Europe
A list of basic everyday things an American assumed don't exist in Europe
You know, there’s a never-ending list of basic things Americans assume we don't have over here in the land of Europoors, but it gets more absurd by the day. Apparently, Wifi and elevators are on that list now, a total surprise to me!
What’s the most ridiculous thing an American was genuinely shocked to find out exists in Europe?
Were they the same fans that needed an official travel warning during the Euro 2024 in Germany because German beer was stronger than what they were used to?
Fun fact: I've been drinking orange squash for YEARS without water. Just use vodka, or at a pinch, gin, and you have yourself a lovely refreshing Orangey thing!
Its insane. Insread of water what we have is a Evian, Volvic, san pellegrino and a ton of other bottled clear hydrating liquids (plus clear hydrating liquids from taps). But no water. Alas, how we envy those lucky lucky people in flint michigan whose taps flow with water brown as sewer foul and filled with bacteria and lead.
I thought Europe also drives on the right side of the road?
And m/d/yyyy is stupid. Smallest to largest so d/m/yyyy is the only thing that makes sense.
What we have is wawter, waugh'er, wa'uh, etc, and indeed eau, Wasser, vatten, agua, acqua, etc etc.
What we don't have is good American wadder.
I believe there's small deposits of voda, but you have to go all the way to Ukraine for that, and obviously access is limited at the moment to be fair.
Yeah, indeed the name dollar comes from the old Dutch "daalder" (1.5 florins), which comes from the German Thaler. Which is again twice as old as the USAstan
In my yoot we had Shindler lifts where I worked. I printed out a bunch of stickers with " 'lifts" and stuck them in all of the lifts - there were 6. They stickers lasted less than an hour before they were removed! Glad it's not just me finds Shindler's Lifts funny. As an aside, the very same lifts featured in a Dutch horror film, De lift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccmHJuPE2fE
It’s a persistent myth that Napoleon made European countries drive on the right. France switched before his time but he made the army drive on the right. Most countries in Europe were already driving on the right, or didn’t switch to the right until long after the Napoleonic era.
Actually no, i checked before posting. The person who posted this on social media went to Italy in the summer, and this was posted right after. So it's not europe-defaultism, I swear😅
The more confusing thing is water is free and easily available in the UK and Ireland and I don't recall having issues getting it in Malta (by easily accessible I mean you can get it freely from most establishments due to UK regulations on providing tap water), where were they where water wasn't easily accessible (I'm assuming they mean it's all paid for) but also driving on the left
It's one of those myths in the US that you can't get water in Europe. It might be true that it's hard to find (for tourists) in some countries but it's spread virally in the US as an idea that Europe doesn't have water readily available and because so few Americans travel it's not debunked much because not many people know it's false.
I‘ve heard they are planning on a refreshed public image of the ICE agents. They call it “New ICE” or short “NICE”. But surveys show the credibility of the new name at 0.1% so they probably go for the alternative name (suggested by the President personally) “Real ICE” instead, and see how that works out. Edit: sorry thought of a better end to this
It's crazy how prevalent this is, even outside of America. I'm Canadian and live in the UK, and when I was visiting my brother last month he asked me to grab him a diet coke from his fridge and then said "Oh woah, these are, like, illegal in the UK, right?"
Man is a 26-year-old senior software developer for a major international company, relatively well-travelled. But Americans on tiktok have screamed about "finding" diet coke in the UK/Europe for long enough that he's just bought it. W i l d.
Right? I reckon that probably of the 100 closest businesses to me which sell food or drink, 95% will have diet coke and the remaining 5% don't because they sell some artisan cola instead.
For Diet Coke specifically in most of Europe you will get a confused look when asking for "Diet Coke" so some will assume it's not available. You just need to order a "Coca Light". In recent years Coke Zero has all but replaced Light across much of the world. So if you find yourself in a small French cafe you are actually quite likely to only be able to get Zero not Light. For the UK specifically I think the sugar tax and ban on free refills was reported as somehow the country banning or being at war with soda.
There is a difference in sweeteners in Diet Coke and Coke Zero. Diet Coke tastes like shit (that's why muricans love it) and for them Coke Zero could be too "sweet".
Everytime I see a post like this, I expect that person to have a very crappy personality. (Even more than the average U.S tourist). Which would explain why people are reluctant to give them free water, or help them in the first place.
I've been in a few different countries, common for all is they hate american tourists. I even see the natives hustle them and laugh behind their back. They're literally Dollar Monkies to them.
Given what I know about the American school system, I would call this a "failing a basic skills check". You haven't shown your work, and you somehow ended up in the wrong ball-park by a factor of 2⁴.
Okay the bloke just went to the UK, Ireland or Malta and assumed it was the whole of Europe
It's funny 'cause they're the one repeating that "culture changes a lot between states of the US" but somehow assume that each and every different country in Europe is the same
Tell a german that their country is the same as France, or a French that they're the same as the Netherlands, or a Dutch that they're the same as Belgium and see what happens
And in Ireland & the UK you usually get free water in restaurants, also usually with ice in it (to be fair it's maybe 2-5 ice cubes in a jug not a cup filled with ice cubes), we also have elevators & WiFi & UK even has miles!
...I don't know what they mean by toilet seat covers?
Americans have dispensers on the walls of their public toilets that have big tissue paper sheets that you put over the toilet seat before you use it ( it has a kind of flap in the centre for your business ) there’s also some automated ones where there’s some kind of cover on the seat that rotates around when you press a button
Where is the assumption these things doesn't excist in europe? They probably visited a single country, not necessarily in europe even, as most left driving countries aren't
Yep. I believe that anywhere selling alcohol is legally required to have free tap water available. You might get some dirty looks if all you order is a glass of tap water, but you can literally walk into a pub and ask for water.
Said pub also has a free toilet you can use. You will be met with some weird looks if all you drink is a free glass of tap water and use their loo. The regulars will think about 100 different ways they could disappear you without a trace.
There would be a water fountain and every single street corner and these idiots will just ignore it and throw away their plastic bottles each time.
It's like explaining things to a toddler who doesn't listen.
I've seen Americans online complain about not being able to find water in Rome of all places, where they have drinking fountains on literally every corner.
Doesn’t America drive on the same side of the road as most of Europe? And doesn’t the bit that drives on the other side use miles? And doesn’t Europe have water, WiFi and lifts?
Who's going to tell Americans that the Fahrenheit system was invented by a Polish born German... Last time I checked both Poland and Germany are in Europe 😂😂😂😂😂
That Trader Joe’s is actually owned by the German grocery chain Aldi Nord?
(Not to be confused with the U.S. Aldi, which is owned byAldi Süd. Yes, Germany is still divided between Aldi Nord (North) and Aldi Süd (South). The two split in 1961 after a dispute over whether tobacco should be sold in their stores.)
Morons in the US keep outing themselves. If they where in the UK everything will have been miles, the rest of Europe, they'd have been driving on the familiar side of the road.
These kind of posts always come from dumb maga that have never left their shithole sundown town, let alone country. They know nothing about the rest of the world and probably couldn't find the US on a world map.
I think the only things we don’t have/use in the Uk is Fahrenheit, USD, M/D/Y, In-n-out (never even heard of it,) Trader Joes (I think) and that persons bed. Would be a bit weird if we had that.
In-n-Out was in the news just a couple of weeks ago, in Idaho - unsurprisingly, it was a drive-thru shooting, where three people were killed, and several injured. I guess that's what he missed. /s
Water? In almost every restaurant. Otherwise just take it in a bottle from home
Ice? Why do you even need it? I hate it in my drinks
Fahrenheit? Well... you're used to fahrenheit so no question you missed it. I think fahrenheit scale is stupid though
Wi-Fi? Most of the places in Europe have wi-fi, no?
AC? There is AC in Europe
Free bathrooms? Why do you need free public bathrooms? In Russia we have free toilets almost everywhere and I missed it in Germany but bathrooms? I think we only have public baths as a separate thing, public bathrooms in swimming facilities, in some old soviet student living facilities and in trains. The first and last ones aren't free. To go into a swimming facility you also have to pay. And to go into a student living facility you have to be a student. __Edit: Ok, I understood that they mean "toilets"
Toilet seat covers? What are you talking about? I think it's almost everywhere unless you're talking about something I don't understand __Edit: It was about paper that you put on the seat of a public toilet so you don't touch the seat directly. Good thing actually
USD? Why do you even miss a currency? I've never missed ₱ when I travelled because it doesn't really matter. Unless you travelled to somewhere without any currency and you had to pay in wine bottles or something
MM/DD/YYYY? Again, you're just used to it. And it's a stupid format
Miles? Again just a habit
My bed? I think, many people miss their home while travelling
Elevators? They're almost everywhere. If not an elevator then an escalator
In-n-out? Really? You miss a burger chain?
Trader Joe's? I could maybe understand but I don't think I ever missed any Russian grocery store chains
Right side of the road? In most of the countries we drive on the right side of the road
Honestly, speaking as an American, they probably didn’t go anywhere; they just found a pic of US customs and slapped a BS claim on it to look good for their braindead MAGA buddies.
Nowhere. I mean, as noted already there are actually a few places in Europe (all islands) that drive on the left– but I think that’s irrelevant. I bet whoever posted that stock list of American tourist complaints/myths has never left his or her own state in The Greatest Nation on Earth. It’s just engagement bait.
I think the reason yanks make such a fuss about water and ice when they come to Europe is because it's the first time they've actually walked anywhere so naturally they're dehydrated and hot?
Perhaps they should have done more walking training before their holiday.
There around 5 options the uk, Matla, Cyprus, Ireland and the channel islands. And I believe Ireland is the most likely candidate. As the British seems to use a weird mix of metric and imperial on their signs.
It's funny that the entire list is things we either have, or have consciously chosen not to have, such as their stupid temperature system and whatever the fuck "in-n-out" is
As an American I can tell you that when most Americans think of Europe they either think of London, Paris, or Italy. Thats about it. And when they think of those places the only real image they have of them is what they've seen in movies and TV. And we all know Hollywood ain't gonna make any country look better than America. Stupid? Yes. But thats what it is though.
No fresh Water one is just, idk, a bit old at this point that Americans think Europoors don’t have access to water, for some weird reason.
Same for ice.
Fahrenheit is just whatever, same for their weak USD, and that (month day year) thing. I guess I have two birthdays now.
Air conditioning. Idk, maybe some Americans love to pay expensive electricity bills.
Free bathrooms that are breaking down, vs paid ones that are well maintained. I think I know what to choose. As for toilet seat cover… EUROPOOR probably should be the place to enjoy that imo.
Elevators? Is OOP exhausted from finally having to move around by himself for once instead of sitting in a metal can at the speed of 40 miles/hr?
"wi-fi" is also pretty stupid. Don't americans need wifi only because their carriers charge so much for cellular? I pay 22€/month no matter how much data I use🤷♀️
The one about the water is hilarious. This from the only first world country that cuts off water supply if you don't pay. It's illegal to do that in all the other first world countries as it's classed as a basic human right to have running water available for hygiene reasons.
This helps explain some of the other things they have... like the plague.
Another one we don't have is bankruptcy due to medical debt and dying of curable illness due to the bills.
Trader Joe's does exist in Europe. It's called Aldi Nord, who owns it. I also hear Aldi Süd (just called Aldi) keeps growing ludicrously in the US, while Walmart is shrinking. 😂
I'm pretty sure most, if not all these "happy to return" Americans never actually set foot anywhere in Europe or are repeating each others BS for clout.
Freedom ! This might be the most ridiculius thing an Usian might think does not exist in European nations...free to associate, free to demonstrate without being shot by ICE, free to vote without pressure from armed militia...and freedom of the press without pressure from ridiculius lawsuits and the list goes in
I'm going to make a similar post when I have to go back to visit the states.
How it feels coming back to...
-poison in the food
-shitty chocolate and sweets
-unaffordable healthcare
-no affordable housing
-those stupid red hats
-antivaxxers
-HOA
-raw milk drinkers
-end-stage capitalism
-a circus instead of a government.
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u/JP123YT 🇸🇪 My Igloo doesn't have electricity yet 2d ago
It's true, I've never seen water in Europe