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[The Lamp]

The difference is, after eating all that shit, the European walks and expends energy. I have friends in America who will literally drive to the convenience store at the end of their block

Japan has a lot of shit too, surprisingly, but I ate like a champ. You're always walking station to station and up and down so many stairs that everything seems to balance out.

That's nice but...how many calories does walking a couple of miles burn off? A muffin?

At least it keeps you insulin sensitive!

 

[Currygan]

Are you serious?

I mean I'm kind of jealous at how leisurely French people get to live their lives in general, but in the U.S. all bets are off in terms of regularity. Your work shift might be during lunch. Your job might have a meeting that interrupts lunch. Your classes might be from 8-5 pm on Tuesday and Thursday. You might have been trapped on a plane for 6 hours that didn't serve food or food you could enjoy. There are plenty of reasons to try to find somewhere to eat at any hour.

that's why fast foods exist. I don't expect a restaurant to serve me at impossible times, I'll just eat a sandwich

 

[Chariot]

Europeans just like the fact they can drink, smoke, and eat as much as they want and stay skinny.

Sure I'm generalizing a bit , but I know EuroGAF can handle it. I have to put up with a lot of generalizations for being a Texan.

it's ok, Stephen, I still watch Arrow.

 

[dejay]

Actually it's more like the type of carbs you're eating. Your food has almost no simple or refined carbs like fructose. American bread and pasta is chock full of it.

White flour is definitely a refined carb.

 

[Xando]

I know. I hate that part of our culture. My friend has been working 80 hours a week all year and is finally getting a 10 day vacation with me next month

Wtf does he do anything else than work? Me and my colleagues bitch when we have to work 50 hours per week.

 

[PdotMichael]

Actually its not.

Your body will handle the calories from fructose differently than it will from fat or protein, and your body will utilize the calories from simple carbs at a different rate than the calories from complex carbs.

Your body will burn the energy saved in your food. If the energy in your food exceeds what your body needs you will get fat. It's really that simple. You could lose weight with just eating sugar - it's not healthy for all kinds of reasons but it's just a question of calories.

 

[Switch Back 9]

Wtf does he do anything else than work? Me and my colleagues bitch when we have to work 50 hours per week.

80 hours a week is fucking madness. Even 40 feels like too much sometimes. Human beings are not meant to exist that way.

 

[jerry113]

yeh we're pretty fucking chunky here

Why is the UK like that? Public transportation seems to be quite good and people seem to walk everywhere.

 

[The Lamp]

that's why fast foods exist. I don't expect a restaurant to serve me at impossible times, I'll just eat a sandwich

Okay everyone. See, Americans cook, too.

But the options available to us when we wanna go out to eat are overwhelming compared to Europe. It's hard to adjust to, along with your finicky restaurant hours. Like when in Europe people go out clubbing till like 4 am but after you leave drunk there's almost nowhere to fucking eat!!!!! And many convenience stores are closed. It's a drunk persons worst nightmare.

 

[kabel]

I know. I hate that part of our culture. My friend has been working 80 hours a week all year and is finally getting a 10 day vacation with me next month

Wow this is slavery.

Couldn't imagine having less than 30 vacation days.
21 is minimum I think.

 

[lazer_bean]

Not so long ago some people would go to a public toilet in the morning and drop a piece of bread in the urinal. They came back in the evening to pick up the piss-soaked piece of bread and eat it.
It's kind of a shame you missed out on that because that was a bit of European culture right there, when the public toilets were still free.

That's why there's so much bread, sausage and beer available in Europe.
And there's a lot of chocolate too but that's another story.

 

[jerry113]

From my time in America, it was often painfully clear that I wasn't meant to walk very much, the intent appeared to be I drive everywhere, even between adjacent retail places where no option existed to easily skip between the two. Very odd.

That sounds like Texas alright. Honestly out of NYC, Chicago, and a few other major cities there isn't a lot you can do effectively without a car.

 

[John Kowalski]

We're living the bread life.

 

[PAULINK]

classic tourist

 

[The Lamp]

Wtf does he do anything else than work? Me and my colleagues bitch when we have to work 50 hours per week.

He basically does everything a secretary would do plus he's in charge of a bunch of reports and legal analysis and all sorts of stuff that his boss just adds on to him. He frequently has meetings with the team that last all day into the night. It's kind of unbelievable shit he puts up with. He has no college degree so he has no leverage to leave for another job or anything. He just puts up with it even though I told him to ask for benefits. Whatever.

 

[entremet]

Your experiences were way different from mine, OP.

You gotta remember that not everyone eats in restaurant everyday like tourists or travelers do.

Supermarkets and daily eating are a better barometers.

I loved Italian supermarkets. Produce was so fresh.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

Okay everyone. See, Americans cook, too.

But the options available to us when we wanna go out to eat are overwhelming compared to Europe. It's hard to adjust to, along with your finicky restaurant hours. Like when in Europe people go out clubbing till like 4 am but after you leave drunk there's almost nowhere to fucking eat!!!!! And many convenience stores are closed. It's a drunk persons worst nightmare.

Wait what? This is definitely not true.

 

[Lego Boss]

Why is the UK like that? Public transportation seems to be quite good and people seem to walk everywhere.

We love our frozen/fast food in the UK of A and the car is king for most of us.

It's not as bad as the US, but not as good as mainland Europe.

It's a bit like David Beckham, it's kind of British, a bit European, but influenced by the US.

 

[Grizzo]

I can assure you that no one eats crepes for breakfast in France. Must have been a special treat from the hotel you were staying.

We couldn't find the time and the will to cook crepes every single day. It's true that most of us eat bread and butter though.

 

[bosseye]

That sounds like Texas alright. Honestly out of NYC, Chicago, and a few other major cities there isn't a lot you can do effectively without a car.

I drove from Chicago to LA and it was like that all the way. You're right though, I did a hell of a lot of walking in NYC, that and the subway easiest way to get around.

 

[Darksol]

That's nice but...how many calories does walking a couple of miles burn off? A muffin?

At least it keeps you insulin sensitive!

Well to be fair, portion sizes are also way more sensible.

 

[The Lamp]

Your experiences were way different from mine, OP.

You gotta remember that not everyone eats in restaurant everyday like tourists or travelers do.

Supermarkets and daily eating are a better barometer.

I loved Italian supermarkets. Produce was so fresh.

Yeah I realize now that I probably have a different experience by not eating homecooked meals.

But considering I mostly saw locals at the places I ate, I assumed it's at least not uncommon for locals to eat at these places on occasion.

 

[The Atticus]

Okay everyone. See, Americans cook, too.

But the options available to us when we wanna go out to eat are overwhelming compared to Europe. It's hard to adjust to, along with your finicky restaurant hours. Like when in Europe people go out clubbing till like 4 am but after you leave drunk there's almost nowhere to fucking eat!!!!! And many convenience stores are closed. It's a drunk persons worst nightmare.

That's just not the case.

 

[zeemumu]

What is up with the toilets though? My penis doesn't even touch the water.

You're supposed to use two of the seashells to envelope your penis like a diving suit and the third as a splash guard for your butt.

 

[Ullus]

Referring to something as European or European culture is so weird to me, when there are pretty big differences between the countries.
It's kinda like saying I like American culture, when i actually mean Mexican or south american culture.

And OP, see if you can find some smaller local places that serve proper homemade food.

 

[The Lamp]

Wait what? This is definitely not true.

What part? In Spain, Germany and France clubs were open later than 2.

In Spain nothing was open at 4. Nothing. Madrid and Barcelona.
In Paris and the rest of France I visited, just the lonely McDonalds was open.
In Munich and Berlin nothing was open except for a doner place. It was quite a walk to reach the one in Munich.
In Copenhagen, the only place I found closed at 2. Don't remember what day of the week it was.
In Prague there was one fantastic burrito shop I found and that was it, thank GOD.

 

[poppabk]

The fact that you would judge diets by what you get when dining out says everything about what separates the US from Europe when it comes to diet.
Even your healthy options when dining out are going to be a it worse than what you can prepare yourself. Restaurants aren't open during the middle of the day because there isn't enough demand.

 

[entremet]

Thread backfire? Thread backfire.

Eh. The OP was misinformed. Let's back off a bit with this stuff. It gets annoying.

It's not like he's ignoring people's experiences and being stubborn. He's learning.

 

[Switch Back 9]

What bugs me is when Europeans point out how much we rely on our cars here in North America.

Because, things are way, way, way bigger and more spread out here. Outside of major urban centres, having a car IS necessary because our countries are so much bigger than yours.

You guys can take a four hour train ride and be in another country. It takes 23 hours just to get out of my province. We have way more land over here and it's pretty much impossible to be any sort of productive without a vehicle.

 

[Irminsul]

In Munich and Berlin nothing was open except for a doner place. It was quite a walk to reach the one in Munich.

Well, of course, because that's exactly what you eat drunk at 4 AM

EDIT:

What bugs me is when Europeans point out how much we rely on our cars here in North America.

Because, things are way, way, way bigger and more spread out here. Outside of major urban centres, having a car IS necessary because our countries are so much bigger than yours.

I'm pretty sure most are talking about the necessity of cars within American cities.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

What part? In Spain, Germany and France clubs were open later than 2.

In Spain nothing was open at 4. Nothing. Madrid and Barcelona.
In Paris and the rest of France I visited, just the lonely McDonalds was open.
In Munich and Berlin nothing was open except for a doner place. It was quite a walk to reach the one in Munich.

Spain(Barcelona, the islands, etc.), Portugal( Porto, the south), Germany(Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich), Poland (Krakow), Netherlands(Amsterdam) and the UK and Ireland.

 

[Bossun]

I can assure you that no one eats crepes for breakfast in France. Must have been a special treat from the hotel you were staying.

We couldn't find the time and the will to cook crepes every single day. It's true that most of us eat bread and butter though.

Butter in every pan man, butter on every bread.
Olive oil for everything that doesn't go with butter.

 

[Switch Back 9]

Well, of course, because that's exactly what you eat drunk at 4 AM

EDIT:


I'm pretty sure most are talking about the necessity of cars within American cities.

My point still stands. The reason many people have cars in the city is because they live in the 'burbs and drive to work. It's not uncommon for people here to commute over an hour each way into a city centre and back home five days a week.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED how much more Europe accommodates walkers and cyclists, but that will never really work in countries as big as Canada, the US and 'Straya because people need their vehicles to do anything outside of the city core.

 

[PdotMichael]

What bugs me is when Europeans point out how much we rely on our cars here in North America.

Because, things are way, way, way bigger and more spread out here. Outside of major urban centres, having a car IS necessary because our countries are so much bigger than yours.

You guys can take a four hour train ride and be in another country. It takes 23 hours just to get out of my province. We have way more land over here and it's pretty much impossible to be any sort of productive without a vehicle.

Possible that the North America is bigger than my country but not sure in what way it should matter.
It's not that people working in New York but live in Florida or LA but you live where you work.

And if you really need 23 hours to get out of your province so I would rather blame the infrastructure.I know many Turkish immigrants who drive from Hamburg to Turkey every summer and they don't need 23h for that. Not even a Syrian refugee needs that long.

 

[poppabk]

What bugs me is when Europeans point out how much we rely on our cars here in North America.

Because, things are way, way, way bigger and more spread out here. Outside of major urban centres, having a car IS necessary because our countries are so much bigger than yours.

You guys can take a four hour train ride and be in another country. It takes 23 hours just to get out of my province. We have way more land over here and it's pretty much impossible to be any sort of productive without a vehicle.

It's not the reliance on cars for travelling distances that would require a car, it's using cars for distances that are readily walkable. Like having to drive between two adjacent stores as there is no path between them. Not having pedestrian crossings. Driving from one side of a parking lot to the other to go to a different store.

 

[Kikujiro]

As someone who lives in Italy, thanks for the laughs OP.

 

[Darren870]

My point still stands. The reason many people have cars in the city is because they live in the 'burbs and drive to work. It's not uncommon for people here to commute over an hour each way into a city centre and back home five days a week.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED how much more Europe accommodates walkers and cyclists, but that will never really work in countries as big as Canada, the US and 'Straya because people need their vehicles to do anything outside of the city core.

Yea, but it still doesn't make sense. If you live in the burbs you should be able to get a train into the city. That's how everyone in Europe does it. However, you still see so many people driving in the US and never taking the train. If there even is one...

 

[Tadaima]

This OP is everything I hate about ignorant tourists' complaints about food rolled into one.

I've met so many people who have been to Europe and have moaned about how Europeans don't eat normally for breakfast/lunch/dinner, and how it's so unhealthy. Hotel/hostel/restaurant/cafe offerings do not resemble what you will find in a typical daily European diet by any means.

For breakfast, most Europeans eat roughly the same as what you eat back in America, except with less sugar/syrup/bacon. Cereal, oats, bread/toast/pastry, and the occasional fry-up, for instance.

If you want to eat like a "normal" European for meals outside of breakfast, go to a grocery store (you might have to drive a bit to reach it... just like you have to back in America) to buy your own ingredients to cook with, then prepare one of the many thousands of European dishes back in your kitchen.


A little off topic perhaps, but I wonder if hotel food breakfasts are typically much larger and carb-stuffed than usual to give you energy for your day of sight-seeing?

 

[Switch Back 9]

It's not the reliance on cars for travelling distances that would require a car, it's using cars for distances that are readily walkable. Like having to drive between two adjacent stores as there is no path between them. Not having pedestrian crossings. Driving from one side of a parking lot to the other to go to a different store.

I get what you're saying, and agree to an extent. But what I'm countering with is that because you need a car for pretty much anything outside of a city, everybody has cars, and thus everything is built around accommodating those cars. It's hard to balance making things easy for a few pedestrians when everybody else has a car they need to park or get around in.

Yea, but it still doesn't make sense. If you live in the burbs you should be able to get a train into the city. That's how everyone in Europe does it. However, you still see so many people driving in the US and never taking the train. If there even is one...

People here also enjoy the countryside and own cottages, cabins, boats and the like and we have tons of farmland and big open spaces. As well, we had the ability to actually plan our cities and neighbourhoods (for the most part) and made sure to give everyone lots of space. One of the things I noticed a lot being in Europe was how claustrophobic everything was. Which makes sense considering people have been building on and in the same settled areas for thousands of years, but nobody sets out to make a city or town that crowded and close together right from the get go. We have the advantage of having lots of space and we use it, unfortunately that means we need cars to get around easier.

 

[The Lamp]

As someone who lives in Italy, thanks for the laughs OP.

I'm going to Italy on Monday. Generalizations and judgments are incoming, just you wait.

You people are beautiful, though. How do you do it?

 

[G.ZZZ]

It's not the problem of country size, it's that the cities were made with cars in mind, whereas european cities were made with pedestrians or horses in mind usually. Also many cities were smaller to be easier to guard too, with fortified walls and whatsnot, because we love to kill each other all the time.

 

[Irminsul]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED how much more Europe accommodates walkers and cyclists, but that will never really work in countries as big as Canada, the US and 'Straya.

My point is that it doesn't really matter how big the country as a whole is. You can still plan cities pedestrian-friendly.

And for everything outside city limits, you'll obviously need some sort of motorised transport (okay, bikes may work, but there's a limit for that, too). Public transport systems can take that part. There are people in Europe commuting every day as well, and that's perfectly possible by train or bus. Yes, the US has a lot of rural, nearly empty space, but people in European rural regions tend to need to have cars as well.

 

[titiklabingapat]

You know, Germany is automobile nation too. The Autobahn isn't only for the dutchmen. Also no, I don't think there are many countries fatter than the USA, probably none in Europe.

But they designed the Autobahn in a way the National Highway System was meant to be, as a way to connect between cities, and not as the main transportation within a city. Most German cities are designed around walking and bicycling whereas most American cities are designed around driving with the Autobahn connecting said cities. We have freeways cutting into the heart of most of our cities in the USA in addition to connecting them.

 

[oti]

Bread is life - every Greek ever

 

[The Lamp]

So you cook at home a lot. How often do Europeans shop for food?

Your markets are tiny and if you don't use cars, running errands like grocery shopping seem like they would be annoying because you can't load up your car. Do you just shop many times a week?

As a side note, the restricted hours thing bothers me even more with stuff like this wretched cough I've just developed. I feel bad because I'm probably keeping my hostelmates awake but I have yet to find a 24 hr or late night pharmacy open.

 

[Oogedei]

Uh, Sauerkraut in Germany? Seriously, what? Yeah there are some "Gasthäuser" and beer gardens where they serve traditional German "Hausmannskost" and beer but this is not the average dinner for Germans. We eat more Doner Kebabs (which isn't even a German dish) or traditional Italian food in Italian restaurants than Sauerkraut. And I live in Bavaria. Also these fancy Burger restaurants are getting extremly popular here and even there you can grab a healthy salad for under 8€.

There are far more non-german restaurants here than those serving traditional German food. Only old people and tourist eat there. So I don't know how you only got into those types of restaurants. You chose poorly, OP!

BTW no offense, just trying to give a correct description of Germany.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

You explained it partly, people who live in European metropolitan areas do tend to walk (or cycle) more often than the average American. The other big difference is portion sizes though, and it's a massive difference. While waiting for your food in US restaurants you'll be given two loaves of bread, then when the meal comes it's the size of a basketball. You eat that way regularly, with sugary snacks and soda in between, it starts to add up.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

I remember watching a documentary that France for example, is a pretty healthy country by in large because they have unhealthy foods in moderation and not in ridiculous portion sizes. Two problems that America is known for.

We're not all like that in Europe anyway! D: It's a pretty big continent. I have shredded wheat with fruit or toast for breakfast personally.

Okay everyone. See, Americans cook, too.
Like when in Europe people go out clubbing till like 4 am but after you leave drunk there's almost nowhere to fucking eat!!!!!

Well, this isn't true at all. Here in the UK, its not hard to find a Kebab or chicken or pizza place open into the early hours to accommodate drunk people. Same in The Netherlands, France, pretty much all of the party islands in the med or Greece...I could go on lol

 

[Beefy]

OP did you remember to leave a tip?

 

[TalonJH]

So you cook at home a lot. How often do Europeans shop for food?

Your markets are tiny and if you don't use cars, running errands like grocery shopping seem like they would be annoying because you can't load up your car. Do you just shop many times a week?

As a side note, the restricted hours thing bothers me even more with stuff like this wretched cough I've just developed. I feel bad because I'm probably keeping my hostelmates awake but I have yet to find a 24 hr or late night pharmacy open.

American here, my understanding from staying with friends in different parts of the EU is that they go to the grocery store more often but buy smaller amounts, while in america we buy enough to last 2 weeks or more. So, they don't have to carry a lot while be fill our car trunks.

Confirmation?