While many cultures should be celebrated, there are some individuals who just can't help but reserve their opinions about those whose behavior and customs differ vastly from their own.
At the risk of coming off as offensive, some might even call these customs, "weird."
European culture got the spotlight when Redditor CoffeeBoy88 asked:
"What is something weird about Europe that Europeans don’t realize is weird?"
Apparently, there's never a dull moment in European nations.
"German tourists are OBSESSED with mooses."
"/A swede."
– worldkeeponspinning
No Offense
"The UK has 30 accents per square mile. And if a large man calls you duck in Stoke … that’s okay."
– InItsTeeth
Nighttime Exposure
"Norwegians don't close their curtains when it gets dark."
– judochop1
The Swarm
"The amount of mosquitos in Finland, Americans go crazy in Spring because of it."
– TheFargus
Redditors discuss what it's like traveling around Europe.
Come And Go As You Please
"How incredibly inconsequential it is to cross country borders. Cycled through France - Belgium - Netherlands and there is barely even a sign."
– sicknessandpurgatory
The Contrast
"You drive five hours in the US: you’re basically still in the same place."
"You drive five hours in Europe: everyone’s talking funny and the cheese is different."
– KaimeiJay
The Short Commute
"The first time I was in the UK my husband wanted to go to Wales and I looked at the train route from London and was like 'It’s all the way on the other side of the country! We’re only in the UK for a week. We don’t have that kind of time!' And my husband was all, 'you know it’s a 2.5 hour train ride, right?' I thought it would all day."
– KateDinNYC
Germans In Transport
"the absolute lack of air conditioning even at 40°, german transport gets sticky and stinky quite fast and nobody seems to care, many people even shut the windows to avoid the 'annoying breeze.'"
– ahorasimeaborregue
Maintaining distance was a thing long before pandemic measures recommended people to be socially distanced.
All About Respect
"Finnish people are silent, small talk doesn't exist. Their personal space larger than COVID-19 social distancing rules, and it's considered normal. Don't speak unless spoken to, and don't invade other people's personal space - it's seen as a sign of a respect."
"Those Finns, who haven't been to abroad or haven't met too many foreigners, don't often even recognize this behaviour being unusual in the global scale."
– RockNRollNBluesNJazz
The "Safety Coffee Cup"
"I'm from Finland and one European thing that all Finnish people hate is cheek kisses when greeting. Its mostly southern european thing but still. There is this saying in Finland that goes 'Everyone has their own safety coffee cup' meaning the closest distance someone should get to you should not be closer than your coffee cup when you're holding it."
– eelisonparas
Let Them Shop In Peace
"Weird at first but I appreciate and wish for it. It might be just a Germany thing but from what I’ve been told German Walmart failed because the North American style of customer service was very unliked. From the greeter at the door to clerks asking if you need help unprompted. German shoppers just want to shop and go home as undisturbed as possible."
– UnusualHospital9579
I remember being weirded out when I went to Paris and asked for some ice at a cafe.
The waiter served me coke by opening the room temperature can and poured some of the contents into an empty glass. With no ice.
When the server came back, he had with him a spoon with one ice cube on it. I thought it was stingy but it got worse.
He poured the rest of the coke over the ice on the spoon he was holding and then walked away with the ice and spoon.
I guess the coke was colder than when I had my first sip, so according to the server, it was viola: mission accomplished!
Do the French not like ice-cold beverages? Weird.
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Curious to hear about the impressions we have outside the U.S., Redditor vibrxncy_ asked:
"Americans of Reddit, what's something normal in Europe that you think is completely absurd in America?"
When in Rome, you may notice these examples.
Sexplicit Ad
"Once in Italy, I saw some phone sex ads on late night broadcast TV."
"You know how ours have a woman in a bathtub saying 'oooo, call me?'"
"Theirs had two nude women with a phone number at the bottom of the screen. I'm like...what do I need to call for exactly?"
– DocBullseye
Open Invitation
"Lack of window screens. Last time I was in Italy, I accidentally left my hotel room window open. That night I spent an hour killing mosquitoes in the room and still got 20+ bites."
– Trirefringent
Thirst Quencher
"It's a hot day in Rome. Need a refreshing drink? How about some lukewarm sparkling water."
– Gabe_Isko
Compared to other countries, America really is a baby when you think about.
Architectural Marvels
"Thousands years old buildings around you."
– 0ke_0
Spirits Alive
"Used to work at a pub that was built in the 12 or 1300s. Used to enjoy thinking how no matter how much the world outside the walls changed, people inside are laughing, arguing, joking, making friends and meeting lovers just as they would have the previous centuries."
"Didn't enjoy locking up on my own though, too many weird incidents. A few now when spoken of even give me an odd response of feeling like I'm going to vomit/goose bumps on my arms. Still don't know if I believe in ghosts but I definitely believe in something after that haha."
– I_Call_Everyone_Ron
Fascination Guaranteed
"In my city we have a medieval castle in the city centre, roman ruins in front of it, WWII a few metres apart.. seriously American friends, visit Europe and study European history, from ancient Greeks to Romans to the middle age until you arrive at modern days. You will get fascinated! :)"
– 0ke_0
Floating Structures
"Buildings whose foundations are in water. Hamburg, Venice, etc. I would be terrified."
– ByronLeftwich
European people and their customs can be baffling for most Americans.
Observe the following:
Multilingual
"The fact that Europeans can and need to speak multiple languages. I can drive for 20 hours and all that changes is accents."
– Valley828
No Free Pee
"Paying to use the bathroom in a shopping center."
– karaokechameleon
Normalized Nudity
"Public nudity. I remember the first time I experienced it in Germany. I was with my sisters at a local public swimming pool. Women just would stand up and openly change from their bathing suits into their clothes. Everything on display. Nobody batted an eye or payed any attention. They went about what they were doing."
– Great-Vacation8674
As You Doo
"I understand this one is more specific to Germany, but damn are those toilets with little poop shelves weird as hell."
– HalfHearted_Fanatic
"Instead of dropping into the water below, German toilets have a little shelf in the bowl where you sh*t on that goes into the toilet only when you flush. The purpose is to let you check your stool more easily for any worrying health signs before flushing it down."
"Advantage: No splash back ever."
"Disadvantage: The smell."
– Dejected-Angel
Baby Parking
"Leaving babies outside in their strollers unaccompanied."
– Greta_Roc
I'm always astounded by the lack of a tipping policy, not just in Europe, but everywhere else in the world.
It seem exclusive to the U.S. and is an obvious indication of an embarrassingly low minimum wage in service industry jobs.
Here's a solution, pay your workers well, and they will do their jobs more efficiently and with a smile.
Well, the smile part is debatable.
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It is so easy to travel through different countries in Europe. I was astonished. Some countries are connected by minutes in travel. Not days. So breezy...
ANYWHERE!!
Happy Hour Drinking GIFGiphy"You can drink a beer anywhere, anytime. I mean I woke up in Berlin and bought a bottle of beer at a small breakfast stand in a park it was like 6am."
CregSantiago
Back in the Day
"History. I followed a tour of American tourists into the church in downtown. Question gets asked: Is this the oldest church in town? Heard reply:"
"(Chuckle) Oh no, the old church is on the North side of the river. This church was built in 1310."
"Just a different perspective on history."
diogenes_shadow
"100% true. And also, for me, was the SIZE of those cathedrals. The size of the huge stones they are built with, and the fact that they were built over a thousand years ago. Like… HOW!? How did they get those massive stones, get them here and then hoist them up 12 stories (or whatever) to place them there. It hurts my brain. Does not compute!"
Liznobbie
Wheels Up
"I’m Dutch, but I’ll never forget my American girlfriend’s reaction to seeing rows and rows of parked bicycles in front of the train station when she came to visit the Netherlands. 'Oh my God look at all those bikes!!'"
Jockelson
"I'm from Germany, so I used to a few hundreds bikes In front of big train stations. But at Amsterdam Central I thought: 'Oh my God, look at all those bikes!!!'"
Natural_Influence_21
Distance
"Finally, I can walk to a store."
MonsieurAppleSauce
"I lived in Rio de Janeiro and now in a small town in Pennsylvania. I like living in the city, I miss being able to walk 5 min to the small grocery store in my street if I wanted to make a recipe but didn’t have the ingredients, and buying fresh bread from the bakery shop."
"I also like living in the residential area of my small town now, the house is nice, I have a backyard with trees and 'wild' animals, I can walk with my dog on the path between the houses’ backyards without worrying about cars. Both ways of building a neighborhood has positives and negatives. Delivery services for groceries and fruits/vegetables help a lot nowadays but it can get expensive."
agiab19
Blind Faith
Party Pedestrian GIF by Wegen en VerkeerGiphy"The only thing that really surprised me was how much pedestrians trusted cars to not hit them."
MrGoalden
In London I was shocked and thrilled by that drinking thing. Anywhere. Just walk around the streets with wine.
Pardon Me?
Sam Heughan Dancing GIF by Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and GrahamGiphy"I went to Scotland. Ran across some German tourist who asked us to translate what the scot was saying. We were all three speaking English. They just couldn’t understand each other."
ARgirlinaFLworld
Infancy
"How young the U.S. truly is."
Strong_Ground_4410
"I went to one of the many Roman structures in England (I cant remember which one) and the tour guide said something like ‘mind, the floors are a bit uneven. Cant be helped, they were lain 1950 years ago.’"
OwMyCandle
"Americans think 100 years is a long time, Europeans think 100 miles is a long way."
locks_are_paranoid
Urban Planning
"How old a lot of the cities are. People still living in buildings older than the U.S. Walking down some of the old streets feels like you’re time traveling into a medieval fairytale."
Adventurous-Canary78
"It's crazy to think I live in a house older than the US (over 350 years old), and it's not like I'm living in a historical monument. Loads of the houses around here are that old, and it's not big or expensive. It's a regular mid-terrace."
onchristieroad
"The building I rented a flat in last time I was in London was built in 1731 according to the plaque next to the entrance. I'm a huge history nerd so my jimmies were tingling."
lilcaesarsuave
Size Matters
"When I ordered a small drink, it was actually small."
HutSutRawlson
"Sizes are definitely different. I remember going to a Domino's in NYC. Was surprised at the size difference in pizzas. Your small was our medium, your medium was our large and your large would be a 'where the hell did you get that giant pizza from' here."
domin8r
Happy
Dance Smile GIF by Mediaset EspañaGiphy"First time in Spain… 22:30… Sun still out… parents sitting, drinking, relaxing while kids run up n down… felt so completely safe and comfortable."
mapplejax
We could really learn a thing or two about de-stressing from Spain. We need siestas.
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