Americans vs Europeans: Biggest Differences

hello guys and welcome to another video today I wanted to talk about the major differences between Europe and America there are quite a few videos already done in the subject of the States versus Europe from the working culture to the Tipping culture but my focus today is going to be specifically about the difference in mentality as my channel is all about culture the way it shapes we are the way we see the world and connect to one another a disclaimer I'm not actually American I live in Canada which if you know anything about geography is on the same continent and is very similar in culture especially if you live in a city like Toronto which tries to be like a little clean and polite version of New York it's not though I've also spent a lot of time traveling around the US from Florida to California to Nevada to New Orleans to Washington so I will talk about the state differences as well so without further Ado let's get started the first major difference is that you can do it attitude so ever present in the states compared to the more realistic attitude of Europeans this is beautiful we got to put you in art school Mommy will put this on the fridge I really love the contrast shown in this video because it really says it all the American child that has given the gold star for effort versus the European in this case a French child that is told this is good but it can be better in us or Canada quit your job and start a business and people will build you up good for you you go for it you can do it you may argue that it's that superficial American attitude that drives you berserk but Americans truly believe in the sense of possibility you can achieve anything if you work hard enough just do it dreams and there is something truly beautiful about having the power to change your life at any given moment you know as someone who has quit her teaching job to pursue this full-time with no video experience or skills to speak off I truly believe that you you can do anything if you really commit yourself to it and I mean truly I have no life Europeans don't quite see the world through the same Rose Colored lens share the same piece of news to a British German polish or French friend and the reaction may differ of course the newer generation is much more influenced by social media and alternative Lifestyles just look at digital Nomads many of whom are Europeans so it may not be as prominent nowadays at least in that specific sphere but it still speaks a lot about the majority I was having dinner with a new group of friends and we all went around the circle introducing ourselves and what we do and everybody was quite confident and comfortable with talking about that but when it came to the Italian girl that was sitting next to me she turned to me and quietly said I don't know how you guys do this talk about yourselves with such confidence in Europe we don't really talk about what we do like that Americans are more optimistic that's due to the fact that Americans are told they can become the next president of the United States British people have told it won't happen to you and they carry that they carry that with them Brits are the perfect example for seeing the world through cnica glasses aim too high and a Brit will tear you down for thinking you're some hot thing Brits and Irish typically tend to downplay their own achievements and self-deprecating humor is used to diffuse the spotlight put on the self I'm constantly talking about the tall poppy syndrome that is ever present in countries like Sweden Norway the UK or the Netherlands tall poy syndrome essentially means that you will be cut down if you think that you're better than anyone else interestingly enough while I put Canada next to the US in terms of comparison to Europe Canada actually has a form of the tall puppy syndrome as well since it's closer to the British mentality than to the US and it's no surprise since Canada Australia and New Zealand are former dominions of the British Empire and in all three there is more of an emphasis put on modesty and understatement then in the Big Brother us thank you Britain for spreading your British jeans and when it comes to other countries we're well aware of the French and German love of criticism and Eastern Europeans saying exactly what they mean no beating around the bush a 2014 survey showed that 57% of Americans disagreed with a statement success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside our control a higher percentage than any other European nation's ped and it's interesting because within Europe the closest to follow us was the UK a kind of middleman between the Continental Europe and North America the perspective on that you can do it attitude of the Americans Isn't So surprising if you know a little bit of History we all know that us is the land of immigrants and who were the immigrants well they were essentially Rebels people who either wanted a change of life or were forced into one and you must be pretty brave to start your life away from your country these were people who didn't want to live by the old rules they wanted to create a land where anything was possible if only one worked hard enough the second difference is the small talk culture of Canada and the US versus the hesitation of talking to strangers in Europe oh and in case I don't see you good afternoon good evening and good night this is a common story a European comes to to America and they're instantly taken back by random people striking up conversations with them offering them compliments and being highly personable right off the bat the European is taken back why are strangers so interested in me maybe they genuinely want to get to know me so when after a pleasant conversation when the seeming new friend wishes you a great day or says you should hang out sometime nothing happens the European is confused was it all just an act okay well then Americans are fake superficial and they don't actually mean what they say in the us or Canada small talk and niceties are a standard way of acknowledging each other the other day I was in a store looking at chocolate I was having a sugar craving and this older man came up to me and he said don't do it get the dark chocolate way better for you with this he simply left he didn't want anything for me and he wasn't crazy he just felt like saying this to me in the moment I've also had many instances where people normally women would go up to me and say hey I really like your outfits and with that they would simply walk away so yes small talk happens often usually is just an exchange of pleasantries so if someone asks about your day and you start regaling them with a story of how you lost your job and your girlfriend broke up with your your dog ran away they're probably going to go away feeling confused they don't know what to do with all that information I've actually tried it in Canada not the girlfriend story but I tend to be very direct and when I do that it seems like people's apparatus gets turned off and it's like they shut down yeah I I like my small talk big and deep there's no way to say this without sounding like come on only fans but why are Americans and Canadians so open and have such an affinity for small talk well the first goes down to the peaches and coconut theory that I love talking about Americans and Canadians are like peaches with a soft surface and a hard pit there is more openness to engage with a stranger to divulge personal information and to connect but the pit of the peach is harder to get to countries like Poland Germany Switzerland or Denmark are coconuts you just don't disclose personal information to stranger that has to be earned it is only through real trust that you can get to the hard shell and become good solid friends it takes a much longer time but once built the Friendship typically lasts longer another reason that small talk is so common in America is that it is a land built on immigration and if you were to move here you generally have to be more mobile and open to meeting people from different backgrounds in this kind of environment it is helpful to be open and sociable to create new connections as immigrants had to start a new life from nothing but but it is also a good idea to keep your beliefs to yourself to avoid shocking or hurting people as it's harder to know what people think and feel in a multicultural environment than a homogeneous Community like Europe which might explain why Americans and especially Canadians value agreeableness while Europeans typically value outspokenness now while your average American is typically more friendly off the bat there are some European countries that actually tend to be quite friendly the Irish are a notoriously personable bunch in many places in UK you will be greeted in the store with how you doing love and if you go to the northeast of the country a place like Newcastle people are incredibly friendly I've once gone drinking with the jordis and I have to say they are some of the funniest and warmest people that I've ever met and they also drink like there's no tomorrow then we have places like Italy and Spain that are known for their warm and outgoing culture and let's not forget the Balkans where you will be invited to a family party of some guy named dragoslav that you met at the chapi stand all 5 minutes ago so as you can see how genuine and warm people are in Europe tends to differ country by country in Scandinavia while people may come off as quite friendly and smiley it may be incredibly hard to break into the inner shell and get to the deeper level and then you have countries like Ukraine Russia or Poland where you can get downright intimidated by people's Grim faces only to realize that it is often just a barrier Eastern Europeans smile for a reason which can be unnerving if you're not used to it I think part of it comes down to the fact that people had to often be on guard they couldn't trust and some still can't trust the situation in their country or even their neighbors whereas Americans had never really experienced such a grim past and I want to point out that not all of America is created equally cities like New York are a lot more abrupt and to the point and we have minnesotans which are closest to Canadians being just as polite and reserved and then there is South like Georgia or South Carolina which is where you have some real hospitality and the more superficially friendly places like California specifically la which is where a lot of the fakeness we talk about comes from something interesting to point out is that Europeans also do small talk but the nature of small talk is quite different in the US or Canada the point of small talk is to be positive and uplifting often filled with funny observations while in Europe a lot of it is limited to complaining people Bond over complaining about the weather their day and other things that annoy them in places like the Netherlands or Scandinavia it's common to talk about the weather or general stuff but you won't see people divulge any extra personal information that's reserved for people that you know well rather than people you met all of 5 minutes ago I'm sure you've heard of this comparison time and time again if you've been a long time subscriber honestly I find it hard to say if Americans are definitely not as comfortable around nudity as all of Europe but there are definitely big differences when it comes to countries like Spain Germany France and the Scandinavian region there's definitely more of a nonchalant it's the natural way to be when it comes D nudity in these countries not so when it comes to the Brits according to a recent study 59% of British people are uncomfortable naked that being said the UK recently caused a s with a release of the show The Naked attraction where people actually find a DAT through looking at a person naked yeah I don't really get the concept of the show but I guess the Brit really wanted to shock everyone is in hey guys look at us we're not proof we're naked or maybe things are actually taking a turn in the UK if you guys are British and you know something about about it let me know in the comments Below nordics on the other hand don't need to make shows to show that they're very very very comfortable around nudity in the nordics there are no sectioned off showers in the changing rooms like there would be in the UK or us people just shower together Finland is popular for new saas and other parts of the nordics like Norway now feature nudes saunas also and we all know about the nude beaches that are popular in France Germany and Spain unlike Americans Europeans don't equate nudity with sex it's absolutely natural and nothing nothing to bite your eyes at however keep in mind that countries like Serbia Albania Portugal Italy Russia Ukraine Poland are on the more conservative side so Europe is not some nudest Paradise as it is often portrayed in the media when it comes to children in a place like Austria Germany or Scandinavia it's very common to see kids 5 to 10 years old running around in the nude without a care in the world when I was in Austria I saw a dad and two girls maybe from 7 to 10 years years old swimming in the nude and when I was in Sweden I saw little boys and girls running around naked as well which made me a little bit nostalgic because this is the way I was raised in Russia we didn't have the tiny bikinis that you so often see in us or Canada American laws regarding nudity differ state by state most places in Oregon are pretty lenient when it comes to nudity Austin Texas is one of the most topless friendly cities in the US and it's actually completely legal to go out in the nude at many Beach in Florida though the numbers do confirm the American discomfort with nudity according to Expedia heat index only 5% of Americans have gone topless on the beach while on vacation and only 3% have sunbathed fully nude and of doing so only 11% felt somewhat or very comfortable about it there are many theories about why Americans feel so uncomfortable around nudity but a lot of it comes down to the puritanical past of the country oh and if anyone's interested in Canada they take their nudity pretty seriously you can receive a six month prison sentence a $5,000 fine or both for being nuded sorry and the last major difference I wanted to talk about is the focus on the individual in the US and on cooperation and conformity in Europe again it is not surprising America is the land of immigrants people used to come here for the American dream there was a fascinating study done by Richard fbit where American children and Asian children were asked to look at the fish tank and to know what they saw American Kids focused on the biggest fish Japanese and Chinese kids would explain the ecosystem as in how did the fish interact with each other and even things like seaweed and rocks so funny enough the American Kids focused on the uniqueness on the fish that stood out whereas the Asian kids focused more on how it all worked together now Europeans are not as starkly different to Americans as Asians but there were still big differences that I found found between the two one very interesting example America rates very high for individualism but Sweden rates even higher for individualism so is Sweden more individualistic than America well it gets interesting in Sweden individualism signifies a self-sufficient and responsible adult you take care of yourself and don't be an infant type of deal yet and this is a big yet sweds also see themselves as a kind of seaweed fish Rock ecosystem consensus is highly valued in the culture kids in kindergarten are encouraged to work together if one kid is doing better he won't be rewarded but asked to help another kid who's falling behind and in business this means that everyone needs to sign off on a decision from the CEO to the janitor do you want to attack you want to attack I think we should have a group discussion about this if I could sum up American individualism it would be go big or go home this means speaking your mind not being afraid to be different take the the stage stand up and be proud in the most conformist countries in Europe like Switzerland the Netherlands or Scandinavia there's an unspoken rule about dressing like everyone else and I remember walking around Miami Beach and seeing some of the most outrageous outfits with sparkly dresses big hair dos gigantic nails and huge stilettos in Switzerland or Sweden there's an unspoken rule about being quiet you don't get on the train and start shouting not because there's a sign telling you not to but because you adjust to the norm it's the appropriate thing to do in the US well we know that people are loud and there is no issue with expressing your opinion confidently confidence in yourself is taught from a young age it's great to be unique you are special so Stand Out America movies tend to promote that with stories of people who have achieved great things by not conforming to the norm and people applaud them for it Canada tends to find itself close to the US but not quite there Canadians are too Meek to cause the seed but what about southern Europe a lot of your saying there is no no issue with being loud or expressing your opinion and this is true but the collectivist mindset shows itself in a different manner in Italy communities are huge I remember I traveled to mikos and noticed how many Italians came with this gigantic group of friends people here as well as Greece and Spain typically tend to move in packs and let's not forget Ireland where people are also part of big communities and everything you do must be peer approved Ireland has a herd mentality and daring to stand out of the crowd will get the piss taken out of you mercilessly so yes it goes without saying that there are big differences within Europe as well and even differences within specific countries as a tenser between a bigger city smaller City and Village mentality and of course the newer Generations are typically a lot more comfortable standing out and being unique as they grow up in an era of social media but still Americans not only accept being unique they truly praise this quality in people all right kicking ass so that is all for now I genuinely hope you guys enjoyed this video if you found it valuable and learn something new today then please let me know what you thought about it below I would absolutely love to hear or rather read your opinions so if you feel like it's giving you value and you're not yet subscribed I would very much appreciate that and as usual stay tuned for next week's video which will be part two of the European video that I did two weeks ago if you haven't watched part one do so now stay curious and keep breaking down your barriers

Channel: Dating Beyond Borders

Views: 23,900

Keywords: living in america vs europe, america vs europe, europe vs america, cultural differences, cultural awareness, moving to europe, americans moving to europe, americans moving abroad, living abroad culture, american-european mentality differences, culture comparison, mindset contrasts, european realism vs american optimism, small talk culture, nudity and individualism, working culture comparison, europe vs usa, canadian perspective, cultural shaping, dating beyond borders

Id: xmxgLSjmom8

Length: 17min 32sec (1052 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 14 2023