17 Ways Americans Are Shocked by European Culture

Any time you travel to a foreign country, there are bound to be

some notable and subtle differences between home and away.
That’s part and parcel of the adventure. A recent survey on
Reddit asked Americans, “What was the biggest culture shock
when you visited Europe?” Here are some of the resulting
observations of American tourists abroad.

1. Beer in McDonalds!

“Beer and other alcohols in places I wouldn’t expect to find them. I was quite surprised to be able to have a
beer at a museum; I’m used to the intellectual set pretending to not want anything to do with alcohol. It was
like I was actually in a land made for adults instead of children.”

2. Bigger Isn’t Necessarily Better

“Normal-sized bodies. Very few jacked body-builders, very few morbidly obese people. They just have
generally lean, healthy physiques.”

                                                         

3. Nude vs Prude
“As a teenage Texan boy who visited Germany in high school, I’d say the biggest shock was the billboard
at the end of our street with a topless woman on it. I looked at that thing so much I still have it memorized
20 years later.”

                                  

4. Don’t Take Parisian Snootiness Personally

“The French are generally nice, it’s Parisians who are assholes and
give the whole country that reputation. And they’re not singling you out
because you’re American – they’re assholes to each other too.”      
5. Perpetual Puffing
“The smoking…. People smoking everywhere. Restaurants, street corners,
cafes… When I landed in Vienna there was a 10 x 5 meter plexiglass box in
the airport where 7 Austrians chain smoked while waiting for their luggage.”

                                    

6. Penny For Your Thoughts

“I realized how many freebies we get in the US. Free refills, as much ketchup as you want in fast food
places, free toilets, etc. In Europe, you have to pay for everything. I got used to it.”

                    

7. Siesta Time!
“Spain: Alright, it’s afternoon, time to get some errands done. Took me a full week to realize 2-5 the whole
country shuts down.”

               

8. The World Didn’t Begin in 1776

“The sense of history and age that is everywhere. Buildings that are
hundreds and thousands of years old, roads that have been walked for a
hundred generations, etc.”
                                             

9. Polyglots Everywhere
“All the Dutch seem to speak five languages but act really humble
about it and say that their English is terrible.”
10. Wine is Cheaper
“Soda is expensive in Europe, man. I’m not a big beer drinker, so I’m used to
ordering a Coke or something at a restaurant when my friends go drinking in the
US. But whew, don’t you order a Coke a a restaurant in Europe. It’s gonna cost
you.”

                   

11. Cross At Your Own Risk

“When I visited Rome, people just walk into the crosswalks and the cars just stop for them. I’m from NY. I
can jay walk with the best of them… but f*ck man, I need my pedestrian crossing signals! Crossing streets
in Rome really took up the majority of my vacation… it was like playing a terrified game of double dutch.
And those drivers… they sense weakness.”

                        

12. Tolerant and Open Minded

“In Amsterdam, my buddies and I stopped by a McDonald’s to grab drinks while we walked around the city.
I saw a white kid, with crazy dreadlocks, crazy Hip-Hop styled clothing/half-Rastafarian clothing grab his
tray, turn to a very crowded room, scouring for a table and not see an empty one. This is when a man in full
business attire pulled his tray back a bit on his table, and beckoned the guy to come sit with him. This
wouldn’t EVER happen in the U.S.”

13. Pedestrian-Friendly Culture

“The fact that I could easily WALK everywhere I needed to go within a town in Germany.”
                           
14. Savor the Moments vs Go-Go-Go
“How slowed down everything is. When you go to a cafe, there’s usually no to-go coffee. You’re expected
to sit down or stand at the bar and drink your coffee slowly. Out to dinner, meals last hours and start way
later than they do here. We would always stand out as the fast moving Americans on our way to class.”

                                     

15. Living History

“Remnants of the two world wars are everywhere. You can actually
see lines across many of the buildings where they used new
brick and mortar to rebuild after Hitler blitzkrieg’d them to shit.
Many of the towns I visited in Germany and Czech Republic still
had anti-tank hedgehogs sticking out all around the borders or along main roads. The locals said they
figured it was more of a pain to dig them all out, so they just left them as a daily reminder of the cost of war.
Fascinating to me.”  
       

16. Ketchup Is So Gauche

“I was ridiculed about asking for a ketchup bottle for my burger and fries at a
restaurant near Normandy. Four French men in the booth behind me kept doing
their Frenchy type laugh (OHhhohnnhonnn) and pantomiming out squirting
ketchup onto food. They even grabbed the bottle off of my table and started to
pass it around between them making jokes about it.”

                          
17. Pay For the Privilege
“I don’t know if I’d call this a culture shock because I was only visiting Paris for a few days… but I was
surprised when I had to pay to use public bathrooms. I mean, I’m a big fan of being able to just walking into
a bathroom and poop when I need to poop. Public bathrooms at an American mall might not be very clean,
but I’m glad I don’t have to drop two dollars to poop.”