What's different in Europe?

By: Mike Smith

What should you expect when you travel to Europe? European's have a different culture than here in America.This makes daily activities such as eating, shopping, and transportation much different. Eating dinner in Europe is different because it focuses more on the social sit-down aspect rather than the idea to eat and run . Dinner takes two to three hours and most of the sit-down restaurants do not open till 7 at night. My study abroad group got taken out  to many dinner dates by Dr. Wright, our study abroad leader. Overall, I grew really fond of enjoying dinners that were more of a social experience, and I hope take this experience back too America.

Shopping in America you expect the stores to be big, clean, bright, and have good customer service; well none of this is what you should expect in European stores. Stores there are relatively dirty to American standards.  They are extremely small, no florescent light bulbs, and customer service is quite different. All businesses in Europe are located towards the center of cities so space is not as available.   This makes stores smaller and crowded. There are no Customer Service desks or people roaming the stores to help customers in Europe to get help you must go seek an employee. Once you find someone they do their best to help you. Not only are stores more dirty but everything in Europe is dirty.  There culture is not as concerned about cleanliness as Americans.  This is something that I hope to leave in Europe and not have to deal with at home. 

Transportation is different because not as many people have vehicles.  The vehicles are different, and parking is unique. A lot of Europeans do not own cars. They use bikes, train stations, and buses.  There are so many people that use bikes because gas in Europe is ridiculously high. You can take a train through the towns from spot to spot, or you can take it across Europe to any major cities. I found the train stations particularly handy. Since everything is crowded and gas prices are high in Europe most vehicles are small compact cars and are all stick shift. Parking is another challenge in Europe.  When Europeans are parallel parking there usually is not much space; therefore, they will bump the cars to make room for their own car. When you park you are suppose to leave your car in neutral and just use the parking brake, so that your transmission does not get ruined. 

For more information on this trip and future trips check out: http://ndsu-studyabroad.blogspot.com/