Top 30+ things Americans consider normal but no one else really understands

Us humans are always doing things, aren't we? We like to keep ourselves busy with our little tasks, chores and rituals. We do them - whatever they are - so often, we just assume they're perfectly normal. Things everyone else does. And while that's true of most of our friends, family and neighbours - to foreigners - our actions can often seem strange. Take the things that American people do, for example. So many of them are regarded with a quizzical eye by those not from the United States. Here are 30 examples of things Americans consider normal but the rest of the world doesn't understand... (Picture: Getty Images)

1. Toilet bowls so full of water

More water in the toilet means a more powerful flush. So there's logic to having a bowl that fills up quite high. Try explaining that to non-Americans when they slop off to the john and get a fright. They're used to far less toilet water (Picture: Getty Images)

2. Driving incredibly long distances

The US is a big country. It's enormous, in fact. At 3,809,525 square miles, that means a lot of places. Sometimes those places are very fair away from other places. Very few foreigners can empathise with this, though. So where a Texan might think nothing of a four hour trip to visit friends, the notion would appall many Brits or - say - the Swiss (Picture: Getty Images)

3. Having under the sink garbage disposal units

In the US, after eating, you scrape your leftovers into the sink and let the garbage disposal take care of things. Outside of America, this concept is so alien it's almost frightening. 'WHAT IF YOU GET YOUR HAND STUCK IN THERE?!' (Picture: Getty Images)

4. Drinking root beer

Root beer is an acquired taste. Many folk in the States won't really appreciate that fact because they already acquired the taste for it long ago. But for the uninitiated, it can taste a little bit like fizzy medicine... (Picture: Getty Images)

5. Service staff being so friendly

Go to Europe and there's often a somewhat surly demeanour from serving staff in bars and restuarants. In the US? Why, staff are generally incredible pleased to see you and extremely friendly and chatty. Why? Well, it could have something to do with America's tipping culture (more on that later...) (Picture: Getty Images)

6. Eating sweet things for breakfast

Sugary food first thing in the morning isn't the norm worldwide. Syrup-drenched pancakes, Pop Tarts and donuts are seen as desserts in most countries and the idea of eating sweet things for breakfast would appall a lot of people overseas. This doesn't apply to the pastry-loving Europeans, though (Picture: Getty Images)

7. Talking so openly with strangers

There is an unreserved and open nature to the majority of Americans that tends to see chit-chats with strangers result in a rather familiar tone pretty quickly. That's probably a good thing. But to most cultures abroad, it's seen as overfamiliarity. Such openness is reserved for close friends and family only(Picture: Getty Images)

8. Wearing shoes in homes

Provided your shoes are clean, who cares if visitors wear them in your house, right? Right. Not so in a lot of other countries. Sometimes, as in Europe, it's a politeness/cleanliness thing. Whereas in many Asian cultures, it's a sign of respect to remove footwear when strolling into another person's abode (Picture: Getty Images)

9. Cheerleaders

Know anything about cheerleading and you'll be all too aware how complex, athletic and difficult it is. But to outsiders, it's an oddity. A team of hype merchants shaking pom-poms and shouting before a sporting event? It's a mystery to many (Picture: Getty Images)

10. Entrées being the main meal

Now, with this one - Americans have to hold their hands up. 'Entrées' is a French word. So there's no claiming it otherwise. In the French-speaking world it refers to the meal served before the main meal - the starter. So why it refers to the main course in the US is anyone's guess. Sacre bleu! (Picture: Getty Images)

11. Pharmacies basically being supermarkets

The wide range of weird things available to buy from American pharmacies is a bit of a running joke to most Americans. Go elsewhere in the world though and you'll find that these places exclusively sell medications and medical equipment. Sometimes, at a push, cosmetics. But never, ever, plastic bucket and spade sets. Or Pokémon cards (Picture: Getty Images)

12. Red cups

Plastic cups that are red are available in most, if not all other countries in the world. But they're just red cups. They're not 'red cups'. The culture of downing brewskis from these colourful disposable containers is not something a non-American will be familiar with. Not unless they're really into country music (which they almost certainly are not) (Picture: Getty Images)

13. Drinking so much coffee

Coffee is everywhere. The world is addicted to caffeine. Yet nowhere drinks as much as the country that invented modern coffee culture. In fact, a lot of foreigners are shocked when they visit the States and see just how many people walk around slurping from huge coffee cups (Picture: Getty Images)

14. Putting so much sugar in bread

Most Americans aren't all that aware just how sweet their store-bought bread is, compared the baked goods sold elsewhere on the planet. The sugar can help preserve the bread, but it's mostly to make the dough softer and balance out the sometimes quite yeasty flavour of bread. If you're not used to it, though, it tastes kind of odd (Picture: Getty Images)

15. An obsession with national flags

The United States is fiercely patriotic as a nation. This isn't something to be ashamed of, of course. To many outsiders, however, it's a little unusual. While few - if any - nations on Earth are self-hating, nowhere else is quite as openly and staunchly proud of their homeland and happy to fly the flag (Picture: Getty Images)

16. Dates starting with the month, not day

In America, it's month, then day. Everywhere else, it's day then month. So, obviously, it's a bit weird to see '11/30/2024' written down if you're not an American citizen (Picture: Getty Images)

17. Free soda refills

Americans drink soda. Like, a lot of soda. So much that the cup sizes are giant and the refills plentiful - and usually free. This will surprise a dry-mouthed European who's more used to drinking tiny little bottle of Coke and paying for each and every one (Picture: Getty Images)

18. Having so much ice in drinks

While we're talking about soft drinks and European reactions to American soda habits, watch someone from London, Vienna or Milan when they're served a soda or cocktail in the US. They're used to one or two cubes per drink, not half an iceberg like they get given Stateside (Picture: Getty Images)

19. Bills being all the same color

Globally, currency tends to be color coded. Each denomination being a different hue. It helps differentiate between them all. Not so in America. Where all the banknotes look the same unless you happen to know what all the old presidents looks like (Picture: Getty Images)

20. Commercial breaks being so frequent

In the US, there are generally around six to eight minutes' worth of commercials for every half an hour of TV content. That's often quite a bit more than most other countries. It's not just the amount foreign viewers find jarring, it's the frequency of the advertisements that's strange to them (Picture: Getty Images)

21. Prescription medication commercials

As we're discussing things about commercial breaks that people from outside the US find bizarre, let's deal with the idea of advertising medicines. The idea that much-needed prescription meds have been commodified and commercialised is quite an unpleasant thought to many (Picture: Getty Images)

22. Big food portion sizes

It won't come as a huge surprise to you to learn that the US is renowned for its obesity problem. So it stands to reason that most non-Americans would consider the average portion size to be quite hefty. And they do - it's often a topic of conversation in American restaurants when someone from abroad is at the table (Picture: Getty Images)

23. Expensive healthcare

Every country sets up their healthcare differently, but most visitors to the US are surprised about how the insurance healthcare system works and how there is such limited free healthcare available to people (Picture: Getty Images)

24. Having hardly any public transport

Japan, Europe, Australia. Pick pretty much anywhere in the world and it has a pretty impressive, reliable and wide-ranging public transport system. The United States, on the other hand, has quite a limited infrastructure, especially given its scale and wealth (Picture: Getty Images)

25. A lack of polite niceties

On the face of it, most exchanges with strangers in the US tend to be very pleasant. But Americans tend to get to the point and do away with the pleasantries. This is streamlined conversation, but often tends to be regarded (especially by the English) as quite rude (Picture: Getty Images)

26. Tax generally not factored into price tags

Most places you go to on Earth, you'll walk into a shop, see a price tag for an item and that's how much it'll cost. Taxes have already been applied. Not so in the Land of the Free. You've got to add the tax on top. Which, you have to admit, is extra arithmetic that none of us really want to undertake (Picture: Getty Images)

27. The sports

People from other countries just don't tend to get US sports. Alright, so Lithuania and Spain like basketball and Japan plays baseball. No one else really plays football. Except the British, but they're playing a different sport when they're talking about 'football' (Picture: Getty Images)

28. Retaining the imperial system

The metric system was introduced as a universal weight and measures language so the world could all be on the same page. Some countries took their time adopting it and adapting to it. Some, like the USA, just flat our refused. Even though the old imperial set-up is infinitely harder to understand and calculate (Picture: Getty Images)

29. Tipping everyone

Paying extra on your bill in order to give money to staff isn't exclusively an American thing, of course. Tipping exists to varying degrees all across the world. But only in the States is it so complicated and almost mandatory. Foreigners often struggle to navigate the various intricacies associated with American tipping culture (Picture: Getty Images)

30. Having such a low vacation allowance at work

The average American worker gets 11 days of paid vacation a year. That's just shy of one day for every month worked. That may seem okay, but that's only because Americans are used to it. In the UK, it's more than double that number. In Iran, it's 27! (Picture: Getty Images)