Patriotism: Portugal, you're doing it right.

The two countries I've spent the most time in so far tend to be on opposite extremes of the patriotism scale. Of course these are horrible generalizations, and I know very well that there are plenty of people in both countries who don't fit into them - but, disclaimer out of the way, the ideas are, basically...

US: We're so awesome. Seriously, we're the best. Everything is perfect here, except for the people who want to change things, and they should clearly leave, because they obviously don't love this country, if they want to change it.

Germany: Patriotism? I...I don't understand. Pride in my country? Not my thing, thanks. Goethe's a pretty cool guy, but that's really pretty much all we've got. I bought a flag for the World Cup, but as soon as it was over, I folded it up and hid it in my attic...please don't tell anyone I have it.

It was therefore a bit of a breath of fresh air to hear what seemed to be most Portuguese people's idea of patriotism, which went something like this...

Portugal: There are definitely things that have to be fixed in this country, and we're a small country and know our limitations - but also, you should really eat our food, listen to our music, drink our wine, read our literature, see how much we care about family here - we've got a whole lot going for us, too.

See, isn't that nice?