spain. First, I'll share the pain,...

While the US has quickly evolved through various means of electronic payments; paypal, venmo, Apple pay, Google pay, credit cards, and crypto, checks remain a widely-used form of transactional payment. You guessed it, not in Spain. No, in Spain and most of Europe, the most common form of transactional payments are either cash or electronic transfers. Most accounts in Europe use a uniform account format; International Bank Account Number (IBAN). Because the account number, or IBAN, is uniform you can transfer money across countries just easily as you...

Business is setup to work smoothly in the US. Business drives our economy and any added friction to the system is polished out. This means keeping the population working is the #1 priority. In California, purchasing a used vehicle from a private-party or dealer works very similarly. You test-drive the vehicle, agree on a price (plus taxes or fees for a dealer), pay for the vehicle and drive away. If you purchase it from a dealer you'll get the title to the vehicle within a few weeks and...

There are speeding laws in the US, just as there are speeding laws in Europe, so there is no real difference there. The major difference is in how those laws are enforced. In the US we are used to having police officers patrol the streets and highways. In Europe they patrol through cameras and radar. You can travel from one country to another and count on one hand the number of police cars you see on the side of the road (if any). But it is the sophistication...

On an regular basis, either annually or semi-annually, in the US (certainly in California), your highway vehicle must pass a "smog check". You know, the dreaded visit to the "smog check" shop where if your car passes, you only waste 1 hour of your life, but if it fails, there goes a month. They have the same thing in the EU, it's called ITV (Inspeccion Tecnica de Vehiculos), aka Vehicle Technical inspection. Like in California, you have to have your highway vehicle inspected on a regular basis. The...

In general, elementary school is similar between the two countries. But as you would expect, there are a couple key differences; pre-k, schedule, food, required schooling and optional schooling. Pre-K. Unlike the US, there is no differentiation between pre-k and kindergarten. Children between 3 and 5 can attend public school and are placed in different "P" grades; P3, P4 and P5. School hours for P-grades are very similar to elementary school hours, with about a half-hour reduction in overall attendance. Schedule: Overall attendance hours between Spain and the...

This is the first of our series on the differences between the US and the EU. This is not your average list of shallow differences between life in the good-old U.S. of A and Europe, but rather an in-depth look at how life there (EU) is different than life here (US). I recently moved back to California after a 5-year stint living in Europe. My work had this great opportunity in Barcelona, Spain and I could not pass it up. I lived in Spain from 2013 until late...