MovieChat Forums > EuroTrip (2004) Discussion > Europeans don't understand what its like...

Europeans don't understand what its like to be young in America

posted 15 years ago by shaun3701-1
52 replies | jump to latest

Europeans grow up in a normal society where you can drink, smoke and have sex by the time you're 16. In America, you are not even considered an adult until you're 21 years old. You can't drink, can't even order a beer at a restaurant. And sex is a whole different story. Americans are still very much the puritans they were in the 17th century. Many young people are actively discourage from having ANY kind of sexual activity outside of marriage. So you can see why so many young Americans LOVE going to Europe... they're free to be themselves and do what they want without fear of being ostracized by their parents and society in general.

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[–] shaun3701-1 15 years ago

I've been to Europe 4 times, so yes I know what it's like in real life. It's exactly as I described. Yes they have laws against underage drinking and sex, but nobody follows or enforces them as they do in the States. Walk down any street in Britain and you'll see gangs of 10 year olds smoking, drinking and doing god knows what. And nobody cares. Adults just walk right by them. That sort of thing would never happen in America.

I don't know what European behavior towards gay people is like, because I'm not gay. I do know they have plenty of gay clubs, because I almost walked into a few of them by mistake.

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[–] shaun3701-1 15 years ago

I guess that's why the UK has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world... lol

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[–] Muenchner_schnitzel 15 years ago

The British are terrified of their young people and won't do anything to actively confront any bad behavior. Going to Europe 4 times does not make you an expert on ANYTHING. I've lived in Europe for over 10 years and I still wouldn't consider myself an expert.

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[–] shaun3701-1 15 years ago

I never claimed I "knew everything", and you people need to grow a sense of humour. I've dated women in 5 countries and became involved with their families, so I have gotten a very intimate look at European society. The first 20 years of my life I was raised in America, but the last 10 have been mostly in Europe.

[–] Muenchner_schnitzel 15 years ago

My apologies. I guess my thread view is different from yours. Didn't mean to offend you.

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[–] Nicols 14 years ago

Walk down any street in Britain and you'll see gangs of 10 year olds smoking, drinking and doing god knows what. And nobody cares. Adults just walk right by them. That sort of thing would never happen in America.

nope, in america those gangs of kids would be shooting and mugging people

hey look, i can make something up based on whats seen in the media aswell.

[–] shaun3701-1 14 years ago

I didn't see it in the media, I saw it on the streets of Britain. And in America, 10 year olds aren't allowed outside past 7pm.

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[–] filmfan_hottie 14 years ago

But at the age the kids are in the film, they wouldn't be illegal in Europe.
" I dont read the script, the script reads me."

[–] Strazdamonas 15 years ago

You are wrong. I live in europe and the legla age for any of this stuff is 18. the non-marage sex is total tabu amongst any older people. they dont consider it can possibly exist. not all europe is like holland, you know.

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In this universe, there's only one absolute... everything freezes!

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[–] desifir667 15 years ago

all europe is like holland

[–] Strazdamonas 15 years ago

if thats what you think you are really braindead.

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In this universe, there's only one absolute... everything freezes!

[–] Otteryumyum 14 years ago

"You are wrong. I live in europe and the legla age for any of this stuff is 18. the non-marage sex is total tabu amongst any older people. they dont consider it can possibly exist. not all europe is like holland, you know."

What? Non-marital sex is taboo? What European country is this, Vatican City?

The legal age for sex is sixteen, but, oddly, watching porn is eighteen. So supposedly for the first two years you can have sex, just don't look down.

[–] Strazdamonas 14 years ago

Lithuania actually. also if you read it correctly i did said for older people. young people get around it pretty well. legal age for sex is 18.

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"Common sense is not so common."
- Voltaire

[–] Otteryumyum 14 years ago

And nothing can be more representative of a continent's combined liberal nature than elderly Catholics...

[–] bob_hughes 14 years ago

OP is a *beep* embarrassment to United States.

[–] Bat-Troll 14 years ago

Thanks Bob Hughes, its good to know you all don't think this of europe and 'Us Brits'.

I live in Manchester, in England. First off, I walk down lots of streets over here and have NEVER seen 10 yr olds smoking, drinking and doing anything else that this fool implied they do.

Yes, we do have a high teenage pregnancy count, but our legal age of sexual consent is 16, so its highly possible we will have more teenage mothers, but teenage mothers are not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, only society's ignorance has created that ideal.

Also, Yes, we do have some bad kids over here, but so does every other country in the world, INCLUDING America.

So don't come out with a post, saying you have been in europe for ten yours and dated 5 european women, to justify your narrow-minded view of our culture. I LIVE here and was raised here, and 24 yrs of living in a country certainly has more credential that your 10 years bumming around.

I feel for Americans, because its people like the OP that give them a bad name, and an image that makes foreigners believe all Americans think of themselves as high and mighty!

Sorry to go on a political rant, just arrogance irritates me!

It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

[–] kamps89 14 years ago

No, luckily we don't.
You have stupid and silly laws that don't make sense to a lot of Europeans.

Still, talking about 'Europe' and 'the States'... it's totally different. The States is a country, Europe as a continent holds many, many countries and all with different cultures, languages etc. And also laws.
It's not really comparable imo.

[–] cyrusas-1 14 years ago

Don't lie to everybody if you have some gaps in legal knowledge. Age of consent in Lithuania is 14 years old. It means you can have sex with someone, who is 14 years old if it is in their free will.

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[–] cyrusas-1 14 years ago

It's just a figurative speech. We do have real laws, you know :)

[–] Strazdamonas 14 years ago

No, its 18. your the one who has gaps in legal knowledge.

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"Common sense is not so common."
- Voltaire

[–] cyrusas-1 14 years ago

http://www.lrs.lt/pls/proj/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=12395&p_query=&p_tr2=&p_org=8&p_fix=n&p_gov=

2.1 punktas, trecia pastraipa, asile.

I've just proved I'm right.

[–] Strazdamonas 14 years ago

praejusiu metu projektas kuris nera (nebus) priimtas. dar blogiau, to projekto isvados.

P.S. IMDB nepalaiko lietuvisku rasmenu.
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"Common sense is not so common."
- Voltaire

[–] cyrusas-1 14 years ago

Čia ne projektas. Čia išaiškinimas. Niekur nėra parašyta, kad gali mylėtis tik nuo 18os. Niekur.

[–] don savant 14 years ago

I'm an American that grew up in Germany. Ages 13-19. I was able to grow a mustache around 14 or 15. During that time, I was able to get in to clubs and drink at bars and gasthauses. The law is relaxed and they only question you if you look well inder the age of 18. I came back to the states every summer and it made me miss Europe even more every time. I have not been back to Europe since my last visit when I was 24 back in '00, but the laws were still the same in Germany, France, and Holland.

[–] cyrusas-1 14 years ago

The laws are tight, but enforcement of certain laws isn't :) It's illegal to keep large quantities of weed, but lots of people do and police kind of let it happen :) But if a bar would get caught selling alcohol to minors (like if a parent would make a complaint), there would be huge fines or losing alcohol license :) It's just that kids physically mature faster and faster, so older waitresses think they're old enough :D Maybe :D

[–] cyrusas-1 14 years ago

Wow wow wow, put on the brakes. Non marage sex is not taboo in most of the countries. I'm from Lithuania and I hadn't had any problems sleeping with my girlfriend while visiting my grandmother. People just don't care about other peoples sex live. You can basically do what you want. Maybe someone with extreme religious views would tell you something, but they are considered to be lunatics.

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[–] Crabvogel 14 years ago

Well, I live in the Netherlands and I've never been told by ANYONE that I should wait with sex till marriage. It's more usual and accepted if you don't wait till your marriage with sex. I personally don't know anyone who does. And about the drinking and smoking parts, well... The Netherlands have gotten pretty strict rules about smoking recently, it's illegal to smoke inside bars and such (although it's legal to smoke weed inside a coffeeshop, lol). And the drinking age is 16 here for alcohol up to 20%, which you can buy in every supermarket, but for alcohol with more than 20% you have to go to a liquorstore (where they are less strict with the age limit, hehe).

Ps. Yes, in coffeeshops in the Netherlands it really is illegal to smoke a sigaret but legal to smoke weed. ^^

[–] eafkuor1 14 years ago

In Italy you can legally have sex with a 14 year old, and you can drink and smoke when you're 16 (but you can walk into a shop and buy cigarettes and vodka even if you're a kid, nobody cares).
Oh, and nobody waits until marriage to have sex, maybe just in Sicily.

It's crazy that in the US you can be sent to war at 19 but you can't drink a glass of beer, it's ridiculous.

[–] miffo 14 years ago

It seems to me that most of the guys here on this board are thinking of Europe as a whole, one country with one set of rules. That is very far from the truth.
Most of the countries have different ages when it is legal to have consetual sex (in sweden for example its 15, in Ireland its 17, in Lithuania its 14 and so on). The same thing goes for alcohol. Most countries has their own laws for it, although most have it at 18 for lesser percentages, and 20 or 21 for complete access to alcohol.

The sex outside wedlock is very different from country to country to. In sweden (where I grew up) the general view is "*sigh* We know you'll *beep* around, at least use condoms.". Here in Ireland (where I currently live) its way more strict. Not by laws, but by morality.

Never been to the states, but I can imagine it being stricter on both accounts though. The laws for drinking isnt very much looked after as long as you look the age, although you do get punished quite severly if you're caught, and in most EU countries the sex thing is more lax than I get the vibe things are in the US.

And technically you are old enough to run the country in sweden if you're 18, but you cant buy a bottle of whisky...Go figure.

"The yelling will cease and the killing will commence!"