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“America vs. Europe”: 27 Things Common In America That Europeans Find Very Weird
Meet Helene Sula, an American lifestyle blogger who not just loves traveling but has made it her full-time job, moving to live in different states, countries, and even continents! As you can imagine, Helene has gathered a bunch of intercultural experiences and having lived in Europe for years, knows the subtleties of life here pretty well. And saying it’s really different from life in the States would be an understatement!
In fact, she has dedicated her whole TikTok video series to explaining common American things that Europeans think are weird. From prom nights and portion sizes to distances between things and hours spent driving, there are many things that simply bamboozle Europeans. With a whopping 8.4M likes in total, Helene’s videos have gone viral, showing how fascinated we really are by these cultural and societal differences.
More info: Heleneinbetween.com | Smart.bio
Image credits: heleneinbetween
@heleneinbetween American things Europeans think are weird! #tiktoktravel #expat #travel #usa #europe #america #fyp #foryou #americacheck ♬ original sound - Helene Sula
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Maternity leave. In the USA there is no standard paid maternity leave, but you can get 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Whereas in Europe, there is at least 14 weeks of maternity leave, with many countries offering much more. For example, in Germany, Norway, Lithuania, Sweden and Hungary, they offer a full year or more of paid maternity leave. In Germany, you can actually take up to three years off, and it's not just for the moms. There's paternal leave too.
Take your newborn to work and get them used to the dimly-lit offices. Stop being such an unproductive member of society, newborns.
Bored Panda reached out to the author of these viral TikTok videos, Helene Sula, who has been a full-time travel blogger for 8 years. Helene runs a wonderful blog “Helene In Between” and shares some great videos about travel, cultures, and everything in between on her TikTok channel. She was happy to share some insights into her adventures around the world with Bored Panda.
“TikTok is such a great platform for sharing travel, life abroad, and connecting and learning with others,” she said. Helene started her blog after falling 25 feet rock climbing and breaking her ankle and leg. “I was out of work so I started a blog, writing about my travels. This snowballed into social media and now it's my husband's and my full-time job,” she recounted.
Money. In the US, cash is all the same shape, size and color, which is green, while in Europe it comes in all different colors and sizes, which also helps people immediately understand the difference. Also some countries like Romania and the UK have plastic bills.
Tipping. In America, it's standard to tip 15 to 20%. In Europe, tipping isn't mandatory, but in some countries it's a few euros or maybe 10%. Europeans are generally paid a salary to wait tables, while Americans make more money through tips.
A wage that doesn’t depend on the amount of clients and their willingness to tip, is by European standard just an obvious thing. Should be standard in any developed country.
Paying at restaurants. Most of the time at restaurants in the US, your server will hand you a bill, take your credit card and walk to the back to charge it. In Europe, your server will charge your credit card right at the table. Also, most Nordic countries are almost all cashless, while some places like in Germany and Italy they still heavily rely on cash.
Also at American restaurants, they bring the check when they think you're finished eating, while in Europe, that's often considered rude and they won't bring you the check until you ask for it.
Having lived and traveled to so many places both in Europe and America, Helene argues that she loves that there are so many differences between cultures, countries, and continents. “It's what makes each place so wonderful and interesting to travel to. I think Europeans and Americans have different outlooks on living day to day, especially with regards to work,” she said.
Europeans have more time off than Americans, which means they spend time traveling more, Helene argues. “Because Americans don't, we often seem ‘busy,’ cramming in and doing as much as possible.” When Helene moved to Europe, she thought she'd slow down when it came to travel, but the opposite happened. “The more I travel, the more I realize I'm just scratching the surface.”
Driving. In America we drive nearly everywhere, even really short distances and sometimes even across the street. However, we also drive if it's super far away. Also, Europeans tend to say a location is blank kilometers away. Well in America, we say it in hours. For example, we are 10 hours away from the beach.
Yeah. I'm definitely more concerned with how long it takes to get somewhere than how far away it is.
Americans wear their shoes in the house - yes the same ones we walked around in all day. Many Europeans and other countries take their shoes off at home and in Germany they have special house shoes that they wear just around the house.
The way we write the dates. We write the dates, Month-Day-Year. Almost everywhere else including Europe, it's Day-Month-Year. There's no real reason why we do it.
We write them how we say them. If someone asks what day it is we say March 25th. So we write it the same way.
Well if they ain't no reason for it, then stop it and use the date format that most of the world uses! LOL
I wish I could give this 10 upvotes - when ever I am working on a job that originates in America I have to change the way I date things - drives me nuts!
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It has to do with looking up documents. There are so many filed every year, you are probably already looking at the right batch. So it goes at the end. But you can't zero in on a specific day until you know what month you want. So, month, day, year. It's like looking people up alphabetically last name first. You go from broad info to refined info within an assumed range.
So wait, you look for the month, say June 2nd, and then look through all the June 2nds to find which year you want? Do I have that correct? Broad to refined would be you find the year, then month, then day.
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Plus calendars with a Sunday as starting day of the week. Who the hell starts week on a Sunday?? It always makes me click on wrong day when calendar is in US format
Wait, that's a US thing? My whole life I've wondered why you can get both monday and sunday starting calendars! There seems to be no rule as to why one is used as opposed to the other in Australia.
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im lucky because in europe and us i write my birthday the same way; 3/3/1989
I was thinking about this the other day. The US method makes lists of dates more easily sorted into chronological order. I.e., the list will go in chronological order within the same year. A computer will sort 02/25/22 before 03/12/22. If we did the European method, 12/03/22 would come before 25/02/22 in the list.
No. That depends on the date format. I’d sort 12 May (12/05) before 2 June (02/06)
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Picture a room full of filing cabinets. So many documents are filed every year that you would generally look in the cabinet or drawer that contained all the files for that given year. Once you actually begin sorting through the actual documents you would zero in on the month then the specific day of the month, assuming that you are already looking within the correct year. Putting the day first would organize things like 1 jan, 1 feb, 1 mar, etc, until you got back to 2 jan, 2 feb, 2mar, etc. Instead of jan 1, jan 2, jan 3, etc, putting the days in sequential order within the month the way they pass in the real world, not in order of which one represents the smallest increment of time.
So in fact this is YYYY-MM-DD format. Let's face it: if your system made sense you wouldn't be the only country using it.
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May the American way is better for reference or filing so perhaps year month and day would be better
Having moved here from Ireland, I sometimes get that wrong. I have also found myself heading for the passenger side of the car, if my mind is elsewhere. LOL!!
US military standard is DD Mon YY, so 25 MAR 22. Became such a habit I find it difficult to use any other format; many vets the same
The correct way is the international standard adopted circa 1997: YY-MM-DD
In Canada we see year-month-date (yyyy-mm-dd) but that is not consistent. Some forms are the American version, some Canadian. Drives me crazy .
In post-WWII, the USAF had problems with engines failing. It turned out, transposing the dates could lead to problems. 1/12/1946... is that January or December when it was last inspected?
Quebec Canada. Date month year. I was taking a course in Ontario and the guy had to change the settings because my dates were all wrong. He said it was a first.
In the military, it's usually day-month-year (e.g. 23 March 2022) for written correspondence and YYYY-MM-DD for digital labels of files I brought that with me when I took over as COO of my law firm (the YYYY-MM-DD) to use at the beginning of ANY digital file that needed to be dated (e.g. a Motion that was filed on whatever date would have the date in that format as the first part of the file name), and it has completely streamlined how we organize our server files. It's tough for some people to remember at first, but it makes finding things in order of their action dates super easy. I do it for EVERYTHING now, as do most of my staff.
When I write dates on my computer (as part of a filename, for instance), I do YYYY-MM-DD, which, to my mind at least, seems like it makes the most sense and is the least likely to be confusing. When writing a date with month and day in an email that might possibly be read by someone not from the US, I will usually only use numbers for the day, like Mar 25 (or March 25).
When using files on a computer it makes sense to label them year/month/day. Then you can sort them by name or date added and it will be the same. This would also make sense on food, whereas if the first thing you saw was next year you'd know it was still good. It's dumb to have to check the day first when you don't even know what month it is going to spoil. But alas, to change now would confuse us all.
It's so my American friends have a birthday surprise for me twice a year because at least one is bound to forget lol
im american, but i still use dd/mm/yy haha maybe im just weird
If it's most logical say that format in regular conversation... It doesn't compute into most languages. American dates are written out the way they are spoke "It"s January Fifth 2021" no extra words needed.
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It is simpel logic. The smallest thing first: the date, then the middle thing: the month and the last thing and the biggest: the year!. It is like 24/7/365... you don't go 7/24/365... Because it is confussing... Thats how we (Europe and many others in the world) se the US-system.. It is not logic...
When asked what’s very American that she really misses (or missed) while in Europe, Helene said it’s the “convenience.” She explained: “Stores stay open later. I remember being in Germany and there would be gas stations that you had to pay in store. Stores would be closed so you couldn't pump gas late at night! Or, in Germany, stores closing on Sundays always blew my mind. Just a different way of life. And, of course, Tex Mex! You can't beat it and you really cannot find good Mexican food in Europe.”
Christmas lights in the USA. We go crazy for Christmas lights and over the top Christmas decorations. Even though the movies might make it look over the top, it's totally accurate. We like to cover every square inch of our house in twinkling lights. In Europe, the city centers are often decorated and beautiful, but homes don't usually have such over the top decorations.
One of our favorite traditions in the USA is to go Christmas light looking. We grab hot chocolate and drive around listening to Christmas music while looking at lights
Some people do go light wild in the UK, unfortunately there are a huge amount of assholes that see your lights and go "That's nice. I will have it" and you come home to your lights gone, HD video footage of the whole thing and police saying "we don't have enough evidence". Its easier to put the lights inside the house.
Eggs are refrigerated in the USA but not Europe. In the United States, egg producers are required by law to wash the eggs in chlorinated water. This kills any bacteria that might be clinging to the shells. This also washes off the eggs natural protection so that they might spoil more quickly if they're not refrigerated. In Europe, egg producers do not wash this off and so they are safe to store unrefrigerated until used.
They also vaccinate chickens against salmonella in Europe, but it's not mandatory in North America.
Americans like a lot of ice in their drinks, and the rest of the world really doesn't do this. In Europe, you have to ask for ice most of the time, and usually it's just a couple of cubes. We like our drinks cold and we'd like to refill, please.
One of the most common misunderstandings about the American way of living that Europeans believe in, Helene argues, is that we only eat fast food. “I can absolutely admit that Europeans have higher quality of food overall. But the USA has its fair share of delicious cuisine from all over the world. Because the USA is a melting pot, there really is a vast array of good, healthy food.”
On the other hand, a very common European thing that Americans would find very weird is the drinking age, Helene says. “I think the European system of drinking younger is better. We drive cars and then drink and I think this leads to binge drinking. Also, that houses in Germany don't come with kitchens, or light fixtures! That blew me away!”
The drinking age in the US is 21, which is the highest in the world. While in most European countries it's 18, and in some countries it's even as low as 16, if it's enforced at all. Also beer and wine is cheaper in Europe and maybe a little better.
We have a high drinking age because the driving age is 16 and there are very few places in the US where you can go anywhere without a car. About 50 years ago they studied drunk driving accidents and found most of them were kids under 21, so they changed the drinking age to 21 and drunk driving accidents fell dramatically.
In the US, we work a lot. On average, we only get about two weeks paid vacation. I personally had only five days off on my first job, which in Europe it varies but many countries get a month off. In the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany they take the lead for the most days off.
I do miss the 2.5 days earned vacation per month i got in the navy. Everyone got the same rate of earned days from day 1, no waiting 90 days nor having different tiers depending on seniority/time in service. You could save it all up the whole time you are in. Whatever you have left when you separate or retire you can sell off (or what i did was get home early by 2 weeks while separating). I think this should be the standard. plus a mandatory holiday period of vacation time (like what many european countries have)
Americans are super loud, especially on our phones and in public areas like restaurants. We tend to air out our dirty laundry by speaking super loudly. When I first moved to Germany I remember I felt like I was whispering at the dinner table.
The professional traveler and content creator believes that looking at cultural differences is a great way to learn. “I often get very angry commenters that want me to know that ‘Europe is not a country.’ I do know that, I've been lucky to visit 40 different European countries and spend a good deal of time in each. I think each country, of course, has its own set of customs and cultural differences, but comparing the USA and Europe doesn't mean I'm denying that,” Helene said and added that “I just think it's interesting for many Americans to see the differences.”
Powerlines. Driving around the USA you'll notice power or telephone lines nearly everywhere you look. While in many places in Europe they bury the lines underground. Buried power lines are protected from the wind, ice and trees, but buried lines are more vulnerable to flooding and can still fail. Also burying them is more expensive, but it looks so much nicer.
The US is vast and the land is not the same in all areas. I am from an area close to the Mississippi River. We can't put electricity under the ground in a flood plain. With the rate at which most areas are expanding, it much more cost efficient to have the line above ground because they may be moved later.
Americans love small talk. Perfect strangers might ask you how you're doing or comment on the weather. Typically the further south you get in the US the more small talk, darlin'.
And in Scandinavia if you get an answer at all, it will be an honest one. I worry about work and taxes and the government, my back is bothering me, my mother's healt is failing and maybe the children aren't doing well in school. Are you ready for that waiting for the buss in rain and sleet at half past seven in the morning? That's why we are silent.
Bathrooms, and by bathrooms we mean toilets - American bathrooms are what we call them. What's weird is the bathrooms in the US often have wide gaps - why? Well, no one knows.
Americans are not direct at all. Europeans are super blunt, and they tend to tell you like it is. Whereas in America, we tend to give a compliment sandwich. So we stick a criticism in between two compliments, whereas Europeans will just tell you what they think. And they'll tell you they don't like something or if they do, whereas in America in the USA, we tend to not always be as direct.
I think the American poster here has mis-read a lot of say the British then... When an Englishman replies to a statement with "interesting", he means "that was pure stupidity, now let's change the subject". So, "direct" if you know what was meant, not direct if you take it at face value.
Windows. In the USA, windows are typically much cheaper. Many windows have a crank to open and close them, or a lever to push them up. European windows are better resistant to condensation. For example, in Germany windows just open with a push in turn, making them easier to open and close and more resistant to breaking. While most North American windows use double pane windows, European Windows usually have triple pane or even quadruple pane. I think the reason for this is that Europeans build things to last, while in the USA we tear down and build new.
Whenever you meet an American,usually the first question you're asked is: "What do you do for a living?" This doesn't happen the same way in Europe. In the US, people are obsessed with their jobs, and usually think of this as their identity. Don't be obsessed with your job, be obsessed with your life.
In the US, the portion sizes are huge. You might be surprised how big the portion you'll receive when you order a meal is. It's also acceptable to take your leftovers home. while in some places in Europe that's not typical. Also if you haven't noticed, we fry everything.
The movies are true. We really do have a lot of high school dances, although they aren't choreographed like this. We have homecoming. And fun fact. My first date with my to be husband was homecoming. We also have Prom, and Prom King and Queen.
And the USA does a rocking business in dresses for these events, because the wealthier girls will only wear a dress to one event and then they need a new one. So there are about 4 or so prom-like events per year through four years of high school, with dresses costing easily $200-300.
In the USA we go all out decorating our homes for the holidays and Halloween is our time to show off our spooky decorations. I rarely see Halloween decor and European homes, but it also seems like Halloween is a much bigger tradition in the USA.
Grocery shopping. Most Americans do their grocery shopping once a week, typically buying larger quantities of items to stock up. While in Europe, shopping is typically done every day or every other day. Also, grocery stores in the USA tend to be bigger and have larger aisles. Since many US cities are suburban, there is room to create much larger grocery stores with even larger parking lots. While Europeans might bring home their groceries on public transit or bikes, meaning they don't need to carry quite as much.
That's because in Europe shops and homes are in the same block or street. In USA blocks are typical only commercial, residential or industrial. So the distance between living and shopping is bigger, thus the need for cars, etc.
In America, we drive huge vehicles. Europeans tend to drive smaller compact cars. Since European cities are more dense, the cars reflect that. While in the USA, we tend to think bigger is better and often prefer trucks and SUVs. Also, in the USA gas is typically much cheaper, but overall Europeans tend to be safer drivers than Americans.
The term America. If you grew up in the US, you may think of America and the United States interchangeable. Most of the time we call the United States America and we call ourselves American. Even though there's also the whole rest of North America and all of South America. Many people can't understand why we refer to the US as America, and people from other countries often refer to our country as the US or the states.
Fashion. In the USA, we tend to dress casually all the time. Sweatpants, leggings and sweatshirts are normal to wear on a daily basis. While in Europe they tend to be more fashionable and dress up more often. Also, Americans tend to go with what's trendy, while in Europe they prefer a more classic look.
I'd disagree as fashion styles and preferences vary incredibly between countries.
Houses in America and Europe are pretty different. American homes tend to have more space between them, while in Europe, they're more closely stacked together. Most American homes have a yard while many European homes don't. And while many American homes are larger than the European homes, in Europe the outdoor communal spaces are very beautiful and super pedestrian friendly.
A lot of them are not true because the author of this article took "Europe" as a country ... Europe is a continent and each country in it can be very different than its direct neighbour
Also a lot of them are not true because they make broad generalizations about both Americans and Europeans that are true of some individuals and not of others. I don't think the article offers a very accurate picture of the US or Europe.
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True but have you noticed lots of non americans posting nice comments .... And would you like me to post nasty stuff about the Netherlands, Australia, France? I will if you want me to.
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Got to meet that quota of "America is different" articles... it must have been a couple weeks since the last one! Don't forget to post pictures from artists who "re-imagine Disney princesses", Bridezilla articles and toxic masculinity articles (it has been a while since I've seen one of those). Not that I think all of these articles are pointless, but they get repetitive.
Well, you have a mansplaining article, so that checks off the toxic mssculinity requirement. But yeah,no reimagined Disney prinvesses for days! What will they be this time? I resprctfully disagree that these articles ate not pointless, unlrss you count clicks.
Load More Replies... this annoys me because it says everything america does differently as a problem. its not. sure, a lot of things about the US suck, but being friendly? we don’t need to be critized for being friendly, nor for writing the month before the day.
It is almost like the United States are a whole country with their own customs, traditions, needs, and way of living! Who would have thought that exists in the world?
Load More Replies... You missed one of the most important things about USA living: air conditioning. For years, I got to be super comfortable all summer. Now I live back in the UK, and as global temperatures rise, it's so damn hot inside the house!
Yep, I understand you miss that. I (we) had a room downstairs for tv and all my books. like a second livingroom. I made that in a bedroom for us so Hubby could stay downstairs. Now I'm alone and summers coming ... I think these thick walls will keep me nice and cool in the summer. Upstairs is a nightmare if it's hot. I'll let the guests stay upstairs which makes certain the don't stay too long hahaha, just kidding.
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It seems like this is very, very, very, very familiar. As in: the exact same content as scores of other USA vs Europe BP posts. Why? Is there really nothing more interesting/original/entertaining out there?
I know very few Americans who wear shoes inside their house, just to start, so.... Let's admit that if you're comparing a large (geographically speaking) nation to a *continent*, the comparisons are often inaccurate.
Seriously. We don't. But it's one of BP's favorite things to point out. That and tipping. YAWN.
Load More Replies... I like these articles, but they are getting too repetitive. It would be nice if Australia, NZ, Asia or Africa were included more often.
First, I doubt most Europeans would consider most of these things "very weird", and second, no American other than some "woke" ningnong fishing for brownie points would even pretend to care if they did.
The continental US is almost the size of Europe. Expecting anything in this “article” to be homogenous across a country of that size is unrealistic, so it’s good to just assume everything in the list is false depending on where in the US you are.
While Europeans tend to be more frequent travelers to a wider variation of countries, their view of the US, either via personal experience of personal ideas, is pretty much the same due to the size of the country. They are lucky to life in a multi-country environment where traditions, history, languages and more add to their knowledge.
If you look at the geographic area, and treated American states like countries in Europe, we too, would be very well-traveled to a wide variety of countries :) We are lucky! The different cultures in this gigantic country are amazing to visit. No real borders. Just go! It's actually pretty rare for an American to be able to say they've visited every state.
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These posts are so dumb. Can we have less of this - "Back in my small American town in (state of your choice), Susan talks to everyone she meets about her divorce. When I went to (any other country) I noticed Susan wasn't there! *shocked pikachu face*" - and more of anything else. Please?
Things are different in different places. Is this your first day on Earth? Some of these are only true of some people in some of each place, but keep it simple.
Don't even have to read it. Same old s**t. Same old crap. Boring Bored Panda. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
So the interesting thing I've experienced is how the pandemic has changed tourism. I recently quit my job working at a tourist attraction in Canada. Prior to the pandemic, Americans were absolutely the horrible, rude stereotype (obviously not every single American, but if someone was obnoxious or entitled, they were almost always American). Anyway, since you have to be vaccinated and tested to enter Canada, the Americans became the absolute nicest, friendliest people. Usually older people who'd say how they feel safer in Canada than in America where proof of vaccination isn't required. All the foreigners would be so prepared, organized, and polite really. The biggest reason I quit that job was seeing just how vile and repugnant my fellow Canadians truly were, especially people from my own city and province. Like, you're from here, you know damn well what the rules are so don't play dumb with me. My point is, with a lot of the stuff from this article, it's really about context.
I also wonder if other countries are as proud if their countries shape, as America seems to be. Could anyone from another country answer? I've actually had this thought many times before.
I think most people are proud of their country. And why not .... Every country has pros and cons. Trust me, I'm well travelled and have lived in different countries. I'm proud of all of them. The USA should also be proud - a hodge podge of gazillion cultures all merged together with their traditions and cuisine. Fantastic.
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I miss the fact, that it is really unusual, that a 10 year old European can carry a loaded semi-automatic rifle on the street... anything else is just a question of culture (well, talking about the US and "culture") but also, we would never vote for an psychotic thief and rapist who filed seven time bancrupty...
Europa is NOT a Country, its a whole continent and the countrys are very different by themselfs. But well its true that we germans have different shoes for indoors :D And yes Halloween is not really a thing. In Germany i learned about Halloween through amercian movies, it was sth the usa does. In the last 10 years it found its way over the ocean, so we know now what it is and sometimes have fun to attend a halloween party. But we germans go wild for "Karneval" which is the funny Version (with costumes, jokes, comedy, but no horror) in february, but actually its a whole season starting in november
In Spain we also wear indoor shoes and we believe that Halloween is something from the United States, we celebrate Carnival in February. However, Germany and Spain are not really very similar, the 27 European countries may have things in common and others very different, influenced by geography, climate or historical traditions such as the 50 states of the USA.
Load More Replies... Just imagine if all this generalization were racial instead of national...
This makes me want to move to Europe or to different places around the US, just to experience the culture..... so freaking fascinating and cool!
And as I read this list of how life in Europe is better than the US, Joe Biden is being greeted by their leaders because he commands the biggest military, which we sacrificed healthcare, maternity leave, public transportation, etc. to pay for.
It's an entire country. I don't think we will be changing this anytime soon.
Load More Replies... A lot of them are not true because the author of this article took "Europe" as a country ... Europe is a continent and each country in it can be very different than its direct neighbour
Also a lot of them are not true because they make broad generalizations about both Americans and Europeans that are true of some individuals and not of others. I don't think the article offers a very accurate picture of the US or Europe.
Load More Replies... True but have you noticed lots of non americans posting nice comments .... And would you like me to post nasty stuff about the Netherlands, Australia, France? I will if you want me to.
Load More Replies... Got to meet that quota of "America is different" articles... it must have been a couple weeks since the last one! Don't forget to post pictures from artists who "re-imagine Disney princesses", Bridezilla articles and toxic masculinity articles (it has been a while since I've seen one of those). Not that I think all of these articles are pointless, but they get repetitive.
Well, you have a mansplaining article, so that checks off the toxic mssculinity requirement. But yeah,no reimagined Disney prinvesses for days! What will they be this time? I resprctfully disagree that these articles ate not pointless, unlrss you count clicks.
Load More Replies... this annoys me because it says everything america does differently as a problem. its not. sure, a lot of things about the US suck, but being friendly? we don’t need to be critized for being friendly, nor for writing the month before the day.
It is almost like the United States are a whole country with their own customs, traditions, needs, and way of living! Who would have thought that exists in the world?
Load More Replies... You missed one of the most important things about USA living: air conditioning. For years, I got to be super comfortable all summer. Now I live back in the UK, and as global temperatures rise, it's so damn hot inside the house!
Yep, I understand you miss that. I (we) had a room downstairs for tv and all my books. like a second livingroom. I made that in a bedroom for us so Hubby could stay downstairs. Now I'm alone and summers coming ... I think these thick walls will keep me nice and cool in the summer. Upstairs is a nightmare if it's hot. I'll let the guests stay upstairs which makes certain the don't stay too long hahaha, just kidding.
Load More Replies... It seems like this is very, very, very, very familiar. As in: the exact same content as scores of other USA vs Europe BP posts. Why? Is there really nothing more interesting/original/entertaining out there?
I know very few Americans who wear shoes inside their house, just to start, so.... Let's admit that if you're comparing a large (geographically speaking) nation to a *continent*, the comparisons are often inaccurate.
Seriously. We don't. But it's one of BP's favorite things to point out. That and tipping. YAWN.
Load More Replies... I like these articles, but they are getting too repetitive. It would be nice if Australia, NZ, Asia or Africa were included more often.
First, I doubt most Europeans would consider most of these things "very weird", and second, no American other than some "woke" ningnong fishing for brownie points would even pretend to care if they did.
The continental US is almost the size of Europe. Expecting anything in this “article” to be homogenous across a country of that size is unrealistic, so it’s good to just assume everything in the list is false depending on where in the US you are.
While Europeans tend to be more frequent travelers to a wider variation of countries, their view of the US, either via personal experience of personal ideas, is pretty much the same due to the size of the country. They are lucky to life in a multi-country environment where traditions, history, languages and more add to their knowledge.
If you look at the geographic area, and treated American states like countries in Europe, we too, would be very well-traveled to a wide variety of countries :) We are lucky! The different cultures in this gigantic country are amazing to visit. No real borders. Just go! It's actually pretty rare for an American to be able to say they've visited every state.
Load More Replies... These posts are so dumb. Can we have less of this - "Back in my small American town in (state of your choice), Susan talks to everyone she meets about her divorce. When I went to (any other country) I noticed Susan wasn't there! *shocked pikachu face*" - and more of anything else. Please?
Things are different in different places. Is this your first day on Earth? Some of these are only true of some people in some of each place, but keep it simple.
Don't even have to read it. Same old s**t. Same old crap. Boring Bored Panda. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
So the interesting thing I've experienced is how the pandemic has changed tourism. I recently quit my job working at a tourist attraction in Canada. Prior to the pandemic, Americans were absolutely the horrible, rude stereotype (obviously not every single American, but if someone was obnoxious or entitled, they were almost always American). Anyway, since you have to be vaccinated and tested to enter Canada, the Americans became the absolute nicest, friendliest people. Usually older people who'd say how they feel safer in Canada than in America where proof of vaccination isn't required. All the foreigners would be so prepared, organized, and polite really. The biggest reason I quit that job was seeing just how vile and repugnant my fellow Canadians truly were, especially people from my own city and province. Like, you're from here, you know damn well what the rules are so don't play dumb with me. My point is, with a lot of the stuff from this article, it's really about context.
I also wonder if other countries are as proud if their countries shape, as America seems to be. Could anyone from another country answer? I've actually had this thought many times before.
I think most people are proud of their country. And why not .... Every country has pros and cons. Trust me, I'm well travelled and have lived in different countries. I'm proud of all of them. The USA should also be proud - a hodge podge of gazillion cultures all merged together with their traditions and cuisine. Fantastic.
Load More Replies... I miss the fact, that it is really unusual, that a 10 year old European can carry a loaded semi-automatic rifle on the street... anything else is just a question of culture (well, talking about the US and "culture") but also, we would never vote for an psychotic thief and rapist who filed seven time bancrupty...
Europa is NOT a Country, its a whole continent and the countrys are very different by themselfs. But well its true that we germans have different shoes for indoors :D And yes Halloween is not really a thing. In Germany i learned about Halloween through amercian movies, it was sth the usa does. In the last 10 years it found its way over the ocean, so we know now what it is and sometimes have fun to attend a halloween party. But we germans go wild for "Karneval" which is the funny Version (with costumes, jokes, comedy, but no horror) in february, but actually its a whole season starting in november
In Spain we also wear indoor shoes and we believe that Halloween is something from the United States, we celebrate Carnival in February. However, Germany and Spain are not really very similar, the 27 European countries may have things in common and others very different, influenced by geography, climate or historical traditions such as the 50 states of the USA.
Load More Replies... Just imagine if all this generalization were racial instead of national...
This makes me want to move to Europe or to different places around the US, just to experience the culture..... so freaking fascinating and cool!
And as I read this list of how life in Europe is better than the US, Joe Biden is being greeted by their leaders because he commands the biggest military, which we sacrificed healthcare, maternity leave, public transportation, etc. to pay for.
It's an entire country. I don't think we will be changing this anytime soon.
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