Europeans Point Out What's Normal In Their Countries That Americans Think Are Nuts

Traveling outside of one's homeland is always an exciting adventure. Discovering new places and people is good for the soul. And it's always interesting to experience culture shock, particularly between America and Europe. 

Giphy

One Redditor, Inmydreams91 posed the question of the :  "What is normal in Europe but abnormal in America?"

It all goes back to the Puritans. 

Broadcast tv having more nudity than hbo.  mtwstr

PG-13 isn't the same worldwide. 

Greater tolerance of bad language and nudity in media in general. For example, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, according to IMDb, passed with an "11 and up" rating in Sweden, and in the Netherlands, films like Erin Brokovich, and Steve Jobs (rated R for language, mostly) got an "All ages" rating.

Hannibal has an 18 certificate in the UK (and the equivalent of an 18+ rating in most countries) while it skates by with a TV-14 and is primetime fare in the US.

Big Mouth is rated "12 and up" in the Netherlands despite explicit sexual references, while South Park and Family Guy bear a mere "6 and up" rating.

It's not one guy cussing or two people having consensual sex that triggers a higher movie or TV rating in most European countries - it's someone getting beaten, whipped, eaten, or stabbed to death. Watchmen got an 18 certificate in the UK (the highest rating - rarely given to superhero films) because of the bandsaw scene, while The King's Speech got a mere 12A due to the bad words being "in a speech therapy context." In the US, both of these films were R but for completely different reasons.

Earmuffs, young ones.

I'm Christian and I don't like profanity, but it's unrealistic to think kids won't hear it or that everything has to be "sanitized". There are well-written songs, films, and TV series that happen to have swear words, and it's foolish to deny that. It's not like the Bible is exactly all "G-rated" either - especially if you're Catholic or Orthodox (that Book of Maccabees is brutal).   01000001_sauce 

Giphy

Metric Mania

The Metric system.     mal088   (Always a head scratcher!) 

What about the pirate party?

Having more then 2 political parties to vote for.  TheStressGamer

YES PLEASE!!!

Giphy

CHEERS!

Drinking outside such as on the beach, in a park etc. While probably not considered abnormal in America, it definitely seemed to be less common than in the UK.   CycloneChilli

Giphy

Show me the money

Chips-n-cheez The price on the shelf being the price you pay.

Edit. Nothing to do with haggling. European prices include tax on them. It isn't added when you get to the till/cash register.

Tips on Tipping

tropomagnifico A few years back I went on an all expenses paid cruise with open bars and food, etc. After boarding, I see signs all over the decks and bar areas saying gratuity was not included in the all expenses deal. I ran out of cash after like 45 minutes of tipping and then the servers just ignored me because I could no longer tip them and they assumed I was being rude. The poor staff were probably paid horribly and surviving on tips, which is just plain awful. Employers should pay a living wage and not expect customers to pick up the difference.

Holiday time

Over 30 days of paid vacation every year.  memeromemes

Yes, Mom. There's a chaperone. 

deg3n3rate Letting your teenage kid's bf/gf sleep over at your house without freaking out.

Giphy

The bigger the better

Small cars. In the US something like the Ford Focus or VW Golf is considered a small car, and cars like the Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2 are considered really small.

A Honda Civic Accord is about what America would consider normal size.

In Europe, totally different, the Golf and Focus are the average with anything larger than that considered large.  Sven2774

Who knows where those eggs have been!

Unwashed eggs. didzisk

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) graded eggs would be illegal if sold in the UK, or indeed anywhere in the European Union (EU). Its all to do with the fact that commercial American eggs are federally required to be washed and sanitized before they reach the consumer. EU egg marketing laws, on the other hand, state that Class A eggs those found on supermarkets shelves, must not be washed, or cleaned in any way.

Gaming the system

Calling the early 90s Sega console a "Mega Drive" instead of a "Genesis".   CuthbertTheDestroyer

Giphy

Don't make me wash that mouth out with soap!

Swearing.

Now, yes, we swear in the US, of course we do...but I didn't realize how much I reign it in in public until I came back from a long Euro stint, ate at an American restaurant for the first timein a month, and kept getting daggers from the eyes of a mom at the next table over with kids of 8 or 9 or so. In Europe, no one gives a shit about swearing (I mean, yeah it's in English, but everyone knows all the swears, and they swear in the local language, too) but in the US if you're in public and you hear even a slightly raised voice swearing, it usually means some shit's going down.    FlavinBagel

Giphy

Wouldn't that be nice?!

Going to the hospital without worrying about being plunged into debt. SinkTube

Cold Shoulder

noTSAluv  Normal in Europe...sit at a cafe/restaurant for hours without having the waiter come by every freaking 15 min or so to ask you if there is anything else you need. No, we are here just chatting it up cause we got no other place to be, If we needed your services we would have called you.

No ice in drinks. autisticbigballs01

Giphy

Pucker up! 

Cheek kissing. Soldier4Christ82

Giphy

Well when one is traveling abroad, as they say,  "When in Rome!"