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A few months ago, we did a piece on a viral thread that had Europeans revealing their biggest WTF moments while traveling in the US. But since planes fly both ways across the Atlantic, let's turn the tables, shall we?

Turns out, Reddit user Cyber-Gon submitted a question to r/AskReddit, asking: "Americans who visited Europe, what was your biggest WTF moment?" and their answers are just as entertaining as the Europeans'.

From divine German tap water to the number of bicycles in the Netherlands, here are some of the most-upvoted replies!

#1

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Y'all get how many days of paid vacation?! And sick leave? And public healthcare?! And you don't live in a socialist hellhole like I've been told? America, you lied to me!

BarcodeNinja , Rene Schwietzke Report

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Bernd Herbert
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think the vast majority of US Americans do not have any clue what "socialist" means

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Bacony Cakes
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Socialism = Communism = Evil. That should explain it all. (this is not my actual opinion)

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Guinevere
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, that's how socialism works. If you guys prefer to see healthcare, sickleave and paid vacation as living in a hellhole, I'm fine with that. I'm just glad I don't live in the US. Greetings from Norway.

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Capermom
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Germany is not a socialist country, but I have 30 days of paid vacation, up to 6 weeks paid sick leave, and almost free healthcare. I loved living in the States for 14 years, and I met absolutely wonderful people. However, life is only great when you have a well-paying job, otherwise you're screwed. People deserve so much better than that...

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Monday
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel like "America, you lied to me!" sums up a lot about their education system at times. Lie to your people to make them believe they have it better than they actually do so they won't get smart and require you to do better.

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dhiguthila
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

we do pay for our healthcare, with a tax on our salary. the difference is that in case we lose our job, we still get healthcare. so basically the power of the many can help the few. this is not socialism, this is being a decent human being, in a land where human rights are considered.

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Chrestéph Schobine
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly, it's deducted off the salary. It's socialized healthcare, nothing to do with socialism and it works pretty well, I've been at the hospital twice for a week and just had to pay a small fee of 16 euros per day (if I remember right) since I'm not on welfare, and if you can afford private healthcare you can have that instead. (Germany)

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Rick
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

An American bragged to me that he got 12 days of paid vacation and even though I got (at the time) 29 days of paid vacation, he said his was more because of the work culture in America, so his was more like 40 days. I was like “but...you still only get 12 days...”

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Vicky Zar
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What bugs me the most is how soon mothers in the US have to go back to work after giving birth. It is SO sad and enraging. They neither have enough time to enjoy and bond with their new baby nor to heal from the whole ordeal.

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Chrestéph Schobine
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Up to three years here with 65% of your average salary of the last 12 months before giving birth iirc. And you can split that time with your partner.

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My O My
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In germany 24-31 days paid vacation and 6weeks paid sick leave. After the six weeks you get less money whilst on sick leave

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Art Tomboy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In England we get free healthcare we only pay for non prescribed medicine like calpol or ibroprofien

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James016
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Technically we do pay, through our taxes so it is free at point of use. I still have to pay for prescriptions as I don't have anything that would get me a medical exemption. It is still a better way than the USA

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Siah avis
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Recently when I say that about Sweden, my American friends say 'but Sweden is failing'. Stop listening to Fox news!

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Ozacoter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is ridiculous how cheap healthcare can be. I recently had surgery and spent a night in the hospital. I paid 120 euros for the hospital insurance (that covers me a whole year for any hospital stay) and about 100 more for the surgery. If I lived in USA I wouldn’t have been able to afford going to the hospital at all.

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Y T
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sweden: six months of paid maternity leave and six months of paid paternity leave. Single parents can use them both.

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Bob Belcher
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

See, some of us already know this and keep trying to show the rest of them. But our election laws are so f****d up that a single racist asshole can prevent the movement of the whole country. F*****g ironic that we left a kingdom just to run this country in the same manner.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Paid vacation minimum 20 days. Paid sick leave maximum 730 days consecutive. The rest: Yes, yes and yes.

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Anne
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get 29 days paid vacation, an 8% yearly vacation allowance, unlimited sick leave (up to two years continuously), yeah health care is sorted. As are schools, by the way. And nah, it's pretty nice for a hell hole ;)

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Id row
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you didn't know that information already, you should read more.

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Sofia Monteiro
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't confuse socialism and human rights with communism (or any other form of extremism, left or right)

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PlatinumTheCat
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Who says that free healthcare is socialist? In class we were told about socialism and free healthcare wasn’t said to be apart of it

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Kat
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't forget, many countries have months of paid maternity leave also.

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Isidien Gudmundsdottir
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, blame it on a certain party to not make that happen any time soon but a bunch of them are so annoying selling you the Socialism you get after you die and if you believe in Jesus.

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All's Gravy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Americans think Republicans are right wing conservatives and Democrats are left wing socialists. No. You have a two-party, both right-wing (one ultra-right to the point of fascism under Trump), bending to the will of the capitalist masters who continue to fail the people. Most of Europe work to 38 hours/week. Have paid maternity AND paternity leave for up to 12 months (shared), universal (free at the point of use) health care, statutory sick pay (but most companies pay full salary for 1st two weeks), statutory holidays are usually around 24-40 days/year, paid. With employer contribution pensions now statutory even for low-paid work. Although the gig-economy has dented union clout, recent wins against Uber, Deliveroo etc means that workers are classed as 'employees' and so entitled to all these statutory benefits (retrospectively). Some European countries are already experimenting with 4 day working weeks and universal basic income. Wake yourselves the F up!

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Eric S.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most US employers offer paid time off (usually 10 days, increasing with seniority -- larger companies offer more) but there is no law to regulate it. Employment is at will: you can leave at any time for any reason, and your employer can fire you at any time for any reason (with some hard to enforce exceptions) There also are no federal laws regulating on call compensation, so your employer could tell you from now on you have to be on call 24/7. You'll get paid (possibly overtime) if you get called, but meanwhile you're stuck waiting at home with zero compensation. Bottom line, if you work for a great company, you get great time off (5 weeks), great health insurance at a reasonable cost, great retirement benefits, and a great salary, all as good or better than in Europe. Otherwise... it's pretty awful.

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All's Gravy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Zero security, peace of mind - which is worth a lot when you have a family. And it should be perfectly ok to go to work and leave on the clock and do absolute minimum job description, and be acceptable to make performance targets. Employers don't own your whole life.

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Kate Fei
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Czech republic - minimum is 20 days, but most companies offer 25 day and then special paid sick days (mostly 5). Sick leave is paid for max 380 days. Maternity leave is 3 years. The wedding day and funerals are also paid.

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Donkey boi
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

30+ days full pay holiday. 20 days full pay + 20 days half pay sick leave. Funny thing is, I often don't use any sick leave and end up on 'forced vacation' because I don't use my holiday up before the end of the year.

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Bubble Gum Bandit
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Visitors don't pay income taxes either, so their perspective may be skewed.

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Vorknkx
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lots of people are shocked to hear I get 39 days of paid vacation per year. Sometimes I can't use them all, so I transfer the unused ones for next year :P

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Misha Christensen-wildeman
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

LOL we in south africa get 32 paid sick days in a 3 year period we get minimum 15 paid holidays a year() my company gives u 25), we get 4 months paid maternity leave when ever u have a child most companies give 6. and you only need to provide a doctors not if u off for more than 2 days if u sick... and if u get fired u can go claim uif for 8 moths

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Mike Rodrick
Community Member
2 years ago

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What are the crime rates in Europe? Are the public allowed to own guns? What are the tax rates? Is there a wealth gap as in the states? What are the racial makeups? What are the homeless & poverty rates? How many of the countries are capitalist? These are my concerns with European countries.

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Jon S.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Crime rates in europe: higher rates of low level crimes, dramatically lower rates of murder and rape. Gun ownership: Varies by country, but generally tighter regulations than USA. Taxes are high, but not much higher than in the USA. There is a significant and increasing wealth gap in most european countries, but not as wide as it is in the USA (notable exception being the Scandinavian countries where the wealth gap is low and taxes are high). Racial make up: varies by country but generally quite diverse in metropolitan areas (expect up to 50% non-white in large western towns). Homelessness and poverty: generally lower than USA. All the countries are capitalist (or post-capitalist really), but generally with strong social policies

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#2

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Tripped on an escalator in England. Got stitches. Was laughed at when I offered to pay the bill. "What bill? This is the civilized world."

godzillabobber , presidenciamx Report

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Rick
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The person shouldn’t have laughed at you and instead gave you the appropriate form to complete in order to pay for the service you received from the NHS as a non-British citizen.

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#3

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Toulouse, France, I went to a nice restaurant and ordered dinner. When it arrived, I was like, 'Where's the rest of it?' The waitress laughed, as she grew up there and in Canada. (I'm from Brooklyn, New York, where portions are huge.) She calmly told me to eat it and if I was still hungry to order another one. By the last bite, I was stuffed. That was my WTF moment: when I realized how rich and high quality the food was over there.

Doc580 , beccafawley Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am always overwelled by American portions, and I was born and raised here. American portions are ridiculous. Where else in the whole world would you have contests to see who can eat a 2kg (72oz) stake the fastest?

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#4

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread It boggled my mind how old everything was and how it was still integrated into everyday life. Like in the UK, drinking in a pub that had been in the same spot since the 11th century or eating dinner at restaurant in an 18th-century cathedral. Or in Prague, staying in a hotel that had been operating since the 15th century

ronluvstwizzlers , Gonçalo Trincão Cunha Report

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#5

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread My biggest WTF was coming back to the States. Seemed like such a downgrade.

raditz495 , Aero Icarus Report

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Mr. Derpy Dino
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

lol it kind of is... Ive always dreamed of going to Germany, but the cost of living there is a ton.

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#6

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Not American, but Canadian.

First time I went to Ireland, I go through customs and the agent says to me...

"business or personal"

"personal"

"oh yeah, what's up?"

"Visiting the Inlaws."

"first time in Ireland?"

"Yes sir"

"feck*ng eh... Well, why ya standin around. go get pissed.

golbezza , Willis Lam Report

#7

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread We were driving through Spain, and to the side of one of the roads, we noticed these MASSIVE bird nests in the high power electrical towers. They were at least twice the size of eagles nests that I had seen. And there were so many of them!

Then we saw these giant birds in them! We stopped by the side of the road and tried to take some pictures (didn’t have a great zoom lens, sadly). But no one else was stopping. It was so odd. We are accustomed to at least a few people stopping to watch the osprey, eagles, or other birds where I’m from.

So a few days later, we are chatting with a German tourist, and we bring up the birds...

I think she thought we were joking until we pulled out the pictures. Then she started laughing.

Storks. Those are storks. Of course, don’t you know that? They are everywhere and such a nuisance. Don’t you have storks in America?

Well...no?

Then she looked confused. Well, if you don’t have storks, who brings the babies in kids stories?

Storks.

Um...how does that work?

And that was when we realized that the story of the storks makes a whole lot more sense when storks are nesting on every chimney, tree, or tall place...

notwearingwords , Bernt Rostad Report

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Premislaus de Colo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Poland the storks are believed to be noble birds and are extremely regarded and respected. Some people would purposedly build starting of the nests for them just to have them in the neighbourhood.

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#8

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread French butter made me stop and reflect on the beauty of being alive. I didn't think butter could be improved upon, but holy sh*t. So creamy."

jjbutts , Justin Henry Report

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#9

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread If something costs five euros, it's exactly that. Tax is included.

Aaron1570 , Jeremy Noble Report

#10

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Europe, wait staff are paid a living wage so they do not need tips. The eating experience is much more laid-back and slower in Europe, relative to America. It also seems like [European] wait staff is never trying to force you out of the restaurant once you are done eating.

canesfan8193 , Shutterbug75 Report

#11

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Went to Dover England and saw a mother f*cking castle. The newest section was built like 300-400 years before my country was founded. Turned a corner and the next part was 200 years older than that. Ten minutes later walk up to a Roman light house built 2000 years ago. Daaaammmnnn

Edit: The best part was we arrived the night before we went to the castle. I didnt see it on the ride to the hotel. (We get inside and our room is the largest room we had seen at any of our hotels apparently the hotel was built by an American company so the rooms were built like they would be In the US.) I open the curtains to see what is out my window, usually a parking lot, another random building or something boring. Not today Yank, not today. CASTLE.

nobodytrickedme , Wikimedia Commons Report

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Sue Simmons
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Love this. Lived in USA 21 years and laughed at how old Americans think is old.

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#12

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread I lived in Spain for 9 months at one point and was trying to get to the supermarket in the middle of a weekday and the entire city center was blocked off. I had to park and walk a ways and discovered that they were having a giant block party. Kegs and all. Around noon. Celebrating the towns new garbage trucks.

I love Spain.

Inspectorcatget , Salim Virji Report

#13

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Funny enough, my biggest WTF moment came from an American. We were at a restaurant in Cinque Terre, Italy called Trattoria Dal Billy. About halfway through our meal, I overheard a guy with a Tennessee/Arkansas accent say, verbatim, in a frustrated tone "you need to speak more American!" to his waiter. This isn't Rome. This isn't Venice. It's a small town called Manarola. The odds of finding someone fluent in your language are drastically lowered; however, this guy was pompous enough to not only continue to berate his waiter, but then tell the manager who came around that he needs to hire someone who can speak American...in a foreign country...of which he obviously speaks ZERO of their language. Seriously, WTF!

westicular , ongchinonn Report

#14

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread I was doing a study abroad program in the UK but also had to take monthly blood tests for a medication I had been put on before I flew over. I was fully prepared for a laundry list of paperwork and fees to deal with the tests as well as getting these results to my doctor back in the states.

After the first blood test I went up to the receptionist and asked what I owed. She looked at me with a bit of confusion and said, "Oh, no, you're fine you can just go." My doctor doctor also got my blood results in less time than they did when I got them in the states. Screw our broken healthcare system.

Glass_Jaw , valelopardo Report

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#15

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Went to Denmark on a whim with some friends. The biggest surprise was when I realized that I had met a ton of strangers over the course of a week and I had no idea what they did for a living. Never once did we talk about work or school.

Ninjasensay , Free-Photos Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Amazing insight I'm going to screen cap this and repost to instagram. Americans are so brainwashed they don't know how hard they're being screwed.

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#16

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Every night in Spain, around 3 a.m. this MASSIVE fleet of street scrubbers, vacuum-mobiles, and water hoses appeared and cleaned the entire city for about an hour. It was like ~100 people every night just cleaning the city. The following morning, all of Salamanca was spotless. That sh*t was magical.

reddit , Garry Knight Report

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respulero
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Better they do it. Salamanca is full of students partying all nites

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#17

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread My biggest WTF moment was when I visited England and people respected me a lot more when I told them I was canadian and not american (I'm actually canadian)

General-Snorlax , waferboard Report

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Serial pacifist
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now that America is untrumped you might get some of that luv for being American too

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#18

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread When I️ visited the hospital and had X-rays done, spoke with two doctors, and was triaged by a nurse, all with no health insurance, and my total bill was 24 euros. Then I️ had to pay 10 additional euros for some painkillers, again with no insurance or anything.

literocola431 , AlarconAudiovisual Report

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Serial pacifist
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe it is called basic human rights. Something about the right to live and have health taken care of.

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#19

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In my early twenties, on my first trip to Europe, I took an Italian ocean liner, New York to Genoa. My WTF moment was going out on the deck on morning six for the foggy passage through the Straits of Gibraltar. Europe emerging through the mist on my left and North Africa on my right, coupled with the awareness of how many voyagers throughout history had sailed through that passage (including my Italian grandparents traveling in the other direction), gave me chills.

Roundaboutsix , timeyres Report

#20

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Not paying for a gynecological exam. I developed an ovarian cyst while in England that was causing some pain. I made an appointment at a health clinic and was examined. Afterwards, I expected to pay because A) that's always the first thing that happens in US healthcare and B) I was a foreigner who had never paid into the UK National Health Service. They just laughed and said, "We don't take money for services and we'd have no idea what to charge you".

Mind blown. God save the NHS.

SnapesGrayUnderpants , orzalaga Report

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Nat Hedley
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're our guest. We don't bankrupt you just because you got ill while you visited.

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#21

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Amsterdam, the number of bicycles outside the central station. How the F do people find their bikes once they park them?! Also, the Dutch are easily the most graceful cyclists. The way you guys can weave through dumb folks standing in the bike paths is outstanding.

gezelligs , frank saptel Report

#22

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Spain, the siesta is real. I just thought that it was an archaic thing that some people did. Nope. Everything shuts down for an hour or two. Even in super-touristy places, 99% of shops and businesses shut down.

the_planes_walker , Scottb211 Report

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Pittsburgh rare
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This has to do more with extended working hours rather than actual siesta. Shops are open from 9-10 am to 8-9pm, so in order to not make more than 8 hours a day they have an unnecessarily long lunch break, but workers in big cities rarely get to have lunch at home, let alone take a nap.

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#23

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Blatant nudity everywhere. Porn mags just sitting at the front of newsstands in the middle of the city. A giant graffiti penis and nobody cared. Made me realize how prudish we are in the US

reddit , Stan Wiechers Report

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Oerff On Tour
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Americans have the right to bare arms. Europeans have the right to bare their entire body

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#24

This was a few years ago before "chip" credit/bank cards were like "a thing" in the States. But when I stopped in Amsterdam, and hoped over to Latvia, I discovered that in both countries, my DEBIT card that needed to be swiped to buy anything, was like a weird old relic. Every cashier everywhere gave me a confused look when I handed them my card and they saw it didn't have a chip. They would, after I politely mentioned it had to be swiped, question whether or not that was even possible with their register. They always looked shocked to discover that the little slat along the side of their credit card thing was to be used to slide a card through. And when it actually worked, they always looked even MORE shocked. That's the first time I learned "Oh damn. Maybe America is behind in a lot of ways." Because everyone looked at my card as if it were carved out of stone and would pay them in some Flinstones-style currency that they were convinced they couldn't actually accept. By Day 2 of the trip, even I was like... "You f*cking American assh*le with your ancient technology."

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Rick
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A guy from an American company shouted at me a few years ago when he wanted to fax something over to our office and I told him we didn’t have one. He angrily asked why we didn’t have a fax machine. I replied “because we’ve moved on from the 1990s”.

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#25

How easy and unencumbered by useless bullsh*t most things are.

Getting on a 5:30 train from Burssels to Berlin? Show up at 5:20. And get laughed at by the Germans who will finish their beer at exactly 5:28 because they know the walk from the bar to the platform is 1 minute and 57 seconds.

In the states that would require showing up at 3:15 because of at least 4 security checkpoints and 8 lines of people who can't figure out how an escalator works.

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Hayley Rodgers
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not to mention in many places in the US you don't know if it will be late or early or whatever. From what I understand, things run more on time in a lot, if not most, of Europe

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#26

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread How to party like a German: pre-party on Friday at 11 p.m., get into club at 2 a.m., leave club on Sunday at 6 a.m. Germans are nuts, in a good way.

Ooooweeee , Matthias Ripp Report

#27

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread The quality of the fast food surprised me. Everything from the street vendors to chains like McDonald's was better quality then anything I'd gotten at home.

Creepas5 , Mike Mozart Report

#28

Late to the thread but here goes... Went to Sweden on a vacation package. Stayed at a wonderful historic hotel for part of the trip that had a restaurant inside of it. Part of our package called for a free dinner at the hotel and we had asked that it be the night we arrived.

We arrived and got settled in our room and then went to check out the restaurant. As soon as we walked in, there was no one there, only a hostess. She immediately said they were expecting us and we could sit anywhere. There was no one else in this gorgeous, ornate restaurant. A waiter came out and said they had prepared a special meal for us. We asked why it was so empty and he said the restaurant was closed one day a week and today was that day.

We were shocked, we apologized profusely and told them that we had booked through another company and would have just scheduled it for another day. He said it was no problem and we had some free extras such as wine and dessert. The main course ended up being a huge piece of meat, which we jokingly said must have been because we were big fat Americans. No one rushed us, we had a great time, and after we left they closed the restaurant for the night.

It was a total WTF moment because if you booked something like this in America, they'd either force you to reschedule or just have the restaurant closed with no explanation.

davidjoshualightman Report

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#29

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Spain, everyone appears to be very thin yet I swear eats a loaf of bread a day.

WilominoFilobuster , Nikchick Report

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lenka
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bread is not the enemy. Especially if it is made from flour without the added thickeners, stabilisers and preservatives. In most European countries, bread, and other food, is real.

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#30

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread That their standard of living was just as high as ours, but everything was smaller. Smaller apartments, smaller cars, smaller grocery stores, and fewer jars of peanut butter in the smaller grocery stores.

LadyCeer , Kenneth Lu Report

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JennyLaRue
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've never known standards of living to be measured in quantities of peanut butter 🤔

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#32

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Lisbon, feeling proud of myself for eating late like a local at 9 p.m....only to walk into an empty restaurant. By the time I’d finished eating at 10 p.m., the place was full.

western_style_hj , Free-Photos Report

#33

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Italy, when buying a soccer ticket, they needed to know which team I was rooting for to determine where I could sit. Then, during the game, people were setting things on fire.

groovychick , Maggio7 Report

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Serial pacifist
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Aaaah, the tradition of stadium bonfires. Amazing how destructive people get and how quickly they get back in the prehistoric "wolfpack" mode when in an uncontrolled crowd.

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#34

Had a positive what the f*ck moment in Greece in the eastern Peloponnese where I saw a guy walk down to the end of a pier and throw an actual f*cking trident into the Aegean and pull out a wriggling octopus. Dude walked up the beach and handed it over the deck railing to a chef.

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#35

I lived in Germany for 8 years from 1992-2000 (Ages 4-12). I didn't realize it until I moved back to the states but there were recycling bins on EVERY street corner. It wasn't just a green bin then a trash can, it was a giant blue bin. One section for green glass, one for brown glass, one for clear glass, one for plastic, and one for paper.

Oh and going to a German school, students took public transit. There wasn't such a thing as a school bus.

bick803 Report

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Carole Reid
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw kids with their school packs riding public transit to school in Germany and didn't think of no school bus until I read your post.

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#36

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread Most stores are not open on Sundays. Not even grocery stores.

copper_tulip , Kristina D.C. Hoeppner Report

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JennyLaRue
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one would depend on the country, in the UK shops are open on Sundays, although for a more limited time. (UK still being in Europe, if not the EU)

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#37

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread In Germany, they had the cleanest, safest, and best-tasting tap water, but nobody drank it and they called it toilet water.

efshoemaker , Paulo O Report

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Jeannette Treusch
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am German and I can tell you: only beer and wine fanatics call it toilet water. In fact, Germans drink gallons of tap water.

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#38

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread When I visited Prague, water cost two crowns and beer cost one.

AmA_Mr_BS , Petr Dadák Report

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Ivo H
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just to make it clearer - approximately 22 crowns is one dollar. And the prices are exaggerated of course :) Beer is ~30 crowns (~$1.4) and water... it depends. But I seen it for as much as 60 crowns (~$2) per litre in some restaurants. It's because there is (or maybe was) law, that at least one non-alcoholic beverage has to be cheaper than beer, so most of the restaurants put tap water for such ridiculous price on menu, just to comply.

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#39

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread British food. I went there expecting chip shops and roast dinner, but instead was amazed by every variety of tikka sauce that could possibly exist.

Tess_ORourke , visualpun.ch Report

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Sum Guy
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What did you think they british were doing when colonising the world... stealing our foods

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#40

Americans Reveal Their 40 Most WTF Moments While Visiting Europe In This Viral Thread I was 16 years old, ordering a beer at McDonald's.

NeetStreet_2 , Mike Mozart Report

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Exquisite Spam
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our school trip to Paris had wine and beer available at every meal. We were instructed in no uncertain terms we weren't to have it even though our meal tickets would cover it. Absolutely none of it smuggled up to the rooms noooo..

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