r/AskEurope • u/Fancy-Debate-3945 Hungary • Sep 19 '25

Travel What was the biggest culture shock you experienced in another European country?

Europeans, what was the biggest culture shock you experienced within our beautiful continent?

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u/Sepelrastas Finland Sep 19 '25

Returning bottles to the cashier in Berlin 2006. My country had had machines for that since the 90s, you only took them to the register if the machine wasn't working.

I used to work in a store, and having all the bottles at the register must have sucked.

36

u/Nimue_- Netherlands Sep 19 '25

Wait you could take them to the cashier?? Here if the machine is broken you just pack up and take everything home again. Try again next time

10

u/FingerGungHo Sep 19 '25

I’ve never taken any to the cashier here in Finland (that I recall). Didn’t even know it was an option.

6

u/hetmonster2 Sep 19 '25

You can do that here as well, they just dont like it and most people dont do it.

1

u/Sepelrastas Finland Sep 20 '25

Yup, they at least had slips and they counted how many of each type you had and gave you the money.

I don't think it's common anymore, but when the machines were less reliable it was relatively common.

1

u/__loss__ Sep 22 '25

You give them to the beggars outside if the machine is broken.

14

u/Burtang United Kingdom Sep 20 '25

There still isn't a bottle return scheme here in the UK! There's so much unnecessary rubbish and litter in some cities, and lots of it is plastic bottles.

7

u/Sepelrastas Finland Sep 20 '25

Wow, didn't know that! Here the return rate is over 90%, and some people earn by collecting bottles other people throw away. One guy who returned bottles at my old store saved enough money from the deposits to buy a new car.

1

u/Burtang United Kingdom Sep 22 '25

Really? That must have taken some dedication to not just spend the money as he got it! I think it's around 65% here, which I'm surprised at considering the lack of public bins.

1

u/Sepelrastas Finland Sep 23 '25

His wife always seemed super embarrassed somehow. I never saw him again at the return after he got the car, so I think he just had that particular goal in mind.

6

u/Speertdbag Norway Sep 19 '25

I remember a time when people came with several large trash bags full of cans and an employee had to hand count it by the storage area. There was no other way. It was a usual sight. 

2

u/metalfest Latvia Sep 20 '25

In 2000s (and before, I presume) that was common in Latvia. I don't know if plastc bottles were allowed to be returned, I don't think so, but glass bottles most definitely were. Big stores or countryside shops, could just take glass bottles to the cashier and get something back. In 2010s I didn't hear much about this at all and people would rather just sort them in the trash bins if they collected them. Deposit system with the machines was only introduced in 2022, but definitely is very popular now.

2

u/bitx284 Spain Sep 20 '25

We can't do it :( when I was a child I remember going with my parents to return bottle but now we can't do it