The Super Bowl
… and everything that entails. While crazed sports fans and diehard devotion aren’t concepts unique to America, the Super Bowl encourages a few strange behaviors. Take, for example, the largely American concept of tailgating, in which sometimes inebriated fans hang out in a parking lot wearing the colors of their team, grill food, and play games in anticipation for the actual football game. Then, we discuss the commercials (best/worst/most expensive, etc) for days and weeks. Strange, if you think about it.

Halloween
While many countries celebrate a day in remembrance of the dead, Halloween as we know it is distinctly American. That is—inviting children to dress up and pester the neighbors, uttering “trick or treat” and receiving a piece of candy.

Thanksgiving
Another weird American holiday that must make the list because of its absurdity, Thanksgiving can offer a confusing set of traditions. Take, for example, the annual presidential pardon of a turkey. Or Black Friday, the largest shopping day of the year, in which Americans are trampled and killed in an attempt to score a great deal, followed of course by Cyber Monday.

Groundhog Day
Perhaps the most bizarre of the American holiday traditions, our reliance on a rodent to predict the season is celebrated on Groundhog Day, to the confusion of everyone else (and maybe even ourselves). In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a groundhog named Phil either sees or doesn’t see his shadow, leaving us in winter or ushering in spring.

Publicized Trials
There are few things we love as much as the public display of justice offered by a televised trial. In all of our lifetimes, there have been trials that meet our standards—OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony. As a country, the United States views the evidence, interviews the witnesses, and waits as the jury announces their verdict. In most countries, a trial is a private affair—not here!

So as you go about your travels, remember to extend the same wonder and open-mindedness that is inevitably required of a traveler and discover what it is that makes every place on earth exactly so unique. (photo credit: jstonkatoy via photopin cc)

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The Jetsetter Show Team

Tags: American customs, Jason Hartman, Super Bowl, The Jetsetter Show, world traveler