2. "Some of the coins don’t have the denomination/value on them. For instance, the 10-cent piece just says, 'One Dime.' How the fuck are tourists supposed to know how much a dime is worth? Oh well, it’s the smallest so it must be worth the least, right? WRONG."
"Read a book once, can't remember it for the life of me. Just the quote that stuck out of 'Americans can't understand how old Europe is, but Europeans can't understand how big America is.'"
5. "I went there for university and honestly Americans just do a lot of little things that are generally nice, like holding the door open! I didn't even really notice the door-holding thing after the first few days, but when I went back to my country, I actually missed it. Not that I ever expected someone to hold the door even in America, but the absence of it was surprisingly noticeable back home."
"It's the middle of the night. It's dark. Everyone else in the apartment is sleeping. There are two light switches in the kitchen. Do you choose the one that turns on the kitchen light, or do you choose the one that turns on THE NOISIEST THING IN THE APARTMENT? Choose wisely."
8. "The work culture is wild. I worked there and some people just…don’t take time off. They are basically on call all the time — evenings, weekends, whatever."
9. "Prescription drug ads on TV that casually say 'side effects may include death.' I was shocked. In most other countries, you can't advertise prescription drugs, especially those with egregious side effects that may, in fact, include death. In my country, you have OTC drugs like cold and headache drugs being advertised, or basic supplements."
11. "Y'all can strike a conversation with a tree. You literally don’t need anyone to respond and you’ll yabber away relentlessly. It’s a generalization, as I know there are some quiet Americans, but I was just down in a Publix trying to decide what beer to buy, and some woman suddenly talked to me about how she met her husband. I love it — just being able to stream your consciousness out like that is just something truly remarkable."
12. "How enamored you are with British culture, people, and the accents. I’ve traveled extensively and have met many other nationalities, whilst in their country. I’ve been made to feel welcome in almost all, but how I was treated once my accent was heard in the US was on another level. One time I was invited to a BBQ, in a public place, by someone that I met because he liked the t-shirt I was wearing. I felt like some sort of celebrity! I’m an average guy, but everyone wanted to chat to me."
13. "The restaurants expect you to NOT finish the food and take it home. My mother finds taking home leftovers from a restaurant to be embarrassing and will not do it. But American restaurants have portion sizes that seem to expect this."
14. "The options when ordering food — I thought it was a TV joke! I feel naughty asking to swap chips for mash but you guys can request pretty much anything!"
21. "The tax isn't automatically added to the price shown in shops, restaurants, etc. If I only have a dollar in my pocket I'd like to see straight away what I can buy for that dollar, without trying to find out the tax rate and calculating it."
27. And finally, "How easy it is to make friends. I lived in California for three years. I made more friends there in that time than I did living in my home country for over three decades."
Is there anything on this list that surprised you? Let us know in the comments!
Comments / 13
Add a Comment
Sha Hilton
6h ago
America is very weird. #respectfully 🤔
jem from ny
17h ago
I live in America all my life , I kind of agree with some of these like the drug commercials I don’t want to hear about constipation or depression after I eat . Also the toilet why do we need gaps ?
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