It also depends on what food you're used to. I'm from the UK and did the whole cross-country US road trip thang when I was in my twenties. I remember it was the little odd differences in supermarkets and restaurants that freaked me out.
For example - at the time (early nineties) almost no Indian food anywhere. In the UK even small villages often have an Indian take out. On the flip side - in the US you have texmex everywhere. It's still fairly rare over here (and of a.... erm.... different level of quality :-)
Bread was another one. At even small rural shops you had soughdough, rye, bagels, etc. In the UK you get white bread and brown bread ;-)
And the portion sizes... wow... so different. I remember going out with a family chatting away snacking away and suddenly realising that I was now "full" on the "free stuff you eat before your meal"...
Yes, Umberto Eco wrote an interesting article on the cultural significance of "more" to Americans. This is quite obvious in restaurant portion sizes among other.
I'll have to dig the book out to find. It must me in one of the article compilations such as "How to travel with a salmon" or "Travels in Hyperreality".
For example - at the time (early nineties) almost no Indian food anywhere. In the UK even small villages often have an Indian take out. On the flip side - in the US you have texmex everywhere. It's still fairly rare over here (and of a.... erm.... different level of quality :-)
Bread was another one. At even small rural shops you had soughdough, rye, bagels, etc. In the UK you get white bread and brown bread ;-)
And the portion sizes... wow... so different. I remember going out with a family chatting away snacking away and suddenly realising that I was now "full" on the "free stuff you eat before your meal"...