I’ve been in Europe on a study abroad program for almost a week now, and there are some things about the United States that I didn’t realize I would miss. Obviously not hearing English all over the place and having to rely on Wifi to communicate with people were expected adjustments, but I didn’t realize all the random things I would immediately miss.
- 1.The freedom to over-use – I didn’t realize until now how wasteful Americans are. We take thirty minute showers, we buy everything bigger than we need it to be, we crank the air conditioning and heat when it’s not really necessary, etc. This doesn’t happen in Europe. Everything is smaller.
- 2.Refrigeration – Milk and butter are not refrigerated. Milk is warm. My host family directed us to the pantry to get milk. That was very odd.
- 3.Refills – First of all, you have to pay for water in restaurants. You don't just get served water immediately when you sit down at a table like you do in the US. And you also have to pay for refills. I already feel significantly more dehydrated than I am at home because water is just not as freely given as it is in the US.
- 4.Stress – Everybody is so easygoing about everything. People go out to clubs until 6am and sleep all day. Getting a ‘C’ in classes is considered totally normal and nothing to worry about. I didn’t realize until coming here, but in the US (and especially in college) we have this constant pressure to be productive and when I sleep too late at home I feel guilty for not getting up early and getting things done. Here, the culture doesn’t seem to put a pressure on people to work super hard. They take a 2-3 hour lunch everyday, and working during lunch is not common at all. I'm not saying that I miss the stress and pressure of the US, but it is something to adjust to.
- 5.Credit cards – Cash is expected way more here than it is in the US. At home, I hardly ever have cash on me and just use my credit card, but here I have to remember to keep cash (and euro coins, which is weird to get used to) on me all the time. And when they do use credit cards, they have a chip on their credit cards that they insert and have to put in a pin number rather than signing. This has been a problem for me so far since I don't have a pin number (that I know of).
- 6. Salad - I know, this is a ridiculous one, but there is so much bread and meat and cheese on all the food here (and I'm not complaining about it at all) that I really would like to just order a Caesar salad, but that doesn't seem to be an option at most restaurants.
- 7. Big beds - Beds are smaller here. In hotels they usually have twin beds instead of doubles, and I might just be tall but I feel like my feet kind of hang off the bed here. I miss lying diagonally in my queen bed at home.
