Non-Americans, what do you find weird about America? (and vice versa)

[MiraMeyneth]

Pretty much what it says on the tin. If you are non-american, what are some strange, odd, weird or otherwise noteworthy things you noticed about America? Even if you're an American citizen or born here, feel free to chime in!

 

(Note: This isn't meant to call out any sort of country or bash any particular country! I mostly just made this thread because I was curious about what people think of my country, be it good or bad. If this thread gets bad, mods, feel free to lock!)

 

I guess I'll start: From an American perspective, what shocked me a lot when I went on a visit to Germany was the short travel times and how dense the cities were. It took us about an hour and a half to get from Rothenberg to Frankfurt, which was where we flew out of. Where I live currently, an hour and a half in either direction would put you in the middle of nowhere. Another thing that shocked me was just how...green everything was. The trees and the ground and the grass were all green and healthy, and the rivers were bright and blue. For context, I live in the western US, where it is mostly rock and deserts, so the color of the surrounding scenery is mostly brown, tan, or if you find some pretty rocks, red. The rivers are full of sediment, so they're almost always a dull brown. Being in an area with so much lush colors was definitely a shock to me.

 

(EDIT: 1-29-20: wow i logged back in after almost a month and this thread blew up more than i expected...thanks for all the input! I wish i could respond but there's a lot of good responses. I'm reading them all! Thanks again!)

[Rockblossom]

As an American who has lived in other countries, two irritating things in the USA immediately spring to mind:

1.  Taxes are tacked on at the register instead of being included in the posted price per item.  For visitors, this can come as a surprise.  And since taxes vary by state and town, and they are not posted anywhere in the store, the amount of the tax is also a surprise.  It's also completely unnecessary.  Stores know how much each item is taxed and could easily include the tax in the posted price, like it is done in most of Europe.  I don't know why we do things this way.

2. Tips.  Every time you move, stop, eat, park your car, pick up your coat, get a room for the night, or breathe (so it seems) - someone requires a gratuity.  Of course, that is never posted anywhere, no one is quite sure who should be tipped and by how much, and whether you can do it some way other than by carrying around pockets of cash.  It's maddening.  Like the taxes, those gratuities could and should be rolled into the advertised cost and collected as part of your payment, but they mostly aren't.  

[Dodoa]

The size and audacity of your squirrels. 

European squirrels are small and have red fur and are very shy. As a child I used to spend hours trying to get them come up to me with some nuts, trying to stay completely still to get them to trust me, but even in parks where they had lots of exposure to harmless humans and are comparatively trusting, success was rare. 

When I was in America I saw squirrels about twice the size of ours that would steal food out of your hands and attack pigeons. They are savage.

 

Also pedestrian traffic lights. They just say Walk in white instead of a green walking person. This led to me missing the walk sign come on quite a few times because it's not what I'm intuitively looking for.

[Andrea KF]

20 minutes ago, Rockblossom said:

As an American who has lived in other countries, two irritating things in the USA immediately spring to mind:

1.  Taxes are tacked on at the register instead of being included in the posted price per item.  For visitors, this can come as a surprise.  And since taxes vary by state and town, and they are not posted anywhere in the store, the amount of the tax is also a surprise.  It's also completely unnecessary.  Stores know how much each item is taxed and could easily include the tax in the posted price, like it is done in most of Europe.  I don't know why we do things this way.

2. Tips.  Every time you move, stop, eat, park your car, pick up your coat, get a room for the night, or breathe (so it seems) - someone requires a gratuity.  Of course, that is never posted anywhere, no one is quite sure who should be tipped and by how much, and whether you can do it some way other than by carrying around pockets of cash.  It's maddening.  Like the taxes, those gratuities could and should be rolled into the advertised cost and collected as part of your payment, but they mostly aren't.  

That was the things I was going to write about...

 

Anyway. Me and my family have sometimes been "accused" for being americanized. Probably because we're into American pop-culture, but not necessarily customs and behaviour.

 

I love the American spirit. You can just leave to search for freedom, fortune and fame. However, I'm aware there's another side of the coin. Fame & Fortune are relative terms that requires a majority of less fortunate.

And You have to work hard. Even after You reached Your goal. It's not worth it!

Regarding Freedom. I don't really see how You're more free than anyone else, at least in the Western World. Quite the oppostie sometimes.

[Anthracite_Impreza]

Having to pay for medical care.

[Andrea KF]

7 minutes ago, CBC said:

The poverty. It's not like we don't have poverty in Canada; we absolutely do. But it looks... different. I live in Ontario....

When I visited Ontario I was honestly quite surprised by the widespread problem of homeless people. That's on the rise here in Sweden too, but it's still nothing compared to what I saw in Canada.

 

To be fair, I only visited downtown Toronto. Haven't seen the vast majority of Ontario.

[Andrea KF]

18 minutes ago, CBC said:

Oh for sure, downtown Toronto is... a place. Because it's downtown Toronto. There are some terrible, heartbreaking areas. I have no doubt that many cities in wealthy European countries have less of it than we do.

We're unfortunately catching up. It's not too uncommon anymore even in my hometown.

 

In Europe the downtown areas are luxury and expensive. Homeless people are found in the suburbs.

 

 

Anyway, USA: As a Swede I find patriotism in general pretty weird.

[Horse Ham Radio]

The fact that people support Trump....

[RoseGoesToYale]

American here, and I can't figure out handheld bidets for the life of me, I'm sorry...

 

Everything else seems normal though. It's my own country that's bizarre.

 

27 minutes ago, Dodoa said:

The size and audacity of your squirrels. 

As a Floridian, I can confirm this is totally true. They eat themselves fat on acorns and dart out in front of cars and almost land on you when bungee-jumping from the trees. Or you'll be peacefully walking outside, and suddenly two squirrels will just burst forth from the bushes and scare everything in a meter radius half to death. Those things aren't normal.

[Janus the Fox]

The food the ‘fry everything’ thing and the super large portions, what I heard from media anyways.

[everywhere and nowhere]

American neoliberalism and the way American thinking about economy is skewed to the right. Obama at least introduced a bit of a public healthcare system and some people think of it as some horrible "socialism".

The very way the word "socialism" is used as an insult is remarkable by itself.

And, being a politically conscious person, I have read a bit and I know that this American neoliberalism is, in fact, a fairly recent history. Before there was the post-war New Deal, which grew out of a very responsible analysis of the reasons for what had happened: how frustration of poor masses can be channelled into hatred by radical leaders. At that time highest taxes were much higher and socioeconomic stratification much lower. In fact, in the 60s and 70s America even experimented locally with an idea which is now being reintroduced: guaranteed basic income, that is, giving everyone a modest sum of money each month, just for existing. Sure, at the price of eliminating most social benefits, especially pure unemployment benefits. But it's a better idea for reasons of dignity: a lot of people feel ashamed if having to rely on public help, availability of such benefits to everyone removes the stigma.

[appleseedy]

the phrase "anti american"

taking u out of colour

[thyristor]

As a kid I heard that Americans have a TV on in several rooms in the house. I found that superweired, and these days I'm surprised that Sweden has only almost caught up on that. (I dispise when my collegues leave the TV on when they are the last to leave the lunch room).

[thyristor]

Agree to what @Andrea KF said about freedom. We have it all in Europe too, but we are not as blindly clinging to it, it seems. Like if anyone in the US wants to pass a law that makes sense, someone would immediately cry out that it is against some freedom in some kind of ammendment that was made up hundreds of years ago by people who formerly were oppressed by monarchist governments. In Sweden we call it the "baselaw", it's not easily changed in one decade or so, people know it safely at their backs, they don't need to 'defend' it against windmills. Sorry for the rant, I'm an ignoramous who has never been to the States and sort of reckon that I got it all wrong

 

[Guest]

So many Americans just seem to be obsessed with guns.

 

Shops sell guns. Police just casually walk around with guns. People are afraid random politicians are going to take their guns away. 

 

There seems to be a massive shooting every few months, but after a few days of being sad, it's like it just gets forgotten about until the next time it happens.

 

I don't get it, but I guess there's an amendment, so whatever.

[Homer]

Referring to yourself as "America" in the first place.

[Ashmedai]

How the whole voting thing works there to begin with. I don't even get it.

[R_1]

I'm surprised no one said anything about american attitude toward sex and violence.

 

Bloody show? Fine. Sex? Taboo subject.

[thyristor]

47 minutes ago, Una Salus Victus said:

How the whole voting thing works there to begin with. I don't even get it.

1) Yea, something about having to register?? In Sweden we get the voting tickets free house.

2) And then something about a result not being a result but counted differently according to state or something like that *confused*

3) And then something about candidates from one party arguing the hell out of each other publicly and then trying to have that party stand like one man behind whoever wins. 🤷‍♀️

4) And then something about having basically only two parties to choose from (okay, in Europe it has gotten a bit flumsy with too many parties instead, but two is not much more than one... )

5) And then something about campaign-sponsorship? 😨

6) And then something about 'anyone can be the president' but only those who can pay tuition fee can actually make it

7) And then, if 6) is not really true, we have to prove it true anyway by litteraly voting forth any freak.

 

Again, sorry for the rant, I might get it all totally wrong, but the OP asked for it

[thyristor]

4 minutes ago, R_1 said:

Sex? Taboo subject.

And what difference does it make, if Bill Clinton has a lover? I never got the problem with that when I was young and that happened. It's something between him and his wife, not between him and the government and voters (a considerable amount of whom probably did just the same)

[thyristor]

And, how often, during an American football game, do you actually touch that non-ball-shaped thing with your foot? I just see them holding onto it with their hands all the time; in real football, that is a foul! 🤣

 

Edit: And the armour you have to wear does suggest that the sport is not seemed by sportsmanship, THAT should be an amendment: "Sportsmanship shall apply to all things we do in life in order to grant every individual's freedom from brute force."

[Whore*of*Mensa]

‘Therapy’...Does everybody in America have a therapist? It sometimes appears that way, which confuses me because health care isn’t free and therapy is expensive?

[catra]

2 hours ago, Rockblossom said:

. Tips.  Every time you move, stop, eat, park your car, pick up your coat, get a room for the night, or breathe (so it seems) - someone requires a gratuity.  Of course, that is never posted anywhere, no one is quite sure who should be tipped and by how much, and whether you can do it some way other than by carrying around pockets of cash.  It's maddening.  Like the taxes, those gratuities could and should be rolled into the advertised cost and collected as part of your payment, but they mostly aren't

gosh, i feel this post. i’m an american, and i hate the tipping system. workers should be paid enough to live. it shouldn’t be up to customers to make that gap.

 

i still think, as long as we have this system, though, people should tip as much as they can. it sucks that we have to do this, but those without a basic living wage shouldn’t have to suffer for it if we can help.

[catra]

3 minutes ago, More*of*Wenceslas said:

‘Therapy’...Does everybody in America have a therapist? It sometimes appears that way, which confuses me because health care isn’t free and therapy is expensive?

no, a ton of people don’t have therapists. some people in worse circumstances have a minimum insurance from the government, though, which can cover therapy.

[natsume]

I wouldn't call it "minimum insurance", Medicaid covers more than every insurance aside from Medicare, but is free. The number one insurance provider in this country is the government, yet people say single-payer (what most people are already on) can't possibly work. That's quite irritating. Especially since over half the people who say this are on Medicare or about to claim it.

[R_1]

40 minutes ago, elisabeth_II said:

And what difference does it make, if Bill Clinton has a lover? I never got the problem with that when I was young and that happened. It's something between him and his wife, not between him and the government and voters (a considerable amount of whom probably did just the same)

Bill Clinton? No one had a issue with him having a lover in of by itself. In the end, the issue was he shown a lack of integrity and lied under oath. There's also issues that can arise from sex in theory such as it could raise conflict of interest. And in theory, it's entirely possible that there could be questionable power dynamics issues given their large age gap and one still lacks a fully developed brain (x<25) at the time, and thus their relationship are questionable. Honestly, the case is arguable from these stances, and I would be fine with him being impeached from those observations. I would never want a president that lies under oath, and also may have questionable takes with regards to power dynamics.

[thyristor]

12 minutes ago, R_1 said:

issues that can arise from sex in theory such as it could raise conflict of interest.

There are a lot of other relationships that powerful people engage in that can raise conflicts of interest.

 

12 minutes ago, R_1 said:

And in theory, it's entirely possible that there could be questionable power dynamics issues given their large age gap

Ah, I didn't really remember that part...

 

12 minutes ago, R_1 said:

and one still lacks a fully developed brain (x<25) at the time,

That should then apply in all circumstances, not just for politicians. I think the brain is developed though, since the body is peaking at around 21 years of age I believe. But yes, there might be a lack of experience causing a lack of matureness.

 

12 minutes ago, R_1 said:

I would never want a president that lies under oath,

I'd rather my politicians don't lie at all, oath, press, twitter all the same

 

Thinking about this last point, I have this feeling that in Sweden, we don't have these oath-situations a lot, but we rage at politicians lying or pretending all the time anyway. And that again makes me think that, in the US, if someone lies under oath, it is suddenly focussed on so much that other lies (from other people) that were not under oath almost sound perfectly fine. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe it IS that way, it just struck me, that for me, I'd have politicians impeached for lying. Fullstop. That it was under oath would almost have been secondary to me. But this is getting very philosophical.... ^^

[R_1]

1 minute ago, elisabeth_II said:

That should then apply in all circumstances, not just for politicians. I think the brain is developed though, since the body is peaking at around 21 years of age I believe. But yes, there might be a lack of experience causing a lack of matureness.

Actually, no. It continues developing until 25.

----

    The prefrontal cortex is one of the last regions of the brain to reach maturation, which explains why some adolescents exhibit behavioral immaturity. There are several executive functions of the human prefrontal cortex that remain under construction during adolescence, as illustrated in Figures 3 and and4.4. The fact that brain development is not complete until near the age of 25 years refers specifically to the development of the prefrontal cortex.¹⁹

-----

Source - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621648/

[thyristor]

1 minute ago, R_1 said:

The prefrontal cortex is one of the last regions of the brain to reach maturation, which explains why some adolescents exhibit behavioral immaturity.

Cool, learnt several things today.

 

That explains a lot about these so called adolescents But then it's kind of scary that we often see 18 years as the maximum age that parents can hang onto their kids and that 16 is an age where sex is basically tolerable.

[everywhere and nowhere]

More about American economy... Do you know, for example, that in many cases supposedly the same products on the EU market and the US market have quite different ingredients? European Union law simply offers much better standards of consumer protection.

 

Also the American car obsession... In Europe American cities are used as an anti-example... Poland is about 30 years behind Western Europe because of communism - then most people didn't have cars, and even if someone had money for a car and decided to buy it, it could still happen that they would have to wait a few years until their car was actually produced... (Which is why I support neither "wild capitalism" nor state-planned economy which just doesn't work. I believe that there has to be private enterprise, private companies, but the state must also retain the right to intervene. The market by itself isn't fair - for example "it" "judges" low-qualification, but very-high-effort work such as cleaning as worth very little, it also underestimates the value of the most responsible jobs possible, such as teaching, and hugely exaggerates the value of all finance-related jobs.) So after communism a lot of people, unfortunately, perceived cars as an epitome of freedom and didn't yet see the downsides (in dense traffic anyone's choice to use a car is a choice which, at most, benefits only them). Now also the US is starting to see that universal motoring is a road to nowhere, that this kind of lifestyle simply can't continue indefinitely, in Europe it was never taken that far and so it's easier to turn back. But multi-lane urban highways of L.A. are a quickly recognisable anti-model of how a good, sustainable city should be planned...