american

Culture shock is real, and sometimes a very small detail is enough to make you realize that the things you take for granted are definitely not standard. It could be as small as finding out milk is sold in bags, or as big as realizing that traffic laws are more of a suggestion than anything else. That said, non-Americans get some serious culture shocks when they get to the States, and some would be shocked to realized that there are some Western foods that are weird to visitors.

If you spend your whole life living in one place, it's easy to think that the way you live is the only way it's done. For someone visiting, there are some easy-to-notice differences like how Americans are basically comfortable talking to strangers, and some other subtle things, like when cultures collide over what lemonade is. Here are some rumors about Americans that ended up being true and some very American habits.

Let's take it back to the entertaining AskReddit thread that centered on how Americans feel about switching to the metric system. The opinions vary. Some folks are quite resistant to the idea of change, while others are all for it. Gotta love the silly wordplay that transpired as well. 

Many Americans still feel like they're trapped in a system that they have no control over, even though they're told they live in the greatest, most free nation in the history of ever. It may come as a surprise to some that the United States isn't the only country where its citizens are told that they live in the greatest country on the planet. For some outside perspective, here are some American problems people are too European to understand.

Americans hear all about how they can be obnoxious overseas, like being loud and embarrassing, thinking local cuisine is gross and calling someone a "foreigner" in the country they live in. Luckily, there are other less rude things American travelers do that identify them as Americans. For some more outside perspective, here are weird things people noticed about America.

Yasmin Summan asked Twitter if her local American Food Aisle was accurate and Americans had questions of their own. Most notably, has anyone in the U.S. every seen a hot dog in a jar? It just seems...wrong. No wonder the world seems to have a low opinion of the American diet. For some more culture clash, here are some cultural habits of the UK that are just fascinating.

People in the UK just do it different. That insult humor is a real kicker. Or maybe you fancied a nice snooze in the alleyway while wearing your nicest suit? I mean, that's quite the ridiculous and entertaining image. A bunch of Brits slamming pints at the local pub in their nicest three piece suits, before they roll into Blackout Station. That's obviously the wilder side of things out there, but still. Got a laugh out of us! 

Sometimes you take a journey out into the big mad world, far away from where you call home, and it humbles you. You immerse yourself in the culture of a land that might even look similar on the surface, only to realize that rooting for a team in a place like Australia, is NOT what you intend it to mean. These are their own kind of special fails. 

Scottish Twitter user, @innesck, went OFF in this rant about the madness of America's measurement system. And the Twitter thread that ensues is nothing short of highly entertaining! Never knew how badly I needed the answer to this question, he asks at one point: 'how many Fahrenheit are in a cup?'

This dude just wanted to ride the bus, but went out on a limb and lied about his identity. It's literally like a sitcom episode where one lie snowballs into a web of bigger and bigger lies. Sounds stressful. While lying is usually the wrong thing to do, people do it all day every day. Sometimes the results work out way too well.