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The discussions in different other threads about typical things/minds/prejudices and so on indifferent countries give me the idea to open this thread.
It seems, that MBSL65fan is -hopefully happy and healthy- back from his europe-trip. I thought, perhaps we should have given him before a few tips about smaller or bigger national peculiarities in the countries, he had visited.
Surely, in the last decades a plenty of things were mixed or changed, and the "American way of life" was coming more and more over the world, but there are still some topics, which weren't known in other countries.
Perhaps let's start at food and behaviour: you can divide Europeans and Americans easily by their way of eating. Europeans are using fork and knive, Americans are cuting the food at first, then they put the knive besides and the arm on the leg (under the table) and continue only with the fork. For a plenty of Europeans with old-style education this is not good behaviour (like eating with laying the ellbows on the table).
To put a big can with ice-water and icecubes on the dinner-table is pure American style, unusual abroad (except in American-style-diner's).
Breakfast in Southern Europe, mainly Italy and France is not much and not nice. British breakfast is totally different (different from every other country), but bigger. "Continental breakfast" is a mixture between Germany (boiled eggs, bread-slices) and France (croissants).
In most European countries the big dinner with war food is served in the evening, but not in Germany. There the lunch at Noon is (was) the main meal, in the evening ust sandwiches were usual. But this is getting different in the last years.
Except breakfast, you have to be careful with other British food. O.k., since EU-times it's getting different, but there is still some strange stuff on their tables (porridge, marmite etc.). Be careful with fish'n chips - they're putitng vinegar or brown sauce over it! And it's getting popular in the UK to fry Mars- or Snickers-bars in oil!
The "chips" at Britsh fish'n chips-shops are mostly French fries (US-name) or pommes frites (European name), but sometimes it's really potato-chips. Be careful!
A propos French fries (which are at least coming from Belgium, not from France), a clear word to the Americans: yes, in Middle Europe it's very popular to put Mayonnaise ver them! In Holland roasted onions are usual, too, Germans put Mayonnaise together with ketchup over them.
Europeans are drinking white wine with cool temperature, red wine with room-temperature. Even it's cheap supermarket-wine, even out of a tetrapak-box, it's a definetely "No-No!" to put icecubes in it!
A lot of typical American food is available over here, but no always and everywhere. Yes, you can find peanut-butter, but except in Holland, it's not very popular. Marshmallows are harder to get.
Yes, in the Netherlands it's easy and not illegal to get Marihuana. Due the new EU-wide law, that smoking tobacco is forbidden nearly everywhere in the public, there is in NL the new situation, that you aren't allowed to smoke a cigarette in a pub, but a joint is no problem - except there's tobacco in it.
In the USA the rules about alcohol are very strict, in Europe it's much more relaxter. It's -mostly- not forbidden to drink alcohol i nthe public. Foreign guests of me were always totally shocked, that in Germany you can buy any kind of alcohol at the big 24-hours-gas-stations.
German beer is popular everywhere, but over here there are so many different sorts of them, that you cannot point out a "typical German" beer. Other beer is not bad either - I prefer the Czech Budweiser (nothing in common with the US-made stuff).
In Belgium you can find (for foreigners strange) beer-sort, so beer with cherry- or raspberry-taste. If you like it...
In Belgium once I've found the very strong "delirium tremens"-beer. The name was correct (13% alcohol)!
Don't buy bread in Holland. This is ugly. The best bread you can find in Germany, in Austria, too. Polish bread is good either.
It seems, that MBSL65fan is -hopefully happy and healthy- back from his europe-trip. I thought, perhaps we should have given him before a few tips about smaller or bigger national peculiarities in the countries, he had visited.
Surely, in the last decades a plenty of things were mixed or changed, and the "American way of life" was coming more and more over the world, but there are still some topics, which weren't known in other countries.
Perhaps let's start at food and behaviour: you can divide Europeans and Americans easily by their way of eating. Europeans are using fork and knive, Americans are cuting the food at first, then they put the knive besides and the arm on the leg (under the table) and continue only with the fork. For a plenty of Europeans with old-style education this is not good behaviour (like eating with laying the ellbows on the table).
To put a big can with ice-water and icecubes on the dinner-table is pure American style, unusual abroad (except in American-style-diner's).
Breakfast in Southern Europe, mainly Italy and France is not much and not nice. British breakfast is totally different (different from every other country), but bigger. "Continental breakfast" is a mixture between Germany (boiled eggs, bread-slices) and France (croissants).
In most European countries the big dinner with war food is served in the evening, but not in Germany. There the lunch at Noon is (was) the main meal, in the evening ust sandwiches were usual. But this is getting different in the last years.
Except breakfast, you have to be careful with other British food. O.k., since EU-times it's getting different, but there is still some strange stuff on their tables (porridge, marmite etc.). Be careful with fish'n chips - they're putitng vinegar or brown sauce over it! And it's getting popular in the UK to fry Mars- or Snickers-bars in oil!
The "chips" at Britsh fish'n chips-shops are mostly French fries (US-name) or pommes frites (European name), but sometimes it's really potato-chips. Be careful!
A propos French fries (which are at least coming from Belgium, not from France), a clear word to the Americans: yes, in Middle Europe it's very popular to put Mayonnaise ver them! In Holland roasted onions are usual, too, Germans put Mayonnaise together with ketchup over them.
Europeans are drinking white wine with cool temperature, red wine with room-temperature. Even it's cheap supermarket-wine, even out of a tetrapak-box, it's a definetely "No-No!" to put icecubes in it!
A lot of typical American food is available over here, but no always and everywhere. Yes, you can find peanut-butter, but except in Holland, it's not very popular. Marshmallows are harder to get.
Yes, in the Netherlands it's easy and not illegal to get Marihuana. Due the new EU-wide law, that smoking tobacco is forbidden nearly everywhere in the public, there is in NL the new situation, that you aren't allowed to smoke a cigarette in a pub, but a joint is no problem - except there's tobacco in it.
In the USA the rules about alcohol are very strict, in Europe it's much more relaxter. It's -mostly- not forbidden to drink alcohol i nthe public. Foreign guests of me were always totally shocked, that in Germany you can buy any kind of alcohol at the big 24-hours-gas-stations.
German beer is popular everywhere, but over here there are so many different sorts of them, that you cannot point out a "typical German" beer. Other beer is not bad either - I prefer the Czech Budweiser (nothing in common with the US-made stuff).
In Belgium you can find (for foreigners strange) beer-sort, so beer with cherry- or raspberry-taste. If you like it...
In Belgium once I've found the very strong "delirium tremens"-beer. The name was correct (13% alcohol)!
Don't buy bread in Holland. This is ugly. The best bread you can find in Germany, in Austria, too. Polish bread is good either.