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The Daily Tar Heel
Pit Talk

Culture Shock: Surrounded by khaki shorts and grinders

Little disclaimer for you, dear reader: I am definitely not an expert on the excitingly mysterious yet ever wonderful matter that is ~MEN~. 

But I can't help but notice the many differences between guys from Europe — mainly just Spain, I'm not that international — and guys from America. 

In an attempt of doing some investigative journalism, I gathered information from a few fellow exchange students, both Spanish and American. This is what I found out:

Why khaki shorts? 

European men have a better fashion sense. Every single person I talked to agrees. 

European guys take their appearance a little bit more seriously. The truth is they like their jeans fitted, and we are all okay with it. 

Also, before coming to the U.S, I had underestimated the power of shoes. What makes Americans think that white knee-high socks with sandals is a cute thing to do? It will always be a mystery. 

The beauty is inside

While American guys are more independent from their families, European guys are more social and open to meeting new people. 

My American friends say that Spanish guys in particular are very obvious and forward when flirting, whereas American guys (UNC guys, really) expect women to make the first move. My Spanish friends say that American guys are open... to be just friends. They're usually very polite and nice, which makes everything very confusing. Are you flirting? Are you being nice? What do you want from me!?

So... twerking is a thing

I looked up synonyms for "grind" and some of them were "to clash", "to crumble", "to pound", "to smash"... And I'm sure all of these apply to how my innocence is after witnessing this activity. 

This is quite literally the only type of dance (is it even considered a type of dance?) that American guys do while going out. 

I'm not going to say that Spaniards dance amazingly though, I think we all agree that award goes to Latin Americans. Another thing that's different is drinking games. No beer pong or flip cup or any of that nonsense (I actually think they're pretty fun) in Europe. 

In terms of who's better looking, I'll let you all decide. My personal choice is Australians — I think they have the best of both worlds.

@mariaecheve94

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