It’s no secret that lives in America and Europe seem like worlds apart. From understanding time and space completely differently to American schools that confuse the hell out of non-Americans, these are just the tip of the iceberg of the fundamental differences between them.
But sometimes God is in the details, and it doesn’t take a whole lot to see the stark difference. So when TikToker Sara Ras filmed her European house to show what things don’t make sense in America but totally do there, it immediately went viral.
Amassing 1.9 million views and 470.4k likes, the comedy clip revealed all the small things that Europeans take for granted. Like reusable kitchen towels and a kettle to boil water: everything feels kinda way smarter and more effective. So let’s see Sara’s full clip down below and let us know what you think of it in the comment section!
TikToker Sara Ras has filmed her European house to show what things wouldn't make much sense in American households
The clip has gone viral, amassing 1.9 million views on the social media platform
Image credits: saarbabyy
Bored Panda reached out to Sara Ras, the 23-year old social media influencer from Hillegom, The Netherlands. Social media has been a full-time job which she’s been doing for the last ten years.
When asked about her viral TikTok, Sara told us that the idea came after she realized that “in all 15 apartments in New York City that I’ve ever lived in, there were no kitchen towels to clean up small messes.”
And to make her TikTok even more humorous, Sara came up with more differences that nearly all European citizens have in their homes as a standard. “And the kettles were one of those things. I got pretty shocked when my friend asked me for tea and she put a cup of cold water in the microwave. I’m just so used to electric kettles or even a kettle on the stove, I HAD to include it.”
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
While living in Manhattan, Sara used to always bring her own shopping bags for veggies. “However, it amazed me how many groceries were already packed in plastic. Back at home, we do that too, but not for every single item,” she recalled.
Talking about the plastic packaging, Sara also mentioned that most Europeans who buy groceries take their stuff home in brown paper bags.
“In the EU, we passed a law that forbids stores to hand out free plastic bags. It cut down the amount of plastic bags by 80%. I think it would be great if the US could discuss a law like that too!”
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
Despite the ongoing globalization, Americans and Europeans still have very distinct tastes when it comes to almost everything, whether it’s burgers or steak tartare, SUVs, or electric cars. But as we’ve seen in this TikTok clip, a quick look around the household is sometimes all it takes to see that stark difference.
The app Porch has recently conducted a survey of 600 people in the US and Europe in order to grasp the differences in customers’ preferences on their homes. Probably not very surprisingly, the survey reflected some of the major differences.
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
Almost a quarter of European survey participants prefer to settle in a place surrounded by nature, compared to only 9.9% of American respondents. Meanwhile, gated communities and cul-de-sacs that are known as stereotypically American things were preferred by 23% of Americans. Only 5.5% and 3% of European respondents said the same thing.
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
Image credits: saarbabyy
Americans also seem to like more spacious things, like larger surfaces, more bedrooms, with an average of 4 in the US and 3 in Europe, and more bathrooms (three and two respectively.) Europeans also said they were happy with a moderate 0.9 acres of land, while Americans like way larger plots of 10.6 acres on average.
Image credits: saarbabyy
When it comes to the inside of the house, the differences between European and American households remain major. “Roughly 30 percent of Americans wanted tile in the kitchen, and nearly 16 percent preferred wood, compared to the 1 in 5 Europeans who opted for either marble or stone flooring instead.”
Turns out, Europeans were way more fond of wood floors, bamboo, laminate, and even marble. And as for other preferences, “Americans were more interested in having centralized air conditioning and a laundry room, while Europeans favored solar panels, swimming pools, and libraries,” the survey found.
While the video went very viral, getting over 2 Million likes, there were some who thought the video was far from the truth:
Yet most people loved the video and said it made them laugh:
