One Country's Normal Is Another's Psychotic
These everyday activities are totally normal if you call America your home but are considered odd or out of context to any other country on the outside looking in. Take a peek into the bizarre habits and tastes of American culture.
Drinking Root Beer
Nothing is more American than relaxing on a pleasant day and drinking a cold, sugary root beer. The foam mustaches, and burps from the fizzy deliciousness…these are what childhood dreams are made of. In America of course.
Order a root beer outside North America and don't be surprised if you get a Lager with a potato in it!
Markmark28, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Breaking The Fast The Ol’ Sweet Way
And who says you can’t eat something sweet for breakfast? American breakfasts have long been characterized by sugary goodness.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Pancakes covered in syrup. Dunkin' Donuts. To any outsider, this may seem excessive, to an American, this is the culture.
Tipping Is Like Saying Thank You
It's become so normal in the US that Americans do it without thinking, but Europeans are often baffled by the amount of tipping taking place. Anything from a cup of coffee to thanking an Uber driver with a 15% tip is the norm.
Marko Milivojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Distance Over Everything
Are you interested in cross-country or interstate travel? For Americans, a four-hour drive within the same state is completely normal, a Brit may scoff at the idea.
To give you a clearer picture, the United States is 3,809,525 square miles – you can explore different landscapes that will make you think you're in an entirely different country.
Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Friendliest Service Staff
Remember how Americans like tipping? Well, as a consequence, service staff are friendly because the tipping system allows them to earn extra income.
This is a drastic culture shift from many European nations whose service staff isn’t as friendly due to tip culture not being a benchmark of restaurant quality of service.
Toilets With Powerful Flushes
The great modern toilet is one to admire, and if you happen to be in the United States, you get the added bonus of a powerful flush; just don’t flush down anything that’s NOT supposed to be flushed down the toilet if you know what I mean.
The secrets to a powerful American flush are next.
Xuan Shisheng, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Toilets With High Water
Remember how powerful American toilet flushes are? One of the main reasons they are so powerful is the high water levels in the toilet. Visitors are often surprised to feel an extra splash after using the loo. The high water and mighty flush share a symbiotic relationship.
Not Enough Vacation Time
While many countries like the UK can boast about superior vacation time, Americans on average get only 11 days of paid holidays a year. To give you an idea, in Iran, they get 27 paid holidays annually that’s over double the amount Americans get.
What The Health?
Visitors to the United States are often shocked at how American insurance health coverage works. Healthcare spending is expensive for Americans, so what seems completely normal for the average American to spend on healthcare is mindboggling to foreign vacationers.
Dude, Where’s My Bus?
Europe is known for its superior, reliable public transit systems, and so is Australia, Japan, and essentially most developed countries that are not the United States. Why? Despite America’s impressive wealth, the country lacks viable infrastructure to maintain the quality of public transportation systems like these other countries do—and the 4 million square miles don't help either.
Which Came First? The Pharmacy Or The Supermarket
In most countries, a pharmacy is a store where you can get medical-related and supplementary health supplies–think Band-Aids and Advil. Not in America.
Americans have a running joke about peculiar items found in their local pharmacy, including Pokémon cards, toy sets, produce and more.
You can even find the next item on an American pharmacy shelf.
Isle of Man Government, Flickr
Red Plastic Cups
What do barbeques, teen movies, and college frat parties have in common? Red plastic cups. A staple in coming-of-age movies and scenes of wild parties, nothing says American more than the red plastic cup.
Michael Mata, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Ice, Ice, Baby
Since we’re on the topic of cups, a refreshing drink with lots of ice disrupts the soda-to-ice ecosystem. Generally, a couple of cubes is enough to cool your drink, but in many American establishments, the mantra of more ice means filling your cups to the brim with ice and then, if there’s room, topping it off with a little soda.
Give Me An A!
Iconic to American sports and tradition is cheerleading. For those outside looking in, it’s not commonplace to see cheerleaders take center stage the way they do in America. Go pom-poms!
Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Flags, Flags And More Flags
As a dedicated patriotic nation, Americans cannot help but display their national pride, represented by the overrepresentation of the national flag across the United States. For outsiders, this can be a bit much, for an American it’s home.
The Main Attraction
For French speakers, an entrée is the starter before the main meal, how it became the main course in the US remains a mystery.
Garbage Disposals
A completely normal experience for Americans is to scrape their leftover food parts into the sink so the garbage disposal can do its job. Outside the United States, this concept of garbage disposal is abstract to most, causing them to look sideways at the whole idea.
Having Open Conversations With Strangers
Cultures outside of the United States may be taken back by the ease Americans have with communicating with strangers.
You can often spot these unprovoked conversations happening everywhere, the airport, street market, or mall, and you’d think these people have known each other for ages.
Jules Grandgagnage, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Formatting The Date
Everywhere else in the world, it’s day then month, but unique to America, its month, then day. It can be confusing to see 7/28/2024 if you’re not used to writing or seeing this format style.
Coffee Fanatics
It’s no secret that Americans consume a lot of coffee, and some may say they are the trendsetters of the global coffee craze.
Visitors to the United States are shocked at the amount of coffee consumed in America, often seeing people with extra large cups drinking coffee throughout the day. Don't worry: It's mostly sugar in those cups!
Nirzar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Free Refills
If you haven’t noticed, Americans are obsessed with beverages, and soda is no exception. Free soda refills are an American staple and giant cup sizes with fizzy sweetness surprise thirsty European visitors who are used to single-use tiny bottles of Coke.
Baking Bread With Lots Of Sugar
Compared to other countries, Americans are unaware of how sweet their store-bought bread is. While sugar is a great preservative, it can also make the dough softer and equalize the yeasty taste of bread.
Wearing Shoes Inside The House
Removing your shoes before you enter someone’s home in Asia is a sign of respect. In Europe, it’s common etiquette. In America, wearing shoes inside people’s homes is generally acceptable if they are not muddy or wet.
All Paper Money Is Green
If you’ve seen currencies around the world, typically they are color coded into different denominations. In America aside from the denomination amount in the corner, the only way to differentiate each bill is to know your American presidents. Time to brush up on your American history.
Using The Imperial System
The metric system is a global standard of measurement and has taken some countries longer than others to adapt to it.
America refused to use integrate the metric system and maintains the use of the imperial system to this day. Talk about stubbornness.
Frequent Commercial Breaks
Watching cable television in the US can feel interrupted if you're not used to six to eight minutes' worth of commercials in a half-hour television show. The frequency of commercials is by far higher than in most countries.
American Centric Sports
Loyal fans of US sports teams may not see their favorite teams as beloved abroad as on home turf. Sports like basketball and baseball may be played in other countries, but lack the same devotion to the sport as Americans.
Prescription Medicine Commercials
Remember the frequent commercial spots from earlier? Many of them advertise prescription meds like they’re going out of style. Outside of the US, the commercialization of pharmaceuticals can be an unnerving thought.
Plus Taxes
Purchasing items in the US will challenge you to calculate sales tax into your final purchase price. Other countries simply add sales tax to the tag price, but what can you expect from a country with so many shopping options?
Extra Large Portion Sizes
Visitors to the average American restaurant see firsthand the ridiculously-sized portions eaten every day. It’s no secret that the obesity problem is increasing in the US, so these gigantic portions don’t help waist size, or the mountain of take-out containers used for unfinished meals.
Direct Communicators
On the surface, Americans are open to conversations with strangers and can be very helpful. However, known for their direct style of communication, getting to the point can leave little room for niceties, and many English visitors may find this style of communication downright rude.
Drive-Thru Food Service
Americans are known for their cars, love for food and you guessed it; drive-thru restaurants. Combining the two creates the perfect storm, love for convenience, love for driving, and favorite junk food. Compared to walkable cities in Europe, the amount of drive-thru establishments in the US is on another level.
Pump Up The Volume
If you have ever traveled to another country outside the US, you might have been warned you were talking too loudly. While expressive and colorful communication is commonplace within the US, other countries might ask you to leave the train or find another restaurant to scream.
The Word “College”
In most parts of the world, colleges are called universities, but for some reason in the United States, college is the blanket term for university.
tracy, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Homecoming
You may have watched many coming-of-age teen movies in the past and noticed a recurring high school or college homecoming theme. It’s a big deal in the US, and those in Canada share similar festivities…other parts of the world, not so much.
Ray Dumas, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
International Travelers
According to the US State Department statistics, only one-third of Americans have their passport. Americans have such a vast landscape to frolic in, it’s no wonder many don’t see an issue not traveling internationally.
Plus, with such little vacation time, why bother?
Still, Sparkling, Or Tap
Americans typically ask for water in restaurants without specifying what type of water they want. In Europe, the waiter asks what type of water you would like because most still water is in bottles which they must charge. Since tap water quality changes depending on where you are, proceed with caution.
Must Everything Be An Issue?
The standard American diet includes complaining about trivial daily occurrences that foreigners may be puzzled about. Food not out in 30 seconds? It’s an issue. Stores don’t have an item? “I want to see your manager.”
Those who work in the customer service sector know all too well the woes of keeping the customer happy.
What Do You Do?
If you’ve ever been to a gathering or event in the US, this question is as common as saying hello. Outsiders to America may feel sensitive about disclosing personal information to a stranger and question why Americans are so career-obsessed.
Allegiance To Ancestral Lineage
In most countries, people identify with the country they were born in or have lived in for many years. Many Americans identify as their heritage, so you often hear them saying they are Polish, Italian, or German, despite not speaking the language or ever visiting the country...because they don’t have passports.
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