How much do you usually pay for gas for those of you that drive? It's a lot more than we pay in the United States, right?

Thoughts on the European Union?

I don't think any of you guys are British, but is Marmite really a thing that they eat there?

Barathemos : I've spent several days considering if I should resurrect this forum or change it entirely. Thanks to you, it seems that now I don't have to make that choice xD

If I'm not mistaken, only Great Britain and Ireland have right wheel drive cars. The rest of the continent uses left wheel drive cars.

The best manufacturer is a three-way battle between the German brands Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW. Peugeot is surely above average, but they don't play on the same level as the German trio, at least in my opinion.

tgags123 : Yes, a lot more. Last time I checked it was around double the price for us. No wonder why cars produced here have small three-pot engines when you guys make thirsty big badass V8s lol.

The European Union is a very messy field right now. While it's nice that it made some things easier back in time, I think it's not aging quite well and several fissures are dangerously opening. Plus, with the arousal of far-right politics, asking for an overhaul in who gets to be in charge can backfire greatly. So many problems, so very few solutions (which become even fewer considering how many different countries have to give their approval).

I've been to the British Islands twice, yet it's the first time I hear of something called Marmite. Given how it's produced, it totally should be popular, and knowing the many "weird" things they eat there, I wouldn't be at all surprised that they eat something like this.

Barathemos : What Palen said. Almost nobody drives right wheel cars except the plebs about to leave the EU

As for cars, I rate Audi and Volvo the most because they look the best but I'm not a huge car guy so someone else probably has a better answer for this.

tgags123 : It's a lot more than in the US yeah. Keep in mind though that we tend to drive for smaller distances to get to places compared to you guys, and our public transport is a lot better so people tend to use those to get to their jobs etc. I'd say it about evens out if you take the average monthly driving distance in account. 

I'm not a politics guy either but I like the EU. I honestly feel pretty secure here and until this point no decision made by the EU has impacted my life in a negative way. I think people overhype how much power the EU has. Every member can still pretty much do anything with their laws unless they were to contradict the European ones. And hell those are mainly human rights and some other things like free trade and freedom of movement for workers. It's a bit controversial now, especially with Brexit being such a huge deal but in my opinion if you leave the EU you lose the benefits of being a member. I don't see why this whole deal or no deal game is being played right now. 

Also I've only heard tales of marmite. All horror stories btw

I've noticed that I missed quite a bunch of people so I'll be responding to every thing asked so far that I haven't gotten to yet. I'm not good at AMA's clearly hahaha.

yoshirulez! :  

Q - do you have wheat thins in europe
A - Never heard of that brand but we have similar biscuits

Q - As Europeans, what is the 1 thing you really wish you could have from the States that you don't have in Europe?
A - Memes. Good Ping to gaming servers. 

Uzar :  

Q - So is it true that people in Europe cannot see the color Magenta?
A - Magenta is a kind of orange right

Q - If there was any major changes you'd make to your country, what would it be?
A - Fix our education system in elementary schools especially. I recently made a thread about this whole issue but elementary school is where you develop the most and currently kids are developing at a much slower pace.

Q - How do you guys not have crunchyroll?!
A - You can watch some stuff on crunchyroll but I use other services to watch anime that don't put a region lock on their content

Q - But if you had to live in another country, where would you live?
A - Canada or Thailand. Peaceful, friendly people, no stress. Bagged milk in Canada as well.

Q - Is it true that nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition?
A - yes

Q - What is something about your countries that you wish the rest of the world would follow along with?
A - The friendly rivalries. Big countries like the US share borders with countries far apart from each other but in Europe everything is close by. This causes for a lot of s*** talking each other and settling it in football matches or just making fun of a country. If you ever see a group of Europeans from different countries, 9 times out of 10 they'll be talking s*** about another country. Then when one leaves they make fun of the guy that left.

m0ssb3rg935 :  

Q - What is traffic like in the major cities over there? Here in Tennessee, we're known for our reckless lunatic driving.
A - In major cities like Paris people don't look at signs, lights, pedestrians. They want to get from A to B as quickly as possible. This causes lots of traffic jams so you're always better off taking the subway or walking. Maybe rent a city bike depending on what city we're talking about. 

Q - Given the level of gun-control in most European countries, is there still a demand for gunsmithing, being artisanal work?
A - Probably not. Haven't ever heard of a gunsmith anywhere I went. We just don't have guns and I love it. Who needs them anyway.

Q - Is there any similarity between the traditional foods of the individual European countries and their americanized counterparts?
A - American counterparts are way heavier on the stomach, unhealthier and come in big sizes. If you ever visit say Italy and taste a real Italian pizza you'll never go back to your bad takeaway pizzas in America.

Ultrajeff :  

Q - What's the most interesting thing about Europe, to you?
A - The completely different cultures in countries that are all so close to each other.

Q - Do you have a particular favorite European culture?
A - If it counts, classic Roman/Greek culture. I've been fascinated with it since I was a child and I still love it now. As for modern cultures, I won't say our own but I'll say the Netherlands. Because the Netherlands is probably the closest to a fairy tale land you'll find on earth.

Q - What are your home countries like?
A - Belgium's really chill. Nobody takes anything besides football too seriously and most people aren't so outgoing that they actively try and meet new people. Usually you just stay close to the people you know and only meet new people by coincidence. Exception being online dating obviously but that's designed for that.

Q - Have you ever been to other European countries?
A - I've been to the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy. (and Belgium ofc)

Oats :  

Q - Do you follow football? If so, favorite team?
A - I only follow the Euro and World Cup. Favorite team is the Belgian national team. Let's go Red Devils.

Q - What's your LEAST favorite thing about your countries?
A - The confusing political system our country has. We have 6 governments, all on the same level of power. Nobody even tries to understand it except the politicians you make fun of in folders.

OmegaVenomous :  

Q - Do you Europeans have any mobile phones that us Americans don't have?
A - I highly doubt it. Technology is pretty worldwide nowadays. 

People often compare traveling between countries in Europe to traveling between states in the United States. How accurate is that comparison really? Even though most countries are relatively small, aren't there language barriers and other obstacles that would make traveling between European countries more difficult than traveling between American states?

tgags123 : Honestly most people understand basic English so communication is often not as hard as you'd think. Well I don't know if that holds true in the Balkan but it does pretty much anywhere else. A lot of people learn a second language or even a third or a fourth language in school so you usually have a few countries in which you can make yourself understandable.

As for traveling it depends. If you're just driving through then the experiences would probably be similar but if you stop for a few days in every country you visit you'll notice some big cultural changes. Moreso than in the United States at least. Sure you have Southerners and New Yorkers and all that but if you place those two next to each other they would still have some similarities. Try placing the Russian guy who jumped on the ice pool next to a classy Frenchman and the two would seem like they come from different planets.

The only thing unique in the US is the variety of races you come across. It's less common here in Western Europe but most people in Belarus for example have never seen a black guy in real life. Crazy to think about really. 

tgags123 : Depends on the place, really. You would have no problem in the big cities with basic English, but once you go to smaller cities or even places not used to tourism, then you can start to get in trouble.

While there are language barriers, it's not really an issue. Nearly every country has its own language or dialect, that's right, but I'd say with 4 languages you can cross most of Europe. And it's not hard to use 4 languages if you learn from childhood, I'm fluent in 3 due to school and it could have been 5 with ease if politicians gave an actual damn about education.

As for travelling, the differing cultures are a great obstacle. For example, we normally have lunch at 3 PM over here, yet in other countries/regions you're already late for lunch at 11:30 AM, so our biological clock can hardly adapt. There's also a lot of stereotypes, some of which are very wrong but others are very certain. After all, there used to be frontiers and such, so each country developed itself on different ways.

Also, for the (I think) first time in an AMA, allow me to ask something to the other users who can answer to this thread. Apologies to any Portuguese reader that might come across this post, but I'm sure they will understand.

Furret :
Zlinqx :

Do you guys think Africa starts below the Pyrenees? Because we totally think that crossing those mountains means crossing into real Europe...

EX Palen : It used to since Portugal and Spain were colonized by people from the African continent I'm pretty sure.

Right now I see Africa as the continent though.

Are the police less feared over there? Over here in America, it feels like a risk just to call them in select areas.

pennylessz : I also know of certain neighborhoods over here where the police doesn't even dare to enter, but overall I wouldn't say police is as feared as overseas simply because we're not as trigger-happy.

In my country, in particular, police is more hated than feared due to the turbulence we've been dragged into for the last years. In fact, it doesn't seem to be a dream job for the newer generations, given how both the government and the police force itself denounce the lack of effectives.

Does this whole article 13 affect you guys?

I’m not so sure what it’s about, something about copyrights and memes?

pennylessz : Police aren't really feared where I live. We get along with our police force very well and I believe statistics show that our trust in the police is on the high side compared to other countries. Not really any areas that would even be seen as "risky" to call them.

Barathemos : Aside from some pop up messages on some websites confirming privacy s*** I haven't really encountered any issues so far. Probably because rule 13 isn't implemented anywhere yet I don't think. It was passed by the European Parliament but member states get up to 2 years to implement the new law I think.

I'll update this is anything pops up haha

Have any of you guys ever completed the pilgrimage of Santiago de Campastella? I don't mean necessarily religiously, just the journey in general. If so what is it like in person? I would love to try it someday.

Barathemos : In all honesty, I have no f****** clue. The internet says it's horrible, the newspapers say it isn't that much of a hassle... Whom to trust?

And yeah, it's going to be a while before any country properly implements it, even more in our case given the political instability we're going through. Only when the governments think on implementing it we will really see what it's about.

Norriegirl93 : My family has had the intention of doing it, but so far we've only been in Santiago and some of the final destinations without actually making any part of the journey itself (because my maternal family hails from Galicia, basically).

I know of people who's done it, even if just partially, and it's quite the endeavor. Many hours of walking everyday, and depending on the season and the route, under harsh climatic conditions. Still, they say it's an awesome experience and a beautiful accomplishment.

pennylessz : I can't speak for everybody but my general impression (as a Swede) is that the police is feared less here. Though there's still a crowd who think they're incompetent. If anything a lot of people are calling for the police to be allowed to use more force. My personal experience with the police have been almost entirely positive.

Barathemos : While I am not fully up to date, my personal opinion based on last time I checked is that the whole deal was kind of overblown. The wording in the article was left open so to make exemptions possible and the more questionable parts were revised. So far I haven't really been personally impacted in any way. I've seen more impact from the data protection laws that were instituted. I think harder copyright laws are necessary with the advent of the internet changing the ability to protect their own intellectual property.

Norriegirl93 : I hadn't heard of it until reading your post. I don't have any current plans to do so. However I suspect that has to do with me living in the very north of Europe and Spain being way in the south. It's not often that I'd travel that far.

EX Palen : Nope, but then I'd suspect that's something more common when you live there and the Pyrenees are more tangible. Though most would probably still make the distinction of Spain and France being in different parts of Europe.

How are the internet speeds over there? It's pretty variable in the states. I think right now we're running at either 150 mbps or 250 mbps. But I know some places get 1 gbps.

pennylessz : I'm in the range of 250mbps myself which I think is pretty average around here. I know there's parts of the country with even higher speeds (I think up north where it's a bit more isolated) but even then I don't think it's the norm. Sweden is said to have one of the highest averages in the world but I haven't really been to many countries that would allow a comparison. What I can say is that it's usually not difficult to find wifi if you're looking for it. We even have free internet on trains and busses.

This thread is interesting and I need somewhere to test this layout. So I hope you don't mind another question.
I'm curious what the common grocery stores are over there. I mean, I know there's probably a ton, considering the number of countries. But what's common in your area?.

Where I live, we have Safeway, Grocery Outlet, and a ways off is QFC. Which is a Kroger grocery store. They're all over the US.

pennylessz : We actually have several grocery stores over here, off the top of my head I could name like 7 big companies. Of those, I only know of one which also has presence outside of Spain, though there could be more (even if it's under different names because of fusing companies or whatever).

In my city, in particular, we have tons of grocery stores. Hell, I think that I have at least five different ones just in my neighborhood and I have access to all the big names within minutes of where I live. It's not like you don't have anywhere to buy groceries, it's that you can't decide exactly where to buy them xD

About your previous question, I honestly don't know a thing about internet speeds over here. I've never cared about it, simply because I haven't had any issues with slow internet in my life so I had no reason to dig further.

I've been feeling very broken, shattered and dead inside from hearing the internet being seemingly killed off, the way it is, by three proposals becoming law: Article 11, Article 13, and the Terrorist Content Regulation.

All three of them give me sleeping troubles, and I can barely even be positive with them around, and I fear seeing the same take-down image on every single page of every site I went to.

Is there any hope left for the internet? Can these 3 proposals still be repealed or stopped somehow?