Charmingmarie
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Expat life
    • Are you an Expat Feeling Down About Spending the Holidays Abroad?
    • Can you Easily Live in the Netherlands Without Speaking Dutch?
    • American Things I Miss the Most While Living Abroad
    • Here are the best places to Live in Europe if you want to Leave the US
    • What I Wish I knew before Moving Abroad
  • Destinations
    • What to do when Visiting the Hague
    • The Beautiful Ouzoud Waterfalls of Morocco
    • Experience Pismo Beach This Year
    • What to do in Rotterdam for a Weekend Getaway
    • Why You Must Visit California Now
  • Categories
    • Dutch Culture
    • Love & Dating
    • Dutch Cuisine
  • Contact
Featured posts
  • Reasons To Move To The Netherlands
    • Netherlands
    5 Reasons To Move To The Netherlands
  • Easiest Countries For Americans To Move To
    • Expat Life
    The Easiest Countries For Americans To Move To
  • How To Get A Job Abroad
    • Expat Life
    How To Get A Job Abroad
  • Expat Struggle
    • Expat Life
    The Expat Struggle is Real: Here are 4 Reasons Why
  • Why is Everyone Leaving California?
    • California
    Why is Everyone Leaving California?
Social Links
Instagram
Pinterest
Charmingmarie

California girl in the Netherlands

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Expat life
  • Destinations
  • Categories
    • Dutch Culture
    • Love & Dating
    • Dutch Cuisine
  • Contact
10 Things You Only Find in the USA
  • Expat Life

10 Things You Only Find in the USA

  • 5 minute read
Total
11
Shares

No matter what part of the world you’re in each country has it’s own quirks and uniqueness exclusive to themselves. Here are 10 things you only find in the USA.

Price tags don’t include tax

Things You Only Find in the USA

Each state, county and city has different laws for taxes. Even as an American myself I still find this concept bizarre. A pair of ballet flats in California can differ in Florida. In 38 states we collect local sales tax . However, you can make the choice to travel to other states and make your purchase with a lower sales tax. But this only works if you’re not too far from border lines. For instance, the state of Alaska has one of the lowest sales tax, but it’s not that convenient to travel to in terms of distance and cost. 

Tailgating

Tailgating at my alma mater

What exactly is tailgating? Tailgating is when fans of a sporting team gather together in the parking lot or outside the stadium, before the sporting event. We bbq, eat food, drink alcoholic beverages, play drinking games and hang out together. You also wear special attire or jerseys and face paint to represent your respective team.  On my university campus tailgating was one of the biggest events for football games. Sometimes my friends and I would miss half the game because we were too busy taking photos and socializing.

A lot of people think of tailgating as another American excuse to party, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all! It’s actually called a tailgate because traditionally it’s done out of the tail of the car. It’s interesting because tailgating is also a driving term for following closely behind a car. I guarantee this is what you only find in the USA and not other places.

Spring Break

Spring break is when students get a week off of school and go on vacation. For some schools, spring break is specifically for allocating extra time for Easter and religious services to take place. However, the majority of people take off work and bring their kids on a trip. For college students, Spring Break is a week that you let loose (or stay on campus and prepare for the incoming semester). Thousands of students head to warm destinations such as Cancun, Cabo, the Caribbean or any of the Florida beaches. There are tons of parties that occur and sometimes it can get as wild as the shenanigans portrayed on TV. 

The Imperial System

The whole world wonders why we still keep this ‘illogical’ system in place. The metric system has been favored since the Industrial Revolution when employees had to work with imperial system measurements fo machinery. Believe it or not, but the US is one of the only 3 countries using the IS. Growing up many of my classes incorporated both measurements of the metric and imperial systems. Living in Europe has gotten me more accustomed to converting to kilometers and celsius. When I say to my European friends, “Omg it’s 102 degrees back home” I remember I need to make a conversion and tell them it’s actually 32 degrees celsius.

Doggy bags or To-go Boxes

The simplest way to explain this is taking home your leftovers from a restaurant. American portion sizes can be quite big.  That order of gumbo and biscuits on the side might be too much for the average person to handle. Sometimes it’s just not possible to finish these meals in one sitting.

The term doggy baggy may just be a euphemism.  But actually dates back to the 1940s during WW11 when there was food rationing. Any of the scraps left from a meal would be saved for the next day so nothing is put to waste. We get so much on our plates…why waste it when you can take it home. I love this because I can enjoy leftovers from my favorite restaurant the next day! And with the amount of food going to waste I have no problem bringing a bag home. In the Netherlands and in some parts of Europe I notice that taking food home is not common.  

The Drinking Age is 21

In most places around the world, 18 is the age you are legal to drink. But only in the USA do you have to be 21 to purchase and drink alcohol. It’s strange that you’re able to get a driving license and enlist for the army before 21 years of age but not drink. The US gets a lot of backlash and ridicule from other countries. However, many are not aware that the drinking age is so high in order to reduce the risk of teenage drunk driving.

The Grand Canyon

Located in Northern Arizona is this majestic natural wonder. The Grand Canyon is a beautiful sight that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. It’s 277 miles long or 445 km long. 5 to 6 million years ago is when scientists estimate the Grand Canyon to have formed. It’s part of a series of interconnecting canyons with layers of rock dating back millions of years ago.
It was actually the Colorado River that eroded layers of rock into a deep channel. The Grand Canyon is an amazing natural wonder that you only find in the USA.

Free Refills

Things You Only Find in the USA

Many chain restaurants and eateries offer free refills when your order a drink with your meal. I personally it’s a nice service and option to have when you eat out. However, in many places abroad free refills let alone free water is not a regular concept. Without a doubt they’ll charge you. In the state asking for water is typically free of charge. You can walk to a a restaurant at the mall, ask for water and be on your way. Bottled water of course comes at a price but refills are generally free.

Homecoming

Things You Only Find in the USA

Homecoming occurs in both high school and college. It begins at the start of the school year and is when alumni/former students to return for a football game. They have the opportunity to watch the game and catch up with old friends and teachers. For high school, the home team plays against another school and a formal dance occurs after the game or a few days later. A homecoming queen and king are voted for and either revealed during the halftime celebration or during the dance. Some like to call it a mini prom. However, for university homecoming is when alumni all return for one football game.  As you can see football is pretty much the center of homecoming and something you can only find in the USA.

Making a right turn on red

In some states in America we are permitted to make a right turn on a red traffic light. This is of course after making a stop and making sure that is completely safe to do so. In other words, no cars, pedestrians or cyclists can be in the way. Individual traffic lights can post a sign that says no turn on red. But it’s important to remember that each state has differing traffic laws. I can see why this is confusing to my international friends since America is one country, and shouldn’t all rules and law apply? No, because every state is a sovereign entity and I guess that’s another reason you’ll only find this in the USA.

Total
11
Shares
Pin it
Share
Tweet
Save
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • America
Hannah Scott

You May Also Like
Easiest Countries For Americans To Move To
View Post
  • 6 min
  • Expat Life

The Easiest Countries For Americans To Move To

How To Get A Job Abroad
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Expat Life

How To Get A Job Abroad

Expat Struggle
View Post
  • 3 min
  • Expat Life

The Expat Struggle is Real: Here are 4 Reasons Why

Learn a New Language
View Post
  • 4 min
  • Expat Life

6 Reasons Why You Should Learn a New Language For the New Year

Dutch Citizenship
View Post
  • 5 min
  • Expat Life
  • Netherlands

5 Things They Don’t Tell You About Obtaining Dutch Citizenship

View Post
  • 5 min
  • Expat Life

The Top 5 Places to Live in the Netherlands

Save Money to Move Abroad
View Post
  • 8 min
  • Expat Life

How Can you Save Money to Move Abroad?

Legitimate Ways for Americans to Move Abroad
View Post
  • 6 min
  • Expat Life

Legitimate Ways for Americans to Move Abroad

12 comments
  1. Pinay escapades says:
    January 14, 2021 at 9:57 pm

    Awesome list! I’m a big fan of the free refills! Lol

    Reply
  2. Anosa says:
    January 15, 2021 at 3:16 pm

    We do have doggy bags in the UK as well although our portion sizes are definitely smaller compared to the US.

    Reply
    1. Rochelle says:
      January 16, 2021 at 2:46 pm

      Haha who doesn’t like a free refill however I’m from Jamaica and we have a few of these things like the right turn, to go containers , free refills

      Reply
  3. Luna S says:
    January 15, 2021 at 3:52 pm

    Great post! It is always neat to see the differences of places from around the world, I didn’t know that most places allowed you to be 18 when you start drinking.

    Reply
  4. Rodalyn N says:
    January 15, 2021 at 4:14 pm

    Great article! I’m a big fan of free refills 😁

    Reply
  5. Retirestyle Travel says:
    January 15, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    I find this post interesting as I am from Canada and travel to the USA pretty much annually. We have 4 or 5 of these in Canada too.

    Reply
  6. Monidipa says:
    January 15, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    Yeah, but there is also one thing I will add, Drug advertisements.. I’ve seen this only in USA…

    Reply
  7. Christian foremost.com says:
    January 16, 2021 at 3:22 am

    As a Filipino who free up watching only American shows, I kinda wondered about all of these so it was nice to be informed about them. Super interesting. Hahahaha

    Reply
  8. Eric Gamble says:
    January 17, 2021 at 12:20 am

    What a fun list of things that are only common here in the USA! I always forget when travelling about our differences until I have to deal with them. For example, it is quite weird the whole metric system used nearly everywhere. Also another big difference is their approach on tipping at restaurants. I always get weird looks whenever we travel and I leave a tip. I love all of the differences though.

    Reply
  9. My Kitchen says:
    January 17, 2021 at 10:31 am

    I only remember getting spring breaks in college, a week before the final exam. Definitely never got spring breaks in primary or secondary.

    Reply
  10. Nkem says:
    January 17, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    Haha these are good! Some of these stump me whenever I go back to the US, like taxes not included haha.

    Reply
  11. Michele says:
    January 17, 2021 at 4:09 pm

    I did not know that these were only found in America. Why do we have to be different. LOL, I have heard before that our portion sizes are large, but I want to see other countries’ portion sizes. Do I not think our portions are big because I am used to it or because I have never seen someone else’s?.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Charmingmarie
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie declaration
California girl in the Netherlands © 2021

Input your search keywords and press Enter.