r/AskEurope • u/sapphicor Spain • 2d ago
Culture How do you think your country deviates from the rest of European countries? What's common in your country that is NOT as common in Europe as a whole?
I'm from Spain and I'd say: how late we apparently eat. I'm used to having lunch at 14-15h and dinner at 21-22h, sometimes later if I don't have to wake up early the following day. Every single time I travel to another european country and I have to eat dinner at like 19:30 or earlier my stomach gets so confused, because that's usually the time I'm eating merienda (a snack before dinner time). It's not easy to adapt!
I think in Portugal they also have dinner at 21h or so, shout out to my Iberian siblings :D
Tell me how your country differentiates from others, I'm curious!
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u/Tychus_Balrog Denmark 2d ago
We celebrate Christmas by dancing around the tree while it's got live candles on it.
No electric lights. A proper christmas tree is lit with flames.
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u/annesche 2d ago
LOL, years ago I told an American on Twitter we always had real candles on our Christmas tree as a family in Germany (no dancing though, and many Germans have switched to electrical).
It was funny the way she was horrified!
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u/_Tursiops_ Germany 2d ago
No dancing, but we still have proper candles on our tree in Germany! And a fire extinguisher as well as a bucket of water in the same room ...
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u/Tychus_Balrog Denmark 2d ago
People suggested these measures the last time i posted about this.
I don't know anyone who has a fire extinguisher or a bucket of water in the room with the tree. Precisely because it's never gone wrong. But that's obviously one of those statements that could age like milk.
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u/_Tursiops_ Germany 1d ago
We always had the fire extinguisher (but never used it). Then a few years ago (for the first time ever) one small part of the tree actually started to smolder because of a misplaced candle. We luckily spotted it quickly and then briefly considered the fire extinguisher. It however seemed to be a shame to spoil the tree, the room as well as the Christmas brunch by covering all of it with the content of the fire extinguisher... so we dumped a cup of tea on the burning part instead and happily continued with our celebrations. Since then we have added the bucket of water so no more tea needs to be wasted in cases of emergency...
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u/Tychus_Balrog Denmark 1d ago
That sounds hilarious. It's happened for us multiple times that we've forgotten to blow out the candles when they reach the bottom, but every time that's happened they've just fizzled out instead setting fire to the tree.
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u/sapphicor Spain 2d ago
I'd like to hear a Dane firefighter's opinion on that tradition hahaha
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u/Krikstar123 1d ago
My colleague is a former firefighter we actually talked about this yesterday😄It’s pretty rare that anything happens because we’re all brought up with it and know the do and don’t. Fx taking the tree inside a day or two before so it stays fresh when candles are lit to lower the risk of fire.
Almost all the fires happens when the trees have been inside for a week all dried out and some “genius” decides to light it up a last time before taking it down and then forgets to pay attention and let the candles burn all the way down 🙈 Then things suddenly go really fast!🥳🔥🔥🔥
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u/Tychus_Balrog Denmark 2d ago
It's certainly never happened for anyone in my family that the tree has burst into flames, nor do i know of anyone who's had that happen. But that's obviously anecdotal.
And when i Google christmas tree fires in Denmark a lot of recommendations and results turn up, so clearly it does happen.
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u/Tramagust Romania 1d ago
Denmark is an honorary balkan country when it comes to safety. You guys do things that make the serbs blush.
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u/Tychus_Balrog Denmark 1d ago
When you don't have mountains or any natural disasters, you have to make life exciting in other ways.
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u/lilputsy Slovenia 1d ago
I think clip on candles were also a thing here. I remember my grandma having them in her christmas box but we never used them. They were really old and some of them were broken.
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u/_Tursiops_ Germany 2d ago
As the school year is about to start, you will see a lot of children in Germany walking home from their very first day of school with their Schultüte (school cone). Usually it is an approximately 80cm long nicely decorated (often done by parents/grandparents) cardboard cone that is filled with gifts for the child - such as stuff they will need for school, sweets etc. The cone marks that the child is now ready to start their time at school and helps to make this special day even more exciting. It's an old German tradition and I think only a few of our European neighbours have picked up on it.
Small thing, but might be quite confusing for non-German visitors to see.
The school system that these children then enter is another thing that is very different from many other European countries. In Germany children only spend four years together in their primary school before they are separated based on their grades (and/or parent's wishes). Students with good grades go to the Gymnasium for another 8/9 years to get their Abitur to study at a university. The others spend less years in school, do not get an Abitur and usually will pick a more practical profession that requires vocational training.
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u/EfficientActivity Norway 1d ago
That first part is beautiful tradition that I wifpsh we may adopt here n Norway. The second part is stupid. Kids develop at different pace. I have some friends that struggled hard well into their teens, only to find their potential and become very distinguished academics later on.
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u/sweetpatata 1d ago
There is always the possibility to switch school types and attain Abitur in an untypical way, like I did.
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u/sikminuswon Germany 2d ago
Depending on your state it's 6 years primary school like in Brandenburg
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u/VirtualMatter2 Germany 2d ago
I didn't know that., interesting. My kids would have hated it. They were already bored in year 4. In year 6 a second foreign language starts here in Gymnasium.
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u/AnnMitz84 1d ago
In Mecklenburg Vorpommern kids go to primary school for four years, then do another two years in the orientation stage. After that, they get split up depending on how they’re doing in school or what their parents want.
Some „Gymnasien“ even start in fifth grade, for example for gifted kids or sports schools. Those kids can switch straight after primary school by taking a test.
Second languages also vary. My son, for instance, has had English and Spanish from first grade all the way through twelfth.
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u/LordGeni 1d ago
That sounds very similar to the old UK grammar school system.
Speaking to a therapist friend, apparently they see a lot of people with issues that stemmed from not getting into grammar school. Whether that's a universal thing or more to do with the British obsession with attaching class and snobbery to certain trades and educational routes is a different matter.
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u/nooit_gedacht Netherlands 1d ago
We seperate students by grades as well but it happens much later for us, at about age 12. I didn't know it was so early in Germany
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u/AlmightyCurrywurst Germany 1d ago
For most states it's at age 10, but Berlin and Brandenburg also do it at age 12
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u/Fair_Philosopher_930 1d ago
So, if I understood correctly, you have schools for students with good grades, and schools for children with mediocre or bad grades?
Yeah, I'm a teacher in Spain and it sounds wild to me, but it makes sense when you're a society focused on academic success and career opportunities :)
With a system like that, I presume children (and families) take education more seriously, not like here, where sometimes it feels like schools are just a place where parents can "park" their children while they're working.
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u/_Tursiops_ Germany 1d ago
The system is often criticized for being unfair, entrenching social inequality and putting too much stress on young children. It also doesn't seem to be very effective in promoting academic excellence as student's overall performance has been plummeting for decades across all school types.
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u/Unhappy_Performer538 2d ago
That is a lot of pressure to excel very young
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u/Simple_Exchange_9829 1d ago
It’s no pressure at all if you speak German at home and got some brains. I mean it’s elementary school - the easiest part of the whole education system. You learn to read, write, socialise and do the most basic maths. If that’s a challenge you as a native then you probably won’t make it at the school which prepares you for university.
It’s much different and unfair for immigrant kids though.
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u/crucible Wales 2d ago
That’s much better than the British practice of standing your kid in front of the house at the start of the school year, and taking a photo of them which you (the parent) then share to Facebook…
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u/HelenaNehalenia Germany 2d ago
Fotos are taken too in Germany, but the Schultüten tradition is far older than owning personal cameras.
East Germany also has the tradition of doing a private party plus fireworks for Einschulung, at least in Dresden. Very annoying because it's loud!
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u/notdancingQueen 2d ago
One thing that confused me from France is that there's no school on Wednesday, and that (before, now I don't think so) instead they have school on Saturday mornings
That said, many schools offer extracurriculars on Wednesdays,
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u/tamamanleponey 1d ago
French here, never had class on Saturday mornings, and don’t know anyone that did.
It’s true that most kids younger than 10-11 y.o. don’t have class on Wednesday, although some of them have class on Wednesday mornings more and more often.
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u/Alalanais France 1d ago
I had class every Saturday morning lol (and Wednesday morning too in high school, it was exhausting). I wonder if it's region dependent
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u/notdancingQueen 1d ago
I don't know, I went to school in Spain but was told about this by French friends (I'm old, disclaimer) But I checked a couple of years ago in the lycée français and école française where I live and Wednesdays were still no-lective
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u/Four_beastlings in 1d ago
During my student exchange in Caen they had class on Saturdays. But that was 25 years ago.
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u/Waffles_Revenge United Kingdom 1d ago
Here in the UK my dad's school was closed on Wednesday afternoons and open on Saturday mornings. I think a lot of shops also had Wednesday-afternoon closing for some reason.
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u/FakeNathanDrake Scotland 1d ago
I actually knew this, purely because it came up in a French textbook we used at school (and if that book is to be believed, going to school Monday-Friday, off at the weekend is apparently referred to as "the English Weekend")
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u/LaoBa Netherlands 2d ago
Home births are still quite common on the Netherlands, about 20% of the babies are born at home. No other European country comes even close to that. Most mothers who have their baby in the hospital go home within 24 hours. Post natal care is provided at home.
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u/liadhsq2 Ireland 2d ago
I went down a massive rabbit hole on the Netherlands maternity practices and found it fascinating. Am I right in saying that maternity hospitals don't look like classic hospitals : as in dimmed/muted lighting, and that they are very focused on how pleasant the space feels for the mam?
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u/DolarisNL Netherlands 2d ago
There are special maternity houses run by midwives. Most of the time these are semi-connected or in very close proximity to the hospital. When you go there for labor and delivery, it's indeed very focused on making it a nice experience. It's like 'your home but better'. The 'downside' is they only offer basic pain relief options and if you need anything else (epidural etc) or a medical intervention needs to happen, you have to go to the hospital.
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u/DeHarigeTuinkabouter 17h ago
I'm not unsure how uncommon it is elsewhere, but having your loved one who passed away laid out your house for a few more days is also relatively normal.
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u/Gladys_5 2d ago
In Belgium there is a deep-seated phobia of providing water for free. It’s getting better, but the notion of scamming people for bottled water by making no tap water available seems to be a national passion.
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u/SnowyMountain__ Belgium 2d ago
I've seen it cost €10-12 for a single 1l bottle in Belgium. Just insane.
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u/inostranetsember living in 2d ago
I don’t know if it’s special, but as an American living in Hungary, I’ve always been surprised by how early everything happens here. Meaning, a lot of people are up at the crack of dawn, go to work by 0800, generally finish work at 1700, eat dinner soon after, and especially in my small town, lights out by 2000 or 2100. Like, maybe this is a small town thing, but weekend nights are dead by that time.
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u/suvepl Poland 2d ago
When I was a kid learning English, it took me a long time to understand that "9-5" is a synonym for "day job", because the hours seemed totally nonsensical to me. Of all the adults I knew, factory workers started at 06:00 and office workers started between 07:00 and 08:00.
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u/GalaXion24 1d ago
I would say 8-16 or 9-17 is pretty typical in Europe. I think it depends a lot on the school system, when children need to be at school, and whether parents take them. E.g. if I had to be at school at 8:15 and one of my parents, say my dad, took me, then he could be at work maybe at 8:30 earliest.
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u/Old_Pangolin_3303 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yup, that’s a small town thing. I hated it when I lived first in Kisvárda, then in Zalaegerszeg so I moved to Budapest. I suppose all the people craving for those night activities has done the same
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u/Fit_Organization7129 2d ago
Standard office hours in Sweden is 8-16/17.
Shifts are usually 6-14, 14-22 and 22-6, so lights out or at least being at home around 21 is normal.
Unless it's a supermarket or convince store most businesses are 10-18
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u/Draig_werdd in 2d ago
It's a Central European thing, or more exactly an Austrian-Hungarian thing. Czech republic and Slovakia have a similar schedule.
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u/ContributionSad4461 Sweden 1d ago
The Nordics as well, actually maybe not the Danes because they’re a little less Lutheran than the rest of us
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u/inostranetsember living in 2d ago
That's interesting! Didn't know that. Wasn't in Czechia long enough to notice.
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u/principleofinaction 1d ago
The story goes that Franz Josef couldn't sleep, since he was an old dude, but being an emperor he decided nobody else was going to be sleeping either...
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u/Draig_werdd in 2d ago
It's not that visible now in Prague, as there are many foreigners, foreign companies plus a lot of the services are catered to tourists, so follow a more "normal" schedule. But in Czech companies is still the same. All my Czech colleagues also like to come as early as possible, so they start work between 7-8 in the morning.
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u/inostranetsember living in 2d ago
Same here. Lots of my university colleagues will happily start classes at 0800 (and not me; don’t even look at me).
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u/lilputsy Slovenia 2d ago
Isn't it better to start early and be done early? At my job people fight who's gonna start at 5:30 so they can be done by 13:00. No one wants to work till 15:30 and working til 16:00 is just terrible.
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u/erikkll Netherlands 1d ago
Why? If you have to get up that early you have to go to bed early as well so you have a really short evening. Getting up later means you don’t have to get to bed early. It doesn’t really make a big difference.
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u/lilputsy Slovenia 1d ago
Because you get more day time to spend with your kids doing activities outside.
Edit: also if one of the parents starts later, they can take the child to kindergarten and the other one that ends earlier can pick them up after nap time at 14:00.
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u/MindControlledSquid Slovenia 1d ago
Why?
Apart from what he already say, I would add that it could also let them circumvent the rush hour, which can be pretty bad from 6-8 and 14-16 in certain places.
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u/sweet_and_smoky Poland 2d ago
For me the most unique thing in Hungary is the wine diluting practice. There are even names for different proportions of wine to water!
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u/inostranetsember living in 2d ago
Ah, fröccs! Love it. Usuallz with soda water, and with different names for different amounts, as you said. That's something I didn't know was specific to Hungary.
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u/sweet_and_smoky Poland 2d ago
Yeah, in PL spritzers are treated like cocktails, there's syrup, some other alcohol and stuff. Just wine + sparkling water doesn't appear on the menu.
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u/Em1666 2d ago
Ah, I'm hungarian and can never remember the names. Sportfroccs you avoid though, it 90% sparkling water! Then there's the hazmester, vicehazmester....
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u/demaandronk Netherlands 2d ago
They do this in Spain too, red wine with soda
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u/Which-Echidna-7867 Hungary 1d ago
We do this with white or sometimes with rosé, never with red wine
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u/Business-Raise2683 1d ago
Yes, I'm one of those Hungarians who struggle with everything being so early. I have colleagues who arrive at work before seven and leave work at around three. I start to become productive around three...
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u/Loraelm France 2d ago
I know you're American, but I swear it's allowed to put a colon or an H in between the hours and the minutes
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u/inostranetsember living in 2d ago
Sorry, former military cadet, four years. I’m used to writing it that way.
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u/hwyl1066 Finland 2d ago
I guess saunas being everywhere and most everyone having strong opinions about the customs and types. It's really a part of daily life.
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u/noCoolNameLeft42 France 2d ago
My first point is that, maybe due to the size of the country, I think we have pretty permeable borders. Meaning that Lille in North of France is a very belgian city whereas Nice in the south east has a very italian vibe (northern Italy at least). On the border with Spain we have Basques on the west of pyrenees and Catalans on the east. Alsace is so German that it was part of Germany a century ago. There are a lot of small differences like we are known in south west France to "eat at spanish hour" even so we dine a bit earlier than Spain it's a lot later than east of France.
Second point is food culture. I feel like it's fading a bit with newer generations but food is really important. We don't really eat on the go. We take time to eat no matter what. Family gatherings or evening with friends can easily mean hours at the table eating and talking. Each small part of the country has its special dishes, cheese or even wine.
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u/VirtualMatter2 Germany 2d ago edited 2d ago
Taking time to eat is much healthier for you. France is doing this right. It shows in life expectancy and low obesity rates. I hope the next generations stick to it. In Germany home cooked meals seem to be fading away slowly and are often only eaten at Grandma's house in many households. Not all households, but I'd say around 1/3 to half, and rising. Kids don't get taught how to cook because the parents rarely do and often don't even know what a lot of vegetables are called. Exception are the Turkish kids.
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u/Wafkak Belgium 2d ago
Well Lille was historically a Flemish city, so it makes sense ut feels kinda Belgian.
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u/noCoolNameLeft42 France 1d ago
This is where it comes from, yes. Thousands of years of history and conquests. Nice was also italian at some point, french and spanish basques regions were once united... Everything has moved a lot. That's why culturaly, a Breton, Ch'ti, a Provençal and a Basque are very different.
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u/Valuable-Yard-4154 Belgium 2d ago
As a older chef in Nantes I can tell you the newer generation knows what it's doing. High level of mastering in the kitchens.
As for the general population I think healthy eating and eco awareness is predominant now.
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u/TetrisIsTotesSuper 1d ago
The number of courses is also important. Always starter, main and cheese, sometimes dessert as well.
The amount of bread we eat is staggering to everyone else
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u/0urobrs Netherlands 2d ago edited 1d ago
Sandwiches for lunch every single day, usually a very simple combo of two slices of bread with some cheese, peanut butter or jam. After spending a few years abroad I can't go back to this.
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u/alababama Türkiye 2d ago
My colleagues were terried to hear I eat two warm meals each day. If you were eating warm lunch it should be salad or sandwich for dinner. I told them I could do what I want and they could too.
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u/msbtvxq Norway 2d ago
That’s also the norm here in Norway. Generally, every meal outside of the main dinner (which is typically eaten right after work at 16-18 o’clock) is usually just a few slices of bread (open sandwiches) with simple toppings like cheese etc.
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u/team_cactus Netherlands 2d ago
If I had regular access to brunost, I imagine I'd eat it on bread every day for lunch with no complaint.
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u/AnnelieSierra Finland 2d ago
It is not limited to the Netherlands: I've had my share of sandwich lunches in Britain.
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u/Wafkak Belgium 2d ago
Only dinner? In Belgium this is also breakfast.
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u/sapphicor Spain 2d ago
My friend who lives abroad in Belgium complains about that all the time. When I visited I bought stuff and made my own breakfast at the airbnb because that's what he recommended lmao
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u/demaandronk Netherlands 2d ago
Its never dinner, always lunch, and yes breakfast too, though that can also be yoghurt or cereals-porridge etc. Im very odd for eating actual food at lunch.
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u/NoPersonality1998 Slovakia 2d ago
That's what we took to school as kids every day (no peanut butter though). We call it "desiata" and it's a meal between lunch and breakfast.
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u/PinkSeaBird Portugal 2d ago
We call it lanche. But in the NL they eat that at lunch not between breakfast and lunch.
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u/fdenorman Netherlands 1d ago
Two slices? More often one slice of bread folded in half. Or an open one with butter and chocolate sprinkles...
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u/amunozo1 Spain 1d ago
How can you considered a developed country? That's a postwar era lunch.
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u/OllieV_nl Netherlands 2d ago
Dinner at 19:30? Excuse me that's coffee time, dinner is at 6 on the dot.
For us, bicycle culture. Sure the Belgians and the North Germans have it too, but not as big as us.
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u/arrig-ananas Denmark 2d ago
Denmark would like a word.
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u/OllieV_nl Netherlands 2d ago
The Copenhagen index is a deluded joke.
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u/arrig-ananas Denmark 2d ago
Only been to Amsterdam, so I can't compare the rest of the country with Denmark, but Amsterdam seemed a lot like Copenhagen in amount and use.
Loved the city and people, by the way.
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u/Valuable-Yard-4154 Belgium 2d ago
There's more bicycles in Nederlands than people.
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u/Notspherry 2d ago
From what I gather, Copenhagen is a relative outlier in Denmark, while the cycling infrastructure in Amsterdam is below average compared to the rest of the country. You just get a lot of cyclists because there are a lot of people living close together.
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u/QuoD-Art Bulgaria 1d ago
Copenhagen is close to Amsterdam, but Denmark isn't close to the Netherlands.
I lived in a small village in the Netherlands (1500 people) and not only did the village itself have bike lanes, I could get to any city nearby using ONLY bike lanes.
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u/Gladys_5 2d ago
Compared to the Netherlands, Belgium is extremely hostile towards cyclists. That’s why Remco Evenepoel got knocked off his bike by a bpost driver who parked in a bike lane and opened his car door without checking the mirrors.
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u/NegativeMammoth2137 🇵🇱 living in 🇳🇱 2d ago
Honestly I think the weirdest part of your dinner culture to me is not that you start it at 6 but the "on the dot" part. For us the dinner time is not really fixed beyond that it falls some time in the evening between 17 and 22 generally but the exact time differs by family and can change day by day depending on what we were doing
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u/0urobrs Netherlands 2d ago
This is also how it is for most Dutch families, I'd say somewhere between 17-20. The 18.00 thing is more for old people and families with very small kids
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u/Witte-666 20h ago
I can confirm this. The last time I was in the Netherlands, I couldn't find anything to eat after 20h. I had to go back to Belgium for food.
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u/PeriPeriAddict 2d ago
Im english and i have heard from people who move here our binge drinking culture is quite shocking. its very normal for people to get shit faced in a pub or club every weekend. Its unusual to find someone who doesnt drink at all, and if you dont drink it can often be harder to make friends as so much socialising revolves around it and people can find it odd
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u/Hot-Delay5608 1d ago
It's been pretty normal in the rest of Europe especially central, north and eastern. People especially young get shitfaced regularly over the weekends and have been for decades. The Nordics have actually laws and alcohol sale restrictions. It's just more talked about in the UK imo
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u/26idk12 1d ago
I remember my forensic science class in law school when they categorized people into three drinking styles: Brits/Scandinavians: get shitfaced as quickly as possible, Eastern Europeans (mostly vodka countries): get shitfaced at same or higher level as Brits but Marathon style (if ever visited Polish wedding with drinking till 3-5 AM you understand) and Westerners/Southerners - wine or beer there and there, near always tipsy, rarely dead drunk.
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u/Dexterzol 2d ago edited 1d ago
Sweden is honestly pretty different from continental Europe.
It's not densely populated at all, so much of it is just wilderness. Some semi-rural areas still have dirt/gravel roads. It's a big country too, unless you live in the southern end, travelling between countries like people casually do in Western Europe is completely alien. Hell, it's not uncommon to fly inside the country itself.
Because of the wilderness, guns are also a pretty normal, unremarkable thing in the northern regions, since a lot of people still hunt. Generally, Sweden is pretty vehicle-centric outside the big cities - not just cars, but also ATVs, snowmobiles
Cash barely exists anymore. Everybody uses a card or a money transfer app called Swish. I was genuinely shocked at how much cash is used when I visited Berlin.
Alcohol is pretty restricted. There is one chain of liquor stores run by the state, and you never see people having a beer or some wine at work in public, unless you count bars and restaurants. Public drinking is actually illegal.
Also,.people are pretty independent. Swedish people like their space and freedom. In the more northern and rural parts, people generally want to be left alone to do things as they please
Swedish people also don't really do small talk. We aren't very performative, there aren't a lot of big gestures and loud talking, not a lot of big smiles unless you truly mean to smile
EDIT: Also snus. Pretty much nobody smokes anymore, but those nicotine pouches are incredibly common, even though they're illegal in the rest of the EU
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u/tendertruck Sweden 2d ago
Public drinking isn’t illegal. It can be prohibited in certain areas, but there’s nothing illegal about in general.
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u/sapphicor Spain 2d ago
I was thinking, what the hell when I visited Sweden last summer there were people drinking outside!
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u/DreadPirateAlia Finland 2d ago
That is pretty much Finland and the Finns as well (except that the Finns will make the Swedes look like extremely expressive social butterflies).
Technically in Finland drinking in public places is a minor offense, but only if you are disturbing the peace. You can drink openly in public, as long as you behave yourself & aren't bothering anyone.
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u/ContributionSad4461 Sweden 1d ago
I don’t know the actual law in Sweden but IRL it’s applied the same way as yours; they’ll take your alcohol if you’re underaged, too drunk or causing a scene (in the sense of disturbing others, the same amount of noise will be very differently tolerated if it’s daytime in a park full of kids vs nighttime with other revellers, for example) but otherwise they don’t really care
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u/rmoths 2d ago
Also since Sweden is not densely populated the roads are wide and the houses are often big with a big garden. In Europe even the small villages the houses sits together in Sweden the villages are like a residential area with detached houses.
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u/Dexterzol 1d ago
That's true. It's well known that in Stockholm, you're spending millions to live in a broom closet, but if you're okay living in some random Norrland town nobody's ever heard of, you can get a big house with a massive yard for basically nothing. (Source: I am from a town like that)
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u/NoPersonality1998 Slovakia 2d ago
What about cashless payment in those semi-rural or rural areas? Is internet infrastrucrure needed for this usually available there, or they use more cash over there?
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u/AnnelieSierra Finland 2d ago
In Sweden and Finland internet is practically everywhere. If there is not a landline you use the 4G or 5G networks. There is no difference between urban and rural areas if you talk about using cash.
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u/SongsAboutFracking Sweden 2d ago
Unless you need to do some shopping from a local Sami vendor in the middle of Sarek national park there will be internet and thus payment options. Cash is only for drugs and larger scale moonshine operations.
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u/Dexterzol 2d ago
Unless you're in the middle of absolutely nowhere, most places will have Wi-Fi or at least be covered by the 4G/5G networks. Technology also catches on really fast here, even my grandparents are all-in on digital payment, smartphones etc
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u/salsasnark Sweden 2d ago
95% of Sweden has internet, so unless you're in the rural mountains, you'll have access.
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u/ContributionSad4461 Sweden 1d ago
I find pine forests to be much more problematic in terms of coverage tbh, never been to, say, Sarek though and that’s probably a completely different beast. It’s just surprising how big swaths of route 84 is in radioskugga even though you have people living along it!
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u/the_pianist91 Norway 2d ago
If you go even a step or two further on these points you got Norway. You centralised into regional towns and cities, where as we kept our spread out settlements, rural life is still the romantic dream of many Norwegians. Some of the domestic flights in Norway (there are many of them) are some of the most frequented in Europe. It takes as long time to fly from Oslo to the most northern parts as it takes to fly from Oslo to southern Europe.
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u/Dexterzol 1d ago
It's always crazy to think of the vast distances in the Nordic countries. When I found out that you could drive from Malmö to Paris, and then drive halfway back again in the same time it takes to drive from Malmö to Kiruna, it blew my mind.
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u/BattlePrune Lithuania 2d ago
Lithuania is way less densely populated than a lot of Europe, so if you drive 10min outside the city you might encounter gravel roads. Roads in general are wide, not a problem to drive huge cars at all. Also towns have distinct borders and in between them there are fields or forrests, it’s not a never ending settlement like many other countries.
It’s also very easy to find chalets for rent or purchase that are very private, you can spend your weekends partying with loud music or hang out naked without anyone in sight.
Alcohol is pretty restricted, you can run into issues buying any if it’s too late.
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u/Dexterzol 1d ago
I've always felt like the Baltics have more in common with the Nordics than Western Europe does in some aspects, if I'm being honest
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u/SolviKaaber Iceland 1d ago
Most Icelanders go to local swimming pools very frequently, some go multiple times a week. It’s a popular communal gathering place.
Ice cream stores are open all year round and it’s common to get ice cream mixed up with candy/fruits similar to a McFlurry.
Iceland is among the top consumers worldwide of lamb and fish.
Because of the low amount of sunlight in Iceland, most people take some type of Vitamin D supplements, most commonly Lýsi (in liquid or pill form) which is a cod-liver oil.
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u/Four_beastlings in 1d ago
As a Spaniard in Poland it was shocking to me that people still use formal speech like we did in Spain 50 years ago. If I call a 50 yo woman in Spain "señora" she's going to at the very least give me a death glare, and probably hit me with her purse. Meanwhile in Poland everyone is Pan/Pani and I've been told it starts the moment you become a young adult (18-20).
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u/liadhsq2 Ireland 2d ago
In Ireland, maybe around funerals/death. Once someone dies, they are buried/cremated within a couple days, absolutely no more than a week unless there's extenuating circumstances. My grandad died a three days before my first birthday and he was meant to be buried on my birthday, my grandmother flat out refused which would have been unusual.
We also have a website called "RIP.ie" where deaths are logged and you can search names etc. People post condolences, gives info on the wake/funeral, families wishes. I think this might be unusual.
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u/Sepa-Kingdom 2d ago
The while tradition around wakes is unusual too. I’m not Irish, so would be interested if you could explain it.
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u/ForeignHelper Ireland 1d ago
It’s important to note and something I only realised recently when talking to British colleagues, deaths in Ireland are rarely a private thing. You don’t be invited and it’s not unusual to attend a wake and/or funeral for someone you barely or don’t even know - might be an important community figure, or a relation of someone you do know etc. Over a two day wake, many people will drop in throughout the day for a cup of tea and sandwich, pay respects to the body and socialise essentially. It basically becomes an open house for the community.
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u/FakeNathanDrake Scotland 1d ago
Wait, do English (Welsh?) folk need an invitation to go to a funeral?
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u/ForeignHelper Ireland 1d ago
I found out when someone didn’t want to go to their SO’s family member’s funeral, then the day before it, felt guilty so said they’d go but it was too late as the numbers and names of attendees had been finalised. It’s obvs not every British scenario but it’s the most common one. They also have to wait weeks before they get a funeral, which is wild to me. Like you just have to carry on as normal, doing normal life stuff waiting to say goodbye.
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u/talideon 1d ago
Wakes are complicated. You can think of them as a way to take the edge off the loss of a loved one. They're a celebration of a life lived and a way to commemorate them. It gives those who might not be able to attend the funeral or burial a way to visit the family and give their condolences. They also serve as a way to ensure the person really is dead. Keening used to be a thing done at wakes too, where there was basically a designated mourner, but that's largely a thing of the past.
Between waking and how quickly we bury the dead, I think it leaves us with a pretty healthy attitude around death overall.
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u/annesche 2d ago
In Germany "Adventskranz" is a big thing, meaning "advent wreath". It's a decorated wreath with four candles, you light the first candle on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, the first and second candle on the third Sunday before Christmas, and so on.
It gives a nice rhythm to the weeks before Christmas, the sundays being called "1. Advent", "2. Advent" etc.
I don't know how much this custom maybe has spread to other countries.
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u/J_Linnea 2d ago
In Sweden we have "adventsljusstake" or advent candleholder. It's usually like a rectangular box with four candles that you fill with lichen and moss. You light another candle each sunday and have fika with gingerbread (often with blue cheese lately) and saffron buns.
Every morning from the beginning of December there is also the julkalender (like advent/jule calender) on tv for children which is a different show every year produced by SVT (Swedish Broadcasting Company) often with a story centering around christmas. After the show the host opens a window on the paper advent calender which has a theme of that that years show and a picture inside correlating with that weeks story. What the show is going to be each year is often a big topic of conversation leading up to it and it has been going on since 1960.
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u/annesche 1d ago
Almost every child has an advent calendar in Germany - decades ago it started with paper calendars with little pictures behind the door, in my childhood it was either (bought) little pieces of chocolate behind the doors or, if self made, little pieces of different candies for example in 24 decorated and numbered match boxes, or in little pockets that were sewn into a special wall curtain or similar.
Today it's immensely commercialized: like a small or even big toy (like a Lego set, or 24 parts of one set) every day, and many grown-ups have calendars as well, with 24 perfumes or 24 teas or 24 whiskeys and similar grown-up stuff.
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u/KondemneretSilo Denmark 1d ago
It spread to Denmark in 1940, but had been known since Nordsleswig/Sønderjylland returned to Denmark after World War 1.
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u/Organic-Ad6439 Guadeloupe/ France/ England 1d ago
How long kids are in school maybe (France). I didn’t go to school in France but kids (even nursery and primary) are in school from like 08:00-08:30 till 16:00-17:00, that’s longer than some people’s working hours. 40 hours a week in school on average (I’m aware of the long lunch breaks and long holidays but still).
For the UK: postcodes, our (along with Ireland’s) system makes more sense apparently as they are more precise. W11 2ED in London is more precise than say 75008 in Paris.
England more specifically: being able to drop all essential subjects (Maths, English and Science) before the legal school leaving age (18 for us) in a traditional brick and mortar school setting even if you want to go to university. I’m not aware of any other country in the world where this is possible (without of course doing international A-levels). So I could finish GCSEs, still be want to go to a sixth form and/or want to go to university but be able to only say do Sociology, French and History.
Maybe I’m wrong in terms of this being unique on all fronts though.
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u/LordGeni 1d ago
That's because it's only recently compulsory education changed from ending at 16 to 18. So the core subjects were mandatory throughout the compulsory part of education and further education was where you started specialising, either towards a degree, a practical trade or got a job.
All the change to ending compulsory education at 18 did is remove the last option, rather than properly restructuring a continuation of the high school requirements.
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u/Organic-Ad6439 Guadeloupe/ France/ England 1d ago
Yep but that doesn’t change the facts though.
Tbh I’d support making the legal school leaving age 16 again or having a long term phase out (over 10-20 years minimum and excludes GCSE English Language and Maths) of GCSEs and move towards more realistic or continuous assessment then keeping the age at 18 but I doubt that’s a popular opinion.
I’d also make GCSE Geography a mandatory subject (over MFL and RE like some schools do) with the syllabus regularly updated to reflect climate change (if it’s important for students to learn about this) but I doubt that we have enough Geography teachers. This is despite the fact that I didn’t sit that GCSE but I probably ought to have.
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u/Ekra_Oslo Norway 1d ago
Crime stories (in books and TV series) has been a central Easter tradition in Norway for about 100 years.
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u/stefandjnl 1d ago
Dutchy here. Our direct communication really sets us spart. This is especially noticable in a business environment. We don't beat around the bushes. Not being direct and honest also makes one untrustworthy. You really need a thick skin if you live in this country :-)
We also care far less about hierarchy then most of our neighbours. In a meeting a junior can speak up if he or she has a great idea. I guess this also reinforced by the fact that kids are taught from a young age to speak up for themselves. Boys, but especially girls.
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u/Drejan74 Sweden 2d ago
Smoking has almost stopped in Sweden. Instead many people use "snus", which is tobacco that you put under your lip.
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u/OkLiterature7393 2d ago
When do south Europeans sleep? In Norway school starts at 8-830, kids need 10-12 hours sleep. At 2130 our 3 year old has been sleeping for hours.
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u/sapphicor Spain 2d ago
when I was in school I started classes at 8:00 and ate at 15:00 when classes ended and I got home. then merienda at 18:30 or so and dinner at 21:00, in bed around 22:30.
now I'm currently between jobs but at my last job I started the day at 7:00 to get there at 9:00 (very long comune which is why I quit ultimately), began eating at 13:30 because that's when our lunch hours started. got home about 19:00 and had dinner at 21:00-21:45 or so then went to sleep like half an hour later
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u/spicyfishtacos 1d ago
On a side note, it's a theory that Spain has such a late schedule because of time zones. They are at the extreme of CET (GMT+1), so the sun is basically at the noon position around 13:30/14:00.
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u/exposed_silver 2d ago
My kids sleep from about 21:30-22h until 8-8:15h, school is 9am until 16:30, the after school activities are from 17h to 18:30-19h, dinner time 20:30 at the earliest. Supermarkets are all open until 21h, restaurants don't usually serve food before 20h
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u/ContributionSad4461 Sweden 1d ago
Funnily our grocery stores are open quite late, even in my small town the latest ones close at 22. Forget about finding an open restaurant at that time unless it’s the weekend though!
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u/sokorsognarf 2d ago
The late-eating custom is the very thing I like least about Spain. It’s the one thing that would really stop me moving there
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u/sapphicor Spain 2d ago
If it's of any help, not everybody in Spain follows this custom. For example, older people (my grandmas for once) wake up sooner and eat sooner, then go to bed earlier. So all restaurants and bars already have menus at 13h and then at night at 20h if you walk in—mostly in big cities or more touristic places, since a lot of foreigners eat there. But also in smaller municipalities where there's an older population!
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u/salsasnark Sweden 2d ago
As a Swede, 20 is still VERY late. If I go out to eat, I'll book a table for 18 or at the very latest 19. I usually eat at 17 or even earlier than that when at home. Whenever I go to the south of Europe, I go to the restaurant as they open and sit there alone with no locals 'cause everyone goes out to eat so late haha.
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u/gallez Poland 1d ago
Yeah, but the worst part is, restaurants close between the early lunch slot and the late dinner slot.
When I'm on holiday, I'm usually doing an activity until 15-16h (hiking, sightseeing etc) and I'm hungry when I'm don. In Italy or Spain, I'm out of luck and need to wait until 19-20h before any restaurant opens.
I'm not accustomed to this, I sometimes "force" myself to eat an earlier lunch then I'd like to, because otherwise siesta will start and everything will be closed.
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u/sokorsognarf 2d ago
I just wish the country would undo the Franco-era time-zone change, which makes no sense to keep
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u/DogfordAndI Slovenia 1d ago
A peculiar one perhaps but safe sleep for newborns here practices seem to deviate from the recs of all major organisations' recs. Newborns are placed to sleep on their side, often even inside a baby nest, with crib bumpers, under blankets etc. A practice that would probably make the lullaby trust flip the proverbial table.
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u/Socmel_ Italy 1d ago
I think Italian sweet (and light) breakfast is quite uncommon in Europe, where the vast majority will have a lot of savoury options. Sure, muesli or cereals are also a thing, but our breakfast is exclusively hot beverages and sweet ( biscuits, bread with marmalade, pastries, etc).
Having a 3 months summer holiday during your school years seems also the exception. I haven't heard yet of school goers in other countries saying "alright, see you in September" in June.
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u/Finrod___Felagund Italy 2d ago
In Italy too! I think other southern European countries, like Greece, do it too.
Although here I do merenda (the Italian version of merenda) earlier, like at 16:30
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u/herlaqueen Italy 2d ago
*Southern Italy, it's not a nationwide thing like in Spain. Lunch starting at 12-13 and dinner at 19:30-20:00 is common in large parts of Italy (but 100% agreed that merenda is at 16:30, that was when the good cartoons were on when I was a kid).
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u/task_machine 2d ago
In my experience even in some parts of Spain like the país Vasco they eat not-so-late, clearly in Bilbao you find restaurants open everytime, but people eat earlier
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u/Krikstar123 1d ago
Not my country but Italy and Germany when it comes to restaurants and dinner time:
Italy: 20:00 restaurants open for dinner Germany: 20:000 restaurants closes for the night 😅😄
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u/IllustriousPrice2647 2d ago
Spain is not in the correct time zone it should be. Once you subtract the 2 hours ahead we have, our times for lunch and dinner are the same as the rest of Europe.
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u/Jagarvem Sweden 1d ago
Spain (excl. western Galicia) is one hour "off", not two. Obviously there's DST too, but so is there everywhere else so that's hardly relevant in relative terms.
And it's not the only country in the "wrong" timezone; France, Belgium and NL are for example in the same solar time zone too. It roughly stretches from Lugo to Basel. Paris and Barcelona are near perfectly in line, Madrid is ~25 minutes more "off".
The "rest of Europe" also does not eat at the same times, typical eating habits differ immensely. And, even by solar time, Spain does have a relatively late eating schedule.
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u/Business-Raise2683 1d ago
Apparently I need to I live in Spain or Portugal... I eat late and it's kinda hard when colleagues want to eat lunch together at twelve.
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u/Medium-Dependent-328 1d ago
In Ireland we're obsessed with education. The school leaving exams and college admissions are all over the news every year. Also, we have an extremely high college attendance rate
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u/beseri Norway 1d ago
Probably our cross-country skiing and hiking culture. Like, I am not talking about going doing it once or twice during winter. Many Norwegians will go regularly cross-skiing during winter. After work, during work, in the weekends, when ever and multiple times a week. This also goes for the cities, in Oslo you will see people on the subway with skis going for a quick trip.
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u/Erkolina 1d ago edited 1d ago
Sweden here,
In terms of general culture dads take several months of parental leave, housewives are not a thing - women work. Our core values are that everyone is responsible to provide for themselves which means that even if you are sharing your household (married or just co habitate which us very common) both are expected to contribute to the best of their ability both financially and in terms of chores.
Politics wise our right wing party is like the American democrats. We believe in paying taxes and having healthcare for everyone, no school fees (you even get paid to go to university) and the majority of people don’t go to church regularly – if at all.
We don’t eat hot breakfasts unless you’re in a hotel or want to spruce it up a little on the weekend. It’s generally buttered bread with cheese or ham and coffee or tea. Some eat porridge. Lunch is a cooked meal (free in schools) and often brought in a box to be heated in the break room at work.
Music lessons are publicly subsidised so many kids learn to play an instrument, it’s said that that’s the reason we have so many international artist considering the size of the population.
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u/Significant-Yam9843 Brazil 2d ago
Brazilian here and despite being a former colony, the time of meals seems to be different, I tried to put kinda of the normal ranges of time when we generally have the meals, depending on what time we wake up, have a lunch break, etc etc...
breakfast 6h - 8h
snack time around 10h (something light as some fruits)
lunch 12h - 13h (or 14/15h in cases of hard schedules)
snack time again around 15h-16h (something light as some fruits or maybe a protein shake, maybe a smoothie, or a bowl of fruit salad)
dinner 18h - 20h
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u/supremefun 1d ago
France: I am not sure exactly what I could choose, but I think we have more people living in single detached houses than most of the continent (or at least than western European countries). As a result we have many suburbs with cars and malls more so than other European countries I've seen, at least around us. France is not very densely populated at all except for some specific crowded areas where the opposite happens. Also we have many mid-size cities that are not very attractive, and few actual large cities.
I live in Italy now and what they call a house is more often than not an apartment, and it's a lot denser (and yet they have more cars for capita than in my country...)
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u/8bitmachine Austria 2d ago
In Central European countries, lunch is usually the biggest and only warm meal of the day; dinner is often very light, similar to breakfast. Also, in Austria lunch is usually at 12:00, and dinner often at 18:00 or even before that. At my workplace the canteen opens at 11:00 (and quite a few people do have lunch that early) and closes at 14:00, but after about 13:30 most meals will be sold out and only a few unfortunate souls will eat whatever is left.