I'm quite frankly surprised by the amount of hate I receive for this video. This is not how I perceived the people when I was in the country and it's unfortunate to see this side now. If you feel offended by my impressions of my first US trip and think I'm generalizing, please watch the entire video, especially the part at 10:30, where I clearly state that that's all it is....a first impression.

Yeah, I would recommend traveling to other parts of the US. Every area, every state has it's own unique culture. Think of the US as like the EU where every state is a country. You really want your mind blown, go to Alaska.

Of course it is different. The SIZE of the USA is huge! Comparing the USA to a country in Europe is like comparing a watermelon to a grape! We have city life, NY,Boston,Chicago,etc. The North is different than the south.

We say we live in a certain city because most people who have no idea about the area will have no idea where we are talking about. For example, I lived a large portion of my early life in Carmel, Indiana. Almost no one outside of the middle of Indiana would know what that meant. Carmel is just North of Indianapolis, so I just started saying Indianapolis.

I think when you say “subdivision” you mean “suburb.” These are two different things. A subdivision is an area of land divided into plots for sale. A suburb is residential outlying district of a city. You are right, I say I grew up in LA, but I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles.

You need to keep in mind your experience in America really depends what part of the country you're in. We're a few countries within a country because America is huge.

100% correct about driving here. People are out of control.

Actually if you wanna get a good taste of America, you need to visit as many National Parks and Forests as you can. The cities are nice, but our National Parks are second to none in the world. There's a bunch of cool ones in the Southwest, where a lot of Western movies were filmed. There's a big tour you can take on your own in a car called the Grand Circle that includes the Grand Canyon. Look that up and you will be amazed at what we have to offer in the States. It's stuff like that why most Americans never leave the country.

By the way Phil, you have a good command of English. More so than my relatives and friends in Germany

The midwest has a lot of German immigrants, so there are many german breweries, restaurants, and festivals in the St Louis area. There are towns in Illinois with German names, like Millstadt, and Darmstadt which is where my family settled. Be sure to check it out.

Hey Phil, love your opinion on things, but I wish to clarify a few things. 1) Driving Infrastructure Yes, in some places it's pretty bad. But there's a reason for this. The weather. Because we have hot and cold extremes in the US, we get a lot of freezing and thawing cycles throughout the year and there's nothing harsher on road and bridge structures than that freeze-thaw cycle. We get potholes galore because of that. 2) Suburbs vs City Life Well, you're right, America doesn't have the same kind of city life that Europe has. Even in self-contained cities like New York. Our idea of entertainment is a bit different than Europe. There's too many to name here, so I'll just leave it vague. But piggybacking off of the driving thing, in America, we have a strong car culture, right? There are whole community groups that entertain themselves by having car (or truck) gatherings. From classics to modern exotics, and big 4-wheel drive truck and Jeep groups. Europe has their Raves, America loves its cars. But regarding suburbs, that's where most of the people who work.in the city live. Each suburb is usually self contained as well with shops, restaurants, and movie theaters. The cities are where the culture centers are. Museums and stuff like that.

The Atlanta example was spot on. I live abt 45 mins outside of Atlanta and if I’m talking to someone who isn’t from Georgia, I just say I’m from Atlanta

Phil, please go to our beautiful national parks next time in the USA. Yellowstone, Glacier, Everglades, Yosemite or Badlands would be interesting to hear your opinions on our national parks. Also enjoy Deana’s American perspective on your impressions; she’s a joy and makes the trips fun for you both.

I'm from the suburbs of Los Angeles and you are so right, I like your videos!!!!

So I'm Canadian but most of this rings true for us too, especially the driving/car culture. Though because we have 1/10 the population of the USA, I'd say our infrastructure is even worse haha If you don't live in a major city, you pretty much have to own a car. For me, the closest major city is about 1 hour 30 minutes by car, but if you take public transportation that trip turns into about a 6 hour journey, because you literally have to wait an hour between buses. And you can only take the train up until about 7:30am because they are 'commuter' trains and only run in one direction for certain times. Once you actually get to the city, there isn't even really a city centre, and again the public transportation system is... not great haha Any time I have friends or family visit from Europe they are amazed by how inconvenient it all is haha

The douchy driving is so true. I think the main reason so many drivers here try to stop other cars from merging is because of another douchy thing drivers do here...intentionally cut in line. Instead of merging when they're supposed to, they wait until the last second and try to cut in. We hate that and it instills this natural instinct in us to try and stop it whenever we can

when you drive in US that is the time to jam out to good music or listen to talk radio. I couldn't drive without satellite radio. America is too big for public transportation. You wouldn't build a public tram to a town with 6 houses in it would you? We're all spread out. The city in Europe is where all the action takes place whereas in America the city is just a community center, a hub of population.

When I was 17 we moved from Massachusetts to Florida. We stopped at a McDonald's in Georgia and I literally could not communicate with the clerk (we both spoke "english" only). I had to point to the buttons with the pictures of the food on them to get my order.

I easily know 6 guys who drive trucks & only 1 of them uses it as a truck (and I live in LA). You are not wrong, sir! lol

you are spot on, yea weather is nice in the South lol (from a German living in US for last 19 years )

I love videos like these. I watch Joel & Lia as well. I like hearing how foreigners view our everyday life. Maybe after seeing how spread out we live you understand why we drive bigger cars. Lots of Europeans comments on our big cars but with long drives we like more comfortable vehicles to spread out in.

I agree with almost all of this. I will say, ya'll in Europe are far crazier drivers than anyone in the US. Maybe Germany's different, but the roads and drivers in Paris, Rome, Barcelona are absolute chaos. People and their tiny scooters weaving in an out everywhere are far scarier than any giant pickup truck in the US.

My favorite is when someone says “all y’all”! Kind of redundant, but very plural! 😅

Phil, I live in the suburbs that is about a 50 minute drive outside New York city . You're right, you do need a car as mass transit is horrible unless you're in a big city like Manhattan, Chicago, or Los Angeles's to name a few. Great video.

Southern English can be difficult to understand. I've had particular problem with 2 friends from Arkansas both swallow their words.

Funny you mentioned Atlanta. Any time someone asks me where I am from, I always say "Atlanta." Most of the time, people are going to say "what part?" "Duluth." I think it's probably like that for most across the U.S like you said.

Just a little correction from a fellow German: if you live in a big city in Europe it can also take you easily half an hour or hour to get to the city centre (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg). Let alone London: it typically takes an hour to get anywhere in London. Only difference is that you do it by public transport. And there are parts of the US that have quite good public transport: I saw more cycle racks on a Californian train from S.F. to Stanford than in any German or UK train. Washington / Arlington also has good public transport. But I have been told these places were rather exceptional in that sense. It just so happens that these were the places that I ended up visiting for work-related stuff. So I can proudly say that I managed to travel in the U.S without needing to rent a car.

6:28 as a motorcyclist, with nothing but paying attention, to do. I can tell you this is starting to scare me the most. EVERYONE uses their phones whole driving.

Enjoyed your video. I am from Germany and my girlfriend is from the US, so we have been watching a bunch of videos like this and had some really nice discussion about the differences between the US and Germany. Since i am planning on moving to the US in the future, i will see if my experiences will be similar :D

living in south Africa my whole life having grown up with American television and all that you hear about it, I have always wanted to go over and see it for myself. thanks for sharing such an amazing insight into the country.

I just retired after working 43 years and I drove to work everyday of my working life. I do not even know what the inside of our city’s bus looks like or how much is the ride.

The entire southeast of the US says "y'all"

When he says subdivision, he means 'suburb'. Russian word is 'pri-gorod'. So yes people work in cities, but live in suburbs, and in expensive downtowns, or residential districts called neighborhoods. City centers are for office space, vertical malls, recreation areas, night clubs. Suburbs and neighborhoods are for living. American suburbia is a product of post-WWII development of American society.

4:34 Japanese big cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka or Fukuoka are the opposite of American cities: Almost nothing can be reached by car because the streets are often so narrow You have everything reachable by foot Public transport brings you everywhere

Some spot on observations! Glad to see you are getting around and seeing more of the USA than many Americans do! Many towns in the northeast (especially New England) have very walkable towns. South and west, not so much.

You went to the US expecting Europe. Why??? US likes cars instead of trains. We like personal space instead of living on top of each other. We like privacy instead of everyone being in our business. We like individuality instead of everyone adopting the same thing. If you don't like these things then just stay in Europe instead of complain.... And I lived in Italy for 2 years and driving in Naples is FAR FAR FAR FAR crazier than driving anywhere in the US. I have been on 6 lane highways in Naples that didn't even have lane lines! It was just a free for all!

American here. There are many cities in the USA (mostly on the east coast) which do have a city-centered life besides NYC. It has been making a big comeback in many cities and particularly here in Miami where many Germans come to play in our sun.

You went to Boston and the South. 2 of the most different sounding English in the US. Not surprised you had a hard time understanding people. Pittsburgh is an area with its on sound that is hard to pick up as well.

There are douchy drivers everywhere, but in Milwaukee we generally don't close up the gap and allow cars and semi trucks to merge.

I wish foreigners would explore more of our country than just our big cities like New York.

You got the subdivisions right. We used to call then "bedroom communities". The US is getting more European with so-called "Mixed Use Developments" where you live, shop, work, and get entertained in the same square mile. This cut downs on pollution and commute times. Still these residents will be tempted to go "off campus" and explore new stores.

depends on the city we have apartments inside city centers but they are not cost effective so we live right outside the city in suburbs.

Europe is compact, with cities having evolved long before America was around, and each country occupies a small land area compared with the U.S. America was settled from East to West in patterns, with population density concentrated in the East and Midwest. Each city has its distinct neighborhoods, which are like villages in a city, and the subdivisions you are referring to are actually the suburbs. As far as tinted windows are concerned, hardly anyone has them. By the way, I've been to Frankfurt and Berlin and found Germany to be a nice place.

We are definitely not a walking society. Very good video. One thing about the weather in FL. It doesn't cool down at night in the summer, much like Texas. SC nights tend to be cooler. By cooler I mean it'll get into the 70's. I've watched a few of your videos and the passing on the right thing is not supposed to be allowed. Police keep saying that they are going to start enforcing this but never get around to it. Most people will get on the highway and immediately get in the middle or left lane, even when there's no one around them. It's so much easier to get in the right lane and pass than to try and pass on the left.

Man, I'm from a "suburb" of Los Angeles (where disneyland is) and EVERYTHING you said is EXTREMELY TRUE. Our big cities, even Los Angeles, don't have much character. Our people are not connected as much and I think is resulting in our divide. Although I've heard it is much different in the rural areas of the U.S., especially the South. The cars part is funny. Yes, when you drive here if is a "ME FIRST" mentality that also drives our separation. Also, the transportation is just strange here. On one hand, our country is MUCH too large to have a sustainable country wide train system. Despite our 300M population, there wouldn't be a sizeable enough customer base for it to run properly. As for the cities, it was just poor planning. And you have to remember, many of the cities here FLOURISHED at the turn of the century when cars were being manufactured. This caused the cities to be BUILT ARPUND THE AUTOMOBILE, Los Angeles is the most extreme case of this. Look up the history of it, it's very interesting and will explain why Los Angeles is sooo spread out. But overall, awesome video! But please try to visit as many different states/communities as you can. They are all vastly different

Lol, your impression is right...lived here all my life.

You should visit Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia (those cities Also have City life like NYC)

I mean a lot of public transportation in america isn't great but we do have buses in every city, gray hound buses in between cities, amtrak to travel across the country by train, and most major cities have some kind of train system. It's just that most people prefer to drive than to use public transportation.

I can't relate to things being spread out i live in North Jersey.

The main reason why people drive around with tinted windows is it saves energyas far as having the car air conditioning on it doesn't have to work as hard as compared to cars without windows

You are pretty much spot on! From a Dane living in the US

As an American who's been to Europe a few times and recently to Luxembourg and Trier Germany, I'm able to see my home country through a different set of eyes. I liked just about everything better back there except for the limited parking, and the feeling that I didn't quite belong. Also, like you mentioned, the weather is sunnier overall in the USA. There is a subtle feeling of lawlessness in the U.S. in general that works with my naturally disobedient personality. The parking garages in Luxembourg were so neat, clean, quiet and orderly that I almost couldn't believe they were real. I accidentally dropped a carton of milk that I had bought at an Aldi, and my conscience made me go get a t-shirt out of my backpack, wipe up the spill, and then use my drinking water to wipe away any stickiness that remained. And this was just the floor of the parking garage. Kind of impressive to me how well they maintain their spaces over there.

Wait WAIT did u say no BUSES!?!? my city has to many! its a infestaion of BUSES and we even have a train that ges through our city its called the tide my city is Norfolk VA visit us so u can see your buses and trains

Road conditions vary a great deal depending on what part of the country you are in. I grew up in Iowa where the roads are always shit, mostly because of the harsh winters and the use of salt for de-icing. Now I live in Arizona near Phoenix. The roads are beautiful except for the occasional rough spot. Although it's easy to have nice roads when you really don't have a winter and rain is less frequent. Also I would highly recommend you visit Wisconsin or northern Iowa you ever feel homesick for Germany. The majority of the people there have Germanic roots and traditions. In fact I have friends that have been to Germany and they say even the landscape is similar (except no mountain areas)

Important to note just based on your first observation... Germany in sq miles is roughly 138,000. The state of California alone is 160,000. Texas is like 240,000. I think the amount of land lends cities to be more widespread. There are of course apartments and smaller housing in these big cities. But most comfortable (and quite frankly affordable) living happens 5-8 miles outside of city limits. Even as someone from the US, I sometimes don't grasp how huge and expansive this country is.

Heyo Phill, I would like to know how ads looks like in USA? I heard that they are super annoing. Its true tho that when I feeled a bit confident in Deutsch language I went to Bavaria and the Deautsh there felt diffirent yet thanks to our common culture it was easy to adapt.

It’s true we don’t have adult stores next to churches or schools like Europe

I think I agree with most things in this video with he exception of car culture and English. I live like 30 min outside of Atlanta. But I understand the generalization you have from where you went that that's where your thoughts are going to be based on. Everything in the US in my opinion depends on where you live. Like you said "subjective" everything in your thoughts are subject to change. I bet your impressions will change when you explore more and find more people and places. Hope you love staying even more next time! One thing I always say even when I was hosting a frenchie for 2 weeks was never judge the US by the movies lol. The states, cities, wherever always are subject to change. (Btw the hate is just the people who don't understand the generalization of the video like you said lol...they should watch with an open mind lol)

I live in Atlanta. (LOL Actually, an hour from the center city.) When one travels to other parts of the state, it does become difficult to understand what some people are saying. True.

Where where I live yes we have buses even when I lived in Houston we had a bus and where you wanted to go yes it is on for cars but in Texas you can get public transportation

Not everyone lives in a subdivision. I would say that I live on the Northside of town or the south side. Or I would give a landmark. For example, I live close to a well-known road in the city called Lascassas Pike. I would say that I live off Lascassas Pike close to the university. I would say I live in a part of a town/city rather than a subdivision. Subdivisions bring to mind a grouping of similar homes that are concentrated in a neighborhood with an elaborate gate or fence and they usually have a brick sign with a made-up name for their middle class subdivision.

A subdivision is a part of a suburb typically with homes on one street that is combined into a small community of homes that typically share the same appearance. A suburb is a smaller city attached to a large metropolitan city. For example, I live in a suburb of Nashville, TN. It’s called Murfreesboro and is actually it’s own city. It is 35 minutes away so we’d call it a suburb. It is somewhat connected to the main city (Nashville) and people typically commute to and from these cities. A subdivision is located in a city, a suburb, or can be in the country but is most likely in a city. There can be several subdivisions in a city. There can be several suburbs around a major city. Within the major city, there are areas of the city called “neighborhoods” which are a part of that city, but if it is its own city, it would automatically be called a suburb. If the city is so far from the main city that you can’t really work in one and live in the other, it is no longer a suburb-it’s just a city.

I am Phil too. Born and raised in Ohio. You make great points. I agree with most of what you have said. Thank you.

In general it's pretty correct. America is very diverse though in that you can live by the ocean, mountains, dessert, lake, city or county. Accents do vary

All southern states need tinted windows to cool off the car.

you're talkin about tinted windows it has more to do with safety reasons it's actually used to protect the driver's eyes from the sunshine unlike Dutchland it's not overcast or rainy most of time it sunny here.

US is lawless driving? Have you driven in Rome? Or Brazil? Or Paris?

One thing I do want to clarify , is that a lot of people do live in the city. The people who say “I’m from DC” even though they live in Virginia are often scowled by people who ACTUALLY live in DC. It’s very common for them to be corrected and say “you live in Virginia!” Not DC. I think you must’ve hung out with someone that lives in the suburb

We have buses and other public trains/transportation.

our speech changes so much depending on the state as well. the south has heavy accents

In places where there aren't a lot of (or any for that matter) exotic cars, Pickup Trucks are the Status Symbol. Because they just as luxurious as most cars now and in turn cost more than a typical car. They are also the most customizable. There are literally whole websites and shops dedicated to aftermarket parts you can buy to add to your truck to give it a personalized look. I have a 2016 F150 Lariat (

Whereabouts in Germany do you come from?

This is the most accurate take on life in US v Europe that I've seen. Forget about crime, we both have it. Forget about guns, US has them, Europe doesn't, but try to find someone in the US who's seen a gunfight in person(TV doesn't count), except for military veterans, good luck, no one has. The main difference is the US is built around cars, Europe is built around walking, and the result is radically different lifestyles.

City life in America is neighborhood related. America was created for and around cars. Some major car companies would even buy bus lines and trolly lines and tear them down or stop them from running so people would have to buy cars. It was not our choice as a society. It happened to us. So we had to deal with it.

I understand what you mean by lifestyle. College towns are good for interacting and most places are in walking distance, I wish America would adopt to that infrastructure more, it would definitely give us a sense of community

Ich drücke dir die Daumen dass es mit dem neuen Kanal (und weiterhin mit dem anderen mit Deeana) gut läuft. Du produzierst wertvollen Content. Weiter so. Ich bin gerade im Stadion und drehe das nächste Vlog, schaue mir dein (mit Sicherheit sehr interessantes) Video also später an. Wollte nur einmal erster sein! 🙃 Glück auf!

Cities in the north east especially are more like European cities, they tend to have pretty good public transportation and are more dense and compact because they are older cities and were built before the car became popular. NYC, DC, Boston & Philly are good examples of this

there is public transportation it is just more of a hassle and most people prefer their own car, or taxi or uber. I have to take the bus to and from work but my it's not like a normal waiting at bus stop since I live out of town I have call and set up a bus schedule to pick me up from home and drop me off work and then pick me up from work, the only issue is they don't work on Saturday and Sunday, though I'm lucky I don't work on weekends Americans also do this thing called carpooling where people share a car usually to go to work or school. like one person will pick up their co-workers who live near by and they drive in one car

Many times, foreigners have expectations of America based on movies. Well, hasn't anyone seen Deliverance or Roger and Me?

Loved this video. Your observations were generally spot on [disclaimer: I've been to WONDERFUL Germany a couple of times. LOVE it there!] You made some very true observations that need context. One of the worst mistakes my country ever made was deciding that somehow people should not live and shop in the same area. BIG mistake that lead to this urban sprawl. But much of that was inspired by President Eisenhower's service in Europe in WWII. He saw the incredible efficiency of the German Autobahn system and how it allowed Hitler to move his forces quickly to redeploy them. Thus was born the US Interstate Highway system, with over 5MM miles of highway, all built with the edict that (geography permitting) every 1 mile in 5 was built straight as a arrow to serve as an emergency airstrip. The other observation I question is your comments about American grocery stores and how they were plentiful but pricey. This astounds me. Food costs in the US are generally very low by global standards. On my [admittedly brief] excursions to Europe, I found their food selections very expensive and very limited compared to what I was accustomed. Lastly: ACCENTS. The voices you hear on American TV and movies are purposely designed to be the most basic, generic American accent of the upper Midwest. The USA is a large and diverse nation. What you call the "Hollywood" accent ain't what it really is. Go to Los Angeles and hear their speech. NOTHING like what you see on TV. India has over 200 different dialects. Same with USA but to a much lesser extreme.

A lot of people in the US live in very rural areas where we need to drive a couple hours to get to, let's say, an airport, or a big shopping area. We also need bigger vehicles with 4wd to get through our rural roads when we get a lot of snow or on the back roads.

As an American, Baltimore Maryland native, the city life is more for younger crowd, every once in awhile going to the city to hang out is cool, you have your local bars, clubs restaurants, but mostly traveling into the city is because maybe you have a dr appt, going to court, work, or some type of government assistance, and the city life is a bit dangerous depending on where you going. A true experience of the US is our natural parks, beaches, country side living and local restaurants, and neighborhoods festivals.

I was born in Fayetteville NC my dad was stationed at Ft.Bragg. Later he was stationed in Hohenfells Germany. I loved Germany. Great people great food.

You & Deanna need to see Minnesota for a Summer. All the walking, biking, and many parks within distance of the Twin Cites. Especially Lake Minnetonka. Late August is the most festive time for us. Also, I recommend renting a car for any American journeys. America is full of eye-candy; Zion National, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon...

there are regional accents. Don't they have those in Deutschland?

yes in the coastal regions of America has beautiful weather but you obviously have never been to the central and northern US. where in one week you could see a tornado, flood, blizzard, and arctic temperatures. top it off with with summers hot enough to cook on the sidewalk. btw thats also why a lot of us have trucks because cars cant make it through 2 meters of snow.

We definitely have public transportation in populated areas like cities. In some areas you are less likely to see them because most people have vehicles. But rural areas usually don’t.(im from Virginia btw) and we have lots of public transportation everywhere ! uber, Lyft, cabs, buses, etc.

i think you'r right about most you say about the usa end same goose for canada as well

As an American I agree with all of these. Especially driving! It drives me crazy when I put my blinker on to move into a lane and the car speeds up and refuses me to get in front of them. Phil don’t let the haters get to you!

I think what you mean is suburb (shorter for suburban), not subdivision.

3:21. You sure man? Because even my small town has public buses 😂😂! I live in East coast.

Driving is lawless lol your right there, had me laughing there.

Plenty of people live in the city centers here in America

Your perspective is pretty much on point..The thing is there is a big difference in smaller town America and big city America...Towns are much more walk around friendly and more of a community..Alot of it is picking a good location to fit your lifestyle..I work in DC but I live in a small town a hour away..Because city life isn't for me.. And you would be amazed at how much cheaper everything is when you get away from the city's..

The reason why our supermarkets are huge is because we’re so diverse so we have so many different i teams from culture sections in our stores to local grown foods. Everything

I like our lack of population density. I really enjoyed my time in Germany. I really miss people staying out of the left lanes. When I got back to the States, I lost my mind (and still do) about left lane campers.

All the states are so different. You mentioned the weather being the best in the world, but every state is so different. Minnesota in the winter is not the best. It becomes very cold, and like Florida it is nice in the winter, but very hot and humid in the Summer. I would recommend the mid west if you want to see what America is really like

I love the US! I live in Minnesota and people are very nice here most of the time. Drivers are nice. I am not a big fan of the US cities but I love National Parks!

Very good video, as an American I love seeing what others think of our country

I think, for the most part, many Americans want land. The large house, with a big yard, and a white picket fence life. I think most definitely don't want to be entrenched upon with businesses. We're so used to getting in a car and driving for few mins to do what we got to do. Plus, the U.S is HUGE. Nice video.