REVERSE Culture Shock - Europe to USA (Amsterdam, Netherlands to Virginia)

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💬 We're Sean and Jessica from the USA and are now expats living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands since 2014. We travel all around Europe to discover new places, good food, and memorable experiences. You'll also find a bunch of Amsterdam content because we love our new home city! Follow our European travel adventures for food and fun 😄

[Saarloos]

When in Europe something is americanised that is considered a negative development in our society.

[Bramfly]

It’s insane that I as a customer have to pay the workers in a restaurant. Why doesn’t the owner pay a livable wage as it is his business not mine

[Tabletop_Nonsenseverse]

I have lived in the US for 10 years and I always find the service to be extremely RUSHED, overbearing and annoying. The waitstaff come over to take drinks orders before you have settled down and had a chance to look at the menu. Then you have to rush to figure out what you want to order before they come back with your drinks. And then they keep coming back asking "how the food is" or "if we need anything" and I feel like I can't relax. And then the check shows up the moment you are done. There's no time to relax and enjoy the food.

Why can't they just come once 5 minutes after we have sat down, take our order, and then leave us alone until asked for?

[PetervanderKruys]

I love that you mention Not Just Bikes, I love that channel and I’m Dutch.

[ACwebseries]

Going back to LA during Xmas time and going to Costco was insane. Americans are just obsessed with buying stuff they don’t need.

[KESipples]

Cars have definitely gotten bigger. Just today, I had my 6-yr-old stand in front of a parked GMC to show her why she can’t cross the street alone — she’s barely visible above the hood. And thank you for mentioning how anxiety-producing it is to walk through big parking lots!

[jackvandersluis]

Wow, Jessica, such a good video! Great update in comparising USA to Europe! Always love those video's! 👍👍

[KeesBoons]

No matter how much I love nature, I'm kind of happy that we don't have bears in the Netherlands. I prefer our red squirrels.

[dudoklasovity]

In Europe they don’t have big fridges/freezers, because they can conveniently buy fresh food made that day. Here in USA we have to drive to the store so we buy week supply and stuff our fridge. We don’t eat fresh food much. Lots of preservatives and bad chemistry (some illegal to put in food in EU)

[vinniekay]

When you're age 21 and up, in The Netherlands
minimum wage per hour is close to around 13, 40 Usd

[AvanToor]

If you can just walk to a supermarket and pick up something fresh, you don't need big fridges or freezers. If you're in an oil-addict country where you have to drive to even get some food, you're gonna want to stock up.

[scottman]

These are some great insights! I hear you regarding the bad drivers. They are everywhere in Michigan where people will cut you off on a daily basis and will tailgate you even if you are going 10 MPH (16 km/h) over the speed limit. I don't really understand why that's a big thing here. While I do like the great service at restaurants here in the US, I always feel that servers come over too often to check in on you. They'll either ask how my food is either while I'm still waiting for it to cool down or when my mouth is full of food.

[jeffafa]

As far as I know, in The Netherlands, whenever you really need a glass of water, any restaurant or bar should provide you with one. So be specific in your order, and ask up front about tap water, just to be sure.

[autohmae]

3:01 wow, hadn't expected that one. Interesting how our brains train themselves in all kinds of strange ways.

[RichardRenes]

There are bad drivers in the Netherlands too. Main difference is that at least in the Netherlands, they have had sufficient driver training and a hard exam to pass before they forgot what they learned and figure that they own the road because they have a BMW/ Audi/ Mercedes/ Volkswagen Golf...

Our infrastructure however doesn't let them do as much damage as they can. They can't race on 6 lane stroads here as we do not have those. Within a city, we're transferring back to 2 lanes as much as we can so we can give public transport and bicycles the priority they need to become viable alternatives to cars.

[leec]

I'd struggle to hide my disdain if someone referred to me as 'sweetie' or 'darlin'.

[Arltratlo]

spend 6 months in the US, and i am really happy i never moved
not even as a tourist i would go now...
i prefer France or north Italy, Switzerland is the most pretty country in the world and i dont need a passport to enter...

can you believe, there are no border checks for me inside the EU and this place consisting of 27 countries,
with own laws, languages and different people, while being an awesome place to easy travel!

[marjakeizer]

There is a law now in the Netherlands that restaurants etc. have to serve free tapwater if the costumer asks for it.

[marciusmarciukas]

I'm from Lithuania a small country in Europe and freezers are a thing in small towns and villages where people keep pigs etc. My grandparents has 3 🤣 And for shopping centers well there are insane numbers of shopping centers that you can buy everything pretty much from a needle to a car and anything in between. I live 5 - 6 km from oldtown/city center and in my area which is about 3sq/miles there are more that 20 shopping centers plus small shops, open markets and more. Most of European countries are very different little of bigger. I'ts very hard to make an accurate example when there more that 40 countries with overall very large population continent wise. Still good video👌

[mavadelo]

In Europe, tipping is a reward for the staff, in America it is just another fee for the customer. You are not rewarding the staff member, you are paying him for the service. there is no tipping in America regardless how much y'all like to claim there is.