Differences between Europe and United States

Cultural shock is an actual thing. Luckily, I have never experienced it. At least not yet. Cultural shock can happen to you when you visit a place that has such a different culture from yours that you feel sick and you also feel like you do not belong to that place. But living in a different culture for a while has many perks.

And one of my favourite things about living in America is comparing different things, people, habits and situations to Europe. In this blog post, I intend to write about all the differences I noticed so far between Europe and America. I know that the list is quite long. In fact, after finishing it, I realizet it is much longer that I initially intended it to be, but I have been in the United states for over a year and I guess I observed a lot of differences.

A lot of American people drive huge cars

In Europe, especially in big cities, the smaller your car is, the easier it is to drive it around the city and the easier you can find a parking spot. Well, let me tell you a secret - the car size situation is much different here in the United states. The car is somehow a status symbol here, and the bigger car you have, the more fabulous you are.

This is considered an average sized car here.

And of course I had to try to drive those cars (I prefer to call them trucks) a few times. And I felt like I am occupying the whole road and it was seriously uncomfortable. The only thing I liked about it is that the seats are so high up and it feels like you are above everything. But just imagine how big of a difference it was for me - from being used to driving a little Fiat Punto back at home to trying out a Honda Odyssey for the first time. It was truly an experience, but I would never voluntarily buy a car that big for my own use.

This is the car me and four other people rented on our vacation in Florida. We could easily fit into a regular car.

A lot of people have guns

Before I moved to the United states, people were telling me, some of them jokingly: 'You will totally get shot there, everybody has guns! ' And I did not really believe that so many people have guns here. Not until I actually came here. A lot of people here consider owning a gun and therefore being able to defend themselves as their right. My employers, whom I live with (you can read more about the reasons why in the blog post about my job), own three guns. Yeah, I was surprised too.

But this is just the mentality of most Americans and I accepted it, weird or not. And, just like us people in Europe like to go to a park or to the movies sometimes, people here like to go to the shooting range for fun. I tried (of course), and I must admit that it is actually really fun! I mean, I only tried shooting with a. 22 gun because it does not have such a big recoil, but keeping in mind the fact that this was my first time ever holding (and shooting) a gun, I did a pretty good job.

The roads are different

First of all, they are much wider, and secondly, some of the intersections are therefore much more complicated than the ones I am used to from Europe. Sometimes, I am looking forward to go back to Europe next year simply because I would like to enjoy the simplicity of European roads and intersections again.

My favorite type of scenery-road in the middle of nowhere. I took this picture last year in Montana.

Health care is so expensive

And even if you have insurance, you still have to pay the deductible. The deductible is a set amount that you have to pay regardless of the total amount of your bill. With my insurance, the deductible is fifty dollars. And what does that mean? It means that I only pay fifty dollars and the insurance covers the rest.

And just a friendly advice: get your teeth checked and your old tooth fillings replaced before you come to the United states. The price of tooth fillings ranges from 300 dollars all the way up to whooping 1500 dollars. And the insurance that I have, does not cover preexisting conditions and non-emergency medical procedures.

For example, if you have a tooth ache with a tooth that has a filling in it, that would be considered a preexisting condition since that tooth was already treated in the past. And if I had to replace a filling during my stay in the United states, it would literally be cheaper for me to fly back home, get my filling replaced there, and fly back to the United States.

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Everybody uses GPS and if you have to visit someone who lives a block away, you drive there

I am not complaining about the GPS, because I would die without it here. Well, not literally, but it is a life saver. What was, and still is, funny to me is how many Americans have a car and drive on a daily basis. In Europe, you can get around perfectly fine with public transport.

Here, people in big cities, such as New York, use their cars daily to get to work and then complain about traffic jams at rush hours, even if public transport is super reliable, faster and cheaper than driving around by yourself. But to each one their own, I guess. Another difference regarding driving and walking. If you read directions to get somewhere in Europe and they say it is five minutes away, that means five minutes of walking. Same directions in the United states mean five minutes of driving.

Most newer cars here have a built - in GPS, such as this one that my employer owns. This picture also applies to the next paragraph - check the air conditioning temperature!

Air conditioning everywhere

And it makes summer feel like winter. In summer, air conditioning in basically any building you enter, is set to uncomfortably low temperatures, so I needed a hoodie whenever I entered the store. What I do not really understand is, why keep it on a freezing temperature, it will be a big shock for you once you exit the building and feel the summer heat again. For a picture, refer to a previous paragraph.

Right turn on red is legal in quite a few states

And all I would like to say is that I sincerely hope I will not forget that turning right on red light is illegal in Europe. But I understand why it is legal here. This rule allows clearing the intersection much faster. And time is money, as some people say. Of course, you should not turn right on red if someone is coming your way - cars that come through the green light, still have the right of way. Also, some intersections have a sign 'no turn on red'. And I think the meaning is clear enough.

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Personal hygiene is very important for American people

In America, taking a shower twice a day and washing your hair every day is completely normal. Also, wearing a new set of clothes every day is a common practice. And I am not talking about underwear. In Europe, it is normal to wear the same pair of jeans for more than a day. But not here. Same goes for pyjamas. People here literally wear a new set of pyjamas every night. Just imagine the amount of laundry we have to do here.

Meals look different

In Europe, you eat breakfast. Then you eat a big lunch and maybe a snack before a light dinner. But not in the United states. Here, you eat breakfast. Then you eat a snack before lunch. Then you eat a light lunch, most likely a sandwich. Then you are hungry at 2 p. m. because you only ate a sandwich for lunch. Then you eat another snack. And then you eat a big dinner.

I could not get used to that meal planning for a long time. Firstly because in Europe, dinner is smaller because you eat it before you go to bed. Secondly, I could not survive until dinner with just a sandwich and a snack. I had to have two snacks in between lunch and dinner. Time difference did not help with different sized meals than I was used to either.

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The bread here is not good at all. Unless you pay a fortune

Well, not a fortune, but the price of what Americans consider a regular bread is about a dollar, meanwhile a freshly baked bread will cost you around four dollars. To be honest, the food I miss the most from Europe, is the crunchy bread, freshly baked daily. So next time you buy it, please think of me and appreciate the deliciousness of European bread more than I did. Here in the United States, you go grocery shopping once a week and you buy a few packages of bread that will last the whole week. Yes, I am talking about that pre-sliced packaged bread. And sticking it in the toaster does not help.

People do not party during the week

Mostly because of their jobs and/or university. When I lived in Portugal as an Erasmus student, we would go out and party almost every night and then head straight to classes. That is right, with no sleep. Here, people value a good night rest so they can survive the day at their demanding jobs or schools.

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Schools here are very expensive

And we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. Probably everybody in the United States has (or at some point had) a student loan. For example, my employer is a doctor, he is 45 and he is still paying off his student loan - 500 dollars each month.

I think we Europeans do not even realize how lucky we are because most of our universities are free. In my country, the situation is the following: universities are either public or private. Public universities are free (you just have to pay a small enrolment fee every year, and by small I mean a few hundred Euros), but you of course have to pay for private universities.

The average price of a three year study program in my country? 2500 Euros. And yet some people complain that it is too expensive. When I tell that to American people, they do not believe me most of the time. But I think students here in the United states value their education much more simply because it is so expensive and not everybody can afford it.

People take a lot of loans and mortgages here

In my country, if you want something that you cannot afford at the moment, you save up for it and then you buy it. Borrowing money is pretty uncommon. Here, you can buy things you want right away, but the catch is that you have to pay interest on that borrowed money, and interest rates are usually pretty high.

And this is the reason why I prefer to save up for the things I want - why would I pay interest, I could buy another thing with that money? Also, if I work for something, I feel like I truly deserved it because I put some effort into getting it. If I am able to get it straight away, it somehow loses a part of its appeal for me.

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The price you see is not the price you will pay at the register

In Europe, and probably in every other place except in United states of America, the tax is included in the price. So when you go shopping and you see that a chocolate bar costs one Euro, your total bill at the register will be one Euro and not a cent more. But guess what, if a chocolate bar has a price of one dollar on the shelf, it actually costs one dollar and six cents. Because of added tax, of course. What I do not really understand here is why not simply write the final price on the item.

Shifts in the United states are different

Morning shift lasts from six a. m. to two p. m.. Or from seven a. m. to three p. m. Afternoon shift lasts from either two p. m. or three p. m. to ten p. m. or eleven p. m. And sometimes, you have to work night shifts, but except in rare occasions, shifts last eight hours. And if you are working the morning shift one week, you are working the afternoon shift the next week. Sounds familiar? Well, not for Americans. Here, they do not really know shifts. Most people here work from nine a. m. to five p. m. Every single week.

Free stuff everywhere

From birthday freebies to 'thank you' gifts for subscribing to a company's mailing list - the possibilities are just endless. And there are quite a lot of blogs out there which list all the possibilities for getting all that free stuff. I must admit I am too lazy to research all of the options, but the ones I would recommend are the following:

• Waffle house - you get a free waffle just for joining, and another one on your birthday;
• Red robin - you get a free birthday scoop of ice cream;
• Melting pot (best fondue restaurant ever) - free box of chocolate covered strawberries;
• Sephora - free beauty kit for your birthday, and you can choose from two different ones;
• bare Minerals - free eye shadow (valued at 25 dollars! )
• Starbucks, where you get a free drink of your choice, any size you want, so it is worth experimenting a little.

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Amazing customer service and return policy

Unlike in Europe, return policies for the goods you buy in the United states are pretty amazing! I have quite a few examples from my own experience. One of them was in a pharmacy called CVS, where I bought a flat iron and a styling gel. After two uses, it turned out the flat iron is not having the desired results, and I did not like the smell of the styling cream after I put it in my hair.

So I returned both items - opened and used, and got a full refund. Of course I am not trying to encourage you in any way to take advantage on all this, but if you really need to, it is good to know you have an option of returning items and even getting a full refund. Opened and unopened. It does not work in every store, though. And it is wise to keep a receipt. Some stores will take items back without an original receipt, but in some cases, you cannot get a refund without it, only store credit.

Pharmacy in the United states is not the same as pharmacy in Europe

In Europe, you go to a pharmacy when you need to get prescription medications, and maybe some high-end skincare products. In the United States, pharmacy is almost like a supermarket. Other than medicines, you can buy every possible skin and body care product you can think of, greeting cards, nutritional supplements, food, toys, magazines and so on. Another big difference is also that you can get a lot of medications here over the counter, for which you would definitely need a prescription in Europe.

Free refills in restaurants. And you will always get water, even if you did not order it.

In most American restaurants, when you order a drink and are close to finishing it, they will refill it for you without asking. And most refills are free! Sadly, this rule does not apply to alcohol. Or luckily. Just imagine all the hangovers.

Ice tea is not really ice tea

Ice tea in Europe is sold in bottles, and it is quite sweet. In United states, ice tea is actually called iced tea, and it is freshly made every time you order it. And there are two kinds, sweetened and unsweetened. And it is basically regular tea with ice in it. Once I got used to the taste, I started to love it.

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'Would you like some drink with your ice, sir? '

Everywhere else I have been, you have to specifically order ice in your drink if you want it. Here, it is the other way around. If you want no ice in your drink, you have to specify that when ordering drinks. And when I say there is a lot of ice in every drink, I mean glass is half full of ice.

You cannot drink if you are under 21

In my country, nobody really cares if you go to a bar and order a drink when you are 16, even if the legal drinking age is 18. Here, the story is different. You cannot drink or buy alcohol if you are not 21 yet. And even if you are (and look) forty years old, they will ask you for your I. D. when you order alcohol. You also are not allowed to enter most bars after nine o'clock at night if you are underage.

Renting a car if you are not 25 yet? Prepare to pay almost 50% more!

Some companies in the United states will not let you rent a car if you are under 25. And it is impossible to rent a car if you are under 21. Most companies will also not allow to rent a car if you do not have a credit card. And the ones that let you rent a car with a debit card, make a big deal out of it. If you are renting a car with a debit card at the airport, you have to have a proof of a round - trip plane ticket. If you are renting outside the airport, you need a proof of address and some utility bills in your name.

And the worst part is yet to come - if you are not 25 yet, you will, on the top of the regular price, also have to pay a so - called 'young driver fee', which is usually 40% of the total amount.

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Twelve-hour clock

If you are setting up a meeting time with your American friends and you tell them to meet at 16. 30, they will most likely ask you to tell that in American time. And that is the reason Americans use a. m. and p. m.

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American people love shopping in thrift stores

And so do I! Thrift stores are usually huge malls with second-hand clothing. They are not very popular in Europe because people for some reason do not want to buy second hand clothing.

When I lived in Barcelona, there were a few thrift stores called Humana, but they were much more expensive that the ones in United states are. Here, you can get pieces of clothing (even branded! ) for less than a dollar. Some of the clothes even have tags on them, meaning they are brand new. Some people even resale cheap items they find in thrift stores - and they make quite a lot of money that way!

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Houses are much bigger here than in Europe

You would think that a four bedroom house in Europe and four bedroom house in the United states are about the same size. Well, you are wrong! Houses in the United states are enormous. The house where I currently live, has the kitchen island that is bigger than the surface of a whole kitchen in my childhood home. Also, every house here has so many bathrooms. Just take a look at some of the castles (this is how I call big houses here) in my neighbourhood.

Most cars here in the States have automatic transmission

My first experience with driving a car with automatic transmission was here in the States. First thing I noticed was that my left leg was bored. At first, I tried to press that pedal that was not there, but I eventually got used to it.

Second thing that was weird to get used to in a car with automatic transmission is that you do not have to pull the hand brake when you park the car. You just simply put it into parking mode. And I hope I will not forget to pull the hand brake when I switch back to a car with manual transmission, especially if I park in the middle of a hill.

Gas here is so much cheaper than in Europe

The price for a gallon (! ) of gas here is between two and three dollars. In Europe, twenty Euros would fill less than a quarter of the tank. Here, you can almost fill up the tank with twenty dollars. Another interesting fact is that gas prices vary from state to state. States in the west, especially Nevada, California and Arizona, have the most expensive gas, but comparing to gas prices in Europe, it is still cheap.

Everyone uses credit cards to pay for things

It’s not totally uncommon in Europe to pay with a credit card, but it is more of an exception than the rule. Here, it is the other way around. Paying with cash is pretty uncommon.

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Food portions in restaurants are enormous

I already wrote a blog post about it, so I will not go into details here. Feel free to read that blog post for more information.

People in America throw away a lot of food

And it hurts me every single time I see someone throw away perfectly good food. There is a fair amount of homeless people in America and we could feed a lot of them with food that we throw away instead.

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Oh, all those different units!

They do not use metric system, your shoe size here will probably be 8, you weight 130 (Oh wait, that’s a lot. Oh wait, they use pounds here. ), when the temperature outside is 40 degrees, it means it is close to freezing, and when the temperature is close to one hundred, it is summer. Yeah, Fahrenheit. To be honest, I still do not know all the conversions and it will probably stay that way until I leave the United states of America and go back to units I am used to.

You have to tip your waiter

Even if the service was absolutely terrible, you are still expected to tip at least ten percent of the total price. If the service was okay, fifteen percent tip is acceptable, and if your service was extraordinary, you should tip twenty percent or more. If you refuse to leave a tip (or forget about it), they will ask you if something was wrong, and they might even call the manager.

At the beginning of my stay in the United states, it was hard for me to remember to leave the tip simply because tipping is not very common in Europe, and especially not in my country. If you are the one who tips in my country, you are considered rich. It is not uncommon to overhear people who see you tip your server say: ‘This one has too much money’ and that is why it was so unusual for me to start getting used to tipping here in the United states.

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