Non-Americans Are Sharing The Things That Shocked Them The Most When They Visited, And Some Of These Are So Random

Yahoo

14 hours ago

One of the best things about travel is that it opens your eyes to how people from different parts of the world live. On the flip side, if you have ever wondered about what non-Americans thought of American culture and its unique quirks, it gets covered in r/AskReddit when someone asked, "Non-Americans of Reddit, what's something that absolutely shocked you when you first visited the US?" The reverse culture shock was real. Here's what people had to say:
1."One British boyfriend of mine was flabbergasted at the size of my parents' bathroom sink."
—YourMothersButtox
2."As someone who grew up in the UK and moved to the US, the distance between places was the biggest thing to get my head around."
—Dazzling-Antelope912
"Agreed. Where I grew up, if you didn't have your own car, you might very well die of exposure trying to trek your way to the grocery store."
—reliablepayperhead
3."The cars, which looked normal on TV, were twice as big as normal cars back home."
Photosvit / Getty Images, Falun / Getty Images
—bartvanh
Related:
4."The accommodations provided for physically disabled people in public transit and public places. I felt genuinely happy that there is a country that takes its protections seriously. You would not want to catch yourself in a disabled state in my country."
—NigraDolens
"The ADA — Americans with Disabilities Act — is an amazing piece of legislation."
—Massive-Lime7193
5."The listed price in stores not being what you pay. So, coupled with my unfamiliarity with US coinage, I bought everything with notes and ended up weighed down with pocketfuls of loose change at the end of each day."
—akiralx26
6."All the ingredients in medications on TV, and advertising medication on TV."
—TripMundane969
"I live in Australia, and it was shocking to see medicine being in advertisements."
—moonchild365
"We saw an ad for Nexium that was then followed by an ad for a class action against Nexium. It was wild."
—themisst1983
7."The gaps around the stall doors in public restrooms took some getting used to!"
—BareBonesTek
"We hate it, too."
—pandorumriver24
8."So many cereal options."
—roastplantain
9."Portion size. You get a TON of food at a restaurant."
—CombatWombat1973
Related:
10."How straight and white people's teeth were!!!"
Friends / Via youtube.com
—Fit_Acanthaceae6191
11."I've been living in the US for a year. One thing I am absolutely livid about is that you have to pay to find out how much tax you owe. You can do the calculations yourself, but I wasn't confident enough to do it, so I did what most Americans do and used a proxy to file my taxes, and I had to pay $50. Like, this is insane. How the IRS doesn't just tell you how much you owe is baffling to me. This felt like a scam."
"In France, your taxes are already filed automatically because the equivalent of the IRS knows your employment status, along with how much you make, and your family situation. You just have to verify that everything is in order, and you can add deductions if needed. It took me 20 minutes to file taxes in France, while it took me two days to check things ten times and review all the checklists on what I needed to send and to whom."
—Matrozi
"American here, and we hate it as well. The best part? They know what we owe, and if we do our taxes wrong, we get in trouble, pay penalties, or worse. TELL US THE NUMBER, AND WE WILL TAKE CARE OF IT."
—sginsc
"It's actually on purpose. H&R Block and Intuit are paying lobbyists to intentionally make it more difficult. Source."
—get_off_my_lawn_n0w
12."How sweet all the food is, particularly food that shouldn't be sweet, like bread."
—dontstopsoperfect
13."Advertisement. Shitty advertisements absolutely everywhere."
—boardinmyroom
Related:
14."Personal injury lawyer ads."
—Rance_Mulliniks
15."Everybody asking how I am doing, straight after the, 'Hi.''
—Important-Sir-3956
"Kinda like the British, 'You alright?'"
—The_GREAT_Gremlin
16."The accents. In Canada, there are a few regional accents, but not that many. In the US, there were SO MANY."
—TheBumblingestBee
17."Homeless people. I know every city in every developed country has some to some degree, but my god, all the cities I visited in the US had homeless people on every other block. Most of them sadly appeared like they had serious mental health issues. Everyone else was walking by like it was normal."
—BadahBingBadahBoom
18."The contrast between rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods — the outright poverty in some areas of the richest country in the world."
—Shoddy-Stress-8194
19."That pregnant women work until the end and that there's no postnatal paid leave."
—karmazin
20."Open carry. I'm accustomed to only seeing law enforcement officers with weapons holstered."
—itualisticSeppukA0S
"Having to go through metal detectors and airport-style security when I went to Universal Studios and Disneyland.
Another thing that shocked me was when I was in Vegas, and I saw two heavily armored swat-looking guys carrying ARs with a K9. I thought they were cops, but in fact, they were just the casino's security. I looked it up, and it turns out the casinos hire them as they can respond to an active shooter quicker than the cops can."
—jiffy88
Related:
21."Flags and political signs in people's yards. On bumper stickers, in shops and cafés. This was outside of election season and it felt like everyone needed to let you know if they were a DEMOCRAT or a TRUMP supporter."
Jeanne Sager Photography / Getty Images, JannHuizenga / Getty Images
"In Ireland, you could know someone all your life and never know who they vote for. Only a complete weirdo would put political slogans in their garden. It's considered crass to fly a flag outside of St Patrick's Day or a football match."
—Tukki101
22."We were driving towards the Grand Canyon in the middle of nowhere with no buildings around, and suddenly, there was a fireworks shop next door to a preschool."
—Stroby89
"'Murica (Eagle screeching sounds)."
—TechieSpaceRobot
23."Drive through everything. The funniest one was a burger place we went to. You were supposed to park, order next to the speaker, and then eat in your car. We parked and tried to go inside, and the guy was like, 'Wtf, are you doing?'"
—ralphiooo0
24."How big and beautiful your country is. Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Yosemite are stunning. I drove to Arizona, Utah, and California, and it was just amazing. New Orleans was out-the-gate exciting. Beverly Hills Cop did not prepare me for your national parks."
John Morrison / Getty Images, IanZ / Getty Images
—MischaJDF
"Outside of the cities, how beautiful the countryside is — the diversity of mountains, forests, deserts, and lakes. It is a very beautiful, big, and diverse landscape."
—Stevebwrw
25.And finally, "Americans aren't actually as much the assholes as propaganda media constantly portrays."
—Chemistry11
Are these takeaways surprising? Let us know in the comments!
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
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