Everything in this thread so far is normal stuff I could have guessed. Guns, metric, tipping, etc. Most of it has large groups of people in the country that agree, or at least know.
What are some non-obvious things? Culture shock isn’t about major political issues. It’s about universal things that turn out to not be universal.
For example, US people have a strong culture of how standing in line works. It’s basically a moral sin to butt in line unless you have someone holding your place. This is universal in the country. My understanding is that other countries differ. Is that true?
They will look you in the eyes and smile while they cut you off in line at the bakery to buy a fucking baguette, not even realizing the injustice they have done you.
Source : I go to France at least once a year on vacation.
You say “off of”. In the UK we just say off. “Get off my lawn” Vs “Get off of my lawn”. Why do you need the extra word?
You call pasta noodles. Pasta is not noodles.
I once got kicked off (of) a beach at 9pm by a police officer. Wtf? It’s the beach, who cares if I’m on it at night? And why is it so important to have a police car patrolling it?
On that note, trespassing seems much more serious in America. In a lot of the world you can just wander around, if it’s on somebody else’s land it’s no big deal as long as you don’t cause a mess.
For the culture thing, Americans are generally louder and less subtle than any other nationality. They’re more friendly and energetic. There’s a certain type of dry sarcastic humour that never lands with Americans. I don’t want to call it British humour because there’s never any confusion with the rest of Europe
I spent some time in Germany and it’s very much so not true there. I was waiting on line for something and my German friend got in a different line and he got his food a solid ten minutes before me. Afterwards he explained that he took the line against the wall so people could only budge in front of him from one direction. He told me “Germans cut. It’s just the way it is.”
The lack of relegation or promotion in your sports leagues. Isn’t the same 20 teams being in the Superbowl, MLB, NBA, every year boring? How do you live without the shaudenfraude of seeing a previously good team go down or the glory of a team cooking up and giant killing in their first tip flight season?
An NFL season consists of a 3 week pre-season and an 18 week regular season during which all teams in the league–currently 32–compete within their division and conference. The winners of each of the four divisions in both conferences plus three wild card teams who among the remaining teams have the best record of both conferences (14 teams in all) go on to play in the post-season playoffs, a single-elimination tournament whose final, championship game is the Super Bowl.
American football fans enjoy the schadenfreude of a previous championship team not even making the playoffs, or the glory of a team who hasn’t made the playoffs in recent memory going all the way to The Big Game.
Everything in this thread so far is normal stuff I could have guessed. Guns, metric, tipping, etc. Most of it has large groups of people in the country that agree, or at least know.
What are some non-obvious things? Culture shock isn’t about major political issues. It’s about universal things that turn out to not be universal.
For example, US people have a strong culture of how standing in line works. It’s basically a moral sin to butt in line unless you have someone holding your place. This is universal in the country. My understanding is that other countries differ. Is that true?
France doesn’t understand how to queue.
They will look you in the eyes and smile while they cut you off in line at the bakery to buy a fucking baguette, not even realizing the injustice they have done you.
Source : I go to France at least once a year on vacation.
I know some small petty things!
You say “off of”. In the UK we just say off. “Get off my lawn” Vs “Get off of my lawn”. Why do you need the extra word?
You call pasta noodles. Pasta is not noodles.
I once got kicked off (of) a beach at 9pm by a police officer. Wtf? It’s the beach, who cares if I’m on it at night? And why is it so important to have a police car patrolling it?
On that note, trespassing seems much more serious in America. In a lot of the world you can just wander around, if it’s on somebody else’s land it’s no big deal as long as you don’t cause a mess.
For the culture thing, Americans are generally louder and less subtle than any other nationality. They’re more friendly and energetic. There’s a certain type of dry sarcastic humour that never lands with Americans. I don’t want to call it British humour because there’s never any confusion with the rest of Europe
In the UK we pride ourselves on our ability to queue for no apparent reason.
Sir, pride in the sanctity of the Queue is reason enough alone.
Seriously though, being in places where people don’t queue properly is miserable. That’s something America should be applauded for.
We only embrace the chaos of the queueless on Black Friday.
Unless you’re up the ramp at the pub, then it’s everyman for himself and hope the bar maid has a good memory.
Why would it not be bad to cut in line? It just makes sense to respect people’s time by maintaining FIFO order.
I spent some time in Germany and it’s very much so not true there. I was waiting on line for something and my German friend got in a different line and he got his food a solid ten minutes before me. Afterwards he explained that he took the line against the wall so people could only budge in front of him from one direction. He told me “Germans cut. It’s just the way it is.”
God, how is there not more daily murder there.
The lack of relegation or promotion in your sports leagues. Isn’t the same 20 teams being in the Superbowl, MLB, NBA, every year boring? How do you live without the shaudenfraude of seeing a previously good team go down or the glory of a team cooking up and giant killing in their first tip flight season?
…Two teams play the Super Bowl every year.
An NFL season consists of a 3 week pre-season and an 18 week regular season during which all teams in the league–currently 32–compete within their division and conference. The winners of each of the four divisions in both conferences plus three wild card teams who among the remaining teams have the best record of both conferences (14 teams in all) go on to play in the post-season playoffs, a single-elimination tournament whose final, championship game is the Super Bowl.
American football fans enjoy the schadenfreude of a previous championship team not even making the playoffs, or the glory of a team who hasn’t made the playoffs in recent memory going all the way to The Big Game.
It’s the same here in the Netherlands.