30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group

Isolation of nations, different climate and resources as well as other factors led to different customs in different places forming. But with globalization, we are able to know about those differences and prepare for them. However, some things are less talked about because people may not even realize that it could be different in other places, so there is always something that can surprise us.

The country that people like to talk about very often is the US. There are so many things they do differently, so visiting the country or living there might cause some culture shocks. Redditors were discussing this very topic when Miserablemermaid asked “Non-Americans of reddit, what was the biggest culture shock you experienced when you came to the US?” There were more than 30k answers given in just a day, so we collected the most interesting things redditors pointed out.

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Your sugar has very little food in it.

manjeete , Lisa Risager Report

Final score:

338points

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RNA 2 years ago

You! I like you :)

92points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Seeing children of all different colors. It was beautiful.

SuspiciousSpecific71 , USAG- Humphreys Report

Final score:

276points

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april jenkins 2 years ago

you see that in australia..

43points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The treatment of veterans. A lot of communication around the respect they deserve. Yet many of them are broke, homeless and in a generally bad position.

coenw , Nick Vidal-Hall Report

Final score:

276points

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RoseTheMad 2 years ago

And (and I'm sure I'll be downvoted for this) unfortunately, I've seen and read about a lot of cases where veterans (and especially their spouses, for some reason) become extremely entitled. I completely agree with the quote from Bojack Horseman "Maybe some of the troops are heroes but not automatically" where he goes on to say that people can be jerks, and giving a jerk a gun and a title doesn't make them not a jerk. I respect the fact you fought for your country, but I'm not going to respect you if you're an entitled jerk. xP

379points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Not really a shock but one thing that really surprised me was the sheer amount of flags.

It was like almost every building had an American flag. Here in Belgium, if I see a house with a national flag I assume there's some kind of sport event going on that I didn't know about.

Conocoryphe , Bill Smith Report

Final score:

252points

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Tyler Hobson 2 years ago

And they "make" kids pledge their allegiance to it. Not to our country or fellow Americans, but a flag.

114points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The toilet doors (or lack thereof). Not enough door!

Seriously, you're a wealthy enough country you don't need to leave an inch gap at the sides and a foot and a half at the top and bottom.

litsto , njaminjami Report

Final score:

241points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

When you are on the loo and you make accidental eye contact with someone outside your cubicle, that should tell you that the gaps around the doors are too big.

178points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Could not walk anywhere, or take good public transport. Always had to take Ubers or hitch lifts.

Everything was also HUGE. Cities, buildings, regular houses, food portions. I'd say people but I did not see anybody who was hugely obese there at least.

There was an insane amount of space just...everywhere. As a European used to being crammed into every available nook, even in rural areas, the way that towns and cities just stretched out was unimaginable.

ScotchSirin , Virginia State Parks Report

Final score:

226points

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A Jones 2 years ago

I guess I should consider myself lucky by moving to a place where I can walk in the states. I don't like driving (anxiety, can't pump gas). It's a semi-urban place.

45points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Everyone I met treated me like a long lost friend

Red_Ranger75 , Ricardo Moraleida Report

Final score:

218points

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Ylva 2 years ago

Great, I suppose.. I, a swede, would hate it though. Not people being nice, just people invading my personal space. 😂

137points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The air conditioning. Everywhere. And the literal temperature shock between the inside and the outside of any f**king building.

un_saumon , Matthew Paul Argall Report

Final score:

213points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

One of the things I miss most of all about the USA!

90points

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Everything being f**king huge. Literally. Road lanes, groceries, soda sizes. Especially distances: where i come from, 3 hours of driving are enough to cross half of the country, in the US it's just a small drive to go to see a relative or something.

salderosan99 , Ben Schumin Report

Final score:

210points

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Helen Haley 2 years ago

3 hours wouldn't even get me out of state.

155points

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#10

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Lawyer commercials and "if this happened to you, you can sue them" commercials.

RegnumRico , Wesley Fryer Report

Final score:

206points

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ojjunior 2 years ago

Absolutely! Lawyers billboards, TV ads, subway ads, bus ads incentivating people to sue everyone for every reason is simply disgusting. Let alone those advertising in spanish as your "abogado". Simply ridiculous. Easy to understand if someone says the US Legal system is overwhelmed.

79points

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#11

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Christianity everywhere. On your money, in the school, every Sunday, churches everywhere, in your pledge, in the Boy scouts, verses at the bottom of In&Out milkshakes

Majestic_Bierd , Ben Schumin Report

Final score:

199points

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RandomBeing 2 years ago

This depends on where in America you are. I remember going to an area in the "bible belt" for the first time and it was also a culture shock for me lol.

153points

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#12

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group I was walking down the street and there were some road workers doing something a bit ahead. When I got near them, one of them approached me and super kindly asked me to cross to the other side, halted the traffic so I could cross and wished me a nice day as I went along.

In my country they would've probably heckled at me for not crossing, and I would've told them to go f**k themselves for not signaling things properly as I walked in the middle of the street potentially getting hit by a car

madkeepz , Daniel Lobo Report

Final score:

197points

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Zophra 2 years ago

Awwww... this one is USA nice.

105points

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#13

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Turn right on red. Beautiful.

klonricket , A_Peach Report

Final score:

186points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

The only reason it works is because most of the USA is built in a grid system. So you come to a 90 degree angle crossroads and you can make a right on red. It does not and cannot work on older streets where roads do not meet at a right angle, or when there are more than four roads meeting at the junction.

71points

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#14

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The importance of the College/University you go to. For me it felt like the name, you can even call it brand, of the College is more important than your actual skills and knowledge as well as the quality of education you receive. So many times, people asked me which College/University I visit and told me about their College and the College their childrens are visiting. Totally different than what I am used to in Germany, where it is mainly focused on your skills and grades not the College/University your are visiting.

Breathinglegend69 , carmichaellibrary Report

Final score:

184points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

That only matters for a very few colleges, and I am in a position to say that the education you get at Ivy League colleges is NOT superior to the education at other universities. It's just that it will open doors for you by other people who are part of the elite club. If it's not one of these elite colleges, it really doesn't matter where you go.

87points

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#15

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Tipping. And not just tipping, but tipping so much that the entire thing I bought (e.g. a meal) is now in an entirely higher price bracket.

wristconstraint , Kai Hendry Report

Final score:

174points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

Tipping is really, really important, because US laws allow for servers to be paid around $2 an hour (which is just so wrong to begin with). So not only do they need the tips to stand a chance of making a living wage, but they are also taxed on those tips because it is ASSUMED that they will get them. So if you don't tip someone, they actually lose money. It's a really bad system, but while it exists, please plan to tip in the USA.

196points

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#16

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group How early everything starts. School, work. 6am wake ups. That was hard.

helicoptercici , Paul van de Velde Report

Final score:

165points

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april jenkins 2 years ago

then you've never worked in brisbane, australia. we don't have DLS, and most people like working from 4am when it's bright and light ;)

40points

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#17

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Advertisements in between the title credits of the show and the actual show. You guys have a LOT of advertisements.

VodkaMargarine , Markus Report

Final score:

160points

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RoseTheMad 2 years ago

Same in the UK for any channel that isn't BBC (Itv is the worst for adverts. xD)

47points

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#18

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Spray cheese. I was not ready.

ItsACaragor , Wendy Harman Report

Final score:

159points

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Kookamunga 2 years ago

That's not cheese.

186points

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#19

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group No sidewalks, not everywhere, but outside of major cities, you often literally can't walk between places safely

rioting-pacifist , TheMuuj Report

Final score:

157points

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Nikki Sevven 2 years ago

This one is a catch 22. The reason usually given for not putting in sidewalks is that "nobody walks there." Well, no, not without sidewalks they don't!

146points

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#20

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The different kinds of flavors for beverages. I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of options.

Just so you guys know,I enjoyed having multiple options, until I came to the US I had no idea I liked Blue Raspberry flavored soda and I found out that I liked to mix different kinds of sodas from the fountain and make a cocktail soda occasionally.

Also, I like how you guys have a s**t ton of flavors for your alcohol. I liked a lot of them but to be honest I didn't enjoy the whipped cream flavored stuff.

howwouldiknow-- , danielle_blue Report

Final score:

147points

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Bettie-Jean Neal 2 years ago

When I was a kid in the 70's/80's, at the roller skating rink, we used to get suicides. A suicide was every flavor of fountain soda mixed in a cup with ice. So tasty!

126points

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#21

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Medical advertisements on tv

DifferentAd154 , Leonid Mamchenkov Report

Final score:

141points

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RNA 2 years ago

Wait, you don't have them somewhere? In Poland significant part of commercials on tv are painkillers, anti-flu pills and so on.

71points

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#22

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Sewers turtles aren't ninja turtles

BackgroundNoose , promiseminime Report

Final score:

138points

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Emerald Ocean 2 years ago

Haha. Lol

46points

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#23

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group When we first arrived, and I walked up to a soda machine. We never had those, and I think I drank 10-15 refills of coke before my parents started yelling at me. UNLIMITED SODA ARE YOU KIDDING ME WTF.

Lord_Disagree , Mike Mozart Report

Final score:

132points

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RoseTheMad 2 years ago

Even if it was sugar free soda/pop I'd feel a bit sick after 15 refills o.o

74points

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#24

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Billboards. They are everywhere. You can go hours in the UK driving without seeing one. In Florida, I saw one every few minutes.

Ads on TV, motherf**ker, just play the show, this is painful.

Traffic, how do people drive in the US, it's so easy to get caught in traffic, it's everywhere. F**KER JUST DRIVE, ITS PAINFUL, ADD A F**KING ROUND A BOUT

7/11s are magical places though.

IAmTheGlazed , Zen Skillicorn Report

Final score:

131points

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Kookamunga 2 years ago

I see your 7-11 and raise you a Wawa.

87points

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#25

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group People pay for their own food. As someone who came from China, where everyone fights for the bill without the intention to pay, this is very refreshing.

ListenOrElse_ , Pressmaster Report

Final score:

127points

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RNA 2 years ago

I am confused, why do they fight for the bill then?

63points

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#26

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group 1.No walls around houses, or burglar bars by windows.

2.HOAs, i don't get why neighbours can have any say as to how long grass should be or what colour i can/cannot paint a house.

3. People walking around with their phones in hand freely and not worried about getting robbed.

4. Not all but how many know little about anything outside of the U.S.

5. How hard they go in advertising for any and everything.

Natures_VO , Michaela Pereckas Report

Final score:

118points

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Bacony Cakes 2 years ago

Fun idea: Tie the HOAs to a stake and burn them.

123points

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#27

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group My wife is from the Philippines and also worked in Singapore for over 10 years. When she came here she had many surprises but one big one was the ability to return items that she had purchased. She had never been able to do that before.

CitySuper5546 , Gipsy Tights Report

Final score:

118points

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april jenkins 2 years ago

with our consumers right in australia, as long as you are able to show proof of purchase, you can return stuff for even after 12 months of use if unsatisfactory.

48points

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#28

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group How non-physical Americans are. I’m Latina and every time I meet someone new it’s considered polite to hug and kiss their cheek as a greeting. Obvi with professionals it’s a no go but like if I’m introduced to a friend of a friend I would do a very light hug and kiss, it was mind blowing to me that Americans mostly did the half hearted wave or a handshake.

rainbow_elmo24 , Henry Burrows Report

Final score:

110points

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Aroace tiger (any pronouns) 2 years ago

I can't stand people anywhere near me

103points

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#29

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group People really care about their teeth like whitening and straightening.

WhitePhatA** , Smiles7676 Report

Final score:

105points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

I wouldn't say people care about their teeth per se, but the people that can afford it spend a lot of money having their teeth look "perfect".

61points

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#30

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Drive through ATM. Very friendly people. How very obese so many Americans were. Water fountains in every public place. Heating system in every house. I was amazed by so many trees along the highways. Still am

Final-Couple-3729 , Sean Hayford Oleary Report

Final score:

101points

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ima cat 2 years ago

Trees along the highways are something I'm happy about in America.

103points

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#31

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group A sign at the front door of a restaurant to remind patrons not to bring your firearms inside, to please leave them in your car

for those who are asking, I saw it in Phoenix Arizona

RushSubdivisions , Daniel Lobo Report

Final score:

40points

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Nikki Sevven 2 years ago

Most states don't allow open carry. I'm from New England, and Arizona was as much of a shock to me as it was to you.

16points

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#32

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The homeless in the US are very abrasive. I’m from Africa and am use to beggars and squatters, but the ones I came into contact with in California were so loud, obnoxious and invasive.

KyleLucasZA , Elvert Barnes Report

Final score:

34points

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Bacony Cakes 2 years ago (edited)

I'd be loud, obnoxious, and invasive if i didn't have anywhere to live, too.

25points

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#33

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group Root beer

brigidsbollix , Meredith P. Report

Final score:

33points

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ToGo 2 years ago

I've always been curious to try root beer! I remember when I was young watching American TV, the kids/teens would always drink root beer I was shocked that they were allowed, what I thought then, was alcohol haha.

3points

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#34

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The power of some toilet flushes shocked me, one was so loud it actually hurt my ears. Then I remembered the whole poo knife thing and figured it must be necessary.

subrhythm , Sophie Report

Final score:

33points

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Emerald Ocean 2 years ago

Poo knife?

23points

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#35

That you can't have a beer with your lunch in a lot of places.

I get that they are family friendly places but where's my beer? Here you can pretty much get one at any restaurant from 11am onwards

richards182 Report

Final score:

32points

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Ms. Allison 2 years ago

Liquor licenses, and dry counties (and other liquor regulations) are probably two of the big reasons for that in the US.

22points

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#36

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The way in LA food came with warnings like may cause cancer, antibiotics used when buying things with meat in

leajeffro , Global Panorama Report

Final score:

28points

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Ms. Allison 2 years ago (edited)

California has a lot more consumer protection than the rest of the country. I remember when my family owned a scrapbooking store that an adhesive company had to redevelop a few products in the 2000s (I think) when California banned import of a bunch of chemicals and harmful stuff into the state.

18points

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#37

There was work being done on the highway and after like every kilometer there was a dude standing with a sign telling us how long the traffic jam still is. Or was it remaining construction area in miles? Dont remember really.

The thing is... Why were there dudes? In my country we just hang those signs to iron sticks lol.

Wundawuzi Report

Final score:

26points

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Jacob Nunez 2 years ago

“Iron sticks” imma use that

7points

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#38

30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group The first was on the train from.the airport into new uork.

There were well dressed people coming back from the races and they were sober. At home that would have been a heavily drunk party train.

Oh and then being able to buy 500 paracetomol at once in a pot. Wtf.

Incantanto , Martin Cathrae Report

Final score:

21points

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Ti Wa 2 years ago

500 paracetamol? You could probably kill an entire herd of elephants with that. Wtf? oO

6points

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#39

It was weird to see alcohol being sold at ordinary grocery stores. Where I live it is only sold at liquor stores.

UnsocialAsset Report

Final score:

19points

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Eliyahu Rooff 2 years ago

It depends on where you live. In Utah, for example, it's only sold at state-run liquor stores.

20points

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#40

Many things but the biggest was how difficult it was to take a left turn at an intersection. I had taken a car on rent as I could drive on my B1 and I thoroughly enjoyeed driving there but this rule baffled me.

punkychandey Report

Final score:

19points

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Helen Haley 2 years ago

If you don't wait for the left hand light, you will be driving through oncoming traffic, you will cause an accident and people may die. Just wait your turn.

9points

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What do you think ?

Kristin Ingersoll 2 years ago

Yippee. The same stupid list that is always posted on BP. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Try something new.

15points

Vicky Z 2 years ago

Yeah it must have been the 20th similar post in 2 months! I hope everyone complaining about Disney princesses is happy now!! I wish we could go back to that actually!! Not to mention that i haven't seen animal posts for a while and this is what we are here for!

11points

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Fred L. 2 years ago

I think this list was more nuanced than most before.

Mazer 2 years ago

Be an adult, take some personal responsibility and go elsewhere. Just stop whining

-1point

Sherri D 2 years ago

Rude

Mark Fuller 2 years ago

Tipping. Complete strangers sharing their view as you walk out of a changing room. Vicious political game playing. Bible bashing. Evangelist Tv. Trailer parks aplenty. Can't find a lettuce in the supermarket, but can find a rifle. And have to enter a separate shop to buy booze. Fireworks are illegal. Guns are not. Equally, nice to see patriotism (in moderation), friendly people, great food, awesome scenery, cheap fuel, great sport, amazing museums and galleries, affordable housing (from a Brits perspective). Good and bad everywhere. Heaven knows, we have our issues...

12points

Tobin Kern 2 years ago

Ive lived in some super redneck places and Ive never seen a rifle in a supermarket for sale and not lettuce. Fireworks are restricted in SOME places due to fire dangers and dry seasons.

I could add so much to this list. I think the things I still remember are: 1/ the overwhelming choices for every single type of food, like 50 different kinds of cereals. 2/ comparative advertising. So car company A would advertise their vehicle and tell you all the ways it was better than car company B. 3/ The outward friendliness of Americans, that just never went anywhere. It was all surface. 4/ The 1950s social world, where men and women still separated at parties and women are expected to be so pretty and men are expected to make money and pay for everything. 5/ The prevalence of the same companies and stores everywhere you go and very few small, independent shops. 6/ How cheap everything was compared to in Europe 7/ That the price on the label is not the final price. Sales tax is added when you check out!

Pezor Zass 2 years ago

your #5: at one point i wanted to visit all kinds of cities and take pics of the identical Walmarts and Home Depots, etc and just label them as the city name. in the end, i couldn't be arsed to do it :)

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30 Of The Good And The Bad Culture Shocks Non-Americans Experienced While In The US, As Shared In This Online Group

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