Where in the world is Megan Humphreys?

Friday, September 01, 2006

Differences between the States and Europe

Some differences I've noticed between American culture and European culture:
-Europeans use military time instead of am/pm
-reataurants don't put ice in drinks
-food is given in much smaller portions
-Europeans drive MUCH smaller cars; I hardly saw any SUVs or minivans
-the drinking age is lower; 18 or younger
-alcohol is a lot more prevalent and cheap; some menus we looked at had more pages of alcohol than food
-Europeans say the date as day, month, year instead of month, day, year
-stoplights go red and yellow simultaneously before the light will turn green so everyone knows when to get ready to go
-people are much more open to sex - I've seen pornography sold in gas stations and nudity in newspaper ads
-pet dogs are allowed many more places such as public transportation and some stores
-make sure to order STILL water at a restaurant or there's a good chance you will get sparkling/mineral/carbonated water which happens to be the most disgusting thing on the planet (in my opinion)
-public transportation is much more prevalent and efficient
-Europeans use commas where we would use periods such as in prices and they use periods where we use commas such as when expressing something in thousands
-many Europeans don't shower as often or wear deoderant frequently, its not as strong a part of their culture
-service at restaurants can be very slow and you need to ask for the check or your server will never bring it; I guess this is part of the whole thing where Europeans savor their meals - weird
-cell phones are called handys
-its common to see American sitcoms on tv but they are all dubbed, not subtitled
-they sell white cotton candy - not pink or blue or green but WHITE
-I can't seem to find french dressing or peanut butter ANYWHERE
-many people speak english and a lot of signs are in english (ok, thats maybe not a difference, just an observation)
-bathroom is called the WC and its not unheard of to have unisex bathrooms or to have to pay to use it
-things close earlier, as early as 7 or 8 sometimes
-there arn't any screens in the windows
-customer service is not the same; cashiers don't hurry to check you out, people don't smile or greet you when you enter a store (generally); I've been told that this is left over from Soviet times when people were told if they smile, that means they are not serious
*Note: These are all generalizations and the observations of the author. I mean no offense to any person, thing or culture.

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