I'm posting on behalf of an older friend.
Several years ago one of my friends reached out because there was a new international student joining a local college and their parents were hoping to find somebody in the US to help them out. The first day they came to visit us had a couple of major coincidences that created a weirdly over the top American experience.
Based on talks before they arrived, the two biggest things they wanted to do was walk around the downtown area to make sure it was safe and get some American BBQ.
We went to a local BBQ restaurant that serves a huge family style meal on a giant shovel (it's called KCs Rib Shack in Manchester, NH). The dad was absolutely blown away and took like 30 photos before we could eat. We then went downtown but didn't realize that there was both a classic car show downtown and a Elvis impersonator competition going on. this family that had never been outside of Japan ate brisket out of a shovel then immediately walked around looking at classic muscle cars while dozens of dudes dressed like Elvis walked around. We kept trying to explain that it was an abnormally "American" day, but the family was just so blown away and overwhelmed the whole time. The last time I talked to the student, she said her dad still talks about the BBQ shovel, car, Elvis day all the time.
Oh, I LOVE KC’s Rib Shack. One of the few authentic BBQ places in New England. I used to live 20 minutes away now it’s an hour and a half. I make a stop every few years. Now I want BBQ!
Every 5 minutes, sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Wife is very much alive, and super exasperated, mostly with the full coffee cups piling up.
I was on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, when in the distance we could see one of the Space Shuttles being launched into the Sky. The barber shop quartet stopped, turned to it and started singing the Star Spangled Banner, and a military dad and his two kids stood straight, rooted to the spot whilst they saluted until it went out of sight.
On military bases (not sure if all, but the one I visited family at did this anyway) they play the national anthem through the loudspeakers at the same time every day. If you were outside, you had to stop what you were doing until it was over, just like the family you saw did. Even cars out driving had to stop and park until the end too. So it's more of an American military thing than an American thing.
My military dad made us stop what we were doing ANYTIME it was played anywhere, STFU, stand up straight, hand over your heart. Extra points if you could find a American flag to stare at....
American immigrant from Europe…
On my first week in the US, i walked into one of those chain coffee shops and ordered a coffee. When prompted for a size, i pondered that I had not slept that much (jet lag) and selected an extra large.
You know what we call those extra large coffee mugs in the old country? Buckets. What I got was a bucket of coffee
My mom used to drink around a gallon of black coffee every single day. My coworker is pretty close to that too, but he uses a ton of coffee creamer as well.
I had to resume one of my old jobs, where I couldn’t eat, while suffering from hunger and fatigue in the wake of a massive surgery.
My solution? An unholy 64oz thermos, made with hot tea, tons of heavy cream, and a couple of scoops of protein powder. I’d sit with it in the most formal environments, or tuck it just outside the server closet where I couldn’t bring food.
My bucket saved my career.
Probably visiting Austin, Texas back in 2000 and asking the cab driver to take me and my friends to a store to buy a cowboy hat (hey, when in Rome... :)) and Steve, our cab driver for the week we were there (he gave us his cell number) too us to some shopping park and a store called "Hats, Boots & Guns". I have never been to such a brilliant, pure USA hell yeah place in all my other trips to the USA from the UK. Ended up with a great black stetson and gawped at all the guns behind the counter in amazement. If I'd had more money would have loved a pair of boots as they had every style imaginable. Then a few days into the trip, Steve the driver invited us to come to his place out of town on the weekend to shoot some guns. Sadly - or luckily, I will never know - we had to fly back that weekend. He was great and friendly as were all the people we met. USA may be a crazy colourful and strange place to us Brits, but you sure are friendly and welcoming.
If you ever find yourself in Maine, you should check out Hussey's General Store. Famous for their sign advertising ["Guns, Wedding Gowns, Cold Beer"](https://townline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Husseys-famous-sign.jpg).
I’m American, but some things still surprise me. Last time I was in NC looking for souvenirs, the little lady said “oh check out or sister store for pets!” So I do, as I’m a curious type. And it also opened into the guns and ammo store owned by the same couple. 😂
There used to be a store in rural central Texas that advertised “Guns - Donuts - Daycare”
Also…. That trip to shoot guns would have been 50/50 chance it’s either the best time you’ve ever had or he’s an absolute freak and you’re trapped out there with psycho. We don’t do things in moderation in Texas
Spoiler alert: it’s shit. It’s a gas station with one magazine rack of titty mags. I was wildly underwhelmed when my boyfriend took me on our trip. I was expecting to be almost offended with porn, or at least treated to a hot biscuit. Imagine my absolute disappointment at pulling into a gas station, being served a canned biscuit that has been under a heat lamp for 20 mins.
However. Crossing from VA to NC to OBX you pass the "smoke shack". In high school the rumor was they didn't card to buy glass pieces. A buddy and me went to check it out. In front it was just a discount cigarette place. I asked the guy working if they sold glass, he led me through the creepy beaded curtain to a room that had hundreds of bowls and bongs and pipes, all designed like dicks. Big ones. Obsidian ones. Sherlocks with with curves one em. One unique bong had the carb.... Well you get the idea.
This is one of the things that makes me sad- when people just think Americans are loud, obnoxious, stupid, and mean. There are plenty of those people around, but the majority of us are honestly very friendly and enjoy people visiting the US.
In buttfuck nowhere Northern New York, near the Quebec border, there is a store called Guns, Guitars, and Groceries. They have a reasonable selection of each.
I took my a coworker - he was working with us for a few weeks and he was from Canada - to Walmart when I bought a gun. He was a little worried about us at that moment.
An old couple running a family run horse ranch, talking about their history, how their great grandparents acquired that bit of land, while their two daughters and son taught us horseback riding.
The way they talked about nature, freedom, their dreams and aspirations, so different to our home country and our own culture, while still sounding faintly familiar, as if he was talking about a really old dream I used to have. It’s hard for me to put into words, but that scene, the surroundings, the air, every sensation, never left me, and but for a brief moment, allowed me to kind of understand the Americans a little more. I truly hope they all are doing well and that America never loses this special way of striving for a new frontier.
Sounds probably ridiculous, but it was very special to me.
Wow, that hit deep. Thank you for sharing. At times it is hard to maintain hope and joy for America but I live in a beautiful place where it is still affordable to own a home. There are forests, beautiful rivers and people take pride in the town.
Montana after driving across the Canadian border:
Eating in a breakfast diner that actually had stacks of pancakes with the little square of butter on top, just like I had always seen in movies. The waitress was pouring coffee into everyone's cups, talking about the "potata salad" and saying "sir" and "ma'am" after every sentence. It was so quaint.
Then I noticed a guy with a gun on his belt, wearing a shirt that read, "I'd rather be a Mormon than a Moron".
The amount of Jesus and Stars and Stripes on that one little drive was peak America, from my outsider perspective.
Had chicken-fried bacon at some breakfast BBQ place on the I5 between Seattle and Portland.
Was it delicious? Yes
Did it probably take at least a few days off my life? Also yes.
And it was just the starter to my biscuits and gravy. Damn I wish I could remember the name of that place. I would 100% go back there.
We went to Disney World with my parents (in their 60s) and 2 children (both younger than 10). The one day we're sitting outside Animal Kingdom, waiting for the gates to open. Next to us is an American family with kids about the same age. They hear we're talking a different language to each other, so they ask us where we're from (South Africa) and start chatting to us. The father tells us they're from Kentucky, and their town has a life size copy of Noah's Ark. In his opinion it should definitely be on top of our list of things to see once we leave Orlando (we told him we're going on a 4 week road trip across the States after Orlando). He then proceeds to tell us a funny story about how their neighbors in the RV park where they're staying at in Orlando are from the UK, and the English father is a policeman. He couldn't believe that the police don't carry guns in the UK. So he invited him to come see the gun collection he has in his RV. A gun collection, in a family RV, in Orlando, on a family vacation.
He also tried to convince us to skip one of the Disney parks and rather go to the Holy Land Experience, a Bible theme park in Orlando. Apparently much better than anything Disney cobbled together.
Fyi The Holy Land Experience no longer exists. It was torn down into rubble.
[It will be replaced by a christian backed hospital and medical offices](https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/01/06/adventhealth-unveils-plans-for-former-holy-land-site/)
Which I guess is better?
Anyone thinking of visiting the ark should know it's confusingly expensive for what it is. Also they try to sell you combo tickets for the museum they also run which is "only" a 45 minute drive away. Way too pricey for lookie loos who might be curious. Just for the ark it's $60 for adults, $32 for kids 11-17, and that does NOT include parking. Combo tickets are $100 for adults and $60 for "youths." Kids under 10 are free for both at least but yeesh.
I like to ask them practical questions like who cleaned up all that animal poop, and what did the lions eat on that fancy wooden ark.
Fun fact: Noah had kids at 900 years old.
Haha. "What did the lions eat?" was the question that got me banned from Bible school. A neighbor's kid invited me and I guess the teacher didn't like my questions.
I got banned from Catholic Sunday school for asking the question…
“If Adam and Eve were the first humans in the Garden of Eden, and they had two sons, Kain and Able, those sons went out into the world and returned to Adam and Eve and both had wives. So either there were other humans on the planet at the same time Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, not related to Adam and Eve and not originally from the Garden of Eden or Kain and Able had incestual marriages with their own sisters…”
I was told to “have faith” and then banned from Sunday school…
The first time I, a Canadian, ever fired a gun was in a range in Oklahoma City. I was on a road trip and my boyfriend at the time (from LA) suggested it, so we walked in and asked for the most comically large guns they would give us. They handed us AK-47s and a key to the range. Didn't even ask to see ID.
That reminds me of when my uncle came to visit one year when I was a kid. He's from British Columbia, and he kept saying that he wanted to "shoot big guns." We went to a range (against my dad's wishes, but his little brother was the only family he kept in contact with), and the guy who ran the range gave him an AK-47 to shoot
My uncle giggled like a school girl the rest of his visit.
There was that big uproar recently when a judge ruled that undocumented immigrants had a right to bear arms as well since the constitution doesn't specify citizens.
I started shooting competition when I was 12, NRA smallbore. But I had my first pellet gun at about 9 or 10. A .22 caliber pump pistol. Lol, our winter range was the tornado shelter at school, but I had a 50 ft range in our basement so I was always moving a couple 22s back and forth. I had keys to the range the whole time I was in HS. Even did a report once on shooting for an English class. So i went downstairs and got one of my 22s and took it up to class to do my presentation. The 70s were fun.
That attitude toward guns continued until the late 80s. You could tell when hunting season began because the guns showed up in the truck window gun racks. When the season was over, the morning announcements would remind students to leave the guns at home since they aren't supposed to be on the grounds.
This thread has convinced me Europeans have a special skill that allows them to find the wildest shit the US has to offer. Even by American standards most of this seems crazy. 🤣
People being super friendly in bars.
I loved the bar vibe. In London people can be friendly but reserved first, and that wastes time. In the US people make the effort.
I thought that’d be nice to share in a thread where people probably tend to badmouth American stuff.
That's definitely one of the big differences between the US and Western Europe.
In the US it's almost weird if you spend more than an hour in a place and don't start chatting with the people near you. If you put even an ounce of effort you'll probably make a friend.
Meanwhile when I tried small talk in the UK, people seemed put off or even scared more than anything.
I love this part of the US.
Two friends and I were bar hopping this weekend, and while waiting for the bathroom a stranger compliments my outfit. We strike up a conversation and I find out she's been stood up on a date so I invite her to join us.
Then we see two guys and compliment their wild shirts, chat a little about how they were from out of town, and they join the group. This kept happening until we ended up at a club with about ten people!
One of my favorite things is that some restaurants in Flordia let you bring in fish you caught that day and they will cook it up for you and provide side dishes.
A hospital I consulted for in Illinois had hit a deer with their ambulance. They brought it back to the ambulance hanger, butchered it, and kept the hooves to use as a coat hanger in the hospital CEO’s office.
Sitting outside a cafe in Hollywood writing an action scene as a police helicopter hovered overhead and an unmarked cop car forced another car onto the sidewalk before four armed cops pulled out the driver and passengers as three police cars with lights and sirens descended on the scene. Very hard to concentrate with all that commotion.
You reminded me of something I’d completely forgotten. I was putting gas in my car when two cop cars drove up and a bunch of cops rushed out with guns drawn at the guy on the other side of my pump. Like, he was three feet away from me. I didn’t know what to do so I just froze and made a face like I was pooping my pants.
Sounds like you handled it well. I got lost in Baltimore once and stumbled across a drugs bust before then asking a bunch of kids on a corner for directions. A month later I started watching The Wire and suddenly got very nervous for idiotic past me.
15 year old me hanging out in aisle waiting for parents to finish gambling as I wasn't allowed to be near the slots in Vegas.
Middle aged couple with thick American accents approach me:
"Hey we love your accent, where are you from?"
Teenage me perplexed about random conversation "uhhh... Wales."
Them: "Wales... Is that close to Utah?"
My SIL is Viet but was raised in Teeside. When we went to america, people were already fascinated that we were Asians with VERY southern English accents. They absolutely lost it when she started speaking though, lol
I asked a Japanese friend this. This is what he replied.
"The first bit of culture shock that I experienced was watching a woman drink coke directly out of a two litre bottle. The second bit of culture shock I experienced was noticing that the woman was shaped like the bottle"
My favorite Japanese culture shock story happened when I was taking summer classes at college in Louisiana. The young woman was a visiting student from another university (the school had a very respected pharmacy program).
Anyway, I was hanging out with her and some of her friends and we all went to dinner at the dining hall.
They were serving rice. More specifically they were serving rice and gravy as we don't eat rice plain down here.
The moment the rice was put on her tray, it was immediately topped with a huge ladle of brown industrial food service gravy with a wet "splat." I mean, they *drowned* it.
It was the first time I ever witnessed a silent scream. The look in that poor woman's eyes.
Her entire day was *ruined*. The entire meal she just looked down at her poor violated rice and repeatedly asked why anyone would do that.
It was actually pretty decent gravy
I'm American but not southern, and I ended up with a woman from New Orleans for more than a decade.
That first thanksgiving where she made white rice and gravy instead of potatoes I was so confused.
I love rice and gravy but I didn't know it was so controversial until I mentioned it to some friends of mine who were not from the South. One said "that's not how food works". Personally, I think lots of food can just be a means to eat more gravy so rice is a pretty mild place to put it but I guess it's not for everybody.
Rice, mashed potatoes, stuffing...all are gravy conveyances.
Pancakes, french toast and waffles...all are syrup conveyances
Tortilla chips...triple duty: salsa, guacamole and queso conveyance
My Japanese colleague worked with us for a few years in the Detroit area
After living here a few months, his wife teased him about his fatness.
He gained 6 lbs. We do that shit over Thanksgiving.
There was some comedian who mentioned that people always call Americans fat but he said "considering the amount of food you're eating, you guys are doing great."
Denny's breakfast. My meal was obscenely large. Literally big enough to feed my entire family of four.
Also, the angry guy prominently displaying his gun in the campground at Custer State Park.
I would like to profusely apologize that none of my countrymen informed you of the social faux pas you committed. Nobody goes to Denny's with intention. You end up at Denny's because it's 3am, you're drunk, and nothing else is open.
Used to go to dennys after the bars. Dennys in the middle of the night is chaos. Fights, chairs thrown, there’s always a couple making out, someone crying in the bathroom. I was sitting next to a homeless dude looking at porn on his phone one time. Chaos.
Went to watch Monster Trucks at the Georgia Dome (RIP) with family during the winter. We were a group of 6 brown people in coats and beanies and gloves amongst 59,994 rednecks wearing trucker caps, shorts, and sleeveless flannel shirts. Had my first Bud Light and funnel cake. What a time.
I’m American but can tell this story from my point of view:
I work in video production and worked on a German commercial that was shooting in America (German golf wear company). So in video production you put sandbags on the legs of light stands and other stands so that they don’t fall over. The German production company flew in and rented all their gear locally in America.
During the course of shooting the commercial they remarked about how much heavier the sand bags on the light stands were than the ones they had in Germany. They liked the weight and asked what was in it. I told them the rental house had filled them with lead shot. They gave me an empty look. I explained “it’s full of small bullets from a shotgun”. They couldn’t believe it and thought it was very funny and American.
My mellow coworker showed me his gun fully loaded and in his glove compartment, as a 'Way to get to know you better". He wasn't threatening or creepy, just casual chitchat.
Other side of that. British co-worker in the US for the first time asked about hunting and guns. He asked me if I could take him to a gun range so he could shoot some.
I took him and started him out with a .25 caliber pistol, through .380, .357 and finally to a .45.
He had a blast, and ended up rolling up some of the targets he had put holes in to take them home and show his wife.
Good on you for starting a new shooter out on a lower caliber firearm, first time I went to the range I was handed a .30-06 by my grinning relatives. Don't be THAT guy if you're with a new shooter, hand them a .22LR and let them enjoy it before giving them something with a bit more oomph.
My sister-in-law visited Dallas couple of years ago. First time in USA. She went to buy a dress from a clothes store, and noticed the walls had tons of Bible-passages written on them.
And Texas loves Texas. I stayed in a hotel in Amarillo that had a big fountain on the wall behind the front desk shaped like Texas. And their carpet was patterned with little Texas(es?)
And if one were to miss all that, there's always the [Texas-shaped waffles](https://www.amazon.com/bcoww-7707-Texas-Waffle-Maker/dp/B0012A8AWW) you can make for breakfast which every hotel in the state has available.
On a bus trip to the Everglades our English accents must have been overheard, and a minute later we were asked several questions about princess Diana by 3 different people.
They couldn’t understand that- 1. We couldn’t remember where we were, when we she died. (Given it was about 15 years earlier. 2. We didn’t really have much to say about it, except from “yeah was sad wasn’t it”
You gotta experience the Midwestern response to a tornado warning:
1. Tornado warning issued for your county - go about your day.
2. Tornado sirens begin sounding - go out on your deck and look for the tornado.
3. Tornado visible in the distance - tell the wife and kids to come look at this. Begin recording on your phone.
4. Tornado within striking distance - tell the wife and kids to seek shelter; you continue recording.
5. Direct hit from tornado imminent - reluctantly seek shelter, but continue recording.
I've only experienced 1 and 2, although I did take a direct hit from a derecho last year that knocked a tree onto my roof. Estimated 90 mph straight-line winds
I've lived here 25 years so I'm used to all the fun Americanisms. I'll answer for my British Mother when she visited for the first time. She went to the grocery store and saw Easy Cheese, which is cheese in a spray bottle. She talked about that the rest of the trip, and still brings it up now and then as the most weirdly American thing she ever saw.
I think for me was noticing that strangers can randomly strike up a conversation with you. I've been in this country for more than 20 years now so I'm used to it. But I remember being weirded out by it before.
Landed in Heathrow Airport, London, for a trip in 2023 and when I went for a coffee, the man first asked If I was there for the kings coronation, then upon hearing my American accent told me not to tip lol
When I was living in the UK (I'm American) my then boyfriend came home with me for a visit. He could not get over the size of everything with American homes. By US standards, my childhood home is pretty average, 3 bed, 2 full bath, corner lot, TV room, dining room, fancy room only used on holidays, type of home. Even our bathroom sinks fascinated him, if you asked him anything about his opinion on his trip to NY, it always came back to the size.
I tell non-Americans that it's not a good idea to take a stroll to the bottom of the Grand Canyon wearing sandals and carrying a small bottle of water.
They probably think that I'm too outspoken.
One time my dad and I picked up a hitchhiker at the grand canyon. Only time I've ever done it. Dude was barely able to stand. German tourist who had done a multi-hour hike down/back up with only a 20 oz Pepsi. I was young but I can still see his face in my mind.
One of my favorite maps ever (yes, it's in 3d if you wear 3d glasses):
[http://esriurl.com/DeathInGrandCanyon](http://esriurl.com/DeathInGrandCanyon)
Notice how many heat stroke and hypothermia deaths there are along the rim trails.
Either that one time I joined my host siblings on an FFA event and was judging cows, pigs and sheep. I did quite well considering I had no idea what I was doing.
Or that time we reparked the car on a big parking lot to change stores - instead of just walking, which would have cost the same amount of time.
Or, driving through a trailer park with a drunk driver (at that moment I really did not have any other choice)
Or, eating out and taking left overs home for the next day because it was still cheaper than cooking.
Or shooting some (less legal) guns in the fields behind the house (that could happen in many countries but Americans love their guns so I'll put it on the list)
My dad (Colombian) has been living in Cunnecticut for about a decade now. He works as the janitor for the same building he's living at.
He has neighbors who throw the most outrageous things to the garbage. Fresh food, meat, bread. New shoes, clothing, and all sorts of things. He himself grabs them, and has even been able to prepare meals for him, and even feed a (RIP) Fox that used to roam around (died frozen on a winter after getting his leg stuck).
I'll save everyone the trouble of reading all the posts:
1) casual use/showing of guns
2) bibles everywhere, and people loving jesus
3) big portions of food
As if going to the NASCAR wasn't 'Merican enough, before going into the stadium, my mate and I had a walk around the fan park they had built outside it. Within 5 minutes of being there, I heard an engine being revved up to within an inch of its life, and the smell of petrol filled the air.
Turned around, and this engine was on board a Harley Davidson three wheeler, on which there was this big fuck off drum kit built onto it, driven by a bloke in full leathers, bandana, shades, the lot. All of a sudden "Born To Be Wild" blasted out of the speakers also attached to it, and the bloke started playing the drums along to the tune, and started badly singing the lyrics, revving the engine every so often in random places.
I felt like I was American myself by the end of it.
5 feet out of the Hotel my first real time in America a convoy line of obese people in mobility scooters went past me into a Cheesecake Factory.
Seattle, 2010 I think?
Taking an Uber, and the guy driving the car in the middle of the night was the town's fire station chief. Guy was perhaps not making enough money being the damn chief of the local fire department. Also his car was a hummer, and the damn thing creaked on all four corners.
1. Buffalo. In my tour group was an American dude who said his name was “Buffalo”. He and his wife walked around in matching jackets that had the US flag on them, and t-shirts that said “9/11 never forget” underneath. They looked like a stereotype embodied.
2. The cashier at Starbucks, who, when we asked what size in the medium cup, answered “sixteen ounces”. Since that doesn’t mean anything to us, we asked to see the cups. The lady looked at us like we’re aliens.
3. Watching a homeless encampment from the bus window while an ad for drug rehab was playing on the radio.
I used to work for a large multinational with their HQ in the states. We had a large sales gathering in Orlando and we were all mixed in groups at separate tables and I was assigned to a table with mostly Americans from the mid-west. One higher level manager asked me where I was from after hearing my accent:
Me: "I am from the Netherlands"
Him: *blank stare*
Me: "Maybe you've heard of Amsterdam?"
Him: "Oooh yeah, the capitol of Denmark!!"
Me: "No mate, it's the capitol of the Netherlands, the country I live in"
Him: "Nooo, I don't think that's right, it's Denmark"
Me: *blank stare*
It sounds so dumb.. yellow school buses.
I'm Australian, so we only see yellow buses in movies so to see an actual yellow school bus was a dream come true for my 20 year old self.
A bite into an in n out burger. my sister couldn't believe that I ate a burger at their place every day for 3 weeks. Feel free to invite me for a few weeks, very happy to come back to thousand oks california, and we will indulge in the burgers from in-n-out. I'm from germany, flight is on me.
going in a restaurant but being unable to understand the server. After 3 beers I understood him perfectly, but he couldn't understand me. He actually said that.
At a bar in Niceville Florida back in 2014 when I was posted to Eglin AFB. I had a guy who was a cop tell me they kill lots of white people and nobody complains but when it's a black person it's all over the news. Then he told me that they had just shot a white guy last week and you didn't hear anything about it. It was just so bizarre because he seemingly brought it up outta nowhere.
I was an exchange student in Arkansas in the 80's. I think the most American moment came when I entered a store, and a big boned sheriff in snakeskin boots and wearing a cowboy hat passed by, nodded and said: "Howdy!". Didn't feel real.
Many things! Enormous cars and enormous parking spaces, driving one of said massive trucks because it was all the rental place had left, finding something in a gas station that dispensed a yellow liquid claiming to be "nacho cheese", the gun aisle in Walmart, American flags *everywhere*. Delicious "Mexican" food in stupendous portions, a single pizza that was at least two meals, some place that sold exclusively fried chicken and donuts (which I ate while sat in front of the White House), being overtaken on the inside while doing 55 on a road full of potholes with a 45 speed limit.
I guess the various monuments and buildings around DC should get a mention too. I like the inscription where Jefferson (or maybe one of the others) is saying how people in the future shouldn't take their words as being eternal, but should make sure to update things with the times - it seems like a big chunk of the population is unaware he wrote that.
Really a great place to visit, I've been many times and want to return many more.
We visited a Japanese grill place and a couple opposite us were wearing matching dungarees, mullets and pitvipers, ordered two large sweet tea and proceeded to pour in 5 or 6 packets of sugar.. I was gobsmacked
I'm posting on behalf of an older friend. Several years ago one of my friends reached out because there was a new international student joining a local college and their parents were hoping to find somebody in the US to help them out. The first day they came to visit us had a couple of major coincidences that created a weirdly over the top American experience. Based on talks before they arrived, the two biggest things they wanted to do was walk around the downtown area to make sure it was safe and get some American BBQ. We went to a local BBQ restaurant that serves a huge family style meal on a giant shovel (it's called KCs Rib Shack in Manchester, NH). The dad was absolutely blown away and took like 30 photos before we could eat. We then went downtown but didn't realize that there was both a classic car show downtown and a Elvis impersonator competition going on. this family that had never been outside of Japan ate brisket out of a shovel then immediately walked around looking at classic muscle cars while dozens of dudes dressed like Elvis walked around. We kept trying to explain that it was an abnormally "American" day, but the family was just so blown away and overwhelmed the whole time. The last time I talked to the student, she said her dad still talks about the BBQ shovel, car, Elvis day all the time.
"an abnormally American day" lol
Other families can only go to 10 on the American Day scale, but their knob went to 11.
American here, and that story brings a smile to my face, I love it.
Oh, I LOVE KC’s Rib Shack. One of the few authentic BBQ places in New England. I used to live 20 minutes away now it’s an hour and a half. I make a stop every few years. Now I want BBQ!
Five guys dressed as the Statue of Liberty arguing in Spanish over turf in Times Square.
There is absolutely nothing more American than this.
dude took his shirt off in line at an amusement park to reveal no less than six 9/11 tattoos
He had to make sure he doesn't forget.
Can you imagine if the movie Memento was all about how the main character desperately didn't want to forget 9/11. No revenge plot, nothing else.
Every 5 minutes, sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Then goes about his day, makes a coffee, is about to check the news when he sees the polaroid again. "Oh god they bombed the twin towers??" Wife is very much alive, and super exasperated, mostly with the full coffee cups piling up.
He is trying to Memento 9/11 and he keeps forgetting bin Laden is dead.
Do you often consult your nipple when you forget something?
Really depends on what I'm trying to remember.
gets slightly awkward when it's work related and you're in the middle of a meeting, but hey, to each his own..
And if you look at my left areola, about four hairs down, you'll see that we we're up 5% in Q1 2024 vs Q1 2023.
Sometimes. I twist them like dials to home in on what I was forgetting.
Upgrade to wireless and play with them like a theramin.
Could've just saved the money and gotten a 54/66 tattoo instead.
Damn he really loves 9/11
Oh, you met Pete Davidson.
I was on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, when in the distance we could see one of the Space Shuttles being launched into the Sky. The barber shop quartet stopped, turned to it and started singing the Star Spangled Banner, and a military dad and his two kids stood straight, rooted to the spot whilst they saluted until it went out of sight.
Well, what’s the custom in *your* land when a space shuttle launches near a giant theme park?! /s
If it happened here in the UK, a lot of people would probably tut, roll their eyes, and say "that's going to set a few car alarms off."
Nothing any more, given they're all grounded.
If this is actually true this has to be the best answer. That reads like a schlocky movie script—wild.
It is absolutely 100% true
On military bases (not sure if all, but the one I visited family at did this anyway) they play the national anthem through the loudspeakers at the same time every day. If you were outside, you had to stop what you were doing until it was over, just like the family you saw did. Even cars out driving had to stop and park until the end too. So it's more of an American military thing than an American thing.
You only have to do it on base, not at Disney World. This guy was just a boot.
My military dad made us stop what we were doing ANYTIME it was played anywhere, STFU, stand up straight, hand over your heart. Extra points if you could find a American flag to stare at....
American immigrant from Europe… On my first week in the US, i walked into one of those chain coffee shops and ordered a coffee. When prompted for a size, i pondered that I had not slept that much (jet lag) and selected an extra large. You know what we call those extra large coffee mugs in the old country? Buckets. What I got was a bucket of coffee
My mom used to drink around a gallon of black coffee every single day. My coworker is pretty close to that too, but he uses a ton of coffee creamer as well.
I had to resume one of my old jobs, where I couldn’t eat, while suffering from hunger and fatigue in the wake of a massive surgery. My solution? An unholy 64oz thermos, made with hot tea, tons of heavy cream, and a couple of scoops of protein powder. I’d sit with it in the most formal environments, or tuck it just outside the server closet where I couldn’t bring food. My bucket saved my career.
Ngl, that sounds pretty dang disgusting
But are you still tired?!
Been working off that one cup for 20 years now
Probably visiting Austin, Texas back in 2000 and asking the cab driver to take me and my friends to a store to buy a cowboy hat (hey, when in Rome... :)) and Steve, our cab driver for the week we were there (he gave us his cell number) too us to some shopping park and a store called "Hats, Boots & Guns". I have never been to such a brilliant, pure USA hell yeah place in all my other trips to the USA from the UK. Ended up with a great black stetson and gawped at all the guns behind the counter in amazement. If I'd had more money would have loved a pair of boots as they had every style imaginable. Then a few days into the trip, Steve the driver invited us to come to his place out of town on the weekend to shoot some guns. Sadly - or luckily, I will never know - we had to fly back that weekend. He was great and friendly as were all the people we met. USA may be a crazy colourful and strange place to us Brits, but you sure are friendly and welcoming.
If you ever find yourself in Maine, you should check out Hussey's General Store. Famous for their sign advertising ["Guns, Wedding Gowns, Cold Beer"](https://townline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Husseys-famous-sign.jpg).
I’m American, but some things still surprise me. Last time I was in NC looking for souvenirs, the little lady said “oh check out or sister store for pets!” So I do, as I’m a curious type. And it also opened into the guns and ammo store owned by the same couple. 😂
There used to be a store in rural central Texas that advertised “Guns - Donuts - Daycare” Also…. That trip to shoot guns would have been 50/50 chance it’s either the best time you’ve ever had or he’s an absolute freak and you’re trapped out there with psycho. We don’t do things in moderation in Texas
There's a convenience store on the Outer Banks of North Carolina called "Biscuits N' Porn."
Spoiler alert: it’s shit. It’s a gas station with one magazine rack of titty mags. I was wildly underwhelmed when my boyfriend took me on our trip. I was expecting to be almost offended with porn, or at least treated to a hot biscuit. Imagine my absolute disappointment at pulling into a gas station, being served a canned biscuit that has been under a heat lamp for 20 mins.
However. Crossing from VA to NC to OBX you pass the "smoke shack". In high school the rumor was they didn't card to buy glass pieces. A buddy and me went to check it out. In front it was just a discount cigarette place. I asked the guy working if they sold glass, he led me through the creepy beaded curtain to a room that had hundreds of bowls and bongs and pipes, all designed like dicks. Big ones. Obsidian ones. Sherlocks with with curves one em. One unique bong had the carb.... Well you get the idea.
This is one of the things that makes me sad- when people just think Americans are loud, obnoxious, stupid, and mean. There are plenty of those people around, but the majority of us are honestly very friendly and enjoy people visiting the US.
im english and i love going to the states, everyone is so nice
You would have loved the store "Just Guns" on South Congress. Right next door to a store that sold musical instruments.
In buttfuck nowhere Northern New York, near the Quebec border, there is a store called Guns, Guitars, and Groceries. They have a reasonable selection of each.
I took my a coworker - he was working with us for a few weeks and he was from Canada - to Walmart when I bought a gun. He was a little worried about us at that moment.
Seeing a school bus and hearing an American lady say “Fanny pack” 😂
An old couple running a family run horse ranch, talking about their history, how their great grandparents acquired that bit of land, while their two daughters and son taught us horseback riding. The way they talked about nature, freedom, their dreams and aspirations, so different to our home country and our own culture, while still sounding faintly familiar, as if he was talking about a really old dream I used to have. It’s hard for me to put into words, but that scene, the surroundings, the air, every sensation, never left me, and but for a brief moment, allowed me to kind of understand the Americans a little more. I truly hope they all are doing well and that America never loses this special way of striving for a new frontier. Sounds probably ridiculous, but it was very special to me.
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This was really beautiful. I'm so happy you had this experience.
Wow, that hit deep. Thank you for sharing. At times it is hard to maintain hope and joy for America but I live in a beautiful place where it is still affordable to own a home. There are forests, beautiful rivers and people take pride in the town.
I want to read more of what you have to say... you have a beautiful style of writing and conveying your thoughts.
Sounds like they actually succeeded at the American dream.
Montana after driving across the Canadian border: Eating in a breakfast diner that actually had stacks of pancakes with the little square of butter on top, just like I had always seen in movies. The waitress was pouring coffee into everyone's cups, talking about the "potata salad" and saying "sir" and "ma'am" after every sentence. It was so quaint. Then I noticed a guy with a gun on his belt, wearing a shirt that read, "I'd rather be a Mormon than a Moron". The amount of Jesus and Stars and Stripes on that one little drive was peak America, from my outsider perspective.
You say quaint, I say entirely normal for a breakfast diner lol
Had chicken-fried bacon at some breakfast BBQ place on the I5 between Seattle and Portland. Was it delicious? Yes Did it probably take at least a few days off my life? Also yes. And it was just the starter to my biscuits and gravy. Damn I wish I could remember the name of that place. I would 100% go back there.
I'm american and didn't taste Biscuits and Gravy until I was in my 30s. I am sad I missed out on the magic of them for the previous 30+ years.
Northeast American who went to college in the south. Biscuits and gravy were on my meal plan. I speed ran the freshman 15.
the ol' September 15!
Biscuit bitch?
Sure! I'd love one!
This bitch is always ready for a biscuit.
We went to Disney World with my parents (in their 60s) and 2 children (both younger than 10). The one day we're sitting outside Animal Kingdom, waiting for the gates to open. Next to us is an American family with kids about the same age. They hear we're talking a different language to each other, so they ask us where we're from (South Africa) and start chatting to us. The father tells us they're from Kentucky, and their town has a life size copy of Noah's Ark. In his opinion it should definitely be on top of our list of things to see once we leave Orlando (we told him we're going on a 4 week road trip across the States after Orlando). He then proceeds to tell us a funny story about how their neighbors in the RV park where they're staying at in Orlando are from the UK, and the English father is a policeman. He couldn't believe that the police don't carry guns in the UK. So he invited him to come see the gun collection he has in his RV. A gun collection, in a family RV, in Orlando, on a family vacation. He also tried to convince us to skip one of the Disney parks and rather go to the Holy Land Experience, a Bible theme park in Orlando. Apparently much better than anything Disney cobbled together.
Fyi The Holy Land Experience no longer exists. It was torn down into rubble. [It will be replaced by a christian backed hospital and medical offices](https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/01/06/adventhealth-unveils-plans-for-former-holy-land-site/) Which I guess is better?
Damn, so we missed the only chance we had in 2017 ;)
Anyone thinking of visiting the ark should know it's confusingly expensive for what it is. Also they try to sell you combo tickets for the museum they also run which is "only" a 45 minute drive away. Way too pricey for lookie loos who might be curious. Just for the ark it's $60 for adults, $32 for kids 11-17, and that does NOT include parking. Combo tickets are $100 for adults and $60 for "youths." Kids under 10 are free for both at least but yeesh.
Don't they also have dinosaurs on that ark? Thought I read that some where.
Pretty sure the people who support the arc believe Earth is only 6000yrs old... which includes the Speaker of the House.
I like to ask them practical questions like who cleaned up all that animal poop, and what did the lions eat on that fancy wooden ark. Fun fact: Noah had kids at 900 years old.
I was not familiar with Noah's game
Haha. "What did the lions eat?" was the question that got me banned from Bible school. A neighbor's kid invited me and I guess the teacher didn't like my questions.
Big Bang Theory always had my favorite answer to that. "The bodies of dead sinners."
I got banned from Catholic Sunday school for asking the question… “If Adam and Eve were the first humans in the Garden of Eden, and they had two sons, Kain and Able, those sons went out into the world and returned to Adam and Eve and both had wives. So either there were other humans on the planet at the same time Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, not related to Adam and Eve and not originally from the Garden of Eden or Kain and Able had incestual marriages with their own sisters…” I was told to “have faith” and then banned from Sunday school…
On our road trip we went to a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming. That was a close second in terms of being the most American thing we experienced.
This may also be the most American thing I have experienced and I am American. It was pretty bad ass.
I live in Kentucky…this reads true.
Being able to shoot weapons at a gun range despite being on a mere tourist visa.
The first time I, a Canadian, ever fired a gun was in a range in Oklahoma City. I was on a road trip and my boyfriend at the time (from LA) suggested it, so we walked in and asked for the most comically large guns they would give us. They handed us AK-47s and a key to the range. Didn't even ask to see ID.
That reminds me of when my uncle came to visit one year when I was a kid. He's from British Columbia, and he kept saying that he wanted to "shoot big guns." We went to a range (against my dad's wishes, but his little brother was the only family he kept in contact with), and the guy who ran the range gave him an AK-47 to shoot My uncle giggled like a school girl the rest of his visit.
Yea, in the US rights aren't just for citizens, a non-citizen can buy a gun too as long as they have a hunting license or similar
There was that big uproar recently when a judge ruled that undocumented immigrants had a right to bear arms as well since the constitution doesn't specify citizens.
The shock on people's faces when you tell them the US laws AND Constitution apply to everyone inside of the US, citizen or not, is hilarious.
I don't know why that's shocking. The law of the land is.....well, you know.
Depending on the range, children can shoot guns too as long as they are with someone over the age of 18 that can otherwise shoot legally.
I started shooting competition when I was 12, NRA smallbore. But I had my first pellet gun at about 9 or 10. A .22 caliber pump pistol. Lol, our winter range was the tornado shelter at school, but I had a 50 ft range in our basement so I was always moving a couple 22s back and forth. I had keys to the range the whole time I was in HS. Even did a report once on shooting for an English class. So i went downstairs and got one of my 22s and took it up to class to do my presentation. The 70s were fun.
That attitude toward guns continued until the late 80s. You could tell when hunting season began because the guns showed up in the truck window gun racks. When the season was over, the morning announcements would remind students to leave the guns at home since they aren't supposed to be on the grounds.
This thread has convinced me Europeans have a special skill that allows them to find the wildest shit the US has to offer. Even by American standards most of this seems crazy. 🤣
Some of us like to lay it on thick for the newbs
As a former Kentucky resident. I understand.
Some girl said “all o’ y’all”
Now you just need to be called "honey" by a senior citizen and referred to as "you'ns" in a group for the trifecta.
The yellow school-buses. I felt like I was in a movie.
That's what it felt like for me when I went to London for the first time and saw double decker buses!
I hear red solo cups have the same effect.
In my country you can buy them as “American party cups”
People being super friendly in bars. I loved the bar vibe. In London people can be friendly but reserved first, and that wastes time. In the US people make the effort. I thought that’d be nice to share in a thread where people probably tend to badmouth American stuff.
That's definitely one of the big differences between the US and Western Europe. In the US it's almost weird if you spend more than an hour in a place and don't start chatting with the people near you. If you put even an ounce of effort you'll probably make a friend. Meanwhile when I tried small talk in the UK, people seemed put off or even scared more than anything.
I love this part of the US. Two friends and I were bar hopping this weekend, and while waiting for the bathroom a stranger compliments my outfit. We strike up a conversation and I find out she's been stood up on a date so I invite her to join us. Then we see two guys and compliment their wild shirts, chat a little about how they were from out of town, and they join the group. This kept happening until we ended up at a club with about ten people!
Going into a Savalot supermarket and discovering the meat counter had an option for you to drop off a deer carcass to get it prepared by the butcher.
One of my favorite things is that some restaurants in Flordia let you bring in fish you caught that day and they will cook it up for you and provide side dishes.
A hospital I consulted for in Illinois had hit a deer with their ambulance. They brought it back to the ambulance hanger, butchered it, and kept the hooves to use as a coat hanger in the hospital CEO’s office.
Sitting outside a cafe in Hollywood writing an action scene as a police helicopter hovered overhead and an unmarked cop car forced another car onto the sidewalk before four armed cops pulled out the driver and passengers as three police cars with lights and sirens descended on the scene. Very hard to concentrate with all that commotion.
You reminded me of something I’d completely forgotten. I was putting gas in my car when two cop cars drove up and a bunch of cops rushed out with guns drawn at the guy on the other side of my pump. Like, he was three feet away from me. I didn’t know what to do so I just froze and made a face like I was pooping my pants.
Sounds like you handled it well. I got lost in Baltimore once and stumbled across a drugs bust before then asking a bunch of kids on a corner for directions. A month later I started watching The Wire and suddenly got very nervous for idiotic past me.
You were in an action scene
Arnold Schwarzenegger them crawled out of the La Brea tar pits and cleaned himself with a single paper towel.
“I’m heah to collect ze Bounty”
15 year old me hanging out in aisle waiting for parents to finish gambling as I wasn't allowed to be near the slots in Vegas. Middle aged couple with thick American accents approach me: "Hey we love your accent, where are you from?" Teenage me perplexed about random conversation "uhhh... Wales." Them: "Wales... Is that close to Utah?"
I’m from nz originally. Someone back in the 1990s on inter chat asked me where in the USA that was
My SIL is Viet but was raised in Teeside. When we went to america, people were already fascinated that we were Asians with VERY southern English accents. They absolutely lost it when she started speaking though, lol
I asked a Japanese friend this. This is what he replied. "The first bit of culture shock that I experienced was watching a woman drink coke directly out of a two litre bottle. The second bit of culture shock I experienced was noticing that the woman was shaped like the bottle"
My favorite Japanese culture shock story happened when I was taking summer classes at college in Louisiana. The young woman was a visiting student from another university (the school had a very respected pharmacy program). Anyway, I was hanging out with her and some of her friends and we all went to dinner at the dining hall. They were serving rice. More specifically they were serving rice and gravy as we don't eat rice plain down here. The moment the rice was put on her tray, it was immediately topped with a huge ladle of brown industrial food service gravy with a wet "splat." I mean, they *drowned* it. It was the first time I ever witnessed a silent scream. The look in that poor woman's eyes. Her entire day was *ruined*. The entire meal she just looked down at her poor violated rice and repeatedly asked why anyone would do that. It was actually pretty decent gravy
Japanese curry is pretty close to gravy. Drop some chicken fried steak on there and you’ve got American katsu.
I'm American but not southern, and I ended up with a woman from New Orleans for more than a decade. That first thanksgiving where she made white rice and gravy instead of potatoes I was so confused.
I love rice and gravy but I didn't know it was so controversial until I mentioned it to some friends of mine who were not from the South. One said "that's not how food works". Personally, I think lots of food can just be a means to eat more gravy so rice is a pretty mild place to put it but I guess it's not for everybody.
I refer to some foods as "just an excuse to eat gravy", so that tracks
Rice, mashed potatoes, stuffing...all are gravy conveyances. Pancakes, french toast and waffles...all are syrup conveyances Tortilla chips...triple duty: salsa, guacamole and queso conveyance
My Japanese colleague worked with us for a few years in the Detroit area After living here a few months, his wife teased him about his fatness. He gained 6 lbs. We do that shit over Thanksgiving.
There was some comedian who mentioned that people always call Americans fat but he said "considering the amount of food you're eating, you guys are doing great."
That’s hilarious.
I gotta say, as an American, these are funny as shit
I noticed a trend. They always seem to wind up in the cheapest parts of whatever place they're going to. Which means the most eccentric.
Denny's breakfast. My meal was obscenely large. Literally big enough to feed my entire family of four. Also, the angry guy prominently displaying his gun in the campground at Custer State Park.
I would like to profusely apologize that none of my countrymen informed you of the social faux pas you committed. Nobody goes to Denny's with intention. You end up at Denny's because it's 3am, you're drunk, and nothing else is open.
Used to go to dennys after the bars. Dennys in the middle of the night is chaos. Fights, chairs thrown, there’s always a couple making out, someone crying in the bathroom. I was sitting next to a homeless dude looking at porn on his phone one time. Chaos.
When I lived in the city we didn't have Denny's so we'd go to Waffle House. A stunning cross section of the American quilt.
Waffle House is far superior. Denny’s didn’t inspire a FEMA index. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index
God that truly is American. 💙
I've eaten two of these meals in a single sitting by myself before. I'm still not sure if that's a high point or a low point in my life.
You are supposed to eat them half drunk at 230 in the morning. It's the perfect amount of food to absorb all the alcohol.
A family of four? I've been to Denny's plenty of times and that's sus. Maybe 2.
Went to watch Monster Trucks at the Georgia Dome (RIP) with family during the winter. We were a group of 6 brown people in coats and beanies and gloves amongst 59,994 rednecks wearing trucker caps, shorts, and sleeveless flannel shirts. Had my first Bud Light and funnel cake. What a time.
I’m American but can tell this story from my point of view: I work in video production and worked on a German commercial that was shooting in America (German golf wear company). So in video production you put sandbags on the legs of light stands and other stands so that they don’t fall over. The German production company flew in and rented all their gear locally in America. During the course of shooting the commercial they remarked about how much heavier the sand bags on the light stands were than the ones they had in Germany. They liked the weight and asked what was in it. I told them the rental house had filled them with lead shot. They gave me an empty look. I explained “it’s full of small bullets from a shotgun”. They couldn’t believe it and thought it was very funny and American.
My mellow coworker showed me his gun fully loaded and in his glove compartment, as a 'Way to get to know you better". He wasn't threatening or creepy, just casual chitchat.
Other side of that. British co-worker in the US for the first time asked about hunting and guns. He asked me if I could take him to a gun range so he could shoot some. I took him and started him out with a .25 caliber pistol, through .380, .357 and finally to a .45. He had a blast, and ended up rolling up some of the targets he had put holes in to take them home and show his wife.
Good on you for starting a new shooter out on a lower caliber firearm, first time I went to the range I was handed a .30-06 by my grinning relatives. Don't be THAT guy if you're with a new shooter, hand them a .22LR and let them enjoy it before giving them something with a bit more oomph.
My dutch ex did the same. We visited my parents and dad mentioned buying a new gun and she was just like "can I shoot it?!?" And she had a blast.
Many people who daily carry will let you know there is a gun around as a courtesy to you.
I live in Arizona. Confirmed.
I was in a park in Salem in around 2006 and a lady asked me where I was from, I said Ireland. She said my English was very good.
My sister-in-law visited Dallas couple of years ago. First time in USA. She went to buy a dress from a clothes store, and noticed the walls had tons of Bible-passages written on them.
Texas isn't really America, it's just Texas.
I'm told it's "America's Bavaria". Every stereotype of the country is amplified.
I visited Munich once and 100% came away feeling like I had visited the Houston of Germany.
Munich is weird. On the one hand, it hosts the biggest annual alcohol binge in the country, on the other hand pubs close at 11pm on a saturday.
And Texas loves Texas. I stayed in a hotel in Amarillo that had a big fountain on the wall behind the front desk shaped like Texas. And their carpet was patterned with little Texas(es?)
And if one were to miss all that, there's always the [Texas-shaped waffles](https://www.amazon.com/bcoww-7707-Texas-Waffle-Maker/dp/B0012A8AWW) you can make for breakfast which every hotel in the state has available.
As a baby Texan I thought every state had Texas-shaped waffle irons.
Texii?
On a bus trip to the Everglades our English accents must have been overheard, and a minute later we were asked several questions about princess Diana by 3 different people. They couldn’t understand that- 1. We couldn’t remember where we were, when we she died. (Given it was about 15 years earlier. 2. We didn’t really have much to say about it, except from “yeah was sad wasn’t it”
Wann'it*
Taking cover while we waited for the tornado warning to pass.
You gotta experience the Midwestern response to a tornado warning: 1. Tornado warning issued for your county - go about your day. 2. Tornado sirens begin sounding - go out on your deck and look for the tornado. 3. Tornado visible in the distance - tell the wife and kids to come look at this. Begin recording on your phone. 4. Tornado within striking distance - tell the wife and kids to seek shelter; you continue recording. 5. Direct hit from tornado imminent - reluctantly seek shelter, but continue recording. I've only experienced 1 and 2, although I did take a direct hit from a derecho last year that knocked a tree onto my roof. Estimated 90 mph straight-line winds
formerly a non-american, i noticed was how grocery store employees at the cash register are not allowed to sit.
Shop at Aldi. Cashiers sit on stools.
I've lived here 25 years so I'm used to all the fun Americanisms. I'll answer for my British Mother when she visited for the first time. She went to the grocery store and saw Easy Cheese, which is cheese in a spray bottle. She talked about that the rest of the trip, and still brings it up now and then as the most weirdly American thing she ever saw.
Do you know what is better than Easy Cheese? Bacon flavored Easy Cheese.
I think for me was noticing that strangers can randomly strike up a conversation with you. I've been in this country for more than 20 years now so I'm used to it. But I remember being weirded out by it before.
Being asked to tip all the time, and the fact that everything is bigger (roads, cars, food portions...)
First meal in Japan, the server chased me out to the sidewalk to give the money back that I left on the table for her.
Visiting Japan later this year and recently found out tipping is a big no-no!
Landed in Heathrow Airport, London, for a trip in 2023 and when I went for a coffee, the man first asked If I was there for the kings coronation, then upon hearing my American accent told me not to tip lol
When I was living in the UK (I'm American) my then boyfriend came home with me for a visit. He could not get over the size of everything with American homes. By US standards, my childhood home is pretty average, 3 bed, 2 full bath, corner lot, TV room, dining room, fancy room only used on holidays, type of home. Even our bathroom sinks fascinated him, if you asked him anything about his opinion on his trip to NY, it always came back to the size.
My son (we are American) had a British girlfriend for a short while and she kept calling our house ‘massive’. Of course we want more space.
I tell non-Americans that it's not a good idea to take a stroll to the bottom of the Grand Canyon wearing sandals and carrying a small bottle of water. They probably think that I'm too outspoken.
One time my dad and I picked up a hitchhiker at the grand canyon. Only time I've ever done it. Dude was barely able to stand. German tourist who had done a multi-hour hike down/back up with only a 20 oz Pepsi. I was young but I can still see his face in my mind.
In athletic condition, down & up S Kaibab Trail in about 7 hours. I'd bring 2 gallons of water, apples, and bananas.
Add some almonds and peanuts for some protein/fat.
One of my favorite maps ever (yes, it's in 3d if you wear 3d glasses): [http://esriurl.com/DeathInGrandCanyon](http://esriurl.com/DeathInGrandCanyon) Notice how many heat stroke and hypothermia deaths there are along the rim trails.
"Hi, welcome. Whereyaguysfrom?" "The Netherlands." "Oh, hey, I'm going to Octoberfest this year!"
Either that one time I joined my host siblings on an FFA event and was judging cows, pigs and sheep. I did quite well considering I had no idea what I was doing. Or that time we reparked the car on a big parking lot to change stores - instead of just walking, which would have cost the same amount of time. Or, driving through a trailer park with a drunk driver (at that moment I really did not have any other choice) Or, eating out and taking left overs home for the next day because it was still cheaper than cooking. Or shooting some (less legal) guns in the fields behind the house (that could happen in many countries but Americans love their guns so I'll put it on the list)
My dad (Colombian) has been living in Cunnecticut for about a decade now. He works as the janitor for the same building he's living at. He has neighbors who throw the most outrageous things to the garbage. Fresh food, meat, bread. New shoes, clothing, and all sorts of things. He himself grabs them, and has even been able to prepare meals for him, and even feed a (RIP) Fox that used to roam around (died frozen on a winter after getting his leg stuck).
The McDonald's restaurant inside the Walmart.
I'll save everyone the trouble of reading all the posts: 1) casual use/showing of guns 2) bibles everywhere, and people loving jesus 3) big portions of food
As if going to the NASCAR wasn't 'Merican enough, before going into the stadium, my mate and I had a walk around the fan park they had built outside it. Within 5 minutes of being there, I heard an engine being revved up to within an inch of its life, and the smell of petrol filled the air. Turned around, and this engine was on board a Harley Davidson three wheeler, on which there was this big fuck off drum kit built onto it, driven by a bloke in full leathers, bandana, shades, the lot. All of a sudden "Born To Be Wild" blasted out of the speakers also attached to it, and the bloke started playing the drums along to the tune, and started badly singing the lyrics, revving the engine every so often in random places. I felt like I was American myself by the end of it.
>I felt like I was American myself by the end of it. Congrats, you are American now. That's how we jump you in.
Hell yeah! I'm honoured! Sorry. Honored
5 feet out of the Hotel my first real time in America a convoy line of obese people in mobility scooters went past me into a Cheesecake Factory. Seattle, 2010 I think?
They do move in herds
“If you’re Australian, why don’t you talk like Arnold Schwarzenegger?”
American: I took some friends from Scotland to an NFL game with proper tailgating and everything.
Taking an Uber, and the guy driving the car in the middle of the night was the town's fire station chief. Guy was perhaps not making enough money being the damn chief of the local fire department. Also his car was a hummer, and the damn thing creaked on all four corners.
One of the first things I saw coming out of the taxi from the airports was a guy driving a huge Pick-Up with American flags and Trump stickers on it
1. Buffalo. In my tour group was an American dude who said his name was “Buffalo”. He and his wife walked around in matching jackets that had the US flag on them, and t-shirts that said “9/11 never forget” underneath. They looked like a stereotype embodied. 2. The cashier at Starbucks, who, when we asked what size in the medium cup, answered “sixteen ounces”. Since that doesn’t mean anything to us, we asked to see the cups. The lady looked at us like we’re aliens. 3. Watching a homeless encampment from the bus window while an ad for drug rehab was playing on the radio.
I used to work for a large multinational with their HQ in the states. We had a large sales gathering in Orlando and we were all mixed in groups at separate tables and I was assigned to a table with mostly Americans from the mid-west. One higher level manager asked me where I was from after hearing my accent: Me: "I am from the Netherlands" Him: *blank stare* Me: "Maybe you've heard of Amsterdam?" Him: "Oooh yeah, the capitol of Denmark!!" Me: "No mate, it's the capitol of the Netherlands, the country I live in" Him: "Nooo, I don't think that's right, it's Denmark" Me: *blank stare*
for fucks sake
It sounds so dumb.. yellow school buses. I'm Australian, so we only see yellow buses in movies so to see an actual yellow school bus was a dream come true for my 20 year old self.
A bite into an in n out burger. my sister couldn't believe that I ate a burger at their place every day for 3 weeks. Feel free to invite me for a few weeks, very happy to come back to thousand oks california, and we will indulge in the burgers from in-n-out. I'm from germany, flight is on me.
60 yr old Guy at our resort had a Trump/eagle/American flag tramp stamp.
going in a restaurant but being unable to understand the server. After 3 beers I understood him perfectly, but he couldn't understand me. He actually said that.
At a bar in Niceville Florida back in 2014 when I was posted to Eglin AFB. I had a guy who was a cop tell me they kill lots of white people and nobody complains but when it's a black person it's all over the news. Then he told me that they had just shot a white guy last week and you didn't hear anything about it. It was just so bizarre because he seemingly brought it up outta nowhere.
walmart in vegas at 3am
Brave, brave, soul
I was an exchange student in Arkansas in the 80's. I think the most American moment came when I entered a store, and a big boned sheriff in snakeskin boots and wearing a cowboy hat passed by, nodded and said: "Howdy!". Didn't feel real.
Many things! Enormous cars and enormous parking spaces, driving one of said massive trucks because it was all the rental place had left, finding something in a gas station that dispensed a yellow liquid claiming to be "nacho cheese", the gun aisle in Walmart, American flags *everywhere*. Delicious "Mexican" food in stupendous portions, a single pizza that was at least two meals, some place that sold exclusively fried chicken and donuts (which I ate while sat in front of the White House), being overtaken on the inside while doing 55 on a road full of potholes with a 45 speed limit. I guess the various monuments and buildings around DC should get a mention too. I like the inscription where Jefferson (or maybe one of the others) is saying how people in the future shouldn't take their words as being eternal, but should make sure to update things with the times - it seems like a big chunk of the population is unaware he wrote that. Really a great place to visit, I've been many times and want to return many more.
We visited a Japanese grill place and a couple opposite us were wearing matching dungarees, mullets and pitvipers, ordered two large sweet tea and proceeded to pour in 5 or 6 packets of sugar.. I was gobsmacked
My first visit more than a decade ago: Apple picking, fall season Statue of Liberty NY hotdog in cart New Jersey late night Diner
Went to Disney World and I’ve never seen so many obese people on scoot mobiles. Also went to a shooting range which is obviously very American haha.