Europe vs America, know the difference
Disclaimer: I know that Europe is a continent and the United States of America — here defined as America — is a country and that it’s impossible to compare two different realities. I wrote this post to share my personal experience of moving back and forth from Europe to the US. These moves among Rome, Chicago, and London, gave me the capability to gather different perspectives concerning lifestyle in these regions of the world that I am uncovering here.
In January 2019 I was sitting in the conference room at the NYT Travel show when, during the opening speech, London was mentioned as the first travel destination for Americans. It’s not the allure of the UK capital to attract tourists but the fact that US people don’t worry about language barriers and feel that going there is as easy as visiting another domestic destination. While I was listening to the talk, I found myself lost in my thoughts about my personal experience. When almost a decade ago I left my hometown Rome, Italy to move to America I was feeling reassured about the fact that I wouldn’t have encountered many difficulties. America, to me, was another Western country likewise any other European one. It didn’t take a long time to discover the vast differences between Europe and America and their big cities.
1. Dimensions
One of the first evident differences between Europe vs. America regards the dimensions. Saying goodbye to the maze of charming cobblestone streets of downtown Rome, I started in Chicago my stroll on never-ending streets planned following the principles of Ancient Roman cities. Cardo and Decumanus survive in America and help locals, likewise tourists to quickly navigate large towns along with the two primary directions, north-south, and east-west. The dimensions factor is even more evident when it comes to planning a trip. In America you can start a road trip, spending hours in the car without seeing anything besides fields of crops for hours. This is where the “in the middle of nowhere” expression comes from. In Europe, shortly after the beginning of your journey, you will find a small historical village on the road.
2. Covering distances
From a European perspective, what is evident is that America feels like an own, massive continent with a beautiful variety of sceneries and climates. While in continental Europe we don’t have these dimensions, it is also true that the tiny proportions of the old continent are evident when it comes to travel. What is notably different is the train system that connects the countries. In Europe, you can board on a train and be in another nation in a few hours. And I love taking the Eurostar to visit Paris, Brussels, or Amsterdam from London! On the opposite, this wouldn’t be possible in the US. When I was spending my Christmas holidays to Kauai, I realized that flying from Chicago to Garden Island was a more extended trip than flying from the Windy City to Rome, Italy.
3. Diversity
When I was living in the US, Coca Cola ran a beautiful commercial during the Super Bowl. Patriotic lyric America the Beautiful was sung in English and in other languages to represent all the Americans who live in the country. To me, it was really touching as it showed what I loved about my experience of living with Americans. That ad shows that America is made up of many people, respecting their country and its traditions no matter the language they use to express their feelings. Diversity was the greatest lesson I had during my stay in the US, and it’s one of the things that I really miss here in London, considered the European city with the higher percentage of diversity.
4. Patriotism
Another difference between Europe and America consists of patriotism. Traveling and living in Europe, I have never noticed a high attachment to a country like in the US. If during festivities like Memorial Day or the 4th of July this high sense of patriotism reaches its heights with American flags and decorations embellishing all the houses, this attachment to the US is evident on many occasions. In many schools, students declare the Pledge of Allegiance each day, and on several occasions, at school and during community events, they sing the National Anthem.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all
European people don’t feel part of a unique body, and even when it comes to single states, they have local rivalries. Only during the World Cup, I have seen flags hanging out from balconies in European countries. Parochialism seems to be the predominant feeling and leads the way of behaving in the old continent.
5. History
The first and foremost difference between Europe and America resides in the history of these two parts of the world. These historical differences reverberate in the shape of the cities, in the form of governments (writing this I am of course thinking of the many European countries with Royal families), in the conventionalism of the old continent, and in the youthful enthusiasm, you can breathe in the US. Moreover, what is interesting to notice is how much European history underlines the American culture in its different forms. What I find particularly noteworthy, it is to look at how much America takes from Ancient Rome. This is noticeable in town planning and in the way of attracting and including people from different cultures under its flag.
6. Art and architecture
Living for so many years in the US, what I started to miss overtime was the lack of charming historical buildings. As I grow up in Rome, I know how lucky I have been living surrounded by past ancient treasures. To compensate for my feeling of ancient art deprivation, I used to head to the Art Institute in Chicago or visit the great collections in the big American cities. If it’s not possible to stroll around or drive in archeological parks like in Greece, Turkey, or Italy, America has a great fiscal policy for the private donations that support museums and their stunning collections. Forgetting the charm of old historical buildings, in the US there are striking modern and contemporary buildings, like the famous worldwide Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. This architectural richness makes a pleasure to return over time to discover all the novelties like I recently did in New York.
7. Nature
The lack of history and relatively historical buildings is hugely counterbalanced with the beauty of American nature. Due to its immense spaces and its different territory, landscapes in the US widely vary and give every citizen or tourist an endless opportunity for seeing some of the most breathtaking natural wonders in the world. The National Parks system protects and guarantees the safeguard of these places. From the deserts of Arizona and Nevada to the wetlands of the Everglades in Florida, America’s nature is something that I miss a lot. Western European countries on the other side offer a great variety of natural scenarios like active volcanoes, and geysers, mountains, and seas in smaller proportions.
8. Sounds
Back in New York in these last days, I entered the jungle of acoustic pollution. The high volume of ambulances, firefighters, and police sirens continuously makes it almost impossible to converse while walking on the streets. The same problems arise at home where the 24/7 noises might make it difficult to fall asleep. This difference between European cities and American cities is even more evident at night as the acoustic pollution doesn’t end with the sunset. Coming from Rome and living with a high sense of romanticism, in America I missed the almost silent sound of water falling from the fountains at night.
9. Weather
Another huge difference between America and Europe is the great variety of whether you can have in different American spots at the same time. While in Europe seasons are almost the same with slight differences regarding temperatures, in America, it’s true the contrary. In the US with a domestic flight, you can leave the extreme weather of Chicago in January and soak under the sun of a warm beach in Florida, or Hawaii. This possibility really helped me to survive the long, brutal cold of never-ending winters in Illinois. In Europe, it’s true the contrary. All the countries experience the four seasons at the same time with an overall more moderate climate in south Europe.
10. Food
One of the most significant differences between Europe and America consists of food. The high quality and taste of produce and the variety of European culinary traditions lead Americans to love old continent food, especially the Italian and French cuisines. Americans notice that food, coffee, and wine are strong European traditions and they appreciate it. To what concern the deficiency of taste of American products, once a doctor gave me a scientific explanation. According to her, the lack of volcanoes on the American territory makes the soil less rich in minerals that ultimately lead to the fewer flavored taste of fruits and vegetables in the US. Talking about food, what is impressive for a European in America are the significant food size portions served in restaurants and the size of soft drinks available in fast food.
11. Lifestyle
A big difference between Europe and America concerns the lifestyle, especially in big cities. European people are overall more relaxed. Everything takes way longer in Europe, from waiting for food in a restaurant to bring a new Wi-Fi line at home. On the other side, Americans seem faster and most efficient but more resilient in enjoying life due perhaps to the small amount of paid vacation days versus the more generous quantity in the old continent. Talking about work, in European’s eyes is absurd that women in America have unpaid maternity leave with the parental leave part of the benefits provided by employers. Talking about lifestyle and laws what European don’t understand and never will, is the American gun policy with all the consequents shooting tragedies and the high murder rates.
12. Etiquette
Another noticeable difference between Europe versus America concerns the etiquette. The young country is less formal than the old continent. Midwestern people are friendly, and their attitude makes it easy to move to a city like Chicago for a foreigner. I can’t say the same about London. The etiquette and formal habits are taken into account in Europe where sometimes I feel an inharmonious reference to Middle Ages’ hierarchical social organization. When I moved to London my new, local plumber complained about me that an American colleague didn’t shake his hand in greeting him. And this is what my daughter did when she moved to a nursery in London. On her first day, she gave the high five to the headmistress that was expected to shake her hand!
Culture shock
We can smile and laugh and make lots of jokes about the differences between America and western European countries. What’s true is that every person who moves internationally will experience culture shock. Under this name, sociologists define the impact of moving from a familiar culture to one unfamiliar. American universities historically used to welcome foreign students, prepare the newcomers with dedicated website pages on culture shock, and its stages. I have personally experienced the 5 stages of cultural shock twice in the last decade and am still experiencing the re-entry shock when I go back to Rome visiting family and friends.
