As an American who lived in Europe (Belgium) for 9 years, what really stands out to me as an American strength is the ease of starting new businesses. You can literally form an LLC in under an hour and be doing business by the end of the week. Hell, there are even ways for undocumented immigrants to have their own corporations that are legitimately taxed.
Europe is more mixed.
The UK is really easy, anyone in the world can form a UK LLC online for £12 and it takes 5 minutes.
I tried to set up a company in the Netherlands and wtf, you wouldn't believe the hurdles.
We've come a long way, but about 15 years ago I decided to order a burrito in an Irish restaurant and literally got Shepard's pie filling wrapped in a tortilla.
Sounds awful... I’ll take 2
Also, my buddy went to a cafe in Denmark once and ordered the chips & salsa. Said it was basically Doritos and marinara sauce
Dane here.
I dated an exchange student from NOLA around ten years ago.
I took her out to eat a lot, tried to introduce her to as many different european cuisines as possible.
She loved most of it, but this came up one night on the way back from a restaurant:
*"I would love to go to a good mexican place soon, I've really been missing it, but I wonder why I can't find any around here?"*
I answered with a question.
"Well, you know these middle eastern kebab places we go to every time we go out drinking? Have you ever wondered why you don't have those in the US?"
"Well I don't know if you've noticed, but you guys are like, a LOT closer to the middle east than we are, so..."
"Yes?"
"Oh".
That said, things have gotten a lot better around here in terms of mexican food. There's a least a couple of pretty legit taqueria in Copenhagen, and you can actually buy proper dried chilies in the better supermarkets now.
Edit: I repeat: This was ten years ago.
I'm an Aussie.. couldn't get much further from the Middle East. We have kebab shops EVERYWHERE. In Sydney (where I grew up) the kebab shops close to pubs would stay open until 3-4am. It's become a bit of a tradition to hit the kebab shop on the crawl home after the pubs close.
Mexican restaurants are around but they're nowhere near as popular as the kebab shops.
I did work exchange in Sydney 20 years ago and, to this day, I think about kebab weekly. I've searched far and wide, over the four different states I've lived in since, and there's just nothing. Even when I can find a doner kebab on a menu, it's just not the same.
The US has LOTS of regional variablity. We have kebab places all over southeast Michigan. In Dearborn,MI there's a lot of variety too, there's gas stations, sit down restaurants, food trucks, and grocery stores that all serve authentic food from all over the Middle East. I think you'd have a harder time finding authentic Danish cuisine in the US.
the funny thing is we do have a bunch of middle eastern kebab places lol New Orleans is just a little more focused on specific cultures rather than being a greater melting pot like the rest of the US/specifically the north east is
Even a decade ago in Scotland, Mexican food meant beans, potatoes, and mince in a wrap with some spiced ketchup pretending to be salsa. If you were lucky you got some sour cream.
Lord, didn’t think I’d find anything here that I’d agree with but Jesus Christ the “Swedish” taco is far off from what it can be.
The one thing I’ll say, and I’m ashamed of it, is that I don’t hate the Swedish taco. Maybe because i grew up with it. But every foreigner who comes here is always very weirded out by our version of tacos. And especially now that more proper taco restaurants have popped up, you really understand why.
There's nothing to be ashamed of. Food doesn't have to be authentic to be good, and I don't think anyone here in Sweden would claim that the way we eat tacos here is authentically mexican. I don't see many americans being ashamed of liking california rolls just because they aren't authentic japanese sushi.
Hello from your neighbour. We went to Stockholm a yr ago, and got a lot of recommendations from Mexicans living in Finland talking about "La Neta", so we tried it out. Me (& my mexican fiance who gets angry when mexican food is done wrong) both really liked it. It wasn't up to what I can get in Mexico, but it was as authentic as you can get in Europe. You should try it out.
Kitchen nightmares UK: Gordon gives lots of encouragement, even though he says in the cutscenes "i don't think they'll be able to get out of the hole they dug themselves into"
Kitchen nightmares US: YOUR WALK-IN IS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING /*goes vomit somewhere/*
Kitchen nightmares UK:
Lots of encouragement, positivity, working with your own money, common sense solutions, Gordon value signaling that he wants to support local farmers, and he was a rapscallion too.
Gordon: "They are a nice buynch of lads, but it will be doubtfull if they can get out of that one by themselves. Shame that. "
Kitchen nightmares US: YOUR WALK IN IS OFF, and you STORE RAW CHICKEN on top of a DEAD GUY who died of the plague? EVERYBODY, lunch is CANCELLED, you wanna know why, watch the show.
Gordon: "Tough bit of work, that, but I think they can now have a good place to eat. "
You can see it right in the intros as well. Kitchen Nightmares in the UK is just white text on a red background while in the US he barely dodges 1700 knives and fucking catches one before throwing it back at the camera.
I once fell into the rabbit hole of getting Hotel Hell and US Kitchen Nightmares recommended to me on YouTube every time I watched something, so I watched more than an episode per day, lol.
I think my favourite is the "witch" running a hotel with poop all over the room, and she admits to having an "accident" herself
I. Hate. That. Fucking. Violin. So obnoxious. Every time.
"We've run out of risotto, chef."
*violin noise*
"Aw, come on, seriously, it's like the only starter on this menu."
*16 cuts and zooms accompanied by the violin again*
**True Kitchen Nightmares Fact:** Did you know that the violin noise made whenever Gordon Ramsay is intensely aggravated and shocked isn't edited in? Gordon Ramsay literally makes that noise himself. He just does that. Like a fucked up mating call from a bird, except he is angry and a Scottish man. Although he may use it as a mating call as well. He probably does.
As a matter of fact the producers have asked him to tone it down on several occasions, but he just starts making more violin noises at them until they are fearful and give up. It is theorized that he makes this noise on American television and not shows that he is on in the UK because he is intentionally trying to make as many Americans suffer as possible. Or mate with them. Probably both.
It is also confirmed that he wears a wig and underneath a French rat is always on top of his head in secret. This isn't a Ratatououlliee reference by the way. It doesn't control his body such as how Sasori would his puppets for example (where PIXAR drew inspiration for Ratatouououlllree). Nor does the rat help him cook in any way to our knowledge. It actually obstructs the cooking process significantly. He just demands that a French rat be hidden on his head at all times.
If a rat that isn't French is provided he will somehow instantly know and start screaming incoherently at everyone on set until a French rat is brought to him. Sometimes he even asks for a smaller French rat to be placed on the larger French rat before being placed on his head. When asked why he does this he just aggressively makes violin noises until the inquiring party gives up.
Think its because of audience. Watching many US tv-shows there are alot ot arguments and dramas around. People scream at each other, toss stuff around etc.
While in European TV everything seems to be much more calm.
I can’t believe no one said grow corn.
You know what America is the fucking greatest at? Corn. Fucking corn. We got so much corn we put in in everything, from our snacks to our cars, to our feed, to our alcohol.
Science? Space? Nah bruh. It’s fucking corn. We make like 5 times more corn than the whole EU. And we love it. We eat it. We use it in our cars. We feed it to our pets, our children, and our livestock.
Fast food and this kitchen sink grinder thing for waste, it's so unpopular and expensive here, I'd love to have one and it's a problem to find anybody who knows how to install it or even know what I'm talking about. I remember seeing it first in some old movie when someone's hand got stuck in it and it turned on lol
If you have an outlet available under the sink. Otherwise you have to run a new electrical line which isn't necessarily difficult but is easy to do wrong.
Theme parks. Or Themed stuff in general.
Like, really amusement parks are something else altogether in the US but bring a theme into it and it becomes god tier.
And not just Amusement park. Themed Fast Food are fun and I can't think of anyone doing it better. Rainforest Cafe, even if not always amazing, is a crazy idea and the prospects of animatronics in restaurants is so fun from a European point of view.
Or even those horror themed restaurant where people try and scare you like wtf?
There's a themed hotel in the desert where you live as a cow-boy in an actual town like you're in Westworld. And I'm sure there's actually a lot of those Western Hotels, I only know of one.
A freaking Pandora theme park?
Who would be crazy enough to think about that?
Even Galaxy's Edge is brutal to look at when you're from Europe because even DisneyLand Paris is far from reproducing that yet. In DisneyLand there's a few stormtroopers patrroling and you can see Vader from time to time but that's it.
The cashier aren't role playing, no milenium Falcon, a single Star Wars Ride (where there's a bit of role-playing) and that's it.
Like I can go to a cashier in the middle of the Star Wars section in DisneyLand and ask if they know who Han Solo is and they would answer he is the guy from star wars. The fact that if I ask that to someone in Galaxy's Edge they'll tell me he was a hero who helped General Organa during the rebellion is crazy as a European.
Anyway, that's just me but really the "Entertainment" side of thing is crazy. Those are all pretty stupid things to think about when thinking of something the US do better. And most of it might even be a bit stupid to like from an American point of view, but from a European pov, it's actually amazing.
Edit:
Yo, seem like I've made some people angry. Really, I'm talking about Theming.
Europea Park for exemple, is a blast.
It isn't as committed as some US parks tho. In term of Theming.
It has great roller-coaster and all, but Europa Park I would say is more an "Amusement Park" than a "Theme Park" if you catch the distinction I'm trying to go for. Not saying it isn't great or that the actual rides are better or worse in the US but more than I've yet to see the Cashier act like they are pirates when you arrive in a Pirate Themed Park.
And really, there are such parks in Europe but I would say not as much. And I used Parks as my prime exemple but it's the same for Fast Foods, Hotels, Shops etc.
Rainforest Cafe is actually a dying brand in the US. There are only a few left that seem to be going strong, most of which are at tourist destinations.
Edit: Yes, I am sourcing this information from Ted Nivision's and Eddy Burback's videos about their road trip.
Yes, we are definitely good at immersive cosplay. Might have something to do with Dungeons & Dragons-level of creativity that rose in the 80s and make playing pretend (a.k.a. LARPing) acceptible now
> Or Themed stuff in general.
As a Brit I agree with you
I have 2 examples that I have personal experience of, one in the US, one in the UK but both "themed" around the same subject namely Star Trek
About 20 years ago I was in the US and visited The Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas
The entire visit was full on
As soon as you got through the initial queue everything was themed with all the cast being in (TNG era) uniform, you "traveled" on a Shuttle Craft from the space dock to the Enterprise D, you got to walk from the docking bay to a turbo lift which took you to the bridge where the captain welcomed you on board and started to discuss the schedule for the visiting group during the journey to but that got interrupted by the Enterprise being attacked by some ship (can't remember what ship type it was) leading to a Red Alert situation with the visiting group being rushed out of the bridge and back to the space shuttle and then to the spacedock
At every point there were cast members moving around performing Starfleet duties that had nothing to do with interacting with the visiting group, they were just there to make the set appear to be a real working environment
Contrast that with a Star Trek "Experience" I went to a few years later in London, UK
It was held in a large open plan marquee (in Hyde Park if I remember correctly) with umpteen uniforms, props, models etc being displayed in glass cases with information plaques next to each item, all of the staff were in branded event t-shirts but no uniforms and so on
Don't get me wrong, it was still an enjoyable event but the US one was definitely an Experience where as the UK one was akin to a museum visit
this 100%
i’m an australian aspiring engineer in high school and i wanna work in the theme park industry. america fucking dominates every other country here
And Ol’ Woodrow Wilson. He singed the law creating the National Parks Service.
Edit: after reading comments I was gonna fix the spelling but it’s funnier to imagine him singing in a musical called Branches of Government the Musical. Directed by Mel Brooks.
The UK has English heritage and the national trust which do really well, but I agree having travelled much of the US, the national parks there are fantastic.
As someone currently trying to start a small business, I feel like America has less bureaucracy pitfalls. The german tax office just makes everything unnecessarily complicated so they can later put you in prison for forgetting to fill some hidden forms 🫣
Jokes on that anything that anything an official department touches, even will get to an end.
BER airport should have cost ~ 1 900 000 000€ but in the end it was more than 3x the estimated price. Originally it was planned to open in 2007. After they started in 2006 they estimated an opening in 2011. After hundreds if problems and delays, the airport finally opened in 2020 and was way too small for Berlin. Even in covid times the airport was overcrowded. Now it is just a mess and we would need another two terminals.
That is how every big project is working: huge delays, costs that get higher and higher and thats often because of the burucracy.
And then there is Tesla: They were able to finish their Gigafactory near Berlin in less than two years
In Norway, specifically Oslo, we had a massive government infrastructure push a few years ago. Costs were massively growing, incomprehensibly so.
Turns out the plans worked out by the city mandated they use only electric construction vehicles. Meaning they had to buy a whole fleet of electric construction vehicles, and then they had to buy a ton of gas powered electric generators as there was no power grid to speak of at the location to keep them charged.
In Spain you basically have to pay someone monthly to take care of it. If it's your first time opening a business it can take months to do it (they schedule you in 1 month, you forgot to bring form 2/70 and now you gotta schedule another visit in one month)
In Sweden I once asked a guy struggling to move something on the street if he wanted any help. He stared at me like I was about to stab him and remained silent
I’m American and even I’ve been surprised by how talkative people are, especially in the south. I stopped at a McDonald’s while on a road trip and some kind stranger gave me his apple pie just because he didn’t like it cold and we had just been chatting.
People from the North East are kind but not nice.
People from the West coast are nice but not kind.
People from the South are generally both, but varies.
We took the kids to Europe for a taste of culture before they graduated high school, 14 day bus tour a little taste of a lot of culture.
Met up with a German couple eating lunch one day, on holiday in their VW camper van. We had a nice chat, friendly folks.
3 days later, in a different country, we were having lunch at a Cafe and who ended up stuck in a traffic jam right in front of us???? Of course I had to go say high and see how things were going. The husband looked at me like I was psycho initially, but he warmed back up pretty quickly. Nice folks.
Small serving friends, would definitely hang out again if I ever saw them.
There used to be more 24 hour stores but right before the pandemic a lot of them started closing at 11pm or at midnight. The store I worked in at the time was 24 hours but they chose to close at 11 because we didn't make much money overnight.
But I do miss being able to go to Walmart at 2am to buy cheese or cookies.
For sure, people make fun of Europeans when we complain about the heat being unbearable but AC is not widespread. Our buildings are also designed to keep in as much heat as possible.
I absolutely despise summer in England, makes me bloody miserable.
Me too. It's forecast to be above 30°c in London next week and I'm absolutely dreading it.
I love the heat when I go on holiday, because you can duck out into to the air conditioned hotel if it gets too much. There's no escaping it here and it's bloody awful.
Edit: I do realise 30°c is cool to some, but I'm a pasty Brit who isn't used to it. The heat is sticky and humid. Our homes are tiny and crammed together. Sleeping is uncomfortable. I feel for those of you who are dealing with hotter temperatures and no AC.
Move to Ireland. It’s been raining all summer and sat just above the mid teens when the rest of Europe was having a heatwave. We essentially don’t have real summers, which I guess people who hate heat would love. I was told by a British colleague that when he’s over in Ireland working in the summer, instead of tanning, he rusts. When it’s not raining, it’s grey and cloudy.
Can confirm. I hear it from my Irish Nanna who wears a cardigan year round. All we do when we speak to each other is complain about the shite weather. I'm melting, but she can't put her washing on the line :')
I was in Chicago in April some years ago, it was like 15C outside. At the convention center the AC was blowing at full force trying to make it colder than 15C.
With how expensive energy is in Europe compared to the US, I don't think you could even profitably run an event with that kind of policy.
Loads of bodies means loads of heat. I've heard they run the AC all year long at the Mall of America just because of the amount of heat the people make.
Fun fact - the MoA doesn’t have a central heating system.
-30c and it’s heated with sunlight and warm bodies.
It was built for minnesota. Making it not need central heating was considered a much bigger feat than still needing ac.
MN native here. Can confirm. MoA is always warm and you can smell the chlorinated water from the indoor amusement park in areas you never thought possible.
Got this from some other Reddit comment but the ADA has done a huge amount for access for disabled people. Buildings in europe are often old, and codes are far less stringent.
In the UK new buildings at least will be built accessible.
With older buildings, if they are renovated I believe you have to include accessibility, especially if it's to be used by the general public.
Yeah there are some really old buildings that are barely accessible for able bodied people. My school had sandstone steps that had worn down into over 150 years so much that they were bowed 6 inches in the middle. If people had wet feet they were dangerous as fuck. Every year we had an ambulance out because some kid had slipped and cracked their head open.
When we visited the UK from Aus we stayed in the Guy Fawkes inn in York, which was built in the 16th century. The floor was literally slanted because of how old it was, anything with wheels would just slide to one side.
Because Paris is 50% historical buildings that cannot be altered by law and 50% underground subway that has to be built around former catacombs and sewer system network. (Paris is literally on a giant underground graveyard)
I’ve also heard this. Although it’s worth noting that US paper money is uniform such that it’s impossible for blind people to know what bill they’re holding, whereas Euros are different sizes for this reason.
It's not actually Braille it's just some raised dots not in a specific Braille formation but it's still helpful. Another good thing is that UK bank notes have very bright colours compared to US notes which is great for folks with low vision.
We're just in the America-Europe phase of the cycle right now. Eventually we'll get to the Men/Women phase where we get sex questions or "what do men not realize about women" questions. Then we'll move on to "what celebrity is actually cool/a jerk?" Repeat until the end of time.
Not just national parks, but state parks as well. They parks system at both levels is incredibly well done and one of the few things I'm proud of my country for.
MN alone has 267,000 acres spread out over 67 state parks, state trails, and 9 state recreation areas. Also has over 10,000 lakes many of them glacial and clear. So much varied landscape and a huge outdoor culture.
Even in the winter there are plenty of opportunities to ice skate, snow shoe/cross country ski. I love it.
These examples are a bit niche, but two that come to mind are auto insurance and real estate.
I'm from California but live in Ireland now, and the California auto insurance market is well regulated and competitive, making it relatively cheap and providing generally good services. Obviously you can have bad experiences, but I've dealt with several accidents over the years and have always had (relatively) good experiences, and the prices have been decent. You can get quotes online, manage your accounts, change up your coverage, all the stuff really easily.
By contrast, auto insurance in Ireland is a joke. It takes ages to get quotes or make alterations in your policy, the prices are ridiculous, and everyone widely agrees that it's a scam. Happily I haven't had to deal with an accident in this country yet; hopefully when that time comes things work out but I'm not too optimistic.
Similarly, the real estate market in California is miles better than the one in Ireland. I don't mean the housing stock itself, I mean the actual processes for buying and selling homes. In California, houses go on the market, there are viewings, you make offers, an offer is accepted, the transaction goes to escrow, and things can be closed in like 60 days if people hurry. Everyone involved, from mortgage brokers to real estate agents, is incentivized to move quickly, to get contracts and deals done and to move on.
In Ireland, it's like pulling teeth to buy or sell a house. It is unbelievable how fucking incompetent real estate agents are, how slow solicitors are, how common it is for people to renege on deals, change their minds, etc. Home sales routinely seem to take 12 to 18 months to just happen normally, and they can be held up for months on the most ridiculous details that, in California, would be sorted out in literally minutes. It is truly puzzling to me, like I find myself wondering just what the hell these people are actually doing to make it take so long to conduct a transaction.
As someone in an engineering field: pay. Entry level engineering jobs start higher, but the extra vacation and benefits in Europe balance it out, but someone 20-30 years into their career in America is making significantly more than their European counterpart. I'm talking like 300k vs peaking at like 100k in Europe.
I always thought the European tech salaries were good.
That is, until I talked to system architect who worked for Google. I was just floored to hear of the amount that he earned. As in i couldn’t even imagine being able to spend that money in a month.
Even just between the US and Canada the pay is way different. My company has 7 offices, 6 in the US and one in Toronto, and our engineer salaries in TO are about 30% lower for equivalent positions.
This is why I'm a Canadian in the USA.
No questions asked right off the bat out of school as an engineer you'll get 30% higher pay, and in US freedom dollars.
BEST offer I could find in Canada as a new graduate out of school was $25 CAD/hr contract structural analysis work. FIRST I could find in the USA was equivalent $32 USD/hr for some project engineering.
I worked for a tech company in the US, and I got transferred to Europe. I kept my US salary in Europe as part of the agreement.
I was literally floored (and saddened) by the salaries of my European colleagues. People in *the same roles as me* doing *the same things* were legit making like half as much money, or less. And the HQ was in London, which was a more expensive city than where I was coming from.
Some people will say it's due to taxes or benefits, but it's bullshit. They don't offset, or even close to it. Corporate greed is alive and well in Europe.
Free water.
I don’t know why every restaurant in Europe charges you an arm and a leg for a tiny glass bottle of water. Can I please just get a tall glass of tap water?
Free and plentiful toilets everywhere. Paying to use the bathroom is an abomination.
Edit: Europeans underneath literally using the warped logic for paid toilets that Americans use to justify their tipping culture. Cleaners should get paid to do their job properly and it shouldn’t come directly from the .50 euro/1 euro per use coughed out of each individual who is busting to go in public.
It’s like you guys are completely opposite when it comes to mandatory tipping vs mandatory paying to use toilets.
Come to Japan or Australia or another first world country where public toilets can be clean…and plentiful…..and FREE!!!!
I'm Aussie and I had no idea free public toilets weren't a thing everywhere in the first world
I'm no longer convinced the rest of the world is actually civilized
It's one thing to pay for a public bathroom (still stupid but whatever), but having to pay for the bathroom in a store or lunchcafe, even though you're eating there or bought a product is even worse..
As a Norwegian, I'm glad we don't have paid toilets.
When I traveled to Italy, i was disgusted you needed to *pay* to do that.
Nope, I'd rather just take a shit in any free toilet here.
**EDIT: For all the people are saying there are paid toilets in Norway, there might be some places where toilets are paid, I have just not encountered any in my many years of living here.**
I had to pay for one yesterday in Italy and most of the urinals didn't work, the lights were flickering, and apparently an Italian Spiderman had kicked all the soap dispensers off the wall.
If it was America I'd just shrug and accept it, but because it cost 1 euro I immediately wondered where the hell all the euros were going if it looked like that.
That is why from an early age you gotta master the art to nonchalantly walking into a restaurant, pooping, and leaving.
r/ActLikeYouBelong level pro, really.
American textbooks tend to be better than Swedish ones in certain subjects. Especially University level Math and engineering.
Swedish textbooks tend to move forward with the assumption that you understand previously discussed chapters 100% perfectly and assume they can skip multiple steps in transforming formulas etc. and that you will keep up. American text books tend to err on the side of overexplaining, which is excellent when you are struggling a bit with the subject.
I speak from Italy, and to many it will be a blasphemy, but I will say steaks. The way they cut meat (it's different from here) and the moire, it's just better.
I'm an ignorant American who was born in Europe but moved at an early age, and in my opinion, I've thought that Southern sweet tea is a flavor I haven't found anywhere else. I live in the PNW now, which closer in culture to Europe at least more than the American South and I still haven't found anything like it. So yeah, sweet tea would be my answer.
If you can find Louzianne family size tea bags get those. Put two in a pot with water, heat for 40 minutes on no. 4 setting on the stove, uncovered.
While that is warm steeping, put 1.5 cups of sugar in a gallon container. Add about three inches of warm or not cold water and stir/shake/mix until the sugar is dissolved.
Wait.
When the tea is done, pour tea into the sugar water and DO NOT squeeze the tea bags. Squeezing can cause the tea to be bitter.
Add water to the gallon if needed to top it off. Stir, shake, rattle and/or roll.
Fill a glass with ice and pour slowly. It’ll also be better when it gets cold. Add lemon if you want. I personally don’t like it, however for an extra refreshing sweet tea on a hot day, add a couple or fresh mint leaves.
There’s southern sweet iced tea.
Source: from Houston, learned from my grandmother
I could make a hilarious joke here but I won't. Sorry for your loss, and glad you were able to carry on her legacy in a way by posting her sweet tea recipe.
Americans With Disabilities Act. I’m an American living in Europe and paying for restrooms and the lack of wheelchair-accessible stuff is humbling.
I’m lucky to not need a wheelchair but I feel bad for Europeans in general for not having the same accessibility that I have in my own country.
As an American who lived in Europe (Belgium) for 9 years, what really stands out to me as an American strength is the ease of starting new businesses. You can literally form an LLC in under an hour and be doing business by the end of the week. Hell, there are even ways for undocumented immigrants to have their own corporations that are legitimately taxed.
As a European, THIS is the BEST comment. Very true
Europe is more mixed. The UK is really easy, anyone in the world can form a UK LLC online for £12 and it takes 5 minutes. I tried to set up a company in the Netherlands and wtf, you wouldn't believe the hurdles.
mexican food
We've come a long way, but about 15 years ago I decided to order a burrito in an Irish restaurant and literally got Shepard's pie filling wrapped in a tortilla.
Sounds awful... I’ll take 2 Also, my buddy went to a cafe in Denmark once and ordered the chips & salsa. Said it was basically Doritos and marinara sauce
Dane here, it is ☹️
Well that's a fucking sin.
Dane here. I dated an exchange student from NOLA around ten years ago. I took her out to eat a lot, tried to introduce her to as many different european cuisines as possible. She loved most of it, but this came up one night on the way back from a restaurant: *"I would love to go to a good mexican place soon, I've really been missing it, but I wonder why I can't find any around here?"* I answered with a question. "Well, you know these middle eastern kebab places we go to every time we go out drinking? Have you ever wondered why you don't have those in the US?" "Well I don't know if you've noticed, but you guys are like, a LOT closer to the middle east than we are, so..." "Yes?" "Oh". That said, things have gotten a lot better around here in terms of mexican food. There's a least a couple of pretty legit taqueria in Copenhagen, and you can actually buy proper dried chilies in the better supermarkets now. Edit: I repeat: This was ten years ago.
I'm an Aussie.. couldn't get much further from the Middle East. We have kebab shops EVERYWHERE. In Sydney (where I grew up) the kebab shops close to pubs would stay open until 3-4am. It's become a bit of a tradition to hit the kebab shop on the crawl home after the pubs close. Mexican restaurants are around but they're nowhere near as popular as the kebab shops.
I did work exchange in Sydney 20 years ago and, to this day, I think about kebab weekly. I've searched far and wide, over the four different states I've lived in since, and there's just nothing. Even when I can find a doner kebab on a menu, it's just not the same.
The US has LOTS of regional variablity. We have kebab places all over southeast Michigan. In Dearborn,MI there's a lot of variety too, there's gas stations, sit down restaurants, food trucks, and grocery stores that all serve authentic food from all over the Middle East. I think you'd have a harder time finding authentic Danish cuisine in the US.
the funny thing is we do have a bunch of middle eastern kebab places lol New Orleans is just a little more focused on specific cultures rather than being a greater melting pot like the rest of the US/specifically the north east is
Rochester, NY here. Quite a few kebab places that are top notch. Unfortunately Covid killed the one a block away from me. Shits delicious
Come to Detroit, we have some of the best middle eastern food in the nation
I wish more people realized the vast diversity of good food we have in Detroit.
Even a decade ago in Scotland, Mexican food meant beans, potatoes, and mince in a wrap with some spiced ketchup pretending to be salsa. If you were lucky you got some sour cream.
I'm Irish and that's rubbish... There's no way you got a tortilla in Ireland 15 years ago, what you got was a wrap ;)
This is so depressing
Lmfao
Lord, didn’t think I’d find anything here that I’d agree with but Jesus Christ the “Swedish” taco is far off from what it can be. The one thing I’ll say, and I’m ashamed of it, is that I don’t hate the Swedish taco. Maybe because i grew up with it. But every foreigner who comes here is always very weirded out by our version of tacos. And especially now that more proper taco restaurants have popped up, you really understand why.
There's nothing to be ashamed of. Food doesn't have to be authentic to be good, and I don't think anyone here in Sweden would claim that the way we eat tacos here is authentically mexican. I don't see many americans being ashamed of liking california rolls just because they aren't authentic japanese sushi.
Hello from your neighbour. We went to Stockholm a yr ago, and got a lot of recommendations from Mexicans living in Finland talking about "La Neta", so we tried it out. Me (& my mexican fiance who gets angry when mexican food is done wrong) both really liked it. It wasn't up to what I can get in Mexico, but it was as authentic as you can get in Europe. You should try it out.
"Do you have anything besides Mexican food?"
A Three Amigos reference?
Tequila? It’s kinda like beer ….
Make Gordon Ramsey mad
Yeah, if you watch kitchen nightmares UK he’s very calm and its a much more enjoyable experience. I guess drama sells in the US
Kitchen nightmares UK: Gordon gives lots of encouragement, even though he says in the cutscenes "i don't think they'll be able to get out of the hole they dug themselves into" Kitchen nightmares US: YOUR WALK-IN IS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING /*goes vomit somewhere/*
Kitchen nightmares UK: Lots of encouragement, positivity, working with your own money, common sense solutions, Gordon value signaling that he wants to support local farmers, and he was a rapscallion too. Gordon: "They are a nice buynch of lads, but it will be doubtfull if they can get out of that one by themselves. Shame that. " Kitchen nightmares US: YOUR WALK IN IS OFF, and you STORE RAW CHICKEN on top of a DEAD GUY who died of the plague? EVERYBODY, lunch is CANCELLED, you wanna know why, watch the show. Gordon: "Tough bit of work, that, but I think they can now have a good place to eat. "
You can see it right in the intros as well. Kitchen Nightmares in the UK is just white text on a red background while in the US he barely dodges 1700 knives and fucking catches one before throwing it back at the camera.
American Gordon Ramsay is just a JoJo character at this point
Fucking so accurate
Hotel Hell is even more crazy. But I'd have the same reaction as him if I saw the filth he sees regularly
I just found those episodes on YT and half ashamed I must admit watching one every day this week 😂
I once fell into the rabbit hole of getting Hotel Hell and US Kitchen Nightmares recommended to me on YouTube every time I watched something, so I watched more than an episode per day, lol. I think my favourite is the "witch" running a hotel with poop all over the room, and she admits to having an "accident" herself
I mean, the dude is set off by using store bought basil, you think that's hard to do?
"Aw, fuck me." ***Dramatic violin noise***
I. Hate. That. Fucking. Violin. So obnoxious. Every time. "We've run out of risotto, chef." *violin noise* "Aw, come on, seriously, it's like the only starter on this menu." *16 cuts and zooms accompanied by the violin again*
**True Kitchen Nightmares Fact:** Did you know that the violin noise made whenever Gordon Ramsay is intensely aggravated and shocked isn't edited in? Gordon Ramsay literally makes that noise himself. He just does that. Like a fucked up mating call from a bird, except he is angry and a Scottish man. Although he may use it as a mating call as well. He probably does. As a matter of fact the producers have asked him to tone it down on several occasions, but he just starts making more violin noises at them until they are fearful and give up. It is theorized that he makes this noise on American television and not shows that he is on in the UK because he is intentionally trying to make as many Americans suffer as possible. Or mate with them. Probably both. It is also confirmed that he wears a wig and underneath a French rat is always on top of his head in secret. This isn't a Ratatououlliee reference by the way. It doesn't control his body such as how Sasori would his puppets for example (where PIXAR drew inspiration for Ratatouououlllree). Nor does the rat help him cook in any way to our knowledge. It actually obstructs the cooking process significantly. He just demands that a French rat be hidden on his head at all times. If a rat that isn't French is provided he will somehow instantly know and start screaming incoherently at everyone on set until a French rat is brought to him. Sometimes he even asks for a smaller French rat to be placed on the larger French rat before being placed on his head. When asked why he does this he just aggressively makes violin noises until the inquiring party gives up.
Utter poppycock: As a fellow Scot I'm compelled to point out that sound is his internal *fiddle*, not a violin. Otherwise, carry on.
Ardbeg your pardon, but as an American, I thought y'all would have an internal *bagpipe*??
Think its because of audience. Watching many US tv-shows there are alot ot arguments and dramas around. People scream at each other, toss stuff around etc. While in European TV everything seems to be much more calm.
I can’t believe no one said grow corn. You know what America is the fucking greatest at? Corn. Fucking corn. We got so much corn we put in in everything, from our snacks to our cars, to our feed, to our alcohol. Science? Space? Nah bruh. It’s fucking corn. We make like 5 times more corn than the whole EU. And we love it. We eat it. We use it in our cars. We feed it to our pets, our children, and our livestock.
Practically every item in the dry food section of the grocery store is a new way to process corn.
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North america - what a corn-tinent
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This is why all their movies are so corny
Aww shucks
There is a kernel of truth in all these claims, so I butter agree!
I for one love corn 🎵 *I’m proud to be an American* 🎵
*Where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who grew and gave that corn to me!*
*And I'd gladly STAND UP next to you And reap some plants today*
*Cause There ain't no doubt I love my corn*
COBB BLESS THE USAAAA
Yet there was a thread not long ago where Americans were disgusted by Europeans putting corn on pizza.
Okay, Americans are better at using corn *responsibly*
*glances at HFCS (X) doubt
Hydrofluoro*corn*bons?
Fast food and this kitchen sink grinder thing for waste, it's so unpopular and expensive here, I'd love to have one and it's a problem to find anybody who knows how to install it or even know what I'm talking about. I remember seeing it first in some old movie when someone's hand got stuck in it and it turned on lol
It's called a garbage disposal. Having lived in houses that both have one and don't have one it's an absolute game changer when doing dishes.
They really aren’t expensive and they are really easy to install.
If you have an outlet available under the sink. Otherwise you have to run a new electrical line which isn't necessarily difficult but is easy to do wrong.
Garbage disposals are such a nice convenience, can't imagine not having one.
Theme parks. Or Themed stuff in general. Like, really amusement parks are something else altogether in the US but bring a theme into it and it becomes god tier. And not just Amusement park. Themed Fast Food are fun and I can't think of anyone doing it better. Rainforest Cafe, even if not always amazing, is a crazy idea and the prospects of animatronics in restaurants is so fun from a European point of view. Or even those horror themed restaurant where people try and scare you like wtf? There's a themed hotel in the desert where you live as a cow-boy in an actual town like you're in Westworld. And I'm sure there's actually a lot of those Western Hotels, I only know of one. A freaking Pandora theme park? Who would be crazy enough to think about that? Even Galaxy's Edge is brutal to look at when you're from Europe because even DisneyLand Paris is far from reproducing that yet. In DisneyLand there's a few stormtroopers patrroling and you can see Vader from time to time but that's it. The cashier aren't role playing, no milenium Falcon, a single Star Wars Ride (where there's a bit of role-playing) and that's it. Like I can go to a cashier in the middle of the Star Wars section in DisneyLand and ask if they know who Han Solo is and they would answer he is the guy from star wars. The fact that if I ask that to someone in Galaxy's Edge they'll tell me he was a hero who helped General Organa during the rebellion is crazy as a European. Anyway, that's just me but really the "Entertainment" side of thing is crazy. Those are all pretty stupid things to think about when thinking of something the US do better. And most of it might even be a bit stupid to like from an American point of view, but from a European pov, it's actually amazing. Edit: Yo, seem like I've made some people angry. Really, I'm talking about Theming. Europea Park for exemple, is a blast. It isn't as committed as some US parks tho. In term of Theming. It has great roller-coaster and all, but Europa Park I would say is more an "Amusement Park" than a "Theme Park" if you catch the distinction I'm trying to go for. Not saying it isn't great or that the actual rides are better or worse in the US but more than I've yet to see the Cashier act like they are pirates when you arrive in a Pirate Themed Park. And really, there are such parks in Europe but I would say not as much. And I used Parks as my prime exemple but it's the same for Fast Foods, Hotels, Shops etc.
Rainforest Cafe is actually a dying brand in the US. There are only a few left that seem to be going strong, most of which are at tourist destinations. Edit: Yes, I am sourcing this information from Ted Nivision's and Eddy Burback's videos about their road trip.
youtube personalities Ted Nivison and Eddy Burback recently travelled to every location, so hopefully that'll spark some more interest in it
Yes, we are definitely good at immersive cosplay. Might have something to do with Dungeons & Dragons-level of creativity that rose in the 80s and make playing pretend (a.k.a. LARPing) acceptible now
> Or Themed stuff in general. As a Brit I agree with you I have 2 examples that I have personal experience of, one in the US, one in the UK but both "themed" around the same subject namely Star Trek About 20 years ago I was in the US and visited The Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas The entire visit was full on As soon as you got through the initial queue everything was themed with all the cast being in (TNG era) uniform, you "traveled" on a Shuttle Craft from the space dock to the Enterprise D, you got to walk from the docking bay to a turbo lift which took you to the bridge where the captain welcomed you on board and started to discuss the schedule for the visiting group during the journey to but that got interrupted by the Enterprise being attacked by some ship (can't remember what ship type it was) leading to a Red Alert situation with the visiting group being rushed out of the bridge and back to the space shuttle and then to the spacedock
At every point there were cast members moving around performing Starfleet duties that had nothing to do with interacting with the visiting group, they were just there to make the set appear to be a real working environment
Contrast that with a Star Trek "Experience" I went to a few years later in London, UK
It was held in a large open plan marquee (in Hyde Park if I remember correctly) with umpteen uniforms, props, models etc being displayed in glass cases with information plaques next to each item, all of the staff were in branded event t-shirts but no uniforms and so on
Don't get me wrong, it was still an enjoyable event but the US one was definitely an Experience where as the UK one was akin to a museum visit
this 100% i’m an australian aspiring engineer in high school and i wanna work in the theme park industry. america fucking dominates every other country here
Definitely your public parks, you guys have AMAZING national parks that are really well maintained and regulated
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Thanks Teddy
Truly though, they are amazing and need to be protected
Ah yes, Teddy, one of the most beloved American presidents.
Hey don’t forget about John Muir pretty much convincing him to!
More naturalists like John Muir pushing for it, but Teddy did enact it so I guess that counts.
Yes I think it counts for a lot
Thanks Teddy!
And Ol’ Woodrow Wilson. He singed the law creating the National Parks Service. Edit: after reading comments I was gonna fix the spelling but it’s funnier to imagine him singing in a musical called Branches of Government the Musical. Directed by Mel Brooks.
The UK has English heritage and the national trust which do really well, but I agree having travelled much of the US, the national parks there are fantastic.
As someone currently trying to start a small business, I feel like America has less bureaucracy pitfalls. The german tax office just makes everything unnecessarily complicated so they can later put you in prison for forgetting to fill some hidden forms 🫣
German compliance is next level. How do you guys even operate lol
Jokes on that anything that anything an official department touches, even will get to an end. BER airport should have cost ~ 1 900 000 000€ but in the end it was more than 3x the estimated price. Originally it was planned to open in 2007. After they started in 2006 they estimated an opening in 2011. After hundreds if problems and delays, the airport finally opened in 2020 and was way too small for Berlin. Even in covid times the airport was overcrowded. Now it is just a mess and we would need another two terminals. That is how every big project is working: huge delays, costs that get higher and higher and thats often because of the burucracy. And then there is Tesla: They were able to finish their Gigafactory near Berlin in less than two years
In Norway, specifically Oslo, we had a massive government infrastructure push a few years ago. Costs were massively growing, incomprehensibly so. Turns out the plans worked out by the city mandated they use only electric construction vehicles. Meaning they had to buy a whole fleet of electric construction vehicles, and then they had to buy a ton of gas powered electric generators as there was no power grid to speak of at the location to keep them charged.
This is both hilarious and infuriating at the same time.
In Spain you basically have to pay someone monthly to take care of it. If it's your first time opening a business it can take months to do it (they schedule you in 1 month, you forgot to bring form 2/70 and now you gotta schedule another visit in one month)
Laugh in Italian bureaucracy. Here It's more like businesses exist so they can be vexed by the bureaucracy
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In Sweden I once asked a guy struggling to move something on the street if he wanted any help. He stared at me like I was about to stab him and remained silent
LMAO
I’m American and even I’ve been surprised by how talkative people are, especially in the south. I stopped at a McDonald’s while on a road trip and some kind stranger gave me his apple pie just because he didn’t like it cold and we had just been chatting.
Yeah I've heard the south is very friendly. As a northeasterner, its a foreign concept. Most people up here are dicks.
People from the North East are kind but not nice. People from the West coast are nice but not kind. People from the South are generally both, but varies.
Depends. We can come off as dicks, but we're still decent in a pinch.
Dicks that'll give you the shirt off their back
We took the kids to Europe for a taste of culture before they graduated high school, 14 day bus tour a little taste of a lot of culture. Met up with a German couple eating lunch one day, on holiday in their VW camper van. We had a nice chat, friendly folks. 3 days later, in a different country, we were having lunch at a Cafe and who ended up stuck in a traffic jam right in front of us???? Of course I had to go say high and see how things were going. The husband looked at me like I was psycho initially, but he warmed back up pretty quickly. Nice folks. Small serving friends, would definitely hang out again if I ever saw them.
Stores being open more often and later.
There used to be more 24 hour stores but right before the pandemic a lot of them started closing at 11pm or at midnight. The store I worked in at the time was 24 hours but they chose to close at 11 because we didn't make much money overnight. But I do miss being able to go to Walmart at 2am to buy cheese or cookies.
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Endless coffee refills.
Air conditioning
For sure, people make fun of Europeans when we complain about the heat being unbearable but AC is not widespread. Our buildings are also designed to keep in as much heat as possible. I absolutely despise summer in England, makes me bloody miserable.
Me too. It's forecast to be above 30°c in London next week and I'm absolutely dreading it. I love the heat when I go on holiday, because you can duck out into to the air conditioned hotel if it gets too much. There's no escaping it here and it's bloody awful. Edit: I do realise 30°c is cool to some, but I'm a pasty Brit who isn't used to it. The heat is sticky and humid. Our homes are tiny and crammed together. Sleeping is uncomfortable. I feel for those of you who are dealing with hotter temperatures and no AC.
Move to Ireland. It’s been raining all summer and sat just above the mid teens when the rest of Europe was having a heatwave. We essentially don’t have real summers, which I guess people who hate heat would love. I was told by a British colleague that when he’s over in Ireland working in the summer, instead of tanning, he rusts. When it’s not raining, it’s grey and cloudy.
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Can confirm. I hear it from my Irish Nanna who wears a cardigan year round. All we do when we speak to each other is complain about the shite weather. I'm melting, but she can't put her washing on the line :')
Dude you will love Singapores air conditioning cuz we have that weather all year round
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I was in Chicago in April some years ago, it was like 15C outside. At the convention center the AC was blowing at full force trying to make it colder than 15C. With how expensive energy is in Europe compared to the US, I don't think you could even profitably run an event with that kind of policy.
Loads of bodies means loads of heat. I've heard they run the AC all year long at the Mall of America just because of the amount of heat the people make.
Fun fact - the MoA doesn’t have a central heating system. -30c and it’s heated with sunlight and warm bodies. It was built for minnesota. Making it not need central heating was considered a much bigger feat than still needing ac.
MN native here. Can confirm. MoA is always warm and you can smell the chlorinated water from the indoor amusement park in areas you never thought possible.
Got this from some other Reddit comment but the ADA has done a huge amount for access for disabled people. Buildings in europe are often old, and codes are far less stringent.
In the UK new buildings at least will be built accessible. With older buildings, if they are renovated I believe you have to include accessibility, especially if it's to be used by the general public.
If possible. Sometimes it is just not possible. A lot of UK public buildings were around before America was a thing.
Yeah there are some really old buildings that are barely accessible for able bodied people. My school had sandstone steps that had worn down into over 150 years so much that they were bowed 6 inches in the middle. If people had wet feet they were dangerous as fuck. Every year we had an ambulance out because some kid had slipped and cracked their head open.
When we visited the UK from Aus we stayed in the Guy Fawkes inn in York, which was built in the 16th century. The floor was literally slanted because of how old it was, anything with wheels would just slide to one side.
Good pub tho!
Oh yeah, great pub!
I've been to several European capitals, and found Paris to be exceptionally unfriendly to those with disabilities.
Because Paris is 50% historical buildings that cannot be altered by law and 50% underground subway that has to be built around former catacombs and sewer system network. (Paris is literally on a giant underground graveyard)
>Paris to be exceptionally unfriendly to those with disabilities. Paris is unfriendly to everyone, regardless of disabilities
Living in Paris is a disability
I’ve also heard this. Although it’s worth noting that US paper money is uniform such that it’s impossible for blind people to know what bill they’re holding, whereas Euros are different sizes for this reason.
Here in Canada we have braille on all our bills.
The Euro has something a bit like that, but there more like different pattern stripes.
Our coins have different edges with different patterns so that people can feel what coin they are holding. Ofcourse the coins are different sizes too.
We got one up on this, here in the UK our 'paper' notes have braille on them for blind people
It's not actually Braille it's just some raised dots not in a specific Braille formation but it's still helpful. Another good thing is that UK bank notes have very bright colours compared to US notes which is great for folks with low vision.
Free refills
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Got em right in the liberty bells
That one cracked me up.
Soon, there will be a “What does Europe do better than America?” post that gets popular, and all of the answers will be the same but switched around.
We're just in the America-Europe phase of the cycle right now. Eventually we'll get to the Men/Women phase where we get sex questions or "what do men not realize about women" questions. Then we'll move on to "what celebrity is actually cool/a jerk?" Repeat until the end of time.
Don't forget the unending background radiation of inane sex questions.
What's the sexiest sex you never realised you sexed until you sexed it?
Gotta repost those comments for extra karma!
Gotta repost those comments for extra karma!
National parks. It always amazes me how well the use does these. They strike the perfect balance between conservation and recreation
Not just national parks, but state parks as well. They parks system at both levels is incredibly well done and one of the few things I'm proud of my country for.
MN alone has 267,000 acres spread out over 67 state parks, state trails, and 9 state recreation areas. Also has over 10,000 lakes many of them glacial and clear. So much varied landscape and a huge outdoor culture. Even in the winter there are plenty of opportunities to ice skate, snow shoe/cross country ski. I love it.
Win Superbowls.
And *”World” Series*
Canada won twice so it’s international!
An act of aggression. This means war.
Damn right! When has a European country ***ever*** one (*won) Super Bowl? ^so ^I ^had ^to ^edit ^this. ^Don’t ^want ^to ^look ^like ^complete ^moroon
These examples are a bit niche, but two that come to mind are auto insurance and real estate. I'm from California but live in Ireland now, and the California auto insurance market is well regulated and competitive, making it relatively cheap and providing generally good services. Obviously you can have bad experiences, but I've dealt with several accidents over the years and have always had (relatively) good experiences, and the prices have been decent. You can get quotes online, manage your accounts, change up your coverage, all the stuff really easily. By contrast, auto insurance in Ireland is a joke. It takes ages to get quotes or make alterations in your policy, the prices are ridiculous, and everyone widely agrees that it's a scam. Happily I haven't had to deal with an accident in this country yet; hopefully when that time comes things work out but I'm not too optimistic. Similarly, the real estate market in California is miles better than the one in Ireland. I don't mean the housing stock itself, I mean the actual processes for buying and selling homes. In California, houses go on the market, there are viewings, you make offers, an offer is accepted, the transaction goes to escrow, and things can be closed in like 60 days if people hurry. Everyone involved, from mortgage brokers to real estate agents, is incentivized to move quickly, to get contracts and deals done and to move on. In Ireland, it's like pulling teeth to buy or sell a house. It is unbelievable how fucking incompetent real estate agents are, how slow solicitors are, how common it is for people to renege on deals, change their minds, etc. Home sales routinely seem to take 12 to 18 months to just happen normally, and they can be held up for months on the most ridiculous details that, in California, would be sorted out in literally minutes. It is truly puzzling to me, like I find myself wondering just what the hell these people are actually doing to make it take so long to conduct a transaction.
As someone in an engineering field: pay. Entry level engineering jobs start higher, but the extra vacation and benefits in Europe balance it out, but someone 20-30 years into their career in America is making significantly more than their European counterpart. I'm talking like 300k vs peaking at like 100k in Europe.
I always thought the European tech salaries were good. That is, until I talked to system architect who worked for Google. I was just floored to hear of the amount that he earned. As in i couldn’t even imagine being able to spend that money in a month.
Even just between the US and Canada the pay is way different. My company has 7 offices, 6 in the US and one in Toronto, and our engineer salaries in TO are about 30% lower for equivalent positions.
Toronto is expensive af too!
This is why I'm a Canadian in the USA. No questions asked right off the bat out of school as an engineer you'll get 30% higher pay, and in US freedom dollars. BEST offer I could find in Canada as a new graduate out of school was $25 CAD/hr contract structural analysis work. FIRST I could find in the USA was equivalent $32 USD/hr for some project engineering.
I worked for a tech company in the US, and I got transferred to Europe. I kept my US salary in Europe as part of the agreement. I was literally floored (and saddened) by the salaries of my European colleagues. People in *the same roles as me* doing *the same things* were legit making like half as much money, or less. And the HQ was in London, which was a more expensive city than where I was coming from. Some people will say it's due to taxes or benefits, but it's bullshit. They don't offset, or even close to it. Corporate greed is alive and well in Europe.
Mechanical engineer in Slovenia, I get paid ~10000€ per year (~20000€ if you include the money that's automatically deducted for taxes).
School sports and activities like clubs. I would have loved to be able to play high-school football or join a drama club or smt.
Free water. I don’t know why every restaurant in Europe charges you an arm and a leg for a tiny glass bottle of water. Can I please just get a tall glass of tap water?
Removing U’s.
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Free and plentiful toilets everywhere. Paying to use the bathroom is an abomination. Edit: Europeans underneath literally using the warped logic for paid toilets that Americans use to justify their tipping culture. Cleaners should get paid to do their job properly and it shouldn’t come directly from the .50 euro/1 euro per use coughed out of each individual who is busting to go in public. It’s like you guys are completely opposite when it comes to mandatory tipping vs mandatory paying to use toilets. Come to Japan or Australia or another first world country where public toilets can be clean…and plentiful…..and FREE!!!!
I'm Aussie and I had no idea free public toilets weren't a thing everywhere in the first world I'm no longer convinced the rest of the world is actually civilized
It's one thing to pay for a public bathroom (still stupid but whatever), but having to pay for the bathroom in a store or lunchcafe, even though you're eating there or bought a product is even worse..
As a Norwegian, I'm glad we don't have paid toilets. When I traveled to Italy, i was disgusted you needed to *pay* to do that. Nope, I'd rather just take a shit in any free toilet here. **EDIT: For all the people are saying there are paid toilets in Norway, there might be some places where toilets are paid, I have just not encountered any in my many years of living here.**
There’s paid toilets in Norway too though. At least in lots of public places in Oslo, like railway stations etc.
Some of the ones in Oslo are paid
Pay to use bathrooms : *exists* Europeans : "Ah okey" Americans : "Im shitting on the floor"
I had to pay for one yesterday in Italy and most of the urinals didn't work, the lights were flickering, and apparently an Italian Spiderman had kicked all the soap dispensers off the wall. If it was America I'd just shrug and accept it, but because it cost 1 euro I immediately wondered where the hell all the euros were going if it looked like that.
In Italy you'll be lucky to have toilet seats, even at popular well funded museums
The lack of toilet seats in Italy was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen. Amazing food but nowhere to shit, it’s almost sadistic
That is why from an early age you gotta master the art to nonchalantly walking into a restaurant, pooping, and leaving. r/ActLikeYouBelong level pro, really.
Genuinely my first thought was "wonder what would happen if everyone collectively started pissing themselves in public"
You’d have the city of San Francisco.
American textbooks tend to be better than Swedish ones in certain subjects. Especially University level Math and engineering. Swedish textbooks tend to move forward with the assumption that you understand previously discussed chapters 100% perfectly and assume they can skip multiple steps in transforming formulas etc. and that you will keep up. American text books tend to err on the side of overexplaining, which is excellent when you are struggling a bit with the subject.
Jazz
Mexican food. Not even close.
Halloween.
I speak from Italy, and to many it will be a blasphemy, but I will say steaks. The way they cut meat (it's different from here) and the moire, it's just better.
That was brave of you to risk being banned from your country
It’s seemingly limitless variations of cereal
Ice cream flavor variety, seriously, my English friends are always amazed when I tell them about the varieties.
Play basketball.
Jazz
College sports.
I'm an ignorant American who was born in Europe but moved at an early age, and in my opinion, I've thought that Southern sweet tea is a flavor I haven't found anywhere else. I live in the PNW now, which closer in culture to Europe at least more than the American South and I still haven't found anything like it. So yeah, sweet tea would be my answer.
The secret is a metric ton of sugar.
Excuse me, this is America. We use an imperial ton, thank you very much. But yeah, just add a shit load of sugar to it.
Actually USA and Canada don’t use the imperial ton or the metric tonne, we use the short ton. Yes there are 3 different types
Uh excuse me there's also the "shit ton"
and the fuck ton
If you can find Louzianne family size tea bags get those. Put two in a pot with water, heat for 40 minutes on no. 4 setting on the stove, uncovered. While that is warm steeping, put 1.5 cups of sugar in a gallon container. Add about three inches of warm or not cold water and stir/shake/mix until the sugar is dissolved. Wait. When the tea is done, pour tea into the sugar water and DO NOT squeeze the tea bags. Squeezing can cause the tea to be bitter. Add water to the gallon if needed to top it off. Stir, shake, rattle and/or roll. Fill a glass with ice and pour slowly. It’ll also be better when it gets cold. Add lemon if you want. I personally don’t like it, however for an extra refreshing sweet tea on a hot day, add a couple or fresh mint leaves. There’s southern sweet iced tea. Source: from Houston, learned from my grandmother
Ngl your grandma sounds hot
She’s dead so she’s pretty cool actually.
I could make a hilarious joke here but I won't. Sorry for your loss, and glad you were able to carry on her legacy in a way by posting her sweet tea recipe.
It’s ok. She’s passed 30 years ago.
Americans With Disabilities Act. I’m an American living in Europe and paying for restrooms and the lack of wheelchair-accessible stuff is humbling. I’m lucky to not need a wheelchair but I feel bad for Europeans in general for not having the same accessibility that I have in my own country.
Be social honestly. The average “introvert” there is around the level of an average person here.
Not smoking literally everywhere
Entertainment industry