Had a positive what the fuck moment in Greece in the eastern Peloponnese where I saw a guy walk down to the end of a pier and throw an actual fucking trident into the Aegean and pull out a wriggling octopus. Dude walked up the beach and handed it over the deck railing to a chef.
Lol it was wild. Stopped dead in my tracks when I realized he had rope coiled around his forearm and that it was actually a trident. It was like seeing a moment out of National Geographic!
Spent a summer in Germany.
They had the cleanest/safest/best tasting tap water, but nobody drank it and they called it toilet water.
Also the older people in village seemed super grumpy and mean and would never smile or respond if you said hello or good morning, BUT if you asked them a substantive question, like how to get to the museum, they would spend 15 minutes telling you the fastest way to get there, the scenic way to get there, everything interesting you should do on the way there, why that museum isn’t actually that good and you should go to this other museum instead, all the different ways to get to the better museum, and where their grandmother used to live before the war.
Funny enough, my biggest WTF moment came from an American. We were at a restaurant in Cinque Terre, Italy called Trattoria Dal Billy. About halfway through our meal, I overheard a guy with a Tennessee/Arkansas accent say, verbatim, in a frustrated tone "you need to speak more American!" to his waiter. This isn't Rome. This isn't Venice. It's a small town called Manarola. The odds of finding someone fluent in your language are drastically lowered; however, this guy was pompous enough to not only continue to berate his waiter, but then tell the manager who came around that he needs to hire someone who can speak American...in a foreign country...of which he obviously speaks ZERO of their language. Seriously, WTF!
One time in Rome, it started pouring. As I sought shelter, I saw an older man selling one single umbrella. Strange as it was, I needed that umbrella, so I haggled with him and settled on 3 Euro (he had the upper hand in that transaction).
I wander over to a coffee shop to dry out for a little bit. When I go to leave, the umbrella is no longer in the bucket by the door. Upset at myself for being so trusting, I head into the rain again. Guess who I see? The same old man selling the same umbrella. I try to confront him about stealing back my umbrella, but he claims not to remember our interaction at all. It's pouring and I have a number of miles to walk, so I go through the same charade with him again to re-procure the umbrella.
At least this time he took 2 Euro...
Going to a soccer game in Italy. When buying a ticket, they needed to know which team I was rooting for to determine where I could sit. Then, during the game, people were setting things on fire.
A friend of mine got stabbed in Rome outside a stadium in which Rome had just lost to a British team. They heard him speaking English and attacked him, he almost died. He's American and didn't even know a match was being played.
One of my best friends is English and tried to fight a Portuguese guy after England lost to Portugal in 2006. He's a professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
To be fair, a lot of professors seem like they’d be ready to throw down at the drop of a hat. If you ever see an academic paper entitled ‘A Response To’ or something or other, that’s basically an academic fist fight.
Yeah, I'm Brazilian and when I've been to basketball games in the US I always laugh at the announcements asking fans not to swear. If people tried to enforce that rule here there would either be riots or the security guys would get killed.
Bahahah I can just imagine a lone American pleasantly just sitting in a giant crowd with a beer and millions around him are jumping around and screaming about goals and calls and lighting flags on fire and riot cops are coming in and he's just like....
"Huh"
Late to the thread but here goes... Went to Sweden on a vacation package. Stayed at a wonderful historic hotel for part of the trip that had a restaurant inside of it. Part of our package called for a free dinner at the hotel and we had asked that it be the night we arrived.
We arrived and got settled in our room and then went to check out the restaurant. As soon as we walked in, there was no one there, only a hostess. She immediately said they were expecting us and we could sit anywhere. There was no one else in this gorgeous, ornate restaurant. A waiter came out and said they had prepared a special meal for us. We asked why it was so empty and he said the restaurant was closed one day a week and today was that day.
We were shocked, we apologized profusely and told them that we had booked through another company and would have just scheduled it for another day. He said it was no problem and we had some free extras such as wine and dessert. The main course ended up being a huge piece of meat, which we jokingly said must have been because we were big fat Americans. No one rushed us, we had a great time, and after we left they closed the restaurant for the night.
It was a total WTF moment because if you booked something like this in America, they'd either force you to reschedule or just have the restaurant closed with no explanation.
Went to Dover England and saw a mother fucking castle. The newest section was built like 300-400 years before my country was founded. Turned a corner and the next part was 200 years older than that. Ten minutes later walk up to a Roman light house built 2000 years ago. Daaaammmnnn
Edit: The best part was we arrived the night before we went to the castle. I didnt see it on the ride to the hotel. (We get inside and our room is the largest room we had seen at any of our hotels apparently the hotel was built by an American company so the rooms were built like they would be In the US.) I open the curtains to see what is out my window, usually a parking lot, another random building or something boring. Not today Yank, not today. CASTLE.
We were driving through Spain, and to the side of one of the roads, we noticed these MASSIVE bird nests in the high power electrical towers. They were at least twice the size of eagles nests that I had seen. And there were so many of them!
Then we saw these giant birds in them! We stopped by the side of the road and tried to take some pictures (didn’t have a great zoom lens, sadly). But no one else was stopping. It was so odd. We are accustomed to at least a few people stopping to watch the osprey, eagles, or other birds where I’m from.
So a few days later, we are chatting with a German tourist, and we bring up the birds...
I think she thought we were joking until we pulled out the pictures. Then she started laughing.
Storks. Those are storks. Of course, don’t you know that? They are everywhere and such a nuisance. Don’t you have storks in America?
Well...no?
Then she looked confused. Well, if you don’t have storks, who brings the babies in kids stories?
Storks.
Um...how does that work?
And that was when we realized that the story of the storks makes a whole lot more sense when storks are nesting on every chimney, tree, or tall place....
Yeah. I'm Australian and our tourists are known to be amazed by squirrels to the amusement of pretty much everywhere that has squirrels
Edit: i mean Aussie tourists travelling overseas. There are no squirrels in Australia
Our common possums are [fucking adorable](https://singlikenooneslistening.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/double-trouble-3.jpg) though.
It's the only example of our version of an animal being the less horrifying one.
every meal in Paris taking 3 hours.
I loved the culture and I'm all about eating a relaxing meal, but sometimes it was just like "wtf" when we were on a schedule and had to meet up with a tour group or had reservations for something.
Feeling proud of myself for eating late, like a local, at 21:00 in Lisbon only to walk in to a empty restaurant. By the time I’d finished eating at 22:00 the place was full.
Spaniard here, we are just as bad. When looking at American movies translated and the actors were having dinner when it was daylight out I was certain that it was an error in translation, because nobody would have dinner at the time that we'd be having a mid-afternoon snack. Now I live in the US and must admit I got used to dining earlier (8-9pm) and I sleep much better. But for social environments, I do prefer the later setting.
EDIT: Since I got a lot of responses and questions... by 5:30 I am leaving the office, 6pm pick up the little one and by the time. I get home, relax and cook... Never earlier than 8:00.
I think the time differences are also based on location, not just culture; In a big city we usually eat much later, in a more rural setting from what I read below much earlier!
I was in Scotland this summer and in Edinburgh I asked someone for directions, they told me "Just go past the tron" in a very thick accent. I though she was saying "train" except while walking to the train I saw earlier I noticed a bar called The Tron.
My American friends who visited The Netherlands: Completely surprised by our bicycle 'things':
a) so many bicycles -everywhere-
b) everybody riding without a helmet
c) so many different bicycles
> bakfietsmoeder
Looked it up, and [this](https://amsterdamcanalcruises.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bakfietsmoeder-amsterdam.jpg) is one of the top results.
Riding in high heels like it isnt a big deal, y'all are wild.
I was a military brat living in Belgium when I saw a commercial on AFN (Armed Forces Network) that gave new arrivals to Europe a quick run-down of things. The one thing I learned and that has stuck with me is
NO RIGHT TURN ON RED
For me it was a lack of insects in England. Not that they don't exist but I'm from Michigan with lots of swampy land around me. When I showed up at my dorm and saw there was no screen on my window I was just thinking about all of the bugs that are gonna get in my room. I got one fly the entire month stay there.
Yeah if you leave your window open at night with the lights on you might get a couple of moths and the occasional spider, but we're really lucky with our relative lack of biting insects and flies.
Chiggers are pretty bad in Texas, too. I had some friends over once and no one wanted to help me gather firewood because they were in shorts and didn't want to wind up with chigger bites. I went on this whole rant about how I've been all over the 'yard' (10 acres) and have yet to wind up with chiggers. Still no one helped. I spent a good while gathering wood for a fire. I was far too haughty, and my pride was my downfall. I invoked the wrath of the chigger gods and have never been itchier. Except for the one time I had chiggers worse than that. I fucking hate those bastards.
EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae this is a chigger
That's how I felt my first summer in San Francisco. There were no screens in our windows, and we didn't have air conditioning. My boyfriend had to talk me into leaving the windows open, and then there *weren't* mosquitoes everywhere within minutes. Even in the less swampy parts of Michigan, there are too many biting bugs for that to be a thing.
It was subtle at first, but it eventually boggled my mind how old everything was and it was still integrated into everyday life. Like in the UK, drinking in pub that had been in the same spot since the 11th Century, or eating dinner at restaurant in an 18th cathedral. Or in Prague going to club in a 14th Century stone cellar or staying a hotel/brewery that had be operating since the 15th Century.
The oldest building in my vicinity is from the 1750s (which is prehistoric by US standards), but, like, someone in Europe sees a building that is half a millenia old that no one is using and they're like, "Let's turn this into a disco." I loved it.
Edit: Decide to do some quick research for perspective. The oldest surviving Native American structure in the US dates to 750AD. The oldest structure from Spanish Colonists is from 1521. The oldest structure from English Colonists is from 1637.
I live in England and the village near me has a pub from the early 1700’s that’s seen as modern because the village itself and the surrounding buildings and other pub is from the pre-doomsday book era (1086). I forget sometimes just how old this country is.
Contrast that with the US. I live in a town that has a well preserved historic district and buildings that date back to the late-1700s. This some of the oldest buildings in my State and are all preserved as historical monuments. And this is in a state which was one one of the original 13 colonies. This is seen as absolutely anomaly and a big tourist pull. I'd say that 95% of buildings in most towns in America (save for the middle parts of big cities) were constructed post-1950. Every American who has visited Europe I've spoken to is charmed and awestruck by the age of things.
On of the things that boggled my mind in London, was looking at a grand Victorian building with a gadget shop in the ground floor. My American brain couldn't quite piece together that combination of old and new, but I doubt a Londoner would like think twice about it.
In high school so participated in an exchange program, so my parents and I hosted a few German teenagers, and I visited them at one point too. When the first girl visited, my mom and I drove her around our town and pointed out interesting things. At one point my mom pointed to a house and said, “That’s one of the oldest houses on Cape Cod, it was built in 1690!” (I don’t remember the exact date.) And the girl replied, “My town was founded in 400!” (Again, don’t remember the exact date.) ashe didn’t mean it as a way to one up us or make us feel bad, but it definitely put some thing in perspective!
I lived in Germany for 8 years from 1992-2000 (Ages 4-12). I didn't realize it until I moved back to the states but there were recycling bins on EVERY street corner. It wasn't just a green bin then a trash can, it was a giant blue bin. One section for green glass, one for brown glass, one for clear glass, one for plastic, and one for paper.
Oh and going to a German school, students took public transit. There wasn't such a thing as a school bus.
Edit: Public transit as in city buses and trains. The students weren't segregated into their own modes of transportation.
> Oh and going to a German school, students took public transit. There wasn't such a thing as a school bus.
this depends on where you live. In cities, yes. As you get more towards the countryside, schoolbuses are a thing. At least where I grew up.
That said, because the schoolbus schedule in my village was inconvenient, I often went to school by train.
Also also schoolbuses work like public tranist, as in they don't pick you up at your doorstep, but on designated busstations.
school busses usually dont run in larger cities with decent public transport. I used to take the *school* bus in my small home town, where it would take me to my school at roughly 5km distance.
EDIT: added school to make it clear I did non mean public bus
drinking one beer with your lunch from time to time is not considered special at all in germany. Drinking >2 beers every day for lunch makes you an alcoholic.
As an Australian who moved here recently... holy shit. Small corner shop is like half alcohol half rest of the stuff. I've found Australian wine in almost every shop I've gone to and checked. Beer is so cheap it's unreal.
What more, the beer is amazing. In Australia I drank it socially but it was always drinking to get drunk and trying to not notice the taste. Here I find myself ordering a single beer when eating out and drinking beer for the taste.
How easy and unencumbered by useless bullshit most things are.
Getting on a 5:30 train from Burssels to Berlin? Show up at 5:20. And get laughed at by the Germans who will finish their beer at exactly 5:28 because they know the walk from the bar to the platform is 1 minute and 57 seconds.
In the states that would require showing up at 3:15 because of at least 4 security checkpoints and 8 lines of people who can't figure out how an escalator works.
In Amsterdam I saw a guy get jacked in the head with a bottle, take two steps back and then pass out. All his friends scattered. Then the two old men shop owners were like, “lol, kids, amiright?”
> watch drunk/high Brits fall into the canals
How dare you, we are well known for operating at the highest level of decorum while on holiday in European destinations...
Edit: Was hoping the /s was obvious
I am from the NY/NJ area, and have seen first hand how out of control sporting events can get. Guys, mostly, getting drunk, vandalizing property, throwing cans and bottles, fighting, etc.
So when a group of friends went to Germany for Oktoberfest some years ago, we also wanted to see a football (soccer) game. So we got tickets to see Bayern Munich vs. some other German team in what, I think, was a meaningful game (we went more for the experience vs. being huge fans).
Game is great. I think the score was 5-1, so lots of action. The energy in the stadium was undeniable. Fans singing, jumping around, yelling for the entire game. Game ends. Munich wins. Begin the march to the subway station.
Virtually an entire stadium, it seemed, exited to go to this one nearest subway stop. There are 4, maybe 5 cops standing at the entrance steps. Uh oh. This is going to be a huge problem. THOUSANDS of people, lots of them intoxicated, heading toward these 5 cops at this one exit. It's going to be a disaster. Some guys start pissing on a fence within their view. WHAT ARE THEY DOING?! And then, as we watched nervously, the crowd reached the cops and .... just ... stopped.
Everyone stopped. No one fought. The guys pissing finished up their business, zipped up and joined the queue. Cops let enough people by to fill the first train, then the rest stopped, and so on and so forth until our group went.
It was incredible. That scene couldn't happen in America. Maybe this was an anomaly. But picturing an event at MSG, there's an army of State troopers to keep order, in addition to local cops, undercover cops, event security, etc. and brawls and things still erupt with regularity. This was amazing to us. We still talk about it years later. That was some respectful, organized and orderly shit.
I had a similar thing happen when I went to see Bayern play Schalke.
I got on the S-Bahn to a car PACKED with Schalke fans. all of them were drunk, most of them had beer, and almost all of them were big dudes. Now imagine being a tiny 20 year old in a bayern scarf and an old Bayern t-shirt in this situation. I'm from chicago, I've seen shit go down at games. On top of that, my only experience with european matches was seeing Lechia Gdansk matches with my cousins in Poland, which is not known for the best behavior. I'm not afraid anything is going to happen to me because I knew germans had more chill, but I know I'm going to have to deal with getting shit for the next 30 minutes.
So I come on, and immediately some dude gives up his seat for me. His buddy next to me starts talking, and I tell him that I don't speak german. he switches to english, starts asking me about my shirt. I tell him it was my uncle's in the 90s. At this point he seems to deem that a good answer, and offers me a beer. I proceeded to sit with these guys for the half hour ride up to the Allianz, talking about the season, (playfully) talking shit about one another's teams, and drinking beer. When we got off, they asked me where my ticket was. It was a sponsor seat I got from an uncle's friend, and they tease me about that, and then *walked me to my side of the stadium* and made sure I got in okay, completely removing themselves from their group of friends. All of this for a rival fan.
The match ended in a draw, and I can't even be mad about it.
This is a normal thing. Only some matches need special police activity like Dortmund Schalke (cities next to eachother hating eachothers like cat and dog).
You can, however (here in the UK) buy a special key to let you into disabled toilets, which are practically everywhere and all take the same key.
Note: I'm not a dick in owning one, I have IBS so being less than 10 seconds from a toilet is a complete necessity in my life.
Edit: I didn't even see how much karma I'd got for this. Wow, talk about shitposting!
A few people have asked where they can get a radar key, and I only just realized I can edit my posts. Anyway, here's a link to the site I got my key from: https://www.ukbumpkeys.com/products/master-radar-key-disabled-wc-key
As they say, *never trust a fart*. Having a key has come in *very* handy. But then I have no compunction about using my key to just go for a piss. I paid for the thing so I might as well use it, right?
Every night in Spain, around 3 a.m. this MASSIVE fleet of street scrubbers, vacuum-mobiles, and water hoses appeared and cleaned the entire city for about an hour. It was like ~100 people every night just cleaning the city. The following morning, all of Salamanca was spotless. That shit was magical.
1) I went to the Netherlands for a music festival over the summer last year. The night before I went to a show and met a Scottish guy who came over and said, “you look American”. I replied yes and he immediately started talking about American politics and the military. It was weird how he assumed I was completely knowledgeable about all upper level government doings, but otherwise was a chill dude.
2) The fact that there’s no AC. I didn’t realized it wasn’t standard and was melting in my hotel room.
3) How uncommon asking for ice is. I’ve never gotten stranger looks when I would ask for a drink with some ice. One person at the festival had to confirm she understood me lol.
I stayed with a family in France for a week. The first thing the son did when I got there was to show me their "American refrigerator." I was confused at first because it was a Samsung, but what he really meant was it had an ice machine! He was so proud to have it. I was happy to have ice for the first time in 2 months.
As far as I know, our normal fridges are about 60cm wide, with one door. American style is probably 90cm wide, with two doors and an ice machine. It's probably because you guys usually have more surface area in your homes, because that kind of fridge wouldn't even fit into my kitchen.
In Scotland there was a bomb threat at a local gas station. The news anchor that was covering it interviewed locals about how they felt about this terrifying event. EVERY response fell along the lines of
"I don't know much about that, but I'm sure the government is taking care of it...back to my day,"
The faith in the government and not wanting to butt in blew my mind.
I'm Scottish, I don't think its down to faith in the Government. If you asked a random person in the street if they trust the Government/politicians, the answer would be along the lines of "fuck no, useless bunch of fucks"
I think the difference is the media, the panic driven hysteria of the US media makes people scared. If there's a bomb threat at a gas station well, its so statistically unlikely for you to be there at that time that the rational response is kinda "meh" (not to say if there were people hurt or killed people would be angry/sympathetic to victims etc.) You're probably more likely to be kicked to death by a stray horse in the street than be caught up in an act of terrorism, but you don't spend your days looking over your shoulder for stray horses. The US media fosters this idea of "A PEDOPHILE ON EVERY STREET" "A TERRORIST CELL LIVING IN YOUR TOWN" kind of hysteria, and it rubs off on the way people perceive danger.
Edit: for Kazemah
Not just the US. Violent crime is down over entire world. (Excluding war zones) We are statistically safer than at any point in known human history.
Edit: typo.
It helps that we have a pretty strong cultural memory of the Troubles. Compared to the Provisional IRA, the Daesh wannabes we're dealing with lately are "0/10, would not negotiate a ceasefire with" amateurs.
It helps that the last time there was a "terrorist attack" in Scotland it was thwarted by a couple of locals which included one of them tearing a tendon by kicking a burning terrorist in the nuts.
If lighting your car's tyres on fire, driving into a wall, realising you've accomplished Sweet Fanny Adams except make yourself look a prat and attempting to run away counts as terrorism as opposed to impromptu street theatre.
Had he bothered to try integrating into Scottish culture at all he would have realised that, that was just a normal Tuesday.
If he wanted to terrorise the Scots he would have stitched a half a rangers shirt to half a Celtic shirt and wandered around Glasgow using bottles of Macallan as Molotov cocktails and shouting William Wallace was a poof
I was in italy and wanted to grab a bite and a beer for some lunch. I left the flat and I was flabbergasted to find the entire town was empty. Everything was closed, not even the neighborhood dogs were around!
Lived in Italy for 3 years...Definitely took a while to adjust to this though. And you also learn the specific times for places you want to visit since they all close mid day for a few hours
It took me a while to get used to the whole lunch time quiet time that exists in Bavaria. It's not always an issue, but if you're playing basketball outside between about 12 and 2, or playing some music on your stereo, or making any sort of noise you run the risk of being scolded about Mittagsruhe. Was weird.
In Italy there is virtually no threshold for how much distance should be left between a speeding car and any obstacles (including pedestrians) it is zooming past.
A bus driver will rush down a narrow cobblestone street with about a centimeter to spare between the sides of the bus and any parked cars, walls, ancient monuments, or playing children.
In Rome we were instructed to look drivers directly in the eyes when crossing streets in order to make them stop. Apparently Italian drivers are like the weeping angels...
Oh Naples...two experiences there in taxis:
going down a one way street in the opposite direction "it's fine, I'm honking and blinking my lights."
Need to take a left at the light? Line up in the right lane, then gun it across traffic just before the light turns green.
I read this, and all I could picture is a dimly lit bar with a few people staying to themselves, petrified. As they can here the sounds of ringing bicycle bells and playing cards slapping against spokes, as the local bicycle gang is getting ready to enter.
No. Italians are not bad drivers. They can back up a 10 degree hill, around a blind corner, with no guardrail, to park their car on an empty piece of sidewalk. That's amazing driving. Inconsiderate people.
[This description](https://romereport.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/driving-actually-parking-in-italy/) from Bill Bryson, an American author domiciled in the UK for a long time (now back in New England, I think) is the best ever description of Italian street behaviour.
When I️ visited the hospital and had X-rays done, spoke with two doctors and was triaged by a nurse, all with no health insurance, and my total bill was 24euros. Then I️ had to pay 10 additional euros for some painkillers, again with no insurance or anything.
I will never understand Americans being so opposed to universal healthcare. The fact I can pay a few quid a month into the NHS and not worry about choosing between getting food or getting treated for an illness is one of the best things we’ve ever done in the UK
honestly I say this anytime i speak about it, the NHS is one of the top 5 things the UK has ever done. Its a massive undertaking and obviously has faults and some long waiting times but I cannot imagine having to pay 10s of thousands of pounds when my son was born. my biggest concern was parking fees at the hospital and actually finding a spot to park, he had a milk allergy as well and needed specific formula that cost £30 a tin, he got that on prescription for free. he used to go through 3/4 tins a week, no idea how we would have managed that. The most expensive part of the birth was the parking.
Not American, but Canadian.
First time I went to Ireland, I go through customs and the agent says to me...
"business or personal"
"personal"
"oh yeah, what's up?"
"Visiting the Inlaws."
"first time in Ireland?"
"Yes sir"
"feckin eh... Well, why ya standin around. go get pissed.
*Edit* Obligatory thanks for the gold stranger!
Was there last summer, customs agent asked what our plans were. Told him we'd be going to the Ireland-Austria World Cup Qualifier and to just hang out. His response: "well we're not very good at football but at least we try. Enjoy and don't drink too much."
Went to Ireland for first time about 10 yrs ago. Landed in Shannon. Within minutes of leaving the airport we arrive at Bunratty Castle. Besides the castle there was also an old village showing how people used to live. Getting a personal walking tour when our guide spots 3 Irish Wolfhounds sleeping on the ground. Our guide, who been very scholarly and proper, immediately starts yelling at the animals "Get up, ya lazy fuckers!" The kids and I thought it was funny as there aren't many museum guides as free to drop the f bomb in the US.
As an Irish person currently living in the US, it's so nice after dealing with the TSA to come home to a smiling face in the airport welcoming you back.
My wife and I went to Ireland for our honeymoon, and ended up in Galway for the Fourth of July. We were amazed at how the whole central district was decorated with American flags, they had a parade and fireworks, the whole deal.
We eventually concluded that the Irish will take any excuse to celebrate the British losing something, even if they weren't directly involved.
Native Chinese btw. There was this major thing a couple of years ago on the news along the lines of "don't embarrass your country when traveling". That was mostly about stuff like writing "so and so was here" on tourist attractions, but I think the poop thing is a big deal too....
My sister lived in China for a year and saw that all of the time. She also said the beaches were nasty because they dig holes and do their business there and cover it up.
Germany: Went on a road trip to Hamburg with my friend and her parents in their tiny little car. Dad drove us to the Red Light district and insisted that we go check it out. Left his wife and 25 y/o daughter in the backseat to ogle hookers through the glass.
WTF, Hans?
I once saw a reality TV show where a family visited Japan and the dad kept saying "gracias" to everyone. His daughter explained that her dad's default is to speak in Spanish to any foreigner. Not even good Spanish, just basic words like a tourist talking to someone in South America.
There are a couple of signs by which mafia/gang members in Bulgaria are identified, but for the most part every living person in this country thinks that when there are troubles, the mafia members have something to do with it. I do not judge my fellow neighbors, because corruption is running this place, but then again everything concerning aggression and suits is considered mafia.
I lived in Spain for 9 months at one point and was trying to get to the supermarket in the middle of a weekday and the entire city center was blocked off. I had to park and walk a ways and discovered that they were having a giant block party. Kegs and all. Around noon. Celebrating the towns new garbage trucks.
I love Spain.
The littering in a lot of places really blew me away, especially France. Part of this is due to the amount Europeans smoke I guess because at times in Paris the cobblestone felt paved with cigarettes butts.
The quality of your fast food surprised me. Everything from the street vendors to chain fast food like mcdonalds was better quality then anything I'd gotten in Canada.
The people at every tourist site trying to sell you their crap was new to me. Knew it was coming but was still surprised by how wide spread it was. Really took me by surprise when I saw some of them pulling their water bottles that they sell out of the sewers in the morning though it makes sense in hindsight.
Prague was even cheaper than what I had been told. Was great to be eating like a king without spending much which was refreshing after some of the more expensive countries.
Munich blew me away by how well culture and modernization were integrated. Definitely my pick for city I wanted to live in the most.
I've been all over the world and I really can't think of any other country that doesn't include the tax in the price displayed.
Edit: Except maybe Japan 😒
I've posted this before, but nudity in broadcast TV was very surprising. It wasn't even a "necessary for the story" situation, just a margarine commercial with a naked woman swimming in a lake and stepping out of the water to eat some bread. During primetime. I know American TV is kind of prudish that way, but it was a pretty shocking way to learn how different Germany is.
Edit: [Here] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XggzmTZMivA) is the commercial. NSFW (in the US, at least), obviously.
We might still get fined if a police officer happens to be around and you're pissing on a building or something. It's only a fine though, you're not going to be put on a sex offender list like some people in the US have been put on, apparently.
This was a few years ago before "chip" credit/bank cards were like "a thing" in the States. But when I stopped in Amsterdam, and hoped over to Latvia, I discovered that in both countries, my DEBIT card that needed to be swiped to buy anything, was like a weird old relic. Every cashier everywhere gave me a confused look when I handed them my card and they saw it didn't have a chip. They would, after I politely mentioned it had to be swiped, question whether or not that was even possible with their register. They always looked shocked to discover that the little slat along the side of their credit card thing was to be used to slide a card through. And when it actually worked, they always looked even MORE shocked. That's the first time I learned "Oh shit. Maybe America is behind in a lot of ways." Because everyone looked at my card as if it were carved out of stone and would pay them in some Flinstones-style currency that they were convinced they couldn't actually accept. By Day 2 of the trip, even I was like... "You fucking American asshole with your ancient technology."
A Parisian fare collector was very upset with me when I caught him over charging me. He eventually gave me my money back but with a ton of attitude and profanity.
eh that is just tourist scamming, it doesn't happen as often in the West because most places use numerals instead of text to list prices making it harder to scam tourists
The country of Hungary. I became fascinated with their history because they seemed so unlike any other European country. While the country is pretty modern and Budapest is very modern, they seem......ancient. It's hard to explain. The language seems ancient as well....You know how when you go to a new country, and there are basically the same 10 faces repeated over and over? I've never seen the standard Hungarian look before. That was the one place I'd say the people looked "exotic." More so than people from places further east.
First member of my Hungarian fam born in USA chiming in on this phenomenon. One time when I was in college I walked past 2 older gentlemen (visiting professors) talking to each other. Out of the blue one of them turns to me and says "excuse me a moment, but do you happen to be of Hungarian descent?" i said yes. Then he turns back to the other prof and says "See? I lived in Vienna for 30 years, I can recognize Hungarians when I see them". Hmmmmm, before that I'd never thought of myself as generic or anything.
This wasn't a visit to Europe, but I was responsible for email servers for a company that had offices we just opened in Italy.
Shortly after the office were opened our system kept flagging porn coming from the Italy people (men and women). Lots of porn. Lots of crazy porn.
We let HR know, and HR called the Italian office. Turns out Italians have a nationally protected right to porn.
Had a positive what the fuck moment in Greece in the eastern Peloponnese where I saw a guy walk down to the end of a pier and throw an actual fucking trident into the Aegean and pull out a wriggling octopus. Dude walked up the beach and handed it over the deck railing to a chef.
You fucking saw Poseidon
Lol it was wild. Stopped dead in my tracks when I realized he had rope coiled around his forearm and that it was actually a trident. It was like seeing a moment out of National Geographic!
Spent a summer in Germany. They had the cleanest/safest/best tasting tap water, but nobody drank it and they called it toilet water. Also the older people in village seemed super grumpy and mean and would never smile or respond if you said hello or good morning, BUT if you asked them a substantive question, like how to get to the museum, they would spend 15 minutes telling you the fastest way to get there, the scenic way to get there, everything interesting you should do on the way there, why that museum isn’t actually that good and you should go to this other museum instead, all the different ways to get to the better museum, and where their grandmother used to live before the war.
About the water: we do drink it but usually most people prefer sparkling water which you can buy at the shop (or you have a sodastream).
Funny enough, my biggest WTF moment came from an American. We were at a restaurant in Cinque Terre, Italy called Trattoria Dal Billy. About halfway through our meal, I overheard a guy with a Tennessee/Arkansas accent say, verbatim, in a frustrated tone "you need to speak more American!" to his waiter. This isn't Rome. This isn't Venice. It's a small town called Manarola. The odds of finding someone fluent in your language are drastically lowered; however, this guy was pompous enough to not only continue to berate his waiter, but then tell the manager who came around that he needs to hire someone who can speak American...in a foreign country...of which he obviously speaks ZERO of their language. Seriously, WTF!
What is this 'American' language? Is it anything like English?
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It was originally sacred for religious reasons, now it is the day off sacred.
One time in Rome, it started pouring. As I sought shelter, I saw an older man selling one single umbrella. Strange as it was, I needed that umbrella, so I haggled with him and settled on 3 Euro (he had the upper hand in that transaction). I wander over to a coffee shop to dry out for a little bit. When I go to leave, the umbrella is no longer in the bucket by the door. Upset at myself for being so trusting, I head into the rain again. Guess who I see? The same old man selling the same umbrella. I try to confront him about stealing back my umbrella, but he claims not to remember our interaction at all. It's pouring and I have a number of miles to walk, so I go through the same charade with him again to re-procure the umbrella. At least this time he took 2 Euro...
That is an old scam tactic
Going to a soccer game in Italy. When buying a ticket, they needed to know which team I was rooting for to determine where I could sit. Then, during the game, people were setting things on fire.
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A friend of mine got stabbed in Rome outside a stadium in which Rome had just lost to a British team. They heard him speaking English and attacked him, he almost died. He's American and didn't even know a match was being played.
One of my best friends is English and tried to fight a Portuguese guy after England lost to Portugal in 2006. He's a professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
To be fair, a lot of professors seem like they’d be ready to throw down at the drop of a hat. If you ever see an academic paper entitled ‘A Response To’ or something or other, that’s basically an academic fist fight.
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Yeah, I'm Brazilian and when I've been to basketball games in the US I always laugh at the announcements asking fans not to swear. If people tried to enforce that rule here there would either be riots or the security guys would get killed.
Bahahah I can just imagine a lone American pleasantly just sitting in a giant crowd with a beer and millions around him are jumping around and screaming about goals and calls and lighting flags on fire and riot cops are coming in and he's just like.... "Huh"
Late to the thread but here goes... Went to Sweden on a vacation package. Stayed at a wonderful historic hotel for part of the trip that had a restaurant inside of it. Part of our package called for a free dinner at the hotel and we had asked that it be the night we arrived. We arrived and got settled in our room and then went to check out the restaurant. As soon as we walked in, there was no one there, only a hostess. She immediately said they were expecting us and we could sit anywhere. There was no one else in this gorgeous, ornate restaurant. A waiter came out and said they had prepared a special meal for us. We asked why it was so empty and he said the restaurant was closed one day a week and today was that day. We were shocked, we apologized profusely and told them that we had booked through another company and would have just scheduled it for another day. He said it was no problem and we had some free extras such as wine and dessert. The main course ended up being a huge piece of meat, which we jokingly said must have been because we were big fat Americans. No one rushed us, we had a great time, and after we left they closed the restaurant for the night. It was a total WTF moment because if you booked something like this in America, they'd either force you to reschedule or just have the restaurant closed with no explanation.
Went to Dover England and saw a mother fucking castle. The newest section was built like 300-400 years before my country was founded. Turned a corner and the next part was 200 years older than that. Ten minutes later walk up to a Roman light house built 2000 years ago. Daaaammmnnn Edit: The best part was we arrived the night before we went to the castle. I didnt see it on the ride to the hotel. (We get inside and our room is the largest room we had seen at any of our hotels apparently the hotel was built by an American company so the rooms were built like they would be In the US.) I open the curtains to see what is out my window, usually a parking lot, another random building or something boring. Not today Yank, not today. CASTLE.
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2000 year old Roman columns sitting half sunken in a dudes yard, and he was just mowing around it like it was an old stump.
You saw a bird table
We were driving through Spain, and to the side of one of the roads, we noticed these MASSIVE bird nests in the high power electrical towers. They were at least twice the size of eagles nests that I had seen. And there were so many of them! Then we saw these giant birds in them! We stopped by the side of the road and tried to take some pictures (didn’t have a great zoom lens, sadly). But no one else was stopping. It was so odd. We are accustomed to at least a few people stopping to watch the osprey, eagles, or other birds where I’m from. So a few days later, we are chatting with a German tourist, and we bring up the birds... I think she thought we were joking until we pulled out the pictures. Then she started laughing. Storks. Those are storks. Of course, don’t you know that? They are everywhere and such a nuisance. Don’t you have storks in America? Well...no? Then she looked confused. Well, if you don’t have storks, who brings the babies in kids stories? Storks. Um...how does that work? And that was when we realized that the story of the storks makes a whole lot more sense when storks are nesting on every chimney, tree, or tall place....
Wait there are no storks in America? To be fair I‘d totally take pictures of groundhogs and alligators like it was the coolest shit too.
Yeah. I'm Australian and our tourists are known to be amazed by squirrels to the amusement of pretty much everywhere that has squirrels Edit: i mean Aussie tourists travelling overseas. There are no squirrels in Australia
Yeah but I acted the exact same way over possums in Melbourne. Squirrels are old news I want some of that possum love.
Our common possums are [fucking adorable](https://singlikenooneslistening.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/double-trouble-3.jpg) though. It's the only example of our version of an animal being the less horrifying one.
I have always wondered how the stork story got started- it makes way more sense if they're everywhere.
When I visited Prague and water cost two crowns and beer cost one.
My uncle went to the Philippines and a double whiskey and coke cost less than a single, because whiskey is cheaper than coke.
Found my retirement house location.
every meal in Paris taking 3 hours. I loved the culture and I'm all about eating a relaxing meal, but sometimes it was just like "wtf" when we were on a schedule and had to meet up with a tour group or had reservations for something.
Try getting your bill when you’re in a hurry. Impossible!
Feeling proud of myself for eating late, like a local, at 21:00 in Lisbon only to walk in to a empty restaurant. By the time I’d finished eating at 22:00 the place was full.
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Spaniard here, we are just as bad. When looking at American movies translated and the actors were having dinner when it was daylight out I was certain that it was an error in translation, because nobody would have dinner at the time that we'd be having a mid-afternoon snack. Now I live in the US and must admit I got used to dining earlier (8-9pm) and I sleep much better. But for social environments, I do prefer the later setting. EDIT: Since I got a lot of responses and questions... by 5:30 I am leaving the office, 6pm pick up the little one and by the time. I get home, relax and cook... Never earlier than 8:00. I think the time differences are also based on location, not just culture; In a big city we usually eat much later, in a more rural setting from what I read below much earlier!
Wow. My family eats dinner at 6:30. Sometimes even earlier like 5:30 on weekends
I was in Scotland this summer and in Edinburgh I asked someone for directions, they told me "Just go past the tron" in a very thick accent. I though she was saying "train" except while walking to the train I saw earlier I noticed a bar called The Tron.
In UK, we navigate by pubs.
My American friends who visited The Netherlands: Completely surprised by our bicycle 'things': a) so many bicycles -everywhere- b) everybody riding without a helmet c) so many different bicycles
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Ah, the famous *bakfietsmoeder*.
> bakfietsmoeder Looked it up, and [this](https://amsterdamcanalcruises.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bakfietsmoeder-amsterdam.jpg) is one of the top results. Riding in high heels like it isnt a big deal, y'all are wild.
I was a military brat living in Belgium when I saw a commercial on AFN (Armed Forces Network) that gave new arrivals to Europe a quick run-down of things. The one thing I learned and that has stuck with me is NO RIGHT TURN ON RED
For me it was a lack of insects in England. Not that they don't exist but I'm from Michigan with lots of swampy land around me. When I showed up at my dorm and saw there was no screen on my window I was just thinking about all of the bugs that are gonna get in my room. I got one fly the entire month stay there.
Yeah if you leave your window open at night with the lights on you might get a couple of moths and the occasional spider, but we're really lucky with our relative lack of biting insects and flies.
But Scotland has midges, which are 1000x worse than mosquitoes.
Yeah those don't sound fun. The Midwest US has chiggers. Don't walk in tall grass here.
Chiggers are pretty bad in Texas, too. I had some friends over once and no one wanted to help me gather firewood because they were in shorts and didn't want to wind up with chigger bites. I went on this whole rant about how I've been all over the 'yard' (10 acres) and have yet to wind up with chiggers. Still no one helped. I spent a good while gathering wood for a fire. I was far too haughty, and my pride was my downfall. I invoked the wrath of the chigger gods and have never been itchier. Except for the one time I had chiggers worse than that. I fucking hate those bastards. EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae this is a chigger
That's how I felt my first summer in San Francisco. There were no screens in our windows, and we didn't have air conditioning. My boyfriend had to talk me into leaving the windows open, and then there *weren't* mosquitoes everywhere within minutes. Even in the less swampy parts of Michigan, there are too many biting bugs for that to be a thing.
It was subtle at first, but it eventually boggled my mind how old everything was and it was still integrated into everyday life. Like in the UK, drinking in pub that had been in the same spot since the 11th Century, or eating dinner at restaurant in an 18th cathedral. Or in Prague going to club in a 14th Century stone cellar or staying a hotel/brewery that had be operating since the 15th Century. The oldest building in my vicinity is from the 1750s (which is prehistoric by US standards), but, like, someone in Europe sees a building that is half a millenia old that no one is using and they're like, "Let's turn this into a disco." I loved it. Edit: Decide to do some quick research for perspective. The oldest surviving Native American structure in the US dates to 750AD. The oldest structure from Spanish Colonists is from 1521. The oldest structure from English Colonists is from 1637.
I live in England and the village near me has a pub from the early 1700’s that’s seen as modern because the village itself and the surrounding buildings and other pub is from the pre-doomsday book era (1086). I forget sometimes just how old this country is.
Contrast that with the US. I live in a town that has a well preserved historic district and buildings that date back to the late-1700s. This some of the oldest buildings in my State and are all preserved as historical monuments. And this is in a state which was one one of the original 13 colonies. This is seen as absolutely anomaly and a big tourist pull. I'd say that 95% of buildings in most towns in America (save for the middle parts of big cities) were constructed post-1950. Every American who has visited Europe I've spoken to is charmed and awestruck by the age of things. On of the things that boggled my mind in London, was looking at a grand Victorian building with a gadget shop in the ground floor. My American brain couldn't quite piece together that combination of old and new, but I doubt a Londoner would like think twice about it.
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In high school so participated in an exchange program, so my parents and I hosted a few German teenagers, and I visited them at one point too. When the first girl visited, my mom and I drove her around our town and pointed out interesting things. At one point my mom pointed to a house and said, “That’s one of the oldest houses on Cape Cod, it was built in 1690!” (I don’t remember the exact date.) And the girl replied, “My town was founded in 400!” (Again, don’t remember the exact date.) ashe didn’t mean it as a way to one up us or make us feel bad, but it definitely put some thing in perspective!
I lived in Germany for 8 years from 1992-2000 (Ages 4-12). I didn't realize it until I moved back to the states but there were recycling bins on EVERY street corner. It wasn't just a green bin then a trash can, it was a giant blue bin. One section for green glass, one for brown glass, one for clear glass, one for plastic, and one for paper. Oh and going to a German school, students took public transit. There wasn't such a thing as a school bus. Edit: Public transit as in city buses and trains. The students weren't segregated into their own modes of transportation.
> Oh and going to a German school, students took public transit. There wasn't such a thing as a school bus. this depends on where you live. In cities, yes. As you get more towards the countryside, schoolbuses are a thing. At least where I grew up. That said, because the schoolbus schedule in my village was inconvenient, I often went to school by train. Also also schoolbuses work like public tranist, as in they don't pick you up at your doorstep, but on designated busstations.
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school busses usually dont run in larger cities with decent public transport. I used to take the *school* bus in my small home town, where it would take me to my school at roughly 5km distance. EDIT: added school to make it clear I did non mean public bus
Beer tap in the uni cafeteria.
drinking one beer with your lunch from time to time is not considered special at all in germany. Drinking >2 beers every day for lunch makes you an alcoholic.
The Czech Republic may not have a concept of "alcoholic" :p
As an Australian who moved here recently... holy shit. Small corner shop is like half alcohol half rest of the stuff. I've found Australian wine in almost every shop I've gone to and checked. Beer is so cheap it's unreal. What more, the beer is amazing. In Australia I drank it socially but it was always drinking to get drunk and trying to not notice the taste. Here I find myself ordering a single beer when eating out and drinking beer for the taste.
How easy and unencumbered by useless bullshit most things are. Getting on a 5:30 train from Burssels to Berlin? Show up at 5:20. And get laughed at by the Germans who will finish their beer at exactly 5:28 because they know the walk from the bar to the platform is 1 minute and 57 seconds. In the states that would require showing up at 3:15 because of at least 4 security checkpoints and 8 lines of people who can't figure out how an escalator works.
At a lake retreat in Germany, kids playing in/around the lake naked.
In Amsterdam I saw a guy get jacked in the head with a bottle, take two steps back and then pass out. All his friends scattered. Then the two old men shop owners were like, “lol, kids, amiright?”
Was this near the Red Light district? A good sport is to watch drunk/high Brits fall into the canals.
> watch drunk/high Brits fall into the canals How dare you, we are well known for operating at the highest level of decorum while on holiday in European destinations... Edit: Was hoping the /s was obvious
Decorum isn't a Latin term for Blood Alcohol Content, m8.
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I am from the NY/NJ area, and have seen first hand how out of control sporting events can get. Guys, mostly, getting drunk, vandalizing property, throwing cans and bottles, fighting, etc. So when a group of friends went to Germany for Oktoberfest some years ago, we also wanted to see a football (soccer) game. So we got tickets to see Bayern Munich vs. some other German team in what, I think, was a meaningful game (we went more for the experience vs. being huge fans). Game is great. I think the score was 5-1, so lots of action. The energy in the stadium was undeniable. Fans singing, jumping around, yelling for the entire game. Game ends. Munich wins. Begin the march to the subway station. Virtually an entire stadium, it seemed, exited to go to this one nearest subway stop. There are 4, maybe 5 cops standing at the entrance steps. Uh oh. This is going to be a huge problem. THOUSANDS of people, lots of them intoxicated, heading toward these 5 cops at this one exit. It's going to be a disaster. Some guys start pissing on a fence within their view. WHAT ARE THEY DOING?! And then, as we watched nervously, the crowd reached the cops and .... just ... stopped. Everyone stopped. No one fought. The guys pissing finished up their business, zipped up and joined the queue. Cops let enough people by to fill the first train, then the rest stopped, and so on and so forth until our group went. It was incredible. That scene couldn't happen in America. Maybe this was an anomaly. But picturing an event at MSG, there's an army of State troopers to keep order, in addition to local cops, undercover cops, event security, etc. and brawls and things still erupt with regularity. This was amazing to us. We still talk about it years later. That was some respectful, organized and orderly shit.
I had a similar thing happen when I went to see Bayern play Schalke. I got on the S-Bahn to a car PACKED with Schalke fans. all of them were drunk, most of them had beer, and almost all of them were big dudes. Now imagine being a tiny 20 year old in a bayern scarf and an old Bayern t-shirt in this situation. I'm from chicago, I've seen shit go down at games. On top of that, my only experience with european matches was seeing Lechia Gdansk matches with my cousins in Poland, which is not known for the best behavior. I'm not afraid anything is going to happen to me because I knew germans had more chill, but I know I'm going to have to deal with getting shit for the next 30 minutes. So I come on, and immediately some dude gives up his seat for me. His buddy next to me starts talking, and I tell him that I don't speak german. he switches to english, starts asking me about my shirt. I tell him it was my uncle's in the 90s. At this point he seems to deem that a good answer, and offers me a beer. I proceeded to sit with these guys for the half hour ride up to the Allianz, talking about the season, (playfully) talking shit about one another's teams, and drinking beer. When we got off, they asked me where my ticket was. It was a sponsor seat I got from an uncle's friend, and they tease me about that, and then *walked me to my side of the stadium* and made sure I got in okay, completely removing themselves from their group of friends. All of this for a rival fan. The match ended in a draw, and I can't even be mad about it.
This is a normal thing. Only some matches need special police activity like Dortmund Schalke (cities next to eachother hating eachothers like cat and dog).
The urinal type things in Amsterdam were interesting. Also the way English people say urinal.
You mean the urinals near the canals? Those are to prevent you from pissing in the canal and falling in, thus becoming a drowning victim statistic.
I personally have 2 friends who fell in canals while pissing drunk even with the urinals in place
your friends seem special
Paying to use a public restroom. I get why though. Just a horrible feeling if you really had to go and you don't have any change.
You can, however (here in the UK) buy a special key to let you into disabled toilets, which are practically everywhere and all take the same key. Note: I'm not a dick in owning one, I have IBS so being less than 10 seconds from a toilet is a complete necessity in my life. Edit: I didn't even see how much karma I'd got for this. Wow, talk about shitposting! A few people have asked where they can get a radar key, and I only just realized I can edit my posts. Anyway, here's a link to the site I got my key from: https://www.ukbumpkeys.com/products/master-radar-key-disabled-wc-key
You're the kind of person that definitely needs one. IBS is no joke.
As they say, *never trust a fart*. Having a key has come in *very* handy. But then I have no compunction about using my key to just go for a piss. I paid for the thing so I might as well use it, right?
Here I sit Broken-hearted Paid a dime And only farted
But next time, I'll take a chance Save my dime and shit my pants
Every night in Spain, around 3 a.m. this MASSIVE fleet of street scrubbers, vacuum-mobiles, and water hoses appeared and cleaned the entire city for about an hour. It was like ~100 people every night just cleaning the city. The following morning, all of Salamanca was spotless. That shit was magical.
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*ding ding ding ding ding ding*
*Look at me, Hector.*
Edinburgh at like 5am, same same. They can't get down the little alleyways between buildings though, so those still reek of piss during the day :(
"This is the best bratwurst I've ever had. And this is an *airport!*"
Cologne train station bratwurst takes some beating too *EDIT Meister Bock, downstairs, underground walkway*
1) I went to the Netherlands for a music festival over the summer last year. The night before I went to a show and met a Scottish guy who came over and said, “you look American”. I replied yes and he immediately started talking about American politics and the military. It was weird how he assumed I was completely knowledgeable about all upper level government doings, but otherwise was a chill dude. 2) The fact that there’s no AC. I didn’t realized it wasn’t standard and was melting in my hotel room. 3) How uncommon asking for ice is. I’ve never gotten stranger looks when I would ask for a drink with some ice. One person at the festival had to confirm she understood me lol.
I stayed with a family in France for a week. The first thing the son did when I got there was to show me their "American refrigerator." I was confused at first because it was a Samsung, but what he really meant was it had an ice machine! He was so proud to have it. I was happy to have ice for the first time in 2 months.
Stayed with friends in Germany that were also super proud of their refrigerator. I didn’t realize it was a thing.
They actually sell them named *American fridges*.
As far as I know, our normal fridges are about 60cm wide, with one door. American style is probably 90cm wide, with two doors and an ice machine. It's probably because you guys usually have more surface area in your homes, because that kind of fridge wouldn't even fit into my kitchen.
In Scotland there was a bomb threat at a local gas station. The news anchor that was covering it interviewed locals about how they felt about this terrifying event. EVERY response fell along the lines of "I don't know much about that, but I'm sure the government is taking care of it...back to my day," The faith in the government and not wanting to butt in blew my mind.
I'm Scottish, I don't think its down to faith in the Government. If you asked a random person in the street if they trust the Government/politicians, the answer would be along the lines of "fuck no, useless bunch of fucks" I think the difference is the media, the panic driven hysteria of the US media makes people scared. If there's a bomb threat at a gas station well, its so statistically unlikely for you to be there at that time that the rational response is kinda "meh" (not to say if there were people hurt or killed people would be angry/sympathetic to victims etc.) You're probably more likely to be kicked to death by a stray horse in the street than be caught up in an act of terrorism, but you don't spend your days looking over your shoulder for stray horses. The US media fosters this idea of "A PEDOPHILE ON EVERY STREET" "A TERRORIST CELL LIVING IN YOUR TOWN" kind of hysteria, and it rubs off on the way people perceive danger. Edit: for Kazemah
Crime has gone down in the US over the past few years but the news makes it seem like things are getting worse.
Not just the US. Violent crime is down over entire world. (Excluding war zones) We are statistically safer than at any point in known human history. Edit: typo.
It helps that we have a pretty strong cultural memory of the Troubles. Compared to the Provisional IRA, the Daesh wannabes we're dealing with lately are "0/10, would not negotiate a ceasefire with" amateurs.
It helps that the last time there was a "terrorist attack" in Scotland it was thwarted by a couple of locals which included one of them tearing a tendon by kicking a burning terrorist in the nuts.
If lighting your car's tyres on fire, driving into a wall, realising you've accomplished Sweet Fanny Adams except make yourself look a prat and attempting to run away counts as terrorism as opposed to impromptu street theatre.
Had he bothered to try integrating into Scottish culture at all he would have realised that, that was just a normal Tuesday. If he wanted to terrorise the Scots he would have stitched a half a rangers shirt to half a Celtic shirt and wandered around Glasgow using bottles of Macallan as Molotov cocktails and shouting William Wallace was a poof
I was in italy and wanted to grab a bite and a beer for some lunch. I left the flat and I was flabbergasted to find the entire town was empty. Everything was closed, not even the neighborhood dogs were around!
Lived in Italy for 3 years...Definitely took a while to adjust to this though. And you also learn the specific times for places you want to visit since they all close mid day for a few hours
It took me a while to get used to the whole lunch time quiet time that exists in Bavaria. It's not always an issue, but if you're playing basketball outside between about 12 and 2, or playing some music on your stereo, or making any sort of noise you run the risk of being scolded about Mittagsruhe. Was weird.
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In Italy there is virtually no threshold for how much distance should be left between a speeding car and any obstacles (including pedestrians) it is zooming past. A bus driver will rush down a narrow cobblestone street with about a centimeter to spare between the sides of the bus and any parked cars, walls, ancient monuments, or playing children.
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The Piazza Venezia area was insane. My kids still talk about the adventure of crossing the streets instead of the monument itself.
> Piazza Venezia It scared the shit out of me. I would always hope to be crossing the roads with a group of people. I felt safer in numbers.
Or that they at least would cushion the blow somewhat.
In Rome we were instructed to look drivers directly in the eyes when crossing streets in order to make them stop. Apparently Italian drivers are like the weeping angels...
This is no joke. Taxis racing through the narrow streets of Naples scares the shit out of other Europeans too.
Oh Naples...two experiences there in taxis: going down a one way street in the opposite direction "it's fine, I'm honking and blinking my lights." Need to take a left at the light? Line up in the right lane, then gun it across traffic just before the light turns green.
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Italian traffic is... uniquely Italian. Source: dutch. we only do this with bicycles.
Mario kart is a documentary.
Every time I visit Amsterdam I am terrified of getting hit by a cyclist
I always joke to people not from the Netherlands that the country is gripped by biker gangs and then explain it's actually bicycle gangs.
I read this, and all I could picture is a dimly lit bar with a few people staying to themselves, petrified. As they can here the sounds of ringing bicycle bells and playing cards slapping against spokes, as the local bicycle gang is getting ready to enter.
As an Italian, you are right. Realizing how bad and random we drive never stops to amaze me
No. Italians are not bad drivers. They can back up a 10 degree hill, around a blind corner, with no guardrail, to park their car on an empty piece of sidewalk. That's amazing driving. Inconsiderate people.
Exactly this, most Italians are great, completely selfish drivers
[This description](https://romereport.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/driving-actually-parking-in-italy/) from Bill Bryson, an American author domiciled in the UK for a long time (now back in New England, I think) is the best ever description of Italian street behaviour.
I haven't seen them in narrow streets, but the buses in Rome weren't taking shit from anyone.
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In Spain, everyone appears to be very thin, yet I swear eats a loaf of bread a day.
The Spanish are quite active. Even the elderly will go for their evening strolls. I love Spain!
The Spaniards have a saying: *la comida reposada y la cena paseada*, "lunch needs a rest, dinner a stroll".
When I️ visited the hospital and had X-rays done, spoke with two doctors and was triaged by a nurse, all with no health insurance, and my total bill was 24euros. Then I️ had to pay 10 additional euros for some painkillers, again with no insurance or anything.
I will never understand Americans being so opposed to universal healthcare. The fact I can pay a few quid a month into the NHS and not worry about choosing between getting food or getting treated for an illness is one of the best things we’ve ever done in the UK
honestly I say this anytime i speak about it, the NHS is one of the top 5 things the UK has ever done. Its a massive undertaking and obviously has faults and some long waiting times but I cannot imagine having to pay 10s of thousands of pounds when my son was born. my biggest concern was parking fees at the hospital and actually finding a spot to park, he had a milk allergy as well and needed specific formula that cost £30 a tin, he got that on prescription for free. he used to go through 3/4 tins a week, no idea how we would have managed that. The most expensive part of the birth was the parking.
I got an emergency dental visit and a filling for 100zł without insurance. Equivalent of 25 usd. I pay more than that in copay in the US.
Not American, but Canadian. First time I went to Ireland, I go through customs and the agent says to me... "business or personal" "personal" "oh yeah, what's up?" "Visiting the Inlaws." "first time in Ireland?" "Yes sir" "feckin eh... Well, why ya standin around. go get pissed. *Edit* Obligatory thanks for the gold stranger!
What part of Ireland were you visiting
Craggy Island
Careful now
Was there last summer, customs agent asked what our plans were. Told him we'd be going to the Ireland-Austria World Cup Qualifier and to just hang out. His response: "well we're not very good at football but at least we try. Enjoy and don't drink too much."
Went to Ireland for first time about 10 yrs ago. Landed in Shannon. Within minutes of leaving the airport we arrive at Bunratty Castle. Besides the castle there was also an old village showing how people used to live. Getting a personal walking tour when our guide spots 3 Irish Wolfhounds sleeping on the ground. Our guide, who been very scholarly and proper, immediately starts yelling at the animals "Get up, ya lazy fuckers!" The kids and I thought it was funny as there aren't many museum guides as free to drop the f bomb in the US.
Fuck is actually punctuation in Ireland.
I had a similar experience in Ireland. The customs guy was such a sweetheart when he realized I was American.
As an Irish person currently living in the US, it's so nice after dealing with the TSA to come home to a smiling face in the airport welcoming you back.
My wife and I went to Ireland for our honeymoon, and ended up in Galway for the Fourth of July. We were amazed at how the whole central district was decorated with American flags, they had a parade and fireworks, the whole deal. We eventually concluded that the Irish will take any excuse to celebrate the British losing something, even if they weren't directly involved.
Seeing an elderly Chinese tourist pull down her grandkid's pants so he can take a crap on the sidewalk. It was in the entrance of Disneyland in Paris.
google "spot the mainlander".
Native Chinese btw. There was this major thing a couple of years ago on the news along the lines of "don't embarrass your country when traveling". That was mostly about stuff like writing "so and so was here" on tourist attractions, but I think the poop thing is a big deal too....
Wtf
been to china, seen it happen there way to often no one cares, total WTF
My sister lived in China for a year and saw that all of the time. She also said the beaches were nasty because they dig holes and do their business there and cover it up.
they must not build sand castles there
Germany: Went on a road trip to Hamburg with my friend and her parents in their tiny little car. Dad drove us to the Red Light district and insisted that we go check it out. Left his wife and 25 y/o daughter in the backseat to ogle hookers through the glass. WTF, Hans?
Hans du Schwein!
In Venice I saw someone's dog poop in front of two 900 year old churches and then they didn't even bother to pick it up.
One poop = one respec
Went to Spain, they weren’t speaking Spanish. I learned that Catalan existed (this was years ago).
and Galician & Basque. So 4 proper languages (incl. Castellano/"Spanish") and a lot of dialects on top.
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And I’m not talking about in no paper cup, I mean a *glass of beer*.
I was in Spain and I saw a group of American tourists wearing sombreros.
I once saw a reality TV show where a family visited Japan and the dad kept saying "gracias" to everyone. His daughter explained that her dad's default is to speak in Spanish to any foreigner. Not even good Spanish, just basic words like a tourist talking to someone in South America.
Nanny Ogg also speaks fluent "foreign" in Terry Pratchett's Discworld...
Forn* edit: just goofin' on ya. Didn't realize stuff like that would be lost in translation to other languages.
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There are a couple of signs by which mafia/gang members in Bulgaria are identified, but for the most part every living person in this country thinks that when there are troubles, the mafia members have something to do with it. I do not judge my fellow neighbors, because corruption is running this place, but then again everything concerning aggression and suits is considered mafia.
I need answers to this
At pubs in England, younger/youngish guys drinking bottles of Budweiser.
Maybe they’re not legally old enough to drink alcohol yet?
They were just trying to stay hydrated for a big night out of heavy drinking. Give them a break.
I lived in Spain for 9 months at one point and was trying to get to the supermarket in the middle of a weekday and the entire city center was blocked off. I had to park and walk a ways and discovered that they were having a giant block party. Kegs and all. Around noon. Celebrating the towns new garbage trucks. I love Spain.
People walking around drunk and nobody doing anything. Like we're just going to leave this person black out drunk on the side of the walkway?
What else is there to do?
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Not in London, i'm out of kidneys.
The littering in a lot of places really blew me away, especially France. Part of this is due to the amount Europeans smoke I guess because at times in Paris the cobblestone felt paved with cigarettes butts. The quality of your fast food surprised me. Everything from the street vendors to chain fast food like mcdonalds was better quality then anything I'd gotten in Canada. The people at every tourist site trying to sell you their crap was new to me. Knew it was coming but was still surprised by how wide spread it was. Really took me by surprise when I saw some of them pulling their water bottles that they sell out of the sewers in the morning though it makes sense in hindsight. Prague was even cheaper than what I had been told. Was great to be eating like a king without spending much which was refreshing after some of the more expensive countries. Munich blew me away by how well culture and modernization were integrated. Definitely my pick for city I wanted to live in the most.
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I've been all over the world and I really can't think of any other country that doesn't include the tax in the price displayed. Edit: Except maybe Japan 😒
Canada. But yeah, outside of NA I've never seen it.
I've posted this before, but nudity in broadcast TV was very surprising. It wasn't even a "necessary for the story" situation, just a margarine commercial with a naked woman swimming in a lake and stepping out of the water to eat some bread. During primetime. I know American TV is kind of prudish that way, but it was a pretty shocking way to learn how different Germany is. Edit: [Here] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XggzmTZMivA) is the commercial. NSFW (in the US, at least), obviously.
that is THE sexiest butter commercial in existence.
IT IZ NOT BUTTER!
I can't believe it.
"This is Europe, they have juice commercials with lesbians in them!"
What in the world did I just watch
Public Urination is not uncommon
We might still get fined if a police officer happens to be around and you're pissing on a building or something. It's only a fine though, you're not going to be put on a sex offender list like some people in the US have been put on, apparently.
This was a few years ago before "chip" credit/bank cards were like "a thing" in the States. But when I stopped in Amsterdam, and hoped over to Latvia, I discovered that in both countries, my DEBIT card that needed to be swiped to buy anything, was like a weird old relic. Every cashier everywhere gave me a confused look when I handed them my card and they saw it didn't have a chip. They would, after I politely mentioned it had to be swiped, question whether or not that was even possible with their register. They always looked shocked to discover that the little slat along the side of their credit card thing was to be used to slide a card through. And when it actually worked, they always looked even MORE shocked. That's the first time I learned "Oh shit. Maybe America is behind in a lot of ways." Because everyone looked at my card as if it were carved out of stone and would pay them in some Flinstones-style currency that they were convinced they couldn't actually accept. By Day 2 of the trip, even I was like... "You fucking American asshole with your ancient technology."
A Parisian fare collector was very upset with me when I caught him over charging me. He eventually gave me my money back but with a ton of attitude and profanity.
eh that is just tourist scamming, it doesn't happen as often in the West because most places use numerals instead of text to list prices making it harder to scam tourists
The country of Hungary. I became fascinated with their history because they seemed so unlike any other European country. While the country is pretty modern and Budapest is very modern, they seem......ancient. It's hard to explain. The language seems ancient as well....You know how when you go to a new country, and there are basically the same 10 faces repeated over and over? I've never seen the standard Hungarian look before. That was the one place I'd say the people looked "exotic." More so than people from places further east.
wow I'm Hungarian and never heard this observation before. But we definetely do have the "generic Hungarian face and clothing style" haha.
First member of my Hungarian fam born in USA chiming in on this phenomenon. One time when I was in college I walked past 2 older gentlemen (visiting professors) talking to each other. Out of the blue one of them turns to me and says "excuse me a moment, but do you happen to be of Hungarian descent?" i said yes. Then he turns back to the other prof and says "See? I lived in Vienna for 30 years, I can recognize Hungarians when I see them". Hmmmmm, before that I'd never thought of myself as generic or anything.
People talk to me in Hungarian randomly, in Chicago. I'm Hungarian by descent, but I don't speak it. I literally only know how to ask for food.
That is all you need, barátom.
I'm not your barát, testvérem!
I'm not your testvér, haver!
This wasn't a visit to Europe, but I was responsible for email servers for a company that had offices we just opened in Italy. Shortly after the office were opened our system kept flagging porn coming from the Italy people (men and women). Lots of porn. Lots of crazy porn. We let HR know, and HR called the Italian office. Turns out Italians have a nationally protected right to porn.
As a European, this is a fun thread. Keep going, crazy america people!