5 (More) Things My European Husband Loves About the U.S.
It’s everything we take for granted
I write often about my Danish husband’s genuine opinions on all things U.S.A. While many readers can relate to his struggles, some accuse him (and me) of being negative and not looking on the bright side.
For those who think it’s impossible to see fault in a place you’re at and love it at the same time, here’s another list of five (more) things my Danish husband loves about the U.S.
1. Easy smiles
We in America take smiles from strangers for granted. Yet nothing warms up your day like a genuine smile or two.
In my husband’s home country of Denmark, as in many places in Europe, smiling at people you don’t know can be considered weird, if not rude. So when he first arrived in the U.S., it took him some time to adjust.
“It’s kinda creepy when people smile at you for no reason, but it’s also oddly comforting,” my husband confessed.
Here in California, not a day goes by without a friendly stranger wishing us a good afternoon or just saying hello for no reason.
Sure, this may be a shallow interaction but when your mouth bends into a smile, so does your heart.
Europeans tend to value deep and meaningful connections that develop over time more than “meaningless” small talky ones we so love in the U.S.
Yet my husband and I agree that sometimes life is just easier when you can smile for no reason.
2. The (many types of) smoked meat
For all my husband’s complaints about a lack of cuisine in the U.S., he goes wild for good old American burgers, steak, or ribs.
Wherever we go, BBQ joints are our first choice for dining.
“They do know their smoked meet here,” my husband laughs, as he digs into his Rib-eye.
Too bad he calls those eat-outs “junk food days,” concerned with the growth-stimulating hormones that are being fed to slaughtered animals in the U.S. (the practice is banned in the EU).
He’s also all but disappointed in American bacon. With tiny Denmark being one of the world’s largest exporters of bacon, Danes are hard to please when it comes to pig meat.
Maybe not as delicate (and healthy) as European cuisine, our heavily marinated, smoked, and sauced meats still leave my husband coming back for more and more.
3. Super sizes
My husband is a self-proclaimed “cheap man” who loves a good deal. Luckily, he landed in the right place. A good deal is what we in America live for.
And it starts with our sizes.
“Supersizing is real in the U.S.,” my husband laughed when he first walked into an American supermarket.
While cute Europeans buy their milk in quarts or even pints and store it in their compact fridges, we in the U.S. buy in gallons and store in industrial-size refrigerators. After all, with the huge territory comes the desire for all things big, be it cars, houses, or portion sizes.
My husband who hates tipping, as many Europeans do, does love receiving a giant plate of food, which he can often split into two meals. It makes him feel like he’s getting the bang for his buck, and that’s what it’s all about.
Luckily, my husband is healthy, never gains a pound, and rarely overeats.
Because “these meal sizes are anything but healthy,”he pointed out.
“If you don’t realize how big they are, you don’t know you’re eating too much.”
He has a point. If the rest of the world survives on smaller portions, so could we in the U.S.
“But hey, at least you become a whole size smaller when you cross the Atlantic,” my husband laughed, referring to the fact that American clothes measurements run a size smaller compared to Europe.
4. Good service
While we do tip a lot in the U.S., we also enjoy quality service in exchange more often than not. One is the direct consequence of the other.
Yet my husband is still trying to wrap his head around that.
Even though he tips begrudgingly, he quite enjoys the attentive service he receives in American restaurants and beyond.
“It’s amazing that wait staff here actually takes pride in their work,” my husband noticed.
In Denmark, and in many other places in Europe, where tipping is not common and staff gets paid decent wages, the level of service varies from decent to non-existent. Even in Copenhagen, waiters would often act like they were doing you a favor.
“In Denmark, if you get fired, the government will pay your salary for two years, so many people are just not that bothered with doing their best,” my husband explained.
Yet here in the U.S., we hustle for every penny we make. And that forces us to serve better, even if we have to fake it sometimes.
5. Southern accent
In the very tiny and homogenous country of Denmark, it’s rare to see or hear a face that stands out or an interesting accent.
In America, on the other hand, faces and accents are nothing but different. We may as well be twenty different countries in one, with just as many languages.
My husband is particularly taken with the southern accent, which he doesn’t fully understand but wholeheartedly loves.
“It’s absolutely the coolest thing I’ve ever heard!” he proclaims.
He wishes he could talk in a “colorful language” like that instead of speaking with the “boring” Danish accent. Imagining my husband with a Southern accent cracks me up.
“It’s amazing how within one country you have cultures and accents that are a world apart,” my husband observes.
“You can spend your whole life here and not even come close to seeing and hearing it all,” he concludes.
With all the craziness going around these days, it’s way too easy to fall into negativity. Which is why I’ll make sure to keep tabs on my husband’s happy observations about this chaotic country of ours.