24 Things That I, A Dumb American, Am Fascinated To Learn Are Apparently Totally Normal In Europe
Europe is a vastly diverse continent with tons of different cultures and customs. No matter where you go in Europe though, most people will probably agree on one thing: It's very different from the US!
This week, Reddit user u/vibrxncy_ asked, "Americans of Reddit, what's something normal in Europe that you think is completely absurd in America?"
FOX
The responses are pretty fascinating! Here are some of the most interesting:
1."Varietal toilets. In the US, the toilets are all pretty much the same. You sit on it, then you reach behind you and flush. Sometimes in public it’s automated...but it’s all pretty similar. There is a lot more toilet variety across Europe. Tanks above your head. More of a fancy hole in the ground than a toilet. Super-modern creations. ... But the European diversity of toilets can [also] lead to problems."
"Years ago, I was traveling in France with my family. We all took turns in an ultra-modern, fancy porta potty outside of a castle in Northern France. It was wild. You had to press a button, and the toilet mechanically ejected itself from the wall...like a Murphy bed, except it was a Murphy toilet. And there was this ultra-modern sink that seemed to almost be carved out of the metal coming out of the booth's wall. Then after you left, the entire booth sprayed itself down.
After we returned to the rental car, my mother said, 'Good lord, that was the most uncomfortable toilet I have ever seen. I don’t know why it was so high up; I could barely get on it. And it was so weird that you couldn’t flush the toilet after yourself. And I hated that there was no place to wash my hands.'
I was perplexed because, while very modern and different, the toilet was an average height and flushed at the push of a button. And there was a sink. After questioning her, it became apparent she didn’t know about the Murphy toilet. She had thought the sink was the toilet. She had somehow climbed up on to the sink to do her business!" —u/Cadiza999
2."Public nudity. I remember the first time I experienced it in Germany. I was with my sisters at a local public swimming pool. Women just would stand up and openly change from their bathing suits into their clothes with everything on display. Nobody batted an eye or paid any attention." —u/Great-Vacation8674
"Depending on where you are in Germany, nude bathing is expected. I visited Tropical Islands in Berlin once (huge aerodrome-converted, indoor water pools), and some parts required you to be butt-naked to be there." —u/Valoneria
3."[There was a case where] a mother left her baby outside to sleep while she dined in a restaurant in New York. She was arrested. This is completely normal in Denmark. Babies sleep outside in cold air, even if close to freezing. And no one steals a baby in Denmark, like ever." —u/Adler4290
"The first time I saw a baby in a pram, completely alone outside a restaurant (in mid-winter, to boot), I felt my pulse go through the roof. I wondered who to call or what to do. The Norwegian I was walking with could not understand why I freaked out. When I said, 'What if someone abducts the baby?' They said something like, 'Who would do such a horrible thing?' Complete culture clash. Now I'm very accustomed to seeing babies out on the street alone, but it's still a vivid memory." —u/theCroc
4."Thousands-of-years old buildings around you." —u/0ke_0
"Here in America, if you mention a house was made in the 1800s, you get an astonished look." —u/Cactuxs
"I used to work at a pub that was built in the 1200s or 1300s. I enjoyed thinking that how no matter how much the world outside the walls changed, people inside are laughing, arguing, joking, making friends, and meeting lovers just as they would have in the previous centuries." —u/I_Call_Everyone_Ron
5."Lack of air conditioning." —u/CertifiedAnus
6."Serving water at room temperature in restaurants." —u/InvisibleMe21
"You can ask for refrigerated water. Unless it’s tap water, of course. But lots of places will give you refrigerated water. No ice though — you gotta ask for that stuff specifically, and it often won’t be available." —u/PotatoBestFood
"I feel like ice water is an American thing. Americans just really love cold-ass drinks." —u/erocknine
7."Laundry machines in the kitchen. My ex was English, and no matter how hard that man tried to explain it to me, I never understood why [they were in] the kitchen." —u/nohemingway4
"Plumbing used to be difficult to install. Washing machines need water supply. Kitchens have water. It was far easier to run water supply and drainage off of the kitchen lines (sink supply) than to run them to another room. Typically, bathrooms were directly adjacent or above kitchens as well." —u/Urban_Disaster
8."Ordering pizza for delivery that arrives unsliced." —u/_pm_me_your_foreskin
"In an episode of one of Anthony Bourdain's shows, in a pizzeria in Rome, they cut pizza with scissors. If it works, why not? Pizza cutter is a tool that does just one thing. It’s not practical to have a separate tool for every food." —heat_is_die
"Scissors are better than slicers. Slicers don’t cut all the way through, and sometimes you need to struggle to separate them, while scissors do a better job. They’re also easier to clean, and can be used for more things, so you don’t need to have a million items in your kitchen that only do one thing." —u/assuntta7
9."It's normal in Italy to not bother forming a line. You just push your way to the front. Americans generally are very good about forming lines." —u/Jethris
"In Spain, we have a system where you ask who’s the last, and then you can move around freely and do other stuff. You just need to wait until the person that goes before you has their turn and you know you’re next. It’s very efficient because you can take your time to look at the store, decide what you want, or go have a smoke or whatever instead of just standing there." —u/assuntta7
10."I don’t know if this is normal everywhere, but in Amsterdam, they have what I call 'shit shelves' in their toilets. Basically you poop into the toilet like normal, but instead of going into water, the poop falls right on the porcelain. [Then] when you flush, the poop goes down the drain. It’s awful." —user/Dartastic
11."This is more England specifically instead of all of Europe, but essentially driving in a real-life version of mirror mode from the Mario Kart series would be an awkward change. Heck, when I went to England several years ago, it was weird enough sitting in the front passenger seat since it was normally where I sit while driving. I can't imagine re-learning to drive where my passenger seat normally is." —u/MattyDub89
"I took a long holiday in Europe in 2018 and started with Scotland. I rented a car and had a white-knuckled, yet otherwise wonderful experience driving around. I found that driving on the other side of the road is not a big deal — driving on the other side of the CAR is. A road is a road, but things going by close on my right side instead of my left [made me] pretty damn nervous." —u/moggetunleashed
"Driving in the States may have seemed easy to me because it was all automatic cars that we hired. Asking for a manual car got me some funny looks. I got more confused about turning right at red lights — I had no idea how that worked and always annoyed other [drivers] with my hesitancy!" —u/MissyWilling
12."Paying to use the bathroom in a shopping center." —u/karaokechameleon
13."I don't know about other countries, but in Finland after 10 p.m., it wasn't unusual to see advertisements for sex toys on TV. I remember seeing them after a popular show called Putous, which is basically a sketch comedy show. What was really funny is that, during a class a couple of years ago near Christmas, we watched a Shrek Christmas movie with the Finnish dub. And I shit you not, the same guy who spoke in those sex toy ads also voiced Donkey. I couldn't stop thinking about that connection for the life of me." —u/Game_Erica
14."Kissing people as a form of greeting." —u/Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
"In France, the number of kisses [you give] when you greet varies from one to five depending on where in France you are. I don't go back often, but I'm confused every time because everybody I visit lives in a different place with a different custom for this." —u/thePsychonautDad
15."Storing eggs out on the counter like a loaf of bread." —u/Fixmy59bug
"In the US, eggs are washed. This kills bacteria that are currently present on the shell, but also removes the protective coating on the outside of the shell. Europe generally has less problems with [things like] salmonella food poisoning because there are stricter hygiene rules surrounding the rearing of livestock. ... As a result, the protection of the egg remains intact, and they can be kept at room temperature for several months." —u/TerribleIdea27
16."Throwing cigarettes butts on the ground. I'm looking at you, Paris." —u/sprayspraysprayspray
"I was blown away by how many people smoke in Germany. It was truly astonishing." —u/noteveryagain
17."Unsafe public attractions. Like, 'Welcome to this ancient castle. Have a walk around on the roof with no guard rail, and if you fall off, you can't sue us. Good luck!'" —u/butter_lover
"Vice versa — in the US, you see all kinds of weird signs pointing out that there may be a risk, and therefore you cannot sue them because you have been warned. Like, 'In the sand at this beach, there may be objects known to be sharp, which can cause cuts,' or, 'In this room, there may be remains of substances known to cause lung cancer.'" —u/Steinfall
18."Walking everywhere. I don't have a car, so obviously I walk everywhere. It's gotten to the point where I enjoy it, even if it's 30 minutes to my destination. Back in the States, I would drive my car two minutes to the store instead of taking a 10-minute walk because that was too far." —u/mnspencer0407
"I thought every major country was just highways and parking lots, but apparently cities over [in Europe] are made for pedestrians." —u/TroubleonPoopyIsland
"America literally builds its infrastructure around cars. Which sounds like an absolute nightmare if you don't have the means to drive." —u/AnvilofSpinning
19."Public transportation that’s cheap, efficient, supported, appreciated, and actually takes people places they want to go." —u/1000thusername
20."Lack of window screens. Last time I was in Italy, I accidentally left my hotel room window open. That night, I spent an hour killing mosquitoes in the room and still got 20+ bites." —u/Trirefringent
"So many of the homes and buildings in Belgium don't have screens on the windows. I understand that heat waves are a fairly recent phenomena, but have they just always lived with mosquitoes and flies in their houses here?" —u/soitgoeson
"It's truly inexplicable, especially in so much of Europe where there isn't air conditioning. If you're going to have windows open, then why not have a screen? And it's an easy aftermarket fix, too, so there's really just no reason for them not to be there." —u/gahidus
21."Cashiers sitting down comfortably while they check you out." —u/Mojak66
22."TV licenses." —u/JeffWest01
"In Germany, it's per household — it doesn't matter if you have the means necessary to consume the content. And if you don't pay, they'll just take it straight from your bank account." —u/xNaXDy
23."For me, it would be Sweden's requirement for employees to have four consecutive weeks off in the summer. When my wife told me that — she's Swedish, and I'm moving there — my brain short-circuited. I've gotten used to it now, but anyone I tell this to gets extremely confused." —u/FluffyBat9210
"Compared to many other countries, it's a privilege for sure. Some general clarifications about Sweden:
Of the 25+ vacation days (the bare minimum) an employee is given per year, one is required to use 20 of those. You have a RIGHT to take 20 consecutive days off during the summer, but most spread theirs out a bit across the year. Vacation days not used are carried over to the next year. During vacation days, you also receive additional pay equalling 12% of the total earned salary from the previous year. This is spread out over each vacation day.
Employees in the public sector (about one-third of the workforce) get up to 435 days off per year (when you turn 40 years old), but the pay is lower than in the private sector." —u/Moose_on_a_walk
24.And finally: "Not having ads for medicines on TV. When I was in England, I didn't see one ad like, 'Ask your doctor about X drug.' It was honestly so nice to not be bombarded by ads for prescription medicines. We've become so used to it in America that we tend to tune them out, or at least I do." —u/Catri
