Most things are different in other countries. That is why a person travels, to see how people live outside their own country and community. The diversity of the world is what makes it so great. But when you travel in other countries, you also see what is the same, especially now that travel between countries has become relatively easy and companies have become so global. For instance, many stores and goods that we see in the USA we also see in other countries. Brands are global and the stores recognize that. We see Levi's, Nike's, Adida's, all the high-end brands, etc.
We also see all the fast-food chains. Our family teases us that we are the international connoisseurs of fast-food. Reality is that they are everywhere and when you are visiting touristy sites, inevitably the places that are open and convenient are US fast-food chains. They are recognizable, conveniently located, and reasonably priced when we'd rather spend our money on getting to a place or seeing a site than on what we eat. We are peasants when it comes to food. We just need something to fill the hole in our stomachs (Doug might disagree some). That's not to say we don't try local cuisine or treat ourselves. It is just that sometimes the Subway, BK, or McD's is what is THERE.
That said, there are just some cultural things that I have observed on this and past trips between food and hotels that strike me and I thought I would randomly share some of my observations.
1) Ice is hard to come by outside the US. You don't get ice in your drink unless you ask for it and then you only get 4 or 5 ice cubes. Hotels don't have ice machines. Any ice comes from the restaurant or bar (if they have one) and is still not a lot.
2) They don't fill your drink cup to the top. There is at least 1/2 inch to an inch less than the cup size. And adding 4 or 5 ice cubes does not make up the difference.
3) Drinks purchased out of a cooler while site-seeing are barely chilled. Bottle size anywhere is small even if the price isn't.
4) Carbonated drinks outside the US are hardly carbonated. It's like drinking warm, flat soda. On the other hand, the US fills your cup with ice so you hardly get any soda. If you are filling your own cup from a machine, it is so carbonated that you have to waste a lot of time waiting for the foam to subside so you can repeatedly add that little bit more until your cup is finally full. Same goes for bottles and cans. They are much more carbonated in the US than elsewhere. Why can't there be a happy medium between warm/flat and ice overload/over carbonated?
5) Other countries don't offer water unless you ask and then it is the choice of "still" or bottled. "Still" is just out of the tap and bottled can be regular bottled or carbonated like Perrier and usually costs while "still" is free. You still need to ask for ice.
6) Different countries recycle at different levels. Taiwan had "trash", "recycle" (which we still weren't sure covered what), and the McD's even had special holders for cups after you dumped liquids into a separate receptacle. Hungary doesn't appear to recycle anything. We still haven't seen any kind of recycle bin anywhere. Most countries at least recycle plastic bottles.
7) Asian countries are very clean and you see street sweepers (ladies or men with broom and bin) regularly sweeping the sidewalks and tourist areas. The UAE is similar. They also use a lot of polished marble and tile for flooring in the UAE because of the sand. There were employees who would wipe down the flooring regularly by hand with a cloth, I presume for looks but also for cleanliness and so people won't slip on any sand that might make it's way inside. A lot of Hungarians smoke and do so anywhere, like the US used to be. The streets are littered with cigarette butts.
8) Hotels don't seem to mind that we turn our room into a laundry washroom on occasion, even if they offer laundry service.
9) You always need some local currency, not everyone takes credit cards. (We missed a sign on a restaurant door that said their credit card machine was down and didn't find that out until we asked for the check. Doug stayed while I went to three places trying to find a working ATM machine. We had some local cash but not enough. Taxis also don't always take credit cards even if you are told they do.)
10) Always have some change. Many places require you to pay to pee. The hotels do not warn you about this when you check in. (They should.)
I may add more to this list as the trip proceeds. Just thought I would share these for now.
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