In this episode of: I shouldn’t be writing about studying abroad while studying abroad, but I am anyways, here are some of the culture shocks we are experiencing here in Europe/Ireland.
Nobody Drinks Water everybody just drinks alcohol. This might be the biggest adjustment. In the states, everyone has their water bottles, there are water fountains, and you’re served water when you sit down at a restaurant. Here, water fountains don’t exist ??? You have to pay for water at restaurants and lowkey get made fun of if you ask for it.
The Sheer Cost of Things things here are cheaper than in the states. I can go to the grocery store and do a weekly grocery shop of fresh produce and meat for 30-40 euros. At a pub, a beer is roughly 4 euros and a mixed drink, 7-9 euros. You go to a coffee shop and you can get your coffee for 2.50 and a pastry for 2-4 euros. I sat down at a well known pizza shop in town and paid 12 euros for an entire pizza; that’s half of a Volturno pizza! I got my nose pierced and it cost me 40 euros, in the states it would’ve cost me well over 100.
Walking Everywhere yes, we do a lot of walking at Holy Cross, especially up and down stairs, but here, people walk everywhere. The University here has 18,000 students, so naturally the campus is much bigger and walks to class take more time. You need groceries? Better grab your tote bags and start your mile walk. You want to go into town to grab a coffee? Better start your mile walk in the other direction. You want to go to a bar on a Saturday night? Grab your rain jacket. Even if you want to take the bus somewhere, you have a decent walk to the bus stop and another decent walk from the bus stop to your destination.
Minimal Tipping there is a small list of things you tip for and when you do it is only 10%. At a pub you don’t tip for your drinks, you don’t tip a taxi driver, you don’t tip an employee at a cafe, they wouldn’t even take a tip at the piercing shop!! Unlike the states where someone would rip you a new one, it’s not frowned upon if you don’t leave a tip. If money is tight or the service at a restaurant just wasn’t the best, there is no obligation to leave a tip.
Public Transportation sure, in big cities like Boston and New York the subway and the T are popular and are frequented, but not all cities have these easy public transportation networks. In many of the cities and towns we’ve visited in Europe, they’ve had easy, affordable, working public transportation. There are also buses and trains running across all countries, all day, everyday, that are super direct and affordable.
European Dogs this is an interesting one, but European dogs are better behaved than some people. You will almost never see a dog on a leash, as they all walk or run next to their owners and never run off.
Lack of Iced Coffee and Coffee Size personally, I am not a big coffee drinker so this isn’t as big of a shock to me, but they don’t do iced coffee in Europe! There is a place on campus that has iced coffee, but if you ask for an iced coffee anywhere else they look at you like you have three heads. The coffees are also incredibly small. If you order a hot coffee they will likely hand you a four or six ounce cup.