Weird Things about Europe

[adsman]

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Here's a thing you'd probably find weird, the drunk in public in texas thread reminded me of it: on the national railway (at least on the train I was on today), the food cart sells teas, coffee and alcoholic beverages.

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Actually in Italy you can buy booze everywhere. Every gas station has a bar. You can buy it in supermarkets, little corner shops, any coffee shop, on trains etc. The best one I've seen is the local high school where I live. It's in a 4 story building. The school is in the top 3 floors. On the ground floor? You guessed it. A bar.

[Kirg]

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but most of all, it's b/c people here are generally more civilized than Americans.

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No...no we're not. Obviously depends where in Europe. I'm Belgian and for the past 5 years I've lived in Canada and it still freaks me out when total strangers say good day or nod hi to me on the street. When I'm at the grocery store or any store really the cashiers are always extremely friendly and have big smiles, something I'd never seen before. Now granted I'm from Antwerp, Belgium which has a NYC attitude but people were just as sour in Paris or any other major european city I've been to with the exception of maybe London.


And for crying out loud, us Belgians invented fries (it's only called french fries cause of the verb to french meaning the way they are cut) and Mayonaise is what goes on it.

Not having to pay to use the toilet in any truckstop/diner/fast food joint rocks.
Having to pay 10c for a pack of McChicken sauce (not even real Mayonaise) at McDonalds sucks. I don't care that the ketchup is free.

Of course I'm talking about Canada. Wouldn't know about the US.

[eviljeff]

no free refills.

[Kirg]

On a somewhat opposite view:

Weird things about Canada (or at least Ontario):

- The toilet is in the same room as the shower and the sink. (granted I've seen this in some places in Europe too)

- Liquor can only be bought in government owned LCBO stores. And Beer only in government owned Beer Stores which are operated by goons that act like they are guarding Fort Knox. You only get to see empty beerbottles to choose from, then you tell the goon what you want who radio's the closed off section of the store with your order after which your beer comes sliding through a small hole to where you can finally pick it up. No beer/booze can be bought anywhere else.

- All bars/clubs/restaurants have last call at 2am and promptly close by 3am.

- Drive at 16 but no beer till 19? (drive at 18, beer at 16 in Belgium). And 21 in the US? Shudder, the horror.

- Very few people lock their front doors.

- No glass in front of the counters at banks

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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but most of all, it's b/c people here are generally more civilized than Americans.

[/ QUOTE ]

No...no we're not. Obviously depends where in Europe. I'm Belgian and for the past 5 years I've lived in Canada and it still freaks me out when total strangers say good day or nod hi to me on the street. When I'm at the grocery store or any store really the cashiers are always extremely friendly and have big smiles, something I'd never seen before. Now granted I'm from Antwerp, Belgium which has a NYC attitude but people were just as sour in Paris or any other major european city I've been to with the exception of maybe London.


And for crying out loud, us Belgians invented fries (it's only called french fries cause of the verb to french meaning the way they are cut) and Mayonaise is what goes on it.

Not having to pay to use the toilet in any truckstop/diner/fast food joint rocks.
Having to pay 10c for a pack of McChicken sauce (not even real Mayonaise) at McDonalds sucks. I don't care that the ketchup is free.

Of course I'm talking about Canada. Wouldn't know about the US.

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Canadians are more civilized than Americans, except for the weird habit of traveling with visible Canadian flags all over their clothing/hats/backpacks. This is not civilized.

[Dominic]

they speak funny over there, too.

[Kirg]

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Canadians are more civilized than Americans, except for the weird habit of traveling with visible Canadian flags all over their clothing/hats/backpacks. This is not civilized.

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Yeah, everyone always talks about Americans being insanely patriotic but I see Maple Leafs everywhere and definitely a lot more then I saw Stars 'n Stripes in the States.

However I'm pretty sure Canadians do this not out of a patriotic sense but more to make sure they don't get mistaken for Americans.

[ChipWrecked]

KB4Z: Americans don't have time to be civilized, we're too busy creating 30% of the world's GDP while the Euros are having lunch and getting drunk.

France is part of Europe, right? The answer to the shower question is that it's not meant to be used.

[diebitter]

Let's just be clear. England isn't part of Europe. Anyone tells you otherwise is a liar and a cheat.

[Victorvdb]

European mayo =/= US mayo. The mayonaise that goes on fries is much fatter and flavorful than the mayonaise that goes on salads as they do in the US. We have seperate mayonaise to put on salads, we do not put that stuff on our fries. Also, this is a Dutch/Belgian thing I think.

Showers - I absolutely hate the handheld showers in France etc, I would like my showerhead to be up on the wall, removable when I would like it, and besides having a bathroom that can handle ALL the water, I prefer having a cell too, just because it handles heat better. I don't care much about waterspillage.

As for cheese... wth? American cheese is the single worst dairy product I've ever had. There is nothing good about it. How the hell can you call European cheese bad? I can imagine you not liking the moldy french cheeses, as they require peculiar taste, but Dutch Gouda cheese and the other brands completely own American Cheddar etc. It's not even close. It's not even close to being close enough to being comparable.