Some things in the U.S. you might say is "common knowledge" or "normal", though it's not until you travel throughout other areas that you may realize there are other ways of doing things.
If you're in Germany it is very common for people to ride bikes everywhere and it's common knowledge that if you hear a bicycle bell ring behind you, you are to stay to the left side as they are telling you that they are going to pass you. Now, since I'm from the U.S. I wasn't aware of this "common knowledge".
There are many things in fact that just the European countries alone do that people in the U.S. don't do.
For instance, did you know that most public bathrooms in Europe you have to pay to use? The usual cost to use a public bathroom is about 1 to 1,50 Euros, or in American terms it's $1.37 to $2.06.
Also, the tour guide that I traveled with told the group that whatever we do, do NOT ask for a free glass of water at restaurants of any sort. It is looked down upon that Americans expect to get things for free and over in most of the European areas they expect to receive payment for every service that can be provided.
As I was learning this new found "common knowledge" and "normalcy", I couldn't help but compare the European ways to the American ways.
If I was riding my bike and someone was in front of me, I'd just yell at them to move. I would never pay money to use a bathroom, in fact, I remember most of the people on my trip saying they'd rather go outside somewhere. And lastly, I used to work at a small town Dairy Queen where we would always have free water and on especially hot days we would be sure to offer them to our customers.
But my point is not to say that there is a right or wrong way of doing things. Though I can see where some stereotypes of Americans and American culture come from. My tour guide and supervisors were very keen on making sure we knew the importance of embracing new ideas and trying new things.
At first, I had no idea what to expect when I was traveling because it's something I have never done before. But a few other things that I had to adapt to was the different ways of transportation, crowds and food.
A common and fast way to get from place to place in big cities in Europe is to use the Metropolitan or otherwise called the "metro". Which in America we commonly use the term "subway". But on this trip, I road the metro with a few of my friends and we had to teach ourselves how to get from place to place. At first this was nerve wrecking, being a small town Minnesotan and especially since I was only 18 years old. Though to my surprise it was very easy to pick up on. I learned that it was as simple as looking at a map with color coordinated lines that told me where I wanted to or where I could go.
Typically I'm used to getting into a car and driving to where ever I need to go but in the busy cities of Europe not many people have cars. It's common in Germany that when you turn 16 years old you are given a bicycle instead of a car because the costs are too much and because there is limited space in Europe. Since Europe is one of the earliest continents, it was never designed for vehicles and fast transportation. That is why most areas over there have close by buildings that are extremely tall. It's meant to fit a lot of people and buildings rather than make room for transportation.
The main thing that I was encouraged to follow when I was over there was to try new traditional foods. A lot of these foods I had never heard of were considered to be a delicacy. And instead of following along with any American stereotypes, I made myself determined to maintain an open mind and try these new foods. Now some of these newly tasted foods were instantly delicious to some of my classmates and others there was not one new food that seemed to taste good at all. It all depends on how much your body will let you adapt because of what you were used to eating previously your whole life.
All in all, after this trip I found myself feeling much more cultured and aware of what else goes on in our world. This is something I highly encourage others to go out and experience. Since knowledge such as this isn't common to everyone, it's a great way to put yourself out there and adapt to new ways of doing things.