I have been thinking ...

I have been SO tired today, I pulled an allnighter last night cause we were supposed to have a quiz for my facility and property class. I studied my butt off, seriously. I was SO diligent in getting everything memorized and stuff. I got to my class today, the professor was late ... and he decided not to give us a quiz. Was I not happy? Oh, yes, I was NOT ... GRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I was mad, hahahahahaha.

Anyway, it was a good day today. Thursday is always my busiest day of the week. I have four classes, and lots of things need to be done on this day.

I was really out of it . It almost felt like I was day dreaming. I thought about lots of things. I think too much, I analyze everything. Sometimes, I wish I could just turn my brains off and think about NOTHING, just like males do. Unfortunately, they did not install this feature in my brains, and now I can do nothing, but think about things all the time. 

So, today in one of my classes the professor talked about marriage and relationships a lot, and yeah, you guessed it right, it got me thinking about those matters. 

I often catch myself reflecting on how those things are in Europe and I compare cultures, dating cultures in particular. European and American cultures differ a lot. And I am not saying that American culture is bad or anything like that. I am just stating that it is different and that even though I have lived here for almost three years, I am still not used to it. Dating in Europe is VERY simple. First of all, we do not divide dating to casual dating, dating, and serious dating. If you date, you date. You like another person, you care for them, you are considerate of another person's feelings, you communicate ... it is just very easy ... does it make sense? Here on the other hand, everyone is casual about dating, sometimes, I feel like it is a big competition. Everyone is trying to overdo each other. People try to keep their options and eyes open, they never stop looking ... they are always on a hunt for someone better ... would they ever stop? I do not know ... Is that why people cheat and get divorced so often around here? Perhaps. People just do not take it seriously here. How many times have I heard "She is nice, but I am just enjoying my life, I am having fun". In Europe it is not appropriate. A lot of times I hear from Americans that we Europeans do not have standards, that we are immodest and wild ... most of it was said when I lived in Munich, Germany. We had a few of Young Single Adults (18-30 y.o.) from the States in our ward. But are we really? Let's think about morals or should I say standards of a regular LDS European... let's take a guy for instance. Most of the guys serve a mission just like they do here. They come home, they go back to school, and of course they get back to dating again. They are a little awkward cause they have not dated for the last  24 months. However, they know what they are looking for, and if they cannot find someone they really like, they just do not date. As easy and simple as that. I mean what's the point to date if the girl you are dating is not someone you wanna date? Dating her would be just unfair. I almost feel like Europeans are more considerate of other people's feelings and well-being. It feels like dating is more courteous in that part of the world. I mean isn't it how it is supposed to be?
On the other hand, Utahns are very different. Non-Committal Make Out (they call it NCMO) is a widely accepted practice. A lot of my guy friends are convinced that if you kiss a girl, it does not mean that you have to take her out again or date her. It is ok to not ever see her again. I mean they are just having fun, right? It just sounds selfish to me. "I am just enjoying the ride" - yeah, right ... who cares about what another person feels or what her / his concerns are.
I have a few friends that have more than one girl that they take out / make out and "casually" date. And it is ok here. It seems like people just do not care for each other. And what surprises me a lot is that the girls are fine with that. In Europe the guy would have gotten slapped for kissing someone else. European women respect themselves.
We are just so caught up with showing off, being better than the rest of the world, dating the hottest girl / guy, getting better grades, etc. We are after something that we do not even know what it is, and what its value. We often forget that there is always someone better than the girl / guy you are dating, always. And indeed there is always someone better than you and I. This is how the world is. And we can go out and date every available single person out there, but what does it get us in the end? Fun? What is fun? How long does that kind of fun last? Don't we all long for a normal healthy relationship? Apparently not, haha. Oh, well ... one of those days I'll understand.
Disclaimer: I am not saying that doing it the american way is wrong, I am just saying it is different from my culture. And because of that my experience here in the States has not been particularly easy. I wish people here communicated more and played less games. Life is stressful enough without it.
I am grateful to my family for teaching me how to love and care for others. The more I live, the more I see that a lot of people really do not know how to love others. I love my family, I am grateful for their example.
Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts today.