The things Americans do?
Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 4:06 am
So what do you find bizzare about America?13 Things That Americans Do That The Rest Of The World Just Finds Bizarre
A thread on Reddit asks the question: Non-Americans of reddit, what aspect of American culture strikes you as the strangest?
Some of the answers are pretty hilarious and/or eye-opening.
Here are some of the best:
1. Driving everywhere
How big the country is and the amount of time you guys are willing to drive. I had a friend who drove for 16 hours to visit family for the weekend. It's baffling.
2. Being able to buy anything you want at Wal-Mart
A friend came from the UK and he said Wal-mart was the weirdest thing, you could buy 24 rolls of toilet paper and a 12 gauge shotgun in the same store.
I was not aware that you can buy guns in supermarkets in America. I thought you had to go to a dedicated gun store for that. Boy was I wrong.
3. Price tags
That the price on things in your stores are not the actual price but the price without tax and such
4. America's weird version of puritanism
You guys can't separate nudity from sex. --
...and extreme violence/gore is considered normal, and shown regularly on TV. It's pretty infuriating to live somewhere where something as natural and beautiful as the human body is viewed as taboo and "corrupts" our youth, but a guy getting his head cut off or getting beaten to death is perfectly okay for kids to watch. We're desensitizing the wrong thing.
5. CHEESE
Amount of cheese Americans can intake at a time.
Made Mac n cheese for my aussie cousins. Included 600 grams of cheese. They were floored (and clogged probably)
6. Pumpkin everything
Pumpkin flavored things, pumpkin is a vegetable yet it is always in seasonal items in combination with sweet flavors. To me a pumpkin spice coffee is so strange!-
7. Cheerleaders
...dressing up young girls in short skirts and getting them to dance around and cheer on young men strikes me as odd
8. Flags
I work at a summer camp and there is nothing funnier than watching the international counselors be totally weirded out by the flag ceremony we have every morning/evening (5-7 camper colorguard raises flag, salutes, 60-90 people recite pledge and girl scout promise in unison, we turn on our heels and file out silently in the morning, in the evening we fold the flag, sing taps, turn on our heels and file out silently to dinner)
9.Taking coffee everywhere
Eating/drinking coffee as you go, to me the best part of eating is sitting down, talking, and relaxing
10. Being obsessed with your alma mater.
I know this does not apply to everyone but your attachment to your college/university AFTER you have left. The amount of older people I saw on my trip wearing college gear was insane. As well as supporting your college as an alumni. Coming from the UK where a university is used to gain your degree then its a case of thanks for the piss ups, bye!
I get made fun of all the time in Russia for having an attachment to my college. They just don't get the idea of loyalty to the school. I think it comes from two places: sports, and a sense of community.
11. All the pomp and circumstance surrounding prom
I have cousins who live in the US and just hearing about the number of hoops they had to jump through to ask someone to a dance is hilarious. — Saysthingsfromabush
In Scotland our equivalents are ceilidhs and in school you just go and f***ing dance. Concept of building up the courage to ask someone to a ceilidh is simply ridiculous. "hey would you like to come and get bruised with me doing some fast dances to violins?" As is tradition. —
12. White teeth mania
Americans are obsessed with straight, white teeth. It's like your entire concept of beauty hangs on it. Don't get me wrong, dental hygiene is important, but not everyone needs a perfect Hollywood smile. They look super fake. —
13. Being obsessed with being the best country in the world
many Chinese people do not understand how America can function so "well" since the people here are all so different. We have black, asians, white, hispanics, indians just to name of few and yet we don't have massive in fighting between races or religions. Go to many other countries and the smallest differences in culture, language, and background will almost automatically cause some major issues. — jdavem
The way its often described to me is that Americans have a very "open mind", and that we can handle having a lot of different people around, even when we don't agree. —
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com...2013-5#ixzz2aeSSQcBE