So I knew this guy who used to live in the middle of nowhere in Africa. For unknown reasons his family moved to Montreal, Canada when he was a teenager. I met him in highschool.

Everyday he'd bring a glass of water and sit by the window and all he would do is watch the glass of water throughout the whole course.

Eventually my friends and I started noticing so we went up to him and asked him about the glass of water and the open window.

He looked at us with big round eyes and told us "I've heard that if you leave water next to the window and it gets cold enough outside... The water turns INTO ICE!"

We all had a laugh and everyday came for an update on his water cup. Eventually winter did arrive. The teachers let us keep our winter coat in the classroom so that he could leave his glass of water next to the open window. Surely enough after a little while ice was starting to appear on top of the water.

He was so happy.

Error_404s , Timo Newton-Syms Report

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The postal system. The logistics of delivering millions of letters to millions of homes on a daily basis is astonishing. Especially at that price. The idea that I can send a letter across the country and have it reliably delivered the next or possibly even same day is truly impressive.

FreshPrinceOfH , Keller-Postal-Express Report

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TheGalagaGuy wrote:

I visited Germany once with my family. We were about to cross the road when a Porsche came racing through. Living in India, we experience daily traffic mishaps and there is negligible concern regarding pedestrian safety and courtesy. So we were actually shocked when the driver literally halted to a stop and insisted on us crossing the road. There was no traffic light, no zebra crossings nothing and we actually were used to letting cars pass by before walking, so this was the biggest shock to us.

MaxThrustage added:
Coming from Australia to Germany this weirds me out too. I recently started cycling for the first time in 18 years, so I ride with the skill of a toddler and the grace of a drunk. But never once has any car honked at me, no one has gotten impatient as I wobble my way around them, no one has gotten mad about having to slow down because of this d***head on a bike. Back home I would have been mangled by now, but in Germany people are generally very accomodating. (Although I think it helps that I'm in a small city -- no one's in that much of a hurry here.)

TheGalagaGuy , Raphael Desrosiers Report

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That things would get fixed. I had a vending machine in my dorm building, it broke down and said well s**t guess no more vending machine. Absolutely flabbergasted when I saw the machine repaired and working

CheesyDigz , Mike Mozart Report

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I moved from South Africa to the UK and the fact that you can actually live off minimum wage is just incredible. Pay rent and bills, buy food and slowly furnish your house. It’s phenomenal.

Also the fact that most of the UK born citizens think this is a terrible place to live is just beyond me. I always get asked why’d I leave sunny South Africa to come to this “s***hole”. They just don’t understand how good they’ve got it.

Jekaah , kizzzbeth Report

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Atash wrote:
When I first came to The Netherlands, I took the train from Schiphol Airport to Rotterdam. As I was sitting in the train, wondering how a country could be so flat, a guy, that looked like an obvious beggar, approached me and told me something in Dutch. I told him in English that I do not speak Dutch. Without hesitation, the guy proceeded to beg in fluent English. That was such a cultural shock...

Even after all these years in The Netherlands, I can not speak Dutch all that well, not for lack of trying but because Dutch people absolutely have no problem switching to English instantly the moment they realize I am not a native speaker.

ifeardolphins18 answered:
To be fair the Netherlands has a higher literacy rate in English than most English speaking countries. A Dutch friend told me that if you’re under the age of 40 and can’t speak English you’re basically shamed for it.

Atash , DG EMPL Report

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My wife’s first time in the U.S she burst out laughing at how a 4-way stop worked, and just couldn’t believe people actually followed the rules.

0m3gaMan5513 , TireZoo Report

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LazerMoonCentaur wrote:

A Tsongan African man who was staying with me came rushing in the first week he was staying me and woke me up. He was extremely excited that there was a garbage truck with a motorised arm and was picking up the wheely bins as it went down the street "Have you seen this! Have you seen this!" He kept exclaiming over and over again, "Amazing, amazing!" It made me laugh very hard, but he was a lovely guy.

XandelSA answered:
South African here. The thought of a garbage truck with a motorised arm literally blows my mind. There's absolutely no rules here that state where our bins should be placed which I imagine is the foundation you need before you can have a truck pick em up by itself.

LazerMoonCentaur , Steve Stearns Report

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How things actually work.

You can rely on your electricity not going out at least twice a day. If you buy something and it breaks, there's warranty with little to no hassle. Internet actually works more than it doesn't. Public transportation actually arrives and shockingly, it does on time. If you hire a service, it'll actually be done and with an expectation of quality. The list goes on.

Of course it's not perfect and there's s***ty people everywhere, but that's the exception, not the rule. And it's a massive difference.

idontlikeflamingos , Kai Hendry Report

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When I was in the Marines I had a friend that was from extreme rural Africa.

So we took him to 3d shows and such. He had been in the US for around 6 months but even things like tv was an amazing luxury to him. Someone in the group picked up one at a pawn shop off post and gave it to him and he was just amazed that someone would just give him a TV.

Something nifty. He had it set up so direct deposits would go to an account his village had access to. His salary as an E2 in the Navy made his family semi royalty in the village.

truckerslife , Josh Smith Report

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You can speak up against the government without being threatened or kidnapped

glyraed , wonderferret Report

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I visited my cousins in the U.S once. I was suprised that your houses don't have walls around them. There were only those fences at the side and back that pretty much anyone can jump over. Where I live the only houses who dont have walls surrounding them are those in compounds or subdivisions that have roaming security guards. Paid security guards not volunteers like the neighborhood watch kind of thing

edit: To the people asking I'm from the Philippines but its n̶i̶c̶e̶ interesting to see that other countries carry this t̶r̶a̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ practice.

edit: Not really a wealthy family but not really a from dangerous neighborhood. It pretty standard here to have at least a 2 meter tall concrete walls if you have middle income but those poor ones just settle with barbed wire

Cypher007 , d_laci Report

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ziggyjoe212 wrote:
Giant grocery stores are full of food and always fully stocked.

Coming from Ukraine to USA in the 90's, my entire family's jaws dropped for hours.

polishfurseatingass answered:
Hah, my dad's from Munich and my mom's from Kraków and the stories about their childhoods are sometimes so different because of that.

Like my mom will tell you how oranges were a delicacy that you only had for special occassions while my dad will be like "oh when we were bored we used to throw them at each other for fun".

ziggyjoe212 , Mike Mozart Report

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That people here (Ireland) don't lock their door when they leave and have no security bars on their (multiple) windows.

The general sense of safety and the fact that I could walk home alone at 4AM and still be safe, if a bit nervous.

desert_coffin , Alan Stanton Report

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The quality of the public infrastructure, and how respectfull city planning is with pedestrians. Sydney is full of beautifull little gifts in the shape of shortcuts, stairs, parks, pathways. Everywhere.

It truly is a joy to just walk through the city.

Also, dogs are more polite that people where I come from.

Ferna_89 , David Franks Report

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That people don’t care at all with the clothes or my overall appearance (weight, hair, etc).

In Brazil I always get comments (good or bad) about how I look. Mainly from friends or family but it’s common to always talk about it.

When I moved to Australia I made friends, and never got a comment about any of these things. It was a big relieve to find out that I can be myself and not worry about the tons of comments about something that doesn’t matter at all.. :)

jessalves , Chelsea Gabriel Report

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My grandmother came to the U.S. from El Salvador during the 80s ( bad times) and she said she couldn't get over the fact that hearing tons of guns firing at night like fireworks wasn't normal, and how peaceful it was to have quiet at night.

Kileli , Joanna Boj Report

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I could see how a developing country where getting drinkable water takes some effort (boil it, filter it or buy it) it’s pretty weird to go to a developed country and find out that people c**p in toilets with drinkable water and also shower in it.

refurb , fyusufi Report

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My god parents adopted two girls from Ethiopia.

They were straight terrified of any bodies dogs. Anybodies.

In their home town, kids were regularly attacked and killed by wild/street dogs.

Christopher135MPS , LRD615 Report

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The lights. So many lights from street lamps, traffic lights, huge buildings lit up all night. Oh and the highways blew my mind. They were so wide and full of so many cars.

I was 6 and I’ll never forget that first drive from the airport to my new home in December. It was also my first time seeing snow.

[deleted] , Dragan Report

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naimza18 wrote:
Being a girl, you can live alone.

gordonjames62 answered:
I have a daughter living in Toronto, Canada, and another living in Halifax Canada. They would never worry about physical safety or being robbed.

Then my oldest went to work with street kids in Bogata Colombia. It took her a long time to fully understand why people got upset with her wanting to go out for walks at night.

naimza18 , Yuri Samoilov Report

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Toilet paper. Toilet paper everywhere. You don’t have to bring your own to a public restroom because there’s one in every stall here in America, and it’s free.

[deleted] , Mike Mozart Report

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roses10111 replied:
How old the houses are. I was expecting modern construction like in my country, buy instead saw old buildings which, ironically, valued more than even the more modern ones

collegiaal25 commented:
Old buildings are often closer to the city center, so it's also location. Plus they may have historical value.

roses10111 , Geoff Henson Report

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My roomate's coworker is from Guatemala. He says the one of the best things about the US is that when you call for an ambulance, one actually shows up even if you aren't rich or important.

[deleted] , Albert Lugosi Report

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Jill Bussey

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2 years ago

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You should try the health service in the UK. It's the envy of the world.

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Jette Wang Wahnon

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As a Dane I must disagree...

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Jill Bussey

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I would not like to argue, as I have no experience of the Danish system. We can both be proud of how our respective countries offer health care.

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Jette Wang Wahnon

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who is arguing? I am just saying Danish healthcare/social services are some of the best in the World....Denmark has been rated the country of the third highest standard of living....the UK much below...40-50 years ago the UK was the place to go for surgery...not any more...Holby Hospital is a tv soap-opera

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Random Person

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Until the Tories spent 11 years trying to ruin it.

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Suzanne Haigh

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Ad they are succeeding

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Eb

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Not so much these days. Needs reform.

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Dan

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Wow, that cannot be more far from the truth, just go to any European country and you’ll realise UK health system is one of the worst for sure🤮

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David Woollands

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Not any more - 2 hour wait for ambulances is normal now

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Isabel Care

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Sa a Brit I disagree. Most ambulances are parked at hospitals as the crew can't leave the patients until a bed is available. There are no "spare" anythings at all now. The NHS has been running a skeleton service for decades, underfunded, underpayed and underappreciated by the government

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Janet Davies

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Can take a while to get there though, especially during pandemic. Jd from UK

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Sneeze

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i have to disagree. yes, i am an american, and yes i acknoweledge i am on the more wealthy side of said america. however when it comes to actual care, the US has the best treatment. thats why its so expensive here. but some of the best hospitals will waive your bills if you can't pay them. in the UK, its split. either youre normal and you get free and very poor healthcare, or youre rich and you get good healthcare. its similar in canada. i guess it really comes down to whether you perfer free or high quality. personally, i go for high quality because ive ssen a number of people die from issues that couldve easily been fixed with proper care

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Essex Eagle

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What planet are you living on. Have you ever been ill in the UK ? Your views appear to have come out of a comic

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Auntriarch

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Not quite right Sneeze, we do have high quality health care for everyone in UK, the difference is only in waiting time. And only for certain conditions. I had a scare mid lockdown, and from phoning the surgery to seeing a consultant was literally 48 hours. I hardly had time to panic.

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T Lee Mac

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Same in Canada. This guy thinks having to book routine tests and waiting is indicative of a problem. If you need prompt treatment in Canada, you get it. If it’s not, you may have to wait a a couple months for a surgery that is not an immediate concern. Sneeze is a moron.

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PitbullmomAF

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That is not why it's so expensive here. St. Judes manages to run nonprofit and they share their discoveries with the world. American health care is expensive because insurance companies libby politicians! We are a for profit health care system!!!

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James Pasquini

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St. Jude's has so many billions they don't have to fund raise for at least 8 years and can house family members whose children are taken there for treatment. Instead, families have gone broke trying to afford St. Jude's "free treatment". "libby politicians"? You mean the politicians of the right-wing persuasion that wants to keep for-profit healthcare to keep making money on the stocks of the insurance companies? The USA is a third-world country (I hate that phrase) when it comes to health care.

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Francesca Annoni

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2 years ago

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In US you have to be rich to call an ambulance!

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T.

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But it will show up nevertheless.

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Dadolwch

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Yeah, it's the bill afterward that will make you destitute.

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Leslie Crittenden

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No you don't have to be rich to call an ambulance in the US. I live in the US, well below the poverty line, and I have never been charged for an ambulance, and I've had to call one at least 10 times in the last 5 years.

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Heather Pobicki

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My insurance paid 100% of it when I had to take one j/s

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Kyle Simmons

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KC Lancaster

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To call one, no - but to pay for one, yes. Then the Emergency Room fee. This last Christmas Day to New Year's Day I had severe abdominal cramps and was vomiting blood, weak, and sporadically unconscious. We eventually figured out it was a terrible allergic reaction from normally safe sushi from our (previously) favorite "splurge" restaurant, but because of previous gastric surgeries (and my fear), the ambulance was over $3000 to take me less than 10 miles and over $8000 for the emergency room + blood tests, scans, IV, meds, etc. If I didn't have insurance, this is far more than we have in savings. As it was, I still had to pay almost $2000 (plus tests and a Doc charge for a physician I never actually saw), which was far better but wiped out our emergency funds. If I'd had to add a hospital stay to that, I would have no savings left and have gone into substantial debt.

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jevais

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2 years ago

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Please tell me what happens if you can't pay?

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James Pasquini

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I live in a suburb and we had an all volunteer ambulance service and fire companies. The ambulance service now has paid members as well as county paramedics that show up to every call. Local and county tax dollars pays for these services, but there used to be what was called "soft billing" when the ambulance was all volunteer. If one had insurance, a bill was sent to their insurance company. What insurance didn't pay was billed to you. If you couldn't afford to pay, the balance was dropped. If you didn't have insurance, you paid nothing.

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KC Lancaster

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Totally AWESOME!

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Laura Ketteridge

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He should try the UK. You get an ambulance in good time, and there is NO bill.

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Couch

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I really wish the US would adopt the UK health system or eavn Canada's the health system here in the US is theost expensive and everyone has hospital bills ruining Thier credit

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kayla Mckee

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Depends on where you live as well. I lived in an area that so far out in the country it took 47 minutes for an ambulance, 52 minutes for fire truck and the cops would seriously call you to make sure they could take the report over the phone before they came out, if they came at all. The wild and wonderful west Virginia......it is pretty but also pretty crappy.

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Linda Lee

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Yes, an ambulance will show up quickly in the US but it is very expensive. Even with insurance you end up having to get a year long payment plan to pay off the bill. Then there's the emergency room charge, physician bill, maybe an xray bill, hospital stay, deductible, copays, out-of-pocket costs, non-covered charges. You set up payment plans on them all and hope you pay them off before you get sick or hurt again.

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Anton Kider

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But you do have the pay the ambulance in the US, don't you ?

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Heather Pobicki

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My insurance paid 100%

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Random Person

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US pays more tax percapita on healthcare than almost all other countries. And THEN you have to pay insurance on top.

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Anton Kider

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Get them rid of one sole aircraft carrier and pay your healthcare. Just a suggestion.

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James Pasquini

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If they made the rich and big corporations actually pay their share of taxes, there wouldn't be any problem paying for a lot of things.

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Francisco Manuel Teruel Gutiérrez

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My best moments are when I don't need to call for an ambulance, instead.

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YoyoSthlm

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But then they'll give you the bill on the way to the hospital

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Dana Ondráčková

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I feel blessed in middle europe where my mom got upset gallbladder, I called hospital, they show up in 20 minutes (not life threatning) And check my mom, give her medication And in minutes she was fine And they Just say "ok bye" And you dont pay anything even if they take you to hospital for tons of check ups And meds

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L.A. Trefry

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Hahahahaha -- wait until that roommate's co-worker gets the bill for that handy US ambulance! Far from a good thing. Even a short ride can easily run over $1,000.

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Kevin Hickey

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They better show up when you're paying $10,000.

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randomBlackbox_ answered:
drinking water directly from water taps

gnarley_quinn commented:
I tried to explain this to my kids. They had trouble understanding where water comes from before it arrived at the two.

randomBlackbox_ , macaron*macaron(Est Bleu2007 Report

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Being able to walk around the city while using my phone.

If I use it where I live, I get murdered, raped or kidnapped over a phone.

Honduran :)

ihateuusername , Timothy Krause Report

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Seeing so many women driving cars in USA was shocking to me.

verticalstars , Bryan Ochalla Report

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Coming from the worse country to a better one, it surprises me how easy it is to do a transaction online.

Apply visa? do it online. They will notify you once they need documents, once you are ready, etc. Every step of the process.

Pay bills? Fine, do online banking.

Order food, groceries? Do it online, call for delivery.

Schedule for appointment? Call, Do it online.

Meanwhile in my country, you need to do all this PHYSICALLY. Fall in line for hours. Registration done?

On to the next step - payment. Uh oh, you need to go the bank, collect the receipt and come back here.

You want to do it online? Good luck with the s***ty websites and slow internet. I could go on and on.

Its day and night comparison.

hatedpeoplesinceday1 , kisaxdots Report

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Cables underneath the roads and not hanging everywhere

[deleted] , Hefin Owen Report

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