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For the worldly American, the summer Eurotrip is practically a rite of passage. While much connects the US and Europe, the two entities are different enough that American travelers often experience culture shock when they visit different European countries for the first time. One person on Reddit asked American travelers to share what struck them the most when they visited and got a ton of great responses.

The two continents’ histories, both separate and intertwined, make for an interesting opportunitY to compare and contrast how they’ve found different solutions to similar problems. While some of the comments shared were lighthearted and fun, others pointed to interesting differences in perspective.

#1

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Restaurants paying employees a fair wage and not expecting the customer to make up for low wages.

deadevilmonkey , Brooke Cagle Report

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Altea
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not in every country, I'm afraid. Ridiculous working hours and low wages in Spain.

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#2

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Universal healthcare

Feisty_Affect_7487 , Karolina Grabowska Report

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TheAmericanAmerican
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Can confirm. I have full healthcare and it's paid for automatically via the taxes I pay every paycheck. I never have to make a claim or argue with an insurance representative about coverage. I just go to the doctor/hospital/pharmacy and get what I need. Don't tell me the richest country in ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY cannot afford it too.

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#3

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Good bread.

thegreatgatsB70 , Pixabay Report

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TheAmericanAmerican
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A ban on high fructose corn syrup does wonders for both the food and health of your citizens!

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Europe is a popular enough travel destination for Americans that there’s tons of info out there on the cultural differences. There are tons of travel sites out there that help American tourists understand some of the cultural and practical differences they can expect. Indeed, stats indicate that Europe was the top outbound US tourism destination by continent with 15.8 million visitors.

#4

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Walkable towns

Mustang46L , Lisa Fotios Report

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TotallyNOTaFox
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We in Europe have mixed cities with businesses and housings being closer together, while US cities have more separated areas resulting in longer distances to travel

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#5

Americans think 100 years is a long time and Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance.

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#6

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Bars older than the US

ncopp , Victor Clime Report

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William Hamilton
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My uncle's cottage isn't just older than the the U.S.A - it's older than the discovery of America.

Adrian
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I owned a thatched cottage in the UK that was built before Columbus *didn't* discover the Americas.

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Brittania Kelli
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My son's school was built before the American revolution and we live near Hadrian's Wall. There's literal parts of the wall down the street from an ASDA (Walmart).

Mary Lou
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

USA: "This missionary dates back to 1710!" Europe: "The (middle class) room you just rented for holidays is in a house built in the middle ages with some reused stones that used to be part of the city wall built 13th. B.C." Not kidding, this is what just happend to me on my holidays in Naxos city.

Ropre
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love History and my family has taken trips to places like Boston, Virginia (Old Williamsburg), Philadelphia and so on....we live in NY. My dream is to go to England, Scotland and Ireland. I love how old Europe is and I really love old churches and castles. Everything here in the U.S. is not old enough!

KinTop14
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Common in many European countries is no legal minimum age for drinking alcohol.

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Pickles, Pennies, & Ponies
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would love to visit the pubs overseas. So much history and character. I'm American. I hate those sterile, generic sports bars that we have.

Somebodys grandmother
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A lot of things are older than the US... our danish line of Kings and Queens... over a 1000yo

John Dilligaf
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

when I was stationed in Germany there was a Gasthaus in the local town, They called it the "new" Gasthaus because it had replaced the "old" Gasthaus in the early 1700s

Kyra Heiker
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My family's farmhouse in Germany was built when George Washington was still alive; my second cousin owns it now.

Niall Mac Iomera
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I live in a place that has rock art dating back 40,000 years. It's so old that some people's front yards are full of seashells because before the last ice age ended, those parts of town were under the ocean.

Danish Susanne
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have found the house we live in on a map from 1634, so it must at least be as old as that. It is not considered anything special however. Not worthty of preservation or anything.

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One major historical difference is that the USA was born out of a revolution. This gives it quite a distinct  cultural legacy and makes it quite young on a historical scale. Some of the answers to this question highlight as much, pointing out that they can visit historical buildings or even working pubs that are older than the entire United States as a political entity.

#7

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans I think as a whole, it’s there attitude towards work.

The vibe I get when visiting most European countries is most people seem to work only to live. While in the states, it feels we live to work. The most common thing out of an American’s mouth when meeting someone new is what do you do? I did not find this to be the case in Europe, and I am super jealous.

hurtmore , Chahriar Hariri Report

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Solidhog
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sadly, this is changing. As with everything greed and profit are the king. Many companies are sucking the life out of most jobs in the UK by paying less, demanding more and no longer care about loyalty.

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#8

Getting sick without going bankrupt

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Ram Lastname
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Man the one time I was hospitalised in the US and they sent me my bill by post, I thought it was some kind of statement of costs to the hospital, “actual value of goods supplied,” or some such thing. I made many guesses before realising it was *a BILL I had to PAY*. [Yes, I also did have to call to confirm—and you can imagine how weird that conversation went!]

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#9

Infrastructure built around walking, bicycles, and busses. Not just exclusively built around personal vehicles.

Cassandra_Canmore Report

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Foffy Skrimshaw
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seeing that most of these streets were built before cars, that is more likely the reason.

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Though the US is considered by many to be the home of capitalism, one difference in some countries is that travelers can expect is to pay for certain services that are often considered to be gratuities in the US. According to TEFL Worldwide, for example, Americans may be surprised that they will have to pay for water at restaurants unless they ask for tap water and they may also have to pay for public restrooms. Many countries will make shoppers pay for plastic bags, but this is part of an EU-wide effort to move away from disposable plastic and towards reusable bags.

#10

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans 900 year old universities

Lazy-Ad-770 , Molnár Tamás Photography™ Report

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Paul C.
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, over a thousand years for Oxford....but we won't be too pedantic!😁

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#11

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Everyone is bilingual or multilingual.

Royal_Acanthisitta51 , Diva Plavalaguna Report

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Another significant cause of some significant differences is the European political structure. The European Union enforces certain differences across the entire union, but at the same time, member states have far more independence than the states making up the US. Some cultural differences stretch across the entire EU and others can vary from country to country.

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#14

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans The sirens that go BEEE booo BEEE booo BEEE booo BEEE booo

TrueReplayJay , camilo jimenez Report

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TotallyNOTaFox
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Which turn out to be more effective, as they can be heard as twice as far as the US sirens and it's easier to determine their direction as well

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#15

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Drinking cappuccino on a cobblestone street outside of a cafe, which is hundreds of years old.

vetheros37 , Dustin Bowdige Report

There are many differences in terms of money as well. Credit cards aren’t as popular in Europe as in the US, and most countries have moved away from paper checks entirely. Tipping for services is also usually considered to be optional, although very touristy spots that can spot American travelers may try to pressure them into tipping regardless.

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#16

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Sitting at a restaurant for hours talking. Half an hour of conversation with anybody and I am done. For the month.

svladcjelli2001 , ELEVATE Report

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Wax0nWax0ff
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Conversation is a lost art. It’s so sad. I love to sit around and visit with people.

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#17

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Eurovision.

Neferknitti , alterna2 Report

#18

Paid time off.

Transvaal_Kampioen Report

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#22

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Functional transit, carrying a beer outside at night, and post dinner coffee is super common

StabbyPants , Yannis Papanastasopoulos Report

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sturmwesen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A few of my best days/nights as a teen/young adult were spent with a mix of punks, skaters, goths and uhm "preppies"(?) drinking beer on some not so beautiful plazas. Our inner circle was about 6 people but it felt like half of the youth of said town met there. (imagine ca. 100 14-20 year olds of every subculture partying peaceful and even helping the person collecting the bottles )

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#23

Going for a stroll in somewhere like Northumberland you can pass buildings castles and hill forts covering over three thousand years.

ledgerdemaine Report

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William Hamilton
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

On Yeavering bell (a hill in Northumberland) a circular stone wall is in need of repair. It was knocked down - by the Romans.

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#24

Roundabouts.

lordmarksman Report

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Skara Brae
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Roundabouts are quite rare on main roads in the US. I live in Arizona, but after having driven all over in Scotland every day for 3 weeks, I have an appreciation for roundabouts I didn't have before: I rarely had to wait at stoplights. I watched youtube videos about roundabouts before I went and it was very much worthwhile (though it didn't prepare me for the Bannockburn Interchange when I had to reverse direction on the M9 - Edit for those confused by this: By 'reverse direction' I mean I was initially going east on the east-bound side and then I was going west on the west-bound side).

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#25

Thinking 100 miles is a long distance. I talked a brit once who said they hadn't seen their parents in two years because its a far trip... it was 2 hours away....

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KinTop14
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That person would not be visiting his parents because they were 2 hours away. There would have be other reasons, perhaps a toxic relationship with the parents.

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#26

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Pay to use a restroom.

birdsarntreal1 , Sung Jin Cho Report

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#27

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Men wearing speedos at the beach or in a pool. The ones you do see in the US are usually Europeans on vacation

Ro7ard , Kindel Media Report

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Nina
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some pools it's actually forbidden to wear the larger swimming trunks.

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#28

No ac by choice

greenwobbles Report

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#29

€10 flights to nearby countries. The US could never.

pastajewelry Report

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Moist.flames
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ryanair. v underrated. yes there is barely any legroom but you get it cheap and arrive safely

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#31

35 Of The Most European Things, According To Americans Flying into Florida and thinking you can drive to Los Angeles, NYC, and Chicago easily.

lazyhazyeye , Andre Tan Report

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KinTop14
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Perhaps a few idiots but inaccurate for hundreds of millions of people.

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#32

Titles - Lord Humpty Dump or Countess Beaverhousen who are just related, distantly, to some ancestor who did some favor for a king somewhere.

Maxwyfe Report

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Donkeywheel
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, pretty much all of the European countries abolished privileges a long time ago. Only one, the uk, didn’t and is still a caste society with unequal rights, nobility and titles that refer to its empire. (NB: there are other monarchies in Europe but purely symbolic, without aristocrats or remnants from the feudalism).

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#34

The Euro

CT_7 Report

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KinTop14
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are 44 countries in Europe, with 20 using the Euro.

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