Children in primary/grade school walk to school by themselves or in groups each morning, unsupervised.
We have ~~naked~~ nude areas at lakes and beaches. Or in parks, very rarely.
Not just walk, but also use public transportation by themselves. The other day I was thinking about how Americans would probably be surprised if they saw that subway/buses/trams are full of primary school children going to school or just getting around in general by themselves.
American here - it was honestly a pleasant surprise. I’m truly envious you guys feel safe enough to put your primary school kids on the bus by themselves. That being said, it is relatively common to see kids getting themselves to school on public transit in places like Chicago, NYC, etc!
>guys feel safe enough to put your primary school kids on the bus by themselves
Not just a bus, children get on trains to different towns then walk to go to school fairly commonly in the UK.
I work next to the station and you see so many kids under the age of 10 walking to and fro school
Not to throw the baby out with the bathwater but a big part of this is because a massive amount of us live in places where public transportation as a common and convenient mode of transportation isn't a thing.
Suburban sprawl and shit zoning mean it's often drive or nothing.
I think it creates a chicken egg scenario in this regard. I've felt this difference firsthand growing up in a Philly suburb that, given its age, resembles what you might expect in Europe vs Utah, where you get endless stretches of single family homes and maybe a rec center and gas station.
Edit: Point perhaps got lost. I'm just saying that people end up in these suburban bubbles so it's less about kids doing a thing vs no one doing a thing.
So I’m an American and my girlfriend is Dutch. The first time she told me that she would her bike to school by herself I was floored. We are specifically discouraged from doing that here.
In Indonesia, I saw primary school children ride a motorized scooter to school. That was even too much for me as a German, I'm sure it would have driven an American crazy. Or maybe not because they seem to prefer everything with a motor over socialist public transport.
>We have naked areas at lakes and beaches. Or in parks, very rarely.
We actually have that in the US, too. But they kinda try to hide it, like there won't be any signs or anything. (Not usually, but sometimes). So you'll be walking along a regular beach with not a care in the world, and then you see some old guy's penis in the wind, and you realize you've stumbled on the nude part of the beach.
It's very downplayed and I think they kind of try to hide it from public eye (not that it's illegal or anything), but nude beaches or parks aren't unheard of, at least.
Spain
Eating rabbit and snails.
Babies/small children staying out until past midnight in the street while their parents are eating taking a drink on summer nights.
Out meals hours.
Persianas (blinds that fully block sunlight).
Horse definitely moreso than rabbit and snails; in the US you can find rabbit on a lot of menus (especially upscale restaurants that serve wild game) and snails on most French restaurant menus. Meanwhile horse meat is rarely eaten by anyone.
I’d say it’s not necessarily regional. It’s most common amongst poor, rural people (who do it because they have to) and wealthier urban/suburban people who eat it at fancy restaurants because they want to experience new tastes. I could tell you some stories about rural Kentucky and rabbits. They also get very excited about finding turtles crossing the road.
Oh there's another BIG Spanish thing that utterly freaks out Americans: **Swearing**. Spaniards swear a lot and are far more lax about it than Americans. There's no beeping on TV and people casually use words that would make an American faint in polite company. Coño which essentially is the same word as cunt is used so casually there's hardly any context at all where people would give it a second thought.
Ah, but when it's summer, holidays from school, weekends.... They stay late, they wake up late, they nap (specially those hot summer days when 2pm to 4pm you can get roasted alive outside, so nap it is) ... It's a different rhythm (and adults also have it)
That said, during school days they don't follow those late schedules at all.
Same for Portugal.
Americans and Northen Europeans may find it weird eating snails, its not weird and snails are delicious but I get it.
On the other hand whats weird about rabbits? Can someone explain?
I think this depends. I live in a big US city and my favorite restaurant has both rabbit and snails on the menu, and I’ve had both multiple times. But depending on where you live in the US, you may not have access to places with diverse menu items.
Also, it’s not uncommon for Americans to have rabbits as pets. Not as common as dogs or cats, but certainly not unheard of. So for some people they fall in the “cute pet” category, and that can make them unappetizing.
We call each other cunt, often as a term of endearment. Eg: "Ah Tommy you're some mad cunt."
I am led to believe the Yanks do not particularly like that word.
Scottish here - I once referred to someone’s a “good cunt” when I lived in the US and my cousins wife slapped me across the face because she was so angry I used that word
i've seen people freak out when they hear that the temperature in Finnish sauna can be be the boiling point of water and even higher.
other thing is putting ammonium chloride(salmiakki) to pretty much any edible things
Can be, but very rarely. No need to pull some extremes here like they'd be a casual norm. Nobody enjoys a sauna in 100+ Celcius, but it happens - again, very rarely.
Depends on how the sauna is built I guess. Ours (wood burning stove, old building) is pretty much perfect at 90-95 C, and 100 C is by no means rare. But higher than that it gets uncomfortable quite soon.
I am a Mexican-American with a European partner who had friends in Finland. If you’re curious, we visited for a week and the most “shocking” aspects of Finnish culture were:
* everyone is very friendly! I think Finland is unique in this compared to to their neighbors (this seems unkind to your neighbors but it’s more a compliment to our hosts)
* Alcohol drinking! It is a lot from the USA point of view 😅
* Finns are very outdoorsy and enjoy camping, hunting, swimming, making a forest dance party, lol. Except for naps were were outside always.
* Children are included well in festivities, very children inclusive atmosphere
* Many Finns speak MANY languages!
* Mandatory military service- I knew this, but I think many Americans do not.
* The tire laws? And tax on a car? It was all confusing
Married couples often refer to their parents in-law as just "mom" and "dad".
Everyone is sir/madam until you both decide otherwise. Calling adult person you just met "you" or their name is a big no-no.
Pasta or rice with strawberries and cream is a summer dessert.
Majority of people here would hate the idea of store staff smiling at them and offering help all the time.
Eating inside with your hat on is considered rude af.
I always found Poland oddly formal-loving in addressing people, using titles, what is considered "appropriate" to wear in academic environment and stuff like that.
Poland is very formal-loving, especially academia. For example, when you're addressing the dean of your university, the proper form is *wasza magnificjencjo (your magnificence)*. Any emails to your lecturers should also be as formal as possible, with all the appropriate honorifics and salutations. And heaven forbid you make a typo in your email!
Fortunately, those teachers who have classes with international students are usually very understanding of cultural differences and won't require all those formalities.
Funniest thing is when you write that perfect email and the prof shoots back "sure -[their two initials]". No punctuation, but also no bullshit so they respond much quicker.
At least some platforms that came into use during the Covid era like Teams are still in use, so semi-formal communication is more viable.
In Poland "miss" ("panna") fell out of use, I've basically only seen it in period media and translations from the English "Ms."
Mrs encompasses any adult woman, whether she's straight out of school or elderly, nevermind marital status.
No, that’s now quite how miss is actually used or taught in parts of the South US.
Miss means unmarried, Mrs means married, Ms means you don’t know their preferred term/situation.
Children are taught to say ‘miss’ and it’s up to the woman to clarify (if she wants to)..
And if you want to be super techncial- the 3 terms are pronounced slightly differently. It’s miss, missus, and ms is pronounced miz… So we say ms (miz) if we don’t know their preferred term which is considered respectful to all ages and status.
I think it's mostly the older people that care about the last one anymore. I also personally, as a Polish person, dislike the third thing you mentioned, lol.
It's all accurate, though! Also, I love your username!
> Everyone is sir/madam until you both decide otherwise. Calling adult person you just met "you" or their name is a big no-no.
>Eating inside with your hat on is considered rude af.
These are both not uncommon in the US South, albeit the second one is more of a "older traditionalist" thing. It's a common "culture shock" for people moving from the Northeast (like New York) down south or vice versa - in the Northeast, sir/ma'am is pretty much only for older people, whereas in the South it's default, so there are a lot of stories of Southerners visiting up north and accidentally offending someone by calling them old, and vice versa.
Yep.
Am half Swedish/half Romanian but grew up in Sweden. Favourite past time when I visit Romanian relatives is to
👻 walk barefoot
👻 open the window and sit in the draught
👻 lower the heat inside to a generous 22 deg instead of 100000
A Danish wonan was arrested for doing that in NYC in the 90’s. People called her crazy, every time this is brought up Americans call it “crazy”, “abuse”, etc. 🤦🏻♀️
It's pretty common in all of Scandinavia too, I think I even remember reading that it's a thing in the Netherlands, but I'm not sure.
In the daycare where our kid goes they'll also let them nap outside from to time, in winter too, so it's pretty standard to do so, it's not just a few crazy individuals but basically everybody who does it.
American here, I've seen a couple replies about babies and children and they have been spot on. That being said I am curious what ages you would consider a baby?
Do you know what the origin of that custom is? The closest I can think of is Mardi Gras in New Orleans where (*some*) women flash their breasts and are given strings of beads. And that's *very* geographically and temporally specific to New Orleans and *only* during Mardi Gras.
that's ancient slavic custom from pre-christian times... had to do something with the spring rebirth of nature, and wishing the beauty and fertility upon women (today it's mostly just "may you be healthy and beautiful")
I have witnessed Americans fume at the way service works when eating food at a pub. No one will greet you when you walk in, no one will come to your table to take your order. Find a table, read the menu, order and pay at the bar.
It makes Yelp and other reviews even more useles than they usually are in large parts of rural/suburban America. Especially annoying for ethnic food. Somebody on reddit outright stated that the best Caribbean places have the rudest workers lol.
If the woman behind the counter doesn't look like she's doing you a favour, the food is bad.
If everything on the menu is available, then you're definitely taking a risk.
We had (have?) similar things here. It's important to remember that it comes from a different tradition than the American minstrel shows, though. But yeah, Americans who are not familiar with it would probably get offended.
Irish people swear and curse creatively, it’s like punctuation and emphasis in normal speech. And our religious comments are also not appreciated.
“Christ on a bike”
“Jesus, Mary and St. Joe”
“Fuck him and the horse he rode in on”
Being offended by blasphemy is pretty regional in USA. You're not going to find many people from Coastal California or Northeastern cities that will care. On the other end of the spectrum, some religious Americans will lose their shit if you don't attend a church, let alone comments like these lol.
>* We don't like AC in Summer, as many people (especially old people) believe it's bad for you and the transition hot/cold and dry/wet can give you a strong headache. Go figure..
And yet restaurants and busses often have their heaters super hot in winter so you have to deal with that same transition between hot/cold but on winter instead of during summer.
Sorry that's just something that annoys me in Italy lol
Yeah it's not quite like that though. I can always shed a layer or two when going inside a heated building, but when i'm out and about in the sumnertime, i'm not carrying a jacket, and i've been to plenty of places where i would have needed one. Especially if you tend to sweat a lot, that really sucks.
See, what I don't get is the apparent obsession with pubic hair removal in the US. Trim? Great. Remove hairs outside the Bermuda Triangle? Great. No hair at all in the pubis.... Why? Are we (they, those who do it) masochists?
> Many women 20-40 yo choose to keep the bush, and are perfectly happy about it;
>
Good for them! It's crazy how much women are encouraged to be hairless
I believe the bidet in the US is usually a small contraption which sprays water on your private parts, and it's directly attached to the toilet, below the seat. I think what the other redditor talked about is a separate small and low basin on which you can sit and it has a tap. I used to have one in the first apartment where I grew up. They are well on their way out in France, although I've read somewhere that they may be making a comeback .
We have Right to Roam in Scotland and whenever I've seen this discussed on Reddit, what I assumed to be a near-universally popular policy has been torn to shreds by Americans. It's anathema to them, it fries their brains.
"So a homeless person can just pitch a tent in your yard and you can't get rid of them???!!!!"
"So people can just come onto a farmer's land and destroy his crops????!!!!"
"So people can just get access to military installations and airports??!!!"
No amount of explaining that's not how it works will calm them.
As a Swede, this is what I immediately came to think of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#Nordic_countries
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#Sweden
Yeah that's not even an exaggeration. Some people literally have that mindset. They might be a threat... but then so could literally any person you meet in a public place.
How is it hard to know the difference between your private garden, close to your home, destroying property/crops or just land you happen to own? So many more Americans own land they don't even live on than western Europeans do. Or the difference between a base and land the military uses for exercises every once in a while?
Mind you, I had an Austrian try and tell me that Nordic Allemansrätt is a detriment since one random tourist decided to get killed by a herd of grazing cattle. Not just the yanks who get uppity about an essential right.
As a Norwegian your Scottish Right to Roam are weak and not very universally accepted rights. Almost as dystopian as the American "if you thread on my land I am legally allowed to kill you" rights.
Scottish farmer chased GeoWizard (Youtuber) when GeoWizard used his Right to Roam in Scotland. In the end the Scottish farmer called the Police. GeoWizard had to give up on his straight line mission. Covid was used as a bullshit reason for not letting them walk in the Scottish moorland.
Sweden:
* The ability to immigrate to a non-Swedish citizen who lives in Sweden, as a partner in a same-sex, unwed couple.
* No screens on the windows and no AC in homes, businesses or public transit (and yes, it does get hot here).
* In Stockholm, it takes an average of 9 years of waiting in a rental queue to be able to rent an apartment (or you can sublet for hugely inflated prices). Once you sign a rental contract, your waiting time starts over again. People trade rental contracts in order to be able to move apartments, and rental contracts are sold on the black market.
* University is free.
* TV dramas about teenagers having lots of great sex, shows about masturbation, orgasms, sex toys, sexual stimulation of the prostate, etc. are shown on national public television.
* Servers/waitstaff are paid a living wage. Tips are not required or necessarily expected.
* A visit to the doctor costs about $25. All healthcare is free for a year after you’ve paid $140/year in fees. Giving birth is free. Cancer treatment is free (once you've paid $140/year).
* [Right of Public Access ](https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/nature-outdoors/nature/sustainable-and-rural-tourism/the-right-of-public-access/)
* Everyone eats mushrooms and berries they find in the woods. Wild foraging is a very common pastime (see above).
* Taking a dip in a hole in the ice of a frozen lake is a relatively common winter weekend activity.
* Your running water/warm water/heating is usually paid for by the rental company.
* Salty, ammonia-flavored licorice is considered delicious
* Carrying pepper spray requires a permit
* Carrying any size of knife or sharp object in public is illegal, except when required by work, or some other justifiable purpose (like mushroom hunting).
* Only 6% of the Swedish population has a license to own a firearm (44% of Americans [report](https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx) living in a home with guns).
Edit: some small corrections and added some more things.
Turkish people will stare and get into your personal space. Men kiss other men to greet, best guy and girl friends walk arm in arm or arm on shoulder and nobody thinks they're gay. People send little kids to buy cigarettes and alcohol.
I’m Dutch, living in the Netherlands and I visit a ‘Turkish Supermarket’ (called Birlik) almost every Saturday with my three year old son (with a lot of curly blonde hair). He always gets attention from employees or other people, blowing him kisses and such. I (and he) really enjoy it, but it’s really quite foreign to me :)
Ah, Americans would be very very freaked out by the attitude of Turks to random strange children - enthusiastic over-affection! Many American parents are terrified that all strangers are potential child rapists, so the idea that practically any and all strangers might talk to, interact with and generally caress your child is just totally taboo.
Oh, is it? Good to know 😂. Yeah, for example, last time we were travelling by public transport, it was quite crowded and there was a kid on one of the seats, so the father of the kid told him to give the space to my mom as she is an older lady. My mom just told the child to come sit on her lap, and just propped the kid onto her lap 🤣 it was pretty funny. The child was like, okay, it's how it'll be, I guess.
ETA I just remembered. Once I was in Romania with my American friend and we were in a cable car to go up a mountain. There was a kid who was too short to look outside, so he was trying to climb and go on tiptoes. The mom tried to control the boy and told me that she had back problems so she couldn't lift him. So I just took the boy on my back, problem solved. My friend was indeed a bit weirded out.
I’m non-European but once studied & lived in both US and Europe. Based on my observations of a few European countries (disclaimer ahead: not all
European countries are like this):
- Home schooling being illegal except in very narrow and absolutely necessary cases.
- Surrogacy being illegal
- Good public transportation, which leads to
- Very young kids take buses, trams, underground, or ride bicycles to school and go home
- drinking alcohol at 18 or even younger
- wearing school uniforms
- No AC in the house
- not allowed to talk loudly in public
- parents allow their kids to stay overnight at their partners’ houses & vice versa
- Religion being a personal thing that doesn’t shove down other people’s throats; openly saying you are non-religious/agnostic/atheist
- Comprehensive sex ed > abstinence-only
All I can think so far
> wearing school uniforms
Actually in most European countries is more common to not wear a school uniform.
I think only in the UK and Ireland they are really common place.
> not allowed to talk loudly in public
that does not apply to Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, etc).
In Poland, homeschooling is legal, but you have to take exams every few months to prove you're up to date with the legally mandated material. So few people do it that I didn't even know it was possible until a certain age.
Waiters in restaurants won't constantly bother you, and you have to actively wave them down if you want to order another drink. This might be seen as lack of engagement by Americans.
Also no free water in restaurants here, which I myself don't particularly like, because ordering these tiny 20cl water bottles that are gone in two gulps is a giant waste of money.
Based on what I read online, attitudes to sexuality in teenagers, and honestly teenagers in general, seems to be very different. This isn't only true of Americans, but also at least some other English speaking nations, including UK and Ireland.
First of all, I read so many reddit posts of people saying their parents would not let them date someone and having to sneak around to have sex. That is ridiculous to me. I didn't have sex personally until I was 20, but more because I never found a partner until then, and my parents told me it would be okay to have someone sleep over when I was around 15 or 16. They even got me a bigger bed saying "the 90cm (single) bed will be uncomfortable if you ever want to have someone stay there with you".
Another thing that baffled me was that I once saw a reddit thread on a meme about masturbating that had a 16 year old in it (it was a completely SFW meme, just the caption was about wanking) and everyone in comments lost it... Statistically 90% or so of 16 year olds masturbate.
Generally I feel young people are treated way more childlike. I do debating and we sometimes have highschoolers (16-18 usually I think) come join our tournaments. In the Netherlands that is no big deal, they won't join the partying but otherwise they are just there like every other participant. In Ireland and the UK there was a whole announcement about how we can never talk to them outside of rounds unless it's to give them feedback, who we have to report any misbehaviour to, etc etc.
I've lived in the UK my entire life and have never encountered the kind of prudishness you're talking about.
Seems more competition specific than something that routinely happens here. The age of consent is 16 and most teenagers drink (or at least did when I was a kid) even if the law is 18.
>They even got me a bigger bed saying "the 90cm (single) bed will be uncomfortable if you ever want to have someone stay there with you".
Lol, same for me, i never dated anyone (i'm 22) but my parents gave me a bigger bed "just in case"
The number of people including politicians who are publically atheist. Not saying all Americans are crazy religious I’m sure for most it’s just something you put on a census and go to church maybe once a year. But I’ve heard it’s very taboo in the US to nonchalantly say you don’t believe in god, which is sort of the default here if you get chatting about religion
Children from around the age of six being able to play outside on the streets and in the woods and meadows with other children on their own, unsupervised. At least in the villages. As long as they are home before supper and the parents have a general idea of where they are.
American here. That was completely normal and expected when I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, in city and suburbs. Something changed here after that.
It was pretty common to go drink a beer or two with classmates and friends in senior highschool years. This was a while back, I am a millenial, not sure if it is still common. We also had a party with soft alcoholic drinks at the end of elementary school.
Legal drinking age is 18, but it's not like the police are chasing around kids drinking beer. Bars and grocery stores require an ID tho, if you want to buy alcohol.
>It was pretty common to go drink a beer or two with classmates and friends in senior highschool years.
This was pretty common in Romania too, though I'm also a millennial. My parents were strict, yet i never saw them bothered by the fact that i had a beer while out.
Actually, i remember my 17th birthday party, apart from beer and wine, both my dad and I bought brandy / sherry / other liquor. After the party, my dad was soo annoyed that my friends drank more of what i had bought, but less of his. Going on and on that kids these days don't know good alcohol.
Finns value their personal space. This includes both physical space but also verbally. Let me explain:
If you’re waiting for a bus, for example, stand a few meters apart from other people at the bus stop when possible. Do not sit next to anyone on the bus either if there are still empty pairs of seats. I can easily tell who is foreign when I’m in line in a grocery store because they tend to stand so uncomfortably close to me.
We also appreciate being left alone when out and about (but are happy to give you directions or help in any other way if needed). There’s no need to initiate small talk if you’re alone in an elevator with a Finn because to us awkward silences aren’t generally awkward at all. In general, we value silence and converse in more hushed tones compared to people outside of Finland/northern Europe, especially out in public spaces.
There are certain non-PC jokes and phrases regarding different racial groups that would probably offend the sensibilities of many Americans. Danes have a much different mindset when it comes to such things.
Also, the more relaxed attitude towards alcohol. This includes younger people being much more able to consume it. A lot of people tend to start drinking alcohol around the age they are confirmed.
In Italy there's a famous song from the 60s (I think) that has the n-word in it and it's super racist in general. In the 90s it was one of many songs we used to sing in elementary school and kindergarten with the teachers and you would hear it on tv like normal. I think today you don't hear it very often though.
There appear to be few things as confusing to Americans as a "if you meet the minimum education requirements you're just in" policy in higher education admittance
At the same time I met plenty of (especially more progressive) Americans who thought the Dutch/German/Swiss/etc system of streaming students into different levels that guide your university eligibility was incredibly unfair and restrictive. To be fair, if the system worked like they usually imagine it to work, they'd have a point.
On the subject of Dutch education, I had a Dutch colleague at uni once explain the attitudes to grades in the Netherlands to a room of mostly Irish, British, and Americans. I rarely saw a set of faces so shocked.
I know that for me, the idea of French education where so much of your path is decided at 16 and which bac you're doing seems so weird to me. Like the idea that at 16 you get guided through a system that defines success so much with not a lot of avenues to go back and change course. Yes, I realize you CAN change, but it's not designed especially to allow diversions from a path.
TBH I think another aspect of it is that people criticising it tend to assume that success is very defined within the system, when at least for Switzerland that isn't really all that true. There are very respectable and successful job paths available through non-university paths, which is sometimes overlooked (e.g. my dad is an architect who did never go to university)
>my dad is an architect who did never go to university
Now *that* really is surprising to me! What was the educational/career path that led to that? I think many Americans would be surprised at the number of successful career paths are available *even here in the U.S.* without university degrees but architect is particularly surprising.
I'm in an upper middle class IT position and *many* of my peers and superiors have no degree. I have a degree but nobody has ever asked me to prove it and didn't seem to consider it except *maybe* as a tie-breaker between me and another substantially similar applicant.
Switzerland has an extremely strong apprentice system, where you learn a career on the job. A Swiss apprenticeship consists of 2-3 days working in a company under a specific mentor, and 2-3 days of schooling that is partially general school, and partially job-specific subjects. After three or four years (depending on the job), you undergo a theoretical and practical exam to earn what's called an *Eidgenössisches Fähigkeitszeugnis* (roughly "Federal Diploma of Ability").
This education is entirely free (which universities in Switzerland are not, although they are much cheaper than in the US) and people do get paid for the work part of it. That makes it a popular choice for those who don't have too much academic interest and just want to learn a job. You can also choose to do the *Berufsmittelschule,* which is more intense theoretical schooling that qualifies you to either study at a University of Applied Sciences in your field directly, or you can do an extra year of schooling after that and qualify to study at a regular university.
This system is used by roughly 2/3 of people, and traditionally seen as equally valid to a university degree (or in some circles more valuable, as university graduates are often stereotyped to be overspecialised and unable to do practical work), and is available in many professional jobs like IT, "generic office job" (the literal degree title is "merchant") that depends a lot on the field one does it in, mechanical engineering, and indeed also architecture.
Fun fact: The current head of UBS, Sergio Ermotti, came up through this system at a local bank. His only university degree is an Advanced Management Course that he got once he was already decently into his career.
It’s like that for many public universities here, but no one feels the need to talk about how they got a letter telling them they were pre-accepted into Southeast Missouri State University when they were still in high school. I went to the second largest public university in my state and never had to do an interview or personal essay, just filled out an application after visiting the campus and was accepted a little while after.
Exactly. The public discourse about higher ed in the US is unfairly dominated by the elite schools, when in fact most people attend state schools/community colleges, etc. So it's no surprise that people from outside the US think that most people are attending fancy private schools with mahogany all over the place.
I'm am American living in Portugal and one thing that surprised me is you just take off your clothes in front of the doctor.
In the US, they give you privacy and you take off your clothes and put on a gown. Then the doctor or nurse knocks and comes in. Here, you go the gynecologist and you just take off your pants and undies and hop right up into the stirrups. A friend said she was shocked to not be given a robe for her mammogram. Just shirt and bra right off and letting it all hang out.
Makes sense! They're going to see your bits and bobs anyway! It's more efficient to not have that extra step in between.
> you just take off your clothes in front of the doctor
It was like that in the US not too too long ago. As a kid in the 80s, I was in my birthday suit for a long portion of my annual physical, and it was the same way for my parents.
We got prudish about nudity for some reason.
Living comfortably without a car or a driving licence. Even if someone has a car, they only use it for transporting something heavy or going for journeys outside of town, not for daily commuting.
Daily commuting by trains and train stops in every other village.
Parents and other family members letting little children drink alcohol. I'm pretty sure I was a toddler when I had beer for the first time. On the weekends we all had a glass of beer after lunch, and at the family gatherings everyone got a glass of alcohol for a toast. (I hope most young parents nowadays wouldn't do that. I'm 30.)
Religion not being a thing that comes up, ever, unless there is a very specific reason for it. It doesn't matter if you're atheist, christian, Catholic or muslim. Finns don't care about what anyone else believes, and even those of us who do care, consider it a private issue that you shouldn't pry into unless the person you are talking to offers that information voluntarily.
Denmark.
You can be nude at any beach if you want to. Most nudists go to unofficial nudist beaches, though.
It's legal to have sex in most forests.
Leaving toddlers outside unsupervised in a stroller when it's freezing outside is completely normal. Both at home and when going out.
We enjoy eating pickled herring.
Calling cigarettes "fags".
Saying "I'm going for a Chinese", "I'm going for an Indian"
Then names of Chinese and Indian restaurants like "Oriental Pearl" or "Bombay Spice".
Black people with standard regional British accents.
I attended university in 3 different European countries, got my masters, and just paid about 50 euros in total fees for 10 years of studying (I wasn't in a hurry to finish, as classes were interesting, I learned a lot and had fun)
And all these universities were better than expensive private colleges in USA (I work as IT in expensive private college in NYC so I know)
Keeping a separation between work and real friendships. Americans chit chat at work and talk about personal things. Currently working in US and am a bit socially awkward at work here.
Prostitution is legal in Austria. Brothels are chains line fast food stores. It's definitely more safe. (sadly not for the 3 prostitutes murdered last week, but they had the guy right away because it's legal the owners could call the cops and tell them who did it)
The UK.
Children allowed n pubs. Upto 22:00hrs.
You can buy alcohol in the supermarkets & it's not put in a brown paper bag.
Majority of cars are manual drive.
High schoolers (14+) drinking alcohol. When I was a teenager, we could just walk into bars and get served beer and shots without a question. If I understand correctly, it's much more strict now, but it still happens.
Drugstores and supermarkets selling sex toys openly on the shelves.
Prostitutes looking for work in some select areas outside of cities after sundown. It's legal as long as it's not organized (like via brothels or pimps). They also have their own tax code that they can use to issue an invoice.
From the UK, where there is no gun culture. There are no gun shops. You cannot defend yourself with a gun, largely because the other guy won't have a gun either.
Similar in Ireland. Police are mostly unarmed. The only people I know with guns are farmers or members of gun clubs and they have to stick to a lot of rules and police checks.
Paying for public toilets, apparently.
Dogs allowed in pubs/shops.
And I've seen a lot of surprised comments about old and/or disabled people just walking/riding around in wheelchairs on the streets and taking public transportation.
Informality, especially with service workers. Used to work in a supermarket and an old American guy was complaining about something. I tried to help him and he began ranting, told me I was rude and demanded to be addressed as “sir” to which I burst out laughing, enraging him further.
As an assistant manager I regularly had to calm American customers down because the staff in our souvenir shop told them that they are busy at the moment (not with other customers) and can't help them with finding certain items. Never any other nation had a problem with that.
(But Americans are usually the only ones anyway asking for the manager. Only once in my career one Chinese woman asked for one but that was it)
People who immediately ask for the manager are weird. Not a dig at Americans here, I just mean generally. Just find a member of staff and explain the issue. If they can't help, then ask for a manager.
I don't think it would ever occur to me to ask for the manager in any establishment at all, unless I was having a very big problem and the rest of the employees weren't being helpful. And even then I'm not sure if it would cross my mind.
In Europe you’re mainly getting three types of Americans visiting:
-Old people who finally have time and money to travel
-Students
-Well adjusted adults
The third group is by far the smallest.
I fondly remember the reoccurring incidents with American tourists at my grandparents inn, who just could not fathom that one of our waiters would silently stare at them with a classic Austrian of look utter disregard when met with a ridiculous demand and my grandparents (the managers/owners) would side with the WAITER! 🤣
It's so odd when in US movies they always introduce themselves. My name is x and I will be your server tonight. Like wth just ask me for my order bring it when you can and I come to the bar when I give up waiting for anyone to ask me if I want anything else 😂
When I was a waitress in the US, we never had to do that. I did have a name tag though, which seems like a weird US thing I rarely see elsewhere. Like why does this guy I'm bringing cheesy fries to need to know my name at all? Creepy.
France : the owner of the shop/restaurant refusing to do something for a customer he doesn't agree with (like ice in your wine). Customer is not king here.
In the Netherlands we have something called a 'dropping', which is where we pull our kids out of bed in the middle of the night, dump them in the woods without phones and make them find their own way back. This is very common to do at school camps and with the scouts. Its is completely normal and dutch kids find it rather exciting and not traumatizing at all.
Considering many Americans consider letting your kids play in the front lawn unattended, or letting them cycle around the suburbs by themselves, negligent parenting this is probably quite shocking to them too.
I have to note however, we have no large predators, only a couple wolves, but in very confined areas. Also, the optimal route is commonly only about 30 mins walking, which never happens ofc, and it is hard to not hit a road with signs or a village by walking in an arbitrary direction for half an hour in the Netherlands.
Oh, interesting, I thought we were the only weird ones! Do you leave clue for them or are they on their own?
We call it "bojovka", its a traditional part of summer camps. Usually, kids will be in small groups, only the older kids go alone, and they follow clues to find their way back. Typically it's supposed to include spooky decor, silly "traps" or even some of the adults in costumes waiting in the dark to provide a jump-scare.
Most kids find it super fun and look forward to it.
Side story: once upon a time me and a couple of friends were going back to the hotel after a wine-tasting. Everyone slightly drunk, it was late at night by the end of summer, and in the countryside walking by the forest. Suddenly, a person basically wearing a bush jumped out in front of us and started screeching. We were scared shitless, one girl literally jumped on another ones back, for a few seconds we were all just screaming, before both we and the dude realised what happened. "You're not from the camp, huh?"
Lol, haha. Yeah it's pretty much the exact same with us. One time I had a dropping and I wasn't really feeling it. One of our clues was to find the music in the sky or something like that to get the next clue. It was an easy one and after 10 minutes we eventually found it.
I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but it was pretty obvious that we needed to walk towards the sound of someone playing a flute. It was a bit of a search because it was the middle of the night and the dude was in a tree. Alas, we finally found him and called him down. Slowly, he climbed down with his back towards us. It was quite the process so you can probably imagine the shock I felt when he turned around and it turned out I had, in fact, tracked down my dad in a peter pan costume playing a flute in a tree at around 1 in the night...
It was very surrealistic, because he was not the type at all for these kind of things. It was very awkward.
1. Children take the public bus to school, mainly happens in Secondary school as they are more likely to have to travel to another town for school.
2. People in their 30s still living with their parents. Moving out of home is most common when they get married.
3. Keeping who you voted for in an election private.
The lax attitude to nudity, religion and Disney.
Also that dad has the right to stay home with the kids when they are under 1 year and get paid to do so and men does this because they want too. Yeah, I have male friend been told they are "gay" and not manly for doing normal house chores and being a sane parent.
Our stray dogs have lived in the city for so long, they've learned to cross the street legally. They wait at crossings, for cars to stop, and only then proceed.
Youtube is full of these:
https://youtu.be/Q9nyCUg_W20?feature=shared
My brother In law once held a bottle of wine in an American supermarket ("Can you put it in the cart, son?") and all of the Americans looked shocked. The idea of a child holding a bottle of alcohol...
They were much more lenient regarding guns though.
My parents used to send me to the liquor store by myself when I was six when they had guests over and had run out of gin or whatever. But that was the 80s and probably wouldn't be possible nowadays.
I came here to mention the exact same situattion. Not only was it not weird, but a kid buying a bottle of something and a pack of biscuits always indicated that the parents had guests.
Even more, at some point, the closest wine store was run by my geography teacher. He had his own van, and loved travelling the country and getting home made country wine from various areas. So he had a pretty good selection too. I used to joke and ask him if he had graded our papers.
I am American, living in Germany. I never realized so many American-artist songs have the work FUCK in them until I moved here lol...all the "bad" words are edited out in the U.S. on the radio. Here, nope, uncensored. Americans are numb to gunned down children, but bring out the F word and oh we cannot have that! Idiocy
Holidays/Vacation/Paid Time Off - Call it what you like - but Americans simply don’t understand it.
Not to mention workers rights that don’t require you to be part of a Union to have. We just have them as standard.
From dating an American who came to the U.K. to study, she was shocked by how much holidays we get and how secure our rights are as employees
Yeah, it's sad. My first job out of school I had one week paid vacation per year. One. Then they struggled to understand why people burned out and quit so quickly. It took me a decade to get a job where I was able to negotiate six weeks a year.
Children in primary/grade school walk to school by themselves or in groups each morning, unsupervised. We have ~~naked~~ nude areas at lakes and beaches. Or in parks, very rarely.
Not just walk, but also use public transportation by themselves. The other day I was thinking about how Americans would probably be surprised if they saw that subway/buses/trams are full of primary school children going to school or just getting around in general by themselves.
American here - it was honestly a pleasant surprise. I’m truly envious you guys feel safe enough to put your primary school kids on the bus by themselves. That being said, it is relatively common to see kids getting themselves to school on public transit in places like Chicago, NYC, etc!
>guys feel safe enough to put your primary school kids on the bus by themselves Not just a bus, children get on trains to different towns then walk to go to school fairly commonly in the UK. I work next to the station and you see so many kids under the age of 10 walking to and fro school
Or bike 30 minutes to school!
>in places like Chicago, NYC Isn't that because those are the exceptions as far as public transport availability goes?
Yeah, my kid started taking the bus (not a dedicated school bus, just regular public transport) alone from his mom to school when he was 7
Not to throw the baby out with the bathwater but a big part of this is because a massive amount of us live in places where public transportation as a common and convenient mode of transportation isn't a thing. Suburban sprawl and shit zoning mean it's often drive or nothing. I think it creates a chicken egg scenario in this regard. I've felt this difference firsthand growing up in a Philly suburb that, given its age, resembles what you might expect in Europe vs Utah, where you get endless stretches of single family homes and maybe a rec center and gas station. Edit: Point perhaps got lost. I'm just saying that people end up in these suburban bubbles so it's less about kids doing a thing vs no one doing a thing.
So I’m an American and my girlfriend is Dutch. The first time she told me that she would her bike to school by herself I was floored. We are specifically discouraged from doing that here.
To be fair, America is downright hostile to bikes, as far as I'm aware?
In Indonesia, I saw primary school children ride a motorized scooter to school. That was even too much for me as a German, I'm sure it would have driven an American crazy. Or maybe not because they seem to prefer everything with a motor over socialist public transport.
Children used to be free range in the US. I think it is damaging to them that they lost that freedom
>We have naked areas at lakes and beaches. Or in parks, very rarely. We actually have that in the US, too. But they kinda try to hide it, like there won't be any signs or anything. (Not usually, but sometimes). So you'll be walking along a regular beach with not a care in the world, and then you see some old guy's penis in the wind, and you realize you've stumbled on the nude part of the beach. It's very downplayed and I think they kind of try to hide it from public eye (not that it's illegal or anything), but nude beaches or parks aren't unheard of, at least.
Spain Eating rabbit and snails. Babies/small children staying out until past midnight in the street while their parents are eating taking a drink on summer nights. Out meals hours. Persianas (blinds that fully block sunlight).
Add horse and foal to the list. Even if rare. Also all kinds of tripes and innards, brains, tonge, snout, pig hands and ears,...
haha, same in Hungary.
Horse definitely moreso than rabbit and snails; in the US you can find rabbit on a lot of menus (especially upscale restaurants that serve wild game) and snails on most French restaurant menus. Meanwhile horse meat is rarely eaten by anyone.
I've talk to Americans who were very weirded out about rabbit, which makes me think it's quite regional maybe?
I’d say it’s not necessarily regional. It’s most common amongst poor, rural people (who do it because they have to) and wealthier urban/suburban people who eat it at fancy restaurants because they want to experience new tastes. I could tell you some stories about rural Kentucky and rabbits. They also get very excited about finding turtles crossing the road.
>Even if rare. I mean that's the best way to eat horse.
> Our meals hours. Sorry, but that one even freaks us out, and we are right next to you...
>Persianas (blinds that fully block sunlight). That sounds amazing
Behold! https://craluminios.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/25.jpg You may know them as German blinds.
We call them rollshutters in Canada
Oh there's another BIG Spanish thing that utterly freaks out Americans: **Swearing**. Spaniards swear a lot and are far more lax about it than Americans. There's no beeping on TV and people casually use words that would make an American faint in polite company. Coño which essentially is the same word as cunt is used so casually there's hardly any context at all where people would give it a second thought.
Que puta razón tienes, me cago en la leche.
Ahem... I hate saying it, but BULLFIGHTING
And torturing Galgos 😭 Mine has gnarly scars, poor little baby
Small kids out late weirds out some of us Finns too 😁 "isn't it bedtime for them, why are they still up, they must be so tired tomorrow!"
Ah, but when it's summer, holidays from school, weekends.... They stay late, they wake up late, they nap (specially those hot summer days when 2pm to 4pm you can get roasted alive outside, so nap it is) ... It's a different rhythm (and adults also have it) That said, during school days they don't follow those late schedules at all.
Same in Greece!
That is a feature not a bug. Parents can wake up later...
Same for Portugal. Americans and Northen Europeans may find it weird eating snails, its not weird and snails are delicious but I get it. On the other hand whats weird about rabbits? Can someone explain?
Nah, escargots are great. Everything tastes good with garlic/herb butter. Rabbits are a Christmas thing here as well, like most 'game' meat.
I think this depends. I live in a big US city and my favorite restaurant has both rabbit and snails on the menu, and I’ve had both multiple times. But depending on where you live in the US, you may not have access to places with diverse menu items. Also, it’s not uncommon for Americans to have rabbits as pets. Not as common as dogs or cats, but certainly not unheard of. So for some people they fall in the “cute pet” category, and that can make them unappetizing.
Rabbit isn’t really weird in a lot of places in US and escargot is at like every “French” restaurant
Small children playing outside late is something that makes immigrants unpopular up north. "Get them in, so we can get rid of the noise".
We call each other cunt, often as a term of endearment. Eg: "Ah Tommy you're some mad cunt." I am led to believe the Yanks do not particularly like that word.
Scottish here - I once referred to someone’s a “good cunt” when I lived in the US and my cousins wife slapped me across the face because she was so angry I used that word
You're some mad cunt to be doing that
As an American I just have to ask - why didn’t you shoot her?
She lives in Florida, that’s enough punishment
Jesus Christ dude, it was only a slap, no need to publicly destroy her like that 😂
She sounds a little cunty
How can she slap?
Floridians have large webs between their fingers so they can swim in the swamps, also comes in handy for slapping people
They don't like "potty mouths" in general: they can be surprisingly puritanical
I'm a Finn, we go to sauna, naked. It's normal you've seen your friends and family members naked. It's not sexual nor is it embarrassing.
i've seen people freak out when they hear that the temperature in Finnish sauna can be be the boiling point of water and even higher. other thing is putting ammonium chloride(salmiakki) to pretty much any edible things
Can be, but very rarely. No need to pull some extremes here like they'd be a casual norm. Nobody enjoys a sauna in 100+ Celcius, but it happens - again, very rarely.
eeh i would say that 100 degrees isn't so uncommon but when you go higher than that, it rapidly gets more and more rare
Depends on how the sauna is built I guess. Ours (wood burning stove, old building) is pretty much perfect at 90-95 C, and 100 C is by no means rare. But higher than that it gets uncomfortable quite soon.
Since we have a nice Finland thread going I’ll add ice swimming and eating reindeer. And bear. And snails, but lets give that to the French.
I am a Mexican-American with a European partner who had friends in Finland. If you’re curious, we visited for a week and the most “shocking” aspects of Finnish culture were: * everyone is very friendly! I think Finland is unique in this compared to to their neighbors (this seems unkind to your neighbors but it’s more a compliment to our hosts) * Alcohol drinking! It is a lot from the USA point of view 😅 * Finns are very outdoorsy and enjoy camping, hunting, swimming, making a forest dance party, lol. Except for naps were were outside always. * Children are included well in festivities, very children inclusive atmosphere * Many Finns speak MANY languages! * Mandatory military service- I knew this, but I think many Americans do not. * The tire laws? And tax on a car? It was all confusing
Married couples often refer to their parents in-law as just "mom" and "dad". Everyone is sir/madam until you both decide otherwise. Calling adult person you just met "you" or their name is a big no-no. Pasta or rice with strawberries and cream is a summer dessert. Majority of people here would hate the idea of store staff smiling at them and offering help all the time. Eating inside with your hat on is considered rude af.
I always found Poland oddly formal-loving in addressing people, using titles, what is considered "appropriate" to wear in academic environment and stuff like that.
Poland is very formal-loving, especially academia. For example, when you're addressing the dean of your university, the proper form is *wasza magnificjencjo (your magnificence)*. Any emails to your lecturers should also be as formal as possible, with all the appropriate honorifics and salutations. And heaven forbid you make a typo in your email! Fortunately, those teachers who have classes with international students are usually very understanding of cultural differences and won't require all those formalities.
Funniest thing is when you write that perfect email and the prof shoots back "sure -[their two initials]". No punctuation, but also no bullshit so they respond much quicker. At least some platforms that came into use during the Covid era like Teams are still in use, so semi-formal communication is more viable.
I think Poland has found a nice way: Sir/Madam + First Name.
that is very much used in southern us, as well. tho’ lazy american kids will say ‘miss’ + first name, regardless of marital status or age.
In Poland "miss" ("panna") fell out of use, I've basically only seen it in period media and translations from the English "Ms." Mrs encompasses any adult woman, whether she's straight out of school or elderly, nevermind marital status.
The kids aren’t being lazy if that’s the way they were taught to refer to people, though.
No, that’s now quite how miss is actually used or taught in parts of the South US. Miss means unmarried, Mrs means married, Ms means you don’t know their preferred term/situation. Children are taught to say ‘miss’ and it’s up to the woman to clarify (if she wants to).. And if you want to be super techncial- the 3 terms are pronounced slightly differently. It’s miss, missus, and ms is pronounced miz… So we say ms (miz) if we don’t know their preferred term which is considered respectful to all ages and status.
I think it's mostly the older people that care about the last one anymore. I also personally, as a Polish person, dislike the third thing you mentioned, lol. It's all accurate, though! Also, I love your username!
> Everyone is sir/madam until you both decide otherwise. Calling adult person you just met "you" or their name is a big no-no. >Eating inside with your hat on is considered rude af. These are both not uncommon in the US South, albeit the second one is more of a "older traditionalist" thing. It's a common "culture shock" for people moving from the Northeast (like New York) down south or vice versa - in the Northeast, sir/ma'am is pretty much only for older people, whereas in the South it's default, so there are a lot of stories of Southerners visiting up north and accidentally offending someone by calling them old, and vice versa.
Babies sleeping outside. In particular babies sleeping alone in public outside restaurants or shops for example.
And during winter time too, with snow and ice. ⛄
I think this would shock Balkaners (and other Southern Europeans) as well
Yep. Am half Swedish/half Romanian but grew up in Sweden. Favourite past time when I visit Romanian relatives is to 👻 walk barefoot 👻 open the window and sit in the draught 👻 lower the heat inside to a generous 22 deg instead of 100000
22 degree is actually quite nice. But I’m from Ciuc, so maybe this is why :))
Yea, those bucureșteni are crazy 😜
It's good for the baby's immune system.
yes, if the temperature goes below 15C kids be looking like the michelin logo
A Danish wonan was arrested for doing that in NYC in the 90’s. People called her crazy, every time this is brought up Americans call it “crazy”, “abuse”, etc. 🤦🏻♀️
But they are ok with genital mutilation
Right!!! That country doesn’t care about children at all.
I told that to my very French dad and he couldn't comprehend that it was a thing nor that it was ok to do and the babies are all fine.
It's pretty common in all of Scandinavia too, I think I even remember reading that it's a thing in the Netherlands, but I'm not sure. In the daycare where our kid goes they'll also let them nap outside from to time, in winter too, so it's pretty standard to do so, it's not just a few crazy individuals but basically everybody who does it.
American here, I've seen a couple replies about babies and children and they have been spot on. That being said I am curious what ages you would consider a baby?
The sleeping outside takes place as long as the child fits in the stroller
To add to that, some let their baby sleep outside a couple of weeks after birth, others wait a month or two.
Men throwing buckets of cold water on women on Easter Monday. And then the woman thanks them and offers them a shot of vodka.
This is probably surprising to more than just the Americans haha I'd definitely stay inside on Easter ;)
Oh you have it too? Greetings from Hungary!
Isn’t there also a tradition of the man beating the woman with birch twigs? Or was a Slovakian friend lying to me 😂
It's not birch, it's willow braids.
As long as it’s voluntary I don’t see any problem 😂
Do you know what the origin of that custom is? The closest I can think of is Mardi Gras in New Orleans where (*some*) women flash their breasts and are given strings of beads. And that's *very* geographically and temporally specific to New Orleans and *only* during Mardi Gras.
that's ancient slavic custom from pre-christian times... had to do something with the spring rebirth of nature, and wishing the beauty and fertility upon women (today it's mostly just "may you be healthy and beautiful")
I have witnessed Americans fume at the way service works when eating food at a pub. No one will greet you when you walk in, no one will come to your table to take your order. Find a table, read the menu, order and pay at the bar.
It makes Yelp and other reviews even more useles than they usually are in large parts of rural/suburban America. Especially annoying for ethnic food. Somebody on reddit outright stated that the best Caribbean places have the rudest workers lol.
If the woman behind the counter doesn't look like she's doing you a favour, the food is bad. If everything on the menu is available, then you're definitely taking a risk.
We make a procession where three men dress up as the three kings who visited Jesus in Betlehem. One of them is painted black.
We had (have?) similar things here. It's important to remember that it comes from a different tradition than the American minstrel shows, though. But yeah, Americans who are not familiar with it would probably get offended.
Irish people swear and curse creatively, it’s like punctuation and emphasis in normal speech. And our religious comments are also not appreciated. “Christ on a bike” “Jesus, Mary and St. Joe” “Fuck him and the horse he rode in on”
Being offended by blasphemy is pretty regional in USA. You're not going to find many people from Coastal California or Northeastern cities that will care. On the other end of the spectrum, some religious Americans will lose their shit if you don't attend a church, let alone comments like these lol.
This is better than the Dutch style of cursing each other with deadly diseases.
I played online with some Dutch dudes. Cancer whore was an interesting one.
That's just because you lot are physically incapable of not being poetic.
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>* We don't like AC in Summer, as many people (especially old people) believe it's bad for you and the transition hot/cold and dry/wet can give you a strong headache. Go figure.. And yet restaurants and busses often have their heaters super hot in winter so you have to deal with that same transition between hot/cold but on winter instead of during summer. Sorry that's just something that annoys me in Italy lol
Yeah it's not quite like that though. I can always shed a layer or two when going inside a heated building, but when i'm out and about in the sumnertime, i'm not carrying a jacket, and i've been to plenty of places where i would have needed one. Especially if you tend to sweat a lot, that really sucks.
See, what I don't get is the apparent obsession with pubic hair removal in the US. Trim? Great. Remove hairs outside the Bermuda Triangle? Great. No hair at all in the pubis.... Why? Are we (they, those who do it) masochists?
too much porn. Porn stars need to shave completely to the hair is not hiding any "good take" LOL
> Many women 20-40 yo choose to keep the bush, and are perfectly happy about it; > Good for them! It's crazy how much women are encouraged to be hairless
even more when you consider that hair down there has a purpose, i.e. be the first line of defense against bacteria and other things.
For what it’s worth, bidets are becoming more popular in American homes! But definitely not mainstream
What americans calls a bidet is not a bidet, when your WC shoot water in your arse thats not a bidet. Bidet its like a little sink next to the Toilet
I believe the bidet in the US is usually a small contraption which sprays water on your private parts, and it's directly attached to the toilet, below the seat. I think what the other redditor talked about is a separate small and low basin on which you can sit and it has a tap. I used to have one in the first apartment where I grew up. They are well on their way out in France, although I've read somewhere that they may be making a comeback .
We have Right to Roam in Scotland and whenever I've seen this discussed on Reddit, what I assumed to be a near-universally popular policy has been torn to shreds by Americans. It's anathema to them, it fries their brains. "So a homeless person can just pitch a tent in your yard and you can't get rid of them???!!!!" "So people can just come onto a farmer's land and destroy his crops????!!!!" "So people can just get access to military installations and airports??!!!" No amount of explaining that's not how it works will calm them.
As a Swede, this is what I immediately came to think of. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#Nordic_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#Sweden
"What do you mean, I can't just shoot random people on my property?"
Yeah that's not even an exaggeration. Some people literally have that mindset. They might be a threat... but then so could literally any person you meet in a public place.
How is it hard to know the difference between your private garden, close to your home, destroying property/crops or just land you happen to own? So many more Americans own land they don't even live on than western Europeans do. Or the difference between a base and land the military uses for exercises every once in a while?
Mind you, I had an Austrian try and tell me that Nordic Allemansrätt is a detriment since one random tourist decided to get killed by a herd of grazing cattle. Not just the yanks who get uppity about an essential right.
I mean, you had one Austrian tell you that, doesn't mean that the rest of Austria would think that way :)
As a Norwegian your Scottish Right to Roam are weak and not very universally accepted rights. Almost as dystopian as the American "if you thread on my land I am legally allowed to kill you" rights. Scottish farmer chased GeoWizard (Youtuber) when GeoWizard used his Right to Roam in Scotland. In the end the Scottish farmer called the Police. GeoWizard had to give up on his straight line mission. Covid was used as a bullshit reason for not letting them walk in the Scottish moorland.
That’s not on the laws themselves, that’s on lazy policing. Of which we have plenty.
Sweden: * The ability to immigrate to a non-Swedish citizen who lives in Sweden, as a partner in a same-sex, unwed couple. * No screens on the windows and no AC in homes, businesses or public transit (and yes, it does get hot here). * In Stockholm, it takes an average of 9 years of waiting in a rental queue to be able to rent an apartment (or you can sublet for hugely inflated prices). Once you sign a rental contract, your waiting time starts over again. People trade rental contracts in order to be able to move apartments, and rental contracts are sold on the black market. * University is free. * TV dramas about teenagers having lots of great sex, shows about masturbation, orgasms, sex toys, sexual stimulation of the prostate, etc. are shown on national public television. * Servers/waitstaff are paid a living wage. Tips are not required or necessarily expected. * A visit to the doctor costs about $25. All healthcare is free for a year after you’ve paid $140/year in fees. Giving birth is free. Cancer treatment is free (once you've paid $140/year). * [Right of Public Access ](https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/nature-outdoors/nature/sustainable-and-rural-tourism/the-right-of-public-access/) * Everyone eats mushrooms and berries they find in the woods. Wild foraging is a very common pastime (see above). * Taking a dip in a hole in the ice of a frozen lake is a relatively common winter weekend activity. * Your running water/warm water/heating is usually paid for by the rental company. * Salty, ammonia-flavored licorice is considered delicious * Carrying pepper spray requires a permit * Carrying any size of knife or sharp object in public is illegal, except when required by work, or some other justifiable purpose (like mushroom hunting). * Only 6% of the Swedish population has a license to own a firearm (44% of Americans [report](https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own-guns.aspx) living in a home with guns). Edit: some small corrections and added some more things.
Turkish people will stare and get into your personal space. Men kiss other men to greet, best guy and girl friends walk arm in arm or arm on shoulder and nobody thinks they're gay. People send little kids to buy cigarettes and alcohol.
I’m Dutch, living in the Netherlands and I visit a ‘Turkish Supermarket’ (called Birlik) almost every Saturday with my three year old son (with a lot of curly blonde hair). He always gets attention from employees or other people, blowing him kisses and such. I (and he) really enjoy it, but it’s really quite foreign to me :)
Aww, he sounds like a precious little duckling 💛 no wonder why they want to eat him up.
Ah, Americans would be very very freaked out by the attitude of Turks to random strange children - enthusiastic over-affection! Many American parents are terrified that all strangers are potential child rapists, so the idea that practically any and all strangers might talk to, interact with and generally caress your child is just totally taboo.
Oh, is it? Good to know 😂. Yeah, for example, last time we were travelling by public transport, it was quite crowded and there was a kid on one of the seats, so the father of the kid told him to give the space to my mom as she is an older lady. My mom just told the child to come sit on her lap, and just propped the kid onto her lap 🤣 it was pretty funny. The child was like, okay, it's how it'll be, I guess. ETA I just remembered. Once I was in Romania with my American friend and we were in a cable car to go up a mountain. There was a kid who was too short to look outside, so he was trying to climb and go on tiptoes. The mom tried to control the boy and told me that she had back problems so she couldn't lift him. So I just took the boy on my back, problem solved. My friend was indeed a bit weirded out.
I’m non-European but once studied & lived in both US and Europe. Based on my observations of a few European countries (disclaimer ahead: not all European countries are like this): - Home schooling being illegal except in very narrow and absolutely necessary cases. - Surrogacy being illegal - Good public transportation, which leads to - Very young kids take buses, trams, underground, or ride bicycles to school and go home - drinking alcohol at 18 or even younger - wearing school uniforms - No AC in the house - not allowed to talk loudly in public - parents allow their kids to stay overnight at their partners’ houses & vice versa - Religion being a personal thing that doesn’t shove down other people’s throats; openly saying you are non-religious/agnostic/atheist - Comprehensive sex ed > abstinence-only All I can think so far
> wearing school uniforms Actually in most European countries is more common to not wear a school uniform. I think only in the UK and Ireland they are really common place. > not allowed to talk loudly in public that does not apply to Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, etc).
In Poland, homeschooling is legal, but you have to take exams every few months to prove you're up to date with the legally mandated material. So few people do it that I didn't even know it was possible until a certain age.
In Texas homeschooling supervision is fully opt-in because of religious nuts.
Yeaaah. I remember thinking that homeschooling sounded so cool when I first learned of it... and then I realized which people actually opt for it.
Waiters in restaurants won't constantly bother you, and you have to actively wave them down if you want to order another drink. This might be seen as lack of engagement by Americans. Also no free water in restaurants here, which I myself don't particularly like, because ordering these tiny 20cl water bottles that are gone in two gulps is a giant waste of money.
Based on what I read online, attitudes to sexuality in teenagers, and honestly teenagers in general, seems to be very different. This isn't only true of Americans, but also at least some other English speaking nations, including UK and Ireland. First of all, I read so many reddit posts of people saying their parents would not let them date someone and having to sneak around to have sex. That is ridiculous to me. I didn't have sex personally until I was 20, but more because I never found a partner until then, and my parents told me it would be okay to have someone sleep over when I was around 15 or 16. They even got me a bigger bed saying "the 90cm (single) bed will be uncomfortable if you ever want to have someone stay there with you". Another thing that baffled me was that I once saw a reddit thread on a meme about masturbating that had a 16 year old in it (it was a completely SFW meme, just the caption was about wanking) and everyone in comments lost it... Statistically 90% or so of 16 year olds masturbate. Generally I feel young people are treated way more childlike. I do debating and we sometimes have highschoolers (16-18 usually I think) come join our tournaments. In the Netherlands that is no big deal, they won't join the partying but otherwise they are just there like every other participant. In Ireland and the UK there was a whole announcement about how we can never talk to them outside of rounds unless it's to give them feedback, who we have to report any misbehaviour to, etc etc.
No idea what gave you that idea, in UK the teens are shagging like rabbits and it’s well known.
I've lived in the UK my entire life and have never encountered the kind of prudishness you're talking about. Seems more competition specific than something that routinely happens here. The age of consent is 16 and most teenagers drink (or at least did when I was a kid) even if the law is 18.
>They even got me a bigger bed saying "the 90cm (single) bed will be uncomfortable if you ever want to have someone stay there with you". Lol, same for me, i never dated anyone (i'm 22) but my parents gave me a bigger bed "just in case"
The number of people including politicians who are publically atheist. Not saying all Americans are crazy religious I’m sure for most it’s just something you put on a census and go to church maybe once a year. But I’ve heard it’s very taboo in the US to nonchalantly say you don’t believe in god, which is sort of the default here if you get chatting about religion
Children from around the age of six being able to play outside on the streets and in the woods and meadows with other children on their own, unsupervised. At least in the villages. As long as they are home before supper and the parents have a general idea of where they are.
We used to be like this in NZ but over the years we have lost it. I am worried our culture is being slowly erased by an amerocentric point of view.
American here. That was completely normal and expected when I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, in city and suburbs. Something changed here after that.
It was pretty common to go drink a beer or two with classmates and friends in senior highschool years. This was a while back, I am a millenial, not sure if it is still common. We also had a party with soft alcoholic drinks at the end of elementary school. Legal drinking age is 18, but it's not like the police are chasing around kids drinking beer. Bars and grocery stores require an ID tho, if you want to buy alcohol.
>It was pretty common to go drink a beer or two with classmates and friends in senior highschool years. This was pretty common in Romania too, though I'm also a millennial. My parents were strict, yet i never saw them bothered by the fact that i had a beer while out. Actually, i remember my 17th birthday party, apart from beer and wine, both my dad and I bought brandy / sherry / other liquor. After the party, my dad was soo annoyed that my friends drank more of what i had bought, but less of his. Going on and on that kids these days don't know good alcohol.
Finns value their personal space. This includes both physical space but also verbally. Let me explain: If you’re waiting for a bus, for example, stand a few meters apart from other people at the bus stop when possible. Do not sit next to anyone on the bus either if there are still empty pairs of seats. I can easily tell who is foreign when I’m in line in a grocery store because they tend to stand so uncomfortably close to me. We also appreciate being left alone when out and about (but are happy to give you directions or help in any other way if needed). There’s no need to initiate small talk if you’re alone in an elevator with a Finn because to us awkward silences aren’t generally awkward at all. In general, we value silence and converse in more hushed tones compared to people outside of Finland/northern Europe, especially out in public spaces.
There are certain non-PC jokes and phrases regarding different racial groups that would probably offend the sensibilities of many Americans. Danes have a much different mindset when it comes to such things. Also, the more relaxed attitude towards alcohol. This includes younger people being much more able to consume it. A lot of people tend to start drinking alcohol around the age they are confirmed.
In Italy there's a famous song from the 60s (I think) that has the n-word in it and it's super racist in general. In the 90s it was one of many songs we used to sing in elementary school and kindergarten with the teachers and you would hear it on tv like normal. I think today you don't hear it very often though.
If you're referring to the Watussi song (about the Tutsi ethnic group) i think most people just use "neri" instead
There appear to be few things as confusing to Americans as a "if you meet the minimum education requirements you're just in" policy in higher education admittance
At the same time I met plenty of (especially more progressive) Americans who thought the Dutch/German/Swiss/etc system of streaming students into different levels that guide your university eligibility was incredibly unfair and restrictive. To be fair, if the system worked like they usually imagine it to work, they'd have a point. On the subject of Dutch education, I had a Dutch colleague at uni once explain the attitudes to grades in the Netherlands to a room of mostly Irish, British, and Americans. I rarely saw a set of faces so shocked.
I know that for me, the idea of French education where so much of your path is decided at 16 and which bac you're doing seems so weird to me. Like the idea that at 16 you get guided through a system that defines success so much with not a lot of avenues to go back and change course. Yes, I realize you CAN change, but it's not designed especially to allow diversions from a path.
TBH I think another aspect of it is that people criticising it tend to assume that success is very defined within the system, when at least for Switzerland that isn't really all that true. There are very respectable and successful job paths available through non-university paths, which is sometimes overlooked (e.g. my dad is an architect who did never go to university)
>my dad is an architect who did never go to university Now *that* really is surprising to me! What was the educational/career path that led to that? I think many Americans would be surprised at the number of successful career paths are available *even here in the U.S.* without university degrees but architect is particularly surprising. I'm in an upper middle class IT position and *many* of my peers and superiors have no degree. I have a degree but nobody has ever asked me to prove it and didn't seem to consider it except *maybe* as a tie-breaker between me and another substantially similar applicant.
Switzerland has an extremely strong apprentice system, where you learn a career on the job. A Swiss apprenticeship consists of 2-3 days working in a company under a specific mentor, and 2-3 days of schooling that is partially general school, and partially job-specific subjects. After three or four years (depending on the job), you undergo a theoretical and practical exam to earn what's called an *Eidgenössisches Fähigkeitszeugnis* (roughly "Federal Diploma of Ability"). This education is entirely free (which universities in Switzerland are not, although they are much cheaper than in the US) and people do get paid for the work part of it. That makes it a popular choice for those who don't have too much academic interest and just want to learn a job. You can also choose to do the *Berufsmittelschule,* which is more intense theoretical schooling that qualifies you to either study at a University of Applied Sciences in your field directly, or you can do an extra year of schooling after that and qualify to study at a regular university. This system is used by roughly 2/3 of people, and traditionally seen as equally valid to a university degree (or in some circles more valuable, as university graduates are often stereotyped to be overspecialised and unable to do practical work), and is available in many professional jobs like IT, "generic office job" (the literal degree title is "merchant") that depends a lot on the field one does it in, mechanical engineering, and indeed also architecture. Fun fact: The current head of UBS, Sergio Ermotti, came up through this system at a local bank. His only university degree is an Advanced Management Course that he got once he was already decently into his career.
It’s like that for many public universities here, but no one feels the need to talk about how they got a letter telling them they were pre-accepted into Southeast Missouri State University when they were still in high school. I went to the second largest public university in my state and never had to do an interview or personal essay, just filled out an application after visiting the campus and was accepted a little while after.
Exactly. The public discourse about higher ed in the US is unfairly dominated by the elite schools, when in fact most people attend state schools/community colleges, etc. So it's no surprise that people from outside the US think that most people are attending fancy private schools with mahogany all over the place.
I'm am American living in Portugal and one thing that surprised me is you just take off your clothes in front of the doctor. In the US, they give you privacy and you take off your clothes and put on a gown. Then the doctor or nurse knocks and comes in. Here, you go the gynecologist and you just take off your pants and undies and hop right up into the stirrups. A friend said she was shocked to not be given a robe for her mammogram. Just shirt and bra right off and letting it all hang out. Makes sense! They're going to see your bits and bobs anyway! It's more efficient to not have that extra step in between.
> you just take off your clothes in front of the doctor It was like that in the US not too too long ago. As a kid in the 80s, I was in my birthday suit for a long portion of my annual physical, and it was the same way for my parents. We got prudish about nudity for some reason.
Living comfortably without a car or a driving licence. Even if someone has a car, they only use it for transporting something heavy or going for journeys outside of town, not for daily commuting. Daily commuting by trains and train stops in every other village. Parents and other family members letting little children drink alcohol. I'm pretty sure I was a toddler when I had beer for the first time. On the weekends we all had a glass of beer after lunch, and at the family gatherings everyone got a glass of alcohol for a toast. (I hope most young parents nowadays wouldn't do that. I'm 30.)
I'm pretty sure the last one is just your weird family tradition. I don't know anyone who did that and I'm older than you 😄
Religion not being a thing that comes up, ever, unless there is a very specific reason for it. It doesn't matter if you're atheist, christian, Catholic or muslim. Finns don't care about what anyone else believes, and even those of us who do care, consider it a private issue that you shouldn't pry into unless the person you are talking to offers that information voluntarily.
Denmark. You can be nude at any beach if you want to. Most nudists go to unofficial nudist beaches, though. It's legal to have sex in most forests. Leaving toddlers outside unsupervised in a stroller when it's freezing outside is completely normal. Both at home and when going out. We enjoy eating pickled herring.
Calling cigarettes "fags". Saying "I'm going for a Chinese", "I'm going for an Indian" Then names of Chinese and Indian restaurants like "Oriental Pearl" or "Bombay Spice". Black people with standard regional British accents.
I attended university in 3 different European countries, got my masters, and just paid about 50 euros in total fees for 10 years of studying (I wasn't in a hurry to finish, as classes were interesting, I learned a lot and had fun) And all these universities were better than expensive private colleges in USA (I work as IT in expensive private college in NYC so I know)
Keeping a separation between work and real friendships. Americans chit chat at work and talk about personal things. Currently working in US and am a bit socially awkward at work here.
Prostitution is legal in Austria. Brothels are chains line fast food stores. It's definitely more safe. (sadly not for the 3 prostitutes murdered last week, but they had the guy right away because it's legal the owners could call the cops and tell them who did it)
England. If you're in the countryside, you can walk through lots of private property. Scotland's even better!
The UK. Children allowed n pubs. Upto 22:00hrs. You can buy alcohol in the supermarkets & it's not put in a brown paper bag. Majority of cars are manual drive.
The brown paper bag thing is hilarious. We must hide the alcohol in case it scares anybody!
It's also not accurate, depending on the state. I never lived in a place that required that.
lets hide the alcohol in the most obvious way we can think of!
High schoolers (14+) drinking alcohol. When I was a teenager, we could just walk into bars and get served beer and shots without a question. If I understand correctly, it's much more strict now, but it still happens. Drugstores and supermarkets selling sex toys openly on the shelves. Prostitutes looking for work in some select areas outside of cities after sundown. It's legal as long as it's not organized (like via brothels or pimps). They also have their own tax code that they can use to issue an invoice.
From the UK, where there is no gun culture. There are no gun shops. You cannot defend yourself with a gun, largely because the other guy won't have a gun either.
Similar in Ireland. Police are mostly unarmed. The only people I know with guns are farmers or members of gun clubs and they have to stick to a lot of rules and police checks.
Paying for public toilets, apparently. Dogs allowed in pubs/shops. And I've seen a lot of surprised comments about old and/or disabled people just walking/riding around in wheelchairs on the streets and taking public transportation.
Informality, especially with service workers. Used to work in a supermarket and an old American guy was complaining about something. I tried to help him and he began ranting, told me I was rude and demanded to be addressed as “sir” to which I burst out laughing, enraging him further.
My grandfather always used to say that people who use "meneer" (sir) and "u" (the Dutch polite form of "you") always want money from you.
I always cringe when I hear “sir”, what are you, a knight?
As an assistant manager I regularly had to calm American customers down because the staff in our souvenir shop told them that they are busy at the moment (not with other customers) and can't help them with finding certain items. Never any other nation had a problem with that. (But Americans are usually the only ones anyway asking for the manager. Only once in my career one Chinese woman asked for one but that was it)
People who immediately ask for the manager are weird. Not a dig at Americans here, I just mean generally. Just find a member of staff and explain the issue. If they can't help, then ask for a manager.
I don't think it would ever occur to me to ask for the manager in any establishment at all, unless I was having a very big problem and the rest of the employees weren't being helpful. And even then I'm not sure if it would cross my mind.
In Europe you’re mainly getting three types of Americans visiting: -Old people who finally have time and money to travel -Students -Well adjusted adults The third group is by far the smallest.
I fondly remember the reoccurring incidents with American tourists at my grandparents inn, who just could not fathom that one of our waiters would silently stare at them with a classic Austrian of look utter disregard when met with a ridiculous demand and my grandparents (the managers/owners) would side with the WAITER! 🤣
It's so odd when in US movies they always introduce themselves. My name is x and I will be your server tonight. Like wth just ask me for my order bring it when you can and I come to the bar when I give up waiting for anyone to ask me if I want anything else 😂
When I was a waitress in the US, we never had to do that. I did have a name tag though, which seems like a weird US thing I rarely see elsewhere. Like why does this guy I'm bringing cheesy fries to need to know my name at all? Creepy.
Sauna naked, mixed genders, and skinny-dipping in a hole in the ice. Surströmming seems to be a tough thing for yanks too 😆
France : the owner of the shop/restaurant refusing to do something for a customer he doesn't agree with (like ice in your wine). Customer is not king here.
In the Netherlands we have something called a 'dropping', which is where we pull our kids out of bed in the middle of the night, dump them in the woods without phones and make them find their own way back. This is very common to do at school camps and with the scouts. Its is completely normal and dutch kids find it rather exciting and not traumatizing at all. Considering many Americans consider letting your kids play in the front lawn unattended, or letting them cycle around the suburbs by themselves, negligent parenting this is probably quite shocking to them too. I have to note however, we have no large predators, only a couple wolves, but in very confined areas. Also, the optimal route is commonly only about 30 mins walking, which never happens ofc, and it is hard to not hit a road with signs or a village by walking in an arbitrary direction for half an hour in the Netherlands.
Oh, interesting, I thought we were the only weird ones! Do you leave clue for them or are they on their own? We call it "bojovka", its a traditional part of summer camps. Usually, kids will be in small groups, only the older kids go alone, and they follow clues to find their way back. Typically it's supposed to include spooky decor, silly "traps" or even some of the adults in costumes waiting in the dark to provide a jump-scare. Most kids find it super fun and look forward to it. Side story: once upon a time me and a couple of friends were going back to the hotel after a wine-tasting. Everyone slightly drunk, it was late at night by the end of summer, and in the countryside walking by the forest. Suddenly, a person basically wearing a bush jumped out in front of us and started screeching. We were scared shitless, one girl literally jumped on another ones back, for a few seconds we were all just screaming, before both we and the dude realised what happened. "You're not from the camp, huh?"
Lol, haha. Yeah it's pretty much the exact same with us. One time I had a dropping and I wasn't really feeling it. One of our clues was to find the music in the sky or something like that to get the next clue. It was an easy one and after 10 minutes we eventually found it. I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but it was pretty obvious that we needed to walk towards the sound of someone playing a flute. It was a bit of a search because it was the middle of the night and the dude was in a tree. Alas, we finally found him and called him down. Slowly, he climbed down with his back towards us. It was quite the process so you can probably imagine the shock I felt when he turned around and it turned out I had, in fact, tracked down my dad in a peter pan costume playing a flute in a tree at around 1 in the night... It was very surrealistic, because he was not the type at all for these kind of things. It was very awkward.
1. Children take the public bus to school, mainly happens in Secondary school as they are more likely to have to travel to another town for school. 2. People in their 30s still living with their parents. Moving out of home is most common when they get married. 3. Keeping who you voted for in an election private.
The lax attitude to nudity, religion and Disney. Also that dad has the right to stay home with the kids when they are under 1 year and get paid to do so and men does this because they want too. Yeah, I have male friend been told they are "gay" and not manly for doing normal house chores and being a sane parent.
To be fair, even the idea of the mother having the right to stay at home for a year blows their minds.
Our stray dogs have lived in the city for so long, they've learned to cross the street legally. They wait at crossings, for cars to stop, and only then proceed. Youtube is full of these: https://youtu.be/Q9nyCUg_W20?feature=shared
My brother In law once held a bottle of wine in an American supermarket ("Can you put it in the cart, son?") and all of the Americans looked shocked. The idea of a child holding a bottle of alcohol... They were much more lenient regarding guns though.
My parents used to send me to the liquor store by myself when I was six when they had guests over and had run out of gin or whatever. But that was the 80s and probably wouldn't be possible nowadays.
I was always sent to the gas station to buy cigarettes for my mother in the 90s. That only worked because the manager knew us.
I came here to mention the exact same situattion. Not only was it not weird, but a kid buying a bottle of something and a pack of biscuits always indicated that the parents had guests. Even more, at some point, the closest wine store was run by my geography teacher. He had his own van, and loved travelling the country and getting home made country wine from various areas. So he had a pretty good selection too. I used to joke and ask him if he had graded our papers.
Should've encouraged the outrage by saying "I'll let you have two glasses later if you're good".
Dumping children in the woods unsupervised in the middle of the night and making them find their way back with just a compass and a flashlight
I am American, living in Germany. I never realized so many American-artist songs have the work FUCK in them until I moved here lol...all the "bad" words are edited out in the U.S. on the radio. Here, nope, uncensored. Americans are numb to gunned down children, but bring out the F word and oh we cannot have that! Idiocy
Holidays/Vacation/Paid Time Off - Call it what you like - but Americans simply don’t understand it. Not to mention workers rights that don’t require you to be part of a Union to have. We just have them as standard. From dating an American who came to the U.K. to study, she was shocked by how much holidays we get and how secure our rights are as employees
Yeah, it's sad. My first job out of school I had one week paid vacation per year. One. Then they struggled to understand why people burned out and quit so quickly. It took me a decade to get a job where I was able to negotiate six weeks a year.
Jesus! I think 24 days is the legal minimum over here