Stuff Americans Like

It's been said many times before: there's nothing to get you to notice your own culture like being outside of it for a bit.  Yesterday the Europeans had the hot seat - today I'm throwing my own people on there. Hold on tight, we're in for a roasting. 

Stuff Americans Like:

Eating in cars
Don't turn up your nose like that.  If you hail from North America in any form, you've done it.  We all have.  Europeans, for the most part, wouldn't dream of it.

Free toilets
The notion that taking a whiz ought to be free is so deeply ingrained in the American consciousness that most of us don't even know until we venture out into the big great beyond that this isn't a world standard.  It's not uncommon in the least to pay a small fee to use the toilet in public.  Also, toilet paper is a privilege in Europe, not a right.  Beware.

Chicken
I never knew how much Americans love their chicken, because I just thought that everyone ate that much chicken.  They do not.  Chicken is widely available, of course, but it isn't anywhere near the most popular meat here in Spain (I'd say the hierarchy goes something like this: ham, then pork, then every other part of the pig, then fish, then rabbit, then beef, then maybe chicken).  In Africa, in the Middle East, in Europe, and in every other part of the world I've been in, people eat chicken but they do not adore it like Americans do.  Not by a long shot. (You know you're American if at least once a week you have the thought: Hey! We should throw some chicken in this!)

Fancy schmancy coffee
French vanilla hazelnut butterscotch creamer, soy double shot americano with a twist, on the rocks (can you tell I'm not really a coffee drinker? Which part gave it away?). Coffee is big here, but the plain black stuff usually does just fine.  Maybe sprinkle in a little sugar.  From what I hear, it helps the medicine go down.

Enormous things
Buildings. Cars. Plates of Nachos. People. Did you know that the United States is over twice the size of all of Europe combined? Or something like that.  The scale of our country is so expansive that it can't help but seep into our mindset in nearly every possible way.  Americans just like things grand and showy, and when we set out to do something, we usually don't do it halfway.

Fresh milk
It's called UHT milk, people, and most of my compatriots, including myself, wouldn't touch it with a two-by-four.  Americans simply do not like to put their milk in the pantry.  But lots of Europeans do it everyday.

Wearing seatbelts
It's a national habit.  Turns out in this one area at least, we are a nation of conscientious rule followers.  In a lot of the world, seatbelts gather dust and wearing one is seen as a bit childish.

Wearing workout gear in public as if they were actual clothes
In America, wearing workout gear does not have to mean that you are working out currently, or that you just worked out, or that you are planning on doing so anytime in the near future, or, for that matter, ever. The ability to wear your sweats to Wal-Mart is a fundamental American right, right? Acceptable features of such an outfit include: workout hair, tennis shoes, yoga pants, sweatshirts of any kind, baggy t-shirts or basketball shorts. Number of these acceptable in Europe: approximately zero.

Salad dressing

Europeans seem to prefer the oil-and-vinegar route.  Boy are they missing out! Cranberry Walnut Vinaigrette.  Avocado Ranch. Chipotle and Red Pepper Fiesta Dressing. Bleu Cheese. The options are endless, and take up half of an (enormous, see above) supermarket aisle. The result: delicious.

Efficiency

We love this one.  We are famous for it (believe it or not).  If you are American, you may be shaking your head right now, thinking "they just haven't seem me yet!". But come to Europe (or much of the rest of the world for that matter, Japan and Germany being two notable exceptions) and try to observe anyone actually trying to get something done.  You will have at least three ideas that randomly pop into your head that would streamline the process and make it easier and more reliable.  You will be surprised at yourself for having these thoughts. Then you will understand.

Choices

We can choose between hundreds of varieties of carpet cleaners, spaghetti sauces, car models, universities, sports teams.  This effect is by no means gone here in Europe, but it's certainly muted a lot.  In America, you can eat Thai food one night, Italian food the next, then Ethiopian and Mexican and Japanese.  Variety! Choices! Possibility!  Ah, America. She still has glitter, doesn't she?