Traveling outside of one's homeland is always an exciting adventure. Discovering new places and people is good for the soul. And it's always interesting to experience culture shock, particularly between America and Europe.
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One Redditor, Inmydreams91 posed the question of the : "What is normal in Europe but abnormal in America?"
It all goes back to the Puritans.
Broadcast tv having more nudity than hbo. mtwstr
PG-13 isn't the same worldwide.
Greater tolerance of bad language and nudity in media in general. For example, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, according to IMDb, passed with an "11 and up" rating in Sweden, and in the Netherlands, films like Erin Brokovich, and Steve Jobs (rated R for language, mostly) got an "All ages" rating.
Hannibal has an 18 certificate in the UK (and the equivalent of an 18+ rating in most countries) while it skates by with a TV-14 and is primetime fare in the US.
Big Mouth is rated "12 and up" in the Netherlands despite explicit sexual references, while South Park and Family Guy bear a mere "6 and up" rating.
It's not one guy cussing or two people having consensual sex that triggers a higher movie or TV rating in most European countries - it's someone getting beaten, whipped, eaten, or stabbed to death. Watchmen got an 18 certificate in the UK (the highest rating - rarely given to superhero films) because of the bandsaw scene, while The King's Speech got a mere 12A due to the bad words being "in a speech therapy context." In the US, both of these films were R but for completely different reasons.
Earmuffs, young ones.
I'm Christian and I don't like profanity, but it's unrealistic to think kids won't hear it or that everything has to be "sanitized". There are well-written songs, films, and TV series that happen to have swear words, and it's foolish to deny that. It's not like the Bible is exactly all "G-rated" either - especially if you're Catholic or Orthodox (that Book of Maccabees is brutal). 01000001_sauce
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Metric Mania
The Metric system. mal088 (Always a head scratcher!)
What about the pirate party?
Having more then 2 political parties to vote for. TheStressGamer
YES PLEASE!!!
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CHEERS!
Drinking outside such as on the beach, in a park etc. While probably not considered abnormal in America, it definitely seemed to be less common than in the UK. CycloneChilli
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Show me the money
Chips-n-cheez The price on the shelf being the price you pay.
Edit. Nothing to do with haggling. European prices include tax on them. It isn't added when you get to the till/cash register.
Tips on Tipping
tropomagnifico A few years back I went on an all expenses paid cruise with open bars and food, etc. After boarding, I see signs all over the decks and bar areas saying gratuity was not included in the all expenses deal. I ran out of cash after like 45 minutes of tipping and then the servers just ignored me because I could no longer tip them and they assumed I was being rude. The poor staff were probably paid horribly and surviving on tips, which is just plain awful. Employers should pay a living wage and not expect customers to pick up the difference.
Holiday time
Over 30 days of paid vacation every year. memeromemes
Yes, Mom. There's a chaperone.
deg3n3rate Letting your teenage kid's bf/gf sleep over at your house without freaking out.
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The bigger the better
Small cars. In the US something like the Ford Focus or VW Golf is considered a small car, and cars like the Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2 are considered really small.
A Honda Civic Accord is about what America would consider normal size.
In Europe, totally different, the Golf and Focus are the average with anything larger than that considered large. Sven2774
Who knows where those eggs have been!
Unwashed eggs. didzisk
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) graded eggs would be illegal if sold in the UK, or indeed anywhere in the European Union (EU). Its all to do with the fact that commercial American eggs are federally required to be washed and sanitized before they reach the consumer. EU egg marketing laws, on the other hand, state that Class A eggs those found on supermarkets shelves, must not be washed, or cleaned in any way.
Gaming the system
Calling the early 90s Sega console a "Mega Drive" instead of a "Genesis". CuthbertTheDestroyer
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Don't make me wash that mouth out with soap!
Swearing.
Now, yes, we swear in the US, of course we do...but I didn't realize how much I reign it in in public until I came back from a long Euro stint, ate at an American restaurant for the first timein a month, and kept getting daggers from the eyes of a mom at the next table over with kids of 8 or 9 or so. In Europe, no one gives a shit about swearing (I mean, yeah it's in English, but everyone knows all the swears, and they swear in the local language, too) but in the US if you're in public and you hear even a slightly raised voice swearing, it usually means some shit's going down. FlavinBagel
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Wouldn't that be nice?!
Going to the hospital without worrying about being plunged into debt. SinkTube
Cold Shoulder
noTSAluv Normal in Europe...sit at a cafe/restaurant for hours without having the waiter come by every freaking 15 min or so to ask you if there is anything else you need. No, we are here just chatting it up cause we got no other place to be, If we needed your services we would have called you.
No ice in drinks. autisticbigballs01
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Pucker up!
Cheek kissing. Soldier4Christ82
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Well when one is traveling abroad, as they say, "When in Rome!"
There are some truly strange laws depending on where you go. Here is a list of the weirdest ones.
U/Bone_Donor asked: What is the stupidest law where you live?
Did you know that murder is allowed in certain instances, depending on where you go? Talk about scary.
I’m sure no one will test these laws.
Not sure how much of it is true. But apparently if the Swedes cross the border by walking over the ice given its frozen over, (which it hasn't in like more than 100 years) we are allowed to kill them.
There's an old law in York in the UK that says if a Scotsman is within the city walls after sundown you can kill them with a longbow. I assume no one has tested the law for a while.
The exact gates they have to be within are defined but I don't remember what they are.
Dying is illegal in France.
Kate Mckinnon Snl GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphyOh boy. France has some history and a love of regulation. Perfect mix for absurd laws. Quick examples:
It's still technically mandatory to have hay at home in case the king's horse is nearby and needs some... Horses have been a pretty rare sight, let alone kings.
A mayor made it illegal to die in his town. The initial problem was an overcrowded cemetery, but he kinda reached the wrong solution.
This probably isn’t enforced anymore.
There is a medieval law here that has never been repealed: all males over the age of 14 are required by law to practice longbow for at least two hours per week.
Some of these laws are so silly, they make you wonder what event happened that put them in place.
I think everyone has done this.
"Forbidden to pee in the ocean". I live in Portugal.
'Like a piss in the ocean' is literally a euphemism for something not mattering. What's the problem?
Tigers are fine, though.
film history GIF by DiggGiphyIt's illegal to bring a lion to the movies.
Somebody better have a conversation with MGM.
Define “suspiciously”.
You can't carry a salmon suspiciously.
"Sir, what were carrying this salmon close to your body? Were you going to use it as a weapon?"
"No officer, I was going to eat it later"
"Seems suspicious you were carrying it around in public. I'm gonna have to take you in for questioning."
"Nuuuuu!"
What is the backstory here?
It's illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors here.
I know this is Pennsylvania, but I forget the exact reasoning, but I think it has something to do with homeless people.
These next few laws will definitely make you question these towns’ legitimacy when it comes to lawmaking.
Poor raccoons.
raccoon stealing GIFGiphyIn Virginia, it's illegal to "hunt or kill any wild bird or wild animal, including any nuisance species" on Sundays. However, it is permissible to kill raccoons.
How the heck is this enforced?
I don't know if this is still a thing anymore, but in Texas it used to be illegal to own more than six dildos.
It's illegal to own any at all in Alabama unless the owner has a letter from a doctor claiming a legitimate medical need.
Granted, most of these laws were written a very long time ago. But it makes you wonder, what the heck were these original lawmakers doing? And what event happened that needed these laws to be enforced at all?
If some of these laws don't make you want to be a criminal, then I don't know what will