Posted on 04/19/2015 8:29:54 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
One of the most exciting things about traveling to or living in a foreign land is learning a new culture, especially if the culture is vastly different from your own. Those who have visited or lived in the United States have reported being shocked and overwhelmed by a number of the country’s customs and practices. Here are the top fifteen things foreigners are surprised by in America. 1. The Use of Credit Cards
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It's spreading out to Europe.
The Liverpool UK Costco recognized my US membership card and made a note on my sales slip that it was printed in Pounds Sterling.
The one Costco disadvantage for the UK residents is that their houses are too small to store the big packs of toilet paper, etc.
That was mentioned in the book "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas Stanley. Many wealthy people dress and live modestly and go about quite unnoticed by people.
Recent stats show that half of all Americans fail to save adequately for retirement, but I've yet to see a stat on the numbers of Americans (mostly above 50) who have net wealth of at least half a million. I'll bet it's very substantial.
After viewing the scene I thought: why should Canadians have to go to a special store to buy beer? Please explain the logic to me.
The late Mr. Stanley’s classic ‘Millionaire Next Door’ should be required reading in high school if not before.
Not only that they have to buy extra the plugs for their appliances.
I noticed quite a few extra-chubby people in Britain and Ireland. They’re gaining (no pun intended) on us, but YEA!!! we’re still no. one. (snicker)
The logic is canada is a socialist country. It’s not like my friend from TN who also told me in his state, people cross state borders to buy booze, and canadians do the same into the US. Not only do we “pretend’ to buy gas and eggs (which is the most normal excuse)but we also pay cash for the booze so when returning back, the idiot canuck border guard will not make an inspection of the receipt.
Did I also tell you that it’s illegal in canada to buy car insurance outside of the govt too? Yeah, it’s a monopoly.
Montgomery County in Maryland, the premier DC bedroom suburb controls all alcholic beverage sales. Restaurants have to buy from the county which is a totally inept operation. Complaints about not be able to reliable get craft beers and specific wines are numerous. The county gets IIRC about $33 million in revenues.
That's interesting. I was in Germany and felt the opposite. They were prompt to get into work and efficient and hard working (no chit chat) during work hours. But you did not want to get between the Germans and the door when the end of the shift hit - you would be crushed by the prompt and efficient Germans promptly and efficiently leaving. They were hard at work at 4:59pm and gone at 5:01pm. But that may have just been the culture at that factory.
That visit opened his eyes and convinced him that communism was not the best system after all--and that stop wasn't even on the itinerary or scripted.
So we'd scuttle in to some of these places where everybody would have their tea and snacks. Except for me because I don't drink tea or coffee.
In one place I asked if they had Coke, and was brusquely informed by the person behind the counter taking our orders (in her best Ann Robinson sneering voice) that WE DON'T DO COCA-COLA HERE!! I settled for a glass of water. Next time I'll ask for Vimto.
Been to Canada a number of times in a number of different places and have rarely heard the stereotypical Bob and Doug McKenzie Canuck speak.
In Brandon, Manitoba one time a friendly gas station attendant was talking to us in that kind of speech, and I wondered if he wasn't putting us on.
Re-edited...
The great and mighty gracious God oh LORD hath wonderfully shed his aboundent grace upon thee oh America.
So why should thee, and why hath thee oh America forget thy mighty hand that hath begat thee oh America.
The mighty and gracious hand of God oh LORD that hath guided thee, and guarded thee through stormy seas and hath protected thee oh America.
The mighty God oh LORD hath not forgotten thee oh America, but hath loved thee as a mother eagle and her young, least thee shall not forget about thy o’mighty, all loving gracious God our LORD.
Sorry, but you'll have to explain this one to me.
Remember the Russian guy in the movie Hunt for Red October who was amazed with America and wanted to live in Montana ?
I have a old friend who has traveled around the world to nice places, but she told me that there is no place in the world like America, and no place that she would rather live than America.
Jesus Christ, God’s Peace Treaty towards mankind..
Soft drinks without the ice is not as refreshing...
Have them drink warm cola, then drink iced cola, let them see the difference..
Thank you.
The same topic came up when I was in Europe. They were asking about why so few Americans knew any language other than English. I asked them how many different languages were spoken within 1000 km of where we were in Switzerland at the time. There were some arguments about where the limit actually hit, but came up with about a dozen and a half, not counting language variants like Provencal or Catalan. I said that other than some ethnic neighborhoods it was all English within 1000 km from where I lived (1001 km is where I hit Quebec, thus that limit).
My Wife’s Godfather went into the Peace Corps and after retiring became a English teacher in Slovakia. He visited us and brought two of his students, Martina and her brother. The wife and I drove them the 45 minutes to Portland Oregon and went to a mall and Nike Town. They were speechless, not because of the city of Portland, but because of the absolute ridiculous amount of wealth displayed everywhere they looked.
Cleanliness, food availability, the roads, the size of houses, cars, etc..... They were blown away.
They also commented on how great the waiters/waitresses were at restaurants we visited.
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