r/AskAnAmerican

In Europe formality is pretty much non-existent. In Sweden we call teacher by first name and some kids even joke about calling their female teachers "mom". Everyone is treated the same like boss is your buddy and even strangers seem cold, especially cashiers.

In the US you have students calling teachers Ms/Mr last name. While common in parts of Europe it's slowly fading out. The friendly and polite behavior in America is also what I love, strangers call you miss/sir and greet you. People are overall kind and show hospitality, while I had to wait in another room when my Swedish friend had dinner with her family😭

I’ve been reading about different lifestyles and habits in the U.S., and I’m curious about how people perceive things like drinking, smoking, or drug use nowadays.

Is it mostly socially accepted, frowned upon, or does it depend a lot on the state, age group, or environment?

Are there foods that are hard to find for immigrants in the USA? especially the ones living in medium cities

is it hard to find restaurants in the USA that sell cooked meat organs like livers, stomach necks?

I feel like in the UK and Europe, everyone can take the bus easily but I heard buses in USA are only for the poor?

I've heard of elementary school, middle school, junior high and high school. That's just within the 5-18 year old, or thereabouts, compulsory education stage, which is all that most Australasians would refer to as school.

Edit: thank you all!

I'm from Belgium and I've been in the USA. I notice American men (or Americans in general) would approach me romantically even though I never met them so they're strangers to.me. It wasn't creepy, just very straightforward.

I'm not used to it. In my country. We usually get to know each through friends, then test the surface and vibes for a while, then go on a date.

Our culture also makes it so dating multiple people, even if you haven't kissed or had sex with anyone, feels like a small betrayal and turn off ('how are you serious about me if you see other people?').

What are your views and experience of this? I my description of the difference in dating culture accurate or not?

Since I'm not american, the only knowledge of office daily life I have is... mostly from sitcoms. Now I'm fully aware that some of it is fake or surreal to accentuate the comedy. But very often, random people walk in the office's rooms (conference room, break room, etc) like they have every right to be here, and they barely presented themselves at the front desk. They're not necessarily a worker's relative, if they have something to deliver they just go straight to the person's office then hang around, which I find crazy lol

Is it only typical of sitcoms for easy writing purposes or common to do? If so, was it common years ago but not today for safety purposes, or still a thing today?

Also I’d like to know why you think that way

edit: lets say we measure cultural similarity in how the US is similar in macroculture to Latin America or Europe, otherwise it’d just depend on which kind of immigrant culture you have in an area.

A lot of people critique how Americans are patriotic, but they're looking at a lens of how they feel about the US government. I think that's unfair. I don't think Americans are patriotic about the government, rather they are about their country, history, values, etc. Is this fair? At least, that's my view from the outside. It seems more about the country and the flag and what it represents, not some politicians.

As you all know, our nation is in a pretty divided state to the point where people don't even want to talk to one another for thinking differently (especially liberals to my observation). How do you all feel about your fellow countrymen that think differently?

Personally, I love having conversations/discussions with people that think differently for it's always good to learn other perspectives and how people got there. it's easy for me because I was raised by conservatives and then I moved to SF at 18 and then became influenced by many liberal standpoints as well, so I see the good and bad on both sides.

Where I’m from, usually the only time you would give a tip to someone in the service industry is if you went to a nice restaurant and had a full sit down meal…

Is it common in America to tip the barman in a pub for every drink you order? Or give a tip to the person serving you coffee in a cafe?

I know from an American friend of mine who’s a server at a restaurant that he relies on tips for a lot of his wages…

And I’ve read that in some states where the employer doesn’t pay minimum wage upfront, that the server has to make this up in tips, and if they don’t make enough in tips, that the employer then has to subsidise the rest to make up to the minimum wage rate -

Is this all true?

Hi all — don’t want to sound condescending, but after watching social media and US comments, it feels like people exaggerate a lot. Doctors, lawyers, IT guys, quants all making $500k… or 18-year-olds applying to university with perfect scores, Olympic-level sports, and cancer research at the same time.

I get you need to be bold, and I know some people really are high achievers — social media is an echo chamber for that. But apart from that, when everything is so over the top, doesn’t it dilute reality?

Do people actually believe it, or just tune it out? Don’t people get lost in all that fakeness?

Hi all — don’t want to sound condescending, but after watching social media and US comments, it feels like people exaggerate a lot. Doctors, lawyers, IT guys, quants all making $500k… or 18-year-olds applying to university with perfect scores, Olympic-level sports, and cancer research at the same time.

I get you need to be bold, and I know some people really are high achievers — social media is an echo chamber for that. But apart from that, when everything is so over the top, doesn’t it dilute reality?

Do people actually believe it, or just tune it out? Don’t people get lost in all that fakeness?

Hi all — don’t want to sound condescending, but after watching social media and US comments, it feels like people exaggerate a lot. Doctors, lawyers, IT guys, quants all making $500k… or 18-year-olds applying to university with perfect scores, Olympic-level sports, and cancer research at the same time.

I get you need to be bold, and I know some people really are high achievers — social media is an echo chamber for that. But apart from that, when everything is so over the top, doesn’t it dilute reality?

Do people actually believe it, or just tune it out? Don’t people get lost in all that fakeness?

there is this target exclusive variant i'd do anything to have but i can't order it cause i'm in greece, if anyone can help hmu please