Every country is different—for example, Americans may find it odd that people in Britain or Canada spell behavior as behaviour, or that restaurants in Europe might close during lunch time and open late for dinner. And that confusion definitely goes both ways.

Plenty of foreigners look at some of our traditions—things that we in the U.S. don’t even think twice about—and find them a bit strange.

Here are some of the things we’re talking about:

1. Asking to take food home at a restaurant.

   Whereas we see it as being economical—instead of letting the food go to waste, you can eat it for lunch tomorrow— Europeans are totally freaked out by this, thinking that taking food on the go is a health hazard. In France, it’s actually illegal to take food home!

2. Supersized items.

   Other parts of the world tend to err towards a “quality over quantity” motto. And that’s not to say Americans don’t value quality, but we can’t deny we love to supersize everything from drinks to burgers and ice cream sundaes.

3. Shopping at huge superstores.

   Foreigners are already confused by our need to supersize everything—and that includes our giant-box stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, etc. Shopping in bulk is super weird to them and are baffled by the volume of stuff Americans seem to think they need.

4. Tipping at restaurants.

   In America, tipping is pretty customary and, while not mandatory, it would be considered rude to not leave a tip because it’s likely the wait staff’s only income, or it’s only supplemented by a very small fee. In other countries, tipping isn’t required or even expected due to the higher hourly wages earned.

5. Having super boring currency.

   American dollars are green and black—nothing wrong with that at all. Except for that other countries have bills with all the colors of the rainbow, and some even have metallic accents. Plus, there isn’t a ton that differentiates between a $1 bill and a $50 bill, whereas other countries’ money doesn’t look as similar to each other.

6. Free refills.

   Even in America now, free refills aren’t quite as common as they used to be, but it certainly wouldn’t be weird to see this at various restaurants. However, other places in the world typically get one drink, and that’s that.

7. Putting ice in everything.

   Water, whisky, soda, even coffee—Americans love our ice, even during the winter. Different parts of the world actually view ice as something that waters down your drink, and prefer most beverages without it.

8. Having restaurants open 24/7.

   American diners are a staple, and we know we can get some French fries at 2 a.m. and it wouldn’t be weird. But that’s certainly not the norm for other countries.

9. Paying additional sales tax.

   Surely this is something we don’t want to do, but nonetheless, foreigners find it strange that the sales tax is added during checkout. In other countries, the taxes are already factored into the price.

10. Going to a drive-through.

    If we’re in the nick of time, of course, we’re going to drive through the drive-through instead of walking into a store to order the coffee or fast food. However, in other parts of the world, it’s customary to always park the car and walk through the front doors of the place.

11. Carding everyone.

    If an 80-year-old is buying liquor, it’s the law for the salesperson to card them—even though they’re clearly over the age limit of 21. Visit a foreign country and you’ll find that won’t happen very often.

12. Having baby showers.

    A newly pregnant person, of course, needs to be showered with love and gifts for when the new baby arrives, right? But in other places outside the United States, it’s actually sometimes considered bad luck to celebrate a baby before they’re born.

13. Following the imperial system of measurement.

    Typically, we measure things in miles, feet, and inches—in most other countries, the metric system is the measurement system of choice, which is when you join one of a series of prefixes (kilo-, hecto-, deka-, deci-, centi-, and milli-, etc.) with a base unit of measurements, such as meter, liter, or gram.

14. Eating grape-flavored things.

    Lollipops, juice, popsicles, Skittles, you name it, and there’s a grape flavor to it. “Grape” flavored things don’t really exist besides in the U.S.—in fact, for people in the U.K. and Australia, the closest flavor is known as “blackcurrant.”

15. Paying off student debt for years.

    Did you know you can go to college in France and Germany for free? In the U.S., the cost causes most people to go into debt and force them to repay their loans back for years after they’ve graduated.

16. Sitting in the back of a cab.

    If you’re getting into a cab alone, chances are you’re going to choose the backseat. But people in some countries, like Australia and New Zealand, might find it rude and always opt for the front.

17. Having super-open bathroom stalls.

    There’s quite a bit of space underneath a bathroom stall or those open gaps that separate them, even we can admit that. People who come and visit the U.S. are usually pretty appalled by just how open public restrooms can be, especially when their purpose is something so private.

18. Peeing for free.

    Speaking of bathrooms, in some European countries, it can cost a small fee to use the restroom, especially in public places—and think it’s pretty weird (yet, maybe cool, we hope?) that you can use restrooms for free, and even sneak into restaurants sometimes to use their bathroom if there aren’t any others around.

19. Tailgating.

    Whether it’s a concert or a football game, we Americans love to drink and eat in the parking lot with friends before a big event. This is definitely not something done in most other areas of the world.

20. Never vacationing.

    Okay, so in America, we do get to travel sometimes, but the standard is only getting about two weeks off per year, which seems like nada compared to the month or more of vacation people in some European countries, like Spain and Germany, get.

21. Drinking coffee on the go.

    In other countries, especially Europe, coffee is a drink meant to be enjoyed over conversation, and at a leisurely pace—definitely not drank from a cardboard cup in a mad dash to work in order to feel human (the norm in America).

22. Wearing sweatpants or PJs in public.

    Sometimes, you just gotta run to the post office in some comfy sweats—it’s just easier and cozier than pulling on a pair of jeans. People in other countries find this super strange and wouldn’t be caught dead in something like that in public.

23. Driving on wide roads.

    Europeans are so used to tight city roads, and many other countries contain winding mountain roads—our wide highways can sometimes confuse them (not to mention driving on the right side of the road for some countries!).

24. Frying things other than chicken.

    It’s totally commonplace to fry Oreos, fish, even steak, in America. While foreigners might understand fried chicken, they can hardly fathom some of the other foods we throw into the deep fryer.

25. Offer a huge array of choices.

    Salad dressings, bread, etc.—honestly, I still get overwhelmed by the number of choices we have sometimes, so we can understand how people outside the U.S. are even more mind boggled.

26. Prescription drug commercials.

    You know all those commercials for antidepressants and surgeries we have? People in other countries would never think to advertise these kinds of things!

27. All our flags.

    We’re patriotic, sue us. A lot of people outside the U.S. find our excessive flag use a little weird—they’re on our porch, in our yard, on our roof, on our car, plus getting a flag tattooed on you is totally normal as well. All right, so we can see how that can feel a little extreme to others.

28. Selling a set number of pills.

    People in other countries are baffled by how you can purchase a one-and-done type of pill, say, a 60-pack of Aspirin or Tylenol that’ll last you several months, for a nominal fee. They’re used to only being about to buy a certain number of pills according to my immediate need. It’s odd to even find a pill bottle in foreigner’s cabinets!

29. Asking “How are you?” when you don’t really care.

    Americans tend to say “How are you?” when they really just mean to say “Hello.” People from other countries take that as a way of starting a conversation.

Did you even realize any of these seemingly normal things we do in America are weird to other countries? Is there anything other countries do that we in America might find weird?