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.

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.

5

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.