Social IssuesMAR 25, 2022

“America vs. Europe”: 27 Things Common In America That Europeans Find Very Weird

Austėja Akavickaitė and Liucija Adomaite

Meet Helene Sula, an American lifestyle blogger who not just loves traveling but has made it her full-time job, moving to live in different states, countries, and even continents! As you can imagine, Helene has gathered a bunch of intercultural experiences and having lived in Europe for years, knows the subtleties of life here pretty well. And saying it’s really different from life in the States would be an understatement!

In fact, she has dedicated her whole TikTok video series to explaining common American things that Europeans think are weird. From prom nights and portion sizes to distances between things and hours spent driving, there are many things that simply bamboozle Europeans. With a whopping 8.4M likes in total, Helene’s videos have gone viral, showing how fascinated we really are by these cultural and societal differences.

More info: Heleneinbetween.com | Smart.bio

Image credits: heleneinbetween

#1

“America vs. Europe”: 27 Things Common In America That Europeans Find Very Weird

Maternity leave. In the USA there is no standard paid maternity leave, but you can get 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Whereas in Europe, there is at least 14 weeks of maternity leave, with many countries offering much more. For example, in Germany, Norway, Lithuania, Sweden and Hungary, they offer a full year or more of paid maternity leave. In Germany, you can actually take up to three years off, and it's not just for the moms. There's paternal leave too.

heleneinbetween, Sarah Chai

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169points

Bored Panda reached out to the author of these viral TikTok videos, Helene Sula, who has been a full-time travel blogger for 8 years. Helene runs a wonderful blog “Helene In Between” and shares some great videos about travel, cultures, and everything in between on her TikTok channel. She was happy to share some insights into her adventures around the world with Bored Panda.

“TikTok is such a great platform for sharing travel, life abroad, and connecting and learning with others,” she said. Helene started her blog after falling 25 feet rock climbing and breaking her ankle and leg. “I was out of work so I started a blog, writing about my travels. This snowballed into social media and now it's my husband's and my full-time job,” she recounted.

#2

Money. In the US, cash is all the same shape, size and color, which is green, while in Europe it comes in all different colors and sizes, which also helps people immediately understand the difference. Also some countries like Romania and the UK have plastic bills.

heleneinbetween, Karolina Grabowska

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132points

#3

Tipping. In America, it's standard to tip 15 to 20%. In Europe, tipping isn't mandatory, but in some countries it's a few euros or maybe 10%. Europeans are generally paid a salary to wait tables, while Americans make more money through tips.

heleneinbetween, Sarah Gilbert

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123points

#4

Paying at restaurants. Most of the time at restaurants in the US, your server will hand you a bill, take your credit card and walk to the back to charge it. In Europe, your server will charge your credit card right at the table. Also, most Nordic countries are almost all cashless, while some places like in Germany and Italy they still heavily rely on cash.

Also at American restaurants, they bring the check when they think you're finished eating, while in Europe, that's often considered rude and they won't bring you the check until you ask for it.

heleneinbetween, Marco Verch Professional Photographer

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118points

Having lived and traveled to so many places both in Europe and America, Helene argues that she loves that there are so many differences between cultures, countries, and continents. “It's what makes each place so wonderful and interesting to travel to. I think Europeans and Americans have different outlooks on living day to day, especially with regards to work,” she said.

Europeans have more time off than Americans, which means they spend time traveling more, Helene argues. “Because Americans don't, we often seem ‘busy,’ cramming in and doing as much as possible.” When Helene moved to Europe, she thought she'd slow down when it came to travel, but the opposite happened. “The more I travel, the more I realize I'm just scratching the surface.”

#5

Driving. In America we drive nearly everywhere, even really short distances and sometimes even across the street. However, we also drive if it's super far away. Also, Europeans tend to say a location is blank kilometers away. Well in America, we say it in hours. For example, we are 10 hours away from the beach.

heleneinbetween, Ethan Hooson

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116points

#6

Americans wear their shoes in the house - yes the same ones we walked around in all day. Many Europeans and other countries take their shoes off at home and in Germany they have special house shoes that they wear just around the house.

heleneinbetween, Ivan Samkov

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107points

#7

The way we write the dates. We write the dates, Month-Day-Year. Almost everywhere else including Europe, it's Day-Month-Year. There's no real reason why we do it.

heleneinbetween, Marco Verch Professional Photographer

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107points

When asked what’s very American that she really misses (or missed) while in Europe, Helene said it’s the “convenience.” She explained: “Stores stay open later. I remember being in Germany and there would be gas stations that you had to pay in store. Stores would be closed so you couldn't pump gas late at night! Or, in Germany, stores closing on Sundays always blew my mind. Just a different way of life. And, of course, Tex Mex! You can't beat it and you really cannot find good Mexican food in Europe.”

#8

Christmas lights in the USA. We go crazy for Christmas lights and over the top Christmas decorations. Even though the movies might make it look over the top, it's totally accurate. We like to cover every square inch of our house in twinkling lights. In Europe, the city centers are often decorated and beautiful, but homes don't usually have such over the top decorations.

One of our favorite traditions in the USA is to go Christmas light looking. We grab hot chocolate and drive around listening to Christmas music while looking at lights

heleneinbetween, Anthony92931

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94points

#9

Eggs are refrigerated in the USA but not Europe. In the United States, egg producers are required by law to wash the eggs in chlorinated water. This kills any bacteria that might be clinging to the shells. This also washes off the eggs natural protection so that they might spoil more quickly if they're not refrigerated. In Europe, egg producers do not wash this off and so they are safe to store unrefrigerated until used.

heleneinbetween, Edouard Gilles

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90points

#10

Americans like a lot of ice in their drinks, and the rest of the world really doesn't do this. In Europe, you have to ask for ice most of the time, and usually it's just a couple of cubes. We like our drinks cold and we'd like to refill, please.

heleneinbetween, solod_sha

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85points

One of the most common misunderstandings about the American way of living that Europeans believe in, Helene argues, is that we only eat fast food. “I can absolutely admit that Europeans have higher quality of food overall. But the USA has its fair share of delicious cuisine from all over the world. Because the USA is a melting pot, there really is a vast array of good, healthy food.”

On the other hand, a very common European thing that Americans would find very weird is the drinking age, Helene says. “I think the European system of drinking younger is better. We drive cars and then drink and I think this leads to binge drinking. Also, that houses in Germany don't come with kitchens, or light fixtures! That blew me away!”

#11

The drinking age in the US is 21, which is the highest in the world. While in most European countries it's 18, and in some countries it's even as low as 16, if it's enforced at all. Also beer and wine is cheaper in Europe and maybe a little better.

heleneinbetween, Tembela Bohle

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83points

#12

In the US, we work a lot. On average, we only get about two weeks paid vacation. I personally had only five days off on my first job, which in Europe it varies but many countries get a month off. In the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany they take the lead for the most days off.

heleneinbetween, Nenad Stojkovic

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80points

#13

Americans are super loud, especially on our phones and in public areas like restaurants. We tend to air out our dirty laundry by speaking super loudly. When I first moved to Germany I remember I felt like I was whispering at the dinner table.

heleneinbetween

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76points

The professional traveler and content creator believes that looking at cultural differences is a great way to learn. “I often get very angry commenters that want me to know that ‘Europe is not a country.’ I do know that, I've been lucky to visit 40 different European countries and spend a good deal of time in each. I think each country, of course, has its own set of customs and cultural differences, but comparing the USA and Europe doesn't mean I'm denying that,” Helene said and added that “I just think it's interesting for many Americans to see the differences.”

#14

Powerlines. Driving around the USA you'll notice power or telephone lines nearly everywhere you look. While in many places in Europe they bury the lines underground. Buried power lines are protected from the wind, ice and trees, but buried lines are more vulnerable to flooding and can still fail. Also burying them is more expensive, but it looks so much nicer.

heleneinbetween, Felix Haumann

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70points

#15

Americans love small talk. Perfect strangers might ask you how you're doing or comment on the weather. Typically the further south you get in the US the more small talk, darlin'.

heleneinbetween, Canva Studio

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69points

#16

Bathrooms, and by bathrooms we mean toilets - American bathrooms are what we call them. What's weird is the bathrooms in the US often have wide gaps - why? Well, no one knows.

heleneinbetween

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67points

#17

Americans are not direct at all. Europeans are super blunt, and they tend to tell you like it is. Whereas in America, we tend to give a compliment sandwich. So we stick a criticism in between two compliments, whereas Europeans will just tell you what they think. And they'll tell you they don't like something or if they do, whereas in America in the USA, we tend to not always be as direct.

heleneinbetween, SHVETS production

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65points

#18

Windows. In the USA, windows are typically much cheaper. Many windows have a crank to open and close them, or a lever to push them up. European windows are better resistant to condensation. For example, in Germany windows just open with a push in turn, making them easier to open and close and more resistant to breaking. While most North American windows use double pane windows, European Windows usually have triple pane or even quadruple pane. I think the reason for this is that Europeans build things to last, while in the USA we tear down and build new.

heleneinbetween

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63points

#19

Whenever you meet an American,usually the first question you're asked is: "What do you do for a living?" This doesn't happen the same way in Europe. In the US, people are obsessed with their jobs, and usually think of this as their identity. Don't be obsessed with your job, be obsessed with your life.

heleneinbetween, Alexander Suhorucov

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61points

#20

In the US, the portion sizes are huge. You might be surprised how big the portion you'll receive when you order a meal is. It's also acceptable to take your leftovers home. while in some places in Europe that's not typical. Also if you haven't noticed, we fry everything.

heleneinbetween, Mollie Merritt

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58points