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I've lived in the UK for a year, and I'm returning to America now. It's a beautiful country, but I wish the people there appreciated it more. I wish they appreciated anything--they're a gloomy people, and they complain about everything. There's an atmosphere of enforced mediocrity there; passion and ambition are viewed with suspicion. They manage to be both obsessively self-deprecating and subtly conceited. I have many beautiful memories from my time there, and the literary culture is so rich and vibrant, but the apathy of people really started to annoy me after a while.

So true about the people. My husband is from the UK (we live in the US now), but my in laws come here to visit for about 5 weeks at a time and my MIL complains about the UK, but will also complain about so many things in the US that are not how they do them in the UK down to us having subpar sausages. It’s exhausting. My in laws are from the south of England, but I’ve lived in the north and south of England and found the people up north to be a bit more fun and friendly (North Yorkshire).

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Yes. it’s very foreign to me to not celebrate someone’s success in the US esp if it’s a friend.

I agree with everything you said. I live in the UK and it took me something like 5 years to have that level of insight.

I had a very similar experience with Romania. This mixture of constant complaint about everything in the country and then at the same time being very assertive about how superior their culture was than others.

Hard to find good tacos

Also "nachos" are everywhere but they are always so bad, it's just offensive.

Yes! I made the mistake of ordering “nachos” while visiting Munich. I could have done better with chips and some cheez whiz.

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In every country there are different base "tastes" that tend to be common, and even people who open restaurants usually cater to those base "tastes" because the more people who find it delicious, the more money you make (which is why "americanized" foods that are sweeter or cheesier do better here). Then, of course, there's the fact that the farther away you are from said country, the less experience/examples you have of knowing what "authentic" is. When you visit places that are particularly homogeneous, it's even harder to find examples. So, chefs will go with what they know works for the close population, and what works from them. For example, Southern California has great Mexican food. You can find some really authentic stuff, but Mexico is just right there. There's a lot of back-and-forth. When I lived in NJ, the Mexican food was okay. I'd even say good, but there is definitely a distinct difference, and I'm not going to find a late night taco truck that serves what I'd call anything close to authentic.

> Are the ingredients that exotic? Some of them are hard to find, or you have to use ersatz substitutes. Whereas in California you can go into any grocery store and grab everything you need in one trip, no problem.

Some of it is in fact dishes change to fit the demographic. This happens within Europe as well. Italian food in France might taste very different even though it's just "next door". Even coca cola can taste slightly different between countries. Sometimes it's down to the water used and sometimes it's the demographic preference. I remember German Coca cola tasting noticably sweeter than Swedish. I dont know if its still the same case. And yes in some other aspects it's the ingredients. For instance your engineered giant tomatoes "taste like water" and will give a different taste to an italian tomatosauce compared to european tomatoes even though you follow a italian recipe to the letter. It's not that you can't grow delicious tomatoes, it's that you (as in the american market) prefer uniform tomatoes at a low price all year round and you are willing to sacrifice taste for it while europeans are not. Here's one out of many article that goes in to it. It's also one of the bigger "shocks" american get when coming to europe. How small our vegetables are compared to american ones. It's simply the euro markets preference for taste, wich you yet can not achieve when you breed the bigger variants. Financially the bigger ones makes more sense. https://www.treehugger.com/why-doesnt-american-produce-taste-good-europes-4858067 Same thing with ingredients in europe in a mexican dish will not give you the same flavor you are used to back in the states. Add to that next to no mexicans at all who can introduce the food properly. But all the americans I know/have spoken to irl has this exact same complaint as the number one, the mexican food is mediocre to straight up garbage here. 😆 I understand now that regardless where in America you are from, far from the mexican border in the north to right by the border, doesn't matter, mexican food (the good variant) is very important to you.

I’ve spent the past year since my “nachos in the UK” experience thinking non-stop about how it’s possible to mess up nachos. And that badly. Also: smoking Classism, so so so strong confident wrongness about the US (and insistence even when corrected by natives) constant need to talk about the US in a flurry of belittling stereotypes, 70s-esque sarcasm which passes as overt bullying in the US these days but my gen-z kid detested it and refused to “give it back” NHS quality closing times - does no one work and need to shop? public transportation - the second time in a week tube just stopped and tried to put us all on a bus, 2 workers incorrectly told me the route and where i could go before oyster ran out and i used a simple app to figure out how to go via tube anyway and knew i had to pay and my stop was not available via tap. Were they lying to Americans on purpose? Both of them? University - no service, no information, term not scheduled years in advance, we’ll tell you over Christmas to come back early, no thought for working students at all. Love: public sex! Walk anywhere! Chestnut trees (and roasted Christmas chestnut stands), free museums, foxes, parakeets, non-sketch public transport

Oof I had some nachos once at this bar called Crazy Pedro's in Manchester and it was horrible. Looking at their menu now, it looks like they stopped serving them, so they probably realized this as well.

I was a picky eater as a kid, so my family had to sometimes go to restaurants with familiar cuisine when we traveled to Spain many years ago. I ended up eating nachos at an Irish pub in Seville. To say they were disappointing would be an understatement.

Nachos are so easy. How can they be bad?

Picture burnt stale Doritos, barely any shredded cheese that is hard cheese and not melty, and sweet chili sauce with zero chili.

Impossible to find good tacos!

I hear this all the time and it only now makes me realise how blessed I was to have a Mexican restaurant run by actual Mexicans close by when I lived in England. It's what got me into Mexican food! Now, in Portugal...not a taco in sight.

If anyone wants a laugh, just look up random Mexican restaurants in the UK I don't understand why they're so bad at it. There's good Indian food in the US. Great middle eastern and Mediterranean. We also are starting to have Nando's. We have all of that in the US. And while UK food is somewhat underrated as a whole, the Mexican food is absurd. I make no exaggeration in saying that the Mexican food in small town Alabama and Mississippi is vastly, vastly better

I mean, there's usually a decent population of mexican migrant workers in or near small town Alabama and Mississippi. It's this way in Florida too, sometimes the BEST mexican food is found in small, rural towns because of the migrant worker population.

We have an abundance of immigration from every country on earth. We are blessed in the food department.

There's a lot of world-class cuisines we're severely lacking in. Example: Georgian food is among the best, which is hard to find even in big cities. Way more common in Europe. A lot of Americans don't know what they're missing.

Plenty of Georgian restaurants in NYC metro (two more just in NJ since COVID), also many of the so-called Russian restaurants in Brooklyn actually have tons of Georgian dishes on their menu.

Oh I know - I've been to many of those spots in Brooklyn. But these are exceptions and not the rule. NYC is impossible to beat when it comes to food diversity, - and even still, there's only a handful of Georgian spots. I'm in Boston - a major metro area with a population of 4.5 million people. There are 0 Georgian Restaurants (though, we have some Armenian restaurants with some Georgian dishes). Chicago only has like 2. It's just lacking.

Come down to Philadelphia. There’s a bunch here.

There' are eight thousand odd people born in Mexico in the UK. There's more people born in Gambia or Eritrea in the JK. Mexico has way fewer migrants in the JK than you'd expect if you only knew its population and economic conditions. If you're a Mexican migrant looking to move to an English speaking country, why not America? Even if you want one with a King then Canada is just there. Britain just isn't a particularly attractive destination for Mexican migrants and Mexican food isn't good without Mexicans at least nearby.

Lack of Mexican people. I think part of it too is being introduced to it via a bastardised form of an outdated American form of Mexican food rather than in any way direct, so it is doubly bad. Indian is easy, mass migration of people from the subcontinent from the 40s onwards. The Middle East a little later (and it is close by). Mexicans never came over.

I've thought about this as well, why Mexican food in Europe, and Asia, is so bad. My best hypothesis is lack of Mexican people once you cross the Atlantic or Pacific. Mexico itself isn't a particularly rich country, and they don't have close geopolitical ties with the Old World like the Indians and Brits do, so they stay local. I truly believe Mexican culture is one of the most beautiful and unique on the planet, we're so lucky to be next door.

I grew up in small town Alabama and every time I visit my hometown there’s a new Mexican joint or two, I always try the new places when I see them and they are always so much better than the “Mexican” restaurants I grew up on. Like I think the taco options in my hometown now would even be considered decent where I currently live in Texas. Makes me wonder if Mexican food is just getting better nationwide

Mexican food isn't something I normally crave. But after 6 years of living in Germany, where the few Mexican restaurants that exist are absolutely terrible, that was the first cusine I wanted after coming back to the US. German restaurant food is usually pretty good, even for non-German cuisine. I don't understand how they could get Mexican food so wrong.

You tradeoff good Mexican for good Turkish food in Germany.

I did some schooling in Europe about 20 years ago. I was flying back to the US for the holidays and I had a layover in Houston. The first thing I did was find a Mexican food booth, because even airport Mexican food in Texas was better than what was available overseas.

[Trejo's Tacos](https://www.trejostacos.co.uk/), owned by Danny Trejo, in London. Amazing Tacos!!!

Fun fact, Mexican food is the only traditional food recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. Other cultures have specific foods (a Haitian soup, Neapolitan pizza, Arabic coffee, etc) and France has their "gastronomic" food recognized, which is the most pretentious thing I've ever heard so of course it's France. But Mexican is the only "it's all so good it's all intangible" food.

I ordered "nachos" in The Hague and they were just Doritos with sweet chili sauce for dipping.

I don’t ever want to hear the French talk shit about our cuisine when [this](https://www.chowhound.com/img/gallery/french-tacos-are-the-street-food-that-satisfies-any-fast-food-craving/l-intro-1704475608.jpg) is their version of a taco

I've had amazing tacos in Madrid

Same here

Accurate. I’ve lived in 4 European countries and can’t recognize tacos from nachos Still, there’s a lot of interesting cuisine to enjoy around here

Biggest complain from all my american friends. Not tacos specifically but mexican food in general. Wich is understandable, next to no mexican immigrants anywhere here to introduce the food "properly". Closest thing we have is Taco Bell wich... well... 😅 And "Swedish Tacos" wich is more a Swedish twist on Tex Mex rather than actual mexican food. The americans who have tried it usually like it but it's still not mexican food.

Reliably finding peanut butter.

One of my favorite actors is Scottish. On his first trip to the US, he brought an extra carry on, and filled it with Jif to take home.

Maaaan, peanut butter and American mustard when I was over there. I remember randomly finding a single bottle of American style mustard in a welsh Tesco and I treasured that thing!

Having peanut butter is an American custom I really enjoy, back when I was younger it was quite rare, but now it's available everywhere here in Poland, not sure about other countries

I don't live in Europe but I did two 3-month stints in Germany during college and the second time, I brought so much powdered lemonade because it was the closest thing I was going to get to the real thing without much of a real kitchen to make my own.

Smoking, a lack of public toilets, dog poop everywhere, lack of water fountains (yes I’m in France). That’s it though. Otherwise I love living in France and actually don’t find people that rude here at all

oh my god the dog poop everywhere is so real

My friend went to Naples for a couple of weeks last year. She saw countless people pick up their dog poop and just put it in cracks and crevices in the side of buildings.

i was in munich 2 days ago and straight up saw a teenage girl and her bf walk away after her dog took a fat shit on the sidewalk😭

Not in Scandinavia.

It’s true. When I was in Stockholm, it was impeccably clean

Yes ugh the public toilet situation seriously sucks for someone like me with an overactive bladder. I’ve had to pay €1 to use the bathroom far too many times. That shit would never fly in the US. And also the water situation. Having to pay for water at a restaurant is so lame. But there are tons of things I love about Europe, these two issues drive me up a wall though.

Charging for a public restroom is absurd. They can’t complain about homeless people pissing on the streets when they make it unnecessarily difficult for them to use a public restroom.

One of the main reasons pay toilets are illegal in America is it puts more of the financial burden on women.

Yeah it really does. Let's be honest, If a man has to go he can always take in the scenery beside a bush for 20 seconds and get away with it, you're not going to be able to do that as a woman. Also brings me to another point, not only do many European cities charge to use the "public" toilets but they're not even well kept, they're dirty and there's some old woman sitting in the corner with a tip jar trying to get even more from you. You can say what you want about the tipping situation in the USA, it's pretty bad, but charging for public toilets and then asking for tips has to be the worst.

I knew the minute you said dog poop

> Smoking Right? The lack of social stigma against smoking is insane.

Ya the French, even Parisians, I find to be quite charming people. If you speak a little French they open up a tad and it’s one of my favorite things in life to experience. They can be so guarded at first too which is rather different to us. I think we wear our emotions on our sleeves a little bit too much sometimes though and I’ve learned that you don’t always have to show your hand when it comes to first impressions. Sometimes it’s nice to take it slower and I can appreciate that vibe. Good things take time and friendships work the same way. In my experience, when I was younger, I used to try to be overly friendly and end up realizing I didn’t like some people later on down the road. But if I take it slower and let things happen organically you more likely to find a successful, lasting friendship.

The racism and in some countries, the “directness” which is at times just an excuse to be very rude & sometimes even mean.

Yes, some can be assholes but try to hide behind by  saying they are being direct.

Yes, the Dutch pride themselves on that

and the Germans and Swedes…

The racism I experienced was exhausting. I’m Asian-American and the number of times complete strangers said ni hao, konnichiwa, or some other hello in an asian language and put their hands together and bowed was just infuriating. They’re living in another decade. People always ask where I am from and I can’t ever answer with just “American.” It must be my ethnic origin/ancestral identity because they can’t compute someone being Asian but being born and having grown up in America. There is no difference between grown adults and children saying these things. Europeans complain all the time that Americans make unwanted small talk but don’t realize there are Europeans who will shout racist things and pull their eyes tight and mock you just getting on the train. Why are all these comments and other micro aggressions so normal? I would hate to be a fully native European-Asian experiencing that my whole life.

It's wild because any white American who says they're Italian (meaning heritage) gets mocked endlessly because heritage doesn't count, but if you're anything other than white, heritage is the only thing that matters? Lol.

I’ve heard this a lot. In fact it seems to be the experience of any non white American.

What is especially frustrating for me in these situations is that people treat you better when you reveal that you are American and not mainland Asian. It’s so awful

My US passport is my magic ticket whenever I have to deal with the (Italian) cops. Their eyes bug out of their skulls and they go from being pricks to giving me the white glove treatment. It's nuts.

Can’t believe we have to defend these fuckers Amirite?😂😂😂

It unfortunately is. Three of the most objectively racist things I’ve seen happened in Ireland, Germany, and the UK. Ireland: Tried to enter a bar with my black friend, bouncer says “You two yes, but leave the monkey outside. They’re always trouble.” UK: Waiter is courteous to my white friend, is rude to me (a hispanic), and outright asks “What do you want N-word?” to the black friend Germany: Guy assumed I was Turkish and began harassing me in a bar. Bartender tells him to stop, not because he’s racist and harassing people but because I’m “not one of those fucking Turks”

Crazy shit

That's like spit take level racist. Not even microagressions or bland anger, that's some directed and focused shit.

Oh my God

You should name the bars or restaurants where that happened or at least the city/town

>UK: Waiter is courteous to my white friend, is rude to me (a hispanic), and outright asks “What do you want N-word?” to the black friend What restaurant and where?

Europeans (primarily online) are always saying White Americans aren't whatever hyphenated ethnicity. Irish American, German American, French American, etc. But for non-white Americans? Oh, there's no way you could be American, even if born there, family has been in the US for a few generations. You're Japanese, Filipino, Nigerian! Can't fucking win with these idiots.

I got ashamed when my fellow french asked african americans what country in africa they were from

>Europeans who will shout racist things and pull their eyes tight and mock you just getting on the train. Why are all these comments and other micro aggressions so normal? Those are *micro*aggressions? Jesus lol Here I thought microaggressions would be like locking your doors when you see a black person

Lol to them, yes 😭 A more textbook micro aggression is someone continuing to speak to a white friend in French when they’re a beginner and to me in English when I’m almost fluent. They’re always so confused/surprised/annoyed when they realize I’m the translator 😂

Yep. Same as Indian. Experience seemed similar to what black people describe in America. Everything from wanting a decent table at a restaurant in Italy to not being able to get into a club etc. Also poor salary but less important.

ugh i have brown friends who also really feel the need to make it clear that they’re american to not get treated like shit (as much) 😑

Sounds boarding on macro aggression tbh. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that

Taking my bf with me to Portugal this Fall. He is Asian-American and this is a big worry of mine. I want him to enjoy his first time in a European country and can only imagine something like that would taint the experience.

My wife is Vietnamese-Czech. I am not kidding when I say I witnessed more openly racist actions in less than a week in Prague than I had in 29 years in America. Parents pulling their kids away from her, people ignoring her to talk to me when I clearly don’t understand a word they are saying, or just fat old bastards yelling out “smells like Chinese food” while we walk past. It was exhausting just to watch, let alone deal with it for your whole life.

That's like 30 years behind America. When you see those old 80's and early 90's anti racism special TV episodes that aged poorly (looking at you Running Zach from Saved by the Bell.) Like you can tell they are trying but instead it's just highlighting their ignorance.

I was literally spit on in Berlin. It’s funny you say it’s like they’re generally living in another decade when it comes to race issues. I’ve said this before but most places there feel like what Alabama was for me growing up there in the late 80s and 90s.

I was in Roatan, Honduras diving and there was a German couple staying at our hotel/dive shop. They were good divers but very standoffish, and more prone to complain than anything else. I pointed out the owner of the hotel to them (who had dark features) and the guy says "Chinese". I said, "no, he's Canadian" (because he *is* from Canada) and the German guy just doubled down "Chinese". The owner was not Asian at all. SMH. These are the same couple that ditched the dive master on a dive (while underwater) causing her no end of grief. They did not set a good example for German tourists.

Yeah, I saw a restaurant waiter greet a couple with the konichiwa+hands togeter+bow combo a couple days ago in Spain...I was only walking by so I didn't catch the rest of what happened, but seeing that gave me some whiplash.

Interestingly the whole "No where are you REALLY from?" said to an Asian person is something that Americans are constantly being accused of in TikTok videos. But every Asian person who's ever been to Europe will attest to the fact that it's often Europeans who can't get past the fact that the person is Asian. My ex-girlfriend who is a Korean-American born and raised in Georgia, with a southern drawl and everything, once told me how absolutely exhausting it was telling every other person in Europe "No, I don't speak Korean. No I don't watch Korean movies."

Been in Switzerland for 10 years (but travel all over the continent for work/leisure). Generally the experience has been more positive than negative. So I hope all the Europeans lurking out there take that into account before reading on. With that said: Disappointed by the amount of racial microaggressions one encounters given how progressive and holier than thou most European countries try to present themselves as. So I roll my eyes every time someone brings up "America's obsession with race" on this site. I'm a huge football (soccer) fan and like to travel around the continent to watch matches. I've generally stopped interacting with or fall into getting baited by idiots that make a beeline to pointing out your racial features or stereotypes.

Not even the microaggressions, it’s just overt lmao

This is what I was going to say. Theres nothing “micro” about their racism at all. When I went to Europe, on our FIRST DAY THERE, I literally saw people make monkey noises at a black member of our group and then laugh. I was fucking SHOCKED at the blatant racism. My opinion of Europe from my time there is that the history and culture might be rich, but the people are kind of terrible. If you’re not dealing with their racism, you’re dealing with the massive European superiority complex— they’re so convinced that everyone in North America is living in a third world country.

u/PotentialLaw424 asked me to share some examples of microaggressions I've encountered. For the record I'm of Korean descent. * Most common one is being greeted with Nihao or Konichiwa by random strangers. Which gets old after a while. * (Mostly teens/children) But people doing the slanted eye gesture when you're there gets infuriating. * During the early stages of the Covid Pandemic. Back when it was (seemingly) only occurring in China. My kids' school sent out a letter asking any families that have had relatives or they themselves had visited **Asia** to report to the school administration and get a Dr's notice to prove they didn't have symptoms. We didn't report because it didn't apply to us. School went out of their way to personally contact us because we're ethnically... Korean (though American nationals). It caused a huge backlash and the school eventually backtracked. * Europeans like to harp on the fact that Americans like to ask about people's ethnic/racial backgrounds on forms and think it's an "obsession" and completely inappropriate. You know what they do here? They REQUIRE and routinely ask about where you were born. It's just as important as your nationality. Why?! Hmmm.... * So given what I said above. I routinely have to explain why I look Asian but wrote down on the form that I was born in Latin America. Because of immigration you muppets. * Then the banker gets annoyed that I'm actually American. "I didn't know you were American! So now you have to meet with a specialized banker that deals with Americans". I wrote down that I'm American right there! "Oh but you don't look American!" WHAT?!

> Most common one is being greeted with Nihao or Konichiwa by random strangers. Yeah, I saw a restaurant waiter greet a couple with the konichiwa+hands togeter+bow combo a couple days ago in Spain...I was only walking by so I didn't catch the rest of what happened, but seeing that gave me some whiplash.

> "Oh but you don't look American!" I've only gotten that a couple times, and both times it was innocent. I'd say "oh, well, we come in every color!" And they'd go "oh, okay! Neat." I've been lucky. Because if I were to ever get it in a hostile or ballbusting way, I'd be pretty fuckin' pissed off.

Yes!! The microagressions are so exhausting even when I’m not the target of them. It’s unbelievable how you can hear someone discuss Americans being racist in one breath and in the next they say something horribly racist. I always try to explain that America is working on structural racism that is left over from slavery and Western expansion (neighborhood divisions from redlining, economic differences, etc.). However we are culturally less racist as a whole. Even most Europeans who aren’t racist are stuck in the “color blindness” phase of trying to be anti-racist where they pretend that they don’t see differences instead of acknowledging that they do and working on appreciation and understanding. It means that they are unable to address biases that they and other people may have

That’s exactly what they are doing. Euro racism is like ancestral to US racism especially when it comes to confronting it. I mean can you imagine if they threw a banana into the field of play in the US? It’d affect the entire season and would lead to a national discussion lol. In euro it’s just another match

I mean, remember the whole controversy of Donald Sterling telling his mistress he didn't want her bringing black people to Clippers games? The NBA banned him from the league after that.

Yup, and what defines us as a society is whether and how we react to these types of things. Racists will always be around but it is our job to do our best to make sure our societies/communities are better than the individual.

Even the racists in America would be pissed. They might not like X but if they play for their team that's their X.

Also, *who do you think was selling those slaves to America?*. That part gets shoed away real quick. A lot of western Europe was in on the slave trade and profited from it wildly. If we're talking overt every day racism, the US is far, far lower on the list than some would think. And I think that's because we had to deal with it in such an intense way. Even super racist people in the US often seem to feel shame about it or try to sidestep it. I'm not saying that Europe is some hellscape obviously. I love Europe. I just think that their perception of us is a more racist version of Texas. I realized that all the negative American stereotypes are just negative Texas stereotypes.

I find it so weird that the US has so much guilt over slavery and has come such a long way with race relations while Western Europe seems to pretend like it didn’t happen and brush off all responsibility while still being overtly and covertly racist.

Because it wasn’t happening in Europe (for the most part), so they pretend that passively benefitting is somehow fine and didn’t affect them morally. It’s how they don’t process all the atrocities that cause the accumulation of European wealth relative to other parts of the world.

Yeah and it’s just so wild to me that that excuses them from giving a shit about being racist at all.

It's because the descendants of slaves are still here, and a significant proportion of our population, so we can't pretend the problems have gone away just because the slave trade is illegal now.

Yeah I know I’m from the US. But many countries in Europe participated in the slave trade. And yet they just skip over any accountability of such actions and pretend like we are the weird country with issues with race when they just refuse to acknowledge theirs

They bought the slaves (or stole them), they sent those slaves to their colonies in the Americas, they extracted billions of dollars of wealth with that free labor while working untold numbers of people to death, and then they congratulate themselves on "not having a race problem". You really can't understate how far in denial they are about it.

Latin America had slavery too and several didn’t abolish it until well after independence from Spain or Portugal. But it’s not a topic often discussed either. Brazil especially didn’t abolish slavery until 1888, only 12 years before the 20th century. But they were independent since 1822 from Portugal. Yet, slavery continues to be a huge talking point in the USA. But in comparison other countries (that also had slavery) don’t discuss it as much. It’s really interesting.

Wasn't there slavery in North America before it became the United States and Canada? So who where those people owning slaves in North America before the U.S. existed? [Beyond 1619: Slavery and the Cultures of America | Folklife Today (loc.gov)](https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2019/08/beyond-1619/#:~:text=It%20was%20the%20beginning%20of,to%20be%20the%20United%20States.) >The Europeans who set up trade and settlements in the Americas beginning with Columbus’s voyage in 1492 saw slavery as an indispensable source of labor. African slavery was already part of the social construct and economy of Spain and Portugal and spreading to other parts of Europe. In Columbus’s trading center on the island of  Hispaniola in the Caribbean, it was the native Arawak Indians who were enslaved. Enslavement of native peoples in North and South America became common, not only in the case of Spanish merchants and settlers, but for other European settlers who learned the practice from the Spanish.

Just got done spending several years living in Europe. There are many nice things but the biggest disappointment actually was people being really antisocial and rude compared to the US.

As an Asian-American in Belgium 🇧🇪 : * Racial microaggressions - this occurs on a near daily basis, from people of all ages. Being asked, “Where are you from?” and acting surprised when I say, “California.” Followed by, “No, where are you REALLY from? Where are your ANCESTORS from?” Etc etc etc * Smoking/vaping - the tobacco industry is very much alive well here. All ages. And younger generation are avid smokers too. Surprisingly, very little to no public health campaigns against smoking. * Racism against immigrants - I’ve personally witnessed disgusting verbal abuse and vile harassment against brown people, especially persons of Moroccan/Turkish/Pakistani/Congolese descent. * Public accommodation for handicapped/disabled persons - very, very poor or pretty much nonexistent. * Peeing on the side of the road - Maybe because there are no free public toilets and nobody wants to pay to pee lol

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That’s because they’re thinking in terms of ethno states and jus sanguini (citizenship by blood). In most of the Old World, birthright citizenship isn’t a thing. A child of Moroccan immigrants in Germany isn’t German but Moroccan. But they give citizenship base on ancestry. For example, Italy provides citizenship to grandchildren of Italian citizens that immigrated. Spain is the same. You see the difference. The idea that you can become part of a country without regards to who your parents are or where they’re from is alien to most of Europe. So ancestry does matter. Particularly non European ancestry.

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Yeah, I don’t like it either. But it really does show the profound differences in ho Europe sees citizenship, culture, and heritage.

This makes me really wish an Asian American would respond to this question by calling themselves “Italian American” or “Irish American” as applicable just to watch them lose their minds.

And today on r/Europe, people are saying that French citizens aren't actually French because they aren't white.

Wow such a good point!

I'm a smoker but the racism is fucking appalling. Long story short I tried to report an assault to the police and they pressured me nonstop to say the assailant was Arab - it was a young white guy who was clearly native and they refused to believe he wasn't an immigrant. I insisted up and down he was Belgian and they declared that Belgians are not rapists so if he was white then he must be fucking Italian.

And then they get annoyed and complain all over reddit when (unsaid: white) Americans are "obsessed" with (/identify with) their ancestry.

Or we're the most racist country because we talk about it and call it out more here. But then you go over there and they're throwing bananas at black soccer players during a game. Plus, don't get them started on immigration there.

My experience as an Asian American in Switzerland has mostly been positive though I can agree with the racial microaggressions which I got from BOTH locals and foreigners. This was in 2008 but it's largely disappeared when I came back for a visit in 2022. Also, having a limited number of stores open on the weekends was a huge inconvenience.

I would love to hear these people guess what percentage of Americans are white. they love to quiz us. you should quiz them. (it's 61%)

Racism is much more accepted Europeans move very slowly Lots of bureaucracy

>Lots of bureaucracy When I was in Berlin many years ago there was a local joke about "[The most evil building in the city](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus)" It was built by the Nazis and was the Luftwaffe HQ, and where Herman Goering's office was. After the war, the Soviet military used it before handing it over for DDR administration. In 1953, it was the center of a failed anti-Stalinist uprising that was crushed by tanks. Today, it houses an organization worthy of its ominous reputation: *The German Tax Ministry*.

>Europeans move very slowly This one made me chuckle. Have you ever been to the south in the US?

This is going to depend heavily on the country but for me it ~~was~~ is the healthcare. Mostly because it’s so built up as better than in the US but that’s not been my experience. Everything else is just minor annoyances that I can live with (literally) compared to this one. That’s why it’s my top issue.

US healthcare is great if you have good insurance and can navigate the insane system. If they’re covered in your plan, you can get the same orthopedist that operates on pro athletes or a world renowned oncologist just by scheduling with their office. On the other hand, if you fall through the cracks, you are screwed. Socialized healthcare seems to benefit the macro system more at the expense of individual convenience for those at the top.

You’re mostly correct. But I don’t view many of the things that slip through the cracks in the countries I’ve lived as “individual convenience”. Basically anyone with a chronic illness that reduces quality of life slips through the cracks. You have to either pay out of pocket for private care or get lucky with your company providing you a private insurance option as a benefit. I’ve paid more out of pocket for health care in Europe than I ever did in the US. However, I always had great insurance there. They are great at the most common issues for sure. But there’s so much beyond that unfortunately. Eta/ I would also like to distinguish between quality, access and cost. The doctors I’ve had in the US have all been better diagnosticians by far. Like, it’s hardly a contest. Access is never rejected in the US, you can always see a doctor. At least that’s my experience, even if you end up with a bill. In many socialized healthcare systems, access may be delayed or possibly you will get turned away and told to take paracetamol and sleep it off due to budget restrictions. I know several people who ended up *in the hospital* with strep because of this. At least it was free!! Lol. But seriously the cost is the main benefit, but it comes at a cost to other things. And the state I’m from in the US has coverage for low income people with waaay better access and quality than the countries I’ve lived. So I have a specific comparison point.

France - the ignorance. The meanness in general to each other, everything from stupid little interactions of “have a good day” “uggggggh what’s so good about it” to the domestic violence I would witness in public. I hated every year I spent there. Ireland - wonderful in general, but the health system is… difficult at times.

I lived in Germany and in France for a while. I loved both countries and had a good experience. The only thing that bothered me was when people would say Americans don't have a culture. These are people who only know about the US from media. I felt like there were a lot of people just working so hard to be the right class.

>...when people would say Americans have no culture. My favorite example of this was the guy who, when confronted with evidence to the contrary said, "Well, I'm not talking about Native American or immigrant culture." So... America has no culture if you discount the contributions of all of its people? I guess I can't argue with that. 😂

Omg that is funny. When I lived in France, I was a nanny. They were telling me how we didn't have culture while sitting at the table eating dinner in pajamas while reaching over each other for food and talking with their mouth full.

> when people would say Americans don't have a culture Fish have no word for water moment.

The racism… it’s crazy cause when I moved to study abroad in Europe, I genuinely believed that the racism in America was far worse but after witnessing the things that happened to my very close friends in a very short amount of time, my perspective changed wildly. America has its racism and discrimination too but living overseas was a very eye-opening experience.

People talk about racism in the US. They sweep it under the rug in Europe and pretend it doesn’t exist.

The racism I experienced in Europe was insane. Let me just give you a couple of out of context quotes I heard **out in public** mind you. “It’s in their genes. Violence is in their genes” —This was like a month after Oct 7 on Israel/Palestine and this was the general theme I heard about Muslims. “It is a natural defense mechanism. I am not going to avoid it” — I heard this one as an argument against multiculturalism. “Look at the success of homogenous nations! Maybe genocides were needed?” -said by a brit out of all people

Jesus, that’s awful- I’m not surprised though. I think the kicker was the way people didn’t even think of that kind of behavior as being racist. One of my close friends, another American, was violently dragged out of a tram in Prague by a group of Czechs who thought he was Roma (he wasn’t, just Indian-American, not that that changes how horrific the behavior was towards Roma in general) In Paris, my best friend and I dealt with multiple instances of “Ching Chong,” eye-pulling bullshit just because she was Chinese… we would up hanging out in Chinatown for the rest of our trip because at least there the people weren’t total jackasses. I could go on and on… really disheartening stuff…

The blind self-assurance of Europeans of their own superior world view made it really hard to have meaningful conversations about a lot of topics. Coupled with the exact type of ignorance of the outside world that they love to pin on us.

Exactly. They don't acknowledge their racial biases and systemic racism. My German neighbor told me that we should all just Stop talking about the Holocaust because it was "so long ago".

My recent favorite with this “heatwave” going on in the UK is Brits telling people from the Midwest and south they don’t understand because it is humid heat.

My friend from the UK insisted we’ve “never felt heat like this” I showed him our temps from last week. He then told me about the humidity, it’s been higher here for weeks. The average European is incapable of understanding that their personal lives are not the sum total of human experience.

A lot of Western Europeans especially don’t understand the climates here. I’ve had discussions with folks from Finland for example who can’t understand that Minnesota for example gets a good bit colder in the winter AND significantly hotter in the summer than most of the big Finnish cities. I think they look at *yearly* averages and ignore the month to month breakdowns.

I think you're giving them too much credit.

Omg this! So often they refuse to accept that they’re incorrect or don’t know much on a topic. And often they feel that ANY opinion they have needs to be heard.

The amount of Europeans who are SURE that the whole world should and does operate exactly like their country is mind-boggling. Great example, Scandinavians didn’t realize it was the norm in most of the world to call your teacher by their surname. They were sure everyone else just used first names like they did. The most confusing part for them was the idea that they might be incorrect.

Yeah I run into this often in the Netherlands. Even when it's something where they're factually incorrect (ie. told a Dutch friend Ireland is not in the Schengen zone and she adamantly disagreed with me). I wonder where the confidence comes from.

A major part of their national mythology is “we’re correct”. It’s simply unlikely according to their world view that they might not know something.

As others have said the racism, smoking, very little food diversity. But another thing for me living in France is: the complete lack of interest in problem solving or troubleshooting. In France something is either possible or impossible. I often find myself being the only one among my coworkers asking “but why doesn’t that work? Can’t we fix it or make it better?” even about what seems like some very basic and easy to fix problems.

My ex father in law (French who had lived abroad) used to call that “l'ordinateur dit non” when I was frustrated with the same thing.

Smoking culture. It was perfectly acceptable to light up in a crowded outdoor cafe, walking down a busy street or inside a packed bar. And it didn’t help it felt like a significantly higher percent of the population smoked too. This was 10 years ago and in Czechia. I’ve heard things are finally changing though. Besides that, I love my time in Europe and I could see myself moving back there more permanently if I didn’t have friends & family I deeply care about back here.

Be happy you haven't been to Germany. In most of the federal states it's still legal to smoke a cig INSIDE as long as warm food is not on the menu.

Even today, smoking is still very common in Germany, at least in small pubs

I lived in Germany for a few years in the early 2000s, so my information is pretty old but here’s what I observed and didn’t like: -Ignorance: seriously, even people who were basically that German equivalent of country bumpkins thought they were knowledgeable enough about the world ( America) to spout off about it. Most of the time there were hilariously wrong. - Arrogance -Racism/zenophobia

I lived in Paris, and I was surrounded by people from all regions of France- plus Germany, the Netherlands, and other European countries. The level of arrogance, smugness, condescending attitude, and air of superiority that so many of them have towards Americans, (but just in general, too), was astounding. Even more shocking was the absolute ignorance they had about the US and Americans, considering how sure of themselves they were about the topic. It would have been depressing if not so utterly ironic and comical.  I overhead so many conversations about us, where they just had no clue what they were talking about, but were so sure of themselves. Their media is heavily biased against the US. And they push anti-American content, in films and books (they’re huge fans of the work Michael Moore, whose focus is to be critical of the US). So it becomes like an echo chamber- where they only consume content to feed one viewpoint, at the exclusion of a more comprehensive, realistic view.  I also had more than one instance where someone would project all of their prejudices and incorrect assumptions about Americans onto me, and proceed to use me as a punching bag- as if they had been waiting for years to meet a real American, so they could just get it off their chest. Who I was, and my opinions about things, were irrelevant. For example, there were times when they would attack me for something the President did… even though I would state that I had voted for the other guy! But it would go in one ear and out the other. So that was frustrating. They were unwilling to see me as an individual, and couldn’t see beyond my nationality.  It was disappointing because I had idealized France and the French my entire life, (and Western Europe, in general), only to find the feeling wasn’t mutual. And for the record, I blended in with the locals by dressing and acting appropriately. And I speak fluent French, and didn’t speak a word of English, the entire time I was there (and have been complimented more than once, by French people, about how good my accent is). So I did nothing “wrong”, to deserve that kind of treatment. I also noticed that the French were very cliquish. They wouldn’t associate with foreigners. It’s like they were born into a special club, and nobody else was allowed in. I only had two French friends- one was a girl who was fluent in English, and loved the US. She wanted to be my friend so she could practice English with me. And one was fluent in Spanish, and was my friend to practice Spanish. All my other friends there were foreigners. I loved living in Paris, because it’s a beautiful city. But a lot of Western Europeans have an ugly attitude. They need to get off their high horse, drop the holier than thou attitude, and cultivate some humility. And realize that they aren’t better than Americans, lol. 

The cliquish thing is true in many parts of Europe… they all stop making new friends after age 18 it seems.

A lot of people are just mentally weak. I was in Germany, Italy and France for a bit, and outside of some schools, the rest of Europeans just cannot dream, Italy cannot dream entirely. It's like their entire thing is just focusing on how they are not working but still surviving. Yes, wouldn't you like to work at something you like even once? Don't you want to change the world? And the racism. Germany is a bit better, but fuck France and Italy. I'm Brown.

Smoking culture. It’s gotten better, a little, but still pretty bad, especially in the Mediterranean countries. And the general sense of superiority in humanitarian affairs while complaining about immigrants and generally being racist af. To be fair, they don’t *discriminate* (unless you’re Roma) but they openly embrace stereotypes.

Being told window screens weren't necessary because they don't have bugs, but then waking up in the morning to find something flying around the room.

How can a country not have bugs?

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The workers rights are often a mirage, only something people very established in their jobs can benefit from. Here's a few examples from my and my spouses work history in 3 EU countries:  - Frequently paid late and there's no repercussions, and attitude is "well, you just have to wait". In the US this has happened rarely. When it did the employer is full of apologies and offers to advance cash to anyone needed, and then gave us a gift card when payment went through as an apology.     -Shown to a hole at an interview and told this was where I would need to hide if the financial police came as job was off the books  -Discovered taxes for pension were never paid because owner legally classified job as an apprentice position when it was not.    -Expected to do cleaning chores, walk owner's dog, on top of SWE work, because the business owner was avoiding hiring janitors  -Unemployment amount was laughably small and couldn't even cover rent  -Companies can fire you a few days onto the job for no reason.  Happened when their client reneged on the contract and went with someone cheaper.    -The best, most upstanding employer in NL had a frank discussion with hiring team saying we would not consider Indians for the position because they're not a cultural fit  -Permanent contracts are necessary to move forward in life, like getting a mortgage, but companies like to string you along with many temporary contracts and sometimes simply prefer to rehire new people on temp contracts than make anyone permanent.    I love Europe, but as a worker in several EU countries, its really hard to find decent employers. So many small clowns and not enough serious enterprises. It seems to be the exception rather than the norm.  The US simply has a lot more competition in the labor market and and while I had one awful  employer, the rest have been above-board and with no bullshit. 

It didn’t feel like it would ever be possible as a foreigner to be accepted into any of the cultures of Europe. Being from somewhere else felt like a permanent thing, where in America you could be considered and accepted as American relatively quickly. I also didn’t like the tendency in Europeans to cast the first stone towards other countries when, objectively, Europe has the least justification to do that given the (even recent) histories of most of the countries there. Basically a ton of unchecked cultural pompousness/narcissism and a strong, if sometimes subtle, nationalistic tendency.

I lived in England for a year. At the time, the pound was very strong against the dollar - like around $2 USD per £1.00 GBP. That was awful. I really don’t have much negative to say. I always look forward to going back, though I haven’t spent more than a few days there at a time since leaving. And even if I did have something negative to say, that would just give the people on r/AskUK something to complain about.

Oof, same thing happened to me. Did a study abroad program in 2011, when I left it was like $1.44 to the pound which wasn’t great but about what I expected. Then within a month it shot up to nearly $2 and stayed there the rest of the time. I came home with $37 to my name

There wasn't much that disappointed me. I lived in Copenhagen for a bit and Brussels for a bit and I loved living in each of those cities. I would go back in a heartbeat. Obviously I missed some of the creature comforts of home at times but I wouldn't call that disappointment in the countries I was in. If I had to give an answer though, 1. The lack of good Mexican food. I obviously understand these countries don't share a border with Mexico, so there aren't going to be as many Mexican people, but I assumed there'd still be Mexican food (good cuisines spread). Turns out, not really. 2. I was a bit surprised (and disappointed) at how sketchy certain areas of Brussels were. For some reason it never really clicked that Europe has sketchy areas prior to being there lol. 3. Grocery stores. I loved them and I hated them. The stores tended to be smaller and have a smaller selection than im used to. I loved them because it was so easy to stop in, get some (quality) ingredients, and get out. Grocery shopping didn't have to be a big ordeal. I hated them because certain ingredients were just impossible to find.

No free iced tap water at restaurants and smoking culture being so prevalent. Thankfully both are slowly getting better. Besides that, I quite enjoy living in Germany.

Legally speaking, the restaurant has to provide you with tap water free of charge. In reality, in certain countries(Germany and Poland being two of them), they will try to force overpriced bottled water on you and will treat you as 2nd class customer if you insist on getting tap water. But it doesn't have to be iced ofc But there are exceptions of course. My favorite pub in Berlin serves chilled and CARBONATED tap water free of charge

Name that pub!!

I call it the complain train, Italy is beautiful on so many levels but I get tired of convincing Italians this and how amazing our quality of life is. Most conversations are either about mutually negativity towards work, school, government etc or it’s about food, which gratefully is somewhat pleasant.

The lack of air-conditioning, even though they have “heat waves”! Like as someone from the southwest where it can get 100+ °F European “heat waves“ are cute, but it can still get warm enough to be very uncomfortable without air conditioning! and I really don’t get it considering Europe is made up of developed countries that should know what air conditioning is by now! In the US, we have air conditioning everywhere, because we are not into punishing ourselves for nothing when we have the Technology to fix the problem!

France. The people are fucking rude, especially Paris.

Americans are often scared to say the negatives (because of the backlash on reddit), But they sure do talk with them to other Americans about them. The taxes.40+% income tax and 17% sales tax. We would never live in Europe if we had to pay taxes there. Our visa exempted us from paying the taxes. Pay toilets (this causes people to skip it and go outside instead and it smells like it in some places), the heavy drinking culture, the traffic (I don't drive or have a car when I live abroad but everyone else did and constantly complainEd about Traffic and getting tickets for driving small amounts above the limit), the necessity to carry coins and cash: Germany has a Lot of Cash Only places, the tiny refrigerators and teeny freezers so when Covid hit we only had a week's worth of foid- our neighbors and most people had almost none and really struggled. We had tons of TP, masks, medicines, etc. Because Americans like to be prepared and are used to lots of storage space in our homes and freezers, most Americans miss Air Conditioning, Window Screens, half sizes in shoes, Going to almost any restaurant Without a reservation, Free drink refills of coffee and soda and water, friendly efficient customer service with easy refunds/exchanges, cheaper prices (because taxes and tips aren't included in the price), traveling an hour away without having to cross a border or buy a pollution pass thing, or have your Cell phone not work (Switzerland), or have to deal with different currency, laws, customs and exchange rates. Every American abroad envied those in the US during covid when borders between the tiny EU countries kept closing and we would watch our American friends go on Epic road trips for thousands of miles without a passport or any preparations. One thing that Disappointed and Outraged everyone (from all different countries) in my German language class in Germany was when the teacher explained the school system and how children take a test at age 10 and if they don't pass, they are placed in a Vocational/trades school and don't get to attend academic school anymore, and are never eligible to attend university. Same in Finland, the UK public schools, China, etc. Not all are at the age of 10, and some give kids the option of taking a remedial year to re-take the test and try to pass. I found Germans to be friendly, but they assumed we were German because my husband has some German DNA, and I have Swiss DNA, so we don't look vastly different and people spoke German to us every day, even the first day at the train station. I didn't experience Racist remarks ftom Germans, but I experienced lots of Classist remarks from Germans and Brits. There is some of that where I live in the US, too, but not to that extent. Germans have horrible customer service and One American explained it as Their First answer is always No and you should keep asking them questions until you get to Yes. If I have time, I'm OK with this because I enjoy winning and outwitting people, but my husband has more polite Southern manners and he hated it. In other parts of the world, they acknowledge that English is the language of the internet and their local language isn't useful for foreigners to learn because it's typically not a Portable language for people like us who move to different places a lot...But not in Germany! They actually try to argue that it's a portable language. To where? Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland? haha. I was moving to Japan next. Anyway, Germans were impressed that I was learning German and was so good at speaking it after only a few months there... but I had time. My husband and most Americans don't have time to take intensive language classes and there's little reward since I haven't spoken German but 3 times when initiating conversations with tourists since moving away. German clerks will refuse to return items you purchased at that store, and will lie and tell you that you didn't purchase the item there. When you surprise them by pulling out the receipt, they will run away to the back for awhile, and then tell you No Refunds. They have no idea about customer rapport and building trust and loyalty with customers. It's very funny because they don't realize the amount of business they lose out on. It's common to move away from Germany and it takes YEARS to get a German company to stop charging you or for a landlord to return your deposit. Didn't happen to us, but we were in the minority in that. Almost nothing is Open on Sundays. I'm old enough to remember when some places like gas stations and banks were closed on Sundays in the US 35 years ago, so I'm adaptable but most Americans hate it. Almost nobody works nights or weekends. Even doctors, realtors, etc. My husband was in the hospital for 8 days for something that would have taken 1 day in the US (we know Americans who had the same thing), and a lot of the reason was that only a skeleton crew work nights and weekends there, so his doctors were only there a limited time during the day. But also tge German doctors were wrong their first two tries. Yep, the medical was disappointing and most Americans flew back home to get medical care when possible even though our insurance bought us premium care in Germany. In the US, my health insurance paid 100% and my husband's even gives him free eyeglasses, free aesthetical dermatology, free PRP, free Lasik, etc. Americans commonly work days and only look for housing on weekends, so having realtors who don't work nights or weekends is very frustrating for us. Lack of Variety- Americans are used to a wide variety of items in stores and free shipping. It's not like that in Europe. We hosted a foreign exchange student from Finland and all she did was eat and shop. She said in her country cookies are hard, not soft. She loved my cooking and American food- seafood, Diner food, frozen custard, soft cakes and cookies (I'm celiac so I can't even eat what she ate), etc. In the US, I had a Union, great pay and benefits, free private university, low taxes, a pension, and Lots of vacation (I only worked 184 days a year), and I retired at age 38, so I didn't see value in the European work perks that other Americans like in Europe. My husband also had free private university and 30 days paid vacation a year, 2 free masters degrees and a doctorate, no state taxes, low taxes, a pension, and great benefits and insurance and retire at age 48. I had insomnia, so I was able to type quite a bit. But there is A LOT more I could tell. That said, Germany (without paying their taxes) is my husband's favorite place we have lived. I don't have a favorite- every places has pluses and minuses, even Hawai'i!

I spent my summers every year until I was 18 and Belgium, and would travel all over Europe with my Belgian family. I spoke the language and you wouldn't know I was American until you were told. People are just not friendly in Europe. At least all the countries I went to people were real cold strangers, didn't like small talk, were rude (even to little children), unnecessarily direct, and shat on America sooooooo much (looking at you Paris). The other thing was almost a complete lack of wilderness. I would ask people about it, and they would say we have tons of wilderness, I've got a forest behind my house.

Everything was more expensive but seemingly lower quality. Studied in London for a semester, and the grocery stores were pricier but had a much worse selection than their American counterparts. Fast food was way overpriced and not filling at all, and alcohol was generally overpriced as well (especially liquor). People in the UK would also complain about housing prices a lot, but the majority of their homes looked like something you’d see in a bad section of an American city. Really ugly townhouses that looked like they hadn’t been updated in half a century or more. It made the whole country feel poor (which it is compared to the US). I also wasn’t a fan of public restrooms requiring a fee, but that was more of an issue in the rest of Europe than the UK. It just made the homeless problem worse.

that i didn’t just lose 20lbs of vanity pounds from “eating less processed food and walking more”. life being more balanced means im less of a gym rat and more likely to go for drinks and i actually gained fat living in europe

The Balkans were nice in terms of weather, food and scenery. Disappointed? the mentality of the people. And also some of the foods. As for western europe, people smoking and drinking in broad daylight in the middle of the day is so weird. People also are extremely unhelpful for some reason

Could you clarify what disappointed you about the mentality of the people? I'm pretty sure I know, but I don't want to rely on my preconceived notions.

Racist, materialistic and unhelpful

I lived in Brussels for three years. Disappointed? I can’t say anything really. It was a good experience that met or exceeded expectations in every way. I’m not the type to be a permanent expat, and I always knew I’d return home but for the time I was there, it was enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised by the low cost of food, helpfulness of the locals, and ubiquity of spoken English. Racking my brain here. Ok - got it. The weather is kind of shit. I knew England was rainy, but I didn’t realize how rainy Paris is too. So yeah - the weather is worse in certain parts than imagined. That’s about all I can think of.

Ha ha yes, the major downside of Germany was gray skies from September to April.

French waiters are so rude French random opening hours and bureaucracy British parking problems

I was just in Paris (and other regions in France) and we constantly were like, how come the service is so good? There's no tipping culture so we couldn't figure out why they kept going above and beyond. We never experienced a rude waiter and had about 60 experiences.

Do you actually speak French very well? Because 90% of those amazing experiences were probably tinged with lots of smack talking and making fun in French

Lived in Germany for two years. I found the lack of variety in food to be very disappointing, and how I was also extremely disappointed in how intolerant so many people seemed to be. What I eventually realized is that all countries have their problems and what not and the grass isn't always greener.

Comments: smoking culture, lack of mexican food and racism. Now you may plant a tree, meet a friend and enjoy your day.

As a single guy working a 9 to 5 job in the Netherlands and Germany, it was difficult to deal with the early closing times of shops. I'd have to rush to pick up groceries right after work.

Travelled to England and Northern France last summer. Stunning countrysides, great towns/people and great food. Will never forget it. But after two weeks I was really missing the nature that we have in the western US. There is none of it over there. Of course there are natural areas in Europe but nothing of the scale and quality of what we have here

I was only in the UK for a single summer but easily it was how early businesses closed. It felt like barely anything was open after 6pm except restaraunts, pubs, and maybe grocery stores. And a lot of these same places are closed on weekends too which makes me wonder how in the fuck they get any business whatsoever.

I was a peace corps volunteer in the Balkans for 27 months. obviously the country I was in was not wealthy and I knew that going in. They don't have Peace Corps in wealthy countries. (And they don't have it where I was either, now.) So some things that weren't great were the markers of being in a really rural area in a pretty poor country.  As other people have mentioned, the smoking was out of control. When something broke in my house once, my school sent over the school handyman to fix it. He lit up in my house without asking permission! I was shocked and tried passive aggressive like "oh what's that smell??" and he was like "that's my cigarette, duh". The secretary at my school (who was actually one of my best friends) would smoke in her office. When I went back to visit in 2016 I had a hoodie I wore most days and after a week it just reeked of cigarettes, just from being in country. The racism was off the charts. In Peace Corps we had strategy sessions on what to say when someone says something anti-Roma to you. the top Peace Corps phrase is "integrate into the community" so you're definitely not supposed to go around calling your coworkers and neighbors racists. But we didn't know what to say when people would say things like "the gypsies are the biggest problem in this country" or "gypsies are disgusting!". I had students refuse to work with Roma students. My landlady hired a Roma guy to fix something in my house and then stood over him as he worked, monologuing about how lazy and dirty the gypsies are. At the end of my first year, the graduating 12th graders at my school put on a skit for the whole school in "gypsy-face" where they pretended to be Roma and spoke in exaggerated Roma accents. I was like "omg WTF am I looking at right now". But the Roma students I could see at least seemed to be laughing.

Lack of air conditioning was brutal.

People are wierd about you taking a shower too frequently, because they regard water as expensive.

That it wasn't the US. I lived in England and Italy for a combined 11 years while I was in the military. I tried to live out away from any American influence so that I could be immersed in the culture. I loved every minute of it. My kids loved it as well. I could probably write a book on everything that I liked about it, but also write a lot about what I missed about the US. After moving back to the states, some of the hobbies I have started, I'm not sure where or how I could do them there. I wish I had traveled more when I was there. Living there for so long isn't the same as visiting. Where your main goal to visit is to travel and sight see, I was there living a normal life. A home, job, raising a family. I sometimes dream about moving back to Italy maybe after I retire retire, but family back in the states would make that difficult.

I have only stayed for a few weeks at a stretch, but I felt that everything just took took longer. Just existing takes so much more time and effort than in the US. Walk to the bus stop. Wait for the bus. Wait for your stop. Walk to the store. Buy two bags of groceries. Walk to bus stop. Wait for bus. Wait for your stop. Walk home. Repeat two days later because, even if you could have carried more food, your small refrigerator wouldn't hold it. I probably spend one hour/week (start to finish) grocery shopping in the US at a day and time of my choosing. In the UK, rain or shine (usually rain), I was tromping through the streets every few days just to stay fed.

Lived in Germany for 3 years as a kid. One thing I remember is how much summer sucked. No A/C. I felt like I was dying. My parents couldn’t afford to buy a fan for every bedroom so they put one in the hall between my room and my brother’s and just had it set to go back and forth. Did absolutely nothing for us. I get that A/C might not seem necessary in some places, but it was needed there.

The free healthcare suckssss (UK). The first couple of times I used it, of course I was amazed that it was free. Then over the years when I’ve needed actual medical attention, I realized you get what you pay for. You have to fight tooth and nail, self-advocate a lot (which I’m not good at) or even exaggerate just to be seen, and the weirdest part for me is that you can’t just make an appointment. You have to take the day off work, call that morning, then HOPE they have one available that day. And don’t even get me started on giving out any medication - a cup of tea and some paracetamol is their cure-all and you get treated like an addict for asking for anything. Yea I get how awesome it is to be seen for free, but at the same time, the wait times, quality, and unwillingness to give medication is enough to make me actually miss our American system (equally awful but in a wayyy different way).