Stuff Europeans Like

Unexpected light switches.
Americans are pretty predictable when it comes to light switches.  They're usually just inside the doorframe on whichever side of the door has the knob. We almost invariably like the kind that look like this:

This is not my picture.  I did not have a picture of an American light switch, and I find myself lacking access to them at the moment.  This is m.martinphotography's picture. Isn't the lighting pretty cool?

Europeans like to hunt for them, like a big Where's Waldo game anytime someone wants to turn on the lights.  Is it inside the door or outside? Or across the room? Or down the hall? Nobody knows!  They also almost always prefer the ones that look like this:

Splashing water on their privates

Oh, the bidet. 

Tuna

Tuna is the chicken of Europe. Everywhere that Americans randomly put chicken, Europeans put tuna. Examples: pizza, plunked on top of salads, in empanadas and on top of baked potatoes. I could say more but, as a lifelong tuna hater, I'm starting to gag.

Wine

The rumors are true.  The wine really is better here (nobody tell the Californians!), they really do drink it a lot, and it really is cheap.

Nudity

Okay, it's not that they love it, but it just isn't offensive like it is in America. In Europe, a 3-year-old does not need a bathing suit. 

Black

Oh, did no one tell you? (They didn't tell me either.) Black is chic.  So are brown, grey and beige. Only Americans wear clothes in rainbow colors. Dead giveaway.

Eating the Whole Animal

Blood soup, tongues, livers, fried pig ears, sauteed cow stomach, fish eyeballs, whole rabbits...I could go on.  And on. And, I assure you, I don't even know the half of it.  Americans get a bad international rap for being pretty picky eaters, a stereotype which I would have strenuously objected to before witnessing European kids chow down on cow brains and stuff like that. They win.

Labor Strikes

Any given day in Europe, some country is experiencing a strike. The only place that this varies is in France, where you can expect a strike approximately every hour.  You just learn to plan around it.

Automatic Cars
Americans overwhelmingly buy automatics.  Europeans overwhelmingly buy manuals. Why? Nobody knows.



And don't think we Americans get off easy - there's nothing that sheds new light on your own culture quite like being outside of it!  Stuff Americans Like is coming tomorrow. Stay tuned!