The United States is a pretty big and powerful place, so it's easy to assume everyone else
has us figured out by now.
US cultural influence around the world is undeniable… but it turns out there are still
aspects of the USA that confuse the heck out of the rest of the world.
On the rocks
Americans love ice.
"Yep, yep, she likes me."
We take our liquor on the rocks, we ice our coffee and our tea, and we fill our fountain
drinks to bursting before adding a splash of soda.
"Could I get more ice please" But if you've traveled abroad you probably
noticed that getting ice in a drink is the exception, not the rule.
According to Smithsonian magazine, this might be because Europeans see ice as a waste of
space.
Free refills are rare in Europe, and per the BBC, France has even banned them in the battle
against the bulge.
But writer and self-professed "professional drinker" Henry Jeffreys suggests a more historical
explanation.
Before refrigeration, ice was a luxury item in Europe.
Since it was so hard to keep ice frozen, only the rich had access to it.
But it was much easier to get ice in America, where it was literally harvested from lakes
and kept cool in special boxes.
"The automagic permafreeze! With the super-dooper store-o-matic door"
But even today, Europeans continue to sip their tepid liquids, and Americans have supersized
their cups to fit all the ice.
"How is this a child size soda" "Well, it's roughly the size of a 2-yr old
child, if the child were liquified."
Puritanical prudes
America was founded by Puritans, and even today, when it comes to our bikini areas,
we could not be bigger prudes.
This is obvious in pop culture.
Gettin' dirty on film usually gets an R rating.
Meanwhile, violence has to be incredibly graphic to get the same.
In a 2014 YouGov poll, parents rated "graphic violence" just as deserving of an R as female
exposure, male exposure as slightly worse, and sexually oriented nudity as much less
acceptable to anyone under 17.
In Europe, the opposite is true.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the erotic lesbian drama Blue is the Warmest Color, which
was rated NC-17 in the U.S. for graphic love scenes, was rated suitable for anyone over
12 in France.
Rick Steves' travel blog warns Americans that sightseeing in Europe can mean seeing lots
of flesh — on billboards, in government promos, and on saucy postcards you can send
home to your pearl-clutching friends.
"Do we really need to know everything that's going on with you"
Small talk
If you venture outside in America today, chances are you'll have numerous conversations, even
if you're just browsing the racks.
That's because Americans are the world champions of small talk.
"So Brian what do you like to do to relax?"
"I like to play basketball."
"Cool."
But according to The Bonjour Effect, the French might shut down a conversation with you if
you ask what they do for a living.
In the New Yorker, Karan Mahajan , who's originally from India, says it took him over a decade
to master the art of American small talk.
In his home country, he says, interacting with shopkeepers is about your transaction
only, not making best friends.
"At the end of the day you're you and I'm me."
Doggie bag
Not gonna finish that restaurant meal?
Just ask the waiter to box it up and take the rest home.
But wait.
According to the BBC, a survey by the Sustainable Restaurant Association found that 25 percent
of people surveyed in the U.K. were too embarrassed to ask for a doggy bag, and 24 percent of
people actually thought they weren't allowed to because of health and safety regulations.
According to The Local, the same is true in France, with some restaurant owners thinking
they could be sued if people ended up getting sick on their food, at home.
Another difference is that the French are taught to eat everything on their plates to
be polite...
Unlike in America where we eat everything, but for other reasons.
Just the tip
Tipping is ingrained in American culture.
"F--- it's just the SAT's all over again" But to foreigners, tipping can be an absolute
minefield.
BBC America had to tell its readers that tipping wasn't actually legally required, even though
it also warned that if you don't tip you might get chased down by a waiter wanting to know
what's up.
So until tipping is officially off the menu...keep up on your math.
"you got it"
Say cheese
Americans smile all the time.
Unfortunately, this makes us look ridiculous to people from other countries.
According to a psychologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, people from Japan, India,
Iran, South Korea, and Russia think those who smile look significantly less intelligent
than those who don't.
And people in India, Argentina, and the Maldives think smiling makes you look dishonest.
''Is something funny?"
"...No."
Smiling is so foreign to some countries that American companies actually have to teach
their employees to grin at customers, which is what happened when McDonald's opened in
Russia in the '90s, according to NPR.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Walmarts in Germany had to let their staff
stop smiling at customers after some men interpreted this basic kindness as flirting.
Blow-out elections
Did you know Donald Trump's already campaigning for 2020?
The rallies he attends are paid for by his reelection campaign, meaning the race for
the White House began a month after he took office.
The cost and length of American elections are obscene when you look at other countries.
In 2012, the cost of all federal U.S. elections was $5.8 billion.
Meanwhile, the 2010 British elections cost a mere $49 million, which, according to the
BBC, means we spent 120 times as much, total, and 23 times as much per person.
In the U.S., candidates campaign for years, while the Washington Diplomat reports that
the country with the next-longest campaigns is Germany, at a measly 114 days.
But, then again, maybe this is all part of what puts the "us" in USA.
"Bankers, women veterans, Filipino tilt-a-whirl operators are this nation's backbone.
Salama."
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