The Western world (i.e. Europe, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand) could be considered as a single "Western civilisation". 'Westernness' could be defined by people who are ethnically or culturally European, in other words people of European descent or speaking a European language as their mother-tongue.
Europe itself has the greatest linguistic and cultural diversity of the Western world. However, the common history, geography and socio-political evolution of the European continent, as well as the cultural divergences that have occured in former colonies, have resulted in the creation of a common basis for European culture that contrast (sometimes sharply) with the USA or the rest of the Western world.
Here is a summary of my observations on the differences between Europeans and Americans (USA). These are of course the major trends, and exception exit everywhere. Irish and Polish people, for instance, tend to be closer to the American mainstream than to some of their fellow Europeans. Canadians are somewhere in between, sometimes more European, but often closer to their southern neighbours.
Feeling of time & distances
Perception is shaped by our environment. A 100-year old house or church is considered new by Europeans, but old by Americans. I have even heard Americans think that 200 years was "ancient". For a European "ancient" refers to something that is typically 2,000 to 5,000 years old (related to the Antiquity, not antiques !). Things are reversed when it comes to distances. Europeans would tend to think that driving 100 km is quite a long way, while for Americans that would be rather near. This is due to the much higher density of population in Europe, and the smaller size of Europe (believe it or not the EU is over twice smaller than the USA). Yet, Europeans travel much more than Americans, inside or outside their own continent. This might be because Europeans are used to go "abroad" since their childhood, European countries being so small, and do not feel the whole experience to be so exceptional. Supposedly Seatlle residents feel the same about going to Canada, a stone's throw away.
Cars
Almost all Europeans have cars with manual gears, while Americans have a marked preference for automatic ones. European cars are also very different in style than their American counterparts. American cars tend to be more massive and squarer, because size matters in the States. Americans have a fondness for (very) long limousines as well as pick-up trucks (in the country). Both are virtually unseen in Europe. Europeans like rounder designs of cars. Smaller cars are much more common in Europe, probably because Europe has a more urbanised population and small cars are easier to park in cities (especially on pavements of historical cities where big parking lots are rarer than in the USA).
Washing machines
European washing machines normally have only a cold water inlet (the water brought to adequate temperature inside the machine) as opposed to a hot and cold water inlet in the USA. European washing machines are almost always loaded from the front, as opposed to the top in the USA. Interestingly, Japan decided to follow the American system.
Measure System
All Europeans use the metric system (metres, grammes, litres, Celsius, etc.). Although Americans do learn it at school, the vast majority of them still use the old English Imperial system (yards, miles, pounds, Fahrenheit, etc.) for everyday life.
Date and time system
Europeans write the date in the format "Day Month Year", whereas Americans use "Month Day, Year". Americans usually consider that the week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday, while in Europe it always starts on Monday and finishes on Sunday. Most non-English-speaking Europeans use the 24h system, as opposed to the 12h system used in English-speaking countries.
Public holidays
Labour Day (1st May) is a national holiday in (most) European countries, but not in the USA. EU countries also celebrate Europe Day (5th or 9th May), although it is not an official holiday (yet).
Social customs
Europeans think of "traditions" like baby showers and bachelor(ette)'s night with strip-teasers as typically American (which they are). This is something most Europeans only see in US series and movies. The same is true of Thanksgiving and, until the late 1990's, of Halloween (but this last one exported itself well to Europe and East Asia).
Schooling
Schools and universities are free in most European countries. Europeans see university as granted, while American families often have to save for years for their children to attend one. What is more, universities in most countries around the world have entry exams, while only a few European countries do (like the UK). North Americans have prom night at the end of the last academic year of high school (and sometimes also middle school), while Europeans have no such tradition.
Languages
Foreign-language learning in Europe is now compulsory in every country since primary (elementary) school. Most Europeans learn 2 to 4 foreign languages, for obvious reasons. Americans usually only speak English (+ their mother tongue for immigrants) because they do not need more in their huge country.
Politics
Europeans tend to be more liberal regarding soft drugs, prostitution, alcohol, abortion, or cloning (but interestingly not so for GM food). Americans on the contrary grant greater freedoms when it comes to gun possession, as well as driving a car from a relatively young age (the norm is 18 years old in Europe).
Government system
Americans have a "Congress", while Europeans all have "Parliaments". American politcs is chiefly curtailed to two parties, which would be center-right and right, but lack influential left-wing or green parties. It is rare for a European country to have less than 3 main parties. It is often 4 or 5, which makes politics less bipolar (but often also more complicated to reach agreements).
The American police (FBI) is much more "aggressive" than the police in Europe (car chases, break into houses with guns shouting "police, don't move, hands on your head !" or such scenes almost non-existent in Europe). Suspects in the US are detained more easily and interrogated more harshly. Americans also go to court much more promptly than in Europe.
The legality of guns in the States also makes daily life and one's sense of safety completely different from Europe.
Patriotism
Americans put much more emphasis on patriotism than Europeans. Being a patriot is a way of life in the USA. The term is rarely used in Europe. Few Europeans would mind rational critics of their country's government, while a good deal of Americans find them offensive or disrespectful (especially from non-Americans). Some Americans go as far as regarding criticism of their government as a personal attack. Europeans are only too happy to hear other people criticising their own politicians or their country's problems.
Religion
Americans are much more religious than Europeans. Church going is very popular in the US, where it is seen as an indispensable way of socialising. In Europe the practise has almost entirely disappeared and is mostly limited to the elderly, or special events like weddings or Christmas. God is often mentioned by American politicians, but almost never in Europe. Mixing religion and politics is taboo in many European countries (notably France), due to the stricter separation of state and religion. There are exceptions, such as Poland or Spain, but even these countries do not appear very religious compared to the USA.
More extremely, a majority of Americans would find offensive for someone to openly claim not to believe in god, whereas the opposite is often true in Europe.
Circumcision
Circumcision is almost unheard of in Europe, as in most of the non-Muslim and non-Jewish world. The practise became very popular in the USA after WWII, and over 90% of baby boys born during the Cold War era (until the 1980's) were automatically circumcised, with or without their parents' consent. It is becoming less common nowadays. Nevertheless, a 2002 survey revealed that 79% of American men were circumcised. The prevalence was lower among Hispanic men, and lowest of all in men born outside the US.
Political correctness
Due to their great ethnic and religious diversity, Americans have developed a more acute sense of political correctness, in an attempt to attenuate frictions between the various groups. Europeans still associate very much with their place of birth with their ethnicity, language and culture. In fact, until recently, adjectives for language, ethnic group and nationality would often match (with notable exceptions, like Belgium and Switzerland). In the US (almost) everybody has the same nationality and language, and it is ethnicities and religions that differentiate people first, hence the greater importance for respect toward other ethnicities and religions in the USA. In Europe the emphasis of respect is put on cultures and languages. Making aggressive jokes about a particular linguistic or cultural group (e.g. calling the French "cheese-eating monkies) because of the importance of cheese in French culture), for instance, is the equivalent of attacking a particular ethnic or religious group in the US. It's a big no-no. However, making fun of religions is usually quite acceptable in Europe.
Food
Europeans all have a lot of traditional dishes from their region or city. Specialities tend to be very local, so that some pastries can be seen in one town, but not 100 km away. Europeans eat more varied and balanced meals (especially in southern cultures) and less fast food than Americans (except maybe the Brits). Europeans eat more cheese (not just the French !), more yoghurts, and on average drink more wine and stronger beers than Americans.
Americans consume sweeter food and much more soft drinks than Europeans. US alcohol laws are much tougher than anywhere in Europe (see map of legal age to drink alcohol in Europe).
Sports
It is interesting how the popularity of sports can be so different between Europe and North America. The most popular sports in ALL Europe is football (soccer), probably followed by tennis, cycling, and Formula 1 (as well as other motor races). In the US, soccer and F1 are far away in the popularity ranking. It is baseball, basketball, ice hockey and American football that attract the crowds and make money. And as much as European sports lack popularity in the US, the reverse is true (except for basketball).
Dating & Marriage
While marriage is increasingly seen as a completely optional "folkloric tradition" in Europe, it is still quite important in the USA (probably because religion is also more important there). Statistically Americans marry much more than Europeans, but also divorce more. Gay marriage, now legal in several EU countries and hardly an issue for debate in Europe (because of the little importance of marriage in Europe nowadays), is still vehemently opposed by a big part of the US population. Wedding ceremonies are also much more important and formal in the USA. In most of Europe it is limited to an informal family gathering (usually at the bride or groom's parental home). Marriage traditions do vary considerably between European countries, and even more between families. But in average it is certainly less important than in the States (or in Asian countries for that matter).
Furthermore, there are some strong nationwide American traditions regarding wedding ceremonies, like bringing "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue". There is obviously no equivalent thing at a European level, and most often not even at a national or regional level.
In fact, even the way of dating tends to follow so well-defined rules in the USA. For instance, there are widely followed conventions about sleeping on the 3rd date. Men know they shouldn't expect to see a woman again if she insists to split the bill ("check" in AmE) at the end of their first date. The way of proposing, or buying an expensive ring are more important for Americans too. In Europe, the way of doing things is more informal and spontaneous, and can varies a lot from one region to another, and even on a person to person basis. Sometimes, that makes Europeans envious of how easy and clear things look in the USA in comparison. The drawback is that it seems too stereotypical, especially if you don't like the conventions.
Nobility
Europe still has a class of noble people (restored in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism), and many countries will mention the title (e.g. Baron) in official documents. About 1% of family names still have a "noble particle" (uncapitalised "de", "di", "von", "van", etc.) and it does have a meaning for some people. Europe also has hundreds of thousands of castles reminding people on a nearly daily basis of the time where nobility once ruled over everything. Military politics It is prohibited in most of Europe for the military people, or anyone with a professional military history to become a politician. This means that they become politically ineligible. In the USA, the reverse is almost true. It is almost required to have a military history to become president, and quite a few Congress people have also served in the army. Maybe this is because the president's image is still strongly associated with that of the "commander in chief", and because defence (or offence) is so important in US politics. Let's also note the common use of gangsters and criminals in the US military for their "killing talents", and the way they can pass from notorious criminals to national heroes - something mostly unheard of in Europe. The US government has even used this tactics in post-war Japan to fight communism by forgiving and rehabilitating convicted war criminals and yakuza leaders (some even became Prime Ministers with the support of the US, like Kishi Nobusuke).
posted
Yeah,great article..however the whole world is Americanized but we don't feel it..even the Asians are doing it.
Posts: 3219 | From: Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Dzosser: however the whole world is Americanized
Watching MTV and eating junk food doesn't mean people share the attitudes and cultural conditioning of Americans.
It always irritates me when people lump all Americans and Europeans together under the term "Westerners" since there are such huge differences between Europeans themselves, and most definitely between Europeans and Americans. Once I had a discussion with an Egyptian friend who spent some time in the States, and he was very surprised when I told him that there's a huge difference between Germans and Americans and that I suffered from culture shock when moving to the States for the first time. Like many people he thought we must be all the same. He was also surprised when I told him that Americans are way more conservative than Germans in regards to many issues, for example dating and marriage.
Posts: 2803 | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
It always irritates me when people lump all Americans and Europeans together under the term "Westerners" since there are such huge differences between Europeans themselves, and most definitely between Europeans and Americans. Once I had a discussion with an Egyptian friend who spent some time in the States, and he was very surprised when I told him that there's a huge difference between Germans and Americans and that I suffered from culture shock when moving to the States for the first time. Like many people he thought we must be all the same. He was also surprised when I told him that Americans are way more conservative than Germans in regards to many issues, for example dating and marriage.
In Egypt It also irritated me a lot to be seen as a “western” person, I remember, at first I used keep explaining to Egyptians that a French is different form a German, British, Italian, Spanish….. someone even was surprised that I could not speak German, as Germany is an European country, at the end I gave up, but I really felt that I did not have any cultural identity.
Posts: 1182 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
About 1% of family names still have a "noble particle" (uncapitalised "de", "di", "von", "van", etc.) and it does have a meaning for some people....
This isn't true in all countries. The uncapitalised words - as 'van', 'de', 'te', 'ter','ten', 'van de' -in a name are 'noble' in Belgium, but in Holland they are not! As I am living very near to the Belgian border I had to explain several times, that my name hasn't anything to do with nobility. Funny was the way my name was viewed in Egypt; as a Catholic we often have more then one name, followed by the familynames of the husband and my own. When that familynames has that in between words as mentioned above, you get something like this:
Baptisename -Baptisename-Baptisename-Baptisename-Baptisename-familyname- van-de-familyname. Above each signature they want the full described line of names, and consider it as too many! Except this names we also have a callingname, which is different as the baptisenames.
For instance:
Petronella Martina Wilhelmina Louisa Emma van de Hijden van Amelsfoort, and they call her Petry. The names usually are related to the grandparents,the godparents, to royalty and to a holy persons.
-------------------- “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Posts: 7202 | From: EU | Registered: Nov 2006
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quote:Originally posted by *Dalia*: It always irritates me when people lump all Americans and Europeans together under the term "Westerners" since there are such huge differences between Europeans themselves, and most definitely between Europeans and Americans.
It always irritates me when people lump all moslems together under the term "Moslem" since
a) there are major differences between sunnis and shias b) even among sunnis there are major differences between Arabs and non-Arabs, although here the differences are cultural rather than religious unlike the case with the sunni/shia divide c) even among the sunni Arabs there are still major differences. The gulf is different from Sham which is different from Egypt which is different from Maghreb (as a region not as a country), not to mention others like Iraq, Sudan, Yemen, etc.
The point is that this pigeon holing is a human trait that is applied by everybody to everybody else. Think of terms like "Blacks", "Asians", etc even though they are not all one and the same. Trust me, you're not the only ones pigeon-holed into one "Westerners" lump.
Posts: 444 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Haha! This is scoring for an open goal, RN! It's a human characteristic, we like to place people in boxes.
-------------------- “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Posts: 7202 | From: EU | Registered: Nov 2006
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Watching MTV and eating junk food doesn't mean people share the attitudes and cultural conditioning of Americans.
Dalia I wasn't referring to wearing Levi's jeans or eating the Big Mac...I meant that the whole world is following the only super power of this planet, in technology, medicine, software compatability, lifestyle, education ( we've got American diploma schooling and Universities in Egypt ), industrial management and production systems..the world is acquiring all those American techniques that have proved effective, or else how do you explain the huge gap between American and European standards ? Everybody's looking for the best, obviously the Americans are by far more advanced than the villagers around the rest of the globe, in my humble opinion..It's true. Posts: 3219 | From: Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Dzosser: Dalia I wasn't referring to wearing Levi's jeans or eating the Big Mac...
OK.
quote:Originally posted by Dzosser: Everybody's looking for the best, obviously the Americans are by far more advanced than the villagers around the rest of the globe, in my humble opinion..It's true.
Firstly, before anyone is going to jump on me for what I'm saying, let me say that I really like Americans, I've enjoyed living there, and there are many things about this country and its people that I love and appreciate. At some point I was seriously considering emigrating to the States. (I ended up in Egypt instead, but that's a different story. )
But regarding American schooling and universities ... their level is quite low compared to the German education system, for example. If you speak to German students who spend a highschool year in the States, they are always surprised at how easy everything is and the fact that they can get good grades without even moving a finger. Also, you will not be able to study at a German university with an American high school diploma, you need to take the German high school diploma (Abitur) which is quite different and more comprehensive.
When living in the States, I often noticed that -- generally speaking -- there seems to be a lack of general education and knowledge about the rest of the world.
Posts: 2803 | Registered: Feb 2007
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quote:Originally posted by *Dalia*: there seems to be a lack of general education and knowledge about the rest of the world.
Definitely. Americans in general (not all of them) are just plain ignorant when it comes to other countries and cultures. Many of them also will never travel overseas (only one out of four Americans owns a passport).
The same goes with learning another language..... oh boy!!!
Little note aside: When I was at the clinic today I spoke to an American employee there who lives for quite a while already in Germany. When I mentioned we just returned from vacation in Egypt he asked me: "Weren't you afraid to go there??"
Sure I was.... Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Dalia I wasn't referring to wearing Levi's jeans or eating the Big Mac...I meant that the whole world is following the only super power of this planet, in technology, medicine, software compatability, lifestyle, education ( we've got American diploma schooling and Universities in Egypt ), industrial management and production systems..the world is acquiring all those American techniques that have proved effective, or else how do you explain the huge gap between American and European standards ? Everybody's looking for the best, obviously the Americans are by far more advanced than the villagers around the rest of the globe, in my humble opinion..It's true.
I do not think that in technology, America is the best, The world may be acquiring all those American techniques, but American acquire those techniques from others countries such as India, Europe, and even Egypt, which are much better (in term of creativity and technology) then America re sell those product across the world, and I think that in Business American are the best !!!
And the world is not following the only super power of this planet but I would said that Egypt is following what they believe being the super power of this planet, but bear in mind that the whole world does not think like Egypt!!!! Posts: 1182 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
And yet here is a generalization of "Americans" when it even says above that the US is more than double the size of the EU. I guess that means we should all be the same and all the EU can be different. Posts: 246 | From: but one life to live | Registered: Jun 2008
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posted
If we were to exclude Germany and France, Europe has to do a great deal of effort to catch up with the USA, sorry Brits, you're not what you used to be anymore Posts: 3219 | From: Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by *Souri*: It always irritates me when people lump all Americans and Europeans together under the term "Westerners" since there are such huge differences between Europeans themselves, and most definitely between Europeans and Americans. Once I had a discussion with an Egyptian friend who spent some time in the States, and he was very surprised when I told him that there's a huge difference between Germans and Americans and that I suffered from culture shock when moving to the States for the first time. Like many people he thought we must be all the same. He was also surprised when I told him that Americans are way more conservative than Germans in regards to many issues, for example dating and marriage.
In Egypt It also irritated me a lot to be seen as a “western” person, I remember, at first I used keep explaining to Egyptians that a French is different form a German, British, Italian, Spanish….. someone even was surprised that I could not speak German, as Germany is an European country, at the end I gave up, but I really felt that I did not have any cultural identity.
Yeah I agree. Here it is the reverse. People think all the Arabs are the same, that Lebanese and Egyptian and Syrian are all the same. I think it is just human nature to lump people together Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by *Dalia*: there seems to be a lack of general education and knowledge about the rest of the world.
Definitely. Americans in general (not all of them) are just plain ignorant when it comes to other countries and cultures. Many of them also will never travel overseas (only one out of four Americans owns a passport).
The same goes with learning another language..... oh boy!!!
I agree with both of you, I found Americans to be somewhat (ok, maybe a lot) superficial and impressionable by the media. I find the Europeans have much more depth and awareness of the world around them. But then you might argue that this is attributable to thier colonial history, or if you're not that cynical, to geographical proximity.
Having said that, and to be fair to the Americans, they don't really need to know about the rest of the world because (at least in their eyes) it can't offer them anything. Mind you that subconciously we apply the same concepts!! For example, what do you know about other African countries, their national languages, capitals, presidents, etc. Most of us don't bother, simply because we believe that they don't have anything to offer us. Where is Swaziland, what language is spoken there, and what political system does it have? How about lisutu, Togo, what's the difference between Congo and Democratic Congo, etc. Get my point? Well my point, again, is that this's another human trait, you want to know more about those from whom you can benefit.
Ramses - the believer in the universality of human nature
Health Warning: This post may contain generalisations!!
Posts: 444 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
A certain amount of 'knowledge' of other cultures is recieved by education, sometimes it's part of what the parents learn their children, and the rest is special interest or we just bump into it. I wouldn't know as much about Egypt as I do now, when I didn't have a friend there. If she should be from Togo or Congo, probably I should know more about these countries. It's just a co-incedence.
When I'm talking about what children learn about African countries, it's not much. Very global information, unless it has been one of the colonies...
-------------------- “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Posts: 7202 | From: EU | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
Load of rubbish . . . . . or maybe I am European and NOT American???? sheeeeshhhh . . . don't judge us all by such generalisations (and Tina, sorry, sweetie) PLEASE!!!
And, WTH does this topic have to do with Living in Egypt??? Did you feel it was time to bash Americans again and the only place you can do it is in an Egyptian forum???
Ok, now, back to lurking . . . as to be honest, I don't care what a bunch of euro-centric ppl think about me anyway Posts: 895 | From: NorthTexas, USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
[/qb][/QUOTE]I agree with both of you, I found Americans to be somewhat (ok, maybe a lot) superficial and impressionable by the media.
You are correct! A lot of Americans are superficial. no common-sense (but I find that everywhere), no morals, vain, self-absorbed and the list could go on ...
Posts: 525 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I never found the Americans to be superficial to be quite honest. They are not aware of their surroundings because of their media and education, but that doesn't make them superficial. Besides, with the exception of the Irish, I think the Americans are friendlier and warmer than the majority of Europeans.
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Last year I bumped into one who happily told me he knew my country, and even knew the group Abba. Abba is Swedish and a long way from Holland.
A great part from the Americans are having an European background. I can't say that the Americans I met were more friendly as Europeans.Some were, some weren't, just like anywhere else. Besides that, don't mix up professional friendlyness with having a kind heart.If I step into a shop and they friendly greet me and ask me how I am doing that day, they are professional friendly. Right now, at this moment, I am exchanging txt-mssg with a very friendly employee who doesn't keep his promisses. Yeah sure, he is a friendly European, but still doesn't do what he has to do... Posts: 7202 | From: EU | Registered: Nov 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Snapdragon: A lot of Americans are superficial. no common-sense (but I find that everywhere), no morals, vain, self-absorbed and the list could go on ...
Sarah Palin proves the point beyond any doubt (reasonable or unreasonable ). I mean she's a nut case, rivalled only by the other idiot, George W. And hey, those are meant to be the president and a then potential vice president. You can only dream what the rest of the population would be like! For heaven's sake, who in their right mind would've elected her, and how on earth did they elect him for two terms. What does that say about the electorate (then not now). Thanks goodness they've regained their senses and voted Barak.
May the force have mercy on us if she gets elected next time. I was watching her on telly yesterday, she's just absolutely totally moronic. Hell ya!!!
Posts: 444 | Registered: Apr 2004
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. . or maybe I am European and NOT American???? sheeeeshhhh . . . don't judge us all by such generalisations (and Tina, sorry, sweetie) PLEASE!!!
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