As I approached Amsterdam, I began to wonder what sort of differences I'd find between North America and Europe. The gates were lettered as they would be at any other airport: E3 is the same, no matter where you are in the world. The interior of the airport, too, was quite unremarkable. (A faint smell of cigarette smoke was all that distinguished the air.) There was more English than Dutch, including all of the advertising. Even the airport staff all speak English by default. I saw the control tower that was in one of yodaslap's pictures and it was incredibly surreal. That tower, in my mind, was inextricably linked to the thought of adventurous exploration in foreign lands, yet it lorded over nothing that seemed remarkable. Then I caught my first difference. A person in the passport line next to mine sneezed and reflexively I said, "Bless you." He looked at me kind of strangely and then looked away. He didn't say "Thank you," as I had expected. I later saw that he was holding an Italian passport; he probably had no idea what I was saying to him. I have to remember that not all white people speak English.