In Denmark waiters are paid a decent wage, so you only give a tip if the service has been extraordinary.

I hate this. If I'm going to buy something, tell me how much it actually costs instead of showing me your filthy lies.

I understand that the distances are big and that's why car is necessary. But in the big cities and areas close to them should have pedestrian walk aways and bike lanes.

i wouldnt really say japan respect the planet... sure, everything is so nice and tidy, but their enormous use of plastics and cans, non-existence of animal rights and general lack of eco thinking pretty shocked me.

Australia has 3weeks at Christmas, 1week at Easter and many paid public holidays, we even take 4 days off in November because of a horse race, frickin awesome:)

I'm all for supporting the homeless but wonder how it's cheaper to house them than not? (Even if it's more costly I support)

But then we wouldn't have all that wonderful slave labor from poor people and minorities to line the pockets of private prison corporations! Please note the sarcasm, I have to joke about it or I'll go mad.

there are, just no one really votes for them

In Australia healthcare is paid for by our taxes, we are taxed heavily for this. In Australia we are pretty much taxed heavily for everything, the only people who seem to get away with not paying a lot of taxes are politicians

Seems that with huge spanish speaking countries directly to our (US) south, spanish SHOULD be mandatory.

Here in India we have so many languages so kids from non-hindi speaking states learn not only their native language (read, speak and write) but also hindi and English. So, many kids here are well versed in three languages by the time they reach High School.

I grew up in FL (US), and we all started Spanish in Kindergarten (for me this would have been late 1980s)... I still remember Profesora Josefina! So this must be a district or state thing.

My daughter is in a tiny rural primary in Scotland and they teach Mandarin and French!

Depends on where you are and what school.

Elementary schools in Houston area teach other languages as an option before or after school. Youngest took ASL (American Sign Language), but they also offered Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and another. But many parents can't get kids there early or have them stay after. Youngest had an advantage when they took ASL in HS because of this.

I once saw a school meeting with parents being asked if they would be ok with their kids learning a different language. One guy stood up and said 'If English was good enough for Jesus then it's good enough for my child'.

Foreign language study should start early (kindergarten) as it is beneficial for brain development. Most adults I know in the U.S barely remember the Spanish/French/German they took in high school. Sad really, when many Europeans are at least conversant in 2+ languages....

Yes, yes, yes! I was shocked to learn that so many young people start their language education in secondary school (high school) in the US. I feel like this is such a difficult age to learn a language as so many teenagers are worried about peer pressure and making a mistake in front of their peers. There is so little emphasis placed a learning a foreign language in the US and other parts of the world. As someone working in the linguistics and language services field, so many companies and even hospitals view translation and interpretation as a commodity and refuse to pay linguists what they are worth. It’s terrifying as some hospitals had no workers who could speak another language so children had to interpret for their parents at highly technical medical appointments. It’s really sad..

K-5 is six years

German was mandatory in my elementary school

We can't even teach the metric system for god's sake.

Kids in the UK barely speak English when they leave school. Or at least it's a version that is alien to an old fart.

In Australia we have never had these fees

So, I pay my doctor $250 US per visit but then I have to talk to HIM about so and so drug???

OMG yes, some people come back after a baby with no job. Huge problem

A haircut in Australia is well over $45, I mean, a packet of cigarettes is $55, a gallon of petrol (we use litres in Australia but I'm making it easier:)is approximately $7.50, my daughter got her hair coloured at the hairdressers, $425, minimum wage in my industry (I work in the building trade) $29 approx per hour, my 19 year old daughter earns $29 an hour, my 25 year old son earns $60 per hour........whilst the amounts seem large, they have to be because everything is extremely expensive

In Canada they come regularly until you order then as soon as your food arrives they come back and ask how everything is before you have a chance to try it, then they can't be found when you want to pay and leave

Out subdivision recycles, but if you put the wrong things in your recycle box, they don't pick it up. I try to use a lot of recyclable items for my crafting. Just made 20mo grandson alphabet, number, color, and shape magnets using soda boxes. Cut in 2x2 squares, glued 10 pieces together, painted and sealed, attached magnets. He LOVES them!

I was on the board of a food charity for about six years. The amount of food that grocery stores throw away is staggering. In part due to US food safety laws. In bigger part due to US shoppers are super picky so if any fruit or veggie has a minor blem they will pass on it. The amount of waste is just painful to see.

I thought USA is such a great country but reading all these and something as simple as taxes makes me realise maybe it is not as great as they make it look like. You are missing on so many points and to me it seems like your citizens are money making machines for the 1% and close to getting bankrupt with one wrong step....

I loved a unisex setup I used in Japan. (I think, small chance it was Korea). Open area is for hand washing. Also a pee trough on back wall. The stalls had walls/doors floor to ceiling. Appropriate since they were squat toilets. But when a person goes into a stall it is basically like a private room. So nobody watching you potty - but saves space with shared sinks. And of course it totally sidesteps the "which bathroom is okay to use" problem because everyone uses the same one.

That's nice. Better to not take the car in the first place but sometimes plans change and you don't know it will be that way.

The US public transportation system is lacking because everything is rigged for fossil fuel companies to make moolah.

Lol this is certainly an American thing and i don't understand at all why you would want to wear your shoes indoors. It's dirty and so much more comfortable without shoes anyway

i really wish my country would ban smoking on the street. butts and horrible smell everywhere.

I have always hated the hypocrisy / inconsistency between when you are mature enough to drive - 16, sign legal contracts / die in the military - 18, and smoke or drink - 21. Drive a car to the recruiting center, join the military and kill other human beings / maybe get blown up. But don't you dare buy a cigarette.

Where I live you can get the best artisan bread ever in a supermarket. Plus we have mini bakeries in some grocery stores that make amazing bread and other baked goods and sell them for a couple euros at most

Bicyclist actually obeying traffic laws and using bike lines that they begged for and then don't use.

I have just come back but did not do any sight seeing as the client my husband is a carer for wanted to go to the red light district every day. The first day we split up I want off with my baby but due to having sarcoidosis and ME the walking we done left me bed bound the following day with my feet elevated. Anyway this is the only tourist thing that was done, my husband his client and a friend who tagged along took the baby out for a canal cruise. The guide was really informative apparently and had said that every year they remove about 15 thousand bikes from the rivers and canals in the city. I thought it was a great fact because I love facts. But I really hope these bikes are recycled and turned in to more bikes because they are everywhere you look. I want to go back soon as I missed so much I wanted to see

This seems like a waste of a day to me. I'd rather finish work 3 hours earlier in the day to have that time back with my family instead of napping and stretching out my work day

Japan seems to take pride in everything they do. Amazing country and people