It’s no secret that when Americans hop across the pond to Europe, they are greeted by a countless amount of cultural differences, depending on the country they visit.
Having said that, visiting France for the Eiffel Tower or Rome for the Colosseum is an entirely different thing than spending more time in the old continent. Whether it’s the Americans starting a new job over there or moving into a new apartment, some things stand out more for them than others.
So this recent thread from Ask Reddit with someone asking “Americans, what do you think is the weirdest thing about Europe?” has turned into one hell of a read, shedding light on how insanely different the two cultures and their people can be.
Read on below through the most interesting responses, and after you’re done, be sure to check out Bored Panda’s previous features on things about Europe that Americans find weird and things common in America that Europeans find very weird.
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The sheer grasp of language I've seen from some Europeans is wild.
Back in the early days of minecraft I used to play on a server with an English kid and a German Kid. The English kid would randomly speak Welsh and the German could jump between German, French, and English all the time and I was there like "Guys, I can barely English, can we dumb it down for the yankee."
It seems that European countries try to make life easier for their citizens? That's f*****g crazy to us in America.
In Spain and I think other European countries, there is a thing called a Siesta. Shops and businesses shut down in the middle of the day and people can relax and destress from work. In America, work culture is so toxic, people skip breakfast and only get 30 minutes at work to rush through a fast food meal. Crazy.
Public transportation is another one. I noticed how drastically better it is in Europe. People in northern European countries ride bikes, trains, etc. to work. And it all flows smoothly, on time for the most part, and is much more calming to sit in read in what would be considered a luxury train car in America, versus sitting for 40 minutes to an hour in bumper to bumper car traffic, with uglier views, mostly of concrete. It's just better in Europe because it's less car-centric. No traffic jams. People just walk to get groceries calmly in a few minutes. In America, you have to carve out time, and a separate day, because going to run errands is so stressful, from fighting through traffic to crowded spaces, etc. It's just not designed to be a pleasant experience. It's all just consumerism and how to squeeze more money out of people.
Education is another that should go without speaking. I will leave it alone because I could go on forever as a teacher in America, but I believe our citizens still rank near last across all subjects.
Healthcare is another. U.S.A. is the only developed country that does not provide healthcare to its citizens without some wealthy company making a profit first.
Everything about America makes life miserable. No wonder people are suicidal and we have a lot of suicide mass shootings. Most Americans would be shocked if they traveled to Europe and paid attention to how things worked there and how much better life can be by doing things that way.
Idiots will probably comment that America is great because we have freedom. Dumbasses don't realize that people have that in other places too and Americans are being scammed into living suboptimal lives.
The US government can't afford to pay for healthcare. It is spending trillions of dollars to lose wars all over the world.
"Americans don't know what old is, Europeans don't know what big means"
There are a lot of cultural differences between countries which make us all unique and interesting. For example, in the United States, people tend to be more individualistic, while in collectivist cultures like China, people are more likely to think of themselves as part of a group. This can lead to different expectations and behaviors in different cultures.
For example, in the United States, it is common to see people working long hours and taking work home with them. This individualistic work ethic can lead to a lot of stress and burnout. In collectivist cultures, however, people are more likely to work together and take breaks together. This can lead to a more relaxed and enjoyable work environment.
Of course, these are just generalizations and there are many exceptions to the rule. But understanding these cultural differences can help you to be more understanding and tolerant of people from other cultures.
That you use the metric system.
That it totally makes sense and we don't.
We probably don't use it for spite.
Then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who lived in France for a while, in 1794 pushed to have the metric system implemented in the USA. He commissioned his friend and fellow scientist Joseph Dombey to bring over to the USA a "standard weight" from France, the exact measure of 1 kilogram. Dombey's ship run into a storm and had to rush to the closest port in the Caribbean, but was assaulted by pirates on the way. Dombey was captured and held from ransom, and died in captivity. The original Standard Weight was sold, and came to the possession of the National Institute of Standards and Technology only in the '50s, after it was donated by the heirs of Andrew Ellicott, American Surveyor General and teacher of Lewis and Clarke, who bought it at auction in the early 1800s.
That some stone roads that were built like 600 years ago are holding themselves together better than the paved roads.
The oldest road can be found in Italy. The Via Appia was built around 2300 years ago
Labor rights and public services.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. I wish we had all that here. But it's deeply unfamiliar. I have European coworkers who *expect* vacation. We've got a British manager who *expects employees* to take vacation.
S**t is wild.
As an employee you agreed to give up certain hours per day for agreed payment and benefits. Also the law states the minimum legal holidays. If you or your employer don't take holidays it can cause huge issues legally for the company and the manager of you don't use them by set time and are losing. Employers must ensure that you get 21 days of holidays plus legal bank holidays. And every week only five holiday days can be spent as legally you have two days off. So 21 days is actually 29 days with four weekends and then all public holidays on top. Because of this we are known to use the days to get long weekends to take city trips away 3-4 days. Absolutely love it, I went on holidays every five six weeks and employees are not responsible for covering their shifts. It's a paying job, if it doesn't suit quit, and no work isnt even in top 10 priority list. In USA the title of work and career level is highly valued and therefore you look down on less unfortunate. In EU human is valued
The one and only best way to learn about those cultures and broaden your perspective of things is to visit foreign places and get to know their people. When you travel, you're not just looking at the world from your own eyes, but from the eyes of the people you meet and the places you visit. This makes you an onlooker of a whole different kind; you’re both an active participant and passive viewer who realizes that there exist different ways of doing things.
High quality food at low prices. You can eat great, healthy food for cheap in many European countries. In the US, the healthier, higher quality food is often the most expensive.
I think this is true for southern Europe. However, I live in northern Europe where dining out is VERY expensive. The only affordable food you can get is hot dogs, fried fish, and fast-food kebabs. The produce at the grocery stores is fine quality but not any cheaper or better than in the States.
It’s crazy that everyone doesn’t drive a huge empty truck 1 mile down the road, instead they walk. Crazy.
While traveling, you also learn to understand different points of view. When you're in your own country, you do not normally think about how other people live, but when you travel, you're exposed to different lifestyles with little choice. This will help you to be more understanding and tolerant of others.
Learning about other cultures is also a unique way to learn more about yourself. You find out how you react in a certain situation, how you behave with people you've never met, and how well you can adapt to different surroundings. While in a new culture, you’re much more likely to be pushed out of your comfort zone, which is the most important aspect of your personal growth.
How few fat people there are. It's awesome, but your food culture is different enough to lead to a significant difference in obesity in the general populace
that health care thing. i want that
As long as far right religious fanatics keep their grip on the Republican party and government nothing will change in the USA.
The fact that you cross international borders like we cross state lines. The fact that you can wake up in Germany, drive all day, and go to sleep in Spain.
What I liked growing up directly at the border of another country: you learn that borders of countries are pretty arbitrary. That those people across the border are basically the same as you. It’s a pretty continuous transition and you also learn, that you have much more in common with the folk directly next to you, yet in another country, than you have with your fellow countrymen who live hundreds of kilometres away
When I went to Bad Kissingen, Germany I almost fell over. If you get diagnosed with certain aliments your doctor can write a prescription for you to go to the spas—FOR SIX WEEKS. Then once you are there you drink water from the ground that helps you heal! And you bathe in pools that look like Versailles and take leisurely strolls around the grounds to soothe your stomach. And here’s the best part—your employer has to keep paying you while you are there! What the hell kind of a deal is this?!
In America they throw some Robitussin on you, take your pay and tell you to get your a*s back to work!
Germany was the f****n coolest place!
It’s so weird how civilized y’all are over there (minus that whole Russia-Ukraine thing as of late, but that’s not the Europe I know and have visited.)
But yeah generally you guys have these *crazy ideas* about what constitutes the “good life.”
Jobs that don’t treat you like slaves and work you into an early death; subsidized, single-payer heath care so that you could hypothetically lose your job and not your *health* or *life*; 6 weeks of mandatory paid vacation a year whether you want to go someplace or not; decent, healthy, affordable food; subsidized housing that doesn’t look like a war zone; clean, modern public transportation that alleviates the need to own a vehicle in a lot of places; high-quality education instead of schools that increasing resemble more of those war zones we seem to love (we know better in the US, where the mantra is that violence belongs everywhere); clean water; freedom *from* religion in public policy; public toilets; functional democracy…
Yeah y’all are some *WEIRD* people…
I'm surprised nobody has said 'the price you see in the shop is actually the price you pay', because as a Brit the idea of taxes not being included in the displayed price is absolutely mind-boggling to me.
Edit: after some good back and forth in several threads I've softened my stance on this - I can see how when the next town might have different tax rules, it would make it easier to tell when you're being ripped off etc. But it still feels weird after 30+ years of just seeing the price you pay.
I don't care what the taxes are in the next town over. I want to know the actual cost of the items I am buying.
Otherwise healthy people smoking cigarettes
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The history. Can't wrap my brain around that. I live in a farm house built in the 1920s and that is considered old.
All those damn trains, public transit, and walkable cities. I like being stuck in my gas guzzler and nearly dying anytime I use a sidewalk.
As a European, I can tell you that the cultures, customs, languages, weather, food, and everything else can vary as drastically from country to country as it does from America.
I live in Ireland, and pretty much any other EU country is pretty alien to me. And they probably think Ireland is weird af too.
alot of people use public transport, like the kids, teenagers, old people .etc use the bus and train so commonly, in america basically everyone has a car or gets driven by a car
You have to pay to use public restrooms
The money goes for cleaning the place, yup I'd rather pay to go than go to a literal sh*thole
If you’re talking about a whole continent, there’s bound to be some weird things about it, and that also means that people from certain European countries will find other European countries weird in certain ways.
Like I’m British, and I find the French incredibly weird.
Well, you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don't mean just like in no paper cup, I'm talking about a glass of beer.
And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald's. And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
They got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the f**k a Quarter Pounder is. They call it a "Royale with Cheese."
A Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it "Le Big Mac". What do they call a Whopper? I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King.
But, you know what they put on French fries in Holland instead of ketchup? Mayonnaise. God damn! I seen them do it, man, they f*****g drown them in that s**t.
FUNCTIONING PUBLIC TRANSIT
I thought it would be horrible needing to wait and wait and wait only for a crowded and smelly bus or train to take me somewhere only for it to arrive on time, relatively sanitary, and in cities or towns of less then 8,000 people. In the U.S. a city will have well over a million people and lack any metro line, period. Just a bus that’s always late and comes one every hour and a half
Maybe things are different now, but everything is completely closed on Sundays if you’re not in a major city.
The oddest thing I found in Copenhagen was that when we tried to go get food around 9pm, nearly everywhere was closed. We were in a busy part of the city but it took us so incredibly long to find a place open late. I don't live in a huge city but I can throw a rock from my house and it will bounce off half a dozen places open until midnight or later.
Edit: This is not a complaint, just an observation. I loved Denmark.
This is definitely incorrect. Just last week I was visiting my sis and we had food at 2 o'clock. But you might have been looking for for something familiar you. Copenhagen is by American standard a small town, but McDo, and Burger King is open 24/7 and there are all night kebab shops here and there too.
I’m not sure if it’s wired but it’s fascinating how so many cultures and languages came to exist over such a (comparatively) small continent as Europe.
This doesn't make sense. Don't americans know their own history? That they came to be from 2-3 colonizers from Europe? While there were a sh*tton of tribes in Europe who all had their own culture and language?
No ac. Our hotels had ac but it was just room temp air. That heatwave must have been brutal i hate sleeping when it’s hot
The US could probasave a couple of power plants without their excessive use of ACs….and ice cubes
This question has taught me that Americans don't know anything about any country in Europe and think it's all the same place without any nuance.
Is Europe that place with the pointy boot country or the big frozen area on the bottom of the map? /s
OMG the toilets. In the US every toilet I've ever come across has a flush lever on the left of the tank or (in public restrooms) a sensor or a button on the top. In Europe every single toilet has a different flush mechanism. Every. Single. One. It's like an escape room challenge. Foot pedals. Cranks. Pull knobs. Things attached to the sink. I was once stuck in a bathroom for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to flush the toilet, it turned out to be a pulley on the other side of the room.
The way people drive. The laws don’t seem to matter at all in Italy, only a little in France- then the Germans are a completely different story
I have spent many thousend kilometers on the road all over Europe and I cannot confirm. The worst place is neither France, Italy or Spain - it is Germany, the famous Autobahn is a jungle. The best drivers I' ve met where the Jordanians (no joke)
Not weird but great. Maternity leave. When my sister-in-law in Ukraine gave birth to her daughter, she got a year off at 100% pay and could stay on leave for up to 3 years at half-pay. Meanwhile, businesses are able to hire a temp worker for that time, and it’s perfectly normal. Meanwhile, my wife here only got 6 weeks, and it was for medical recovery. Although someone else misread the company rules and got an inexperienced HR person to approve 6 months of paid maternity leave. By the time they figured it out, 5 months had passed. When they said she had to get back to work, she told them it was their screw-up and she didn’t have daycare lined up. So they kept paying her for the rest of that time… Then she found a better job
Can be radically different in other countries. In Switzerland maternity leave is 14 weeks.
## Rental apartments in Germany often come without a furnished kitchen.
Edit: I'm stunned and amused how much attention this has gotten.
There's been some confusion by my use of "furnished", which is kind of vague. I meant sink, refrigerator, stove and cabinets. Because these are almost always provided in rental apartments in the US, it was shocking to me as an American looking at rentals in Germany that I would have to buy and install those things.
Having read so many interesting comments about kitchen expectations in different parts of the world, let me ask this question. Do any of you know of places where rentals don't come with bathroom equipment either, and it's expected the tenant will purchase and install their own toilet and sink?
No, in Germany I’m pretty sure that a sink and a toilet is mandatory. The kitchen though I’m not sure about. Anyhow, usually if you install a kitchen you may demand money for it fron the next tenant when you move out. That’s pretty much common practice
Currently a Canadian in Croatia (first time in Europe) I can’t get over how old everything is and the lifestyle is so different here, speed limits, food, selling alcohol in grocery stores just like juice, very strange.
I don't know if this applies everywhere in Europe, but the lack of window screens in French homes was an adjustment for me. Every evening was a decision between leaving the windows open and being constantly harassed by flies and mosquitoes or closing them and suffocating in hot, stuffy air. I get that they're not aesthetically attractive, but I'm more than happy to accept that tradeoff if it means I can breathe fresh air without bugs landing on me every 30 seconds.
I can confirm. We use tons of mosquitos repellants, that's not quite eco-friendly.
Not American, but Canadian.
How close everything is.
Went to Germany recently and was looking st thr map figuring things out.
I can drive for a whole day without stopping and sti be in Ontario, in that same time I woukd of crossed numerous countries.
How much pda there is and how common smoking cigarettes is
Cigarettes…it’s the declining though. But the farther South you go the more people are smoking
All of the vehicles are small. Even the trucks seem smaller.
There is a practical reason for that though. A lot of the roads in European countries predate the motor car by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years. They can be extremely narrow and windy with crazy gradients in some cases. Smaller cars are simply easier to maneuver around them. A large American pick up (for example) would struggle to even be able to fit down some of the roads near me. That's not to say large vehicles don't exist over here (saw a Humvee just the other day) its just they're not so ubiquitous as they are in the US. Plus petrol tends to be more expensive here so cost is another factor.
Depends which countries. I’ve always found it weird that a lot of them think hugging is more intimate than kissing someone on the cheek.
Edit: I know it isn’t actually “kissing” someone on the cheek most of the time. I’m referring to how someone touches your face with their face that is extremely intimate.
How OLD everything is. Old buildings, cars that look old but are probably brand new. Houses in England being directly connected to each other, no space in between. Madness!
Either paying for the bathroom or not refrigerating your eggs
We don't need to refrigerate our eggs because we don't wash off the protective coating on them. ;o) Paying for the loo means the loos are kept clean.
I'm a little surprised that after so much movement of peoples over thousands of years, there hasn't been a greater homogenization of languages in Europe.
If you closely look at many European languages, you can see the similarities such as grammar and similar sounding words and how they combine to make other languages like english
Vacation/Holiday. Yeah we don't get any of that.
Oddly enough, the military in the US, which you’d think is an oppressive work place, and it can be, has some of the closest benefits to European standards. 30 days paid vacation, free medical, free college while in, plus paid college afterwards, good retirement/disabiity benefits etc. I bring this up because if it can work for the military here, it should be able to be implemented across the board. No idea why our country is so backwards about this stuff.
How the cities just end. Like one block, you're in the middle of everything, skyscrapers etc, and the next block it's woods
I wonder which cities the person is thinking of. I don't know of any European cities that match this description. To me, this describes quite a number of American cities.
Guys, how did so many of you miss that Russia never stopped being crazy. What the hell, man. Thank God the easterners kept their wits about them.
i dont mean this in a bad way but how close together everything is, a small roadtrip to yall is probably a good 30 minute drive but you can drive for 5 hours straight in my home state (Texas) and barely make any progress.
That as opposed to nationalism Europeans are, how football can turn into WWIII is beyond me. Pick your champions and we'll put them up against our Eagles NFL fans.
Whenever my wife tried to pay for things in Italy the Italian dudes all lost their minds. One guy even said, “check is for man!” We thought it was hilarious so I had her pay everywhere lol
Airports constructed in an IKEA-style maze taking you through *all* the duty-free shopping areas before reaching any gates.
Big airports like Heathrow, Frankfurt or Copenhagen don’t do this, but the more touristy airports like Ibiza and Malta sure do. After clearing security in Malta I had to meander a W-shaped path through all the obnoxiously-decored shops selling makeup, liquor, suitcases, clothes, and knickknacks on both sides of the main aisle before I could reach any of the gates. I had a 6.05 flight, so I was doing this while sleep-deprived at about 05.15.
American airports are never constructed/remodeled like this. Sure there are meandering paths sometimes, but like a shopping mall there will always be a clear divide between the walking spaces and the shops, as opposed to the captive exit-through-the-gift-shop experience.
In Italy 3/4 of the toilets we’ve encountered don’t have seats. The women (and men who sit) apparently just sit directly on the porcelain bowl.
I’ve encountered several hotels where you book a double room and turns out the bed is just two twin beds pushed together? Because that’s what I wanted a bed I’m not allowed to sleep towards the middle of….
Currywurst is just like a bland sausage with bad ketchup and curry powder. Thought it would be tastier given how popular it is but man that’s the lamest popular street food I think I’ve ever tried. Still ate it lol
Fridges where “cold” beer and water are stored are never sufficiently cold. Every drink tastes like you put a warm beer in the fridge for 10 mins before taking out to drink.
This again. Every week, like clockwork. Some topics really, really, really need to be retired.
"What do you have for new post?" "Uh, I thought I would run a USA sucks topic." "Dude, that's been done to death, like, 5 times this month." "Yeah, but this time I thought I would list cool things about Europe and say they are things that Americans are shocked by." "Brilliant."
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Hang around and b!tch about it, that'll help.
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This topic come up about once a week on BP. Same with funny signs and bad architecture.
What astonishes me is the sweeping generalizations Europeans make about us. As if they truly believe we are the same. It easiest I guess.
By "us" you mean the US? Getting generalized by Americans "all the time" does not astonish "Europeans". As if Americans truly believe Europeans are all the same. Europe is a continent, not a country. The US is a country, not a continent.
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Ain't "weird." It's just different and that's alright with this American. Traveling is supposed to be fun and educational.
Oh BP, don’t be timid. This wasn’t, ‘Weird/Unusual Things About Europe’. It should have been labeled, “Reasons Why Europe Is Better Than America”. There are many reasons Europe is better than the US ... . . . just be honest about the title -- instead of being sneaky. : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #1 Shear Grasp of Language ... ... #2 Euro Nations Try To Make Life Better For Citizens (Transportation, Education, Health Care) Everything about America makes life miserable. No wonder people are suicidal ... ... #3 Labor Rights ... ... #4 Use Of The Metric System ... ... #5 Stone Roads ... ... #6 Europeans Know What Old Is ... ... #7 Trains ... ... ... ... ... ... #8 High Quality Food at Low Prices ... ... #9 Europeans Walk ... ... #10 How Few Fat Europeans There Are ... #11 International Borders Crossed Like State Lines ... ... #12 The “Good Life.” ... ... #13 Health Care ... ... ... #14 Doctors Can Prescribe Spa Treatment ... ... #16 History: Things Are Really Old ... ... #17 Price On Items Reflect Total Price ... ... #18 Public Transit, Walkable Cities ... ... #19 Acknowledging: Regions Are Different in Both Europe and America ... ... #20 Europeans Use Public Transport, Americans Drive Cars ... ... ... ... ... #23 Beauty Of The Cities ... ... #24 Public Transit ... ... #27 Americans Think Different Countries in Europe Are All The Same ... ... #30 Europeans Use Less Air Conditioning (commenters suggest they are just tougher) ...
Ironically, some of these apply to places in the US ----- who owns a car in NYC? They walk or use mass transit. Many states allow the sale of alcohol in convenience stores and grocery stores. Et cetera. So ... I think some Americans need to realize America is wildly varied, too, and European nations vary within their borders (Bavaria within Germany is like our Texas according to a German friend; Scotland vs England, tho' both are in the UK; etc.)
Yes exactly! The United States and Europe are almost the same size. Going from state to state is like traveling to different European countries sometimes. Obv not as much differences but there are plenty. NY culture is way different from the culture in Utah.
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Bored Panda why do you constantly like to talk about the U.S. I'm American and even I'm annoyed by it. There are other countries out there besides the US. Talk about something else.
Here I thought finally I'd read some funny weird things about Europe but it's yet another Bash America and American's article . I'm not native American, BP, and I'm way past tired of this US and America hostility.
Europe is different in each place but the things that I always have admired is the health system and the lack of toxic work culture
I think the one about europe developing so many cultures in a small space is because these cultures developed before industrialisation. The world was a lot bigger back when travelling from Berlin to Paris took multiple weeks
It seems that European generally know how to properly balance life and work. I was in Paris in august and loved how almost everywhere you had pieces of paper stuck on windows with: we are away on vacation. Kudos to them. I hope the rest of the world learns that and not the other way around. Where I live, it's work work work.
The thing that surprised me in France is how close people walk. If you are in a store, people just brush up against you, push you a little, lean against you, etc. If I walk through a crowded mall here, people will run into the wall to avoid getting within a foot of somebody. Maybe COVID has changed French proximity? I don't know - I hope to go back again some day to find out! (PS - I love France. I so much did not want to get back on the plane. I had a shirt that I didn't wash for a few months because the smell of the country still lingered on it.)
No AC? Everything shut on Sundays? Cigarettes everywhere? The French? Did you read the list or was that taking too up too much of your valuable whining time?
Load More Replies... I'm old, and broken, and useless, but I'm still holding out hope that someone over there will adopt me.
Well, we tend to find it weird that America uses Fahrenheit instead of Celsius (the latter of which is in fact used more around the world), so I’d say that likely makes us even! 😂
It looks like you read the VERY misleading title, then commented without reading any of the 30 posts. The posts were Not about, "Things Americans Find Very Weird About Europe"! - - Instead, they were all, "Reasons Europe is Better Than America"
Load More Replies... This again. Every week, like clockwork. Some topics really, really, really need to be retired.
"What do you have for new post?" "Uh, I thought I would run a USA sucks topic." "Dude, that's been done to death, like, 5 times this month." "Yeah, but this time I thought I would list cool things about Europe and say they are things that Americans are shocked by." "Brilliant."
Load More Replies... Hang around and b!tch about it, that'll help.
Load More Replies... This topic come up about once a week on BP. Same with funny signs and bad architecture.
What astonishes me is the sweeping generalizations Europeans make about us. As if they truly believe we are the same. It easiest I guess.
By "us" you mean the US? Getting generalized by Americans "all the time" does not astonish "Europeans". As if Americans truly believe Europeans are all the same. Europe is a continent, not a country. The US is a country, not a continent.
Load More Replies... Ain't "weird." It's just different and that's alright with this American. Traveling is supposed to be fun and educational.
Oh BP, don’t be timid. This wasn’t, ‘Weird/Unusual Things About Europe’. It should have been labeled, “Reasons Why Europe Is Better Than America”. There are many reasons Europe is better than the US ... . . . just be honest about the title -- instead of being sneaky. : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #1 Shear Grasp of Language ... ... #2 Euro Nations Try To Make Life Better For Citizens (Transportation, Education, Health Care) Everything about America makes life miserable. No wonder people are suicidal ... ... #3 Labor Rights ... ... #4 Use Of The Metric System ... ... #5 Stone Roads ... ... #6 Europeans Know What Old Is ... ... #7 Trains ... ... ... ... ... ... #8 High Quality Food at Low Prices ... ... #9 Europeans Walk ... ... #10 How Few Fat Europeans There Are ... #11 International Borders Crossed Like State Lines ... ... #12 The “Good Life.” ... ... #13 Health Care ... ... ... #14 Doctors Can Prescribe Spa Treatment ... ... #16 History: Things Are Really Old ... ... #17 Price On Items Reflect Total Price ... ... #18 Public Transit, Walkable Cities ... ... #19 Acknowledging: Regions Are Different in Both Europe and America ... ... #20 Europeans Use Public Transport, Americans Drive Cars ... ... ... ... ... #23 Beauty Of The Cities ... ... #24 Public Transit ... ... #27 Americans Think Different Countries in Europe Are All The Same ... ... #30 Europeans Use Less Air Conditioning (commenters suggest they are just tougher) ...
Ironically, some of these apply to places in the US ----- who owns a car in NYC? They walk or use mass transit. Many states allow the sale of alcohol in convenience stores and grocery stores. Et cetera. So ... I think some Americans need to realize America is wildly varied, too, and European nations vary within their borders (Bavaria within Germany is like our Texas according to a German friend; Scotland vs England, tho' both are in the UK; etc.)
Yes exactly! The United States and Europe are almost the same size. Going from state to state is like traveling to different European countries sometimes. Obv not as much differences but there are plenty. NY culture is way different from the culture in Utah.
Load More Replies... Bored Panda why do you constantly like to talk about the U.S. I'm American and even I'm annoyed by it. There are other countries out there besides the US. Talk about something else.
Here I thought finally I'd read some funny weird things about Europe but it's yet another Bash America and American's article . I'm not native American, BP, and I'm way past tired of this US and America hostility.
Europe is different in each place but the things that I always have admired is the health system and the lack of toxic work culture
I think the one about europe developing so many cultures in a small space is because these cultures developed before industrialisation. The world was a lot bigger back when travelling from Berlin to Paris took multiple weeks
It seems that European generally know how to properly balance life and work. I was in Paris in august and loved how almost everywhere you had pieces of paper stuck on windows with: we are away on vacation. Kudos to them. I hope the rest of the world learns that and not the other way around. Where I live, it's work work work.
The thing that surprised me in France is how close people walk. If you are in a store, people just brush up against you, push you a little, lean against you, etc. If I walk through a crowded mall here, people will run into the wall to avoid getting within a foot of somebody. Maybe COVID has changed French proximity? I don't know - I hope to go back again some day to find out! (PS - I love France. I so much did not want to get back on the plane. I had a shirt that I didn't wash for a few months because the smell of the country still lingered on it.)
No AC? Everything shut on Sundays? Cigarettes everywhere? The French? Did you read the list or was that taking too up too much of your valuable whining time?
Load More Replies... I'm old, and broken, and useless, but I'm still holding out hope that someone over there will adopt me.
Well, we tend to find it weird that America uses Fahrenheit instead of Celsius (the latter of which is in fact used more around the world), so I’d say that likely makes us even! 😂
It looks like you read the VERY misleading title, then commented without reading any of the 30 posts. The posts were Not about, "Things Americans Find Very Weird About Europe"! - - Instead, they were all, "Reasons Europe is Better Than America"
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