Like a French person is like an English person? Like a Spaniard is like an Irish person?!

This term is used to describe some from the continent of Europe, it is NOT meant to describe the person!

There is NO such thing as being typically European. The Spanish have their own language, laws and customs, as so the Swedes, Germans, Latvians, Dutch, Danish and Welsh.

They have as much in common with each other as they do with Americans. Ie, nothing!

People in certain countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany do cross into each others countries a lot but this is not neccessarily a common practice.

I was in the Netherlands recently and they were facsinated to hear about my country, Ireland, as none had ever been there. But Americans seem to think we all pop in and out of each others countries and speak the dozens of languages needed to do this!

This ain't so.

I have been on the west coast of America and the east coast and all over the midwest and you all have the same primary language, the same television shows, same foods, same stores, same cars, same laws (give or take), same everything. Ok, in NY it's a soda, in the Ohio it's pop, so what! It's all the same here!

Europe is not this way. I am not European, I am Irish! Describing someone as European is like describing Fido as a 'canine' at a dog show.

A European is a person belonging to one of the cultures that are found in the European continent.

We may all have different characteristics and varied ways of thinking, but we all have to common elements that make us part of the same family. Our European culture is based on 1)the greco-roman culture and 2)christianism.

Everything, from our way of seeing life, our democracy, our customs, our institutions, and the fundamental belief of respecting Human rights (against death sentence for ex.), all that is so, because of the existence of a common cultural basis which we share with no others (not even worth it to compare us with Americans!)