If you go far enough back in time, Americans and Europeans are virtually of the same blood. Heck, they still are without the time travel, but other factors played a role in why there’s a certain kind of cultural and social divide. The big pond between the continents being one of them.
Still, differences ought to be celebrated and folks online choose to do that by pointing out what’s normal in Europe (and other places, really) but might look weird to the average American. As per this Reddit thread.
So, what is culture? In the most simple of terms, culture is everything that a group of people are and know.
In less simple terms, culture is a sort of an identity that a group of people—a community—has that manifests itself through things like language, religion, cuisine, social behaviors and habits as well as the arts.
To make it even less simple, a huge chunk of what culture is deals with shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive structures and understanding learned through socialization. This further brings home the idea of culture being an identity all the while also explaining that it’s an organism of sorts—it grows, it develops, and it reproduces through being passed down to other generations.
And there’s loads of these cultures. Each country has at least one, and if it’s a bigger or more ethnically diverse country, there can be more (in the thousands even). And that’s just one aspect. Cultures can form among regions, districts, or communities that can all focus on the various aspects of identity—communities based around political beliefs, religious ones, hobbies and interests, and the like.
One of the key aspects that explain why there are so many cultures out there is the idea of ecology. In different parts of the world, people are surrounded by different physical and social conventions.
While we are all the same as a species, we all have mechanisms that allow us to adapt to our immediate surroundings in different ways.
The phenomenon is called adaptive phenotypic plasticity and it’s basically the idea of the same genes leading to different human traits depending on the environment.
And the body is going to keep it that way because evolutionary theories suggest natural selection favors flexible behaviors that are sensitive to such environmental changes. And if you pair that up with the idea that we are stronger and more fit to survive in groups, it only solidifies the role of culture in evolution.
As such, that which makes us all similar and psychologically tending towards the same things is expected of humans sharing similar ecological conditions.
To keep it clear, the idea of environmental conditions isn’t just weather patterns—it’s also things like the social, physical and a slew of other climates, conditions that force us to react in one way or another.
And all of this is important why? Because, tl;dr, we’re better off closer together.
By learning who the other is, we empower ourselves to learn more about what the world is like, and education never hurts anyone (getting hit by a book isn’t an argument against it, Tim).
As such, this way we build trust and respect, and if a particular place becomes rich in multiculturalism that way, it just makes it more interesting to live there.
This is also why we ought to support cultural diversity, and there’s a number of ways of doing it. First up, plunge into the pool of diversity as living in one rubs off on you. This is quite literally how culture works.
All the while avoid imposing values that others may have trouble accepting or it’s inconsistent with their own.
A lot of what accepting other cultures is can be defined as education and understanding. So teach yourself and learn to understand the concepts that describe these other cultures. In turn, learn to respect and accept them, and will show a good example to others.
By proxy, push away the tide of ignorance and stop folks from exercising insensitivity, bias and prejudice. Being proactive in all of these things will solidify the experience.
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? What are some differences that you think are worth mentioning here? Share your takes and stories in the comment section below!
Oh, and before I forget, there’s more where that came from.
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Crotia:
We learn how to drink really early in life. By the time we're legally allowed to, we have a tolerance and culture of drinking to we don't pass out so easily.
Kids don't drive. But these are boring examples.
How about supermarkets not working 24/7, not everyone speaking English, especially elderly who usually rather speak German or Russian, not having highways of US scale, people walking around towns, kids going to profession-specified high schools, foxes walking around towns like domestic animals and deers in people's yards.
>500 y/o buildings still in use, gas stoves, turkish coffee, 7-15 work hours, more than 2 parties on political scene, smoking being popular, majority using android devices...
I am American, living in Germany. I never realized so many American-artist songs have the work F**K in them until I moved here lol...all the "bad" words are edited out in the U.S. on the radio. Here, nope, uncensored. Americans are numb to gunned down children, but bring out the F word and oh we cannot have that! Idiocy.England: The number of people including politicians who are publically atheist. Not saying all Americans are crazy religious I’m sure for most it’s just something you put on a census and go to church maybe once a year. But I’ve heard it’s very taboo in the US to nonchalantly say you don’t believe in god, which is sort of the default here if you get chatting about religion.I'm a Finn, we go to sauna, naked. It's normal you've seen your friends and family members naked. It's not sexual nor is it embarrassing.We have Right to Roam in Scotland and whenever I've seen this discussed on Reddit, what I assumed to be a near-universally popular policy has been torn to shreds by Americans. It's anathema to them, it fries their brains.
"So a homeless person can just pitch a tent in your yard and you can't get rid of them???!!!!"
"So people can just come onto a farmer's land and destroy his crops????!!!!"
"So people can just get access to military installations and airports??!!!"
No amount of explaining that's not how it works will calm them.From the UK, where there is no gun culture. There are no gun shops. You cannot defend yourself with a gun, largely because the other guy won't have a gun either.
Informality, especially with service workers. Used to work in a supermarket and an old American guy was complaining about something. I tried to help him and he began ranting, told me I was rude and demanded to be addressed as “sir” to which I burst out laughing, enraging him further.Holidays/Vacation/Paid Time Off - Call it what you like - but Americans simply don’t understand it.
Not to mention workers rights that don’t require you to be part of a Union to have. We just have them as standard.
From dating an American who came to the U.K. to study, she was shocked by how much holidays we get and how secure our rights are as employees.Irish people swear and curse creatively, it’s like punctuation and emphasis in normal speech. And our religious comments are also not appreciated.
“Christ on a bike”
“Jesus, Mary and St. Joe”
“F**k him and the horse he rode in on”.England: I have witnessed Americans fume at the way service works when eating food at a pub. No one will greet you when you walk in, no one will come to your table to take your order. Find a table, read the menu, order and pay at the bar.Belgium: My brother In law once held a bottle of wine in an American supermarket ("Can you put it in the cart, son?") and all of the Americans looked shocked. The idea of a child holding a bottle of alcohol... They were much more lenient regarding guns though.Religion not being a thing that comes up, ever, unless there is a very specific reason for it. It doesn't matter if you're atheist, christian, Catholic or muslim. Finns don't care about what anyone else believes, and even those of us who do care, consider it a private issue that you shouldn't pry into unless the person you are talking to offers that information voluntarily.Germany: Standing at a red light in the middle of the night on an empty street waiting for the light to turn green. We do not question the meaning of rules.PDA and a lack of prudism. I saw a tiktok of a guy freaking out because a girl was sitting on his boyfriend's lap at the train. If he ever came to Spain he’d leave traumatized due to the huge amount of people that shamelessly make out on the streets, sunbathe naked, etc.Finns value their personal space. This includes both physical space but also verbally. Let me explain:
If you’re waiting for a bus, for example, stand a few meters apart from other people at the bus stop when possible. Do not sit next to anyone on the bus either if there are still empty pairs of seats. I can easily tell who is foreign when I’m in line in a grocery store because they tend to stand so uncomfortably close to me.
We also appreciate being left alone when out and about (but are happy to give you directions or help in any other way if needed). There’s no need to initiate small talk if you’re alone in an elevator with a Finn because to us awkward silences aren’t generally awkward at all. In general, we value silence and converse in more hushed tones compared to people outside of Finland/northern Europe, especially out in public spaces.I’m non-European but once studied & lived in both US and Europe. Based on my observations of a few European countries (disclaimer ahead: not all
European countries are like this):
- Home schooling being illegal except in very narrow and absolutely necessary cases.
- Surrogacy being illegal
- Good public transportation, which leads to
- Very young kids take buses, trams, underground, or ride bicycles to school and go home
- drinking alcohol at 18 or even younger
- wearing school uniforms
- No AC in the house
- not allowed to talk loudly in public
- parents allow their kids to stay overnight at their partners’ houses & vice versa
- Religion being a personal thing that doesn’t shove down other people’s throats; openly saying you are non-religious/agnostic/atheist
- Comprehensive sex ed > abstinence-only
All I can think so far.Swedish elevator etiquette:
1. if I can hear you breathe, your presence is too intrusive
2. if you look directly at me, I will mentally stab you
3. if you engage me in small-talk, you are no longer welcome in the country.France. Eating proper meals at school and not snacks. I wouldn't have imagined eating a pack of chips, pizza or industrial slices bread. Lunches were cooked on site and consisted of proper dishes like a restaurant.
Also, non overly friendly staff in shops or restaurants that don't treat clients like royalty. You won't have a waiter come to you ask if everything is fine every 2 minutes. Or very polite staff in shops, quite the opposite. There's a reason French people have the reputation of being rude. ;).Denmark: Babies sleeping outside. In particular babies sleeping alone in public outside restaurants or shops for example.Sweden:* The ability to immigrate to a non-Swedish citizen who lives in Sweden, as a partner in a same-sex, unwed couple. * No screens on the windows and no AC in homes, businesses or public transit (and yes, it does get hot here). * In Stockholm, it takes an average of 9 years of waiting in a rental queue to be able to rent an apartment (or you can sublet for hugely inflated prices). Once you sign a rental contract, your waiting time starts over again. People trade rental contracts in order to be able to move apartments, and rental contracts are sold on the black market. * University is free. * TV dramas about teenagers having lots of great sex, shows about sex are shown on national public television. * Servers/waitstaff are paid a living wage. Tips are not required or necessarily expected. * A visit to the doctor costs about $25. All healthcare is free for a year after you’ve paid $140/year in fees. Giving birth is free. Cancer treatment is free (once you've paid $140/year).* Everyone eats mushrooms and berries they find in the woods. Wild foraging is a very common pastime * Taking a dip in a hole in the ice of a frozen lake is a relatively common winter weekend activity. * Your running water/warm water/heating is usually paid for by the rental company. * Salty, ammonia-flavored licorice is considered delicious * Carrying pepper spray requires a permit * Carrying any size of knife or sharp object in public is illegal, except when required by work, or some other justifiable purpose (like mushroom hunting). * Only 6% of the Swedish population has a license to own a firearm In the Netherlands we have something called a 'dropping', which is where we pull our kids out of bed in the middle of the night, dump them in the woods without phones and make them find their own way back. This is very common to do at school camps and with the scouts. Its is completely normal and dutch kids find it rather exciting and not traumatizing at all.
Considering many Americans consider letting your kids play in the front lawn unattended, or letting them cycle around the suburbs by themselves, negligent parenting this is probably quite shocking to them too.
I have to note however, we have no large predators, only a couple wolves, but in very confined areas. Also, the optimal route is commonly only about 30 mins walking, which never happens ofc, and it is hard to not hit a road with signs or a village by walking in an arbitrary direction for half an hour in the Netherlands.Living comfortably without a car or a driving licence. Even if someone has a car, they only use it for transporting something heavy or going for journeys outside of town, not for daily commuting.
Daily commuting by trains and train stops in every other village.
Parents and other family members letting little children drink alcohol. I'm pretty sure I was a toddler when I had beer for the first time. On the weekends we all had a glass of beer after lunch, and at the family gatherings everyone got a glass of alcohol for a toast. (I hope most young parents nowadays wouldn't do that. I'm 30.).The Netherlands: Drinking alcohol around children is very normal. On a nice day you see families sitting comfortably in the park with a glass of wine in their hand and the children playing around them.Austria: As an assistant manager I regularly had to calm American customers down because the staff in our souvenir shop told them that they are busy at the moment (not with other customers) and can't help them with finding certain items. Never any other nation had a problem with that. (But Americans are usually the only ones anyway asking for the manager. Only once in my career one Chinese woman asked for one but that was it).Netherlands: Children from around the age of six being able to play outside on the streets and in the woods and meadows with other children on their own, unsupervised. At least in the villages. As long as they are home before supper and the parents have a general idea of where they are.I attended university in 3 different European countries, got my masters, and just paid about 50 euros in total fees for 10 years of studying (I wasn't in a hurry to finish, as classes were interesting, I learned a lot and had fun)
And all these universities were better than expensive private colleges in USA (I work as IT in expensive private college in NYC so I know).I'm am American living in Portugal and one thing that surprised me is you just take off your clothes in front of the doctor.
In the US, they give you privacy and you take off your clothes and put on a gown. Then the doctor or nurse knocks and comes in. Here, you go the gynecologist and you just take off your pants and undies and hop right up into the stirrups. A friend said she was shocked to not be given a robe for her mammogram. Just shirt and bra right off and letting it all hang out.
Makes sense! They're going to see your bits and bobs anyway! It's more efficient to not have that extra step in between.There appear to be few things as confusing to Americans as a "if you meet the minimum education requirements you're just in" policy in higher education admittance.
We call each other c**t, often as a term of endearment. Eg: "Ah Tommy you're some mad c**t."
I am led to believe the Yanks do not particularly like that word.Sweden: The lax attitude to nudity, religion and Disney. Also that dad has the right to stay home with the kids when they are under 1 year and get paid to do so and men does this because they want too. Yeah, I have male friend been told they are "gay" and not manly for doing normal house chores and being a sane parent.I've seen Americans break down because they thought everyone was beeing mean and short with them , when it's just that Dutch culture is less ambigious.
Like when someone doesn't think a idea is very good they will say it's a bad idea , not as like a personal judgement but just that one idea just now.
France : the owner of the shop/restaurant refusing to do something for a customer he doesn't agree with (like ice in your wine). Customer is not king here.Germany: Keeping a separation between work and real friendships. Americans chit chat at work and talk about personal things. Currently working in US and am a bit socially awkward at work here.Calling cigarettes "f**s".
Saying "I'm going for a Chinese", "I'm going for an Indian"
Then names of Chinese and Indian restaurants like "Oriental Pearl" or "Bombay Spice".
Black people with standard regional British accents.There are certain non-PC jokes and phrases regarding different racial groups that would probably offend the sensibilities of many Americans. Danes have a much different mindset when it comes to such things.
Also, the more relaxed attitude towards alcohol. This includes younger people being much more able to consume it. A lot of people tend to start drinking alcohol around the age they are confirmed.In Slovakia, men throwing buckets of cold water on women on Easter Monday. And then the woman thanks them and offers them a shot of vodka.Czechia: We make a procession where three men dress up as the three kings who visited Jesus in Betlehem. One of them is painted black.Czechia: Paying for public toilets, apparently. Dogs allowed in pubs/shops. And I've seen a lot of surprised comments about old and/or disabled people just walking/riding around in wheelchairs on the streets and taking public transportation.Turkish people will stare and get into your personal space. Men kiss other men to greet, best guy and girl friends walk arm in arm or arm on shoulder and nobody thinks they're gay. People send little kids to buy cigarettes and alcohol.Belgium: Waiters in restaurants won't constantly bother you, and you have to actively wave them down if you want to order another drink. This might be seen as lack of engagement by Americans. Also no free water in restaurants here, which I myself don't particularly like, because ordering these tiny 20cl water bottles that are gone in two gulps is a giant waste of money.Slovenia: It was pretty common to go drink a beer or two with classmates and friends in senior highschool years. This was a while back, I am a millenial, not sure if it is still common. We also had a party with soft alcoholic drinks at the end of elementary school. Legal drinking age is 18, but it's not like the police are chasing around kids drinking beer. Bars and grocery stores require an ID tho, if you want to buy alcohol.Spain
Eating rabbit and snails.
Babies/small children staying out until past midnight in the street while their parents are eating taking a drink on summer nights.
Out meals hours.
Persianas (blinds that fully block sunlight).In the UK, the default in parks is dogs can be off-lead. Americans seem to think it's very irresponsible to let dogs off in public areas, except in dedicated, fenced-off dog parks.
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