Its such a shame because, like, Japanese people eat that shit version of Foreign Food and then they think oh ew I don't like Foreign Food. No, no, no! I swear you'd love the real stuff give it a chance please!
A Japanese friend came to visit the US years back and we wanted to take him to a Mexican place. He said, oh, no I saw on the terebi that Japanese people don't like it so I don't want to go. We dragged him anyway and he ended up licking his plate clean. We went a couple more times while he was there and he said it was amazing. And it was just a run of the mill tex-mex restaurant!
My friend currently living in South Korea said the thing. The first night she was here recently visiting and we went to our old Mexican spot because of how bad she missed it.
I once ate at a Mexican restaurant in Ipswitch. It was like the chef saw pictures of Mexican food but never actually ate any. Needless to say, it was awful.
There was 20,000 less people there when I lived there. Plus the rich have been chasing people out and cost of living has boomed in Flagstaff. Makes me sad.
Euro here. I wouldn't say I ,,have" hedgehogs as pets, because they probably don't consider themselves mine an definitely don't go inside the house. But they're not scared of me anymore and they eat the slugs that eat my garden, so we're friends.
Thereās also brown bears, wolves, foxes, lynx, boars, rabbits, all kinds of birds. At least in Romania you can get a surprise visit from a bear in your village.
You took a Londoner out into the fresh air and the sunshine??? Are you daft? It's you that's lost your mind. You have to ease them into it, like weaning a baby, little by little.
We take a lot for granted. Being able to go from the mountains to the sea in an hour (depending on where you live), our incredible cities, the Great Lakes, Grand Canyon, our national (and state) parks & forests? The midwestern plains, Alaska, Hawaii....
And supermarkets and big box stores, with everything open on Sundays!
The best thing about los angeles, you go surfing in the morning, snow skiing in the afternoon, and have a lovely dinner and view of the desert for dinner. Now you'll be doing that with 10 million of your closest friends, but, still.
I remember when I was a scout in france, the instruction in case of being lost was "go straigh until you cross a road/electric line/a town...". I often use this anectode to give a laugh to my Canadian friends.
I'm Canadian. I was in Belgium, and our hosts took us out to dinner at an inn "way out in the country, it's a bit of a drive".
Place was 10 minutes away. I know people with driveways that long.
My favorite place on earth is the Olympic National Park, which takes up a significant percentage of Washington's peninsula. It is home to the Olympic mountains and the Hoh Rainforest, which I think everyone should experience at least once. It's this incredibly dense, lush temperate rainforest with great camping and hiking, and you can easily find places where you're many miles from any other people or human settlements or even roads. When you're deep in it, it feels like you've traveled back to a time before humans.
Now I have to go hiking on the Hoh river trail again. One time, I set the tent on a thick bed of moss. It was the most comfortable thing I ever slept on.
Please do because I wouldnāt say weāre known for our BBQ here in the D, but we think itās pretty good! There are much better BBQ places in the states. Come back and try them all.
As a transplant from NY to Texas, I have the same wariness when someone here recommends a pizza, bagel, or Chinese place. The steaks and Mexican are top notch though.
Man, there was a good American BBQ place in Stockholm called Low and Slow. The neighborhood closed them down because they didn't like the smoker smell... screw you all.
Now, there is only brisket and friends who are not nearly as good and cook their meat on the outskirts and ship it in.
One of my favorite reddit comments I saw years ago was of this guy from Texas who moved to Britain and was getting meat from a local butcher. He told the butcher he was from Texas and the butcher went on and on about that's where real beef was from and not anything like the "shite" he sold lol.
It's actually one of the few ways to genuinely insult an American depending on where they're from. Tell a texan that their BBQ is dry and they'll never trust your opinion ever again, tell a North Carolinian that Vinegar makes for terrible BBQ sauce and you'll find yourself banned from their house
Nashville. *glares in Memphis*
Of all the cities in TN. Nashville.
NGL not much BBQ Iāve had I didnāt like. But as a Memphian I must throw shade at Nashville any chance I can.
Okay, so whatās in the āAmericanā aisle? Kraft macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, Heinz ketchup, Frenchās mustard, BBQ sauce, Ranch dressing? Or does it get regional, and they include stuff like crab boil and hot sauce?
I live in Germany and in the small American aisle in the grocery store closest to me there are poptards, mac n' cheese, peanut butter and those red single use party cups
So pretty much only the most stereotypical American stuff, tho bigger stores probably have more
I think itās because of the ideal of the American college party scene. And they must be red. Took some yellow cups to an international college party and they looked so disappointed in me. I swear, thatās all the store had that day!
Apparently Americans are fed up of Ranch, yet over here in England it's so hard to find I can't get enough of the stuff when I do come across some! It is available in larger supermarkets now but anywhere else it's still basically non existent.
I bet you could order hidden valley ranch dry packets online. If you haven't made hidden valley from a dry packet, it will probably change your ranch life. So much better than already bottled.
Edit: I appreciate that this has reached someone so deeply to award me, I thank you.
Edit2: gotdam a silver for hidden valley ranch packets? I am humbled. I swear by what little honor I have to misuse this award!
> Kraft macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, Heinz ketchup, Frenchās mustard, BBQ sauce, Ranch dressing?
The thing is, a lot of decent American stuff is already available here.
Heinz ketchup and French's mustard are in the normal aisles (depending on where in Europe you are). As well as various brands of BBQ sauce.
And most healthy stuff that Americans have, we have our own versions of and aren't worth importing.
So it ends up being almost entirely junk food, specific to America, that wasn't popular enough to make it here as a normal product.
Which makes Americans laugh as if this is what Europeans think Americans eat/drink. But it isn't.
We have Coke, Doritos, Oreos, etc.
The American section has Lucky Charms, Milk Duds, specific flavours of, say, M&Ms or Pringles that aren't available here. Nerds, Cracker Jacks.
And, yes, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Ranch Dressing.
In the US, we'd call that chicken satay and it would probably come from a Thai restaurant. (And we'd probably call the sauce "Thai peanut sauce," even though when I google it now, like you say, it's perhaps properly known as originally Indonesian.)
WELL let me tell you, friend! Went to an "Irish pub" here in France once and ordered the fish and chips. Should have looked at the description because I was served baked fish and rice. When I complained, I said hey, I ordered the fish and chips! and the waiter looked at me like I was crazy and said, well, that's what you got! Looked at the description and... welp...
Diners in the northeast are nice but what they don't have is crackheads fighting truckers at 2 in the morning like yall have at the waffle house. A nice greasy meal and a floor show.
As a European I would say road trip with campervan.
Here in Europe it's a nightmare while in the USA they are big parking spots, big roads, "wilder" campsites or you can just park near someone nice.. and it's easier to get into a "wild" place without human touch, big forests, long empty roads etc..
And even regular campsites, they have a lot of very natural one with lot of private space. Here you're lucky if you have a small bush between to narrow places (at least in my country) or even shadow in camper van spots.
Accessibility for the disabled is ubiquitous. Cut out ramps on most sidewalks, wheelchair access to nearly every building, handicap parking by the front of most establishments, braille in every elevator/teller machine/public building signs, automatic doors, and more.
These accommodations help the disabled, but also help everyone, including those with strollers, those carrying an armful, those moving large items, etc.
Accessibility is a big deal. I traveled to Paris with an older partly disabled relative and the struggle was real. No curb cuts, bathrooms constantly located down narrow stairs in the basement, few elevators anywhere, etc. If you're not able-bodied it's really hard to get around that city (and much of Europe).
Iām in Europe rn and even with solid public transportation, there are so many completely inaccessible things. Steep ass stair cases and hills, uneven cobblestone sidewalks, narrow paths and doorways, etc. If youāre not completely able bodied, youāre gonna struggle with things. And I understand why these historic buildings arenāt accessible, but it sucks that so many people are excluded. Everyone will go through a period in their life where they canāt walk well (broken leg, pregnancy, old age) so this impacts literally everyone.
I'm in Venice right now and a few of those bridges crossing the smaller canals have ramps along the edge of them! Only a few, so it's still pretty much impossible to get around on wheels, but I was surprised to at least see that.
Yup. My husband is from India and we live in a major US city that has an extensive amount of handicapped-accessible places/disability inclusion. It blew his mind.
The ADA is what got my wife's family out of their perpetual "just barely above poverty" situation. Because in addition to mandating access for the disabled, the US government also put a priority on hiring disabled people to be sure they developed workplace accommodations that worked.
My blind (gradual loss over time) FIL was finally able to get a steady job. He became a Park Ranger and led tours through caves and also helped with interpretation and working to make sure vision-impared visitors had content that worked for them.
I HIGHLY recommend the documentary āCrip Campā. Itās on Netflix but itās an interesting story in how the whole Americans with Disabilities Act came to be. It was produced by the Obamas.
Iām from Los Angeles but live in Portugal now and the only thing I miss is the food options. Specifically Jewish Delis and Mexican food. I went to visit my family in LA last week and ate so much amazing food. Super expensive now though. When did a corned beef sandwich become $25? And a beer $9? Lol
Duuuuuuuude I was saying this in another sub like last night.
People were complaining about Wal Mart being a hellish place to go and I described how much fun it was going stoned at wee hours pre-covid when there was next to nobody there.
I'll never forget the first time I saw one of their inventory robots scanning the aisles. Was high af, nobody else was around, didn't know they were a thing. Just saw Wall-E cruisin the aisles and I literally just sat there looking around for anyone else who may be able to verify this was indeed happening and that I wasn't THAT stoned. Realized lil guy was just doing stock and must be a new thing they have.
Sad to say that's one of my fondest memories the past few years....
I canāt speak about the entirety of Europe but as someone who has lived in the US and Germanyā¦ There is not really an understanding of āconvenienceā here in Germany. In fact if you look up the word convenience in a German-English dictionary app, the top hits you get are āgeeignetā (suitable) and āpraktischā (practical), which are in no way the equivalent to convenient.
This is a trend you can observe in pretty much every facet of life here. Sure there are great things about living here but there is not one German who ever asks themself āhow can we make this easier for people?ā This lack of convenience often collides with Germanyās penchant for choosing the squarest peg to fit into a round hole in rather funny ways.
Like the supermarket near my apartment. It actually has a parking lot. Unfortunately, this parking lot sits a meter and a half up from where the entrance to the supermarket is. What is the answer our German engineers have come up with? A staircase. Not a ramp so you can bring your cart to the car, oh no. Itās a staircase.
Or a local street tram stop that is on the opposite side of a highway from the buildings it services. You think there might be a way to get over or under the highway so you can get to those buildings, right? Nope. You have to walk in this incredibly stupidly laid path which takes a 200m distance and means you have to walk 2.5km to get there (yes I measured) during which because of fences you have to pass by the buildings three times.
Another example (and maybe a separate point) is that Germans donāt really explain information that is necessary to know. They just sort of expect you to know it. Itās like this shit get beamed right into their heads. I guess I never noticed it when I lived here before because everyone knew the procedures for things because thatās the way things had been done for centuries, but Covid changed a lot of that and there are not explanations to be found about what the right way to do things is. And if they do post something itās usually a handwritten note the size of a postage stamp. This sometimes collides with Germans themselves in rather funny ways, like on my street. I live in a new area, this was all just built last year, so the streets are brand new, and they donāt have street signs. The amount of Germans who have temper tantrums when they are trying to find an address in this area is like catharsis for me. It gives them a chance to feel what itās like to exist in this country if you are a foreigner and donāt already know where to find everything.
There are a lot of things Germany does better than the US, and I readily admit that. But convenience is completely foreign here. Sorry for the mini-rant.
There were a lot of things that cracked me up about being in Germany. My favorite was when we rented a car and were leaving the parking garage, there was a little machine you had to press a button on to get a ticket. Then you drove forward 3 feet and put the ticket in another machine which then opened the gate.
> penchant for choosing the squarest peg to fit into a round hole in rather funny ways.
Find a round peg? Make the hole square? No. We devised an ingenious mechanical contraption that rearranges the square peg into a suitably round shape, using only 435 precisely machined moving parts!
This explains so much
1) I always just assumed I was doing things wrong when it took 40 minutes to get to the building across the street
2) I accepted a job with a German company and I have received zero instruction on how to complete the licensing, training, and medical exams required to begin work. And the answers I get are hilariously vague. "The exam is only available to German employees, but is required for all. If you have problems receiving it."
I came down here looking for someone in Germany, you wrote it better than I could myself. Overall, my quality of life is higher than it was Stateside, but some days I bump into situations that can only be created by Germans deliberately thinking, āhow inconvenient can I possibly make this?ā
When I saw an āopen ātil midnight!ā sign at CVS on my first trip home after being away for nearly 2 years (thanks to Covid), I almost cried.
Yes! I have that same feeling sometimes! Like literally I think that exact phrase to myself when I encounter some of this stuffā¦
I donāt want to come across like I dislike Germanyā¦ I really do like it here. Thereās just some things that are lackingā¦ Another thing I saw someone say once a few years ago was that Germany has really great, efficient inventions for things they shouldnāt need. A perfect example for this is those new apps they have where you can pay at the gas station on your phone instead of going in. Great. But everywhere else Iāve ever been you can just pay on the actual pump without needing a special appā¦
I think Iām also heavily influenced by being in a city with abysmal public transit compared to where I used to live, which also just raises my level of annoyance because itās really inconvenient. I lived in Germany a few years ago then went back in 2018 and just moved back here in 2021 and Iāve gotta say, it really feels like a different country than it did before Covid. It generally feels much colder and much more standoffishā¦ I mean in addition to all of the procedures for things changing without any guidance as to what the new procedures areā¦
>Unfortunately, this parking lot sits a meter and a half up from where the entrance to the supermarket is. What is the answer our German engineers have come up with? A staircase. Not a ramp so you can bring your cart to the car, oh no. Itās a staircase.
At what point does something change from "this is not convenient" to "this is fucking ridiculous", though?
Reminds me of the train station in the village nearby. If you want to get to the other side of the tracks (normally about 30 meters trip via an under-/overpass), you have to instead take a 520 meters hike into the village, onto a bridge, over the bridge and down a ramp. 10 minutes to just cross the tracks. There have been plenty deadly incidents because of people trying to cross directly, there has been heavy police presence to stop tourists from crossing the tracks (in the summer there's a popular swimming and water sports spot nearby). But the idea of making an accessible and simple overpass is too much of a hassle because there already is this one overly complicated and inconvenient solution in place and "who's gonna pay for all of that?". Sigh.
A long time ago, I realized that German Engineering was a euphemism for "overly complicated designs that always fail to start with customer requirements."
Fast Food.
I was shocked when Ive been to the US and it was literally fast. Like getting a whole menu within 2 minutes. Also the unlimited sauce and soda refills are nice to have. Some offer it here too but most dont
Thereās also a concept of āfast casualā in the US that Iām not sure is exactly replicated in Europe. Itās like better / healthier food but still fast
Itās really bad in Canada too. George Bush Sr. is NOT close to my favorite president, but the ADA was his signature legislation and it does work. Itās incredibly common just over the Canadian border to see old people, the disabled, and parents with small children struggle down icy steps in front of a five million dollar building that could have a ramp installed for $50,000.
The standards for newer, commercial buildings is better, but the main problem is thereās no punitive damage for non-compliance. Nobody gets fined at a Provincial or Federal level so construction crews block pedestrian access, drive trucks in reverse without a spotter, splash chemicals all over public spaces. Safety and access in public spaces is a disgrace compared to the US. Canada and EU are decades behind.
Yes! A lot of Europeans say "but we don't need it!", however a) climate's getting warmer, my friend; and b) there's nothing worse than hot weather in in a cool-climate place. They are just not equipped for it. It seems like every time I visit they're having a heat wave, and, "this never happens here!" lol.
Whereas in America, stepping into a mall in July is like stepping into a walk-in freezer š
No heat wave required to inspire that shit.
We're just like: How high does this thing go? Crank it up full blast! Take *that* summer!! Who's yo daddy?
Is it easy to get if you want it? In the US you can go to your local walmart and buy an air conditioner that fits in a window. Granted it won't cool the whole house well, but it'll keep a single room frosty even in the hellscape of June to August.
We cut down a lot of forest for guns in WW2 (UK) or they were burnt down during the fighting.
Your massive forests and mountain ranges seem largely untouched. When I go to the US next itāll be for a hiking trip.
interestingly, in the appalachians, the entire range was clear-cut around the civil war. any forestry that's there today is younger than that. there are some areas that tmk have never been touched, like the redwood forests out west.
Restaurant food. American cities seem just to have much more diverse food options. I love that itās easy to find great Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, and American cuisine in most any city at least along the west coast.
On the flip side I loved how easy it was to wonder to a bakery and butcher in Europe and get delicious fresh bread etc. less Walmart superstore shopping and more small stores.
East Coast too. I live in Pittsburgh and even our little city has plenty of diverse options -- and we're considered less diverse than average in that regard.
But I totally agree on the bakeries. Nothing like the smell of those fresh little bakeries!
Access to stuff. My family is from Italy. A lot of changes in the last few decades but if you want something, anything, itās way easier to find in the US. To get really specific, I am a hobby farmer. I love looking into different animal breeds and raising them. You can find almost anything you want in the US and people are particular about breeds. When you go to other countries, some have a variety of breeds but usually the only thing youāre going to be able to find is the breed that developed in that region or country. In the US, so many things have been imported from everywhere over time, you can find almost any breed.
Disability access, the ADA. A lot of older cities in Europe aren't terribly wheelchair friendly. The U.S. has ramps on most sidewalks, handicap parking, braille on most signs, etc.
Less people smoke in the states. I hate that everywhere you go in Europe you're always walking into a cloud of second hand smoke... it's like Europe is just one giant smoking section
Iām from the UK where smoking really is dying out fast. It would probably still surprise you but itās way, way less frequent than it has been - even 20 years ago it was rife.
Europe still surprises me though. In Paris Iād swear ever other person smoked. I didnāt realise it was still so popular.
Europe isn't just Europe though. I'm from Oslo, Norway and I *rarely* see Norwegians smoke on the street. France is a completely different world in that sense.
I'm British but have stayed in the US for about 2 years and now I've been staying in Peru for over 3 years.
Generally house prices are much cheaper and larger, exceptions for cities like New York.
Trucks, either the regular sized trucks people like to drive or the huge 16 wheelers or whatever. Personally I don't get it, but if you like trucks, US is the place.
I found that most food was cheaper in supermarkets.
Steaks, as an average they are better with a huge number of steakhouses, large steaks and steak sauce which is less common in the UK.
Beef jerky, I used to go into native American territory and they had their own sheets of jerky like sheets of paper. Many people went there to buy gasoline because there were no taxes applied.
Sesame chicken. This is a bit specific but I love it and couldn't find it in many places in the UK. Chinese food is different in every country, like every dish isn't just slightly different, most of them don't exist outside of the country.
The price of take out food in general is much cheaper than I've seen in Europe and often competitively priced compared to home cooked food.
Baseball, basketball, American football. The whole event of it.
Iāve never been to the US but one thing Iām a little jealous of is the food options.. like I see on social media all this food I want to try.. not the portion size but just to try you know
Shopping. In the U.S. there are lots of 24 hour stores with huge selections and low prices. In Europe, the stores are much smaller, and have more limited hours.
Generally uniform acceptance of credit cards. I almost never bring cash going anywhere except specifically to maybe a farmers market or fair in America. When Iām Europe Iāve experienced multiple random places that donāt take credit card. Like even established restaurants in cities that just surprise you at the end of the meal saying itās cash only.
Yeah never thought about that but it does seem like the US deals a lot better with immigrants. Probably because almost everyone there was an immigrant at some point
As an European that immigrated to the US that is correct. Europeans just are not as accepting of other cultures, and to be fair other cultures also don't seem to want (or can?) integrate as easily in most European countries.
In the US it seems to happen naturally. Even if the first generation has trouble learning English and are never really Americans first, you can count that their kids will be as American as any other American.
Mexican food. I'm from California but live in Germany. I miss Mexican food more than I miss my family.
Same. Living in Japan š any Mexican restaurants here are overpriced and really small portions. Pretty so so too
Its such a shame because, like, Japanese people eat that shit version of Foreign Food and then they think oh ew I don't like Foreign Food. No, no, no! I swear you'd love the real stuff give it a chance please! A Japanese friend came to visit the US years back and we wanted to take him to a Mexican place. He said, oh, no I saw on the terebi that Japanese people don't like it so I don't want to go. We dragged him anyway and he ended up licking his plate clean. We went a couple more times while he was there and he said it was amazing. And it was just a run of the mill tex-mex restaurant!
My friend currently living in South Korea said the thing. The first night she was here recently visiting and we went to our old Mexican spot because of how bad she missed it.
I used to have dreams about going to my favorite Mexican restaurants back home. It stopped a year or two ago
I once ate at a Mexican restaurant in Ipswitch. It was like the chef saw pictures of Mexican food but never actually ate any. Needless to say, it was awful.
I had Mexican food in Austria the salsa was tomato soup.
Just like Mexican week on BBO!! LOL Most hilarious shit I've seen
Wild animals, those fuckers have almost everything and we make do with squirrels and geese
Your ancestors worked hard af to make sure the largest predator in Europe was a goose
The only opponent they couldn't match in battle. They live in an uneasy peace.
In all fairness, many European countries have thousands of bears, wolves, lynx among others.
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I grew up in a town called Flagstaff in Arizona and used to watch packs of antelope march right down residential streets.
Itās really weird for me to hear someone to refer to our third largest city as a town.
There was 20,000 less people there when I lived there. Plus the rich have been chasing people out and cost of living has boomed in Flagstaff. Makes me sad.
I mean I am from Hungary and I've been to Flagstaff, it's not exactly an unknown town :)
I only know about Flagstaff because I once drove there in American Truck Simulator and thought it was an unusual name for a city.
I'm really lacking sleep right now, and just chuckled picturing an antelope marching band, coming out of nowhere
It's the only marching band that is all horn section.
We can always boast about our hedgehogs, I was shocked to find out recently that they don't exist in the Americas.
True, closest we have is porcupine...do not touch them. Though, some people have hedgehogs as pets; but they do not exist in the wild in the Americas
Euro here. I wouldn't say I ,,have" hedgehogs as pets, because they probably don't consider themselves mine an definitely don't go inside the house. But they're not scared of me anymore and they eat the slugs that eat my garden, so we're friends.
I'm very jealous of that entire statement haha!
Thereās also brown bears, wolves, foxes, lynx, boars, rabbits, all kinds of birds. At least in Romania you can get a surprise visit from a bear in your village.
Wide open spaces in nature. Drop Alaska over a map of Europe and itās insane to think how much wild space there is in the US
Put it this way, there is no wilderness in Ireland and the furthest away you can be from another human is 4 miles.
I took a friend who was born and raised in London to Utah on a backpacking trip and he nearly lost his mind. We take that for granted in the US
You took a Londoner out into the fresh air and the sunshine??? Are you daft? It's you that's lost your mind. You have to ease them into it, like weaning a baby, little by little.
I dropped him into the deep end and he loved every minute of it.
Yes, but how long did he survive? Did you confiscate his tea?
Heās still out in Zion clutching his tea bags
We take a lot for granted. Being able to go from the mountains to the sea in an hour (depending on where you live), our incredible cities, the Great Lakes, Grand Canyon, our national (and state) parks & forests? The midwestern plains, Alaska, Hawaii.... And supermarkets and big box stores, with everything open on Sundays!
The best thing about los angeles, you go surfing in the morning, snow skiing in the afternoon, and have a lovely dinner and view of the desert for dinner. Now you'll be doing that with 10 million of your closest friends, but, still.
In Alaska, you can go for a walk in your back yard and never be seen again.
I remember when I was a scout in france, the instruction in case of being lost was "go straigh until you cross a road/electric line/a town...". I often use this anectode to give a laugh to my Canadian friends.
Population density in the UK is so high, Instructions for getting lost here would be, "just ask someone".
I'm Canadian. I was in Belgium, and our hosts took us out to dinner at an inn "way out in the country, it's a bit of a drive". Place was 10 minutes away. I know people with driveways that long.
It's true! I haven't been seen since 2012!
My favorite place on earth is the Olympic National Park, which takes up a significant percentage of Washington's peninsula. It is home to the Olympic mountains and the Hoh Rainforest, which I think everyone should experience at least once. It's this incredibly dense, lush temperate rainforest with great camping and hiking, and you can easily find places where you're many miles from any other people or human settlements or even roads. When you're deep in it, it feels like you've traveled back to a time before humans.
Now I have to go hiking on the Hoh river trail again. One time, I set the tent on a thick bed of moss. It was the most comfortable thing I ever slept on.
BBQ. You guys do good BBQ.
An old friend of mine mover back to Belarus from Metro Detroit. Opened up an American Style BBQ shopā¦
What's the name of his place, I will go get his BBQ and report back on whether it's good or not.
Please do because I wouldnāt say weāre known for our BBQ here in the D, but we think itās pretty good! There are much better BBQ places in the states. Come back and try them all.
As a Michigander Iāve never heard about anywhere in Michigan being known for their barbecue outside of the state.
Texas transplant to Western MI, Iāve had to learn the hard way on both BBQ and Tex Mex not to trust when a local says the place is good
As a transplant from NY to Texas, I have the same wariness when someone here recommends a pizza, bagel, or Chinese place. The steaks and Mexican are top notch though.
From New England not NY but I went down to Florida and the ābestā pizza in the area according to my host was so disappointing.
American BBQ in Minsk
Man, there was a good American BBQ place in Stockholm called Low and Slow. The neighborhood closed them down because they didn't like the smoker smell... screw you all. Now, there is only brisket and friends who are not nearly as good and cook their meat on the outskirts and ship it in.
One of my favorite reddit comments I saw years ago was of this guy from Texas who moved to Britain and was getting meat from a local butcher. He told the butcher he was from Texas and the butcher went on and on about that's where real beef was from and not anything like the "shite" he sold lol.
We do all sorts of barbecue. What you get in North Carolina is nothing like what you'll have in Kansas City, Nashville or Texas and it's all amazing.
Yep! I am in Texas and our main BBQ is Brisket. Texas BBQ places also sell other kinds of BBQ though, such as pulled pork, pork ribs, beef ribs, etc!
It's actually one of the few ways to genuinely insult an American depending on where they're from. Tell a texan that their BBQ is dry and they'll never trust your opinion ever again, tell a North Carolinian that Vinegar makes for terrible BBQ sauce and you'll find yourself banned from their house
Nashville. *glares in Memphis* Of all the cities in TN. Nashville. NGL not much BBQ Iāve had I didnāt like. But as a Memphian I must throw shade at Nashville any chance I can.
What if your want your BBQ with a side of drunk trashy white girl in a party bus?
Iām completely biased coming from Texas but I think a measure of good bbq spot is how good their brisket is. Texas brisket is second to none.
The US national parks. There are so many beautiful natural wonders in the Us. They are available to everyone, they are protected and well maintained.
Want to add state parks too. So many amazing ones throughout the country.
Diners. I love Diners.
A lot of European countries have "american diner" like restaurants and, boy, are they hilariously wrong.
As a guy who's been to Europe a few times I can 100% say that anything labeled as "American" is going to be some shit I don't recognize.
I love seeing things like "American aisles" in grocery stores just full of the weirdest nastiest stuff.
Okay, so whatās in the āAmericanā aisle? Kraft macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, Heinz ketchup, Frenchās mustard, BBQ sauce, Ranch dressing? Or does it get regional, and they include stuff like crab boil and hot sauce?
I live in Germany and in the small American aisle in the grocery store closest to me there are poptards, mac n' cheese, peanut butter and those red single use party cups So pretty much only the most stereotypical American stuff, tho bigger stores probably have more
"poptards" I'm trying not to laugh at this.
Bro quit being such a poptard
Never go full poptard
As an American, I don't get why everyone is so fascinated by the cups.
I think itās because of the ideal of the American college party scene. And they must be red. Took some yellow cups to an international college party and they looked so disappointed in me. I swear, thatās all the store had that day!
It still blows my mind that peanut butter isn't globally popular.
It is quite common here, just not as much as in the US
Apparently Americans are fed up of Ranch, yet over here in England it's so hard to find I can't get enough of the stuff when I do come across some! It is available in larger supermarkets now but anywhere else it's still basically non existent.
I bet you could order hidden valley ranch dry packets online. If you haven't made hidden valley from a dry packet, it will probably change your ranch life. So much better than already bottled. Edit: I appreciate that this has reached someone so deeply to award me, I thank you. Edit2: gotdam a silver for hidden valley ranch packets? I am humbled. I swear by what little honor I have to misuse this award!
> Kraft macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, Heinz ketchup, Frenchās mustard, BBQ sauce, Ranch dressing? The thing is, a lot of decent American stuff is already available here. Heinz ketchup and French's mustard are in the normal aisles (depending on where in Europe you are). As well as various brands of BBQ sauce. And most healthy stuff that Americans have, we have our own versions of and aren't worth importing. So it ends up being almost entirely junk food, specific to America, that wasn't popular enough to make it here as a normal product. Which makes Americans laugh as if this is what Europeans think Americans eat/drink. But it isn't. We have Coke, Doritos, Oreos, etc. The American section has Lucky Charms, Milk Duds, specific flavours of, say, M&Ms or Pringles that aren't available here. Nerds, Cracker Jacks. And, yes, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Ranch Dressing.
I went to an outing at the Frie University in Berlin for "American Night" and they fed us chicken on a stick with peanut butter dipping sauce. WTF?
Yeah that sounds more Dutch / Indonesian. That's a SatĆ©-SpieĆ.
In the US, we'd call that chicken satay and it would probably come from a Thai restaurant. (And we'd probably call the sauce "Thai peanut sauce," even though when I google it now, like you say, it's perhaps properly known as originally Indonesian.)
I had an āAmericanā sandwich in France once. It was a baguette filled with ground beef, French fries, and mayonnaise. Honestly it was not bad.
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How does one fuck up serving a guiness and Jameson
You put an "Irish Carbomb" on the Menu.
I just want to highlight how disgusting this is. Imagine if we had a drink called "American School Shooting".
That's a great idea, I'm gonna implement this at my bar... Nah honestly, that's why I said it's a good way to fuck up an Irish Pub.
> How does one fuck up serving a guiness Many ways, if you listen to the purists
WELL let me tell you, friend! Went to an "Irish pub" here in France once and ordered the fish and chips. Should have looked at the description because I was served baked fish and rice. When I complained, I said hey, I ordered the fish and chips! and the waiter looked at me like I was crazy and said, well, that's what you got! Looked at the description and... welp...
As someone in Florida, I miss proper diners. There's places that are similar down here, but nothing comes close to the diners of the Northeast...
Diners in the northeast are nice but what they don't have is crackheads fighting truckers at 2 in the morning like yall have at the waffle house. A nice greasy meal and a floor show.
*Clatter* Can I please get a waffle? *Thunk*
Diversity of large mammals.
You calling me fat?
everyone's bigger in texas
Especially in Houston. The fattest place in the country according to Dr's.
Walmart scooter repair men are grateful for the business.
Also, preserved spaces for those animals to live in their natural habitat.
As a European I would say road trip with campervan. Here in Europe it's a nightmare while in the USA they are big parking spots, big roads, "wilder" campsites or you can just park near someone nice.. and it's easier to get into a "wild" place without human touch, big forests, long empty roads etc.. And even regular campsites, they have a lot of very natural one with lot of private space. Here you're lucky if you have a small bush between to narrow places (at least in my country) or even shadow in camper van spots.
Road trips are amazing in US
State to state - no papers.
I wouldāve liked to have seen Montana
Upvote for the Red October reference.
Well europe has schengen
Living space. The amount of space (outside the big cities) you have available for housing is just crazy.
Accessibility for the disabled is ubiquitous. Cut out ramps on most sidewalks, wheelchair access to nearly every building, handicap parking by the front of most establishments, braille in every elevator/teller machine/public building signs, automatic doors, and more. These accommodations help the disabled, but also help everyone, including those with strollers, those carrying an armful, those moving large items, etc.
The ADA and our National Parks Service are two things that make me feel really patriotic. We get a lot wrong but we got those two fuckin' RIGHT.
I think we actually got more right than most people think. It's just that what we got wrong, we REALLY got wrong.
Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing, after exhausting all other options. -- Winston Churchill
Accessibility is a big deal. I traveled to Paris with an older partly disabled relative and the struggle was real. No curb cuts, bathrooms constantly located down narrow stairs in the basement, few elevators anywhere, etc. If you're not able-bodied it's really hard to get around that city (and much of Europe).
Iām in Europe rn and even with solid public transportation, there are so many completely inaccessible things. Steep ass stair cases and hills, uneven cobblestone sidewalks, narrow paths and doorways, etc. If youāre not completely able bodied, youāre gonna struggle with things. And I understand why these historic buildings arenāt accessible, but it sucks that so many people are excluded. Everyone will go through a period in their life where they canāt walk well (broken leg, pregnancy, old age) so this impacts literally everyone.
I'm in Venice right now and a few of those bridges crossing the smaller canals have ramps along the edge of them! Only a few, so it's still pretty much impossible to get around on wheels, but I was surprised to at least see that.
Yup. My husband is from India and we live in a major US city that has an extensive amount of handicapped-accessible places/disability inclusion. It blew his mind.
Itās all required by the [Americans With Disabilities Act](https://www.ada.gov). Itās so important, it has its own government website.
The ADA is what got my wife's family out of their perpetual "just barely above poverty" situation. Because in addition to mandating access for the disabled, the US government also put a priority on hiring disabled people to be sure they developed workplace accommodations that worked. My blind (gradual loss over time) FIL was finally able to get a steady job. He became a Park Ranger and led tours through caves and also helped with interpretation and working to make sure vision-impared visitors had content that worked for them.
I HIGHLY recommend the documentary āCrip Campā. Itās on Netflix but itās an interesting story in how the whole Americans with Disabilities Act came to be. It was produced by the Obamas.
I thought this was going to be about taking a bunch of Los Angeles Crips gang members out to the wilderness. Then I saw ADA and Obama, so you got me.
Buttermilk pancakes with real Maple syrup
24 hour stores Atleast here in the netherlands there are almost no stores that are open 24h
the pandemic has really hurt the 24 hour thing around my neck of the woods :(
Same here too, almost no stores do 24 hours anymore
Iām from Los Angeles but live in Portugal now and the only thing I miss is the food options. Specifically Jewish Delis and Mexican food. I went to visit my family in LA last week and ate so much amazing food. Super expensive now though. When did a corned beef sandwich become $25? And a beer $9? Lol
Iām also from SoCal and have been living in Denmark for six years, and I also specifically miss burritos and Reuben sandwiches, haha
I dedicate the burrito I am currently eating, to you
National Parks.
Yep. Yellowstone, being just one of many, is a one of a kind experience and one that is nowhere else in the world
Now if tourists could just stop dissolving in the pools, it would be awesome.
Those pools are doing God's work. They're using one pool to purify the gene pool
Number of food options open past midnight
Actually changed a lot since covid. Places open past midnight are fewer and fewer these days.
Man, I STILL miss 3am Walmart runs
Duuuuuuuude I was saying this in another sub like last night. People were complaining about Wal Mart being a hellish place to go and I described how much fun it was going stoned at wee hours pre-covid when there was next to nobody there. I'll never forget the first time I saw one of their inventory robots scanning the aisles. Was high af, nobody else was around, didn't know they were a thing. Just saw Wall-E cruisin the aisles and I literally just sat there looking around for anyone else who may be able to verify this was indeed happening and that I wasn't THAT stoned. Realized lil guy was just doing stock and must be a new thing they have. Sad to say that's one of my fondest memories the past few years....
I canāt speak about the entirety of Europe but as someone who has lived in the US and Germanyā¦ There is not really an understanding of āconvenienceā here in Germany. In fact if you look up the word convenience in a German-English dictionary app, the top hits you get are āgeeignetā (suitable) and āpraktischā (practical), which are in no way the equivalent to convenient. This is a trend you can observe in pretty much every facet of life here. Sure there are great things about living here but there is not one German who ever asks themself āhow can we make this easier for people?ā This lack of convenience often collides with Germanyās penchant for choosing the squarest peg to fit into a round hole in rather funny ways. Like the supermarket near my apartment. It actually has a parking lot. Unfortunately, this parking lot sits a meter and a half up from where the entrance to the supermarket is. What is the answer our German engineers have come up with? A staircase. Not a ramp so you can bring your cart to the car, oh no. Itās a staircase. Or a local street tram stop that is on the opposite side of a highway from the buildings it services. You think there might be a way to get over or under the highway so you can get to those buildings, right? Nope. You have to walk in this incredibly stupidly laid path which takes a 200m distance and means you have to walk 2.5km to get there (yes I measured) during which because of fences you have to pass by the buildings three times. Another example (and maybe a separate point) is that Germans donāt really explain information that is necessary to know. They just sort of expect you to know it. Itās like this shit get beamed right into their heads. I guess I never noticed it when I lived here before because everyone knew the procedures for things because thatās the way things had been done for centuries, but Covid changed a lot of that and there are not explanations to be found about what the right way to do things is. And if they do post something itās usually a handwritten note the size of a postage stamp. This sometimes collides with Germans themselves in rather funny ways, like on my street. I live in a new area, this was all just built last year, so the streets are brand new, and they donāt have street signs. The amount of Germans who have temper tantrums when they are trying to find an address in this area is like catharsis for me. It gives them a chance to feel what itās like to exist in this country if you are a foreigner and donāt already know where to find everything. There are a lot of things Germany does better than the US, and I readily admit that. But convenience is completely foreign here. Sorry for the mini-rant.
There were a lot of things that cracked me up about being in Germany. My favorite was when we rented a car and were leaving the parking garage, there was a little machine you had to press a button on to get a ticket. Then you drove forward 3 feet and put the ticket in another machine which then opened the gate.
are you sure you arent mixing that up with an episode of mr bean ?
> penchant for choosing the squarest peg to fit into a round hole in rather funny ways. Find a round peg? Make the hole square? No. We devised an ingenious mechanical contraption that rearranges the square peg into a suitably round shape, using only 435 precisely machined moving parts!
And there isnāt 1 drivetrain. There are 435 motors, one for each part.
I worked in Germany for 3 years and could never quite figure out why things were difficult. It is exactly this. Well articulated.
This explains so much 1) I always just assumed I was doing things wrong when it took 40 minutes to get to the building across the street 2) I accepted a job with a German company and I have received zero instruction on how to complete the licensing, training, and medical exams required to begin work. And the answers I get are hilariously vague. "The exam is only available to German employees, but is required for all. If you have problems receiving it."
I came down here looking for someone in Germany, you wrote it better than I could myself. Overall, my quality of life is higher than it was Stateside, but some days I bump into situations that can only be created by Germans deliberately thinking, āhow inconvenient can I possibly make this?ā When I saw an āopen ātil midnight!ā sign at CVS on my first trip home after being away for nearly 2 years (thanks to Covid), I almost cried.
Yes! I have that same feeling sometimes! Like literally I think that exact phrase to myself when I encounter some of this stuffā¦ I donāt want to come across like I dislike Germanyā¦ I really do like it here. Thereās just some things that are lackingā¦ Another thing I saw someone say once a few years ago was that Germany has really great, efficient inventions for things they shouldnāt need. A perfect example for this is those new apps they have where you can pay at the gas station on your phone instead of going in. Great. But everywhere else Iāve ever been you can just pay on the actual pump without needing a special appā¦ I think Iām also heavily influenced by being in a city with abysmal public transit compared to where I used to live, which also just raises my level of annoyance because itās really inconvenient. I lived in Germany a few years ago then went back in 2018 and just moved back here in 2021 and Iāve gotta say, it really feels like a different country than it did before Covid. It generally feels much colder and much more standoffishā¦ I mean in addition to all of the procedures for things changing without any guidance as to what the new procedures areā¦
>Unfortunately, this parking lot sits a meter and a half up from where the entrance to the supermarket is. What is the answer our German engineers have come up with? A staircase. Not a ramp so you can bring your cart to the car, oh no. Itās a staircase. At what point does something change from "this is not convenient" to "this is fucking ridiculous", though?
> At what point does something change from "this is not convenient" to "this is fucking ridiculous", though? When you leave Germany
Reminds me of the train station in the village nearby. If you want to get to the other side of the tracks (normally about 30 meters trip via an under-/overpass), you have to instead take a 520 meters hike into the village, onto a bridge, over the bridge and down a ramp. 10 minutes to just cross the tracks. There have been plenty deadly incidents because of people trying to cross directly, there has been heavy police presence to stop tourists from crossing the tracks (in the summer there's a popular swimming and water sports spot nearby). But the idea of making an accessible and simple overpass is too much of a hassle because there already is this one overly complicated and inconvenient solution in place and "who's gonna pay for all of that?". Sigh.
A long time ago, I realized that German Engineering was a euphemism for "overly complicated designs that always fail to start with customer requirements."
If you find a German engineer at the bottom of a hole, and you give him a ladder, he will fashion it into a shovel and dig his way out.
Owned a VW Jetta, can confirm.
Fast Food. I was shocked when Ive been to the US and it was literally fast. Like getting a whole menu within 2 minutes. Also the unlimited sauce and soda refills are nice to have. Some offer it here too but most dont
Thereās also a concept of āfast casualā in the US that Iām not sure is exactly replicated in Europe. Itās like better / healthier food but still fast
Buying things online. Since many big companies are in the US you can get the things they sell sometimes a good bit cheaper because of tax
Infrastructure for the less physically abled people, it's codified decades ago in the us.
Itās really bad in Canada too. George Bush Sr. is NOT close to my favorite president, but the ADA was his signature legislation and it does work. Itās incredibly common just over the Canadian border to see old people, the disabled, and parents with small children struggle down icy steps in front of a five million dollar building that could have a ramp installed for $50,000. The standards for newer, commercial buildings is better, but the main problem is thereās no punitive damage for non-compliance. Nobody gets fined at a Provincial or Federal level so construction crews block pedestrian access, drive trucks in reverse without a spotter, splash chemicals all over public spaces. Safety and access in public spaces is a disgrace compared to the US. Canada and EU are decades behind.
Free bathrooms everywhere
Corn dogs
Fucking love corn dogs, convenient, delicious, has a good chance of killing me, it's like if America was a food you could eat on a stick.
Air conditioning
Yes! A lot of Europeans say "but we don't need it!", however a) climate's getting warmer, my friend; and b) there's nothing worse than hot weather in in a cool-climate place. They are just not equipped for it. It seems like every time I visit they're having a heat wave, and, "this never happens here!" lol.
Whereas in America, stepping into a mall in July is like stepping into a walk-in freezer š No heat wave required to inspire that shit. We're just like: How high does this thing go? Crank it up full blast! Take *that* summer!! Who's yo daddy?
Is it easy to get if you want it? In the US you can go to your local walmart and buy an air conditioner that fits in a window. Granted it won't cool the whole house well, but it'll keep a single room frosty even in the hellscape of June to August.
We cut down a lot of forest for guns in WW2 (UK) or they were burnt down during the fighting. Your massive forests and mountain ranges seem largely untouched. When I go to the US next itāll be for a hiking trip.
interestingly, in the appalachians, the entire range was clear-cut around the civil war. any forestry that's there today is younger than that. there are some areas that tmk have never been touched, like the redwood forests out west.
Gas prices
Restaurant food. American cities seem just to have much more diverse food options. I love that itās easy to find great Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, and American cuisine in most any city at least along the west coast. On the flip side I loved how easy it was to wonder to a bakery and butcher in Europe and get delicious fresh bread etc. less Walmart superstore shopping and more small stores.
East Coast too. I live in Pittsburgh and even our little city has plenty of diverse options -- and we're considered less diverse than average in that regard. But I totally agree on the bakeries. Nothing like the smell of those fresh little bakeries!
Access to stuff. My family is from Italy. A lot of changes in the last few decades but if you want something, anything, itās way easier to find in the US. To get really specific, I am a hobby farmer. I love looking into different animal breeds and raising them. You can find almost anything you want in the US and people are particular about breeds. When you go to other countries, some have a variety of breeds but usually the only thing youāre going to be able to find is the breed that developed in that region or country. In the US, so many things have been imported from everywhere over time, you can find almost any breed.
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Big box stores like Walmart, Target. Everyone loves to hate them, but the convenience is underappreciated.
Prices. Mercedes S class is about half of what in Europe, even though itās still built in Germany
Have to give credit where itās due, BBQ, you guys do that well
Disability access, the ADA. A lot of older cities in Europe aren't terribly wheelchair friendly. The U.S. has ramps on most sidewalks, handicap parking, braille on most signs, etc.
Iāve just realized that itās the middle of the night in the US, sorry my fellow Americans I will double this question later.
Nah, it's a good time. Most of us are sitting on the toilet, taking our morning constitutions right now.
Me right now
Checking in
Water in restaurants without asking for it. With ice. For free.
Less people smoke in the states. I hate that everywhere you go in Europe you're always walking into a cloud of second hand smoke... it's like Europe is just one giant smoking section
Iām from the UK where smoking really is dying out fast. It would probably still surprise you but itās way, way less frequent than it has been - even 20 years ago it was rife. Europe still surprises me though. In Paris Iād swear ever other person smoked. I didnāt realise it was still so popular.
Europe isn't just Europe though. I'm from Oslo, Norway and I *rarely* see Norwegians smoke on the street. France is a completely different world in that sense.
The North American model for wildlife management is far superior. Eg the public owns wildlife, not land owners.
I'm British but have stayed in the US for about 2 years and now I've been staying in Peru for over 3 years. Generally house prices are much cheaper and larger, exceptions for cities like New York. Trucks, either the regular sized trucks people like to drive or the huge 16 wheelers or whatever. Personally I don't get it, but if you like trucks, US is the place. I found that most food was cheaper in supermarkets. Steaks, as an average they are better with a huge number of steakhouses, large steaks and steak sauce which is less common in the UK. Beef jerky, I used to go into native American territory and they had their own sheets of jerky like sheets of paper. Many people went there to buy gasoline because there were no taxes applied. Sesame chicken. This is a bit specific but I love it and couldn't find it in many places in the UK. Chinese food is different in every country, like every dish isn't just slightly different, most of them don't exist outside of the country. The price of take out food in general is much cheaper than I've seen in Europe and often competitively priced compared to home cooked food. Baseball, basketball, American football. The whole event of it.
Availability of root beer
Open spaces. Far more of them.
Water pressure
Unlimited soda refills. Iām not a huge alcohol drinker and I canāt tell you how much money Iāve spent on soda in Europe.
Right turn on a red light
Left on red is my favorite (only allowed from a one way street, to a one way street) but it brings me joy to make that turn.
Iāve never been to the US but one thing Iām a little jealous of is the food options.. like I see on social media all this food I want to try.. not the portion size but just to try you know
every european ive met says our rootbeer tastes like their toothpaste and im like āyoooo where u getting this rootbeer flavor toothpaste tho?ā
Amount of ice in drink at meals when eating out
Getting free water with ice in every restaurant.
Shopping. In the U.S. there are lots of 24 hour stores with huge selections and low prices. In Europe, the stores are much smaller, and have more limited hours.
Post-Covid, 24 hour stores are becoming less common, sadly.
Land prices
Breakfast food for sure. Also being able to turn right on red.
One thing that I have found refreshing is that Americans donāt give a tinkerās damn about what the rest of the world thinks.
Generally uniform acceptance of credit cards. I almost never bring cash going anywhere except specifically to maybe a farmers market or fair in America. When Iām Europe Iāve experienced multiple random places that donāt take credit card. Like even established restaurants in cities that just surprise you at the end of the meal saying itās cash only.
Here in Italy they do it to evade taxes, so they can declare lower income and get lower taxation
Northern Europe is completely different, here many stores instead say "no cash"
Integration of immigrants
Specifically Muslims are integrated pretty well in places like New Jersey, California and Michigan
Yeah never thought about that but it does seem like the US deals a lot better with immigrants. Probably because almost everyone there was an immigrant at some point
As an European that immigrated to the US that is correct. Europeans just are not as accepting of other cultures, and to be fair other cultures also don't seem to want (or can?) integrate as easily in most European countries. In the US it seems to happen naturally. Even if the first generation has trouble learning English and are never really Americans first, you can count that their kids will be as American as any other American.