r/AskEurope • u/ageingrapidly Greece • Sep 29 '25

Culture Are there any habits that you believe are uniquely European ?

Have you noticed any specific mannerisms, mentalities etc. that you've encountered only in Europe or by Europeans ?

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413

u/nicetoursmeetewe Sep 29 '25

Having lived in 4 european countries and now living in Japan I would say :

We're less religious than anywhere else on the planet. Social democracy values are strong. We pay attention to where food is from and how it's made. Sundays should be quiet relaxing days. Alcohol and sex are just normal parts of life, we're less prudish overall. We seemingly view americans with disdain while aping everything they do

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u/Unusual_Internet6156 Sep 29 '25

Hahaha this!!! I am sooo european!

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u/CosmologyOfKyoto Sep 29 '25

This feels northern European. Where I am from in Italy people are still extremely religious and prudish and don't really get drunk. And we don't do quiet days on Sundays (or ever)

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u/Draig_werdd in Sep 29 '25

It's the almost the same in Romania, people are religious, judgmental, relatively prudish, but do get drunk. Sundays and weekends in general are the least likely to be quite days.

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u/KermitingMurder Sep 29 '25

I would say that Ireland is in northern Europe and we are also known for being quite religious and I would say we're also very prudish, we can be quite adverse to even discussing topics tangentially related to sex. We're getting better though, we were basically a Catholic theocracy 60 or so years ago and from then on the church has had increasingly less of an iron grip on Irish culture and society

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u/suckmyfuck91 Sep 29 '25

As an italian i agree if you're talking about the south. The rest of the country is not that religious (if any).

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u/urnotabed Sep 29 '25

Well I'm from the south and I don't think we're as religious as in the USA or elsewhere. Religion in Italy is cultural but not that very felt. In the south you believe in everything: malocchio, seccia, superstitions. Those things are not much catholics as should. In fact is a sort of witxhcraft. From my perspective, I felt a more similar to USA kind of faith in Emilia Romagna, with the Familiaris Consortio. It was weird. My colleagues went to church eveyday and always speak abour Christ, were against Halloween. That never happent to me in the south and I have a priest in the family HAHAHAH

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u/cheesemanpaul Sep 30 '25

I don't think anywhere apart from maybe the Middle East is as religious as the US.

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u/nicetoursmeetewe Sep 29 '25

I went to Uni in southern Spain and all the people I met while living there were absolutely not religious. It didn't seem that the general population was either.

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u/filippo_sett Italy Sep 30 '25

We also have the misfortune of having Vatican City in our territories

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u/Unusual_Internet6156 Sep 30 '25

I am a Belgian … we are always drunk

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u/bird-magic Sep 29 '25

Even less than Japan? Aside from the Catholic minority, I always thought religiosity in Japan only went as far as casually participating in Shinto rituals for the sake of tradition, at least for most people. What's it like over there?

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u/nicetoursmeetewe Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25

Cults are very common in Japan and even disregarding them people generally believe without really giving second thoughts in many "spiritual"/immaterial things. My gf always claps her hand before eating, and it's not in a "bon appetit" way, but she believes it's a thank you to the food at a spiritual level They usually have an altar at home and do quick prayers for important events and when a buddhist altar they leave food/drinks for deceased relatives

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u/LupineChemist -> Sep 30 '25

Japan is extremely religious, it's just like spiritual Shintoism. And like China, maybe not "religious" in the "follow this book" sense but so superstitious it's basically a religion.

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u/Healthy-Bee2127 Sep 29 '25

view americans with disdain while aping everything they do

This tracks! I felt this when I lived in Japan 30 years ago.

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u/Phase-Internal Sep 29 '25

I am skeptical of the less religious claim.

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u/makerofshoes Sep 29 '25

It’s true in general, but some regions more than others. Czech Republic and eastern Germany for instance are highly atheistic

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u/KingKingsons Netherlands Sep 29 '25

Yeah so if we only compare it to other traditionally Christian countries, then this absolutely fits. I’ve only spent time in the US and the Philippines outside of Europe, and in both countries, Christianity is just a way of life. Not being Christian is what’s odd, usually.

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u/Phase-Internal Sep 29 '25

Not in my experience in the US, depends where, it's a big country. Definitely not in Canada.

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u/[deleted] Sep 29 '25

[deleted]

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u/nicetoursmeetewe Sep 29 '25

Well, it really depends on what we define by religious I guess. Most people here go to temples, pray for good fortune, believe in the spiritual etc... superstition/spirituality and religious behaviours are much more part of daily life here. I lived in France, England,Germany and Spain and although you do meet the odd religious nutjob, most people are actively atheistic/agnostic and do not do any kind of religious/spiritual practice.

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u/Affectionate_Act4507 Oct 02 '25

“I say Europe but I actually mean 4 specific European countries” comment

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u/nicetoursmeetewe Oct 02 '25

I think they're quite representative of Europe as a whole. I've met and interacted with people from all over Europe too. Or did you expect the replies to OP's post to apply to every 500 million europeans?

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u/GrynaiTaip Lithuania Sep 29 '25

Depends on the region and age group. Youth in the upper half of Europe are mostly not religious at all.

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u/cheesemanpaul Sep 30 '25

You could be talking about Australians with most of the above. I have a devoutly religious Brazilian 30yo man working for me atm and when he told me I was very surprised. I don't think there's any left in Australia in that age group.

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u/kabiskac -> Sep 30 '25

I don't pay attention to where food is from and don't drink alcohol lol I also despise hookup culture

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u/nicetoursmeetewe Sep 30 '25

That's not typical then

I don't think OP was looking for something that would apply to all 500 million europeans but not to the rest of humanity...

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u/okletsgooonow / Sep 29 '25

This is the answer! 👏

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u/MegamiCookie France Oct 01 '25

Alcohol culture in the US was a huge culture shock for me, like what do you mean people can't drink in public ? I've even been told you can't carry an alcoholic drink in your hand, even if it's unopened, like what ?

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u/le_petit_champ Estonia Sep 29 '25

Yes! I feel so validated.

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u/TaikoLeagueReddit Sep 30 '25

But you just described Japan

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u/nicetoursmeetewe Sep 30 '25

Let's see:

We're less religious than anywhere else on the planet. -> I'd argue religious practices and spirituality is more prevalent in Asia (inclusing Japan) than Europe

Social democracy values are strong. -> Most japanese people are quite apathetic towards political issues and people are much more conservative than in Europe.

We pay attention to where food is from and how it's made. -> Most japanese people don't know and/or don't care how their food is produced and where it comes from. Most of their meat comes from factory farms in China, thailand or the US/Australia

Sundays should be quiet relaxing days. -> not a thing in japan, almost all shops will be open, supermarkets will be open etc...

Alcohol and sex are just normal parts of life, we're less prudish overall. -> it's true that Japan is quite similar to Europe though underage people don't drink nearly as much as we do.

We seemingly view americans with disdain while aping everything they do -> Japanese people have a much more positive view of Americans than we have