Random observations of Europeans

[InkL0sed]

So, I've just come back from visiting Belgium and working in France for a month, and I felt like sharing some of the things I noticed about the people I talked to.

CAUTION: Not for the easily offended at possibly inaccurate generalizations

Wallonians have horrible French accents, and the French never let them hear the end of it.

Europeans don't seem to understand how different the US is. Some of the questions I've been asked while there (comments in parentheses):

"Are there Moroccans in New York?" (there is pretty much any ethnicity you can think of in New York... this was asked by a couple Belgian kids to me - Belgium is rather inundated with Moroccans specifically, for some reason)
"What language do you have to learn in high school?" (as if every high school did things the same way; also very revealing of how schools work in Europe)
"Oh, you're going to college next year? What do you want to do?" (kids apparently have to decide their major before entering college)

Belgium is the land of surrealists for a reason.

I think I've figured out some subtleties with the cheek-kissing greeting thing. In Belgium, men will kiss each other on the cheek. In France, they shake your hand. Also, I think they tend to go on the left side in France, and the right in Belgium. Not very sure about that, though.

[Pedronicus]

you should of read your guide book. Kissing the left cheek of a French person signifies that you are a homosexual, Kissing the left cheek of Belgian shows that you are straight. on the border of France and Belguim - gay guys don't kiss either cheek, they just pull down your pants and gobble you off.

[pimpdave]

I have noticed the Europeans wear fanny packs with confidence, and act like EuroTrash to my amusement.

Also, it's really funny when they get condescending and self-righteous, cause they're usually skinny malnourished girly-men, and we Americans are just generally bigger and stronger.

[Snorri1234]

"Are there Moroccans in New York?" (there is pretty much any ethnicity you can think of in New York... this was asked by a couple Belgian kids to me - Belgium is rather inundated with Moroccans specifically, for some reason)

Yeah, I think it's more of a thing that Europeans can't envision how big new york is. Each european country has ethnicities all over the country, instead of certain areas in the city.

And also, Moroccans are sort of the only actual ethnicity Beligum has to really deal with. They feature quite heavily in crime-reports on the news, and since we never hear about crime in NYC (duh, shit could be a 24h newsbroadcast and it would still not cover everything) people tend to think you don't have them.


It's pretty racist actually, but that's what kids are like.

"What language do you have to learn in high school?" (as if every high school did things the same way; also very revealing of how schools work in Europe)

Belgium schools learn English, Dutch, French and German I believe. (Much like dutch schools.) And every highschool teaches them but not every highschool does so to the same extent. I'm not entirely sure about belgium, but in the Netherlands we have four different types of highschools which teach the same subjects but the higher you go the more in-dept it goes. (The lowest highschool level here ends in four years, while the highest ends in 6 years.)

"Oh, you're going to college next year? What do you want to do?" (kids apparently have to decide their major before entering college)

Not exactly. You just enter one education. If you want to study law, you go and study law. If you want to study medicine, you go and study medicine. It is indeed so that we immediately go for one single path and ignore every other study (though next year I will take a few classes from other studies), but switching is relatively easy here.

We don't have a minor-major thing here, but that is compromised by a.) not letting everyone into college (you have to pass the highest level of highschool) and b.) giving people more time to decide since you can only get to uni after 6 years of highschool.


Did I mention we get money from the government to finance our first 10 years of university? (Not a lot, but it does help.)

[Snorri1234]

I think I've figured out some subtleties with the cheek-kissing greeting thing. In Belgium, men will kiss each other on the cheek. In France, they shake your hand. Also, I think they tend to go on the left side in France, and the right in Belgium. Not very sure about that, though.

In Holland, men don't kiss eachother on the cheek at all.

[comic boy]

British men dont kiss each other ( mostly ) and dont learn languages, we are not very European you see

[Grooveman2007]

I have noticed the Europeans wear fanny packs with confidence, and act like EuroTrash to my amusement.

When I was in San Francisco in June nearly 1/3 of all the people I saw were European tourists. And yes I too found them and their silly fanny packs very amusing. What was also strange was that half of them were behind them instead of in front, seems a little stupid of them, that's like saying "Hey! Steal from me, I'm wealthy and naive and there's a good chance that I don't speak english!" I also found that the French make really needy tourists, they were always finding something to complain about. I'm thankful that the only people that ever visit Rochester are wealthy Sheiks and Kings.

[pimpdave]

http://www.blairmag.com/blair3/gaydar/euro.html

[MrBenn]

fanny packs=bum bags

[jonesthecurl]

http://www.blairmag.com/blair3/gaydar/euro.html

Worryingly, the panel agreed with me in every case. "too clueless to be gay", chuckle.
If it were possible to plumb new depths of being shallow, that site would qualify.

[Salubri]

is fanny pack the same as a belt bag?

[pimpdave]

http://www.blairmag.com/blair3/gaydar/euro.html

Worryingly, the panel agreed with me in every case. "too clueless to be gay", chuckle.
If it were possible to plumb new depths of being shallow, that site would qualify.

Well, certainly, searching google for EuroTrash vs. Gay, finding that site, and then posting the link in thread must certainly qualify as being a more deeply shallow than just the site existing.

[pimpdave]

is fanny pack the same as a belt bag?

[InkL0sed]

Basically, no.

[InkL0sed]

Belgium is the land of surrealists for a reason

So, yeah, a couple examples of what I mean:

I was taking the subway in Brussels. The train arrives in the station - and you have to open the doors yourself! Not only that, but they're pretty heavy! Good luck with that, in a country of senior citizens.

Then there's the inside of the train. Not only is it dirtier than the MTA (which is saying something), but half the car is empty, with a sign saying that this space is for bicycles.

I notice there isn't any space reserved for the handicapped, however.

On to the second example; in New York a few months ago, they bought this bus from Germany and used it, as a kind of experiment. The thing was apparently wonderful - low-riding, easily accessible for the disabled, comfortable, etc.

The thing was made in Belgium. And yet the buses in Belgium are just as horrible as the subways. wtf?

[Pedronicus]

Bum bags were a fad in England in the eighties - but we no longer see them in use by English people. I don't know why the europeans still use them. As someone already said above.. It shouts out 'TOURIST' - and thats never a good thing in a big city.

[MeDeFe]

And what is a bum bag?

[Pedronicus]

And what is a bum bag?

What these two idiots are wearing...

[MeDeFe]

Oh, those things.

[jonesthecurl]

http://www.blairmag.com/blair3/gaydar/euro.html

Worryingly, the panel agreed with me in every case. "too clueless to be gay", chuckle.
If it were possible to plumb new depths of being shallow, that site would qualify.

Well, certainly, searching google for EuroTrash vs. Gay, finding that site, and then posting the link in thread must certainly qualify as being a more deeply shallow than just the site existing.

True. I was pretty ashamed of following your link.