It’s a tale as old as time. People travel abroad and realize that life works a little differently elsewhere. Who would’ve thought, right?
Still, even knowing that doesn’t always prepare you for the surprise of actually seeing it in action. Kind of like being amazed by how bright it stays in summer, then shocked when it’s pitch dark by 4 p.m. in winter. It just catches you off guard.
That’s exactly what happened when these Americans visited Europe. What seemed totally normal to the locals left them scratching their heads. Here’s what stood out to them—do any of these seem odd to you too?
#1
You guys just,, have doctors
I fell incredibly ill in Germany and walked into a pharmacy. Was immediately met by a doctor who prescribed me medication and did not bill me for the ‘appointment’ and the meds were super cheap and 100x better than anything available in the US.
#2
You want to know what’s weird? Americans referring to Europe as one country.
#3
How well connected and on-time train system is.
#4
The number of people who sit outside eating or having a coffee in France and Germany, even if the weather wasn’t the greatest. I’ve been the only person indoors plenty of times.
#5
The driving. I lived in Italy for three years, and I had never seen worse driving than before moving to Italy. Speed limits were all but ignored, and nearly every road was a free for all battle to the death.
#6
Turbo-charged cashiers at Aldi.
#7
Not necessarily weird, but I was in Switzerland for my senior trip and the gas stations we stopped at are the highest quality facilities I’ve ever been in for gas. I would eat off the floor.
#8
I lived in Europe for several years (specifically The Netherlands) and there was only one thing that literally made me stop in my tracks, and it was a Sesame Street Live poster. Turns out Big Bird is blue there!
When I told all my Dutch friends of my surprise they were all like yeah that’s Pino, why wouldn’t he be blue? They say he’s Big Bird’s cousin but I was never fooled. It was obviously Big Bird who left America to move to Holland seeking an alternative lifestyle.
#9
People are way more direct, especially in Eastern Europe. Like one time, I was staying in Serbia for a while and had to get my blood drawn to do some tests (which is also done at a public lab that kind of looks like a store and is independent form hospitals?? Kinda weird too). I don’t do great with blood and have passed out during blood draws before, so I tell the lady drawing my blood this just in case and she tells me “If this is what you’re afraid of, you’re gonna have a rough life”. (Vs the American nurse who will lay you down and be very calm and talk to you and tell you to not be scared lol)
Also again in the Balkans, what you wear outside is super important and people are way more judgmental about appearances. It’s a big part of the culture to look presentable and put together.
#10
How little space there is. Everything is close together. Quite the culture shock to me, from rural Pennsylvania.
#11
Sitting down at a restaurant and not getting any service for 15 minutes, then waiting half an hour for the check to come at the end. I get that it’s more relaxed, but don’t people ever have somewhere to be?
#12
I went to a small town in Italy a few years ago and stayed with a host family. They slept with their huge windows wide open and the windows didn’t have screens. I found this weird because 1. People could literally just climb through the windows in to their house and 2. Random street cats would be walking around their house. This would never happen in my neighborhood in Pennsylvania because people would get robbed left and right.
#13
Beer is cheaper than water in Germany
not complaining; just saying.
#14
There is a plastic electric tea pot in every hotel/motel room in England.
#15
Been living in Germany awhile:
* Most stuff is closed on Sunday (similarly don’t plan anything critical during siesta in parts of Spain)
* Holy c**p people complain a bunch about the excellent and comprehensive train service (though there can be consistent problems about rural service)
* You have to declare your faith on tax paperwork. If it’s certain Christian churches you pay extra tax that goes to them.
* Probably the largest concentration of people who learned Latin. If you say “that’s weird” they’ll fall all over themselves to explain the one useless way that it’s useful. Personally between this and the last point I think they’re just planning to bring back the Holy Roman Empire.
* They’re reaaaallyy proud of their hard bread.
#16
I’m from Spain. Groceries in Switzerland are 5x as expensive as they’re here.
#17
Just moved to Germany and the biggest thing about my house here is the windows are so weird and different.
I’ll definitely be installing them when I buy a new house back stateside.
#18
Lack of personal space. In Germany, people tend to get right up on you in shops or step really close to talk to you.
#19
Paying to use a public bathroom. We were traveling in Germany, stopped at a roadside gas station/restaurant area, ran inside to use the facilities and had to fumble around looking for money just to go to the bathroom.
#20
Been to Portugal, Spain, Romania, Hungary, UK, and Iceland on a trip a two years back.
Didn’t really notice anything *weird* about any of it. Nothing any weirder than me going to any random places in my own country anyway.
I guess the weirdest thing I can think of is how everyone over the age of 35 in Romania seemed to be able to speak 4-5 different languages. Made for some super interesting group chats with 4 languages rotating between 5 folks. A friend (romanian/english speaker) invited me over to dinner and her family just happens to randomly speak a language I can communicate in (spanish). not sure if this is romania or eastern europe in general.
in western europe, *in my experience*, mostly we’re looking at just the native language and maybe sometimes a bit of english.
#21
Europe is too big for this Eastern Europe is very different to Western Europe which is very different to the UK and Ireland.
#22
Mayonaise with French Fries…
#23
Not an American (Canadian) but I’m so used to asking for a Pepsi when I go to a restaurant that I just ask for one to speed up the Social interaction instead of listening to the “is Pepsi ok?”. So I asked for one and the waitress said “is Coke ok?”.
#24
Ice in your drink. Went to Ireland last year, surprised to see them look at you weird if you ask for ice.
#25
In some parts of Europe, club soda (carbonated water) in place of regular tap water as the default drink at restaurants.
#26
“Hitzefrei” in Germany. I’m a teacher in California, and even if the AC is broken, school still happens in the heat. The only modifications I’ve seen for extreme heat related to physical education activities.
#27
Not tipping your waiter is normal/ expected. i always felt so guilty for not leaving a good tip.
#28
Did a foreign exchange program in Spain last year, I’d say the weirdest thing for me was all the physical contact people would have with each other because in America, that would’ve been considered sexual harassment.
Also, many would call convenience stores, chinos (aka: Chinese), which I lowkey found to be strange and racist (almost like calling a 7-11 an Indian).
#29
They don’t bat at an eye at 16 year olds drinking but when it comes to 16 year olds driving in America, suddenly they question if any human can possibly be mature enough to do it responsibly.
#30
Cars and driving. Cars are a luxury item instead of a necessity. There’re generally well maintained and need to undergo a technical inspection every couple of years.
There’s a very different concept of the “right of way”. Generally in America, if you continue straight on a road and you’re not stopped by a stop sign, traffic light, or yield sign, you can assume that you have the right of way, and all other cars must give priority to you if they want to turn onto/cross your road (the car turning onto your road would have a stop sign, traffic light, or yield sign to inform them)
However in Europe, they have “priority from the right” which means that if you’re driving along on most streets, you must always be cautious when approaching any intersection and make sure there’s no car coming from your right side. Cars to your left must give priority to you, even if you’re turning in front of them. It’s like there’s an invisible “yield to right” sign at all of these unmarked intersections.
However the rules change if you’re on something designated with a yellow diamond sign as a “main road”. People on the main road have priority in whichever direction as long as they continue to follow the main road.
Also, Europeans are more restrictive about the word “highway” and the term only applies to specific roads. In America we are generally liberal with the word highway. I take it to mean any large, marked road with at least 2 lanes.
#31
I studied abroad in Hungary and noticed how people went grocery shopping everyday. I was one of the few people carrying a boatload of groceries when walking back to my apartment.
Isn’t it better to just get the grocery shopping over with so there’s more time to do other things?
#32
Paying for a public bathroom. Also, I went to Italy and was shocked that pedestrians don’t have the right of way when crossing the road and drivers will not hesitate hitting you.
#33
Any time I go to Europe I have to adjust to the fact that everywhere I go I’m going to have just a little less personal space than I would prefer.
Hotel rooms are smaller, tables are closer together at restaurants, people get just a little closer to you when they talk.
As Americans we prefer to have conversations by shouting at each other from opposite sides of a large room.
#34
Parents and teenagers getting wasted together. I don’t mean having a glass of wine with dinner. I mean slurring words.
#35
I went to Spain about a month ago and almost every single person dressed business casual every where you traveled. This made me and a few buddies feel super under dressed in every occasion. However, every single restaurant, bar, and shop had the most disgusting bathrooms I’d seen which, was so bazaar to how the public carried them selves. They where run down, smelled like s**t, tight, and had thin toilet paper to dry your hands with sitting by the sink. I even went to this club ( one of the only ones that would let us per the dress code ) and it was super nice but the bathroom downstairs made the place smell like a sewer. Something that just really stood out for me about the country.
#36
All germany
Sitting in a restaurant for 2 hours just because…. instead of just eating and going cause you got other s**t you wanna spend your time doing.
Paying for water because they won’t serve tap water. water costing as much or more than beer. Also having to ask for still water everytime.
The abundance of bread, sweets, pizza, doner boxes, and alcohol. It seems like this is all they eat in Germany. I don’t understand how they stay so slim while eating and drinking like s**t
Primark, I love it and the prices are unbelievable. You can’t even find used clothes at Goodwill in the states for the prices they charge at primark (1 euro for a new shirt).
Last thing, people will stare at you for what reason? Idk, but they will just stare at you for 30 seconds straight. I just stare back until they break eye contact when I feel it.
#37
How the women are generally nice looking, healthy, friendly and cool.
#38
Until going to Europe I never realized how big WhatsApp is!
#39
It wasn’t absolutely everywhere but it’s something I notice way more when Im European cities than even US cities like New York or Chicago: no toilet seats. The amount of times I’ve had to sit on the rim and just deal with it in every kind of establishment is a lot. I hear it’s because they get broken and it’s just not worth it to fix it cause they break again but it’s still something that stands out to me when I’m over there.
Also comparably, wait staff and people who interact with customers are way less cheerful because they don’t have to be. It’s almost comical how peppy US CSRs tend to be because Americans can be so f*****g nasty about lackluster customer service but personally I love getting left alone when I eat over there. I love only interacting w/ waitstaff when I flag them down. Eating is way less stressful over there because it doesn’t feel so rushed.
#40
I went to Paris this last summer. The general lack of AC was alarming.
#41
Germany: cold sausage for breakfast.
#42
Not weird but the driving (particularly in England) is TERRIFYING.
#43
Sparkly water. How can u guys drink that.
#44
The roads are so small??? Like, so small… and yall drive crazy too…
Plus seeing american news in France was pretty whack.
#45
Smoking indoors. I don’t know, I just am not used to it.
#46
I’m sure someone is bringing this up, but it’s super weird to me that I have to ask for tap water, or else I will get charged for sparkling water, which is absolutely disgusting imo.
AND that drinks are so small and cost so much, at least the places I went. I would ask for a drink, and if it’s not tap water, they bring over a $3-4 glass bottle of water that’s like 0.25L. That’s like one gulp for me, guys. If I wasn’t that thirsty, I wouldn’t be spending $4 for a drink. I need liquid refreshment. I have thirst. I need it quenched. It takes more than a fistful of water to do that, and they make it cost way too much. This is EUROPE, there’s basically nowhere more than 300 miles from water.
#47
The French p**s in the stairwells going up to the metro/subway/train/whatever you want to call it.
#48
Having to pay for water.
In the US they just bring you endless water without asking at restaurants. In Europe you ask for water and they look at you like the people in the movie Idiocracy (Water? Like out the toilet?) Then they’ll go find one in the back and come back like 15 minutes later with a 100 ml bottle of Perrier that costs €3.50. Honestly the whole continent is dehydrated.
#49
(Italy). The amount of smoking.
As someone with asthma, I’d have trouble breathing even after some time in an open air train station.
Just because you’re outside doesn’t mean the smoke disappears immediately. Especially not when there’s a crowd of you, all with cigarettes.
#50
Drunk people.
everywhere.
just passed out or lying around.