18 Things That Shocked Non-Americans When Visiting The US
Recently, u/reliablepayperhead asked r/AskReddit, "Non-Americans of Reddit, what's something that absolutely shocked you when you first visited the US?" And we thought we'd share some of the most popular responses.
"Advertisement. Shitty advertisement absolutely everywhere."
"As someone who grew up in the UK and moved to the US, the distance between places was the biggest thing to get my head around."
"That everybody is asking how I am doing, straight after the 'hi'."
"All the ingredients in medications on TV and actually advertising meds on TV."
"How nice people were. I got random people complimenting my hair, coming up to chat to me. When I went to Disney, a group took me under their wing and showed me around the park. It was a huge difference to being in the UK where you do your best to not make eye contact with strangers lol."
"So many cereal options."
"Portion size. You get a TON of food at a restaurant."
"Lots of things, but the gaps around the stall doors in public restrooms took some getting used to!"
"The accents. In Canada, there are a few regional accents, but not that many. In the US, there were SO MANY."
"That cars which looked normal on TV were twice as big as normal cars back home."
"The listed price in stores not being what you pay. Coupled with my unfamiliarity with US coinage, I bought everything with notes and ended up weighed down with pocketfuls of loose change at the end of each day."
"Tipping. As visitors or anyone really, you are paying the wait staff to do their job when in fact it should be the employers."
"How great the interstate highways are. My husband and I (Canadians) went to Las Vegas for a week last year and rented a car to travel to Death Valley."
"Wanted to say something nice... I was amazed at how kind everyone was. When people saw me and my wife struggling with strollers and two babies at Disney, people would always happily help us."
"Shoes on in the house… And not house shoes, but the same shoes you walk around outside, in public washrooms etc."
"The sheer number of American flags and Jesus billboards."
"The 'no gun' signs next to the 'no smoking' signs on restaurants, bars, convention centres, etc. It scared me to be honest."
"Creamer. Went to the US for a work training course at head office. No fresh milk for tea and coffee in the break room, just creamer."
H/T to u/reliablepayperhead and r/AskReddit for having the discussion!
Any more to add? Let us know in the comments below!
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