US vs. CZ

Having returned to CZ, comparing my life in US with my life here is inevitable. I figured I'll try to write a short summary - here is the first part, maybe there will be some more;-) Please do comment if you dis/agree and/or wanna add something...

• Beer: a great topic for flamewar;-) (un?)fortunately I don't drink it, so I cannot comment on that... Please share your opinion in the comments!
• Culture of service: of course it's true that the question "how are you?" does not imply that the person asking actually cares about you. It is true that such conversations with shopkeepers are superficial and empty. But then, who cares? I'm there to shop and they are there to make the business comfortable and smooth. I quickly got used to people being nice to each other and it made everyday tasks, such as shopping a lot easier. It's slowly and gradually coming to CZ, but we still have a lot to catch up. There are still many places where shop attendants and waiters are grumpy, impolite and not responsive. I believe it's because they haven't yet realized the long-term benefits of a content returning customer.
• Drinks in restaurants: Everywhere in US you can get free water to your meal (btw, the same applies for all developing countries I've been to). The only exception is CZ, where you can get only mineral water in tiny bottles and have to pay for it dearly. Most people then drink beer, because it's much cheaper per volume (half-liter beer costs you often the same as 0.2 liter mineral water, which supports the theory that Czechs make water from beer, rather than other way round). Plus, of course, free refills in fast foods. In this we really suck!
• Energy consumption: now, that's not very surprising. Americans waste energy everywhere you look. Huge cars, lights permanently on, insulation on buildings not very good. It may be because energy has until recenlty been always cheap and hence the motivation to conserve it was very little. With soaring prices this is gradually changing, new houses for instance are insulated very well. But still, lights are on and I cannot imagine Americans will ever give up their SUVs...
• Food: lot of food in US is junk/fast food, but can't help it, it's good. I mean really good! Burgers, fries, chicken wings, dips, tortillas, burritos, everything. Fast food in CZ sucks (there is an exception to this rule: KFC is good in CZ, but not very good in US). Also variety of ethnic food in US is much bigger and the food is better. But on the other hand "proper meals" (dumplings, sauces, sauerkraut) in CZ is unbeatable. I didn't realize how much I missed roast duck with sauerkraut and dumplings until I ate it yesterday - oh my goodness, how could I live without it? ;-)) Loosely related remark: for main dish Americans use the French word entrée, which actually means appetizer. Thus you can find entrees and appetizers in menu but no main dish - it's rather confusing before you get used to it!
• IQ: surprisingly, there are stupid Americans as well as intelligent ones. I cannot confirm the thesis that Americans are on average more stupid than other people. They are American-centric, yes. But given a little thought, we are no less Czech/Europe-centric in that regard. It's true that Americans often don't know which European cities are in which countries. But how many Czechs know capital cities of New York State or California, the two biggest states? (hint: they are not NYC and LA;-)
• Movies usually come late to CZ. Bourne Ultimatum is premiered today in US, yet here we have to wait till the end of August;-( Some movies (Simpsons) are played at the same time, though, and lot of European movies (not to speak about Czech ones;-) never make it to US at all. Tie.
• Smoking: is not "in". People don't smoke almost at all compared to Europe. You can go to pub and actually wear your clothes again afterwards! I don't know whether it's banned or just "out", but it's definitely nice. I saw a smoking "cabin" at an airport - a closed transparent box for smokers that was filled with nicotine cloud - but the rest of the airport was clean. Then I arrived to Frankfurt where people smoke everywhere - I felt like I came to some wild Eastern developing country
• Water from taps in CZ is much better, I can drink it right away and don't have to pour it in big container and wait 24 hours for the chlorine smell to evaporate. Drinking water from tap in US tastes like drinking it from public swimming pool.

Edit 9/7/2008: I randomly stumbled upon another post by someone who was in the States in 2004/5 and who wrote similar article so check it out. It's in Czech, though.