The truth is in the eye of the beholder. For Americans, this means endless free refills, red solo cups and supermarket aisles dedicated to an entire kingdom of cereals, sour and crunchy, salty and sweet, family boxes and portion size. For Europeans, this is something they only see during Netflix TV series while shamelessly devouring entire seasons on rainy Sundays.
But in order to find out what cultural differences really stand out as major when comparing the American lifestyle and the rest of the world, one has to look at what people themselves have to say. So we compiled a list of the best answers that reveal what’s totally normal in the US but looks very out-of-this-world in other countries below.
If you have something to add, please hit us in the comment section! And in case you’re in the mood for more culture shocks, check out our previous article on an American living in Italy who shares the incredible USA vs. Italy culture differences she has experienced.
#41
Willingly putting yourself massively in debt for a college degree.
I come from a place with free university education (which has its own drawbacks of course), and the fact that you can make such a huge, life-altering decision at 17 is considered normal over there, that seems downright bizarre to me.
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51points
#42
Asking everyone “what do you do?” when you first meet them. I live outside the US and realized there are some people I’ve known for years and I still don’t know their job. I think in the US jobs are a bigger part of a person’s identity than in some other places.
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48points
#44
My maternity leave was an unpaid 6 weeks, and I had to fight them on not shorting me because I went past my due date and didn’t keep working until the day I went into labor.
45points
#45
Side effects on medication adverts.
With James' Hayfever meds, I can get through the day with ease!
Side effects may include:
Loss of sight
Loss of hearing
Loss of sense of smell
Coma
Headaches
Fever
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Loss of consciousness
and death.
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45points
#47
Extra large bottomless cups for cola or soft drinks.... you could bathe in those....
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42points
#49
American here:
When I was studying in the UK I had to send some financial documents back to the US. The only way these documents were considered valid was if the original was mailed in, or if I faxed a copy. When I asked the printing office if they could fax it for me they looked at me like I was an alien and said the school hadn't owned a fax machines for like a decade. Then they asked me if I still use a VCR.
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41points
#50
A flag in every corner of a classroom, and Americans being very patriotic to the stars and stripes. Other countries barely give a [poop] about their flags
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37points
#51
That American kids eat straight sugar. Walked on to the playground and saw kids chugging these long thin sticks. I try and it was just colored sugar lol. Called them pixie sticks.
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36points
#52
Just "dealing with" preventable and curable diseases instead of seeking medical attention out of fear of crippling debt.
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35points
#54
Sueing for any possible reason. It's so common that there are commercials on tv and radio telling you to sue "x" company for "reason". Lawyer ads are also very common because of this.
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35points
#56
Drink sizes.
When my family visited in 2017 we landed in Texas for a stopover. First thing I saw in the shops part of the terminal was a dude who was drinking from what looked like an actual bucket - here in NZ our “large” drinks would be considered an American “small” or maybe “medium”
When my family visited in 2017 we landed in Texas for a stopover. First thing I saw in the shops part of the terminal was a dude who was drinking from what looked like an actual bucket - here in NZ our “large” drinks would be considered an American “small” or maybe “medium”
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33points
#58
Being loud and rowdy when sober seems to be a very American thing.
Funny thing is, I’m American and considered a loud person in America. I can only imagine that my voice must sound like a f**king air horn to foreigners.
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31points
#59
I've had several German friends who were amazed that at house parties everyone actually does drink out of red Solo cups. They thought that was just a weird thing people did in movies and now they think it is a huge conspiracy or something
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30points
