The European Lifestyle
I belong to a country in Europe and I love the culture and lifestyle!
I am from Portugal, a country in the Iberian Peninsula, neighboring Spain. Many people think that Portugal belongs to Spain but this is not true. European countries have a beautiful culture and lifestyle! that may be strange to visitors because it is different from their country, especially our American friends.
One of the biggest differences they feel when they see here is that we drink espresso in the coffees, sitting on the coffee terrace and we don’t drink the American coffee in the travel cup, we enjoyed those five minutes of relaxation to enjoy our coffee quietly before we proceed to the rush of our day.
Europeans have many traditional dishes as well as regional culinary specialties. Specialties tend to be very local, so some pastries can be seen in a city, but not 100 km away.
Europeans eat more varied and balanced meals (especially in southern cultures) and less fast food than Americans (except perhaps the British). Europeans eat more cheese (not just the French!), more yogurts, and, on average, drink more wine and beers stronger than Americans.
Americans consume sweeter foods and much more soft drinks than Europeans. U.S. alcohol laws are much tougher than anywhere in Europe. In general, it is forbidden to drink alcohol before the age of 21 in the United States, even with parental consent.
Age controls are more common and more severely punished in the United States than in Europe.
This for me is super interesting to see the biggest differences.
There are many differences between Europe and non-European countries, not only in terms of food and drink as I mentioned but in relation to laws, politics, national health systems and other places.
It’s funny to see these cultural shocks between people when they go to other countries to visit and get to know other cultures and other customs.
In Spain for example, a European country, my neighbor here in the Iberian Peninsula has a habit of sleeping the “siesta” (nap) after lunch nothing like Portugal, where hardly anybody sleeps after lunch.
