European Culture Shock

Not surprisingly. when Americans and other tourists visit Europe, it can be a bit of a shocker. The cultures are vastly different than their own. They experience what some would call European culture shock.

1. No ice in drinks

-Lots of stuff freaked me out in Germany.

No ice, having to pay for water, no ice, trains that take you anywhere, and especially no ice.

But one night I’m flipping through the TV, and I came across this show that was obviously a comedy, and it had the strangest puppet character. I was mesmerized for two hours watching this show that I couldn’t even understand. Finally figured out the main character was a damned depressed loaf of bread.

Got back home and watched every episode I saw there on YouTube with English subtitles

2. No such thing as personal space

-Personal bubble is very different. It shocks you at first, and you feel sort of claustrophobic, but then you get used to it, too. It's kind of subtle until you come back to the states and unconsciously stand so "close" to someone else in a line that they start giving you dirty looks.

3. Polite manners are more common

-How polite everyone was. How fresh the food was from restaurants. The simplicity of fruit stands/markets. How easy it was to get around by train (backpacked Europe for a month in 2017: England, France, Italy, Switzerland).

4. Drinking anytime, anywhere

-You can drink a beer anywhere, any time. I mean, I woke up in Berlin and bought a bottle of beer at a small breakfast stand in a park; it was like 6 am.

5. When they say small, they really mean small

-When I ordered a small drink, it was actually small.

6. Italian pizza is brag worthy, but French bread takes on a whole new meaning...

-How good the food was. Going to Italy ruined pizza for me for many years. It still is not the same; even the authentic pizza here doesn’t taste nearly as good because of the generally poor quality of ingredients here in the states compared to in Europe.

On the other hand, I was surprised I almost chipped a tooth on authentic French bread, pretty sure it scuffed up my gums too - I don’t know if they just gave us stale bread because we were Americans, but all of our bread was literally inedible and hard as a rock.

7. Smoking in public is acceptable

-The amount of smoking! I have a close friend in Europe; she's talked about the public transportation and the way the cities are laid out to be beneficial to walking and biking. But nothing prepared me for the amount [of[ smoking I saw when I was in Paris, Helsinki, Tampere [Finland], and Turku [Finland].

8. Public transportation is safe and effective

-Young children were using public transportation (i.e., city bus, subway) - not escorted by adults - to get to and from school rather than a designated yellow bus. Where I am from, public transportation is barely usable by adults much less children.

9. Cheap wine is abundant

-In Italy: The abundance of inexpensive and very good red and white wines. Amazing!

Amsterdam: Most things are designed to be practical. The people are polite and practical as well. No large, fancy cars.

Both places. The facts that I could jump on a train and get to most places in Europe was really cool.

10. Privacy actually exists in public restrooms

-Holidays. Europeans get so much paid time off. I've gotten into arguments with some of my American friends because they legitimately believe tons of Europeans opt out of taking their PTO because there's so much work to do. I don't buy that. People would riot. Anywhere I went in late July-August, there were tons of shops closed [because] people were spending the month with their families enjoying their time off.

That and public bathroom stalls going all the way down to the floor. Y'all understand privacy.

11. Extended lunch breaks

-In France, people get two-hour lunches. Like some stores will have two separate open and close times cause they’ll just shut down for two hours a day to enjoy themselves. Most people seemed much happier and more relaxed as a whole.

12. Paying to pee

-The difficulty of finding a public toilet, and then having to pay to use it.

I went to Rome in September. Walked miles and miles checking things out, drinking tons of water to stay hydrated, and not a toilet to be found

13. Comfort in themselves

-The amount of casual undress on TV. Europeans are just healthier in their views of sexuality and their figures. We Americans are ridiculous prudes by comparison

14. Old, historic and big

-History. I followed a tour of American tourists into the church in downtown. Question gets asked: Is this the oldest church in town? Heard reply:

"(Chuckle) Oh no, the old church is on the north side of the river. This church was built in 1310."

Just a different perspective on history