It is entirely normal to feel slightly out of your depth when going abroad—one of the main points of travel is to expose yourself to different cultures, customs, and ways of living. Not only does this broaden our knowledge about the world, but it can also make us value what we have at home far more once we’re back from our adventures.
One redditor recently asked their fellow internet users from Europe to share the biggest culture shocks that they experienced while visiting the United States, and they delivered. Scroll down to check out what surprised them the most on their travels, from just how B I G everything is to the (over)work culture and how friendly everyone seems.
We reached out to traveler and artist Dennis Irschara, who has been to 34 countries, to hear his thoughts about the United States. Read on to see what the traveler told Bored Panda.
#1
I know it’s popular to dunk on Americans, but honestly, for me, it was how friendly everyone was.
Image source: Lexi_Phenex, Andrea Piacquadio
#2
The homeless problem. I couldn’t believe the extent of it, it made me really sad.
Image source: AnnaLiffey, Jon Tyson
#3
Entering a store in Germany: opening the door to silence or a brief hello. Entering a store in the US: ‘Hello! How are you today? What can I do for you?’ Aaargh, can’t you just ignore me like at home? That was way too much communication.
Image source: Satures, Blake Wisz
#4
My uncle from Ireland driving around Texas: “Is there some sort of national holiday going on that I don’t know about? Why does everyone have a flag showing?” I had to explain about the flags.
Image source: desertsail912, Ben Mater
#5
Being from The Netherlands: severely bike unfriendly roads/urban layouts. Everything is designed for car traffic mostly.
Image source: TheJurri, Logan DeBorde
#6
Everyone calling me honey/love/sweetie. Those words/terms of endearment aren’t used that casually over here (Netherlands).
Image source: Pale-Assistant-9561, Gary Barnes
#7
When paying in restaurants they took my debit card away from me and took it away with the waiter. I thought that was really weird.
The waiters were also like obsessive at the table every 2 minutes “everyone okay? Can we get you another drink?” And then before I had even asked for the bill they brought it at the end of the meal, I wanted a pudding but I didn’t know what to do after they brought me the bill without me asking.
Also the meals and drink sizes were huge, the McDonald’s and coke tastes weird and off. All the food had like weird after tastes.
In the supermarket you have like a 100000 different versions of each food, like I had never seen so many different types of Oreo’s in my life.
Having to tip someone 20% for simply doing their job was annoying, like I ordered a pizza and the person yelled at me for not giving him a tip and I had no clue we were even meant to do that
Image source: BoardingSchoolBoy, energepic.com
#8
Military fetish. I knew it existed but just wasn’t prepared for how pervasive it was. Any kind of public event there were announcements asking veterans to stand up and be applauded. Not special military events. The two that come to mind were the Grand Ol’ Opry and a Labour Day thing in Washington DC, but there were other occasions.
I was in the (British) Army Reserve andso kept joking to my wife that I would stand up too and we had a laugh about it . Like “imagine actually lapping this stuff up, lol.”
People wearing an army uniform in public. Weird. (And I was told I mustn’t do that off-duty when I was a reservist.)
People wearing baseball caps with like “USS Eagle. Operation Iraqi Freedom.” And medal ribbons on it or something. Never ever seen a British soldier or ex-soldier wearing something that indicated military service just while they’re going about their civilian life. People who have been in or are in the American military seem to define their *life* by it, even in their civilian affairs/day-to-day life.
In a Bass Pro shop and other places there were all kinds of s****y themed wall “art” like clocks and random ornaments and s**t that said like “LAND OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.”
A (chain of?) Military fetish themed BBQ restaurant with like uniforms and medals on the wall and stuff.
Compared to any place I’ve ever been that whole thing is what stands out as the MOST weird and uniquely American. Nowhere else does anything like that.
Image source: Saxon2060, Thang Cao
#9
Toilets with not enough privacy.
What’s with the big gaps around the doors and rest of the cubicle?
Image source: HeyHeyBitconeeeeect, Goodnight_Gromit
#10
THAT EVERYTHING IS SO BIG.
Cars, food portions, tips, roads, people, attitudes.
Always fun tho.
Image source: kuridono, Amine Ben Mohamed
#11
The food. This was 2001 and I’m from the UK/France. I’d never seen refillable drinks before. I couldn’t believe you could just have as much soda as you wanted and no one was going to think you were stealing. When we ate dinner, entire loaves of bread and a ramakin of butter. Supermarkets packed so high and wide. Turkey drumsticks the size of a t-rex. I was bowled over.
Image source: The_Queef_of_England, Josephina Kolpachnikof
#12
Not necessarily related to the country, but more to the people itself. Americans are by far the most social people I have come across in my travels. It seems like they have mastered the art of small talk with strangers. This has been mostly positive for me as it is really easy to be featured in their social groups. Kind of the opposite is the case in my country (The Netherlands). It has helped me understand why American immigrants in my country struggle with being happy.
Image source: daaniscool, Tim Douglas
#13
As someone who grew up there, returning now always gives me culture shock. The worst is probably when I go to Florida to visit my sister. The radio is nothing but pay day loan advertisements. Even my son listening to them says, “that sounds like a scam.” Just the amount of blatant and obvious predation on consumers is jarring and it didn’t used to be that bad.
Image source: GrumpiestOldDude, Breakingpic
#14
56 flavours of donuts in a gas station in the middle of nowhere. 56! I counted!
Image source: RenoRamone, Annie Spratt
#15
The work till you drop culture.
There have been people who are proud of the fact they don’t see their families or miss occassionas because they work for ‘the company’..
I used to work for a grocery store and it was close to a cult.
Image source: ZealouslyJaded, Nicola Barts
#16
I Lived in America for a year when I was around 8, and foolish me didn’t understand the tax system.
I remember my mother giving me money to go to the store to get ice cream, and being really confused/upset when the cashier told me my $3 was not enough despite that being its labelled price.
I remember thinking to myself how stupid the cashier must be that she couldn’t read the label properly.
Image source: shakypancakey, Fikri Rasyid
#17
It’s been almost a decade so things might have changed, but I have a few:
Positive: it’s very easy to connect to complete strangers, up to the point me and my wife got invited to a pick-up beach volleyball game after we met some people in a bar. Was great fun!
Negative: price on fresh vegetables in a grocery store was just staggering, I completely understood why poor families would buy take away instead of freshly cooked meals.
Negative: the amount of “normal” looking homeless people in San Francisco was just insane.
Image source: ThrowRA_1234586
#18
– pretty much zero public transport
– the bars are all so…clean? Every bar I went to was like a fully air-conditioned sports bar, with the tvs and everything. Where I live, the more lived-in, the better the pub.
– everything is sweet. The beer was sweet, the bread, the traditional, home-cooked meals, the f*****g cheese
Image source: Russiadontgiveaf**k, Dorrell Tibbs
#19
On a first gas station in New York state after crossing border with Canada, I started pushing my car for fun. Just to check if I am able to move it. Imiedialetly some man in an old pick up truck stopped next to me and asked if I need help. It was mind blowing to me because in my country even if I would wave to people asking for help I would wait at least an hour for somebody who would willing to help me.
Image source: Jager_anfanger, KoolShooters
#20
I hate, with a flaming passion, those fake hot dogs. I believe they’re called water dogs. The ones that taste like plastic. When I went to New York City, we got one of those, and it was disgusting. It tastes like nothing. Why not just use pork sausages like the rest of the world? It has a weird chewy outer skin, and then the squishy ‘meat’ on the inside. And why is it a beige/pink color? Two bucks for a hot dog that tastes like my local landfill. I have eaten Lego bricks more tasty.
Image source: MonkeeBoi123, cottonbro studio
#21
I was prepared for taxes not being included in price tags and the tipping stuff etc. I was not prepared for the “I love Jesus”/ “Jesus loves me” people with megaphones, banners, t-shirts and flyers walking around everywhere.
Image source: KiwiJules59
#22
Everything is loud. All the time. The TV ads, the billboards, the radio, the air conditioning. Everyone is trying to get heard in a country where being #1 is the only acceptable goal. It’s a loudness war to get to your brain, and it’s exhausting.
Image source: OnnKelvezenn, Marcus Herzberg
#23
Everybody smiling to one another, as a polish person i just can’t understand that. Everybody is expected to smile to you even if they are sad.
Image source: VicMag24
#24
Adverts (commercials). We generally don’t have medical or adversarial (mentioning competitors directly) adverts, at least in the UK
My kids picked up on this when we went to the cinema and there was a Samsung advert directly trashing Apple. They were like “what the hell was THAT?”
Image source: noconnor40, Nothing Ahead
#25
I moved to America for 3 years when I was 18. The first time I walked into Walmart there was a very tall man with a gun and a knife strapped to his belt. It definitely took me by surprise and at first made me feel a little uneasy.
Image source: ALEXRavison94
#26
Some of them would eat dessert for breakfast – things like pancakes, syrup, fruit, sweet waffles etc
#27
Kids on a leash in parks. Omg i was not ready for that.
Image source: Roukess, strooples
#28
Honestly two things that stuck me, lack of walkability and repetitive buildings or grid layouts
Image source: _Its-a-me-mario_, Milan Pieteraerents
#29
you guys have air conditioning in your house????? i was astonished
Image source: churchbellsring, ready made
#30
Mine is going to sound really dumb, but just the way I was treated when in a shop buying clothes. Hello on the way in, always someone trying to help, and then they actually asked me if someone helpe med when I went to pay for my stuff.
In Spain you walk in, buy what you want and most of the time you’re lucky if the cashier is nice enough to say hello (in all fairness they get paid a s****y wage and have to deal with lot’s of idiots).
The rest of the stuff (I was in New York) didn’t shock me much. The tipping situation is certainly different, but I was expecting that.
Image source: morgancaptainmorgan, Edgars Kisuro
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