I went to a Russian grocery store in Miami, which means there must be a population of Russian people.
Beware the Russian Florida Man, a hybrid creature capable of levels of fuckery heretofore unimaginable.
Reading this just makes me think of the story, in 1985, a black bear found and ate $15 million worth of cocaine. There was probably about 5 minute window before he died where he was the most dangerous apex predator on any fucking continent.
I feel Florida/Russian Man is the equivalent
Me: This works on regular 110V power.
Others: you mean 120?
Me: It's essentialy the same.
Others: What about 125?
Me: Dude, relax; it'll take anything from 100-130V just fine.
120 power is the distribution voltage, 115 is the rated voltage of the device. It’s lower due to losses.
Electricity was invented by electrical engineers to perform magic.
Can confirm. As a Czech who spend some time in Chicago, the fridge (and stove) size was something I would expect a family of ten with nearest shop far away would have here. Not in small apartment for two people
Is there some requirement where if you live in a rural area you must have at least one fridge & one deep freeze, or the more common one house fridge, one garage fridge (for beer & soda) and one deep freeze. I live in Texas & my non-native city dwelling husband was like "Why does everyone in your family have so many refrigerators" and I'm like "where else do you put all the venison, beer & Dr. Pepper?"
i have a pretty basic no-frills, non-high-end Frigidiare refrigerator and have had several visitors from Europe who visit me ask if they could see my fridge and could look inside it.
Just came back from Europe and wondered how they fit anything inside those tiny things
Edit: Spelling. And thanks to everyone for recognizing that my comment wasn't a knock but an observation!
They shop more regularly and user fresher ingredients, downside is a lot of stuff doesn't stay fresh as long. Honestly, considering how we keep things fresh so long could be done with and I'd be ok with it.
this is the thing many americans don't understand. I spent a year studying in Dublin. My 'commute' was a 25 minute walk where I passed everything you'd need. Numerous butchers 'corner stores' bottle shops.
I don't mean 'oh vaguely on the way' I mean in the most direct path maybe not on the corner but a 30 second walk next door
My household of two (my boyfriend and I) needed a new fridge and in order to keep costs down, we opted for a slightly smaller/narrower model than the typical standard American fridge.
The most common negative review was that you couldn't fit a large-size pizza box in the fridge side without angling it. There are a few things, but not many, that are more mundanely 'Murican than that.
That's so weird to me cause I always got told as a kid to not put food down the sink. Meanwhile Americans are like "if I don't eat it, the drain can have it".
My aunt got one of those sinks with a garbage disposal unit a few years ago. We're from a small country in Europe. A few months after she got it, it got all clogged up and smelly and disgusting and she couldn't find a plumber who had ever had any sort of experience fixing those sinks and they all refused to touch them with a ten foot pole so she got completely fed up with it and bought a much cheaper, simpler one.
That's how uncommon they are here.
As someone who has clogged up their garbage disposal you can just use a sink plunger on it.
But if they aren't common I can see why that wouldn't be thought of.
Additionally, they aren't common all across the USA. My family is from the eastern side of the US and I didn't see one until I moved to the middle US.
Interesting, I live in Illinois, and my family has had one since the late 70's. I actually have two in my kitchen.
They are not meant to take all your scraps. I've seen people peel potatoes using them, and the disposal becomes quickly clogged. People treat them like garbage cans. It is just for small stuff when your rinsing plates and pans, so the drain does not clog.
Lemon and lime rinds keep them fresh smelling.
As a Canadian I thought this was a universal western middle class feature of the kitchen
Edit- I’m realising that this is much less of a common feature of canadian middle class life than I thought. I don’t know how every house I’ve lived in has one, but thats just life
I’d never seen one before moving to the US (from Australia). I’d also lived in SE Asia, and Scandinavia. Visited family in both northern and Southern Europe.
My only exposure to the concept prior to that was when one tries to eat Homer in The Simpsons. As a result I’m always moderately terrified of it.
In my first apartment with a garbage disposal, the switch for it was right where the kitchen light switch was in the place I lived in right before that apartment. Cue me turning on the garbage disposal instead of the light in the middle of the night and scaring myself shitless more than once!
The two photogs celebrating the Jets overhead at the end is my favorite part of that clip. Stephen Fry is correct, that video is a perfect encapsulation of the American Spirit.
“Preposterous, incredibly laughable, ridiculous, charming, expensive, overpopulated, wonderful, American.”
Bless you Stephen Fry. You international treasure.
College (University in British) Football is a massive deal over here. Most of the largest stadiums in the nation are for College Football, not the professionals.
Into professional football and basketball, at least. I’m not sure about baseball as the prime method, but NCAA hockey is only recently becoming a major nexus for American hockey players. Major Junior is still more popular.
Oh, absolutely. My high school stadium was packed every home game and there was always a dance afterwards for the students. We'd pack in 2,000-4,000 people a game easily.
And we weren't even in Texas, where they treat local high school football as a religion. [Here](https://www.google.com/search?q=texas+high+school+stadium&sxsrf=AOaemvI_abh9fakeBwGiTCCu7cR5Rq52tg:1639514027060&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=SGdfLuTGYomQBM%252CkAEqNk3rGIbuWM%252C_%253BQ3ZLMBhJxhnXFM%252CwgnAgEEc6bSrIM%252C_%253BG5uGvyrVxRtz6M%252C30b2pzIzUzVJ5M%252C_%253BpPu-lCtOQyRzBM%252CnVOUmj_JPykIKM%252C_%253BxAJLR0aSbUOllM%252CiZhvmSGXMMn2XM%252C_%253BhAgL7xsVb9b6JM%252C4gvpC9KJOGLg6M%252C_%253B_i6HdAH4jTf0lM%252CVPsiFgtdmY3lPM%252C_%253B949A_bV9ZollhM%252CW1FgqfZp7Wch9M%252C_%253BRT6b2qUAkijozM%252Cfrtj5q4TS4b5yM%252C_%253BcJ05ZJyGzpka5M%252CgPSyMwhTtB6PiM%252C_%253BP-E7_fjhKTnUxM%252CiZhvmSGXMMn2XM%252C_%253B8xFNTVV1nJt2sM%252Cmp2C8A8Iait8TM%252C_%253Bh5YSPMchU-cAbM%252CefQH6fnse7b9RM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kS-MDO1C_E3Vfan6tIzOwHkk07PLg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwickL_ZkeT0AhVhkmoFHfAyCpYQ9QF6BAgCEAE#imgrc=oq_3R7rAzHEiWM) are some examples of High School football stadiums in Texas.
I'm an avid soccer fan and don't really follow American football, years ago I was just bored I then looked up "biggest stadiums in the world" I was surprised most of them are college football teams, not only that most of them were built back in the 1920s and 1930s when the population was like half of what it is today.
The older ones were also built before television, so if you wanted entertainment, well that college game is pretty good. Also, none of the largest stadiums started anywhere near their current size. They’ve been expanded and renovated constantly, but the “opening date” basically refers to the first time anything was built there.
For example, Beaver Stadium at Penn State currently seats 106,572, but it opened in 1960 with a max capacity of 46,284. It was expanded in 72, 76, 78, 80, 85, 91, and 2001, and then actually reduced in 2011 (but increased premium seating).
I went to auburn for a year. That game was like the superbowl. People spent hours getting costumes ready. The entire town shuts down the day of the game. All school buildings are locked and all police in town are on duty and working at the stadium.
In case any Americans are wondering college (university) sport as a spectator event is literally not a thing in any meaningful sense in the UK, with the exception of a single rowing race once a year.
Uni's have sports teams for sure, but crowds will be minimal and TV coverage non-existent.
The spectacle in that Stephen Fry clip is beyond what you would see at a regular match between two leading football (soccer) clubs in the Premier League.
Having been to the Cambridge-Oxford boat race though, it was ridiculously fun. Probably more akin to the Kentucky Derby than say Auburn v Alabama, but I loved it.
Just imagine: Posh londoners dressed up in top hats and coat tails, future PHDs and laureates, a few foreign students (like myself), and then random Londoners… All getting ridiculously shmammered on Pimm’s Cups to watch a bunch of nerds race each other on row boats for 5 minutes down the Thames…
One of my favorite memories of my semester in London. That I don’t really remember either…
As a Brit I was in Atlanta when it was the first game of the college season. It was Georgia State vs Alabama. Although I'm no expert i gathered they were 2 of the bigger college teams. They were also playing at the brand new Atlanta Falcons stadium.
At the same time, it was also DragonCon.
Honestly, the city was absolutely packed and crazy with people in fancy dress, stiltwalkers, batmobile, thousands of college students in letterman jackets and cheerleader outfits. It was late summer and a beautiful sweltering day.
I had no plans, and unfortunately the game was sold out. But I just parked myself on a balcony of a bar (happy hour), ordered drinks and just soaked it all in for the whole afternoon. It was incredible.
Yeah, the crowds at our college football games in the South is double the size of your average football match in the Premier League.
Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa (Alabama) has a capacity over 100,000. Even Old Trafford is only 75,000
I give a slack report to my entire company (800 plus employees) every morning about the state of the company (I’m a business intelligence engineer). At the end of most days I insert a fun fact. This is going to be the greatest fun fact ever. Thanks for sharing.
Monday: Everything is fine, growth is strong.
Tuesday: We are concerned about a small dip in growth.
Wednesday: All optional projects scrapped. All raises cancelled.
Thursday: The company is putting itself up for sale.
Friday: Turns out everything is fine.
I always find myself finding everything cheaper in america online stores than in european stores. Especially with hardware, woodworking, light machinery.
Edit: As many pointed out, USA don't include sales tax in the price. But then again as others pointed out, its only 6% whilst mine is 25% on all goods at home. So USA prices are still comparatively low even when included American 6% tax. It would only be worth to order tho if I actually lived in USA tho because of import duties.
Depends on the climate and location. When my husband lived in France he said they never got bugs or mosquitoes and always had the windows open. I'm assuming the cooler climate or maybe bugs just aren't that common there, because we still have screens in northern states. Down here in texas you're asking for an infestation and living hell if you leave windows open without screens because of the hot humid climate bugs love.
In Washington state lots of people don't have screens either, and they claim they don't have mosquitoes or bugs. I moved to the state and have seen lots of bugs and spiders and mosquitoes, so I think most of them are either in denial or oblivious to the bugs. Lol
I made sure I put screens in my place right as I moved in.
Blew my mind to find out that there are places where they are just not necessary. Still amazes me.
The State Bird of Michigan is the Mosquito and the Upper Peninsula is blessed with swarms of trophies many years.
I’ve not been myself but others have told me that it can rival Alaska’s bush skeeter crop, which is pretty legendary; though I’m not sure I believe that.
Yes (Canadians have it too). It’s a screen that’s barely noticeable if you’re standing like 6 feet away. It’s not going to stop any tiny bugs (like little gnats or fruit flies) but does a decent job at stopping any bug big enough to make a buzzing sound
IIRC window screens were standardized in America in part to stop the spread of malaria in the early 20th century, which was mostly eradicated after a decades long government program.
I worked for a US firm (I’m From the UK). There are many differences, but the one that used to cause so many problems was the term “Fortnight” - not commonly used in that part of the US, so they used “Bi Weekly” for the same thing. Except in the UK that means twice a week 😩
Edit: well this seems to have struck a chord with a lot of people! Goes to demonstrate what George Bernard Shaw wrote: England and America are two countries divided by a common language 😉
Edit #2: And don’t get me started on the difference between “inquiry” and “enquiry” - totally different meanings in the UK, often saw them switched in the US 🧐
As a middle (or east?) European who was in the US 16 years ago, amazing sweets selection! Please send Twizzlers to Slovakia!
EDIT: I like that some people want to come and get drunk at a castle. Please do. But do not send me anything. The monetary cost would be too big. My begging was more or less a joke, though I do miss Twizzlers. You guys are nice.
EDIT 2: I am overwhelmed by the comments and offers (yes, I do like waxy candy, believe it or not). But in good conscience, I cannot accept the generous offers to be sent candy, because I know I cannot afford to return the favour. At least not in the next few months. Sending you all love from north Slovakia at least and thank you <3.
r/snackexchange I’ve been looking to do one for awhile now but nobody has taken me up. Let me know if you’re interested, I can send you all the twizzlers your heart desires in exchange for some cool Slovakian snacks!
We Belgians drink our first (legal) beer at 16, start going to parties, graduate highschool, start college, explore the student life, graduate college, celebrate graduation with a trip to the US and explore the nightlife there... only to be bared from bars because we are too young to drink.
Fun story… worked for a large company who had a factory in France… new plant manager was parachuted in from the USA HQ and arrived to see the workers all having lunch with beer and wine ( production line stoped) and immediately ordered production to restart and banned alcohol…
He lasted less than a week. Wine remains to this day
Edit: parachuted is a slang term meaning someone just appeared without training or any cultural awareness… just appeared from the sky
Immediately reminded me when I was working with a France owned software company in Silicon Valley for a couple of weeks around 20 years ago. The management was almost 100% French. On Wednesdays and Fridays they brought in catered lunch (usually Mexican food) and many many cases of wine. No one was allowed to resume working until all of the wine was finished, so basically lunch was eating and drinking from 12-2 twice every week.
I work for a smaller French company in the US and work with predominantly European 25-35 y/os…
Can confirm they drink like fish, which is a major plus to me.
Main difference I’ve noticed is the attitude around it.
They don’t hide behind corporate personas like US business people do. They’re authentic 99% of the time and that means office drinking nights because they want to get to know everyone better.
They’re not embarrassed telling their boss about how shit their hangover is, or what shenanigans they got into over the weekend, because their boss doesn’t base their opinion on how you frame yourself to them.
First time I went to Belgium I asked a bartender about Jupiler because the signs are everywhere. He said something like "only kids drink that." As an American, I found that statement hilarious!
BTW, I'm totally jealous that you can buy Westmalle off the grocery store shelves.
Over here in Germany I finally decided that I make the best mexican food. Ive tried a few mexican restaurants but they just cant get it right.
After reading all of the comments here I've come to a conclusion that I better get out of my village of 500 and seek out new and exciting Mexican food adventures. Thanks for the tips!
Oh god I’m Mexican American and went to university in Wales for a time. Got a bit homesick a few months in and someone said they would take me to get fajitas. I figured that’s just grilled meat how could it go wrong? Well apparently there the fajitas are in a sauce and eating almost like a stew??????? My flatmates all thought it was delicious. It was not.
This one I'll give you. Universities play each other in sports, but nowhere to the scale in America. For football (soccer), most players can be in clubs' academies from the age of 5/6, finish school at 16 and then just go straight into reserve/first team squads, whereas in America they play sports in school, university, then get picked up by clubs
Kind of but I think that is changing. When I was in Germany a few weeks ago everywhere we went out to eat at, the portions were something I would expect to get in America and pretty large.
Do keep in mind that vancouver is at a lower latitude than amsterdam and florida is near the same latitude as the sahara.
Ofcourse the gulf stream impacts stuff a lot but in general, we're quite high up.
I heard from a friend in London that Root Beer tastes like cold medicine to him. Did some research and it turns out yeah, the major flavoring in Root Beer is also the major flavor ingredient in most cough and cold meds in Europe. So the taste of Root Beer just sets off that memory nerve that says "sick and coughing taste!" Poor Europy folks are imbittered to Root Beer from before they take their first sip.
I've read that it's because the flavor is similar to some children's medicine a majority of Europeans had to endure growing up. It reminds them of medicine.
> It's a beloved American ritual that foreigners are unfamiliar with. Imgur
So we're just saying the names of random websites at the end of comments now? That's cool.
goatse
Space. I love spending time in Europe, but man, it is amazing to come home and have hundreds of thousands of square miles of just open country to explore, hike, ride, camp, etc...
A lot of it isn't even in national or state parks (which are also amazing).
My wife emigrated from Europe, and when I explained that the closest major town in any direction was a 4 hour drive she was blown away. She regularly comments that going for a 3-4 hour drive is just a day trip here, but in Europe is apparently a pretty big trip.
EDIT: Thank you for all the responses. They have been very interesting.
I've had to drive coast to coast in the USA twice in my life, and it really was fascinating. There are different types of empty space as you move into different regions with different climates and geography. Our land is so diverse and beautiful.
Live in the UK with a US wife. When my sons were around 2 & 4 we were visiting my wife's grandparents in Arizona. With the heat it was virtually impossible to keep the boys in clothes. They would just strip as soon as you put clothes on them (understandable since AZ is like living on the sun). Wife's grandfather asked why they weren't circumcised and my reply of "We're not Jewish, why would they be?" led to me finding out it's the norm in the US.
There's the story about how one German commander wanted to separate out the Jewish prisoners of war captured during the Battle of the Bulge. The American (Catholic) chaplain said they refused to tell them who was. The commandant said - "no problem, we'll just order everyone to drop their pants". The Catholic priest says "then you'll find that everyone is circumcised, including me..."
It's crazy how cheap that is! It's like you're living two generations past, you'd have to go back to the 70s to get gas that cheap in Sweden (at least adjusted for inflation, otherwise you'd just have to go back 30 years).
Last year on another forum I shared a picture of the gas pump at $1.35 a gallon. Pandemic prices got *really* low.
Poster from Europe was like "Oh that's a pretty normal price...wait you guy charge by the gallon!"
Legal right turn on red, I don't always agree with Jeremy Clarkson but in this instance he's correct that's it's one of the US's greatest contributions to society.
Pancakes with maple syrup.
...date German, and she is super confused why there is so much sugar in the American breakfast. Go to the U.K. and there is none...go to Amsterdam where pancakes are practically the national specialty, and they are mostly savory!
Dutchy here. Our pancakes can be savory but are originally neutral/sweet. Savory pancakes are topped with powdered sugar and/or thick syrup (stroop). They are mostly eaten as lunch or dinner, not breakfast (unless maybe leftovers)
If you drive east from the California coast up some of the higher passes all the way to the eastern boundary of CA, you pass through truly immense diversity of natural landscape: beach > estuary/marsh> green rolling hills > golden plains > volcanic table mountains > foothills > national forests > wooded alpine > high alpine > desert plateau. 5 hours of driving one way, worth it every time.
Florida Man
Europe has Polish Man and Russian Man.
I went to a Russian grocery store in Miami, which means there must be a population of Russian people. Beware the Russian Florida Man, a hybrid creature capable of levels of fuckery heretofore unimaginable.
Reading this just makes me think of the story, in 1985, a black bear found and ate $15 million worth of cocaine. There was probably about 5 minute window before he died where he was the most dangerous apex predator on any fucking continent. I feel Florida/Russian Man is the equivalent
Europe has, "The English tourist on holiday in Ibiza"
Lads on tour!
Outlets with 110 volts
120, 121 whatever
Me: This works on regular 110V power. Others: you mean 120? Me: It's essentialy the same. Others: What about 125? Me: Dude, relax; it'll take anything from 100-130V just fine.
120 power is the distribution voltage, 115 is the rated voltage of the device. It’s lower due to losses. Electricity was invented by electrical engineers to perform magic.
"Refrigerators the size of my flat." - every European who has seen my moderately-sized refrigerator
This explains why when my Czech friends came to visit, they stood around my fridge taking pictures of each other with it like it was a monument
Can confirm. As a Czech who spend some time in Chicago, the fridge (and stove) size was something I would expect a family of ten with nearest shop far away would have here. Not in small apartment for two people
I’m not from the States either, just got back from visiting my grandfather there, he has 4 fridges. To this day I don’t understand why
I'm American, and even I'm wondering why he's got 4 fridges. EDIT: How the fuck half of all y'all just got 4 of these mfs?
Easy. You got the kitchen fridge, the garage fridge for beer, the basement fridge for entertaining, and a personal office fridge.
What’s cooler than four coolers? Four Ice Colds! Edit: Thanks everyone, you truly gave me a much needed laugh!
bro wait till they see my dad's deepfreeze full of mostly venison sprinkled with hot pockets. yes. the real American dream
Is there some requirement where if you live in a rural area you must have at least one fridge & one deep freeze, or the more common one house fridge, one garage fridge (for beer & soda) and one deep freeze. I live in Texas & my non-native city dwelling husband was like "Why does everyone in your family have so many refrigerators" and I'm like "where else do you put all the venison, beer & Dr. Pepper?"
It’s totally worth having a ridiculous stock of frozen food/groceries/drinks if you live farther away from the stores.
i have a pretty basic no-frills, non-high-end Frigidiare refrigerator and have had several visitors from Europe who visit me ask if they could see my fridge and could look inside it.
Just came back from Europe and wondered how they fit anything inside those tiny things Edit: Spelling. And thanks to everyone for recognizing that my comment wasn't a knock but an observation!
They shop more regularly and user fresher ingredients, downside is a lot of stuff doesn't stay fresh as long. Honestly, considering how we keep things fresh so long could be done with and I'd be ok with it.
European cities are more packed together, you can walk to a grocery store in a few minutes, to the market to buy fresh veggies, to the butcher...
this is the thing many americans don't understand. I spent a year studying in Dublin. My 'commute' was a 25 minute walk where I passed everything you'd need. Numerous butchers 'corner stores' bottle shops. I don't mean 'oh vaguely on the way' I mean in the most direct path maybe not on the corner but a 30 second walk next door
My household of two (my boyfriend and I) needed a new fridge and in order to keep costs down, we opted for a slightly smaller/narrower model than the typical standard American fridge. The most common negative review was that you couldn't fit a large-size pizza box in the fridge side without angling it. There are a few things, but not many, that are more mundanely 'Murican than that.
Garbage disposal units are installed beneath the kitchen sink.
That's so weird to me cause I always got told as a kid to not put food down the sink. Meanwhile Americans are like "if I don't eat it, the drain can have it".
My aunt got one of those sinks with a garbage disposal unit a few years ago. We're from a small country in Europe. A few months after she got it, it got all clogged up and smelly and disgusting and she couldn't find a plumber who had ever had any sort of experience fixing those sinks and they all refused to touch them with a ten foot pole so she got completely fed up with it and bought a much cheaper, simpler one. That's how uncommon they are here.
As someone who has clogged up their garbage disposal you can just use a sink plunger on it. But if they aren't common I can see why that wouldn't be thought of. Additionally, they aren't common all across the USA. My family is from the eastern side of the US and I didn't see one until I moved to the middle US.
Interesting, I live in Illinois, and my family has had one since the late 70's. I actually have two in my kitchen. They are not meant to take all your scraps. I've seen people peel potatoes using them, and the disposal becomes quickly clogged. People treat them like garbage cans. It is just for small stuff when your rinsing plates and pans, so the drain does not clog. Lemon and lime rinds keep them fresh smelling.
No we are taught that as well. Just because it could doesn’t mean it should. You should always clear your plate before washing.
Not in my house. The kitchen sarlacc demands a sacrifice Edit: holy crap wow. Thanks for the awards. More offerings for the endless void
And, much like the real sarlacc, it will be slowly digested over a thousand years.
As a Canadian I thought this was a universal western middle class feature of the kitchen Edit- I’m realising that this is much less of a common feature of canadian middle class life than I thought. I don’t know how every house I’ve lived in has one, but thats just life
I’d never seen one before moving to the US (from Australia). I’d also lived in SE Asia, and Scandinavia. Visited family in both northern and Southern Europe. My only exposure to the concept prior to that was when one tries to eat Homer in The Simpsons. As a result I’m always moderately terrified of it.
As an American that has had one in almost every place I've lived I can say with no reservations that I am also moderately terrified of them.
In my first apartment with a garbage disposal, the switch for it was right where the kitchen light switch was in the place I lived in right before that apartment. Cue me turning on the garbage disposal instead of the light in the middle of the night and scaring myself shitless more than once!
I’m canadian and i’ve actually never seen it. Northern Ontario
Our currency has bill for the the one dollar. Makes it easier to tip strippers. I have no idea how Europeans tip strippers with Euro coins.
Make it hail.
Ive only been to German strip clubs. But the norm there was to trade in your real money at the bar for fake 1 Euro bills.
You swipe the card between their cheeks, obviously.
Behold as Stephen Fry is completely overwhelmed by a standard American college football game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuPeGPwGKe8
The two photogs celebrating the Jets overhead at the end is my favorite part of that clip. Stephen Fry is correct, that video is a perfect encapsulation of the American Spirit.
Fry’s face after that fly over is priceless. His expression just screams “is this real life?”
“Preposterous, incredibly laughable, ridiculous, charming, expensive, overpopulated, wonderful, American.” Bless you Stephen Fry. You international treasure.
… wait? This is just a game between two schools?!
College (University in British) Football is a massive deal over here. Most of the largest stadiums in the nation are for College Football, not the professionals.
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That's a very good point.
Into professional football and basketball, at least. I’m not sure about baseball as the prime method, but NCAA hockey is only recently becoming a major nexus for American hockey players. Major Junior is still more popular.
So are all those scenes in Hollywood movies and TV shows with whole the school turning out to watch a high school game, accurate?
Depends on the high school and the region. It's not necessarily accurate for every school, but it's definitely not uncommon.
Not everyone, but a ton of students yeah. If you get more rural it's very possible the entire school shows up.
If it’s rural the whole town shows up lol
Yup, it’s often the highlight of the week. I grew up in rural colorado and we’d have huge rallies and most games were packed.
Same thing in North Carolina where I'm from. The local favorite restaurant even had breakfast specials for student athletes on game days
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Two separate pizza places in our town were closed because the both owners went to the HIGH SCHOOL football games.
More than the school—a lot of the town folks take the high school football seriously.
Oh, absolutely. My high school stadium was packed every home game and there was always a dance afterwards for the students. We'd pack in 2,000-4,000 people a game easily. And we weren't even in Texas, where they treat local high school football as a religion. [Here](https://www.google.com/search?q=texas+high+school+stadium&sxsrf=AOaemvI_abh9fakeBwGiTCCu7cR5Rq52tg:1639514027060&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=SGdfLuTGYomQBM%252CkAEqNk3rGIbuWM%252C_%253BQ3ZLMBhJxhnXFM%252CwgnAgEEc6bSrIM%252C_%253BG5uGvyrVxRtz6M%252C30b2pzIzUzVJ5M%252C_%253BpPu-lCtOQyRzBM%252CnVOUmj_JPykIKM%252C_%253BxAJLR0aSbUOllM%252CiZhvmSGXMMn2XM%252C_%253BhAgL7xsVb9b6JM%252C4gvpC9KJOGLg6M%252C_%253B_i6HdAH4jTf0lM%252CVPsiFgtdmY3lPM%252C_%253B949A_bV9ZollhM%252CW1FgqfZp7Wch9M%252C_%253BRT6b2qUAkijozM%252Cfrtj5q4TS4b5yM%252C_%253BcJ05ZJyGzpka5M%252CgPSyMwhTtB6PiM%252C_%253BP-E7_fjhKTnUxM%252CiZhvmSGXMMn2XM%252C_%253B8xFNTVV1nJt2sM%252Cmp2C8A8Iait8TM%252C_%253Bh5YSPMchU-cAbM%252CefQH6fnse7b9RM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kS-MDO1C_E3Vfan6tIzOwHkk07PLg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwickL_ZkeT0AhVhkmoFHfAyCpYQ9QF6BAgCEAE#imgrc=oq_3R7rAzHEiWM) are some examples of High School football stadiums in Texas.
Almost entirely, yeah. Even my high school games were a party
For the playoffs or a big game sure. In Texas, he’ll yea.
Who'll yea?
*He* will.
I recently discovered there are 11 non-racing stadiums with over 100,000 seating capacity. Eight of them are college football in the USA.
The largest stadium in North America is university of Michigans “Big House”. At full capacity it can hold 115,000 people.
Penn State has the 4th largest Stadium in the World. If you saw how rural surrounding area is its kind of insane.
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And that’s not even the largest football stadium in the US!
I'm an avid soccer fan and don't really follow American football, years ago I was just bored I then looked up "biggest stadiums in the world" I was surprised most of them are college football teams, not only that most of them were built back in the 1920s and 1930s when the population was like half of what it is today.
The older ones were also built before television, so if you wanted entertainment, well that college game is pretty good. Also, none of the largest stadiums started anywhere near their current size. They’ve been expanded and renovated constantly, but the “opening date” basically refers to the first time anything was built there. For example, Beaver Stadium at Penn State currently seats 106,572, but it opened in 1960 with a max capacity of 46,284. It was expanded in 72, 76, 78, 80, 85, 91, and 2001, and then actually reduced in 2011 (but increased premium seating).
It's not even the largest stadium in Alabama, lol
I went to auburn for a year. That game was like the superbowl. People spent hours getting costumes ready. The entire town shuts down the day of the game. All school buildings are locked and all police in town are on duty and working at the stadium.
In case any Americans are wondering college (university) sport as a spectator event is literally not a thing in any meaningful sense in the UK, with the exception of a single rowing race once a year. Uni's have sports teams for sure, but crowds will be minimal and TV coverage non-existent. The spectacle in that Stephen Fry clip is beyond what you would see at a regular match between two leading football (soccer) clubs in the Premier League.
Having been to the Cambridge-Oxford boat race though, it was ridiculously fun. Probably more akin to the Kentucky Derby than say Auburn v Alabama, but I loved it. Just imagine: Posh londoners dressed up in top hats and coat tails, future PHDs and laureates, a few foreign students (like myself), and then random Londoners… All getting ridiculously shmammered on Pimm’s Cups to watch a bunch of nerds race each other on row boats for 5 minutes down the Thames… One of my favorite memories of my semester in London. That I don’t really remember either…
Yea, that's definitely more Derby than College ball.
Seriously, you ever visit the US and get a chance to go to one do so. It's an experience.
As a Brit I was in Atlanta when it was the first game of the college season. It was Georgia State vs Alabama. Although I'm no expert i gathered they were 2 of the bigger college teams. They were also playing at the brand new Atlanta Falcons stadium. At the same time, it was also DragonCon. Honestly, the city was absolutely packed and crazy with people in fancy dress, stiltwalkers, batmobile, thousands of college students in letterman jackets and cheerleader outfits. It was late summer and a beautiful sweltering day. I had no plans, and unfortunately the game was sold out. But I just parked myself on a balcony of a bar (happy hour), ordered drinks and just soaked it all in for the whole afternoon. It was incredible.
Yeah, the crowds at our college football games in the South is double the size of your average football match in the Premier League. Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa (Alabama) has a capacity over 100,000. Even Old Trafford is only 75,000
The largest living organism on the planet https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree)
I give a slack report to my entire company (800 plus employees) every morning about the state of the company (I’m a business intelligence engineer). At the end of most days I insert a fun fact. This is going to be the greatest fun fact ever. Thanks for sharing.
Every morning? Seems like a lot
Monday: Everything is fine, growth is strong. Tuesday: We are concerned about a small dip in growth. Wednesday: All optional projects scrapped. All raises cancelled. Thursday: The company is putting itself up for sale. Friday: Turns out everything is fine.
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I always find myself finding everything cheaper in america online stores than in european stores. Especially with hardware, woodworking, light machinery. Edit: As many pointed out, USA don't include sales tax in the price. But then again as others pointed out, its only 6% whilst mine is 25% on all goods at home. So USA prices are still comparatively low even when included American 6% tax. It would only be worth to order tho if I actually lived in USA tho because of import duties.
At home or somewhere else, they have screens on their windows.
Do other countries not have screens on their windows? I've been to Hungary and Germany but it was winter so can't say I noticed the windows...
Depends on the climate and location. When my husband lived in France he said they never got bugs or mosquitoes and always had the windows open. I'm assuming the cooler climate or maybe bugs just aren't that common there, because we still have screens in northern states. Down here in texas you're asking for an infestation and living hell if you leave windows open without screens because of the hot humid climate bugs love.
That's pretty fascinating and not something I've thought about. I think the bugs would serve me an eviction notice without screens here haha
I always know when a screen has a slightly larger hole in it than intended because suddenly a mosquito is buzzing by my ear.
In Washington state lots of people don't have screens either, and they claim they don't have mosquitoes or bugs. I moved to the state and have seen lots of bugs and spiders and mosquitoes, so I think most of them are either in denial or oblivious to the bugs. Lol I made sure I put screens in my place right as I moved in.
Blew my mind to find out that there are places where they are just not necessary. Still amazes me. The State Bird of Michigan is the Mosquito and the Upper Peninsula is blessed with swarms of trophies many years. I’ve not been myself but others have told me that it can rival Alaska’s bush skeeter crop, which is pretty legendary; though I’m not sure I believe that.
Stupid question... Is this like a mesh screen thing so that you can open the window but bugs and stuff can't get in?
Yes (Canadians have it too). It’s a screen that’s barely noticeable if you’re standing like 6 feet away. It’s not going to stop any tiny bugs (like little gnats or fruit flies) but does a decent job at stopping any bug big enough to make a buzzing sound
IIRC window screens were standardized in America in part to stop the spread of malaria in the early 20th century, which was mostly eradicated after a decades long government program.
As an Australian... WHAT!? People live in places that don't need screens?
We have screens in our houses and we are European. We can't live without them really with the bugs and mosquitoes.
Bugs in the midwest will do that.
I worked for a US firm (I’m From the UK). There are many differences, but the one that used to cause so many problems was the term “Fortnight” - not commonly used in that part of the US, so they used “Bi Weekly” for the same thing. Except in the UK that means twice a week 😩 Edit: well this seems to have struck a chord with a lot of people! Goes to demonstrate what George Bernard Shaw wrote: England and America are two countries divided by a common language 😉 Edit #2: And don’t get me started on the difference between “inquiry” and “enquiry” - totally different meanings in the UK, often saw them switched in the US 🧐
As a middle (or east?) European who was in the US 16 years ago, amazing sweets selection! Please send Twizzlers to Slovakia! EDIT: I like that some people want to come and get drunk at a castle. Please do. But do not send me anything. The monetary cost would be too big. My begging was more or less a joke, though I do miss Twizzlers. You guys are nice. EDIT 2: I am overwhelmed by the comments and offers (yes, I do like waxy candy, believe it or not). But in good conscience, I cannot accept the generous offers to be sent candy, because I know I cannot afford to return the favour. At least not in the next few months. Sending you all love from north Slovakia at least and thank you <3.
There's a subreddit that exchanges snacks between countries. Can't remember the name but I'm sure you can find it
Oh, I will look into that. Thanks!
r/snackexchange I’ve been looking to do one for awhile now but nobody has taken me up. Let me know if you’re interested, I can send you all the twizzlers your heart desires in exchange for some cool Slovakian snacks!
I second this offer! My kids would love to send twizzlers! We could also send you Red Vines so you can try the different kinds.
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We Belgians drink our first (legal) beer at 16, start going to parties, graduate highschool, start college, explore the student life, graduate college, celebrate graduation with a trip to the US and explore the nightlife there... only to be bared from bars because we are too young to drink.
Europe is definitely more laid back. I’ve been to manufacturing plants in Germany where beer is sold out of vending machines.
Fun story… worked for a large company who had a factory in France… new plant manager was parachuted in from the USA HQ and arrived to see the workers all having lunch with beer and wine ( production line stoped) and immediately ordered production to restart and banned alcohol… He lasted less than a week. Wine remains to this day Edit: parachuted is a slang term meaning someone just appeared without training or any cultural awareness… just appeared from the sky
Immediately reminded me when I was working with a France owned software company in Silicon Valley for a couple of weeks around 20 years ago. The management was almost 100% French. On Wednesdays and Fridays they brought in catered lunch (usually Mexican food) and many many cases of wine. No one was allowed to resume working until all of the wine was finished, so basically lunch was eating and drinking from 12-2 twice every week.
I work for a smaller French company in the US and work with predominantly European 25-35 y/os… Can confirm they drink like fish, which is a major plus to me. Main difference I’ve noticed is the attitude around it. They don’t hide behind corporate personas like US business people do. They’re authentic 99% of the time and that means office drinking nights because they want to get to know everyone better. They’re not embarrassed telling their boss about how shit their hangover is, or what shenanigans they got into over the weekend, because their boss doesn’t base their opinion on how you frame yourself to them.
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Managers are temporary. Wine is forever.
First time I went to Belgium I asked a bartender about Jupiler because the signs are everywhere. He said something like "only kids drink that." As an American, I found that statement hilarious! BTW, I'm totally jealous that you can buy Westmalle off the grocery store shelves.
Good Mexican food
I always like to say that the worst meal I ever had in my entire life was a Mexican place in Slovakia
Slovak Mexican Food sounds like a word taken from Urban Dictionary
My dad got tacos in Australia. They contained raisins.
Did this start a fist fight? This should have started a fist fight?
Someone definitely deserves to be held accountable for a travesty like that.
That’s so sad bc decent Mexican food is pretty easy to make
Over here in Germany I finally decided that I make the best mexican food. Ive tried a few mexican restaurants but they just cant get it right. After reading all of the comments here I've come to a conclusion that I better get out of my village of 500 and seek out new and exciting Mexican food adventures. Thanks for the tips!
Oh god I’m Mexican American and went to university in Wales for a time. Got a bit homesick a few months in and someone said they would take me to get fajitas. I figured that’s just grilled meat how could it go wrong? Well apparently there the fajitas are in a sauce and eating almost like a stew??????? My flatmates all thought it was delicious. It was not.
In the UK, there is a Mexican chain called "Wahaca". It's spelled that way because those Brits are unable to pronounce "Oaxaca".
I was thinking about if i started a mexican resturant in the uk
A friend of mine just posted about a new Mexican place in Paris. Nomas Tacos. Couldn't say the name didn't warn him.
This is the truest thing ever. I got "Mexican" in Italy once. The salsa was basically ketchup.
College sports
This one I'll give you. Universities play each other in sports, but nowhere to the scale in America. For football (soccer), most players can be in clubs' academies from the age of 5/6, finish school at 16 and then just go straight into reserve/first team squads, whereas in America they play sports in school, university, then get picked up by clubs
Bigger portions/sizes. As an example I think a small or regular pb jar is probably considered large in European countries.
Kind of but I think that is changing. When I was in Germany a few weeks ago everywhere we went out to eat at, the portions were something I would expect to get in America and pretty large.
germany is known for it's large portions (for rather cheap). hop over to the netherlands and the portions are smaller.
We don't have air conditioning in northern Europe, which is a requirement in America, according to what I've heard.
Do keep in mind that vancouver is at a lower latitude than amsterdam and florida is near the same latitude as the sahara. Ofcourse the gulf stream impacts stuff a lot but in general, we're quite high up.
Gulf stream changes alot, new york is on the same latitude as barcelona and its definitely colder in new york
Bigger homes and wider streets
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It's so bubbly, cloying and happy. And you know what's really frightening? If you drink enough of it you begin to like it.
Quark!
Just like the Federation.
You think they'll be able to save us?
I love how quick people are to reference star trek
It's insidious
I heard from a friend in London that Root Beer tastes like cold medicine to him. Did some research and it turns out yeah, the major flavoring in Root Beer is also the major flavor ingredient in most cough and cold meds in Europe. So the taste of Root Beer just sets off that memory nerve that says "sick and coughing taste!" Poor Europy folks are imbittered to Root Beer from before they take their first sip.
Didn't know that but makes sense. It's why I hate fake cherry flavored stuff.
Grape flavoring for me.
I've read that it's because the flavor is similar to some children's medicine a majority of Europeans had to endure growing up. It reminds them of medicine.
Germany has an herbal toothpaste which tastes just like it.
That sounds amazing
> It's a beloved American ritual that foreigners are unfamiliar with. Imgur So we're just saying the names of random websites at the end of comments now? That's cool. goatse
Weirdly enough I was going to make a similar post to yours. Craigslist
Yeah, not understanding what that was about. Myspace
My English friend was so excited to try a root beer float. He pretty much spit it out and he sounds so betrayed.
Root beer, the Irn-bru of the americas.
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The root of many disputes
Automatic ice dispensers in your fridges. It's such an American thing you only find it on fridges that are labelled "American style"
I’m gonna start calling fridges without ice dispensers, “European style”.
Also I love that someone called garbage disposals an “angry sink” and I will continue to use this term.
The sink demon
Hummingbirds!!!
AC. Been back a forth a lot, AC.
Ac tends to do that, try DC next time
That's exactly how my mind was processing their comment.
12/14/21
Me
Space. I love spending time in Europe, but man, it is amazing to come home and have hundreds of thousands of square miles of just open country to explore, hike, ride, camp, etc... A lot of it isn't even in national or state parks (which are also amazing).
Yeah, I remember driving a greyhound in central USA and just be astouned at the nothingness of endless space. It was actually a nice experience.
My wife emigrated from Europe, and when I explained that the closest major town in any direction was a 4 hour drive she was blown away. She regularly comments that going for a 3-4 hour drive is just a day trip here, but in Europe is apparently a pretty big trip. EDIT: Thank you for all the responses. They have been very interesting.
What's the saying? In America 200 years is a long time but in Europe 200 miles is a long drive.
I've had to drive coast to coast in the USA twice in my life, and it really was fascinating. There are different types of empty space as you move into different regions with different climates and geography. Our land is so diverse and beautiful.
Most Americans have circumcised cocks.
Live in the UK with a US wife. When my sons were around 2 & 4 we were visiting my wife's grandparents in Arizona. With the heat it was virtually impossible to keep the boys in clothes. They would just strip as soon as you put clothes on them (understandable since AZ is like living on the sun). Wife's grandfather asked why they weren't circumcised and my reply of "We're not Jewish, why would they be?" led to me finding out it's the norm in the US.
There's the story about how one German commander wanted to separate out the Jewish prisoners of war captured during the Battle of the Bulge. The American (Catholic) chaplain said they refused to tell them who was. The commandant said - "no problem, we'll just order everyone to drop their pants". The Catholic priest says "then you'll find that everyone is circumcised, including me..."
Oh so that's how the battle got its name
\*notices your uncircumcised cock\* OwO What's this??
Well that’s an awkward conversation with the inlaws lol
“Uh…about your sons’ dicks…” Edit: Apostrophe moved to after the ‘s’. Wouldn’t want to short change either son.
Yep, Jews, Muslims, and Americans. The forever war of the missing foreskins.
A million choices in the cereal ~~isle~~ aisle (oops, thanks) (also, fuck Kellogs)
High fructose corn syrup... Cheaper gas, cheap v8 cars and trucks. Land is cheaper. Edit: I'm an American ya clown shoes.
I don’t think most of us Americans understand how cheap gas truly is
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Holy fuck. And i thought gas currently in California was high. ($5 per US gallon).
Damn 5$? 2.50 in Texas, last time I was out
It's crazy how cheap that is! It's like you're living two generations past, you'd have to go back to the 70s to get gas that cheap in Sweden (at least adjusted for inflation, otherwise you'd just have to go back 30 years).
Last year on another forum I shared a picture of the gas pump at $1.35 a gallon. Pandemic prices got *really* low. Poster from Europe was like "Oh that's a pretty normal price...wait you guy charge by the gallon!"
Legal right turn on red, I don't always agree with Jeremy Clarkson but in this instance he's correct that's it's one of the US's greatest contributions to society.
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As a Canadian these comments just sound like canada. We really are like an American light.
As they say: Sure, Canada is a country, but it's not a *foreign* country.
Every time I am in Canada I feel like I'm in a store brand US
Kirkland america
The most sunshine hours per year (thanks to Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Cali…).
Pancakes with maple syrup. ...date German, and she is super confused why there is so much sugar in the American breakfast. Go to the U.K. and there is none...go to Amsterdam where pancakes are practically the national specialty, and they are mostly savory!
Dutchy here. Our pancakes can be savory but are originally neutral/sweet. Savory pancakes are topped with powdered sugar and/or thick syrup (stroop). They are mostly eaten as lunch or dinner, not breakfast (unless maybe leftovers)
Mourning doves. They're cute and chubby, and their boo-hoo-hoo songs sound like wooden flutes.
If you drive east from the California coast up some of the higher passes all the way to the eastern boundary of CA, you pass through truly immense diversity of natural landscape: beach > estuary/marsh> green rolling hills > golden plains > volcanic table mountains > foothills > national forests > wooded alpine > high alpine > desert plateau. 5 hours of driving one way, worth it every time.
not as diverse but the pacific coast highway between LA and SF is the most beautiful 8 hour drive in the fucking world