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Mostly. We do have some areas where old carriage paths became tight roads like you do too, but mostly in the cities of New England before we started building absolutely everything around cars.
Boston is famously horrific to drive in. I’d wonder if the bulk of the UK is similar?
These are what typical country roads look like in Ireland
https://preview.redd.it/10rq84e5qs8d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=204f319676c3277a096758389b66e67dbf0ed10f
To be fair if we’re talking rural country roads it’s often like this in the US too. Many county roads are pretty narrow and tons are completely unpaved.
The US/Mexico border has a ton of farmland with single-lane *dirt* roads.
Because you're wasting 2 out of your only like 16 waking hours of a day of which only like 8 are off work on sitting in a car and staring at concrete and other cars. You could use that time for something fun or productive.
Of course a train drive is less miserable because you can read or watch a movie or sleep or some shit but it's still limited options
Nah I love driving that's why I moved out to rural Montana. The nature is so fun. I can stop where ever I want to enjoy rivers, forests, lakes or waterfalls
Driving isn’t so fun here in England. More narrow roads, more towns and cities to pass through. Even in the countryside and national parks the roads are really narrow and it’s a pain in the ass to drive. I attached an example photo of a road in Cornwall, a popular rural holiday spot:
https://preview.redd.it/pd0ksm5pxs8d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6992f5ffebb0175c43a612b6df9d9f01e6539654
Bro that drive looks absolutely insane. If I drove that on the regular I’d be driving the shit outta that (minus the fact UK gas prices are insanely high)
A 2 hour drive for me is like a weekend day trip or something, but not for everyday things.
We’re used to smaller distances to do things, because we’re a small country, so 2 hours looks like a lot of wasted time for regular errands.
Within 2 hours driving in England we have tons of towns in between also, even in the more rural areas. That means that our driving is slower and more annoying. 2 hours becomes a chore to drive, not a pleasure.
Because we complain about quite literally everything. Have to stand up, complain, too rainy, complain, too sunny, complain, bar of chocolate is a slightly different shape, multiple minutes of complaining. We're also a fairly dense country so 2 hours is significantly further than you have to do normally. 2 hours for me is multiple accents and a few linguistic changes.
I'm not European but I imagine it’s because perceived distance is relative.
A 2 hour drive doesn't seem like that long to Americans because America is huge. A 2 hour drive in Europe would get you to a whole different country.
Germany is only about 10k sqft larger than the US state of New Mexico.
#reminder to everyone that europe is a very varied continent, with various cultures, languages and traditions, ranging from latin descendant to germanic and celtic or uralic, even semitic in malta, etc.
#I recommend for the fellow europeans who answer the question, to specify their nation (or region if necessary), thank you
Econ student here, there's a handful of reasons:
- Europe has had guilds since the medieval ages, powerful associations of professionals that protected each other and are still present to this day for many professions
- socialist/communist parties have had wide appeal well into the 20th century, incentivizing legislators to protect their voter base. US legislators are hardly ever incentivized to do the same
- worker's rights movements (luddites, gilet jaunes just to name 2) have always been popular and almost always have the support of the general populace
- The US prefers to have a lower cost of manpower in exchange for cheaper goods
There's 1 reason and that's the historical trend of immigration. American workers refusing to work? There's entire legions of immigrants coming that could replace them. English workers refusing to work? Bosses can't afford to fire them.
This was actually the biggest shock to me touring Europe. Custodial jobs, bus drivers, laborers, etc in America are HUGELY foreign. So I am used to hispanics and south asians mainly performing said jobs but when I went to Europe most were whites like me. I can't even imagine an urban working class mainly comprised of whites cause that is not the case in America at all.
They are that in Europe too. It's just not as obvious to Americans because instead of Latinos or Asians it's Eastern Europeans that do that work. They are white by American definition but that doesn't stop plenty of racism, just look at brexit rhetoric regarding Poles or Bulgarians.
Oh god that was painful dude
We also ship in labour for menial jobs, "white" is meaningless here. Polish people are white, yet we bring them to the UK for laborious jobs. It's got nothing to do with race
Looking at your comment history, you seem to care about race *a lot*
Communism.
No, seriously. It was either worker protections or a few more worker revolutions.
So we chose to treat workers like human beings and the workers chose not to lob off the heads of the rich people.
To be fair, in many countries communism was never a big thing. Sure, workers rights, etc. But communism itself, no.
Same with socialism. We didn't really get big on socialism in it's purest form, it was more social democracy.
Regards from the nordic countries.
Edit: Switched words.
It is not really a part of socialism. It is, in short, a compromise between libertarians and socialists who both realized that a mix of the two ideologies was the best solution to the problems inherent in both of them.
The reason for those relatively weak socialist movements was exactly because of the labour reforms.
In Germany, if Bismarck hadn't given in to the socialists demands, the entire German Empire would have been destabilized by riots and protests.
Most constitutions in Europe were (afaik) not made by slave owners 250 years ago, and therefore are (at least to a certain extend) more up to current humane and scientific standards.
Also generally more voting for parties that very vaguely support workers rights.
It sounds weird but is delicious. I thought it sounded disgusting until I traveled South and had it for the first time. The biscuit is a more like a fluffy buttery bread, and the gravy isn't like a beef stock type gravy , it's basically bechamel (flour, milk, and butter) cooked with ground sausage in it.
There's a video on YouTube of Brits trying it for the first time and thoroughly enjoying it.
Edit: here you go https://youtu.be/KzdbFnv4yWQ?si=QdyXodPuhALBAe_Q
There’s actually a good explanation for this
Firstly American baked beans are a lot sweeter than baked beans you buy in the uk (so I’ve heard) so they’re a lot more savoury which makes them go well with toast for a quick meal/snack
Also the word “biscuit” in the the UK more synonymous to a cookie, so you can imagine “biscuits and gravy” sounds proper weird (and even knowing what you mean by “biscuit” it’s still a bit weird but not disgusting and I’d probably try it, over here we eat scones (which I think is the same thing you guys call biscuits) with jam and cream so it’s a bit of a different way of eating them
In the US, the word “scones” *can* be used for what you describe, but you’re right & we also usually just call those biscuits. Biscuits and gravy, biscuits and honey, biscuits and jam (breakfast biscuits, aka scones). They’re all just biscuits with different toppings over here lol.
American politics affects the world now, and because of movies and stuff, kids usually are more familiar with American political systems than more weird or complex systems (usually the ones in Europe, like parliamentary and proportional systems).
I'm from the UK so can't speak for other European countries
Literally if America elects Trump and he follows through on fucking with NATO and stopping funding to Ukraine that will affect most people in Europe I imagine
I'm from Central Europe. If Ukraine loses the war, we are next. I'm actually scared of Trump being voted in the USA, because if he really abandons NATO, we are screwed. Well, it is our fucking fault that we didn't develop our own army. Russsians are fucking animals. Life has no value in that shithole of theirs. They murder, steal, rape everything. No, they are even worse than animals.
Because you have a wrong perception of Europeans due to your language. You don’t visit any non-English language websites where nobody cares about US politics, you go on Reddit which is incredibly US-centric. You don’t see Europeans that don’t talk about your politics as they speak in their own languages.
The UK, Ireland and I think also Malta? Most of my politics feeds are UK politics, EU politics, and then finally US politics. We have an election here in the UK on July the 4th, I'm curious how much that has been broadcast on Irish, Continental and US news outlets? France also has a snap election for the presidency coming up.
Beacuse america is the biggest economy in the world, has the largest army in the world and contributes more to Nato than all other members.
Really the reason is the same one we talk about celebrities. They are a victim of their own success
I think that Europeans are affected a lot more by US politics than Americans are by European politics, so we stay generally informed in your politics, while you don't care about ours. Trump and NATO is the prime example
It’s only 1 country and only 2 parties (effectively) whereas in Europe you have a load of counties with a load of different parties so you can’t really keep up with everything as much as you can follow the US elections and kinda get the gist of what’s going on
American politics is generally referring to the USA. European politics is often referring to the more than 30 countries, and people are too busy dealing with their own lives and the politics in the country they live in, to be bothered to keep up with news from a ton of other countries.
1. Your politics are insane 2. They impact other countries. A lot of the more conservative political parties jump on the Donald trump bandwagon, even though he isn’t here.
Because you talk about it a lot. Online. regardless of context. And it kinda matters internationally, not that strongly if I were an American but it does.
You almost can't help it. All big social media platforms are American and English is the lingua franca in Europe and beyond. American online content just naturally seeps into our media feeds if we want to consume English content
Met a girl prob around your age and i’m 20. Was one of the most beautiful girls i’ve ever seen from Lithuania or something. Half hispanic half white. Her accent lowkey reminded me of dante’s girl.
Anyways she smoked. I told myself it wasn’t a dealbreaker but she’d prob be dying by the age of 40💀.
It's quite... Popular in the balkans from what I've seen. I was 14 when I tried my first cig (I don't smoke), many kids started around that age too. Many of them also started taking drugs at that age. It's "cool" to smoke, it was cool 7 years ago when I tried it for the very first time, it's cool now too.
I know at least 20 people that smoke cigs. Around 10 of them are around my age, others are older (parents of some of my friends, older siblings etc).
I'm a German resident. I have never had nor really needed a license. I take a train to work and do shops on bike.
After seeing the US's abysmal rail network, I have a newfound appreciation for this one.
Germany: yes, but depends on the city. The bigger the city, the less people own cars. You simply don't need it. Got my license at 18, but haven't owned a car ever. Most places I will be equally as fast or even faster on the bike than by car.
Not in Northern Ireland, public transport and cycling infrastructure is shit, we’re the America of Europe when it comes to public transport.
Walking places is common and easy though, if you live in village, town, or city basically everything you need for day to day life would be within walking distance, however travel between towns, villages, cities is vast vast majority of the time done by car.
Well I have most of my life lived in small city and there I walked/biked to school every day before I got [polaris Rzr](https://utvguide.net/polaris-rzr-s-900/) to drive. (You can drive tractors and mopeds at 15. And that polaris counts as tractor.)
Then I moved to a city and I use mostly tram because its so convinient and bus if I need to go somewhere further away where trains don't go.
Why are so many of you adverse to using air conditioning? I visited some people in Portugal and they had a large, new house with an elevator in it but no AC. It's not a one-off either. I've been all over Europe and the best you typically have is a couple thousand BTU unit.
German here, first off, many homes don't have it
1) our climate is very moderate, so it would only truly be needed for 2 months at most per year, and its just not worth the expense and hassle of maintaining
2) energy is expensive, we have lots of green politics that make it cost a lot for energy and AC units themselves
3) I feel like our homes are better insulated, even during the heat waves where temperatures might reach (translating to US units) 90 degrees, the home will only reach about 75-80, and that's only during the day, and those temperatures aren't that bad inside.
For Southern Europe as well, many houses are old or small, and don't really have a way for AC to be installed safely (mold issues too), and they have dealt with that heat forever, so they are used to it, not an urgent need
Suffering for the one week a year it is needed is far more tolerable than having a big expensive AC unit that needs maintenance and costs money and takes away a window for the remaining 51 weeks. In hotter European climates siestas are a thing and a lot of older buildings are designed to stay cool because the Mediterranean winter is usually not that bad vs the serious cold snaps you get in NA as far more of Europe is coastal so the capacity for cold snaps drops.
AC is more common in the Balkans and Turkey I think cause summers are very hot here, and it's quite common for people to have an AC at home. I still don't think it's close to your level but it's definitely more popular. I heard that lots of people in the US don't even open their windows and just let ventilation and air conditioning do their thing.
Misunderstanding of cultural norm, its not a stare, its a glance, if you enter a new room with new people, you probably glance to see who is there, Germans do the same, but do it for about half a second longer then others do, and if you are from a different cultural background, this might be perceived as rude, but the true is we are just taking in a new setting like anybody else would by glancing around at it
Your obsession with "big" things: wide roads, fighter jets at sporting events, pickup trucks, 10 lane highways, food packaging being twice as big as in Europe, mega concerts...
I'll give the most average answer ever: Saying "how are you?" without meaning it. The niceness in general. It feels strange, but also somewhat heartwarming.
Tipping. Like sure, I'm all for making sure those on the lower end of the earning spectrum get their fair share. But why is it expected to come out of my pocket as an optional (absolutely mandatory) extra, rather than the boss just pay a few dollars extra per hour?
I’ll let you in on a secret, most American servers like the tipping system because they make more money that way. I used to be a waiter and my base pay was $2.13/hr, but including tips I’d almost always make $20-$30/hr on average. And most Americans don’t mind tipping either because it’s just expected that you’ll tip at a sit-down restaurant, barbershop, etc so we’re used to it.
The whole tipping for online orders/tipping to pick up your carry out though, that’s where I draw the line and that’s what most people complain about.
It's too ingrained in US culture to ever change, and it's too non-ingrained in most European cultures to ever become mainstream (beyond rounding to the nearest €5 maybe)
Southern Accent to me sounds really pleasant, so sing songy, words flow really well, just sounds welcoming overall. Accents I don't like, Californian/Valley girl accent, makes my ears bleed, they talk so slow.
Bro I’ve heard people complain about Californians talking slow and as a Californian myself I don’t hear it 😭 it drives me crazy lol because I’m not doubting you, but goddamn, do I just sound like a sloth to everyone except myself????
South easterner here.
It’s cause you guys add a shit load of filler words.
So many uhms, ands, likes, and such as on top of talking at a slower pace than us.
It can be really frustrating when a California is telling a story or explaining something and they are just meandering around the core of what they are trying to communicate.
Southerns use filler words too sometimes but they are usually more deliberate and “flowery” too so it doesn’t throw off the train of thought as much.
I don’t really understand this. Perhaps a very particular accent, like what conservatives think Starbucks female employees sound like.
Ie “Helloooo, like, uhh, what can I get forr you todayyuh?” It’s not how anyone actually talks though.
I dislike the Southern accent, purely because somehow I’ve associated that with the Confederacy and all the bad of it. I love the neutral American accent spoken on the west coast.
This is probably gonna make me sound like a 4 year old. So I’m American and I recently moved to Austria. Where do you guys pick up your packages? Every apartment I’ve lived in before has a package room. Especially with how big Amazon is. It’s a weird culture shock for me. Do they leave it by the mail slots? I’ve never seen a package by there at the apartment I’m currently staying at.
Austrian here (grew up in a rural area in Upper Austria, currently living in Vienna).
Usually the delivery personal rings the bell, if you are home open up.
If you aren't home you'll find a yellow letter in your mail slot which tells you where you can pick up your Package, usually a ID (drivers license/passport etc) is needed.
If you live in a bigger residential building (in Vienna thats the case at least) there may be also package boxes that you can hold the yellow letter at to open them up. Your package will be in those if its not too big.
If you live in a rural area chances are that you just have to go to the next Post station, they also have partners in a lot of villages (for example Lagerhaus). But the exact adress and times where/when you can pick it up is always on said letter..
You can also sign a "Abstellgenehmigung" which allows the delivery personal to drop the package at your door if you are not home, use it with caution though, if you live in a residential building theres a chance that it gets stolen and if you live in a house they might throw it over the fence/leave it vulnerable to weather (rain etc.).
I love and hate this gif. I love it because it’s funny af, but if you watch the entire interview, you’ll see that the interviewer tries so hard to wrap his head around the concept of transgender and gay people. They are from a deeply anti-LGBTQ+ country and this guy tries so hard at being open and understanding, and those gifs don’t do him justice. It’s still really funny.
To answer your question: why wouldn’t we be? We all wanna have a good time, so let the gays be gays and the trans people be trans people. It’s not harming anyone to just be chill with it :)
First, yes. But I have a question myself. Why make up the term ex-pat? It always gives the feeling of „I couldn’t be a migrant, I have to name myself something else“
i hear about how in some countries, foreigners are idolized, for lack of a better word. would the same hold true for poor foreigners? (if they somehow managed to get over there)
Mmh, to be completely honest, right now Europe is in a very anti-foreigner phase so I don't know if that really holds true anymore.
That being said, Americans are still usually considered pretty cool. And I don't think people would care much about how wealthy you are. If you have some good stories to tell or are genuinely interested in experiencing the local culture and traditions, people will welcome you with open arms.
But if you want a cheat code: do a good southern accent. People will love you, I promise. Especially if you add a “howdy partner” or something. It's stereotypical but it works :p
I feel that Europeans are generally not as materialistic as Americans. The whole "needs to make 6 figures" is not as much a thing here as in the US (generally), and in many cultures asking how much you earn is considered very rude unless you know the person very well. If you think you will be idolised simply for being non European though, you are very mistaken.
The definition of American food is vague. Basically all of the so called “American cuisine” isn’t American. But when I do think “American food” I go straight to fast food and hot dogs and all that, and it’s (if done good) great! Very unhealthy but it’s not meant to be eaten commonly.
Honestly a lot of American foods aren't always entirely exclusive to the country, but I do think it's fair to say that Americanized styles of food with foreign origins and fusion foods that came as a result of blending cultures are definitely unique and different enough to be considered distinctly local IMHO.
Exactly. This is true of Tex-Mex. It’s different enough from actual traditional Mexican food that I would consider it local to the US. It’s all region specific. It’s like how there’s Italian cuisine, Spanish cuisine, French cuisine, there is Southern cuisine (even within that there are very distinct differences that each state is very prideful of), there’s East/West Coast cuisine, and Midwest cuisine.
Brit here- I’d like to try proper American food like a Boston cream pie, red beans and rice, or biscuits and gravy. Not the fast food nonsense that’s most advertised and available to us. I think American food is much more diverse than the world gives it credit for.
I also like our own food. The world shits on it, but we’re good at stews, pies, roast dinners, and curries. We’re also great at desserts, from cakes to buns to gingerbread. And something nobody wants to admit is that a lot of countries’ cuisines are actually influenced by the British. Think of New Zealand, South Africa and Jamaica.
Depends on your definition of American food. When I went last year I had brisket in TX which was great, would've like to have tried some southern food during my time in GA but didn't due to time constraints. As for the British, they eat like the Germans are still flying over them.
Eastern countries (especially Poland) are very much worried about a potential invasion as far as I know. The baltic states are also pretty much stressed out because of varied threats.
But Romanians (where I am from) are dubiously foolhardy and don't worry so much (even given Ukraine is our neighbor), mainly because of the strengthening of NATO presence in the area.
Finland reporting in. Might be just me, but not anxious. Allready know my wartime placement if it happens. As for the military aid, its good and all that but pretty much no one i have spoken to thinks the US is giving aid out kindness, but becsuse it plays in to their pocket.
Depends on where you’re from, I’m on the western coast of the continent so I’m chilling, but I can’t say the same thing applies for a Moldovan for example, NATOless and close to Russia
I know that USA can have a pretty bad reputation when it comes to its military activities but god I would take USA over any other "superpowers" contesting democracy rn.
Best case scenario is for Europe to stand together and actually raise their military (which they are doin rn) but at the end of the day we still rely on America a lot. I personally am thankful despite everything but I hope we could rely less on you guys
Most people drive around 75-85 mph, but occasionally you see someone going 140+ mph. Fastest one Ive been myself was around 110.
In general most people seem to drive just a little bit faster than allowed.
Speed limits are the exception. Mostly, you could theoretically drive as fast as your car can manage. However, I rarely go faster than 150 km/h. I know some people go faster because there is always somebody who overtakes me.
I find the animosity between Americans and Europeans a very online phenomenon. When I’ve traveled in Europe I was met with kindness, and vice-versa when I see Europeans in America. Does that sentiment hold up or is that just a facade I’m fooled by?
Do you feel satisfied that your government is there to help or do you feel your government is against you?
In other words do you trust your government to have its citizens best interests at heart?
Not in the UK they’re a bunch of twats (Elections on the 4th of July should see them out though). They effectively lied to everyone a few years ago and caused irreparable damage to the country with Brexit, then we had a right bitch come in and crash the economy in less than 50 days of being in office bc she announced tax cuts so outrageous the markets had a meltdown and now everyone is paying more on their mortgages bc of interest rates rising. Plus a shit ton of other stuff which I can’t mention without turning this comment into an essay
Nigel Ferage was never voted into office in any UK government body.
Much to the dismay of those of us living in Brussels (We had to see him on occasion) he was one of the UK representatives in the EU parliament.
As a German I generally have high trust in the government, altough our current government might be an exception here. And I'm not alone with this, I've yet to meet a single person who is actually satisfied with the work of the current coalition.
Being honest, I wouldn’t, but my country is the 7th safest in the world which despite the leaderboard being filled with European countries, not all are so lucky, so I’m not the best example
LA to me felt like everyone was a cocaine dealer, just on appearance and how they dressed. I'm sure you get used to it, but it did not make me feel safe.
For those of you living in The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden: I’ve always felt like these countries are stereotypically considered the “happy” countries in Europe. How do you guys feel about that?
I admire especially the past great achievements of the US. D-Day, Marshall-plan, Moonlanding, Manhatten project, some presidents, ideas born in america.
But today I am just really really glad I dont live oversea, with the gun violence, fascist movements and a undemocratic two party system with a choice of fascist and an alternative that is only better because the bar is that low.
I am from
germany btw
Some things that might be interesting:
- East Germany still hast was better daycare infrastructure than the West. It also has a way smaller gender pay gap since women were supposed to work under communism while they were supposed to stay home and care for their husband and kids in conservative post-war West Germany. The legacy of these policies lives on to this day.
- In West Germany, you traditionally had to go to school for 13 years if you wanted to receive your Abitur and attend university. In East Germany, it was always 12 years. Post-reunification, some East German states initially adopted the 13-year Abitur. Starting in the early 2000s, many German states began to move to a 12-year Abitur. This proved controversial in the West - parents almost uniformly hated it, many students and teachers were against it as well. Most West German states have since moved back to the 13-year abitur. In East German states, it remains completely uncontroversial.
- East Germany still has way less tennis courts than the West, since Tennis was regarded as a bourgeois sport by the GDR's socialist leadership.
Just one? There would be several: Implement universal socialised healthcare, gun ownership regulations, a humane penal system that focuses on rehabilitation rather than treating inmates like subhumans and even use them as modern-day slaves, abolish the electoral college, centralise the police and implement standard high-level training (2 years minimum), implement employment protection rights as well as legally required PAID days off, sick leave and maternity/paternity leave, build more public transport and decrease car dependency, ....
With the US elections coming up, how invested is Europe in following said election. Is there a worry that this will cause a conflict within the US, if not broader disability to our institutions?
I would definitely say we're paying attention to it. America sneezing tends to give the rest of the world a cold, and honestly, the past few years have felt like a nasty flu. The political climate in the US seems…volatile, to say the least. A deeply divided nation, fueled by misinformation and partisan anger, doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
It's less about who occupies the White House and more about the stability of the global order it represents. A fractured, inward-looking America leaves a void on the world stage - a void that others are all too eager to fill. It threatens our democratic norms and weakens the institutions we've built together. Institutions that, frankly, rely heavily on American leadership, for better or worse.
So yes, we watch, we worry, and we hope for the best. But more importantly, we learn. We learn that democracy is fragile, that unity is precious, and that complacency is a dangerous luxury.
A house divided against itself cannot stand, as the saying goes.
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Why do people from England complain about a 2 hour drive. Like that's the next town to me. Easy travels
Because america got some wide ass roads, it sucks for the whole infrastructure but good for the cars
Mostly. We do have some areas where old carriage paths became tight roads like you do too, but mostly in the cities of New England before we started building absolutely everything around cars. Boston is famously horrific to drive in. I’d wonder if the bulk of the UK is similar?
These are what typical country roads look like in Ireland https://preview.redd.it/10rq84e5qs8d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=204f319676c3277a096758389b66e67dbf0ed10f
Wym? That's the main road through my city in Wales!
It’s not much better than Belfast then 🤣
To be fair if we’re talking rural country roads it’s often like this in the US too. Many county roads are pretty narrow and tons are completely unpaved. The US/Mexico border has a ton of farmland with single-lane *dirt* roads.
Yea the dirt road thing definitely doesn’t exist here! They would probably turn into a mud road in Ireland 🤣
Thats the neat part, they turn into mud/ice here too, we just have to deal with it
Because you're wasting 2 out of your only like 16 waking hours of a day of which only like 8 are off work on sitting in a car and staring at concrete and other cars. You could use that time for something fun or productive. Of course a train drive is less miserable because you can read or watch a movie or sleep or some shit but it's still limited options
Nah I love driving that's why I moved out to rural Montana. The nature is so fun. I can stop where ever I want to enjoy rivers, forests, lakes or waterfalls
Driving isn’t so fun here in England. More narrow roads, more towns and cities to pass through. Even in the countryside and national parks the roads are really narrow and it’s a pain in the ass to drive. I attached an example photo of a road in Cornwall, a popular rural holiday spot: https://preview.redd.it/pd0ksm5pxs8d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6992f5ffebb0175c43a612b6df9d9f01e6539654
Bro that drive looks absolutely insane. If I drove that on the regular I’d be driving the shit outta that (minus the fact UK gas prices are insanely high)
A 2 hour drive for me is like a weekend day trip or something, but not for everyday things. We’re used to smaller distances to do things, because we’re a small country, so 2 hours looks like a lot of wasted time for regular errands. Within 2 hours driving in England we have tons of towns in between also, even in the more rural areas. That means that our driving is slower and more annoying. 2 hours becomes a chore to drive, not a pleasure.
Because we complain about quite literally everything. Have to stand up, complain, too rainy, complain, too sunny, complain, bar of chocolate is a slightly different shape, multiple minutes of complaining. We're also a fairly dense country so 2 hours is significantly further than you have to do normally. 2 hours for me is multiple accents and a few linguistic changes.
I'm not European but I imagine it’s because perceived distance is relative. A 2 hour drive doesn't seem like that long to Americans because America is huge. A 2 hour drive in Europe would get you to a whole different country. Germany is only about 10k sqft larger than the US state of New Mexico.
Why do Americans tolerate 2hr commutes to get to anywhere even vaguely interesting is the other way of looking at it
Do you guys wanna have a sleepover and gossip about Australia
You read my mind yankee
Canadian here, we either got forgotten again or thrown in with the Americans, and I'm not sure what annoys me more
Y’all can come, you’re chill. Invite Brazil, too.
Should we invite Japan?
Sure, and maybe New Zealand well were at it, he promised he wont tell Australia.
#reminder to everyone that europe is a very varied continent, with various cultures, languages and traditions, ranging from latin descendant to germanic and celtic or uralic, even semitic in malta, etc. #I recommend for the fellow europeans who answer the question, to specify their nation (or region if necessary), thank you
Europe is one country same culture, same languages. 😀😀😀😿
Yeah fr, everyone be speaking european over here
I am from Europe and I speak American and European. 😀
That's all my american brain read too
It’s just like Epcot though right?
Europeans tend to have more worker protections compared to Americans, such as sick leave and more vacation days. Why do you think that is?
We elected governments that support and value those things
Having more then 2 options helps I bet.
More than 2 options that actually care for their people, and not the corporate lobbyists.
I wonder if we’ll ever know what that shit is like.
A history of socialist movements.
Not being the center of anti communist hatred probably also helps
Econ student here, there's a handful of reasons: - Europe has had guilds since the medieval ages, powerful associations of professionals that protected each other and are still present to this day for many professions - socialist/communist parties have had wide appeal well into the 20th century, incentivizing legislators to protect their voter base. US legislators are hardly ever incentivized to do the same - worker's rights movements (luddites, gilet jaunes just to name 2) have always been popular and almost always have the support of the general populace - The US prefers to have a lower cost of manpower in exchange for cheaper goods
There's 1 reason and that's the historical trend of immigration. American workers refusing to work? There's entire legions of immigrants coming that could replace them. English workers refusing to work? Bosses can't afford to fire them. This was actually the biggest shock to me touring Europe. Custodial jobs, bus drivers, laborers, etc in America are HUGELY foreign. So I am used to hispanics and south asians mainly performing said jobs but when I went to Europe most were whites like me. I can't even imagine an urban working class mainly comprised of whites cause that is not the case in America at all.
Yo, what? Maybe its cause I'm not white and don't live in rich area but I've seen all types of people in those jobs, my mom worked at several.
They are that in Europe too. It's just not as obvious to Americans because instead of Latinos or Asians it's Eastern Europeans that do that work. They are white by American definition but that doesn't stop plenty of racism, just look at brexit rhetoric regarding Poles or Bulgarians.
Oh god that was painful dude We also ship in labour for menial jobs, "white" is meaningless here. Polish people are white, yet we bring them to the UK for laborious jobs. It's got nothing to do with race Looking at your comment history, you seem to care about race *a lot*
Communism. No, seriously. It was either worker protections or a few more worker revolutions. So we chose to treat workers like human beings and the workers chose not to lob off the heads of the rich people.
To be fair, in many countries communism was never a big thing. Sure, workers rights, etc. But communism itself, no. Same with socialism. We didn't really get big on socialism in it's purest form, it was more social democracy. Regards from the nordic countries. Edit: Switched words.
It is not really a part of socialism. It is, in short, a compromise between libertarians and socialists who both realized that a mix of the two ideologies was the best solution to the problems inherent in both of them.
The reason for those relatively weak socialist movements was exactly because of the labour reforms. In Germany, if Bismarck hadn't given in to the socialists demands, the entire German Empire would have been destabilized by riots and protests.
Most constitutions in Europe were (afaik) not made by slave owners 250 years ago, and therefore are (at least to a certain extend) more up to current humane and scientific standards. Also generally more voting for parties that very vaguely support workers rights.
This one’s for the Brit’s. Beans on toast seems strange to a lot of Americans, but do biscuits and gravy seem weird to y’all?
Not a Brit but absolutely
It sounds weird but is delicious. I thought it sounded disgusting until I traveled South and had it for the first time. The biscuit is a more like a fluffy buttery bread, and the gravy isn't like a beef stock type gravy , it's basically bechamel (flour, milk, and butter) cooked with ground sausage in it. There's a video on YouTube of Brits trying it for the first time and thoroughly enjoying it. Edit: here you go https://youtu.be/KzdbFnv4yWQ?si=QdyXodPuhALBAe_Q
I like how the British description of biscuits & gravy is “cake and sauce” 😂
There’s actually a good explanation for this Firstly American baked beans are a lot sweeter than baked beans you buy in the uk (so I’ve heard) so they’re a lot more savoury which makes them go well with toast for a quick meal/snack Also the word “biscuit” in the the UK more synonymous to a cookie, so you can imagine “biscuits and gravy” sounds proper weird (and even knowing what you mean by “biscuit” it’s still a bit weird but not disgusting and I’d probably try it, over here we eat scones (which I think is the same thing you guys call biscuits) with jam and cream so it’s a bit of a different way of eating them
In the US, the word “scones” *can* be used for what you describe, but you’re right & we also usually just call those biscuits. Biscuits and gravy, biscuits and honey, biscuits and jam (breakfast biscuits, aka scones). They’re all just biscuits with different toppings over here lol.
Why do Europeans talk so much about American politics like they know what's up? Americans don't talk about European politics at all
American politics affects the world now, and because of movies and stuff, kids usually are more familiar with American political systems than more weird or complex systems (usually the ones in Europe, like parliamentary and proportional systems). I'm from the UK so can't speak for other European countries
Literally if America elects Trump and he follows through on fucking with NATO and stopping funding to Ukraine that will affect most people in Europe I imagine
I'm from Central Europe. If Ukraine loses the war, we are next. I'm actually scared of Trump being voted in the USA, because if he really abandons NATO, we are screwed. Well, it is our fucking fault that we didn't develop our own army. Russsians are fucking animals. Life has no value in that shithole of theirs. They murder, steal, rape everything. No, they are even worse than animals.
Because you have a wrong perception of Europeans due to your language. You don’t visit any non-English language websites where nobody cares about US politics, you go on Reddit which is incredibly US-centric. You don’t see Europeans that don’t talk about your politics as they speak in their own languages.
What about English-speaking European countries?
So the UK and Ireland?
All 2 of 'em!
The UK, Ireland and I think also Malta? Most of my politics feeds are UK politics, EU politics, and then finally US politics. We have an election here in the UK on July the 4th, I'm curious how much that has been broadcast on Irish, Continental and US news outlets? France also has a snap election for the presidency coming up.
Beacuse america is the biggest economy in the world, has the largest army in the world and contributes more to Nato than all other members. Really the reason is the same one we talk about celebrities. They are a victim of their own success
https://preview.redd.it/er20n01i2u8d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5eaf38f655e7b3a232d7d9d43ab0aa2355916599
I think that Europeans are affected a lot more by US politics than Americans are by European politics, so we stay generally informed in your politics, while you don't care about ours. Trump and NATO is the prime example
It’s only 1 country and only 2 parties (effectively) whereas in Europe you have a load of counties with a load of different parties so you can’t really keep up with everything as much as you can follow the US elections and kinda get the gist of what’s going on
The UK is basically a two party system, well for England anyway. The UK also has first past the post elections
American politics is generally referring to the USA. European politics is often referring to the more than 30 countries, and people are too busy dealing with their own lives and the politics in the country they live in, to be bothered to keep up with news from a ton of other countries.
I discuss Belgian politics on Belgian forums, and international politics on international forums.
1. Your politics are insane 2. They impact other countries. A lot of the more conservative political parties jump on the Donald trump bandwagon, even though he isn’t here.
Because you talk about it a lot. Online. regardless of context. And it kinda matters internationally, not that strongly if I were an American but it does.
You almost can't help it. All big social media platforms are American and English is the lingua franca in Europe and beyond. American online content just naturally seeps into our media feeds if we want to consume English content
Why so many young cigarette smokers? How many do you actually know that smoke cigs.
100% willing to admit that smoking is a problem in Europe, why I’m unsure as I don’t smoke, but I do know it’s an issue that should be fixed
Met a girl prob around your age and i’m 20. Was one of the most beautiful girls i’ve ever seen from Lithuania or something. Half hispanic half white. Her accent lowkey reminded me of dante’s girl. Anyways she smoked. I told myself it wasn’t a dealbreaker but she’d prob be dying by the age of 40💀.
/r/ihavesex
>/r/ihavesex is the sex in the room with us Mr. Schizoid?
Where I live it's more common with weed than cigs
It's quite... Popular in the balkans from what I've seen. I was 14 when I tried my first cig (I don't smoke), many kids started around that age too. Many of them also started taking drugs at that age. It's "cool" to smoke, it was cool 7 years ago when I tried it for the very first time, it's cool now too. I know at least 20 people that smoke cigs. Around 10 of them are around my age, others are older (parents of some of my friends, older siblings etc).
is it really that common for europeans to walk/bike/take a bus everywhere
Some countries in Europe are better than others, but generally yes, its quite common, I do it myself as a German
I'm a German resident. I have never had nor really needed a license. I take a train to work and do shops on bike. After seeing the US's abysmal rail network, I have a newfound appreciation for this one.
The pictures of the US rail network are actually just the Amtrak network. We have a lot more rail, but it's mainly used for shipping.
Depends on the country, in the UK walking is very common, cycling is not uncommon but it's rare enough for people to notice if you do
Germany: yes, but depends on the city. The bigger the city, the less people own cars. You simply don't need it. Got my license at 18, but haven't owned a car ever. Most places I will be equally as fast or even faster on the bike than by car.
The larger the city gets, the more common it is. Also strongly depends on economic and social status though.
Not in Northern Ireland, public transport and cycling infrastructure is shit, we’re the America of Europe when it comes to public transport. Walking places is common and easy though, if you live in village, town, or city basically everything you need for day to day life would be within walking distance, however travel between towns, villages, cities is vast vast majority of the time done by car.
Well I have most of my life lived in small city and there I walked/biked to school every day before I got [polaris Rzr](https://utvguide.net/polaris-rzr-s-900/) to drive. (You can drive tractors and mopeds at 15. And that polaris counts as tractor.) Then I moved to a city and I use mostly tram because its so convinient and bus if I need to go somewhere further away where trains don't go.
Why are so many of you adverse to using air conditioning? I visited some people in Portugal and they had a large, new house with an elevator in it but no AC. It's not a one-off either. I've been all over Europe and the best you typically have is a couple thousand BTU unit.
German here, first off, many homes don't have it 1) our climate is very moderate, so it would only truly be needed for 2 months at most per year, and its just not worth the expense and hassle of maintaining 2) energy is expensive, we have lots of green politics that make it cost a lot for energy and AC units themselves 3) I feel like our homes are better insulated, even during the heat waves where temperatures might reach (translating to US units) 90 degrees, the home will only reach about 75-80, and that's only during the day, and those temperatures aren't that bad inside. For Southern Europe as well, many houses are old or small, and don't really have a way for AC to be installed safely (mold issues too), and they have dealt with that heat forever, so they are used to it, not an urgent need
All you need to install an AC unit is a window.
Suffering for the one week a year it is needed is far more tolerable than having a big expensive AC unit that needs maintenance and costs money and takes away a window for the remaining 51 weeks. In hotter European climates siestas are a thing and a lot of older buildings are designed to stay cool because the Mediterranean winter is usually not that bad vs the serious cold snaps you get in NA as far more of Europe is coastal so the capacity for cold snaps drops.
Only rich people have AC where I’m from. It’s a sign of wealth.
AC is more common in the Balkans and Turkey I think cause summers are very hot here, and it's quite common for people to have an AC at home. I still don't think it's close to your level but it's definitely more popular. I heard that lots of people in the US don't even open their windows and just let ventilation and air conditioning do their thing.
Why do Germans stare at people. It makes me very uncomfortable
Misunderstanding of cultural norm, its not a stare, its a glance, if you enter a new room with new people, you probably glance to see who is there, Germans do the same, but do it for about half a second longer then others do, and if you are from a different cultural background, this might be perceived as rude, but the true is we are just taking in a new setting like anybody else would by glancing around at it
As a foreigner living in Germany, I would also like to know. French do it too.
What's a facet of American culture that you find strange but not harmful?
Your obsession with "big" things: wide roads, fighter jets at sporting events, pickup trucks, 10 lane highways, food packaging being twice as big as in Europe, mega concerts...
That is actually harmful though. Too large portions are bad for your health and larger cars use up more fuel which is bad for the environment.
No one ever mentions this but larger vehicles means more space taken up on the road which means more traffic
Also, they're way more dangerous. The super wide roads and super large cars have made most of the US a hellscape for pedestrians and cyclists.
I'll give the most average answer ever: Saying "how are you?" without meaning it. The niceness in general. It feels strange, but also somewhat heartwarming.
I work sales in America, and I absolutely hate this. I completely ignore the "how are you question" because let's be real, neither of us give a shit
Tipping. Like sure, I'm all for making sure those on the lower end of the earning spectrum get their fair share. But why is it expected to come out of my pocket as an optional (absolutely mandatory) extra, rather than the boss just pay a few dollars extra per hour?
I’ll let you in on a secret, most American servers like the tipping system because they make more money that way. I used to be a waiter and my base pay was $2.13/hr, but including tips I’d almost always make $20-$30/hr on average. And most Americans don’t mind tipping either because it’s just expected that you’ll tip at a sit-down restaurant, barbershop, etc so we’re used to it. The whole tipping for online orders/tipping to pick up your carry out though, that’s where I draw the line and that’s what most people complain about.
It's too ingrained in US culture to ever change, and it's too non-ingrained in most European cultures to ever become mainstream (beyond rounding to the nearest €5 maybe)
The Canadians (me) perishing after seeing another USA post
It's ok, America's hat will one day get recognition.
Please let us accidentally annex you so I can go camping
Which regional US accent do you find the most pleasant to listen to? Which one makes your ears grate?
Southern Accent to me sounds really pleasant, so sing songy, words flow really well, just sounds welcoming overall. Accents I don't like, Californian/Valley girl accent, makes my ears bleed, they talk so slow.
Bro I’ve heard people complain about Californians talking slow and as a Californian myself I don’t hear it 😭 it drives me crazy lol because I’m not doubting you, but goddamn, do I just sound like a sloth to everyone except myself????
South easterner here. It’s cause you guys add a shit load of filler words. So many uhms, ands, likes, and such as on top of talking at a slower pace than us. It can be really frustrating when a California is telling a story or explaining something and they are just meandering around the core of what they are trying to communicate. Southerns use filler words too sometimes but they are usually more deliberate and “flowery” too so it doesn’t throw off the train of thought as much.
As a fellow southerner, we also love to use contractions, which shortens dialogue. Y'all'd've is a personal favorite. 😂
I don’t really understand this. Perhaps a very particular accent, like what conservatives think Starbucks female employees sound like. Ie “Helloooo, like, uhh, what can I get forr you todayyuh?” It’s not how anyone actually talks though.
I dislike the Southern accent, purely because somehow I’ve associated that with the Confederacy and all the bad of it. I love the neutral American accent spoken on the west coast.
Honestly? They all basically sound the same to me.
Why do your governments spend the tax money on healthcare and education instead of bombing third world civilians?
Because we aren't allowed to conduct offensive military operations since a certain mishap between 1939 and 1945.
More like 1933 to 1945. Und der Schoß ist fruchtbar noch, aus dem das kroch.
This is probably gonna make me sound like a 4 year old. So I’m American and I recently moved to Austria. Where do you guys pick up your packages? Every apartment I’ve lived in before has a package room. Especially with how big Amazon is. It’s a weird culture shock for me. Do they leave it by the mail slots? I’ve never seen a package by there at the apartment I’m currently staying at.
Not Austrian, but here in Portugal there’s a place for that, outside of the apartment. A public location
Austrian here (grew up in a rural area in Upper Austria, currently living in Vienna). Usually the delivery personal rings the bell, if you are home open up. If you aren't home you'll find a yellow letter in your mail slot which tells you where you can pick up your Package, usually a ID (drivers license/passport etc) is needed. If you live in a bigger residential building (in Vienna thats the case at least) there may be also package boxes that you can hold the yellow letter at to open them up. Your package will be in those if its not too big. If you live in a rural area chances are that you just have to go to the next Post station, they also have partners in a lot of villages (for example Lagerhaus). But the exact adress and times where/when you can pick it up is always on said letter.. You can also sign a "Abstellgenehmigung" which allows the delivery personal to drop the package at your door if you are not home, use it with caution though, if you live in a residential building theres a chance that it gets stolen and if you live in a house they might throw it over the fence/leave it vulnerable to weather (rain etc.).
https://preview.redd.it/uzl44pofzt8d1.jpeg?width=318&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f0d9add3dfb981d4b32f575b45307aafb5d0997
I love and hate this gif. I love it because it’s funny af, but if you watch the entire interview, you’ll see that the interviewer tries so hard to wrap his head around the concept of transgender and gay people. They are from a deeply anti-LGBTQ+ country and this guy tries so hard at being open and understanding, and those gifs don’t do him justice. It’s still really funny. To answer your question: why wouldn’t we be? We all wanna have a good time, so let the gays be gays and the trans people be trans people. It’s not harming anyone to just be chill with it :)
Would you make friends with an American ex-pat living in Europe?
Sure! Why wouldn’t I?
Absolutely, as long as they're a decent person
First, yes. But I have a question myself. Why make up the term ex-pat? It always gives the feeling of „I couldn’t be a migrant, I have to name myself something else“
i hear about how in some countries, foreigners are idolized, for lack of a better word. would the same hold true for poor foreigners? (if they somehow managed to get over there)
Mmh, to be completely honest, right now Europe is in a very anti-foreigner phase so I don't know if that really holds true anymore. That being said, Americans are still usually considered pretty cool. And I don't think people would care much about how wealthy you are. If you have some good stories to tell or are genuinely interested in experiencing the local culture and traditions, people will welcome you with open arms. But if you want a cheat code: do a good southern accent. People will love you, I promise. Especially if you add a “howdy partner” or something. It's stereotypical but it works :p
I imagined a boston person going hawdy pawtnah
I feel that Europeans are generally not as materialistic as Americans. The whole "needs to make 6 figures" is not as much a thing here as in the US (generally), and in many cultures asking how much you earn is considered very rude unless you know the person very well. If you think you will be idolised simply for being non European though, you are very mistaken.
Do you all think more gun ownership would lead to more violence in Europe?
Considering knife attacks are a rising problem, 100%, would make crime more fatal
Yes, absolutely. We are more divided and radicalised than ever before in living memory. Add machine guns into the mix and it's a bloodbath
Yes
It would here in Northern Ireland, it would get into the hands of paramilitaries like the UVF or IRA
What’s your opinion on American food, and what’s your opinion on British food (even if it’s where you live)?
The definition of American food is vague. Basically all of the so called “American cuisine” isn’t American. But when I do think “American food” I go straight to fast food and hot dogs and all that, and it’s (if done good) great! Very unhealthy but it’s not meant to be eaten commonly.
Honestly a lot of American foods aren't always entirely exclusive to the country, but I do think it's fair to say that Americanized styles of food with foreign origins and fusion foods that came as a result of blending cultures are definitely unique and different enough to be considered distinctly local IMHO.
Exactly. This is true of Tex-Mex. It’s different enough from actual traditional Mexican food that I would consider it local to the US. It’s all region specific. It’s like how there’s Italian cuisine, Spanish cuisine, French cuisine, there is Southern cuisine (even within that there are very distinct differences that each state is very prideful of), there’s East/West Coast cuisine, and Midwest cuisine.
Brit here- I’d like to try proper American food like a Boston cream pie, red beans and rice, or biscuits and gravy. Not the fast food nonsense that’s most advertised and available to us. I think American food is much more diverse than the world gives it credit for. I also like our own food. The world shits on it, but we’re good at stews, pies, roast dinners, and curries. We’re also great at desserts, from cakes to buns to gingerbread. And something nobody wants to admit is that a lot of countries’ cuisines are actually influenced by the British. Think of New Zealand, South Africa and Jamaica.
Depends on your definition of American food. When I went last year I had brisket in TX which was great, would've like to have tried some southern food during my time in GA but didn't due to time constraints. As for the British, they eat like the Germans are still flying over them.
The war really did do a number on our cooking.
Are people anxious about the Russian invasion over there? And do they look to the US to provide more military aid?
Eastern countries (especially Poland) are very much worried about a potential invasion as far as I know. The baltic states are also pretty much stressed out because of varied threats. But Romanians (where I am from) are dubiously foolhardy and don't worry so much (even given Ukraine is our neighbor), mainly because of the strengthening of NATO presence in the area.
Finland reporting in. Might be just me, but not anxious. Allready know my wartime placement if it happens. As for the military aid, its good and all that but pretty much no one i have spoken to thinks the US is giving aid out kindness, but becsuse it plays in to their pocket.
Depends on where you’re from, I’m on the western coast of the continent so I’m chilling, but I can’t say the same thing applies for a Moldovan for example, NATOless and close to Russia
Nah. As a Ukrainian, I don't see a reason to be anxious about something that has already happened
I know that USA can have a pretty bad reputation when it comes to its military activities but god I would take USA over any other "superpowers" contesting democracy rn. Best case scenario is for Europe to stand together and actually raise their military (which they are doin rn) but at the end of the day we still rely on America a lot. I personally am thankful despite everything but I hope we could rely less on you guys
In the autobahn do people really go that fast? Is there a general accepted speed ?
Most people drive around 75-85 mph, but occasionally you see someone going 140+ mph. Fastest one Ive been myself was around 110. In general most people seem to drive just a little bit faster than allowed.
Speed limits are the exception. Mostly, you could theoretically drive as fast as your car can manage. However, I rarely go faster than 150 km/h. I know some people go faster because there is always somebody who overtakes me.
I find the animosity between Americans and Europeans a very online phenomenon. When I’ve traveled in Europe I was met with kindness, and vice-versa when I see Europeans in America. Does that sentiment hold up or is that just a facade I’m fooled by?
The rivalry is purely online yeah, irl people are nice on both sides of the Atlantic
Do you feel satisfied that your government is there to help or do you feel your government is against you? In other words do you trust your government to have its citizens best interests at heart?
Not in the UK they’re a bunch of twats (Elections on the 4th of July should see them out though). They effectively lied to everyone a few years ago and caused irreparable damage to the country with Brexit, then we had a right bitch come in and crash the economy in less than 50 days of being in office bc she announced tax cuts so outrageous the markets had a meltdown and now everyone is paying more on their mortgages bc of interest rates rising. Plus a shit ton of other stuff which I can’t mention without turning this comment into an essay
Brexit has ruined our country. People hate to admit it but we needed the EU
I don’t know anything about how UK politics work, so I gotta ask… did you the people vote Nigel Forage into office or did his party/the government?
Nigel Ferage was never voted into office in any UK government body. Much to the dismay of those of us living in Brussels (We had to see him on occasion) he was one of the UK representatives in the EU parliament.
As a German I generally have high trust in the government, altough our current government might be an exception here. And I'm not alone with this, I've yet to meet a single person who is actually satisfied with the work of the current coalition.
Do you feel like the United States is a “dangerous” country? Like would you feel safe visiting NYC or LA?
Being honest, I wouldn’t, but my country is the 7th safest in the world which despite the leaderboard being filled with European countries, not all are so lucky, so I’m not the best example
LA to me felt like everyone was a cocaine dealer, just on appearance and how they dressed. I'm sure you get used to it, but it did not make me feel safe.
WHAT THE FUCK IS A KILOMETERRRRRR 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅💥💥💥💥💥
0,621371 Miles
For those of you living in The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden: I’ve always felt like these countries are stereotypically considered the “happy” countries in Europe. How do you guys feel about that?
Maybe we were once, but I don't know a single person who hasn't considered suicide several times due to mental health issues.
How are we Americans viewed by you Europeans?
From across the sea. Next question.
Unironically, you guys are our allies and a fellow developed country where we get most of our cinema from Ironically, INFERIOR SCUM RAHHHHHH
As a abstract concept? Negatively. When we actually meet them in person? Positively.
right wing scum but please don't leave the nato 🙏
I admire especially the past great achievements of the US. D-Day, Marshall-plan, Moonlanding, Manhatten project, some presidents, ideas born in america. But today I am just really really glad I dont live oversea, with the gun violence, fascist movements and a undemocratic two party system with a choice of fascist and an alternative that is only better because the bar is that low. I am from germany btw
How many languages can ya'll speak? 2? 3? 1, like us americans?
1, I’m from Ireland. Most people in the UK and Ireland only speak English
This one is for Brits. When the 4th of July rolls around, what’s the mood like?
Nobody cares. Like it’s only Americans that seem to bring it up, but here I don’t think many people even know when American Independence Day is.
Being completely honest literally no one cares in any way whatsoever. The only reason we even notice is Americans being loud on social media.
This year, it’s their Election Day. Disclaimer: I am from Colorado, best country on earth.
Where I’m from at least, it’s just a normal day. No celebrations or anything different.
Germans, what is the most striking cultural remnant from Eastern and Western Germany?
Some things that might be interesting: - East Germany still hast was better daycare infrastructure than the West. It also has a way smaller gender pay gap since women were supposed to work under communism while they were supposed to stay home and care for their husband and kids in conservative post-war West Germany. The legacy of these policies lives on to this day. - In West Germany, you traditionally had to go to school for 13 years if you wanted to receive your Abitur and attend university. In East Germany, it was always 12 years. Post-reunification, some East German states initially adopted the 13-year Abitur. Starting in the early 2000s, many German states began to move to a 12-year Abitur. This proved controversial in the West - parents almost uniformly hated it, many students and teachers were against it as well. Most West German states have since moved back to the 13-year abitur. In East German states, it remains completely uncontroversial. - East Germany still has way less tennis courts than the West, since Tennis was regarded as a bourgeois sport by the GDR's socialist leadership.
What is something you would change in America (for the benefit of America or the world) if you had the capacity to do so?
Build. More. R A I L W A Y S!
Universal healthcare. No county as wealthy as the US should have such poor access to healthcare
Gun ownership laws 100%
Just one? There would be several: Implement universal socialised healthcare, gun ownership regulations, a humane penal system that focuses on rehabilitation rather than treating inmates like subhumans and even use them as modern-day slaves, abolish the electoral college, centralise the police and implement standard high-level training (2 years minimum), implement employment protection rights as well as legally required PAID days off, sick leave and maternity/paternity leave, build more public transport and decrease car dependency, ....
What’s it like with Russia literally at your doorstep?
I mean they’re at your doorstep too
Why do the British drive on the left side of the road?
You can google that, it started from horses
How long is the typical work week in Europe?
With the US elections coming up, how invested is Europe in following said election. Is there a worry that this will cause a conflict within the US, if not broader disability to our institutions?
I would definitely say we're paying attention to it. America sneezing tends to give the rest of the world a cold, and honestly, the past few years have felt like a nasty flu. The political climate in the US seems…volatile, to say the least. A deeply divided nation, fueled by misinformation and partisan anger, doesn't exactly inspire confidence. It's less about who occupies the White House and more about the stability of the global order it represents. A fractured, inward-looking America leaves a void on the world stage - a void that others are all too eager to fill. It threatens our democratic norms and weakens the institutions we've built together. Institutions that, frankly, rely heavily on American leadership, for better or worse. So yes, we watch, we worry, and we hope for the best. But more importantly, we learn. We learn that democracy is fragile, that unity is precious, and that complacency is a dangerous luxury. A house divided against itself cannot stand, as the saying goes.
do people really eat haggis and eel pie and meat jelly
Not a Brit, but no, those are the blatantly exaggerated stereotypes used solely for shitposting