20 WEIRD Things AMERICAN'S Do 

We call it the ground floor in Australia because it is at ground level. The 1st floor is the 1st floor because it is the 1st floor up from the ground floor.

Another weird thing: tipping is compulsory. The employee shouldn’t have to rely on the customer for a living, that’s the employers job! Just raise the prices of food and pay staff more!

Why do American sports crown themselves "world champions" when it is a domestic competition. It's arogent.

An American saying the pledge of allegiance is a little cult-like is awesome. I've been looking for a way to describe it for years.

On line, I generally find Americans to be not only ignorant of other cultures, but determinedly so. They will just refuse to accept any world view that does not echo their own. It's the most frustrating cultural trait.

Love your stuff: Weird things about Americans: 1. Finish sentences with “at.” - where is the car at? 2. Doomsday preppers 3. No separate indicator lights on cars 4. No switches on power points. Maybe it’s different in the US but many appliances (such as pool pumps) don’t have switches so we need an on/off at the power point 5. Say “cream” when they mean coffee whitener 6. Don’t know how to make a cup of tea. 7. Don’t like diesels for passenger vehicles (although there is a reason - the Oldsmobile 350)

What I find weird about the US is that they all care about their rights and freedoms so very much but they don't want to know about any of the obligations that guarantee those rights and freedoms.Y'all need to learn the difference between Nationalism and Patriotism.

@Tristan Kuhn another weird thing about USA is the overwhelming ignorance about the rest of the world. I was living in USA during the first Gulf War and was amazed when engaging in conversation about it and the topic lead to the Vietnam War that except for Vietnam War Veterans, I did not meet a single USA person that knew that Australia fought in the Vietnam War too. I was also astonished when I returned to Australia to learn my country of Australia was on the ground in Iraq and Kuwait (as were other countries), but there was not a single mention in US media except is was USA and UK military. Take a look at some of the John Saffran videos on youtube where he talks to US people on the street and asks questions about the rest of the world... Virtually nobody knew the answers. When I lived in USA in the early 1990's, I was frequently asked if we had electricity in Australia. OMG !!

Why do Americans say “I could care less” when they mean they *couldn’t* care less?

We say first floor because it's the first floor after the ground floor.

A sports one, here in Oz our clubs are mostly community or membership owned, whereas US sports teams are privately owned, i think that's weird, especially when they're giving the Super Bowl cup (Lombardi trophy) to the winning owner, come on that's really freaking weird, the owner gets the cup, makes the speech, then later all the players heap praise on the ownership, like that's so freaking annoyingly weird, like just give the cup to the captain of the team ffs, it's the players time to shine!!!!

Weird things: how Americans use their cutlery, particularly their forks. How they put marshmallows in savoury dishes and salads. How they don’t know words like queue and fortnight. How they misuse the word “whenever” and say redundant things like “off of”. How antiquated their banking system is with very little tap n go and people still using cheques and being paid by cheque or cash not direct deposit. How they use paper towels instead of tea towels. How they have a politeness system at four way stops instead of giving way to the right. So many weird things I’ve encountered on my trips to the USA, but the entree being a main course, the yellow cheese, and the lack of kettles were high on my list too.

Cellphone companies in Australia only charge for outgoing calls. In North America (USA & Canada) cellphone companies charge for both outgoing AND incoming calls.

Differences from US I know of is the coffee is not European/espresso style, a lot more sugar and sweetness in everyday foods, that being said the chocolate isn't as rich, Americans not drinking tap water, random unfinished bridge and road projects about cities, Emphasis on materialism and expectations of character types, Somehow the roads aren't the same they are sealed differently and around cities there's potholes, not sitting in the front of Ubers (although this has changed pretty much everywhere this year) and having a chat with the driver, just getting Ubers everywhere, 150V mains, Older houses in aus have seperate hot cold taps which I didn't really see in the US, calling taps faucets, paper money

My Brisbane apartment building has the “American” flier numbering system and I agree, it makes much more sense. Basically we have the Basement, then Ground/First floor, then second floor (where I am) and on up. I say I’m on the second floor, not the first. It’s definitely a much more sensible system. Also, the egg thing is because there’s a higher risk of salmonella in American eggs, so they have to be kept at a colder temperature. It’s also why they say never to eat raw eggs there. But that’s not the case in other countries with higher food standards (sorry, being honest here). American food standards are atrocious. It’s mostly a profit thing. It’s cheaper to fill your food with crap and cut corners on safety, so they do. But in other countries, we have stricter regulations making sure they don’t fill our food with crap and don’t cut safety corners. For example, I was horrified when I learned that American meat is sprayed with ammonia to kill e.coli. No spraying here. But that’s also because our cows are mostly free range and grass fed and aren’t constantly standing in their and others shit up to their knees, because they’re being packed into tiny feeding lots where they’re fed a shitton of corn (because corn is subsidised by the US government, so it’s got a get used somewhere- it’s also why corn is used instead of sugar). To be honest, as someone who grew up on an Aussie beef farm, the conditions American cows on industrial farms have to deal with just breaks my heart. It’s inhumane, and then it’s also really bloody dangerous for the people that eat the final product. We don’t have that issue here. Our cows roam large paddocks, with hopefully plenty of grass (or if not, they get fed hay that is spread about and also sorghum or molasses, but we are careful to make sure they’re mostly fed grass type feed, because grain actually isn’t very good for cows. We also feed them mulga our west, which is a grassy tree. Basically, the farmer pushes the mulga tree over so the cows can graze on that. The tree is often still alive, just pushed on to its side so the cows can reach the mulga leaves). But- the fact that US cows can’t just run and frolic in nice big paddocks, it’s just sad. Yeah. American food is atrocious. Bad for the animals, bad for the farmers and bad for the consumers. Sorry mate.

When we visited US first time, we found it weird the high amount of toilet water. Just ridiculous! Same with dates. Never got why you said months first. We actually went and bought a kettle whilst travelling cause many if the places didn’t have one. We just assumed it was worldly universal item. Was very odd seeing so much medication being advertised. I hated that! And how patriotic and ignorant about other countries. We went to a regular weekday basketball match, and the full patriotic ceremony with national anthem was done at the start. We often do anthem, but only time we do the full patriotic ceremony at start of a sport match would be a either a final or special occasion like Aus Day/ANZAC Day/Remembrance Day etc. At school we sing anthem and school song at each assembly. I’m all for respect of fallen solider and your independence, but I think US goes way overboard. You can still be proud of your country, without going overboard. And the lack of world history and world general knowledge and events. I’ve got American friends and new family in law and they all had no idea about stuff outside the usa bubble. But they were so curious about learning which was great. I think it’s something desperately lacking in the USA education system. And the allowance of animals on planes. Got the biggest shock when I was dosing on our first internal flight and a dig barked.

I don’t know if this is actually true, but I have heard that most Americans don’t hang their clothes outside to dry. Everything goes in the dryer. I think this is weird if it’s true.

One thing I find weird about the US is how kid's sports teams are tied to their schools most of the time. So, if a kid plays football, the team he plays for will be his school team for the most part. Whereas in Australia, if you want to play a sport you just sign up for a local sporting club's team and play against other local teams.

That's who you look like. Brett Lee.

Not wanting universal health care, even though it’ll be cheaper than what you’re paying now!!

Floors... it is the number of floors ABOVE or BELOW ground.

We refrigerate our eggs. Because we wash them off before sale, which also removes the protective covering. Egg shells are very permeable so stuff can get into them and spoil/poison them w/o that coating, hence the refrigeration.

The Egg thing is a tiny bit more complicated. Eggs basically come out of a Chicken's cloaca (which is an organ that expels both eggs and poop) covered in a natural coating that protects the inside of the egg from the poop and any bacteria that come out with it. In the USA, egg producers "clean" the eggs in a way that removes not only any poop or bacteria on the eggs, but also the natural protective covering that shields the inside of the egg from those things. That means that the eggs in the USA must be stored in a refrigerator, or else naturally, the inside would be vulnerable to bacteria and pathogens. In the rest of the world, the reason why eggs do not need to be refrigerated is because they do NOT remove that protective covering, but in general egg producers globally do also wash and clean the eggs of any poop and bacteria. Also, it's fairly normal in Australia and the rest of the world, to wash your egg before you cook it. But even if you don't the fact that they have that covering, means that the chance of the inside of the egg being contaminated is close to zero.

In the United States, it’s more than a food safety recommendation that eggs be refrigerated - it’s the law. The USDA determined that the best way to fight Salmonella contamination is by sanitizing the eggs before they reach the consumer. The washing process removes contaminants, but it also removes the natural coating of the egg, leaving the shell porous. On U.S. commercial egg farms, it is required that eggs are thoroughly washed and immediately refrigerated before they leave the farm and during transportation to the grocery store.

Cheese in American has food colouring added....noticed this long ago as I'm Canadian/American, and Canada is close to Oz, Commonwealth. We grew up with a hot water dispenser, but no kettle, which I miss not having it here. But electric kettles are a must here and Canada, staple goods!

whats the last number in a countdown ? when a clock starts does it start at 1 or 0 , this is why the 1st floor is the next floor

One weird thing about America/ns: portion sizes. I used to work at a Subway store and an American lady came in to buy herself some lunch. She asked for a large drink with her sub so I grabbed a large cup. She says “No, I said large”. I was just like “This is large...it’s the largest cup we have”. She was surprised. One other thing I’ve noticed working in hospitality in touristy areas is ‘manners’. It’s not really a negative thing but when I worked in hospitality I noticed they’d say “I’ll have ____” or “Can you get me a straw”. Lack of please and thank you. But they almost always said it in an upbeat way so they didn’t come off as rude. Maybe it’s just particular to individuals. Other than that, when I’ve been abroad, Americans are generally speaking very pleasant and sociable people. They have enthusiasm for just about everything.

Thanks for the video! I find our European system more logical when labeling the floors. Basically we count the stairs. And as OberonOZ writes, if you're on the ground, you don't have a floor yet. The two-party system comes you have a majority vote. You have that, for a clear balance of power. But it represents the fewest citizens in parliament. Many other states have a proportional representation right. A lot more citizens are represented, but getting a majority for a government is more difficult. Parties then have to form coalitions. But actually that's a plus because power is shared. I'm from Germany. When it comes to selling, we strictly differentiate between medicines and other personal care products. There is even a ban on advertising drugs that only a doctor can prescribe. In the United States, there is a problem that many people have become addicted because they have had too little medication. It might help if the US passed stricter drug sales laws. I'm looking forward to your next video. Sorry, my english is not so good.

Ground floor is your starting line. Anything else is above or below. Your can have Basement 1 and 2 and then floors above. Makes sense.

The egg thing is actually quite fascinating. In the US eggs are typically subjected to a harsh cleaning process to make them look shiny and perfect; this destroys the natural protective coating of the egg and causes them to spoil more easily, hence the refrigeration. In Australia eggs aren't cleaned much at all, it's common to find bits of straw or chicken shit stuck to them; so they don't spoil as easily. Also as an Australian I will never ever use a kettle, I boil water in a saucepan. Kettles are very difficult to keep clean - go look inside an empty kettle some time, it's disgusting.

You could discuss the banking sector and the use of cheques/checks. If you want you can also discuss the words for holding 2 alcoholoc drinks at a time. Also not having overhead lights in apartment lounge areas and using lamps plugged into the outlet with the switch near the door. That America loves utes/trucks. Hope you really enjoyed your time

Aussies literally don't regard the "ground" as a "floor" ...a floor is - to us - the other side of a "ceiling" and its totally natural for us to think this way.

I think of the floors like a vertical number line. Ground floor is zero on the number line. So it could be called Floor Zero. Then you go upstairs to floor 1. Sounds logical to me. :) The floor below is floor -1, etc.

Referring to one of your other video's Fosters was a big beer company over here from owned by C.U.B in the early 1900's and until the mid to late 80's When it was sold to a British company now it's many sold in the UK and the cans were blue Cheers

Garbage disposal in the sink. That seems so useful now that I think about it, but I was really shocked when I learnt that Americans have those. This one I'm not sure on since I haven't lived in America. In movies/tv American schools have a cafeteria and it seems like a bunch of kids use it and eat there. There is the stereotypes about a "lunch lady" or that the school food sucks, or that everyone fights over the slices on pizza day. In Australia we call it a canteen. They have great food because it's more like a business in the school than a part of the school. Not that many kids actually go there (maybe 5% of the school each day?). I remember when I was in primary school everyone was really jealous of the kids who got lunch orders. Idk if that is a fake stereotype made by movies because drama in the cafeteria is more interesting than eating your sandwich while playing footy on the oval.

If you want to understand why we label the building levels the way we do in AUS think of a ladder. The ground level is zero and the first step on the ladder is first level, the second step on the ladder is second level etc. Interestingly the former world trade centre site in New York is called Ground Zero.

Okay, because you asked, I find it odd that people say they are going to the "bathroom" when they are going to a toilet! Businesses do not have bathing facilities - they have toilets! 😊

With the eggs it's actually todo with how they are cleaned as well as the fact that they are refrigerated.

we used to have !c and 2c pieces, but they got rid of the copper coins, our dollars were paper and we had 1 and 2 dollar bills

As for other weird things about the USA Nothing is ever small, only "regular"

The floor system I find is not just Australian. Like degrees Celsius or day/month/year date format it's only the USA who doesn't do this.

I wish I had $5.00 for every time this guy said "Like"!

Eggs are sold in the fridge/cool section, and they last about 2-3 weeks longer being stored in the fridge then not being stored in the fridge

The kettle thing is because US power is 120v (240v in Australia) so it takes longer to boil water in an electric kettle. So a microwave or gas cook-top is faster.

You are so right about ' ranch'. What is in that stuff?! The pledge of allegiance is way weird too. Gr8 fun vid

Having grown up part in America I have too much personal experience about culture shock. One of the craziest thing was about food. Whether the crazy side difference or the insane food coloring on everything. I’m happy that I got to experience it growing up since it makes me have more of an open mind to things.

Hey can you please tell me about iced tea. I hear so much about southern American iced tea but when I went to try some and buy it from Coles it was all flavoured and stuff. Which one is closest to proper iced tea? The floor thing is first floor above the ground, that’s why it’s done that way. Do you ever pay the actual price marked? Between weird sales tax and tips you never know what you’re paying.

American: wheres your bathroom pal? Australian: why, did you need to take a bath? American: no! I need to do a number 2 Australian: NOT in my bath you not mate.

Great video. Don't agree about the building numbers! Lol Look at building like rungs on a ladder. If your feet are on the floor (ground) you're not classed as the first rung of the ladder - because you haven't started climbing yet. You're on zero rungs.... It's where the saying ground zero comes from. It's the starting point, level with earth... after zero comes 1. I think only America calls ground level, first floor, so if it were a democracy, we'd win 😅😅

Something to consider with your debate/defense of a ground floor being the first floor: How do you then denote subterranean floors? -1, -2, -3. If the ground floor is 1 and the first basement floor is -1, where is floor 0?

Eggs have to be refrigerated if they're washed. Which in the US, is mandated, and in Europe/UK it is mandated NOT to wash them. There is a thin layer of protection around the shell that is impervious to bacterial penetration. And so the eggs can be left unrefrigerated. In the US however the eggs are washed with warm water, removing this coating, making refrigeration necessary to stop them spoiling

Lol nope. In one story buildings they only have a ground floor. The first floor is above the ground floor. Its commen sense. You need to spend more time here

Ground floor is zero floors away from ground. Then you can have basement floors B1, B2, B3 which are equivalent to -1, -2, -3. In America you must have to go straight from 1 to B1, which is weird.

I am English and went to live in NJ for a couple of years, there are far too many ads for medical stuff.

Yes, we need a parliamentary system for just the reason you mentioned: a chance for all viewpoints to be represented, as well as the parties KNOW they HAVE to compromise to get ANYTHING done

Probably because we call them levels not floor. So level 1, level 2, etc so it makes more sense when you say level than floor when level 1 is the next level after ground.

If you live in a house do you call it the first floor. Plus buildings can have floors below street level.

I totally agree about the floors in buildings. I never really noticed it because I rarely go into multiple story buildings. It makes much more sense the American way.

Mobile phone, not cellphone. One (penny) and two-cent coins were removed from circulation in 1997, (but they are still legal tender). We do tend to keep our eggs refrigerated these days.

Ground floor is like zero. It would be weird if you had multistories above and below ground to start with one on the ground floor. Ground floor is the level that allows you to leave the building because it's level with the ground outside.

Some countries refrigerate eggs because they have a higher risk of salmonella. In Australia chickens are immunised against salmonella which means the chance of your eggs making you sick are very low.

I agree we should number floors at 1, not ground and then 1 but that said, I'm a train driver (that's railroad engineer) and Australian locomotives are numbered with a class prefix of usually 2 numbers (a letter in Victoria) and then the unit number within that class. Eg; the NSW 44 class had 100 units, numbered 4401 - 44100. American locomotives are numbered from zero. Eg; if there were 100 locos in a class, they be numbered (let's say) 4400 - 4499. When else does one start counting anything from zero?

If you're in a one story building then you are on the ground floor. Not the 1st floor. There is no first floor because there is no second floor.

Mico is the only way to super heat water. You can actually get the temperature above 100 degree cel which is typically boiling point. But I’m a mico you can actually get the water above 100 and that can cause severe third degree burns. So yeah use a kettle

The egg thing has a little to do with refridgerating it, but it has a lot more to do with washing the eggs. If you wash the the eggs, it removes a protective layer that massively reduces bacterial transmition & propagation through the shell. Australia does the same thing in some states. If washed you have to refriderate to extend safe self life.

Im a Melbournian and i agree the floors are stupid. One building near my work has ground floor , 2nd ground floor and then 1st floor (both are above street level). So im clicking level 1 in the elevator to go to what is essentially the 3rd floor wtf

Look into MintMoible for reasonably-priced cellphone service in America.

On the topic of eggs... so not to endanger anyone. Eggs are treated differently in the USA vs some other countries. In the USA eggs are "cleaned", they are stripped down to their shell, removing the natural protective film over the eggs. From this point, the eggs are required to be refrigerated to prevent the growth of salmonella. The UK doesn't remove this film and as a result, don't need to refrigerate eggs. Australia cleans a little further than this, so they aren't refrigerated in the store, but should be refrigerated at the home.

Sobriety tests.. just breathalyse them if you think they've been on the piss. Also the lack of slang, the inability to laugh at themselves (everything is offensive), lack of swearing, unable to tell where someone is from due to their accent... "yall from England". lol But don't get me wrong.. every now and then I come across an American that restores my faith in the entire country ;)

Hi Tristan Eggs in the USA are bleached which makes the shells porous so unfortunately, they can't be kept on the shelf... White eggs, and white teeth freak me out. BTW Have you considered that in every country apart from the USA, travelling up 1 flight of stairs leads to the 1st floor, 2 flights leads to the 2nd floor, etc.?

How about not being able in some states that you can not pump your own gas for your car?

7:30 Also if you map out the Democrat and Republican parties on a political spectrum which includes political parties from all the world's liberal democracies the American ones actually fall to the right. The Democrats are roughly centre-right and the Republicans are far right. The US has no real political parties which fall to the centre-left or beyond. If you map out the candidates for the upcoming election on a scatter graph with the vertical axis being authoritarian - libertarian and the horizontal axis being left - right, the candidates for both major parties are scattered all around each other within the same authoritarian right quadrant. 26 out of the 31 candidates are within this quadrant. Of the 5 outliers only 4 are are on the left side of the spectrum. Bernie is technically on the left but he is literally almost straddling the centre line. So if Bernie were a candidate in Canada, Western Europe, or AUS/NZ he would be a hard moderate, the Democrats would be the major conservative party and the Republicans would be the far right quack party which keeps accidentally having neo-nazi scandals and incidents that everyone finds mildly entertaining but doesn't hold any real power within government.

About the floors difference it’s a matter of transition. It literally means above ground. So that’s why the American second floor is actually first floor anywhere else.

the egg thing. I could be wrong but I think in the states the egg are washed. This destroys the protective porous shell, and the eggs then need to be refrigerated. Of course, as you said, once refrigerated, eggs need to stay refrigerated as the moisture in the fridge will destroy the protective coating on the eggs. Sadly the real issue is poor husbandry of hens and using detergent to rectify the problem at the end rather than addressing the initial problem So glad you can see how illogical the date thing is

I like the way you think through things - you are travelling to expand your mind.

I live in Australia....my school (used to) sing the nation anthem every Monday (stopped cause of corona....Social distancing) So it’s not really weird for America to do that

I'm Australian and I've always thought it as ground floor, second floor ECT

Tristan, I hope you stay in Australia for a couple of years.... until things get better in the USA. You’re very welcome over here.

Eggs in America get washed, which removes a natural coating called the bloom, as well as any random poop smears. The bloom actually protects the egg from bacteria though, so if you wash off the bloom, you need to refrigerate the eggs, and you need to freak out at the thought of eating raw egg because it is more likely to be contaminated.

Eggs are washed in the US due to FDA and USDA regulations. Here in Oz they aren't, so the protective coating stays on

Try Red Leicester cheese orange and delicious !

Water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 Celcius. So seems to be an easy gage of temperature

There is a different way they prepare eggs in the US to Australia... can't remember exactly what, but I read it somewhere.... but one of them wash the eggs and the others don't... so one has to be refridgerated. It is a difference with the food standards.

Australians use to recite the pledge to the Royal Family every morning at school and even as far back as the 70's, (sigh) when I was a young'un we sung the national anthym every day at assembly. As an Australian, I totally agree. 1st floor and Ground floor should be synonymous. None of this offset nonsense.

10. makes less sense to call it 1st floor when you measure distance you start at 0 or in this case ground, and there are so many other examples, birth to year 1, speed 0 to 100 etc.. starting at 1 seems a bizarre thing to do if you compare it in that way

Good onya Tristan, your learning about the real world. That is life outside the US.😊

Technically in a 1 story building you would be on ground level? Add another story to that 1 and you get a 2 story house that’s where it gets confusing

I don't find the two party political system particularly weird. However, the rallies and conventions that go with politics in the US are very odd. I have only ever seen them on TV but they look more like a religious revival than a political rally. For me, politics is about financial and social policies first and moral superiority a distant second. US campaigning seems to be largely about establishing moral superiority first then viewing policies from that vantage point. I've seen many interviews where people say, "I'm a Republican." Whereas, if I were of that political persuasion, I would say, "I vote (or voted) Republican." It's like they have a sense of identity or total commitment or something I don't know. I would like to hear your comments on this difference.

I started using ISO dates yyyy/mm/dd long before 2000. Also swapped VCR for one with 24 hr clock after accidentally recording mid-morning crap instead of late night brain food, My house would confuse you--two levels at front, one at back. Which one's Ground floor?

Talking about time. When I worked in NY they would say a quarter OF 5. We would say a quarter TO 5, or 4:45. I found that "of" really weird.

Weird thing about America: your butter is white! Apparently this is because the cows that the milk comes from are kept indoors. In Australia, dairy cows have time outside in the sunshine which increases their levels of vitamin D, which in turn gives Australian butter a yellow colour.

I have heard a lot of buildings in America do not have a 13th floor, is this true?.

We (Australia) actually have laws against advertising prescription medications because they don't want people to misuse them. Misuse of anti-microbial medication can create super bugs (diseases resistant to treatment) and make people resistant to treatment. America has far less strict rules on medication and medical treatments.

Electric kettles aren't common in the US because of the voltage. Typical kettle is 2,000 to 2,400 watts which at 240 V is 10 amps or less. At 120V it would be 20 amps which is not a common outlet size. The alternative would be a 1200 Watt kettle that would take 20 minutes to boil water. The weirdest thing about America is that they think it is the greatest country on earth and ten give stupid reasons.

One thing I love and respect America for is how patriotic they are toward their culture, I wish we in Australia can be as patriotic as the Americans

US has about 18000 police departments. Aus has just one police dept for each state and one at a federal level. And you drive on the wrong side of the road

I love that you gave more of a trigger warning for Ranch than you did for the pledge of allegiance 😂

The ground floor is at street level. The first storey built above the original building is known as the first floor. This makes it a two storey building.

FYI - egg refrigeration is because the US (and some Australian states) washes the eggs, this removed the seal from off the eggs pores making them susceptible to bacteria. If the egg is washed, it must be kept in the fridge!

Ok, the bathroom thing I so agree with. I have been all over Europe and United Kingdom and they have nice private bathroom stalls. They also have private bathrooms Stalls in Asia I've been to both Korea and Japan and they have the same thing, what is up in the US on this?