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The world doesn’t run on one set of rules. What’s totally normal in one country can seem downright bizarre in another. And while those differences are part of what makes life interesting, they can also leave people seriously confused.
Americans took to Reddit to vent about the customs and habits from other countries that just don’t make sense to them. From washing machines in kitchens to milk sold in bags, they had plenty to say.
Scroll down to read the full list and tell us: do you agree with their picks, or do these things actually make perfect sense to you?
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I don’t get why non-Americans want to move to America.
Johnnynatfan 5 months ago
Some people still do and you have to think about how bad it is in their country if they still want to move here to be treated like s**t.
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Lady Chelsea (LadyChelseaoftheVoid) 5 months ago
"the tax rate is super high in European countries" yeah, but your taxes actually fund essentials like free healthcare, low-cost education, and daycare. in the States, we have high taxes that fund ridiculous s**t like ICE and still have to pay through the nose for everything else! we have it really bad here guys!
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
I recently looked up my Canadian tax rate vs how much tax an American making an equal wage to me is. The difference is so small it’s hilarious - like I think I pay around $200 more a year in taxes but my taxes give me FAR MORE than an American would get 😂 one single doctor’s appointment a year for the American would mean they’re paying more out of pocket than I am for basic services. I’ve had something like $100,000 USD in surgeries in my life and paid $0 - an American would still be trying to pay that off right now while I am debt-free.
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BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
Unemployment in my country is VERY high. As is the level of violence and poverty. The homicide rate in our cities can be 100 times higher than in the United States. Median per-household income in some states is as low as $220USD/month, which is not enough to afford a safe and healthy life. So when we have family in another country, many people will take the opportunity to leave, even if that means going to a country where we are not wanted and risk deportation. When my own family left it was because my father was disappeared for being a journalist and my mother was put in a military k**l order for being a university professor. She tried to go to Europe, but she couldn't legally move there at the time, and the only country willing to accept a woman with 2 PhDs and an MD, but also 2 children and no money from a third-world country was the United States. She really wanted to go to France, but the French didn't want her. C'est la vie
B 5 months ago
I have a feeling your country may have been my country. I left because my (then) wife was a doctor, and having your bag snatched in the car park after work was the very least of the crime committed there. It seriously ramped up to r.ape and when a nurse was almost mur.dered we decided to call it quits. A week before we left (to the UK) we saw a car stop in front of us on the motorway. 4 men got out and took a body out of the trunk and dumped it over the side barrier like it was nothing. No country in the world is a safe haven anymore, but anything was better than there.
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Toika Gao 5 months ago (edited)
May be bc we appreciate having good health insurance and a free health system, too. Or less chances to be shot at school or killed by police. Or being able to make ends meet or buying your own home, not having to live in your car if you have a degree. Or being able to lead peaceful lives regardless of your sexual orientation, religion, etc. Not having unhinged groups like moms for liberty censoring what our kids read at school. Not having HOAs. Having months and months of leave before and after the birth of your children. Having a higher life expectancy than the US. And a long list of ETCs.
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
A lot of countries watch American TV programmes, and they are excellent propaganda for the U.S. As a teen all I wanted to do was move there. As an adult I was much happier to be living in Africa, my home.
RELATED:
#2
Squatting over holes in a floor to p*o instead of seating comfortably. I physically cannot squat like that due to busting my knees in college. I don't understand how people can do that without splattering their shoes.
Lucifer 5 months ago
Squatting is generally considered a more anatomically efficient position for bowel movements than sitting.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
Anatomically efficient is good. Comfort is better. Accuracy is best. Public restrooms are gross enough as is, I want that fixture as idiot-proof as possible for the sake of my own sanity.
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Rika 5 months ago (edited)
I once met a bar owner who put up that kind of toilets on purpose because he had a good laugh "watching" drunk people struggle to use them. (There was obviously a stall with a regular toilet for disabled people.) EDIT because I worded it wrong: The owner obviously wasn't watching people as they were using the toilet, he laughed when they stumbled out and loudly complained about falling. There was also a good reason for those toilets: it gave him an idea of how drunk people were and whether they should be allowed another drink.
Tiffany Sauter 5 months ago
I peed in one of those on a high speed train in Japan once. Not fun but really funny.
Wyrdwoman 5 months ago
As I found out when I was Hong Kong, squat loos now have bars to help you get down and up.
Janelle Collard 5 months ago
I had a stroke + one leg doesn't work well anymore. Hope that bar has a disabled toilet stall with grab bars.
Toika Gao 5 months ago
You mean you have to undress completely from you waist down to póo like this??? It doesn't look very practical.
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
It’s no different than dropping your pants to sit on a western toilet. Do you take your pants completely off when you sit on a western toilet? No? Exactly.
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Arthur Waite 5 months ago
I could probably get down to there, to 'do' it, but I'd need a safety bar of some sort to get back up again, and the floor had better be dry and rough, or my feet would shoot out the front. That happened to me once, and it wasn't pretty.
#3
Don't people take their kitchens with them when they move in Germany? Like, you rent a flat and it doesn't have a kitchen. So you buy and install a kitchen and when you leave that flat, you take the kitchen with you.
That's just ... interesting...
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago (edited)
I would say it's a particular charasteristic of the German market, and maybe some other countries, but I only know this for Germany. In any case, I just checked at two German websites (meinestadt.de and www.immowelt.de) and it looks like the standards are changing and kitchens are pretty common even in unfurnished houses.
Uli van de Ver 5 months ago
Unfortunately due to the tight market people sell their ancient kitchen for thousands of euros. If you don’t agree as lessee, there’s a long queue of people waiting for the flat and willing to pay enormous sums just to get it.
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Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Here in Finland the norm is that the cupboards and the sink are part of the house or apartment and everything else moves with you. Ovens and fridges often come with apartments, but it's not guaranteed.
quentariel 5 months ago
I've lived several rentals in here and I've always had fridge & oven included, but washing machine and such are my own. But like you said, cupboards and sinks stay, as well as toilets usually, but every other furniture comes with you.
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SouthernGal 5 months ago
They are built in as permanent fixtures in the US. They are freestanding like furniture in many other countries.
Rick Murray 5 months ago
In France the seller can take just about anything that's not mentioned in the contract, including *trees*. Also there's a weird thing about movable and immovable objects where the seller can come back some time later and take things - that's why the seller of our place took the firewood and threw it all on the lawn. It was weird but by doing that he was making it clear that he was leaving it for us and renouncing any rights to it.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Ceiling etc lights, are of course your own, just leave the "sugar cube" for the next person to attach theirs. Taking the kitchen sink however is weird
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Jo Firth 5 months ago
In Australia we take our fridges and washing machines/dryers with us when we sell a house/move out of a rental. Not as crazy as having to provide your own kitchen but definitely something that doesn't happen in the US.
G A 5 months ago (edited)
Oh yeah, we do the same in the UK. White goods generally come with, although ovens might get left behind. Cupboards and sinks stay put though.
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Chrissie Anit 5 months ago
Judging by the many fugly and very old-fashioned kitchens I have seen on American footage, I would say that Germans love to have state-of-the-art, stylish kitchens, and they cost a lot of money, so you would take them with you, if they fit into the new flat
Jaya 5 months ago
This is weird to a Dutch person too. Kitchen appliances, sure, but how does it work with kitchen cabinets and kitchen counter? What is the chance that your new house has a kitchen with exactly the same size? If it's not the exact same size, it won't fit decently. Very confusing.
StrangeOne 5 months ago (edited)
In Canada, you can find places to rent that are usually fully-furnished, which means stove, fridge, and access to a washer and dryer, whether that's communal or in the suite. Some places you have to buy your own washer and dryer. I've rarely heard of no stove and fridge included, but not entirely unheard of. Just not as common. When you move, you would have the choice of either taking the appliances with you, or, with the landlord's permission, leaving them there for the next tenant. Some people will leave them if they're moving to a place that has the appliances already included.
Brazen 5 months ago
I moved from MB to QC and it was like that where I was (everything included), but I was shocked to find out in Montreal that a lot of places don't have fridge/stove/dishwasher etc. We had to buy our own for the first place we lived in and then moved it to the second place. It's weird to me to have to do that.
Load More Replies... #4
Indians bathing in the Ganges right alongside dead bodies, dead animals, and human waste.
Sapna Sarfare 5 months ago
Only those near Banaras.. Not all Indians live in Banaras.. We have homes with functional bathrooms.. The sheer generalisation.. but yes, Indians like me wont go near it
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
One of my best friends is Indian, born here in Canada but living with her parents and grandparents who immigrated from India in the 1990s. Her house is SPOTLESS. Her mom is kind of a neat freak. Everything is so clean and shiny and smells fresh and nice. I hate the racist stereotypes that too many people gleefully parrot over and over again.
Load More Replies... Daria 5 months ago
well that i cannot understand either, i just assumed their immune system must be really strong 💪
Sapna Sarfare 5 months ago
Indians dont do that.. Its those living near Banaras and not all of them.. India is a huge country
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Jrog 5 months ago (edited)
Don't forget the traditional site for ritual bathing is just downstream of the junction with a tributary that is among the worst rivers in the world for industrial and chemical pollution. A river that is so full of heavy metals, chromium, chlorine and other waste from paper mills, phosphates etc that it can no longer support aquatic life. A river so polluted that it is routinely covered with two feet of white toxic foam... where people bathe. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hindus-india-toxic-white-foam-sacred-river-rcna5405
here comment 5 months ago
That's quite a generalization of an entire population of a country. To someone who has never been to India, it might feel like all the first thing Indians do in the morning is visit a river full of deadbodies and heavy water. Such posts also provide material to racists looking to take a dig at any Indian.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
It's fair game. Not all Americans are morbidly obese gun-owners, but it's enough to be confusing. Really, we need to get to the point where "Well, they're not all like this, but..." is just implied, because it's generally ALWAYS implied unless you specifically state otherwise, and we need to get to the point where we reflexively think about it that way rather than reflexively NOT making the distinction.
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Roxanne D'souza 5 months ago
A small percentage of Indias though. Lived in Mumbai all my life and even most of us can't comprehend how someone could take a dip into the Ganga, no matter how holy you may think it is. The Golden Temple on the other hand is a better alternative.
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
I’m so tired of racism towards Indian people. There’s way too much of it here in Canada. Remember when RFK Jr, a white guy, took his kids to swim in raw sewage? if youre going to generalize all Indians like this, you might as well look at RFK Jr and assume all white folks do it too. It’s so small-minded and low IQ to think this way.
Mreoww 5 months ago
Right. There are other religions in India; Hindus are the ones that dip. Plus, most of us have never even done it. Is not like we all do it frequently.
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#5
How are you all still smoking? At this point are you trying to get cancer?
RamiRudolph 5 months ago
True. But at the same time, why are Americans eating like they have free healthcare? Are you trying to get... welly everything you get from eating nothing but junk?
Johnnynatfan 5 months ago
Who cares?! cancer can still k**l you with health care and smoking makes you stink
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Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Took me so many tries and almost 20 years before I managed to finally quit and my lungs were being worrying in the end. I started smoking back when the age limit was 16. What worries me is how vaping is destroying all the hard work in getting people to stop smoking.
Jaya 5 months ago
The efforts to get younger people to not start smoking in the first place, was going so well in the Netherlands. The amount of teens who smoked was going down all the time. And then vaping came...
Zaach 5 months ago
Tobacco advertising has been banned in the US but the tobacco companies still advertise everywhere else
Trashy Panda 5 months ago (edited)
"Everywhere else" is such an American thing to say because you literally have no clue about anywhere else.
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#6
Ceiling fans. Why does no one have ceiling fans? They are remarkable for increasing the efficiency of any heating OR cooling methods. Side note: I'm from the southern US and ceiling fans are utterly mandatory or our elders and children would curl up and die, but actively moving the air around in your home is great for a lot of reasons besides.
Pernille 5 months ago
A lot of houses are old, and putting in a ceiling fan would be complicated, and in northern Europe they are not needed.
Börje Strömming 5 months ago
Tell that to my northern europan ceiling fan that cools me off from having +30°c indoors, tell him he isnt needed.
Load More Replies... Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
Tbf I am a big fan of my ceiling and I like having it around for at least 364 days a year 😅
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
But there are ceiling fans. Most people in my country (Spain) just prefer other solutions, like standing/tower fans... or air conditioners.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
Yeah, see, I have AC, a standing fan, and ceiling fans, and the ceiling fans NEVER get used because they're so much weaker than the standing fan.
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Ge Po 5 months ago
We had one in our first house, but in our current house the ceiling is at 210 to 220 cm. Ceiling fans aren't that safe here.
Auntriarch 5 months ago
Same here. Mr Auntriarch (5'6") can reach our ceiling. We do have portable fans though, even if we only need them two weeks of the year.
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Emilu 5 months ago
Aus. We also have ceiling fans. I have AC but also have a ceiling fan in the main bedroom.
Roni Stone 5 months ago
Same here. Ceiling fan, standing fan, and AC. (Florida)
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Multa Nocte 5 months ago
France here. Everyone I know has ceiling fans. Since it's not common to have AC it only makes sense.
Rick Murray 5 months ago
Which part of France? Here in the northwest nobody has them, it only gets hot enough to think about such a thing when the canicule says hello, which is what, 2-3 weeks in a year maybe? This time of year I just go home and open the windows in the kitchen and the living room, good current of air.
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Asri 5 months ago
Southern US: we use AC, ceiling fans, dehumidifier, passive solar AND tower fans. And I miss my old house where I had a whole house fan to suck all the hot air out when it cooled down at night (when it did actually cool down.) Even with a lot of insulation, only using AC will eat you alive in electricity bills.
#7
The thing where in some European countries you move into an apartment with ZERO light fixtures, appliances, etc, and when you move you take what you bought with you and hope it all works in the new place.
Edit: some people have mentioned that this also applies to FLOORING???
Moving is enough of a nightmare without having to set time aside to unscrew, pack, and reinstall light fixtures, let alone the F*****G FLOOR.
That is completely nonsensical and I can only assume there is some kind of benefit provided that is being blocked from my brain due to all the freedom* I’m surrounded by.
*guns per capita.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Spaniard here. Usually, large appliances (washing machine and fridge) come with the apartment, and small appliances are yours.
Savannah greenleaf 5 months ago
I have rented places with just the washer dryer hookups. Your voice to install your own or go to the Laundromat.
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Jan Rosier 5 months ago
Depends on the country, the landlord... we (Belgian family) moved a few times. Mostly rentals have 'complete' kithchen, but once we had to get a fridge. Took it with us when we moved. And indeed, lighting fixtures... your most prized chandeleer migh not be my choice. One thing I always did though : change the toilet seats.
Robert T 5 months ago
In the UK, if it is fitted, it stays. If it is free-standing it goes. Ovens and hobs are normally built in, so they stay. Fridges, freezers and microwaves are sometimes built-in, sometimes free-standing. Washing machines and tumble driers normally go with the owner - they are normally a standard size, so they fit the next house.
greenideas 5 months ago
In Poland you can rent both furnished and unfurnished apartments. If they're unfurnished, you will likely want to take the furniture/appliances with you when you move, because it cost a lot and is to your taste. You can also leave it as part of an agreement with the landlord. I've never heard of flooring being removed.
SouthernGal 5 months ago
I can understand taking your kitchen cabinetry and appliances with you, but flooring does seem to be complicated. The floors would never be the same size and layout, so I guess you just buy all new flooring for the place?
Nota Robot 5 months ago
Yes, correct. Some landlords do not allow you to leave the flooring behind, unless the next tenant signs agreement to accept your flooring. Most rentals therefore have easily installed/removed floors on top of the original, permanent floor (concrete).
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Nathan Lewis 5 months ago (edited)
i don't want to use appliances that some unknown person/people have used before me. would you use a random toaster you found on the street? Cause its the same thing.
Tiffany Sauter 5 months ago
Toaster, no. Stove top and fridge, yes. Ovens can be cleaned like new.
Load More Replies... BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
This happens in the US too though. I've moved into apartments where I had to supply most of the appliances, like fridge, oven, washer/dryer, etc. Flooring is a bit more interesting. I don't think I would move into an apartment where I was expected to build a new floor and then tear it out afterwards.
Sven Horlemann 5 months ago
Honestly, you want me to use some BS appliances 100 years old and of mediocre quality? Nope. I chose my stuff, thank you very much.
#8
Had English cousins and family overseas that I visited often as a kid. My cousins raaaaaved about beans on toast. I always turned it down because my brain couldn’t comprehend it being a comfort food. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I actually tried it and I felt horrible for being a little s**t about it. So mostly it’s the weird niche comfort foods a lot of foreigners talk about that don’t make sense to me or sounds gross. I’ll give everything cuisine wise a shot now and I’ve been surprised.
Papa 5 months ago
I don't doubt that it's good, but I still don't want beans for breakfast (other than refried beans on my breakfast burrito, of course).
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Mir Adwari 5 months ago
The UK diet... 🙄It is a very broad one these days. Encompassing, as it does, foods from cultures around the world. Despite what people think we are not avoiding spice or eating like WWII is still on. Rationing seriously f****d up British food for decades but it's not like that now. If you come to the UK and eat badly you picked s****y restaurants. Fine dining is big business here and home cuisine is personal choice.
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Auntriarch 5 months ago
Let me introduce you to the cold baked beans sandwich... But it has to be ordinary white bread and plenty of real salted butter. Hmm, it's been a while since I had one, lunch sorted.
Julia H 5 months ago
American here. Baked beans on white bread is really good. Although my younger years was in Australia. Unsure if that's where I was introduced to it though
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Scott Rackley 5 months ago
Yeah, I tried it once, don't get it. Even bought the Branston brand from the niche supermarket. It's ok I guess but not life altering. Then again, we have s**t on a shingle over here, so we can't really claim to be superior.
Hiram's Friend 5 months ago
Always thought it sounded good, until I found out it was just canned Campbell's beans, not homemade.
G A 5 months ago
No one does homemade baked beans. It's convenience food.
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Rachel Reynolds 5 months ago
My kid got really into Tomb Raider and apparently Lara Coft's favorite food is beans on toast. So of course we had to try it, and it was really good. (I used a recipe from the Official Tomb Raider Cook Book and made the beans from scratch).
Tiggy Darling 5 months ago
Not beans on toast. That's beginner level. Try toast on beans. Keeps the toast crisper.
L.V 5 months ago
Can't stand beans, on toast or whatever. I can only eat green beans or dried beans. That said, the meet idea of haggis kind of mad me gagged, until I moved to Scotland and tried it. So good! So yeah, I'm like OP, I'll try most things at least once
nottheactualphoto 5 months ago
Haggis is delicious! Great chieftain o the puddin'-race. I've never been to Scotland.
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ROSESARERED 5 months ago
Chopped up fried bacon in them, yum. Go gourmet, roast some tiny tomatoes, add a bit of sweet paprika and curry powder, and a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg. Add those,and chopped bacon and beans Serve on buttery toast with bacon and beans
#9
Eating dinner super late. I visited family outside the US, and they would often eat dinner as late as 9 PM.
rorschach-penguin 5 months ago
Because if I eat dinner at six pm, then I'm hungry again at eleven pm. And I say that as an American.
BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
I used to do the same, but I have developed really bad reflux and have scarring in my esophagus as a result. Now if I eat after 19:00, I am guaranteed to wake up choking on my own vomit in the middle of the night.
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Ace 5 months ago
I've got news for you, 9pm is not "super late". Many restaurants in, say, Spain, are only just getting into the busy period at that time.
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
I saw a video recently of an American couple at a restaurant somewhere in Europe around 6pm for dinner. The restaurant is dead except for the American couple. The server told them it would be another couple hours until the dinner rush 😂 they were baffled
Load More Replies... Ge Po 5 months ago
Norway traditionally eats breakfast: 6 to 8 am, lunch 11 to 12 am, dinner 4 to 5 pm and a light evening-meal around 8 to 9 pm. Netherlands: breakfast 6 to 8 am, lunch around 12 am, dinner 5 to 7 pm, but they usually have a light snack/meal (fruit/yoghurt/other snack) around 10 am, 3 pm and 8/9 pm. Both are quite efficient.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
As a Spaniard... 21:00h is too early for me XD, but I'm OK with eating times in every country I visit. But, if I have dinner at 18:00-17:00, be sure that at some point in the night I'm gonna feel hungry.
Papa 5 months ago
What time do people typically get out of bed, and start work, if you eat that late? I try to be in bed by that time.
Load More Replies... Roni Stone 5 months ago
This happens pretty often in our house. Then again, we're old and retired so time has a whole other meaning to us. LOL
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
I’m never hungry around 5-7pm (normal dinner time for most folks in Canada). I’ve been listening to my body for years and my body wants to eat around 9pm, so I’m cool with that 😊 I kind of like cooking and eating a big meal and then going to bed. I always have the best sleep after eating.
Geoffrey Scott 5 months ago
Seinfeld did a bit about his folks, in a retiree complex in Fla , eating at 5pm. I am now 62 and understand this very well.
#10
The near universal disregard/ambivalence towards cold drinks. Like, what do you mean you don’t add ice to everything? It absolutely blew my mind when I learned that people in China drink HOT water by default. And no, I’m not talking about tea! I basically never even considered that an option.
Trillian 5 months ago (edited)
Have you guys heard about fridges? The drinks are cold. They don't need ice. And I don't like ice clinking against my teeth plus I like to get a full glass of whatever I ordered and not three spoonfuls plus a shitload of ice cubes.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 5 months ago
''Cold'' drinks from the fridge stay cold for about five minutes in Australia in the summer. You need ice. Lots of it.
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d b 5 months ago
Ya, I don't know. Have lived in a few different countries without freezy pleasure cubes then came home to Canada and 30C+ degrees throughout summer. Holy crappola, do I appreciate me some ice in my drinks! Sipping like a goddam QUEEN.
Auntriarch 5 months ago
I love ice in cold drinks, even in the winter. In fact I have an ice making machine. Am I even properly British? 😂
Load More Replies... Pernille 5 months ago
Icy drinks makes you feel hotter when the weather is nice, and the other 11 months of the year you need something hot to keep you warm, at least that is how I felt living in northern Europe.
Roxy222uk 5 months ago
In Chinese medicine it’s considered unwise to regularly put cold food and drink into your body that the lining of your digestive system then has to warm up.
Otto Katz 5 months ago
Chinese medicine also thinks it's wise to eat rhino horn, the same stuff your fingernails are made of.
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Rosie 5 months ago
I 2nd this one! I grew up in the tropics where tap water is too warm to drink. And isn't the idea of drinking warm/hot water a home remedy to make you puke? I seem to remember that from my childhood. Anyway, everyone should drink whatever as they prefer. I'll take all the ice cubes, thank you.
Lee Gilliland 5 months ago
I can't stand cold drinks and ice. My teeth are too sensitive and ice is painful.
#11
I have a ton of European clients who take multi-week trips, often with only about a month between them. When do y’all work? How can we get this lifestyle in the states???
Pernille 5 months ago
Unionise, and have a look at French history, especially the years 1789 - 99.
Alexia 5 months ago
In most EU countries, the number of paid days off starts from 15-18 working days (sometimes 20) and goes up to 24-25 days as you gain seniority. In some countries, annual leave must be at least 10 consecutive working days. Additionally, there are local bank holidays which are free, paid days by law. If such a day is on Thursday for example, we'll take Friday off too (it's a common practice). Also, some companies offer days off as bonuses. So yeah, we take vacations like royalties 😎 Europeans understood a simple thing: in order to be productive at work, employees must rest and have time for personal life.
pandamonium 5 months ago
Yep, EU country and I got 34 free days this year (not including weekends), so that's 7 weeks. My country has comparatively low wages, and standard of living is not high, but no money is worth free time for friends, family, hobbies and just living.
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Sue 5 months ago (edited)
Because of all the uber religious Europeans that came over to worship freely, and guilt was the rule of the day. If you're enjoying yourself, you're going to hell. And by worship freely, they meant that they could make everyone else follow their religion's rules. As someone raised Southern Baptist, my mom said the Catholics have more rules but they don't follow them. The Baptists have fewer rules because the only rule is if it feels good, its a sin.
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Multi-week trips, and only with a month in between? I wouldn't say that's common at all in Europe. But multiple short travels (2-3 days) in different countries in a year range is quite possible.
HighNMightyBigshotBossOfWorld 5 months ago
And it actually wasn’t such a hard sell. Because all of those benefits would equally go to Native and Black Americans and other people of color, and both Dems and Repugs are literally willing to set this country on fire to prevent that. Never underestimate racism as a motivating factor for these people. It’s bred into their bones, fed to them with their mother’s milk.
#12
Not sure about the whole world, but still don’t get why Europeans don’t have window screens. Minimally invasive and easy solution to keep out all bugs
Edit: didn’t expect this to get so much traction lol. And TIL, window screens are common in some parts of Europe (guess I shouldn’t have generalized an entire continent). Just have always noted the lack of them while traveling.
Pernille 5 months ago
I'm in southern France, and apart from the odd fly I don't get many insects in the house, in the UK and Danmark it was the same.
Sue 5 months ago
We need them in Florida, where the deer are tiny & the flying cockroaches (palmetto bugs) are gigantic.
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Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Depends on the place. Apartment a few floors up really doesn't get that many buzzing visitors even without bug screens, but you bet my grandma used them all the time living in the countryside near a lake. Without them the air would have been more mosquito than oxygen in the summer 🦟🦟🦟🦟🦟🦟🦟🦟🦟
R Dennis 5 months ago
In the Loire Valley, we kept our windows open all night (no screens) and didn't have a single bug come in the whole week!
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
The same in my house in Valencia. Just a fly from time to time, and a little gecko in the basement a few nights ago. But it actually depends on where your house is placed. WhatsApp-I...c-jpeg.jpg 
quentariel 5 months ago
I don't have screens and I much prefer it that way. I get top visibility, wind and an occasional bug that usually fly right back out themselves. But many people also have screens, and that's okay. Everyone can do as they want.
Lee Gilliland 5 months ago
They don't have the number and kinds of bugs in Europe. Lots of screens in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.
Orysha 5 months ago
We don't really need them; it's not Australia. I won't mind a flamethrower against mosquitoes though.
JL 5 months ago
Based on some of the Australian creatures we've seen on here, a little mesh over the window isn't going to keep them out of the house.
Load More Replies... Sven Horlemann 5 months ago
I am in the south of Germany, we got it on the windows we want to open for fresh air. I thought it is pretty common to use them, though not on all windows.
#13
How the f**k do so many European cultures drink during lunch on a work day? If I have a drink I’m switching gears mentally, you ain’t getting any more productivity outta me that day.
Multa Nocte 5 months ago
Sipping a glass of wine or two over a two-hour lunch is different than gulping down a martini or two in a one hour (or less) lunch.
Ace 5 months ago
Much less common than it used to be, but based on the very simple premise that one beer or one glass of wine doesn't get you drunk. When I was younger in the UK we used to go to the pub perhaps once a week, two or three pints, generally on a Friday, and it was accepted that Friday afternoons were not the most productive times, (office/IT environment, no machine operations involved)
G A 5 months ago
Bang on. Plus centralisation by employers mean people have to travel more and are less local, so less convenient to get together after work and the sheer cost now.
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nm 5 months ago
Because we're civilized and savor our wine, to satisfy our taste buds and not drunkards to get blasted. At least the majority anyway.
Joyce mann 5 months ago
Speaking for yourself, I assume you don't have a clue. Most Americans that i know, do not drink to excess, I have lived in 5 states. Some do, Friday after work
Load More Replies... Lee Gilliland 5 months ago
They're having a glass or two of wine, not drinking to excess the way we do in the States.
geezeronthehill 5 months ago
Grew up in Northern Wisconsin (heavily influenced by German and French culture). A beer with lunch was expected. Moved to the bible belt and the practice was seen as degenerate. Alcohol was for after work and the idea was to get hammered. I don't like being drunk, though, so they saw me as weird.
Robert T 5 months ago
We used to have a drink on Friday lunchtimes with a pub lunch. We were so unproductive on Friday afternoon's we had to stop drinking. Plus drink-driving laws were tightened up, so you could still be over the limit at the end of the day with just one drink at lunchtime. I prefer the Danish approach of having a small beer at the end of the day whilst chewing the fat.
Ge Po 5 months ago
I personally do not know anyone who drinks during lunch, let alone on a work-day. And I'm from Europe and have several friends in and/or from other European countries.
L.V 5 months ago
Last time I've seen that was in 2003, during my internship. Misty people I know would rather drink coffee to get over the post lunch slump
Load More Replies... #14
Stop pretending racism only exists in America!
MsAnnThrope 5 months ago
Sadly racism exists everywhere. But only in America was a civil war fought over the right to maintain slavery. Only in America is the organised abuse, murder and t*****e of black citizens still allowed to this day in the form of the K*K. Only in America was segregation legally acceptable until the 1950s. Only in America are entire States allowed to be so racist as to be no-go zones for black citizens. America is actually totally fùcked up about racism and being racist.
R Dennis 5 months ago
As a poc, I can tell you there is plenty of blatant and violent racism in Europe.
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El Dee 5 months ago
No one is. It's just WORSE in the US. Racism and hate speech disguised as 'free speech'
Margaret Shannon 5 months ago
I think racism is a binary sin. No room for gradation of wrongness.
Load More Replies... Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
There's a lot of the old fashioned racism in Europe on top of the skin color version. Historically Europeans were calling different flavors of white as different races and discriminating along those lines. People were measuring sculls etc to try and prove their "race" was superior. The "races" you'd find in comments back then were more on the language lines as in slavic "race", germanic "race" etc. It bothers me when the discrimination on those prejudices is considered less than racism. Btw Finns were not considered white even in the USA and many places banned Native Americans and Finns from entering.
Ge Po 5 months ago
And it's not bound to a single skin-colour. Those who may find themselves/their skin-tone in the minority anywhere in the world, may experience racism. No matter what tone the majority is. The thing is: people are still too skeptical for that which is different than the norm. We have to learn and teach that all skin-tones and other body-characteristics are within the human norm. Only then can we start to work on historical pain and mistrust, stemming from war, occupation and slavery, which happened throughout the world and within any culture. And yes, we have to acknowledge that it still exists, also within our own town.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
Who pretends it does? But other countries tend not to elect a head of state whose chief appeal is targeted on racism and other forms of bigotry.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago (edited)
Look, just because we like guns doesn't mean that you can just insert 'reticle' into the insult to make it land softer. It is perfectly ok to say we have a particular flair for racism.
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Spidercat 5 months ago
Being anti immigration isn't necessarily racist in of itself. Immigrants are made up of many different races and as long as you don't discriminate based on race, it isn't (by definition) racist. You can't dismiss genuine concerns about the effect on society just by saying "you're racist". You just ignore the arguments and disenfranchise large parts of the existing population.
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Ahnjunwan 5 months ago
That depends on your definition. For americans as soon as a nation or a skincolor is even mentioned, it is allready racist. But sometimes it is the easiest way do describe a person and eveybody knows who you are talking about. I have an indian colleague with an unpronouncable name with about 27 syllables. Everybody calls him ravi wich is his first name. This is actually rude but no one thinks it is racist but in the US i am sure it would be. He does not mind it and is actually pretty amused anybody tries to pronounce his name
Al Fun 5 months ago
This is a universal problem, my rule is to call people the same name that they use to sign a message. If Sriparawardana signs with Sri, I'm going to say “Hi Sri”, otherwise it’s “Hi Sriparawardana“. I would never shorten a name unless I have seen it used by the person. For every 10 Thomas who go by Tom, there is one who hates it.
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April Pickett 5 months ago
Trump ended DEI. I have really enjoyed seeing women CEOs, college presidents, police chiefs, ads that show brown people living regular lives, multicultural commercials, people being who they are and not what the conservative politicians expect. DEI gave alot of folk opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise. Hopefully we will get it back in 4-5 years.
#15
The driving habits in Africa and India are outrageous. I mean, if you have not driven there, it's so unnecessarily aggressive.
You don't have to be Japan, but come on. I remember being in Ghana, a relatively peaceful and prosperous nation in the 1990s (It's up and down there) and I saw pairs of burned out busses and vans on the sides of the road, crashed and burned from passing going uphill and crashing head-on.
Your system of blinking lights and hand motions don't work that well!
Emma London 5 months ago
Fair enough. I wouldn't dare to drive there. Every crossing is an adventure.
Lee Gilliland 5 months ago (edited)
After living in Egypt, I agree. I once told a cabbie NYC was Cairo without the horns and donkeys and he cr*cked up.
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
Meanwhile in Atlanta, if you're not doing 10 over the limit you get ran over
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
Kyiv is the one that scared me the most 😅 Bangkok too
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Paolo D'Andrea 5 months ago
I drove in Namibia, South Africa and Botswana and is quite easy... I drove also in Morocco and it is like driving in the south of Italy, but I've learned to drive in Rome, so I'm prepared to everything. Japan is the paradise of driving!
Yrral Spavit 5 months ago
Remember riding a motorcycle in Thailand. I think the only reason I'm alive is that most people were Buddhist and too nice to run me over.
#16
Think all of America is the same. There are over 300 million people of various cultures living in 50 states with different state governments and education systems. Massachusetts people and Alabama people are both Americans but their approach to life and their culture is going to be vastly different.
Pernille 5 months ago
Meanwhile US americans seem to think that Europeans are all the same. At least in the US you use the same currency and speak the same language, and elect the same president, that make you a country. I've been to quite a few places in the US on both coast, and I didn't find tha same differences as I find going from Danmark to Portugal.
Jrog 5 months ago
America IS the same. The culture is much more homogeneous and based on common staples across the USA than it is in the EU. American kids all grew up with the same shows, same games, similar education systems, same festivities. American adults move in a homogeneous job market, follow the same laws, use the same language and slangs across the country. Some food may be slightly different and is in most cases just a function of which cultural group immigrated into the place. Cultural diversity in the EU is on a whole new level, some specific cultural differences date back to the bronze age...
Jrog 5 months ago
And I am not exaggerating. Sardinia has a language and genetic traits that dates back to pre-Indo-European groups. The Euskal language is basically incomprehensible because it's an evolutionary fork from pre-Bronze Age Iberian, and they retain specific regional practices that date back to ancient clan rules (the Baserriak as an example). Greece retains some unque religious holidays that are evolutions from Mynoic rituals, and so on...
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
About 45 countries in Europe, 744 millions of inhabitants, 104 regions at NUTS 1 level, 281 at NUTS 2 level, and 1,348 at NUTS 3 level... and we're still talking about Europeans as a whole.
Auntriarch 5 months ago
Dåmn right, I learnt that on the aforementioned trip from Urbana to Tennessee
Sven Horlemann 5 months ago
Yeah. Says someone of a nation where enough people think each Europe and Africa are a country.
Boredandsomea 5 months ago
All American are the same, they live in cites and drive down the interstate eating cheeseburgers sometimes they are from small towns then they wait to serve cheeseburgers to the city people passing by. This is all Americans do cheeseburgers and driving.
#17
Make their country accessible to people with disabilities. I understand older countries have more historic architecture to update for a steeper price, but to just not try at all is bananas. Our friends and family in wheel chairs and other movement disorders deserve to be a part of public life.
R Dennis 5 months ago
London is incredibly accessible. Reykjavik is somewhat accessible. I was surprised how accessible the smaller town in France were, but was disappointed with Paris. The people were very friendly and accommodating, contrary to stereotyping. But talking with a local about accessibility, they said their disabled don't want to go outside... WHAT?! Paris has also put a lot of accessibility requirements on the back burner, so not very accessible and in no hurry to become so.
Rick Murray 5 months ago
I can't speak for Paris, but in the rest of France there are numerous rules and regulations for accessibility. And recently they also rolled out some sort of non-visible-disability card for, well, exactly what it says on the tin. Not every disability is obvious and this is a government issued "shut the f**k up" card. 👍
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Jihana 5 months ago
The reason why it is not tried in historic buildings is because it's illegal. Those buildings are protected, you can't just drill holes in them and knock down walls. That's the reason why all those historic buildings are still standing.
Joey Marlin 5 months ago
That's right. Where possible adjustments are obviously made - there is legislation for that too!
Load More Replies... Jrog 5 months ago
Most of Europe, and all of Western Europe, has accessibility regulations that leaves ADA rules in shame. Larger spaces, more accessible fixtures, more accessible spaces pro capite, more thorough implementation of accessible features on public vehicles. Yes, we have exemptions for ancient buildings that cannot be updated, it's not like we can tear down our medieval buildings and rebuild them. We do anything possible to include elevators, ramps and such, but sometimes it's not possible and you can ask for an exemption, that must be motivated and approved by the town or superintendence.
Roni Stone 5 months ago
Yep. Gave up driving because of disability a decade ago. I don't live in an easy public transport accessible area, either, but Uber and Lyft have worked for me. Cheaper than owning my car.
Load More Replies... Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
It's really a hit and miss. Fortunately people do make recommendations and warnings about places so you can research where to visit and what places to avoid
Hiram's Friend 5 months ago
Went shopping in Prague. Two story store with steep stairs. I'm on oxygen and my wife has bad knees. No elevator because it was in an historic building.
nm 5 months ago
Regret (no) to inform you that our wishes and/or needs, as disabled people, cannot always been satisfied, especially in historic buildings. You can go somewhere else for shopping.
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Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
Prove what? That America isn’t always the most accessible place to live for folks with disabilities? This has already been well documented and is extremely easy information to find online. Let me know if you’re still struggling and I can look up a couple sources for you to check out.
Load More Replies... #18
Japanese loli culture and how Japanese culture dehumanizes and infantilizes women in general. It's s****y.
CP 5 months ago (edited)
The US elected a rapist for president. That is pretty dehumanizing to women.
nm 5 months ago (edited)
I suspect that there are plenty of pedofiles in Japan. The "loli" most probably is from the novel "Lolita".
Huddo's sister 5 months ago
Yes that's where the name comes from. They all wear these short dresses, like an updated/s**y version of Victorian and Rococo clothing. I like some of the dresses, but the way they style their hair and make up to go with it does suggest they want to look really young. It is creepy.
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Sandra Utsumi 5 months ago
Speaking of baby girl pageant contests? Abortion is easily accessible on Japan....whereas in the US....
Michael Largey 5 months ago
Penthouse was founded as a British publication.
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karen snyder 5 months ago
No. That is a picture of some women in kimonos.
Load More Replies... #19
Asians, and Chinese specifically, convinced that being physically cold in any way will make you sick. Got a cold? You need to wear more!. Upset stomach? Put on another layer. Hangnail? You guessed it, more heat!
Daya Meyer 5 months ago
And what is wrong about being warm? Maybe it is not a cure to a sickness but you feel comfy and relaxed and instantly better when you wrap yourself in your favourite blanket and drink hot tea.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Until you're a sweaty mess beneath all those layers. Moderation in everything
Load More Replies... Rick Murray 5 months ago
A *lot* of people seem to think that getting too cold is how you catch a cold. I used to walk home from school in the rain, and get wet obviously, and "you're going to catch a cold!". The fact that everybody was coughing and spluttering in that bug factory called school might be more of an issue than the water falling from the sky...
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
I got grounded once for going outside with wet hair without a hat on because “you’re going to catch a cold!” 😂 white family too, btw
Load More Replies... Ge Po 5 months ago
Well, it's not so much the cold in itself that makes you sick. It's the cold that takes so much of your energy that you do not have enough left for your immune system that makes you sick (when malnourished, over-worked, or living in very cold environments). Either that, or it is the fact that colder air is much more dry, which causes your mucous membranes to dry out, which again makes them much more susceptible for airway-infections. Asia has a lot of colder area's, either in the north, or higher up the mountains.
Ace 5 months ago
There's an element of truth in that but you go too far. The immune system does not need a lot of energy to function and will only start to be 'compromised' if you're physically exhausted or in the early stages of hypothermia.
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Nikki Angulo 5 months ago
Koreans too! Once, my co-teacher was wearing a scarf indoors “so she wouldn’t get sick from the cold air.” But so many north american people still believe this too! “Catch your death of cold” anyone?
#20
*not* driving long distances
like i get it, you're used to everything being walkable which is awesome....but like....your parents live an hour drive away and you don't visit because it's "a long drive", an hour isn't that long at all.
L H 5 months ago
Only in the large towns and cities in the UK. I commute 40 miles to work, it takes 45 minutes by car and 4½ hours by public transport.
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago (edited)
An hour to visit your parents is not a long distance driving for European standards... and mom's recipes are a fair reward.
Lady Chelsea (LadyChelseaoftheVoid) 5 months ago
are you sure its not just an excuse to not see their parents?
Nota Robot 5 months ago
It's all about perspective and about the purpose of the drive. A 1h commute to work is fine, 2h is definitely too far for me. 1h for vacation is ridiculously close, 15h (with breaks) is not "out there" at all. Relatives/friends are in between. The further they live away, the less we see each other.
Caiman 94920 5 months ago
I live in CA, if you wanted to drive from San Diego north to Crescent City, it's over 14 hours. You could probably find a Greyhound bus but that would probably take twice as long. And Amtrak is slower than that because there's always delays. This is just one state, in my area there are busses but they only run on the main roads, and not very regular. The homes are. uphill in the small valleys off the main drag, so after spending 2 hours to get 10 miles to the. next town, then you have to hoof it uphill to get to whoever's home you are heading to. Cars are necessary ... and we aren't even talking about driving to another state or two. Let alone to the East Coast, which can take at least 5 days. Europeans don't fathom how big the States are
Ontario Canada 5 months ago
Lived in Texas for a year and the strip mall was a 15 min walk away. I would walk to pick up a few groceries. The looks I got. No one walked anywhere. It was gross
Ivona 4 months ago
I drive to the grocery store across the street in our town here (the U.S.) because the street is actually a 4-lane road with busy traffic, and the pedestrian light at the zebra crossing shows "walk" for only 17 seconds.
Load More Replies... Rick Murray 5 months ago
An hour? Good grief it was only slightly more than that to go on holiday in Cornwall (from Hampshire). We just don't have the habit of driving five hours to go somewhere - that would probably put you in a different country!
#21
Non-american lemonade is often a TOTALLY different drink than our mix of lemon, water, and sugar. Other countries often mean something closer to sprite.
James016 5 months ago
The colour difference between Fanta in Europe and Fanta in the USA is interesting to say the least
Geoffrey Scott 5 months ago
While I AM convinced RFK is a nut job, I am in agreement with him on excessive sugar and artificial coloring.
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Jrog 5 months ago (edited)
In the EU, Fruit juices must be 100% actual fruit juice; "fruit nectars" must be at least made of at least 50% fruit, with the rest being water. "Concentrated Fruit Juice" must be made of actual fruit juice with at least 50% of the water removed. Lemonade has no specific provision, but must have Lemon juice as its main non-water ingredient and have a "distinctive flavor of natural lemon". The usual lemon content in EU brands is in the 14-18% ballpark, with the rest being water and sugar, while in the USA the average is 5%, and as low as 2% on the most common brands. In the USA there is a loophole where they can declare "15% of lemon juice from concentrate", but they can dilute the concentrate before mixing in, so the actual content is much lower.
Nota Robot 5 months ago
A brand which has a flagship drink comparable to 7-up.
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 5 months ago
Don't the big brands have different formulations in different countries?
#22
Eat shark fin soup and similar absolutely stupid and barbaric habits labeled untouchable under the umbrella of “culture”. Culture is a dynamic process and f**k your culture if it’s toxic for those involved.
Rinso The Red 5 months ago
In many areas around where I live, hunting is a necessity. The predator populations were culled back so much that the deer population became untenable. Now, if you try to brag about how big a man you are for killing an herbivore at 100m with a scope and hi-powered rifle, I'll call you out for the a*****e you are.
Load More Replies... Nota Robot 5 months ago
Modern "shark fin soup" (in the Netherlands at least) does not contain any fish at all, but is made with chicken and egg. Frog legs, foie gras and freshly cooked lobster on the other hand, I am inclined to agree.
Jrog 5 months ago (edited)
What's the problem with lobster? It's just seafood. Crabs are fine, mussels are ok, but lobster is not? All of those are boiled alive. BTW the current practice in Europe (that has already been made mandatory in some EU countries) is to k**l the lobster just before boiling with a knife cut on the head. Maine and the whole East Coast are not so kind....
Load More Replies... Al Fun 5 months ago
In Germany and most other Eurooean countries, you can eat horse meat in many places, even though its more of a novelty. California and most US states have forbidden selling horse meat, just because of the sensibilities of horse lovers, not because horses are so much different than cows.
nottheactualphoto 5 months ago
Americans' aversion to horse meat is based on the "ick" factor, not on anything intrinsically wrong with it.
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Emma London 5 months ago
Hardly no-one is eating shark fin soup or whale anymore. But look it up, EU has given a special cultural permission for Finland to use tar in food products. 😁
#23
Just having a conversation with a stranger is normal in america but when I was in Germany I was treated like a weirdo for smiling and trying to talk to people waiting on for the train. In america especially in the south its normal to have small talk with random people be they 18 to 100
Like yeah I'm smiling its a nice day and I want to get to know the people and culture im visiting and the best way is to talk to them.
Why do yall shun friendly interactions with strangers?
Cardigan 5 months ago
Why do you consider being politely spoken to a "bother"?
Load More Replies... Pernille 5 months ago
Because we are heading to, or from, work, and minding our own business. If you want to talk to strangers go to a bar or cafe, we are much more approachable when at leisure.
Jan Rosier 5 months ago
exactly. The earbuds I am wearing, banging my head gently to the metaltunes should be a clue as well !
Load More Replies... Alexia 5 months ago
What you call "friendly interaction" may be perceived as weird and intrusive (maybe even dangerous) by the other person. Be more aware of the non-verbal signals. I did encounter people willing to chat with strangers in UK and Nordic countries BUT first I made sure I was not bothering them.
Daya Meyer 5 months ago
If you need any information like directions, the right train, where you can find the best pizza in town or where to find a specific shop, come and ask me. If you think my dog is too cute and you would like to pet her, please ask me. If you would like to get personal or discuss politics, just leave me alone.
L.V 5 months ago
Ugh, when I went to Italy in 2018, I met a couple of Americans who within 2 min of asking where I was from, tried to convince me that Trump was the best thing ever...
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 5 months ago
Also there's the small town/big city dichotomy everywhere. I live in a small market town and really notice the difference when I visit a city
quentariel 5 months ago
Can people just read the room (or bus/train). If someone is avoiding your eyes or is squeezing themselves in the corner they probably don't want to interact with anyone. And if you talk to someone and they answer in one words sentences, they probably want you to shut up and leave them alone. But leaving those to be, usually there are people around that aren't aversed to interact with you.
#24
Base all their knowledge of the US on sitcoms and movies.
Wharfrat 5 months ago
I remember reading somewhere that the canned laughter used in US shows was recorded in the 1950s so you are now listening to dead people laughing...
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Robert Millar 5 months ago
... and masses of utter twaddle and ignorance on the Internet. And don't forget a President whose every statement is a slobber of lies and BS designed to cover up P2025.
Trisec Tebeakesse 5 months ago
America bases its view of the world on the propaganda fed us by the media and Hollywood, so turnabout is fair play.
Emma London 5 months ago (edited)
On the other hand, Americans base their knowledge of my country (Finland) on nothing.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
Honestly, I'd count that as a blessing. When we think Finland, we think saunas and that's about it. I get the impression that when people think US, they think of things considerably less pleasant.
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Earonn - 5 months ago
I mean, what is someone to base their knowledge on? Do we have to study American anthropology to open our mouths? I can talk to workmates, but not everyone has those, so it's entertainment and TV. And as adults we can guess what is real and what is not. But go on, Americans, tell me where you learn so much better about Europe, and I will use that source for the USA. (no, can't visit myself. Have you seen my Twitter account? Not interested in your foreign t*****e prison and Alligator Auschwitz).
#25
Standing basically on top of each other. Been to many countries in Europe and Asia and we give each other way more space in America. Probably because we also shoot at each other way more.
Emma London 5 months ago
Europeans have had thousands of years of time to learn how to peace fully live that way. The ones originally migrating to America were besically the trouble makers who had differing opinions on how people should live.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
It should be noted that the "thousands of years of time", were filled with brutal wars and human exploitation. Like most of humanity, lessons on "how to not be a piece of s**t" were learned by the people being massive pieces of s**t. The pot in this instance is the one of the blackest pots known to mankind and should be very careful accusing the kettle of being black.
Load More Replies... Trisec Tebeakesse 5 months ago
Where in America? I live in the Northeast Megalopolis, which is very European in population density. There is personal space, but far less expected or given than places like Montana, I'd bet.
#26
The whole football hooligans thing. We'll s**t talk but we ain't about to fight over it much less going just to pick a fight.
Nathan Lewis 5 months ago
isn't there a riot after every major sporting event in philadelphia?
sbj 5 months ago
Unfortunately for us true Football fans the hooligans who are a tiny minority spoil it for the rest of us
Joey Marlin 5 months ago
The hooligans aren't real football fans. They're fans of violence. The same kind of people who turn up to riot at protests.
Load More Replies... Pernille 5 months ago
I don't get that either. Football fans seems to loose brainpower the moment there is a match on.
StrangeOne 5 months ago
It's like a cult in Europe. The hooligans are not really part of the normal fan base groups that go to watch the game and cheer on their team. Their main mission is aggression and fighting.
Load More Replies... James Twong 5 months ago
It's not really much of a thing in England now. People credit the widespread use of E in the 90's with calming down the terrace culture.
Martin Annau 5 months ago
It's a footbal-thing. All over the globe and only football. Even in the US
Huddo's sister 5 months ago
I really don't understand why soccer (football) fans in Australia are always so crazy, even after a win. Football (AFL) and Rugby fans are rarely as destructive.
#27
Pay to use public restrooms.
Johnnynatfan 5 months ago
Not always clean. Ive seen quite of few not so clean pay to use bathrooms in Europe.
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elmortero 5 months ago
Well, some countries privatise public restrooms, others privatise prisons
Ge Po 5 months ago
I would rather pay for a bathroom-break so someone can make a living, yes.
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
The problem is not paying... the problem is finding one. In any case, I remember restrooms at the train station in my city in Spain before and after a fee was introduced and it's like heaven and hell.
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
These mostly only exist in tourist areas and busy transport hubs. Which is why they appear to be the norm to outsiders.
Rick Murray 5 months ago
Most small French towns have a public toilet that is free to use - usually near the church. *Highly* variable as to whether it's a joyful experience or like walking into a pit of protozoic slime, mind you.
Robert T 5 months ago
In the UK, anywhere over a certain size that serves food and drink has to provide toilet facilities, which are normally free to paying customers. Public conveniences are provided either by the local authority or private company running a station, motorway services or shopping centre. They often charge to pay for their upkeep.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Pro tip: The shopping centers usually have free bathrooms. How clean they are really depends on the location though
Nota Robot 5 months ago
In the Netherlands, most public style restrooms are actually free. In some touristy places restaurants and cafes only have you pay for the use of their restrooms if you don't purchase anything else. I can get behind that. In increasingly rate places, the toilets are continually being cleaned and maintained by a specially hired staffer. I have no problem paying there. But disgusting toilets? No way I'm paying.
#28
Laundry in the kitchen still gets me.
James016 5 months ago
That's where the plumbing is a lot of the time. In my flat I had a washer/dryer combo in the kitchen. There was nowhere else for it.
Ivona 4 months ago
Same in many apartments in Bulgaria. There's no dedicated laundry room.
Load More Replies... Susie Elle 5 months ago
Cause our houses are smaller and this way you concentrate some of the plumbing into one room.
Rika 5 months ago
I know a few people who have a washing machine in their kitchen because the kitchen was designed with a space for a dishwasher, but they don't care to have one. It just makes sense to use that space for laundry instead.
Joey Marlin 5 months ago
Also usually near a door to the garden where the washing line is... can't see why it's an issue. The clothes go from a linen bin into the machine. No one is wiping the kitchen counters with their socks.
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P1 No-Name 5 months ago
Get over it. Having your domestic appliances in one place makes sense.
Robert T 5 months ago
They either go in the kitchen or the bathroom, depending upon where you live, for the simple reason that that is where the plumbing is. It is only larger properties that can afford to have a utility room. My parents turned their coal-store into a utility room, which was affectionately known as "the bug-hole".
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
It's also different from a city to another. In many Spanish cities, the kitchen or even the bathroom is a common place for the wash machine. In my city (Valencia), there is some kind of a discreet balcony (we call it the "galería") for laundry. Galera-688...c9ca69.jpg 
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
That's also quite common in Southeast Asia. Wouldn't work in Finland though unless the balcony has heating so the machines wouldn't freeze
Load More Replies... Nikki Angulo 5 months ago
I had that in both Korea and Saudi Arabia. (Well, my second apt in Korea had a room off the kitchen just for laundry, couldn’t even walk in there, no room with the washing machine and drying racks set up.
#29
Eating a lot and somehow not gaining weight. If I so much as breathe in front of a McDonalds I gain 10 pounds.
Lady Chelsea (LadyChelseaoftheVoid) 5 months ago
walkable and bikeable cities = more exercise. plus, those countries regulate food additives more than the USA. not every single foodstuff is filled with dyes, fake sugar, ans high fructose corn syrup
John L 5 months ago
This so much. Immigrants are always surprised, when they magically start to pack on the pounds after a few years here.
Load More Replies... Alexia 5 months ago
The food portions in US are enormous, I literally needed 2 days to eat one. We also walk and/or cycle a lot. I was baffled to see there are barely any sidewalks in the US city I stayed in, and a police officer stopped me once, to ask me if my car had broken 😄
Ace 5 months ago
I think the main difference is just how often you guys seem to eat fast food, such that home deliveries several times a week, and sooo many burger, sandwich, fried chicken joint, bbq grills, etc. etc everywhere you look are considered perfectly normal. So no, relatively speaking those nations that don't have obesity problems are those nations who eat less and more healthily.
Sue 5 months ago
And eating slowly & giving your body time to tell your brain you're full & relaxing. And I don't know if it's the case any more, but dinner (the big meal) used to be earlier, more lunch, and people & kids went home for it from work & school. Then supper was maybe cheese & bread or leftovers from dinner.
#30
Treating daily driving like an F-1 tryout. I know I'm not the most aggressive driver but driving in both Italy and Germany made me feel like a grandma.
Jan Rosier 5 months ago
Takes some getting used to. Belgian, but driving in France : totally different. Driving in Germany : another big difference than Belgium or France.
Ace 5 months ago
Yupp, big differences. Italy is the "worst" (they dont think it's a bad thing) when it comes to the F1-style driving. Germany for high-speed autobahns where they just expect you to move out of their way when they're coming close behind you at 60kph faster than you're driving.
Load More Replies... Hiram's Friend 5 months ago
Made it two weeks in Ireland because my wife sat beside me chanting "Left...Left...Left...."
#31
I know it's a thing in som parts of America, but I don't understand bag milk.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
It was quite common in Spain until early 80's, difficult to find now.
Jihana 5 months ago
Well, not really. Tetrapacks are trash as well, and even harder to recycle.
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Nikki Angulo 5 months ago
It’s CANADA, not us. Don’t insult us! And bagged milk tastes so much better than milk from the cartons, which has a waxy taste. (You notice it if you grow up drinking bagged milk.)
Robert T 5 months ago
Used to be. I remember getting it when we went caravanning as a child. And what a pain it was, as we didn't have anything to put it in.
Load More Replies... #32
Putting business hours on ATMs. Defeats the purpose of an ATM.
Janissary35680 5 months ago
Do any banks still do that? When ATMs first started appearing in Turkey there was one state-owned bank that turned their ATMs off outside normal banking hours and even during the lunch break.🤯They don't do that any more.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Never in Spain. From the very first day, ATM was a 24h service.
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HighNMightyBigshotBossOfWorld 5 months ago
Japan! The ATMs near my place open at 7 and close at Midnight. But every convenience store has a 24 hour machine, and there are a LOT of ATMs in Tokyo.
#33
Stand very close to strangers and touch them without consent. Like bro you don't need to touch my shoulder to tell me to have a good day 😒.
OneHappyPuppy 5 months ago
And the Slavic 3 kisses on the cheeks as a greeting would probably make an American shudder
Load More Replies... Orysha 5 months ago
They want to talk to you all day long but they can't stand a friendly gesture?
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Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
My friends hug me, take my hands when they're saying important things, rest their hands in my shoulder... Personally, I do never touch other people outside family, but it has never been a problem for me.
Joe Russo 5 months ago
I've had to teach this A LOT to my students here in Greece who will go to uni abroad. All the folks here saying "but this is friendly" "but this is rude" need to add "in my culture" and then wrap your head around the fact that we're all trying to be "friendly" but your friendly might seem anywhere from cold/distant to warm/friendly to invasive/aggressive. There's not a right way, but you should learn the flavors of friendly/polite in the place you're going. Personal distance in the US: shake hands with the stranger, drop your hands, don't move closer/farther. Friendly in Greece: kiss on right cheek then left (but air kiss the posh people) then half a step back and talk. Roughly half of US personal space. It took me two years to get used to this so...fake it til you make it. My students feel super.stupid, awkward and unfriendly when I get them to have English conversations at hand shake distance. :)
Rick Murray 5 months ago
Co-workers touch me a lot, makes my skin crawl but they're being nice, so I put up with it. One, however, has NO concept of personal space and when she talks stands close enough that I need to push her back a bit because with my glasses on my eyes just won't focus that close any more.
#34
I'm actually scratching my head much more at my own country than what countries elsewhere do, especially as of late.
The formalities of east Asian countries are a bit bewildering though, expectations that you have to uphold for your family, your workplace, etc. Seems toxic to me, but I'm sure they have much more on us when it comes to toxicity - at least they try to care about each other?
Rinso The Red 5 months ago
The emphasis on the family/community over the individual (east) vs. the "rugged individualism" of much of the west
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#35
Marmite.
Charlie the Cat 5 months ago (edited)
I eat it straight from the jar with a spoon. But as the slogan says. You either love it, or hate it.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
All of the above...yet none of the above. It has a very intense savoury flavour so a little goes a long way. I can only suggest that you try it for yourself, but use it sparingly at first - a pea-sized amount spread on a slice of buttered bread or toast, perhaps.
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BookFanatic 5 months ago
Argh. My (US) mom's Aussie friend sent me a small packet to try. I emailed her a thank you, of course, but...I must be missing something. Y'all can keep it. :)
UKGrandad 5 months ago
Even if you don't like it 'neat', it has an umami flavour that can lift stews and casseroles to another level. Just a teaspoonful is enough. My wife hates the sight, smell, and taste of Marmite but she loves my stews, and she has no idea what the secret ingredient is. 🤫
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Philly Bob 5 months ago (edited)
I actually like the stuff. Marmite / Vegemite (slightly different, I know but.) Spread it on toast, thin and add butter. REAL butter. Margarine is an abomination.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
We usually have a jar sitting on the dining room table. Easier to find in the US than Vegemite, and I like it a bit more. An acquired taste worth acquiring. Here's the key. After you spread it on toast, if you can still see the toast you're doing it right.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
You spelt 'wrong' incorrectly! If you can still see the toast it needs more Marmite.
Load More Replies... UKGrandad 5 months ago
You sound like my wife...only she isn't talking about Marmite ☹️
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Huddo's sister 5 months ago
I really want to try it sometime, but I don't know if. they make a gluten free version. I really want to compare it to Vegemite.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
Unless you are incredibly intolerant to gluten, as in even trace amounts will cause a reaction, Marmite will be OK for you to try. The gluten content of Marmite is typically only thirty parts per million. To put this into context, gluten-free bread has around 20 ppm and normal bread has 124,000 ppm. 30 ppm works out to 3 milligrams of gluten per 100 grams of Marmite and the threshold for causing a reaction is 10mg,: a large, 240g jar of Marmite contains only 7.2mg of gluten so you could eat the entire jar in one sitting without reaching the threshold. The amount you'd typically put on a slice of toast would contain so little gluten that to all intents and purposes it is zero.
Load More Replies... #36
Mole. Idk how these abuelitas can throw 50+ of the most random ingredients prepared in the most random way and still get a pretty decent tasting sauce at the end.
BookFanatic 5 months ago
Misread this as "mole" (small furry rodent) at first. Sigh. Where's my coffee?
Ace 5 months ago
So you... just never learnt how to cook that one sauce? Rocket science it is not, nor is it in any way random, neither the ingredients nor the cooking method. Never had in in Mexico, but the stuff I've had in the US is usually dreadful, sticky-sweet-chocolatey, and nothing like the 'traditional' recipe(s) I've learned it from.
Janet Sparrow 5 months ago
I consider it a badge of honor to look in my cupboard/fridge and day “what can I make without going to the store?”?
Trisec Tebeakesse 5 months ago
I can do this by birthright. And it's called "gravy", you Philistine!
nm 5 months ago
Philistine: An insult used by some illiterate goat-fackers at the hills of Judea against their enemies, calling them nekulturni.
Load More Replies... #37
Building houses with bedrooms that have no built-in closets, so that you have to purchase a closet that takes up floor space.
Pernille 5 months ago
So built in closets doesn't take up floor space? I might not be very clever, but this seems illogical.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Easy: if you live in an apartment, just wait until your neighbour goes on vacation. Then demolish the separation wall, rebuild it 1m forwards and now you can have your built-in closets. No floor space used.
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Ge Po 5 months ago
You all don't get it. You have to get Who-closets. They're bigger on the inside.
ColdSteelRonin 5 months ago
Trans-dimensional engineering hasn't quite caught on in the states
Load More Replies... #38
I stayed in an Airbnb in Croatia last year that had a weird shape to the toilet bowl, where instead of rounded, there was this large flat area, right where the #2 falls. It was like a ‘s**t shelf’ and it seemed like it was designed by a sadist to prevent the s**t from actually going down the drain when you flush.
Ace 5 months ago
Used to be common, particularly in Germany, so you could inspect your stool for worms, allegedly. These days they're increasingly rare,
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
As opposed to water levels so high you get splashback and waste huge quantities on clean, drinkable water with every flush
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
I feel like there's a balance between high-flow and "a flat shelf" that can be achieved without using excess water. Maybe a rounded bowl-like shape or some manner of low-flowing toilet.
Load More Replies... karen snyder 5 months ago
I can confirm that such atrocities have landed in the US. My parents ended up with one of these sadist s**t shelf toilets in a recent remodel. I call it the Poop Deck and when I forget, and accidentally use it, I have to fill a pot with water and "swab the deck " I häte that toilet
daisy Clements 5 months ago
I am 70 years old and have never had splash back when using the toilet. I lived in Germany for several years and hated having to scrub the toilet every time I did # 2.
#39
Why tf do hotel showers not have doors. I dont want a soaking wet toilet.
AnnaB 5 months ago
He's referring to these things... download-1...7cb39.jpeg 
Ace 5 months ago
Open, "Italian" showers are a relatively recent thing, but generally predicated around having a wet area with a drain in the floor, well enough away from toilet and sink to avoid them getting splashed.
camomooey 5 months ago
Our hotel room in Italy in 2016 had one of those, half a door and wide open on the other side. The floor was always being splashed, and I don't remember a floor drain . I didn't understand it.
Load More Replies... Nota Robot 5 months ago
No, I remember that style of bathroom. Less common these days, but still occasionally found in youth hostelly kind of places.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 5 months ago
We stayed in a hotel in Belfast which provided towels but no wash cloths. We had to go out and buy bath sponges.
nm 5 months ago
I would not even think to use wash clothe or sponge already used by others. The same applies for soap bars. Like tooth-brush you don't share such items.
Load More Replies... #40
My American wife would like me to mention the lack of washcloths at very nice hotels in London. Towels? Yes. One of those towels to stand on? Knock yerself out, guv. Flannel for the shower? P**s off, you’re having a laugh mate. .
Roni Stone 5 months ago
LOL. I do! I hate thick washcloths and that's what most hotels here have.
Load More Replies... Joey Marlin 5 months ago
Flannels are also not recommended for regularly washing use as they retain bacteria. So, no thanks!
Load More Replies... Charlie the Cat 5 months ago
A small wash cloth made from towelling material.
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 5 months ago
They do in Australia but I've never used them.
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 5 months ago
Honestly, they always have them in Australian hotels but I've never used them. I use a loofa in the shower and don't really wash my face.
nm 5 months ago
Loofa is not rasp enough for my taste. I use sponges a little bit milder than horse curry combs. :-)
Load More Replies... nm 5 months ago
In my country we use rubber mats with plenty of small suction cups underneath, to avoid slipping and falling. You hang them after use to dry and avoid formation of mold.
Load More Replies... #41
Live in flats that have no kitchen space. It's probably a me thing more than an American thing but I need a good kitchen. I need 4 things to live comfortably. A bedroll, a blanket, a bathroom, and enough room to cook.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
That wouldn't necessarily explain the lack of availability to someone on the outside looking in. The accommodations are generally going to better when you're looking at places to stay when you travel. I say generally. All relative to the price range you're looking at, but a pattern of more compact kitchens is going to stand out more when you're looking into travel accommodations that are going to want to seem high-end.
Load More Replies... Earonn - 5 months ago
I wonder what OP meant with no kitchen space. Small kitchens? Open plan kitchens? Always thought that depends on the flat space and how old your flat is. Mine is in what used to be the pantry, while many neighbours have open plan kitchens. Our houses are from the1870s, living arrangements changed since then. :D
#42
Carpet in the bathroom/ kitchen.
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
Honestly I’m Canadian but I’ve been to the US a million times - I’ve never seen it 😅 except for on BP in a “terrible design choices” thread.
Load More Replies... P1 No-Name 5 months ago
THE most disgusting thing I have ever encountered. If this doesn't make your stomach churn, add the sentence - 'in a rental apartment' and that should do it.
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
Babe if you saw my kitchen floor, you’d reconsider 😂
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#43
Those ridiculously c**p combo laundry machines that suck at both washing and drying.
Lynchamigsakta 5 months ago
My question about people saying these suck is, are they using it right? Following the max kg for laundry and drying? Usually the drying capacity is smaller than the washing capacity
Gin 5 months ago
Quite - I have space for a separate machine for washing and drying but chose the combo and stuck a wine rack in the other space (removable when we move). I don't often need to use the dryer as I prefer to dry clothes outside as much as possible so don't see the need to have a separate machine, but when I do use the tumble dryer it does an amazing job. Though I can get a duvet in there to wash and tumble dry.
Load More Replies... Emma London 5 months ago
In Europe older flats usually have space only for one machine, so it's either that or dtying racks in your livingroom.
Earonn - 5 months ago
Never saw them in Germany, but highly recommend the under-the-ceiling racks that I've found in my Scottish flat. You don't worry about rain, don't need space for the airer, and the laundry dries super fast. Of course, that's something for high ceilings only, although I've seen them over the bathtub as well.
Load More Replies... Ace 5 months ago
They can work well as long as you don't overload them. I've always used them more to quickly dry a few items rather than the full load which gets hung up to dry, and they can work very well for that.
Load More Replies... Jihana 5 months ago
That is just not true. I've had them for years now and had no problems whatsoever. I start itbin the evening and could wear the ckeam and dry (and WARM) clothes in the morning. You just have to be careful to not overfill them.
Load More Replies... #44
Family members kissing each other on the mouth.
Michelle 5 months ago
I don't think it's sexualising, I just think mouths are dirty, like they think most children get the herpes virus from adult relatives kissing their mouth.
Load More Replies... Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
Not enough difference. The problem is I'm concerned with who Grandma's been snogging. General rule of thumb: If I wouldn't put it in my mouth, I don't want it touching my lips, either.
Load More Replies... Ace 5 months ago (edited)
No. Not a thing. Kissing cheeks is waay more common in Europe than the US (and the UK) and not restricted to family members, but never on the mouth.
Julie S 5 months ago
I kiss both my mum and dad on the lips nothing wrong with it. If someone is sexualising this that says more about you than it does about me.
Emilu 5 months ago
Yeah, I do/did this. Least I know who mum hasn’t been snogging 😆
Load More Replies... Jrog 5 months ago
Alabama, but geography is not the forte of Americans...
Load More Replies... Margaret Wartime 5 months ago (edited)
I was taught that mouth kissing is for romantic partners. Kissing on the cheek or head or whatever is fine for parents but kissing on the mouth is intimate/sexual/romantic. I know not everyone was raised the same way, and I try not to judge, but I do feel massively uncomfortable watching adults kiss children on the lips. But I try to remember it’s just the way I was raised and has nothing to do with anyone else :) (my mum had a pervy uncle who really got off on all the kisses he could get from his nieces and daughters, constantly asking them for kisses, and it really grossed her out, so it makes sense that she taught me not to let adults kiss me on the mouth as a kid)
Rick Murray 5 months ago
A bunch of years ago, one kissy kissy family agreed to be in The Daily Mail for an article about this and they were roasted alive in the comments. I think the picture of daddy kissing his teenage daughter on the lips might well have been the perfect berserk button.
#45
Wow, this road is really narrow. I know we’ve set it for a 100 kph speed limit both ways, and it’d be hard for one car to drive on this road safely, much less two in opposite directions.
But you know what would really ensure no accidents? A four-foot stone wall, two inches from the corner. That way we can make sure none of these cars going 62 mph have any room for error!
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
And yet the USA has much worse statistics for road deaths than almost anywhere in Europe.
Margaret Wartime 5 months ago
I think a lot of Americans are taking these stats very personally haha
Load More Replies... Emma London 5 months ago
In Europe, there isn't room to push wide roads everywhere, as buildings are often older than the roads themselves. If there's a stone or concrete wall right at the edge of the road, on the other side there's either a drop-off, or it's a sound barrier with a residential area behind it.
Hiram's Friend 5 months ago
When your town roads just follow the paths that the herders used to take their cattle up into the hills, and houses were built along that path and you can touch the opposing wall.
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#46
Paying for water at restaurants. S**t is as annoying as having to tip.
Rika 5 months ago
You pay for *bottled* water, which is what most restaurants offer by default because a lot of people act offended when they're served tap water. But you can ask for tap water instead, you can even get a glass of (tap) water for free without having to order anything.
Oerff On Tour 5 months ago
In Holland a restaurant is allowed to charge you 50 cents per person (glass), with a maximum of 1 euro per table for tap water. Just to offset the cost of washing the glass. ALLOWED to, but mostly restaurants don't charge anything if you also order any kind of other drinks.
Load More Replies... Multa Nocte 5 months ago
You don't pay for water in any part of France that I've been to unless you ask for bottled water. And French water is potable, so you don't have to worry about it being clean.
Pernille 5 months ago
Your ex-compatriots need to learn to indicate what country they were in when writing these things. In Germany and the Netherlands you sometimes pay for water, and I wouldn't put it past some places in France to be charging tourists for water.
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Emma London 5 months ago
Think it like a service fee. Usually you only pay if you don't order any other drink. The dishes themselves are priced so that if a customer is penny pinching and don't order any other drink than water, the restaurant might take loss.
#47
Hot countries like Indonesia and Colombia (for two that I know of) almost no one owns a clothes dryer. I get that they can hang dry outside most of the time barring rain but still why would you always want to?
Also in Colombia I've only ever had a hot shower there in hotels. Similar reasoning as above, it's warm enough that tap water temp isn't the worst (it's still a little cold sometimes) but still, hot water is nice to have.
Pernille 5 months ago
Because electricity cost money. Why do US americans seem to think that we want to spend money on unnecessary things like dryers and big cars?
Nea 5 months ago
And we dont want to exhaust all resources. US is doing that anyway.
Load More Replies... Ontario Canada 5 months ago
Seriously? How lazy can a person be. It's cheaper than a costly dryer. Better for the clothe as well. This person just does not want the extra work
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
In South Africa we use solar power to dry our clothes too (i.e. we hang the clothes on a washing line). Sunlight is a great disinfectant, and your clothes are getting aired out really well. We're lucky enough that we can do it in winter and summer. If there's a long spell of rain, we (I mean South Africans) invented something called a "dry buddy", which is kind of like a round rack that you put your clothes in (on hangers), zip it closed (it's made of the same material as an umbrella) and it blows warm air up at your clothes. Same result as a dryer but you can pack it away when it's not needed.
camomooey 5 months ago
I agree. However, I don't like hanging towels out. They are so stiff. I put those in the dryer, but my other laundry goes on the clothesline when the weather permits.
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#48
Have very strong feelings about what happens in America. .
Pernille 5 months ago
Because apparently you can't keep your village idiots to yourself, they have to get in other countries business all the time.
Jrog 5 months ago
Apparently their village is not large enough for all their idiots.
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Torben Møller-Nielsen 5 months ago
Because USA tend to impose their culture and views on everybody else.
nm 5 months ago
The problem is that USans, while helped to eliminate Nazis from Europe, now they cultivate this plant in their home.
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Anna Rivera 5 months ago
Because we consume 50% of energy resources and create 50% of environmental toxins
April Pickett 5 months ago
I have strong feelings about what happens here and my strong feelings are not happy. The rest of the world is affected because of our influences over them. I was pleased to hear Europe is beginning to budget to re-arm themselves. I wish it was possible for the rest of the world to treat the U.S. like a rock in the stream, pay no attention to us, go around us and keep on going with no consequences. We will see.
Earonn - 5 months ago
Well, you send your orange rapist over to us and let him get away with literally any crime, so there's that. Also, it's stupid not to care about, inform oneself and therefore have opinions about what's going on in the world. It's just good citizenship not to focus only on ourselves.
#49
I find the obsession with towel warmers interesting. It’s nice, I guess, but I’ve never been like “a warm towel would really be great right now” when getting out of a shower. Especially since there is rarely fans in European bathrooms so it gets so hot and steamy in there anyway.
It’s not a bad thing, just an interesting choice for an appliance in a small room.
Miki 5 months ago (edited)
These are just vertical radiators. Nothing more. You can put your towel on it. it's not specifically for that purpose.
Boris Long-Johnson 5 months ago
No they’re full on towel rads - vertical rads have fins like horizontal ones and are way better at heating because of it. Towel rads are just bent pipes.
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Pwhge Kfkfgnme 5 months ago
I think it's more about drying the towel after it's been used than having it warm to use
Rinso The Red 5 months ago
Northeast USA, gets plenty cold here. Any other reasons? Is it really just something you're used to?
Load More Replies... BookFanatic 5 months ago
I had hot water radiators (not the same thing, but close enough for me) in one of my apartments. I'd drape a towel over it before running errands on cold/wet/snowy days. Heavenly to come back and dry off.
#50
Men wearing black knee socks with sandals.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago (edited)
It matters because this is a list of things that don't make sense to Americans., and socks with sandals is a fashion faux pas here. Hence, it doesn't make sense to us. Well, some of us. Honestly, I'll wear socks and sandals but it's mostly just better if no one has to see my feet.
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago (edited)
1) not my problem; 2) not your problem; 3) if in Spain, they're tourists.
Lee Gilliland 5 months ago
Like I have never seen that in the US. Where are you that this is unusual?
#51
Men in speedos.
John L 5 months ago
Because it's not "macho". Any surprise we can't get a woman elected as POTUS?
Load More Replies... Emma London 5 months ago
Men wearing swimming boxers: Do you let your weenies just.. hang around? Don't you want to pack it somehow to feel more secure while swimming?
UKGrandad 5 months ago
Proper swimming shorts (as opposed to regular shorts for other sports) have built-in underwear, usually a tightly woven mesh, that keep everything in place.
Load More Replies... Joe Russo 5 months ago
As an American living in Europe I'd say many US men are very comfortable sexualizing women, or to be fair are used to women's bodies being sexualized. Nudity and not much clothes is not sexualized the same way in Europe at all. Now...put what an American sees as a sexualized swimsuit on a man and...oooh the horror. The homophobia. The fear of being treated the way women are treated...
Rusty Taylor 5 months ago
A man in Spain told me he hates American men's long shorts swimsuits, they take half the water out of the pool every time someone emerges from the water!
BookFanatic 5 months ago
Wow. How dare men wear whatever they want in public. /s (Although, it did take this American a little while to get used to the idea)
#52
Apparently we are the only people who lean on walls. That means everyone else just stands straight if they’re next to a wall like a psycho.
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Yup. We learn how to stand up straight like grown-ups instead of lolling around like overgrown sulky teenagers.
Roni Stone 5 months ago
Sulky septuagenarian here. I loll a lot these days. (But I do understand your point. My mother was constantly telling us to stand up straight and stop slouching.)
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Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
"Look at that guy next to a wall while standing straight... Call the police, he must be a psycho!"
Emma London 5 months ago
If you are outside, walls are dirty and commonly away from walking paths. If you are inside, there are chairs.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
Maybe we simply don't weigh so much that we have the need to stop and support our bulk against buildings every 5 minutes?
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
It's true. No thin person has ever had the desire to lean. Not even one. You're taking it a bit too seriously.
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#53
Brits make toast and then put it in a little metal toast rack. I like my toast when it’s warm, not room temperature.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
There is only rule here: eat your toast the way you like it and leave others do the same.
Huddo's sister 5 months ago
I was watching The Great British Pottery Throwdown and one of their challenges included making a toast rack. The youngest contestant had never even head of a toast rack. Here in Australia, they haven't been common for about 30 years either.
#54
Why the half glass shower “curtains”. I can never stop the water going absolutely everywhere especially when with the detachable shower head. Why not a full one like most of USA.
BookFanatic 5 months ago
At this point, we're not even the bronze standard.
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Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Personally, I have a fully closed shower cabin, but since I'm an adult, I can have a shower in a half one without creating a flooding.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
Yeah, but why would you even create the problem? Aesthetics are weird.
Load More Replies... Ontario Canada 5 months ago
People do understand there are other countries besides the U.S. right. Like Canada.
Ace 5 months ago
You've just not realised the other half of the door slides across and seals it?
Otto Katz 5 months ago
some have that, some don't. Just spent a month in an apartment that didn't, and never flooded the bathroom, because I didn't spray water all over the place.
Load More Replies... Emma London 5 months ago
It's for moisture control. The American style full cubicles would grow mold in older European houses without air conditioning.
Daya Meyer 5 months ago
Maybe try to adapt other ways of taking a shower instead of expecting your standards everywhere.
#55
The general European archetype of the average American makes completely no sense. It goes beyond stereotype honestly. It seems like they genuinely believe that every single American is at least 100 pounds overweight and unable to find a single other country on a map. We’re all just intravenously consuming cheese whiz constantly and unable to read. Crazy how we made it to the moon with those setbacks.
MsAnnThrope 5 months ago
Sooo...only Americans contributed to that achievement, did they? Cough, no former German rocket scientists?
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
Well, I mean, look how many Germans Germany has and they didn't get there, first, did they? Not exactly disproving OP's point by trying to diminish American contribution due to the presence of outside help. They didn't say we did it alone, they said there's more to Americans than cheese-whiz IVs. Do you know how hard it is to hook up an intravenous line of cheese whiz when you're 100 pounds overweight? Jesus, give us some credit. The tutition price for Kraft university is ridiculously expensive.
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John O'Donnell 5 months ago
That’s because you got the Germans to design the rockets that got you to the moon.
Nathan Lewis 5 months ago
and most of the things in this list are "The general American archetype of the average *insert country here*". you see it in pop culture and you assume it's reality.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
The moon landing was 56 years ago. Maybe if you weren't all waddling around all day from burger joint to burger joint you might have achieved something else to brag about since then. And, yes, this comment does contain sarcasm.
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
I love this so much. (I've always heard it as "... a river in Egypt".)
Load More Replies... #56
Australians who don’t rinse their dishes (and based on a different post I read recently, it apparently happens in the UK as well?) But it’s super common to wash one’s dishes in soapy water and then put it to dry. Either with someone quickly drying them on. towel or leaving them on a drying rack. Either way, it grosses me out. This is the way my MIL does her dishes, and I always was wary if she had done them. Fortunately my late husband understood that I wanted them rinsed (because I don’t like eating the remnants of soap), and did that or used the dishwasher.
Ripley 5 months ago (edited)
OP has seen one household do this and suddenly it's "super common" and all Australians do it? P i s s off.
Hiram's Friend 5 months ago
It's where all the judgements about the U.S. come from. See above.
Load More Replies... P1 No-Name 5 months ago
We have severe droughts in Australia, if its just sauce or gravy, a dishwasher can cope & uses a lot less water.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
I admit, I'm a little confused by the OP's complaint. We do this, too. (Rinsing with soap and water after use). Like especially with pots and pans since they generally wash poorly in the washer. Like, you don't use so little water that the soap doesn't rinse off. I feel like I'm missing context in the form of the extent of washing or something. I can, however, confirm, that Americans don't like shoving an entire pot in the dishwasher just because they boiled noodles in it.
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 5 months ago
We always used to rinse, but the formula of the washing up liquid changed years ago and it was advertised as no need to rinse. Obviously my mother didn't believe and continued to rinse. I on the other hand was happy to make myself less work. I didn't notice the difference, and neither did she when she visited me.
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
That's what happens when you can't afford a dishwasher. You do your dishes by hand.
Rosie 5 months ago
This horrible habit defeats the purpose of using soap in the 1st place. It doesn't matter if you're washing dishes or your hands. You use soap so it binds w/the grease, dirt, etc. *THEN* you rinse to get things clean as the water takes the soap mixed w/crud away. If you skip (or skim on) rinsing, you might as well not use soap at all.
Earonn - 5 months ago
Looks like you never hand washed dishes yourself. Or you do something wrong, because I can clearly see the difference on my plates. Come around and I'll teach you!
Load More Replies... Earonn - 5 months ago
Wait until OP finds out that bacteria end up on dishes while not in used. :D I mean, in principle I understand not to want to "eat soap" - but it's so little that it makes no difference in taste or food quality. Given what's in US food, the soap on the dish is the least problem, I'd say (except for those Americans who cook fresh with good ingredients, of course).
ROSESARERED 5 months ago
We pour a couple of cups of water over the drying rack to rinse things off...that's what my parents and grandparents did, tankwater is fun, you have to justify every drop you use, especially when another drought is biting at our dusty aussie heels
#57
Paying to use public bathrooms. Imagine having to scrape up 50cents or whatever when you’re on the verge of s******g yourself.
Rika 5 months ago
Would you rather walk in a *free* public bathroom to find someone passed out on the toilet with a needle in their arm or two people treating each other's stab wounds with blood everywhere ? (Yes, both happened to me. Peeing behind a bush isn't too bad, after all.)
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
Generally speaking, if they've been stabbed, the American response would be to be concerned for them before considering the inconvenience of it all. Americans would probably be more annoyed by the j****e, but it's pretty low to just view them as an inconvenience. This is like sociopathic levels of apathy. You see people bleeding to death in the bathroom or possibly ODing in one of the stalls and your first thought it how it inconveniences your trip to the bathroom? humanity needs better standards than this.
Load More Replies... Kim Steffen 5 months ago
In Mexico City in the '70s, paying a few centavos for a few sheets of TP helps pay the people who clean the bathrooms.
#58
Why do some countries not have a full sized stove/oven? I see people cooking on an induction burner.
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
I love my little induction plate! It takes only a few seconds to get to the right temp, and you can have it at exactly the temp you want. It saves a LOT of electricity. We do have a stove (an electric one), but we hardly use it.
#59
Love of techno pop. And mayonnaise.
BookFanatic 5 months ago
Whyyyyy am I picturing people chowing down on mayo while listening to techno pop now?
JB 5 months ago
Dad, English, pitched a fit about the North American tendency to use mayonnaise in sandwiches instead of butter (please, don’t ever get him started on margarine). I don’t have the guts to tell him I’m a convert. Yes! I still love hot, buttered toast. But I make my sandwiches with mayonnaise because it tastes better to me. So far as I can tell, generally USAsians are only weirded out by mayonnaise on fries. All I can say is I’m ok with ketchup but draw the line at something called catsup. Every experience with catsup is a thin, tasteless sauce that claims to include tomatoes.
#60
Grocery stores being closed on Sundays.
ROSESARERED 5 months ago
Closed Christmas, good Friday and till 1 pm anzac day...otherwise open. Some city ones 24hours. Yet people still go stupid shopping the day before a public holiday
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago (edited)
Well, it depends on the city/region/country... but I like the idea of other people enjoying a free day as I do. And you will say, but what if I decide to make a BBQ with my friends on a Sunday morning but I can't buy meat? Well, you still cannot if your friends work at a grocery store.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
This from a country that still has dry counties. There are around 500 municipalities in the US that forbid the sale of alcohol. Moore County, Tennessee, is both the home of Jack Daniels whisky and a dry county, so you can't even buy the stuff in the county where it's made.
Rinso The Red 5 months ago
When I was a kid, we had 'blue laws' that meant everything shy of the pharmacies was closed on Sundays. It was annoying, and only really existed because of Christians dominating the culture to the point of blurring religion and state. I saw their repeal as a step forward to be honest.
Earonn - 5 months ago
While I appreciate that grocery stores are open 7 days a week in Britain, I didn't mind the German version of closed from Saturday afternoon until Monday at all. You just learn to plan for the weekend, it's not hard. In the worst case visit a friendly neighbour or cook something different.
#61
The whole a/c makes you sick thing.
Glix Drap 5 months ago
Ever heard of Legionnaires' disease? This bacteria thrives in stagnant water, and air conditioning units and can create breeding grounds if not properly maintained.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
THEN PROPERLY MAINTAIN YOUR D**N A/C 😂 User error can be a reason not to go with a particular design based on frequency but letting your A/C get filthy is hardly a design flaw. Toilets are also breeding grounds for bacteria, but it would be a stretch to say that the make you sick.
Load More Replies... #62
There are some countries with access to air conditioning that (for the most part) make a conscious decision to not use it.
Like, they can afford the units, they're compatible with their homes, but they choose not to use them.
It wouldn't bother me in the slightest, you do you, but then they're complaining about 80° weather (lol) like there's nothing they can do about it
Edit: it's been 5 hours and I'm still getting replies about this.
If you enjoy the heat, you're not who I'm talking about.
If you don't complain on the internet about it, you're not who I'm talking about.
If it's only hot for 2 days of the year where you live, you're not who I'm talking about.
I'm talking about the people who can afford portable AC units, who have the ability to keep them in their houses, who live in areas where it's hot for more than a month out of the year, who complain on the internet about it, and refuse to fix their situation.
If you don't fit inside those parameters you don't have to reply to this comment because you're not who I'm talking about (:
Edit 2: 15 hours later and I'm still getting excuses (this is exactly what I'm talking about 😂)
A very large portion of the US rents too. It's not a valid excuse. Holes can be patched. Yes AC units can be loud. That's the price you may have to pay so you don't [die of heat stroke.](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/21/heatwave-expected-deaths-england-and-wales-analysis)
Yes they use energy. Most electronics do. Yes it's expensive, electricity costs money. This is another invalid excuse I keep seeing. We use electricity and pay for it here too.
Y'all can keep complaining and coming up with excuses, you're just proving my point.
Alexia 5 months ago (edited)
So this guy asks a general question, then he adds condescending, arrogant replies because he received general responses. Low self esteem vibes: "you're all coming up with excuses" "you're proving my point". And what if people complain about the heat? Do they complain to him directly, or what's his issue?
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
The use of air conditioning in cities is a major contributor to the 'heat island' effect; so, in essence, you are cooling yourself at the expense of the less fortunate.
Ripley 5 months ago
Nobody but Americans is complaining about 80 degree weather. They'd be complaining about (checks internet converter) 27 degree weather, apparently.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
In Finland the heat warnings start before that.
Load More Replies... Alexia 5 months ago
As long as my body can adjust to the temperature (up to 34-35 degrees Celsius from what I noticed), there is no need to use the AC. It's a rather minor inconvenient I can deal with. We have long, hot summers in the south and south-east, with temperatures up to 47 degrees Celsius. There are other reasons for not using the AC all the time: overloaded electrical network, heat island effect, environment, price of energy.
#63
Numerically: Use a comma where a decimal should be.
General Anaesthesia 5 months ago
They are called decimal point and decimal comma. Definition of Decimal: "relating to or denoting a system of numbers and arithmetic based on the number ten, tenth parts, and powers of ten." You will note that there is no mention of comma or point, period.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
The quantities "1,000" and "1.000" are completely distinguishable. The quantities "1,000" and "1,000" are not. That's why we use decimal points.
General Anaesthesia 5 months ago
What do you mean by "we"? We use decimal commas and they do, too :)
Load More Replies... #64
England this is for you> there is such a thing as iced tea. It sounds complicated, but really it is just ice and tea. Why do they not drink cold tea?
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Why would we want to? And it's generally not just ice and tea, it's ice, tea, and a boatload of sugar or sweeteners.
Jonas Fisher 5 months ago
No, ice (or iced) tea is just tea with ice. If you add sugar then you're talking about sweet tea.
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Daya Meyer 5 months ago (edited)
Did you hear about the weather in the UK recently? And if you have developed a decent tea culture over the last centuries, why would you prefer a beverage that has nothing in common with a good hot black tea?
Jrog 5 months ago
Their idea of a "good tea" is brewed in Boston Harbor, FFS.
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago (edited)
You feeling upset by what other people is doing with their tea thousands of km away is quite interesting.
Rick Murray 5 months ago
Because tea is best experienced hot. It's like saying why not drink hot lemonade? [when we do it's called Lemsip!]
Boris Long-Johnson 5 months ago
It’s not very hot in the UK for long periods, although this does feel like it’s changing so historically we don’t have the same thing for cold drinks as certain parts of the USA appear to - I suspect we’ve just gone straight to fizzy drinks. We did have (may still have) a product called Lipton iced tea - it was vile to my taste, but I wonder if USA iced tea is too sweet for British (I know you said English but I’m Scottish so can’t specifically speak for the English) tastes.
Auntriarch 5 months ago (edited)
I've seen the Lipton's here. Also Whittards the coffee people do a range of iced tea mixes. They are basically squash with a tiny bit of tannin.
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Sean Stimson 5 months ago
Ice tea in the US usually means ice, tea, and enough sugar to make you question your life choices
#65
Arriving several hours late to events.
Jrog 5 months ago
That's BS. "Several hours"? fu*k off. Some countries such as southern Italy, Greece, Turkey and Spain have some traditional tolerance to being late but it's a matter of 15 minutes max. In other places in central Europe is quite offensive and not tolerated at all.
Joe Russo 5 months ago
I can confirm for Greece, but it's not tolerance for lateness. Business meetings for 8:00 start at 8:15, with people arriving between 8:10;and 8:14, meaning they get there *early*. Unless the CEO or other higher up is there, and then it starts at 8:00. Simple. Music concerts though...if multiple bands, expect everything to start 45 to 60 minutes later, partly because everyone knows they will and show up accordingly. :)
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T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
South Africa, for one. I was at the funeral of a child in my school who had died. It started at 9. My friend and I left at 20 past 11. People were still arriving as we were leaving. Now that's just blatant disrespect.
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Sarah Baker 5 months ago
Have you not heard of the charentais quart d'heure? Or Soon Come - which can be a lot longer by the way...
#66
The light switch outside the bathroom.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
We just renovated a house, and the code for a 3 phase 16A switch/socket says it must be placed at least 50 cm (or it was 60 cm?) from the nearest water source. So, probably on secondary restrooms, and depending on the setting, placing the switch outside is the best solution. If there is a pranker in your family, I would recommend having a flashlight at hand.
geezeronthehill 5 months ago
Code in the US calls for ground fault interrupter outlets in areas near water taps. Bathroom, kitchen, laundry. Lights must be on the same circuits.
Load More Replies... Jan Rosier 5 months ago
Makes sense... they usually include a tell-tale light in the switch, so you know someone is in there. And off course, source for one of the most common in-house pranks.
Janissary35680 5 months ago
Anti-electrocution safety feature. It may even be code where I live.
Glix Drap 5 months ago
It is in the UK. If it's inside the bathroom then the light switch will be a pull string hanging down with the actual switch in the ceiling. Only electrical points for shavers are permitted in bathrooms.
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P1 No-Name 5 months ago
No power points in UK bathrooms. Sure there is a shaver outlet, so men are OK, but God forbid if you want to dry your hair!
#67
A lot of other cultures won’t eat on the go. Even if all they’re having is a cup of coffee, they’ll sit down at a proper table for it. It’s so strange to me, I love walking around or visiting shops while holding and sipping a coffee, or eating a drive-thru meal in my car during long drives.
Idk about the whole world but southern Europeans in particular will sit around the dinner table for 2-3 hours. Because I wasn’t raised in that culture, it makes me feel anxious. I got s**t to do! Let’s get a move on!
Trillian 5 months ago
See and I hate dining in the US for that reason. Like I am still chewing on my last bite and bang here's the waiter trying to shoo you out. If I just want to eat I'll eat at home. Dining out is about sitting and talking and enjoying.
camomooey 5 months ago
Come on, they shoo you out so they can put some other paying guest at your table. It's about money, and that's why restaurants exist, not only for your amusement.
Load More Replies... Ahnjunwan 5 months ago
Hang on, you go into a shop with your coffee? Has it ever occured to you that the people working in the shop bot appreciate if you drop it all over the clothes they try to sell? Why would somebody do that? How you try the clothes? I would kick you out the second you walk in
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Spaniard here: indeed, I never eat on the go. But I love visiting places where street food is common. Hmmmm. And regarding 2-3 hours at the table... this is only on special days. In any case, if you have s**t to do, just say goodbye and move on, but leave us enjoy our people in the sobremesa.
Niels AirMax 5 months ago
Food is something you enjoy, not something that keeps you alive so you can work yourself to death.
Emma London 5 months ago
There are quick service options, but I draw the line in walking around with food. Can't you just stop for a minute and enjoy your doughnut? This is one reason Americans are so fat, they don't even notice how much they eat when they are doing something else at the same time.
Roland C. 5 months ago
Part of the reason for obesity is that constant snacking while on the go. You don't realize how much you're eating while distracted and then you have an actual meal at the end of the day on top of that. If you make time to eat a proper sit-down meal, you're more aware of the calories you're taking in.
#68
Using coins instead of paper money. It just seems way more inconvenient to me.
J R 5 months ago
especially pennies. they're so useless that they're...not going to be used anymore
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 5 months ago
In Australia we used to have $1 & $2 notes, but they changed them to coins and I think it saved the mint money. Now their main use is to go in the coin slot on supermarket trolleys and given by the tooth fairy to kids.
#69
When they use America comparatively with everything in life.
Why cant you just compare yourself to other countries why does it always have to be us.
Emma London 5 months ago
No we don't. Just Google "Suomalainen, ruotsalainen ja norjalainen" jokes, every country has their own comparison traditions, and they are seldom with USA.
Hiram's Friend 5 months ago
Every post above here makes a point of comparing their superior way of living to the debased, fat, gas guzzling, electricity wasting, big car driving, air conditioned Americans. Have you not been reading the posts. Oh, and by the way, Trump.
Load More Replies... Boredandsomea 5 months ago
Why would we compare us with america.... I don´t compare my grades with the special need class.
#70
Y’all need to get on the free refill game.
Jihana 5 months ago
Why? Paying for what you actually consume is way more logical. And it's cheaper if I only want a small drink.
doredde 5 months ago
Apart from that, if you get "free" refills, they just calculated that beforehand and you pay it either way. It´s the same with this kind of discount hunting people who get off on the thought to having been saving money. No company gives you something for free. They just brainwash you into the feeling of having spent less or saving something. You don´t do this by spending money. That´s the same captivating logic as the orange man uses to explain to you d**g prices will be down by at least 100 - 1500% or China paying your tariffs for you. For THE most capitalistic society to work successfully you need enough uneducated people without common sense, but here we are...
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 5 months ago
We had them at at least one Hungry Jacks (burger king) in Australia when I was a kid. I loved it, until I drank too many in one go (I think three small/medium cups) and felt sick. Turned me off them so I just stuck to the one after that. They are not needed.
#71
Idk why people think it's fine that the average restaurant visit can take like 3 hours. This is mainly a EU thing. I'm not saying I need it to be 20 minutes, in-and-out, but a lot of the time the wait for the server and the bill is way too long.
Jan Rosier 5 months ago
That is because eating out is an experience, not just 'stuff your face and get out'
Ge Po 5 months ago
That's the difference between fast-food burgers and restaurant burgers. the title says it all.
Load More Replies... General Anaesthesia 5 months ago
Europeans usually cook for themselves. Eating out, in a restaurant, is going out and relaxing, socializing. For you, there's often McDonalds or a local equivalent snack bar.
Emma London 5 months ago
It's because people go to restaurants to enjoy each others' company. If we want just food, there ARE quick service options.
Ace 5 months ago
Average, I'd say, about an hour, slightly less at lunchtime when you need to get to and from the office in that time. Any less than that you're eating it too quickly and probably not enjoying either the food or the conversation that's considered a normal part of the dining experience.
Foxglove🇮🇪 5 months ago
Nothing to stop you signalling the server when you're ready for the next thing.
Roni Stone 5 months ago
I was in the service industry here in the US for over 15 years. America has a particularly unique "turn 'em and burn 'em" mentality when it comes to getting customers in and out quickly. Just two of the reasons for that is restaurant profit and "more tables, more tips".
#72
The electricity in Europe makes no sense to me. The fact that there is no plug for a hair dryer in the bathroom….
Ace 5 months ago
The UK, and indeed modern installations in Europe, allows specific types of socket, usually limited to lower current, suitable for shavers and toothbrushes but not sufficient for a hairdryer.
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
The fact is that there is a plug for a hair dryer in the bathroom... and you can use it to charge your razor/epilator/smartphone, as well.
Glix Drap 5 months ago
As mentioned on a previous post on this thread, this is most likely the UK where building regs do not allow power points (except shaving ones) in a bathroom for safety reasons. My solution to your problem would be to shave your head, which can be done in front of the bathroom mirror using the nearby shaving power point.
Ontario Canada 5 months ago
This is common in older homes. I live in a 1950s house and the bathroom has no plugs. Lived in older apartments in the past same thing.
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
In South Africa there are no electrical outlets or switches in bathrooms at all (unless things have changed in the last few years). The only thing allowed is the light socket. How do we dry our hair? By sitting at a dressing table like a civilized person.
#73
Not having a cappuccino whenever I want.
Ge Po 5 months ago
Well, there are countries where even in the better restaurants or cafe's it will be hard to find one that sells anything but regular coffee. But then, bad luck, find something else to drink.
Load More Replies... #74
Peanut butter and Jelly. For those who don't know, its almost exclusively an American thing. Like, what the f**k yall doing over in other countries, its so good!!
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
The f**k I'm doing in my country is Valencian tomatoes on a loaf of country bread with some EVOO and a Spanish ham slice over the whole. I'm probably wasting my life.
Jrog 5 months ago
Pan tomate is the best savory breakfast out there, for real.
Load More Replies... Jrog 5 months ago (edited)
The main difference is that US peanut butter has on average 12% of weight in added sugar, and up to 25% for some brands (Reese's), plus a shitload of hydrogenated oils. In the EU, peanut butter must be unsweetened 100% peanut. Specific butters for pastry making can have some added sugar (typically 1 to 3% in weight) that must be listed on the ingredient list. The flavor is very different, much more nutty and less disgustingly sweet than the american one; it's actually considered an healthy food and often used by athletes as a protein source and healthy fats.
Michael Largey 5 months ago (edited)
There is no reason to add sugar to peanut butter. I use a no sugar added peanut butter. The flavor is exactly the same!
Load More Replies... Daya Meyer 5 months ago
Are you aware that your precious peanut butter is sold in other countries, too? And I think that every european country has something like jelly (although I prefer a good marmelade). But there is no law that these two have to be combined.
Jrog 5 months ago
American Peanut Butter is rarely found in some European countries because its sugar content is so high that it falls under the provisions of the "sugar tax", making it quite expensive. European alternatives have 1/10th the sugar content of American peanut butter.
Load More Replies... Emma London 5 months ago
Until a couple of decades ago, peanut butter wasn't a a common food, if it was awailable at all. Hard to like something that you have never eaten. (And PB&Js are pretty bad, btw)
Ontario Canada 5 months ago
Again, there are other countries outside of America you uneducated twot
T'Mar of Vulcan 5 months ago
In South Africa as a kid my friends used to have peanut butter and syrup instead of jam (jelly is what Americans call jello).
#75
Why do so many countries drive manual transmission cars? Automatics are so much easier.
Grenelda Thurber 5 months ago
I learned to drive on a stick, but an automatic is still easier.
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JB 5 months ago
Easier doesn’t necessarily mean better. Manual transmission/stick shift gives you a lot more control over what the vehicle is doing. For one thing, you can’t box shift down two gears to use the engine to slow down in a hurry. This said, few people driving manual steering understand all the things one can do to control the vehicle. They might as well drive automatics. I honestly don’t miss balancing the clutch and accelerator for hill starts.
Liam Walsh 5 months ago
Had to recently move to automatic - arthritis in my left shoulder made changing into reverse (in a Volvo V50 it was push down and away) was agony! Automatic is a much easier drive. I do still have a manual car, an MX5 to keep my hand in, but fortunately reverse is towards me so that doesn't hurt!
Load More Replies... P1 No-Name 5 months ago
Because we know how to drive, as opposed to just pushing the go button/pedal.
#76
Acting like they have a say in how we run our country.
Armac 5 months ago
lol… what? Nobody is bombing you, imposing ridiculous tariffs, threatening to take you over, or saying they are going to make you a new state. Your current government has done all of these things.
Jihana 5 months ago
Also don't forget that Musk wanted to influence the Germans to vote for the ultra far right AfD.
Load More Replies... MsAnnThrope 5 months ago
It is ok to have an opinion. Although it seems America thinks it really is the World Police and is very opinionated about having a say in how other countries are run!
Torben Møller-Nielsen 5 months ago
Maybe we should have, as you clearly have no idea how it is done.
Orysha 5 months ago
Coming from a country which made every coup in Central and south America, invaded Irak twice, and Afghanistan without success that's bold.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
No, coming from a country which made every coup in Central and south America, invaded Irak twice, and Afghanistan without success, that's entirely predictable.
Load More Replies... Margaret Shannon 5 months ago
Actually, behemoth countries like the USA and China have such a disproportionate effect on other nations it almost seems unfair to stop other nations having some input.
#77
Dealing with s****y plumbing. They're obsessed with rebar housing, but whether it's Poland or Mexico, there's no a competent plumber in the whole f*****g country.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Do not worry, your government is trying to send all competent plumbers back to Mexico.
#78
Say socialist health care is free… it’s paid for via taxes. Which means you prepaid it. That’s payment. That means it’s not free.
Trillian 5 months ago
Nobody says it's free, we are well aware how much we pay in taxes. But it is worth it.
P1 No-Name 5 months ago
Isn't that what taxes are for? To provide basic needs? Street lighting, law enforcement, garbage removal... health care?
Orysha 5 months ago
It's not free but it's universal and no one goes bankrupt because of medical debt.
Emma London 5 months ago
We know! But the welfare society health care is also non-profit, so we pay overall less for it as taxes than what you pay for it as insurances or out of pocket. The big pharma, the big insurance and the big medicine get A LOT less!
Niels AirMax 5 months ago
Your taxes are being used to keep the world at war nonstop, sooooo....I prefer healthcare. 🤷🏼♂️
doredde 5 months ago
Nobody says it´s free. You just don´t get the concept of a society not build on free ranging capitalism and being dependent on the welfare of others, if you are not one of the few privileged people. Call it prepaid or not, I don´t have to worry about the costs when I´m sick and weak, because I provided when I was healthy and working. We all can see where your kind of "freedom" leads to and hardly anyone follows your concept. Why do you think that is so? And you please enjoy paying your taxes and tariffs for what/whom? Where are the benefits of your tax system if everything is privatized. The military mostly, I guess? As you seem to be so keen on sending your troops to many (oil producing) countries to "end/prevent" (=start) a war. We can talk again in three years and see if you still are so enthusiastic about yourself. Have a nice life in Gilead.
Sapna Sarfare 5 months ago
Americans complaning because unlike them, others esp. europe uses the taxes for people.. Even in India, nothing is free but for those below poverty line things are cheap like say grains.... hospitals too give concessions..
#79
I do not understand why anyone prefers Celsius for weather. The difference between 20 and 30 degrees C is gigantic while 20-30 F is not that much of a difference while still being able to register that yes, 20 degrees is colder than 30. The granularity of Fahrenheit is superior for weather in my opinion.
I understand Celsius for scientific purposes (and the metric system is superior even if my brain is wired for our weird Imperial system) but I'll stan Fahrenheit for weather forever.
Trillian 5 months ago
0 degrees water freezes, 100 degrees water boils. That makes more sense than "it's 62 degrees" like what does that mean? Do I need a coat? Will I die?
Orysha 5 months ago
The only Farhenheit making sense for me is Fahrenheit 451.
Load More Replies... Grenelda Thurber 5 months ago
Degrees are the same granularity as Celcius though.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 5 months ago
Let's stop all the arguing and agree to keep everything at -40 degrees. (Either Centiheit or Farengrade.)
Ge Po 5 months ago
The basic principle of Celcius: zero is when water freezes (which I can see and understand in daily life) and 100 is when water boils (which I can also see and understand in daily life.) The basic principle of Fahrenheit is: zero is some chemical composition which I do not daily interact with, and 96 is whatever temperature you may (or may not, differs per person) measure in their arm-pits or mouths. Tell me what makes more sense.
Marcos Valencia 5 months ago
Granularity? We can use decimals, too, if you want it more granular... Right now, I have 25,7 ºC. But, indeed, if you grew up using a particular scale (C or F), linking numbers to your personal perception, changing the scale is very difficult, particularly with temperature. I have no problems in understanding ft or in... but F says nothing to me unless I convert to C.
Skywitness 5 months ago
I worked in a metrology lab for 35+ years. Pounds, inches, PSI, degrees F are completely ridiculous. I could never calibrate a pipette without knowing a liter of water has a mass of 1 Kg.
Emma London 5 months ago
They lost me at how a larger scale would be better. A difference of, say, 2 Celsius is noticeable enough for common use. I don't have to know if it's 23,3 C or 24 C outside, that would be too specific.
#80
Failure to bathe regularly and use deodorant,.
What do you think ?
Rosie 5 months ago
Is it just me or is everyone commenting in this list way too touchy? I didn't find any of the items offensive, just things Americans found annoying or surprising. It can just be a personal thing, not a national insult, people! Considering how much Americans are criticized, I expected Europeans, etc wouldn't be so sensitive.
doredde 5 months ago
Failure to bathe regularly and use deodorant,. is clearly NOT meant to be offensive /s
Load More Replies... Johnnynatfan 5 months ago
I love how so many of the comments from Non Americans on this list are offended by the post. You people sure as hell don't mind bashing the US when BP has List about America which is every few days. If you can dish it out then be willing to take it.
AverageCommenter (she/they) 5 months ago (edited)
I like how people are downvoting literal questions. One of them was asking why free refills aren’t everywhere, a genuine question, and people are…offended?
Andrew Burke 5 months ago (edited)
Wow! Not surprising, but once again, a post where all the comments turn into a major hate-fest towards Americans and let us know how much "better" Europeans are than Americans. The vitriol that gets spewed here against Americans is crazy. No wonder that the view of a lot of people towards Europeans is that they/we are so arrogant. (Before anyone jumps on me, no, I'm not American - I'm British-Canadian living in mainland Europe -, and yes, I have my grudges with some of what Americans do, so I'm not defending them in everything, but I think you'll find that most Americans have a pretty positive attitude towards Europeans which I can't say seems to be reciprocated). Let's see how many down votes this gets.
JMil 5 months ago
What predictable comments. Anytime there is a thread related to US culture, Bored Panda comments are little more than "America bad, we good".
Trashy Panda 5 months ago (edited)
It's funny because there are so many legitimate things to criticize about the US but they go with "Americans are too friendly" or "they like ice in their drinks" or some BS 🤣
Load More Replies... 
The Short Lady 5 months ago
These really seem to have touched a nerve. Now you see how we feel about the "everything in the US is bad" posts.
Rosie 5 months ago
Is it just me or is everyone commenting in this list way too touchy? I didn't find any of the items offensive, just things Americans found annoying or surprising. It can just be a personal thing, not a national insult, people! Considering how much Americans are criticized, I expected Europeans, etc wouldn't be so sensitive.
doredde 5 months ago
Failure to bathe regularly and use deodorant,. is clearly NOT meant to be offensive /s
Load More Replies... Johnnynatfan 5 months ago
I love how so many of the comments from Non Americans on this list are offended by the post. You people sure as hell don't mind bashing the US when BP has List about America which is every few days. If you can dish it out then be willing to take it.
AverageCommenter (she/they) 5 months ago (edited)
I like how people are downvoting literal questions. One of them was asking why free refills aren’t everywhere, a genuine question, and people are…offended?
Andrew Burke 5 months ago (edited)
Wow! Not surprising, but once again, a post where all the comments turn into a major hate-fest towards Americans and let us know how much "better" Europeans are than Americans. The vitriol that gets spewed here against Americans is crazy. No wonder that the view of a lot of people towards Europeans is that they/we are so arrogant. (Before anyone jumps on me, no, I'm not American - I'm British-Canadian living in mainland Europe -, and yes, I have my grudges with some of what Americans do, so I'm not defending them in everything, but I think you'll find that most Americans have a pretty positive attitude towards Europeans which I can't say seems to be reciprocated). Let's see how many down votes this gets.
JMil 5 months ago
What predictable comments. Anytime there is a thread related to US culture, Bored Panda comments are little more than "America bad, we good".
Trashy Panda 5 months ago (edited)
It's funny because there are so many legitimate things to criticize about the US but they go with "Americans are too friendly" or "they like ice in their drinks" or some BS 🤣
Load More Replies... The Short Lady 5 months ago
These really seem to have touched a nerve. Now you see how we feel about the "everything in the US is bad" posts.
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