Sunday, April 26, 2020

AskReddit Thread: Europeans' Biggest Culture Shocks In America


This fun AskReddit thread had various Europeans share their experiences with culture shock moments, upon visiting America. As it turns out, America can be a lot weirder than Americans give it credit for. Things like the portion sizes, the incessant advertisements on TV, and the constant jaywalking are just some of the things covered in this thread. 

1.

Text - TheBassMeister • 3h Raccoons stealing our bread over night while camping. The box was closed and we put weights on it, yet these clever little trash pandas found a way in and out.

2.

Text - DaveLakowski • 3h Jay walking and the lack of pavement/sidewalk on many roads. I found it so hard to just get from one place to another.

3.

Text - back-in-black • 3h • You guys do not seem to have have touch and go card payment systems. A lot of places still rely on signatures. Almost all food tastes sweet, including bread. • Credit history anywhere outside of the US isn't considered “real" and will not hep prove you're a real person when you want to open a bank account. All this from living in NYC a few years back.

4.

Text - watercolorinc•5h I thought the gap in bathroom stall doors were a myth. Didn't get privacy for my five day stay. How do you shit when someone can look you in the eye?!

5.

Text - Darkyral • 2h The infrastructure is much older than what you see on TV

6.

Text - Karazhan • 1h How low down the toilets are compared to here in the UK. Went to sit on one, dropped as I thought l'd missed the darned thing then felt like l'd broken my ass on impact. It's like missing the bottom step of the stairs, but even worse.

7.

Text - TheSentinelsSorrow • 5h "I'm Irish too" said in a Texan accent after they heard me speak I'm not even Irish l'm Welsh E: also the people that welcome you to a store as you go on...it has...sinister undertones

8.

Text - Needakill • 4h You can actually go to the ATM without leaving your car. Line for the driveby is longer then in the Coffee shop it self.

9.

Text - TAS_Snoop • 4h Was on an exchange. 2 most memorable questions were "Can you see the moon in Europe" and "Do you have Pizza in Europe". Something else l'll never forget was the map of Europe in the school I went to which still showed the country of Yugoslavia (which doesnt exist anymore) and all the borders were fucked up. A map IN THE SCHOOL.

10.

Text - avlas • 3h Tax not included in the price tag. It's... weird!

11.

Text - Bighow • 3h LA - The amount of homeless people, straight up walking past an elderly woman living on the streets to get to the 7-11.

12.

Text - Rust Dawg • 2h Went to Burger King and got a "medium" fizzy drink and they gave me this fucking plastic tank that held about a liter and a half. Plus, about half of it was ice. What the fuck

13.

Text - APerson629 • 2h The ads in between tv shows felt unnecessarily long, and also repeated the same info, just worded differently.

14.

Text - xeonxTT • 2h At the Petro station, sorry gas station; you can purchase ammo, gas, milk, rifle, beer, fireworks and other 'daily' use objects. This was in Montana, 2005.

15.

Text - rb357 • 1h When in Boston someone realised we were British and came over to have a conversation: "Oh my god, I have a friend in England. She lives in London. Do you know her?" Hmm, there are 9 million people who live in London, and 65 million in the UK. The chance of me knowing one individual is quite remote!

16.

Text - frnoss • 3h Their size. I'm American, but was in Europe for a few years on a work assignment and didn't come home in between. When I came back home, I was dumbstruck by how many morbidly obese Americans you see when you, for example, walk around a mall.

17.

Text - Grumpy_Yuppie • 5h - Portion Sizes - Extreme airconditioning (like fridge- temperature inside) - Advertisement (seems to be everywhere possible) - Ads on how much you can sue people (honestly, wtf?!) - Extreme patriotism (stars and stripes on every item you can think off) - Homeless people (especially in San Francisco)

18.

Text - mOrp • 1h • Not having sales tax included in the sticker price. • What I perceived to be fake sincerity. A lot of tour guides and service people seemed like they hated life but pasted on a fake mask of being happy and sincere. It felt weird. I don't encounter that much in my own country and I'm sure many of them hate their job just as much.

19.

Text - Diddleronthehoof • 6h Portion sizes. The number and length of ads in tv shows, it's crazy disruptive.

20.

Text - IsezToHimlsez • 2h Advertisements every few minutes on tv.

21.

Text - iamsoveryverytired • 4h Everyone wanted me to have a great day.

22.

Text - DuncSully • 2h Surprised this one isn't more up there: Flags. My British friend pointed out the crazy ridiculous amount of American flags everywhere. We're just sorta used to it, don't think much of it, but if you actually start counting flags you see in people's yards, at businesses, just put up on random products and such, etc. it's basically cult-esque.

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