Expats, tell me what aspect or social norm of your new country was strange to you?

Oh NZ again. I forgot about the preponderance for toploading washing machines. Front loaders are considered with some suspicion but Front loader dryers are fine. Plus the dryer is always wall mounted above the washer with the buttons at the bottom..

Ilovetea33

Obviously.

But it would still be nice to have some choice when you go to a French supermarket. No wonder the French are so narrow minded when it comes to foreign cuisine.

Do the French not like Argentinian wine or British cheese because they can’t get it at the supermarket? Or does the supermarket not stock it because the French won’t buy it?

Probably a bit of both.

About English people kissing: I grew up in London, and left the UK years back. Deffo more kissing when I visit now (and not just family who, I imagine, are pleased too see me).

Brit in Switzerland.

Wine is always served at an event. Even if it is held in the morning. At school meetings, at kids birthday parties, at church... wine, wine, wine.

The lengths people will go to keep things clean. We arrived with the attitude 'we've put whatever we don't want in the bin, our duty in done.' But here, we think about the next step, clean up our mess and dispose of it responsibly.

Kissing. We kiss everyone three times to say hello and then goodbye. Even after 15 years, I still give good friends 1kiss and keep three for formality as otherwise I would be stuck there for everything!

Interesting to read about the warm drinking water in China! In our local Chinese restaurant (frequented mainly by Chinese) you have to specifically request cold water to drink, otherwise it will be warm. Now I understand why!

France produces a lot of wine and the UK doesn't, so obviously you'll find wine from all over the world in British shops.

unicorn Oh God yes, I remember visiting Shanghai at the height of summer and it was soooo humid and we couldn’t get a cold drink for love nor money. We were with a Chinese speaking friend and everywhere we went, he told us that people were like ‘ohhhh because they are foreign and foreigners don’t know cold water is bad for you’ and everyone would go ‘ohhhhhh!!!’

Germany, but have lived here for over 30 years. plus 6 months as an au pair before university and 6+ months as a student.
Things I found odd were: needing to rest your non-spoon-holding hand on the table, at the wrist, when eating soup.
Not using your knife to cut potatoes (there was a reason for this as the starch in the potatoes used to tarnish knives in the past).
Lack of ability to queue used to annoy me, but doesn't any more.
Driving, hmm, well I have a fairly big, high-powered car, so most people get out of my way (although I am not an aggressive driver). I do now find it amusing if "lads" try to overtake me in souped-up Golfs with loud exhausts. Sometimes I let them and laugh, other times I put my foot down a little bit - no chance matey!
I like the handshaking.

China. Everyone carried flasks of hot water around and no one drank cold water as it was considered bad for the body. It took me awhile to adjust but I love it and even now hate drinking cold water. Of course today every second person in oz carries a reusable coffee cup with hot beverage and no one bats an eyelid when I ask for hot water instead of cold, but 20 years ago it was very different.

That looks very Potteresque!

Italy's been done to death on this thread already, but one of the things I found oddest when my son started school here was that all children (boys and girls alike) have to wear a smock, right through from nursery to the end of primary school.

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@OlennasWimple I've only ever been kissed 3 times, even in a first meeting. Then again I am irresistible

Oh yes, love the bluntness too. It's a very direct language spoken by very direct people and I love it. No English awkwardness or misunderstanding

I mentioned earlier that the fetishisation of the NHS is one of the things about the UK that baffles me. Another thing is that whenever the effectiveness of the NHS is questioned, there is a flurry of responses that "its worse in the US".

Errr.... Are you aware that there are am awful lot of other countries beside the US, with good public health provision, that do not use the NHS-type system?

LoveInTokyo - to each their own! There are loads of things I enjoy in the UK but I much prefer French cheese (and so does my Indian husband) and my 6yrs old asked me last time we were in France why I had ever left as the food was soooo good LOL to be frank she is a very keen meat eater and we are veggies at home so she definitely enjoys a bit of rural France :)
English cheese can be good yes, I would never turn good cheese down. But after 15yrs in the UK I still prefer French cheese. It's a question of taste and what you're being brought up to like as well.

dutch bluntness & british backhandedness can make for great debates

BitOutOfPractice - it took me a while to get used to Dutch bluntness! I rather like the way that they can say something very direct, no one takes offence and everyone moves on with the issue cleared up. But it is very un-English - they don't even apologise when saying the blunt thing!

I was told that it was either one or three kisses in NL, but never two: one for casual acquaintances and people you see frequently, three for closer friends and family. Did I mis-understand?

Another US one - it's changed now with Starbucks, but there was a time not too long ago when a young American was more likely to drink beer regularly, or even hard liquor before tasting coffee. Meanwhile Irish babies were being fed very milky tea in their bottles, and I was not the only one in my class by a long shot who used to have a cup of tea with breakfast heading out to primary school.

I also noticed how American women drank copious amounts of diet Coke/Pepsi. This was absolutely not a thing in Ireland in the late 80s.

I think the World Aids day response may have been more because of the American determination to avoid all controversial topics at all cost in the interests of getting along and team spirit. Americans tend not to discuss politics or religion at all, or any other matter that might be remotely controversial.

I have a group of women friends that I meet up with about twice a year. We had a booze up cookie exchange before Christmas in 2016, a few weeks after the election of Trump.

Someone let slip the name '45' in reference to our dear president and there was a little awkward silence during which we all tried to assess each other's innermost political thoughts, followed by a few tempered remarks on Trump which quickly turned into a free for all as we realised we all hated him and everything the GOP stood for. I have known these women since my DS was about 5 - so about 19-20 years and we have never discussed politics.

We have discussed relationships, men, sex, menopause, our aging parents and frustrations with parent relationships, children and their relationships and problems or triumphs in school and sport and other activities, made floral arrangements for the wedding of one woman's daughter who was marrying her girlfriend and the florist friend who was supposed to be donating her services had had a car accident, but never politics.

Italians are like that about Italian food. It’s really irritating. There are other foods and other cuisines but nothing is acceptable barring yet another regional dish the way mamma makes it.

We employ lots of Italians who are incredibly cultured and urbane except when it comes to food. I have had some incredibly ordinary meals in Italy but you have to rave about them all

lets compare what you get in the UK without private insurance with what you would get in the US.

I actually think, after reading many NHS maternity threads here, that I came out well ahead in the US with medicaid/kidcare. I had private insurance for all but one baby.

I had a private room, private bathroom, food menu with decent choices in hospital for every meal except the first after delivery when I got whatever was ordered by someone who had been discharged, my own doctor or midwife for all pre and post natal visits and delivery, anesthesiologist available if needed, no issues with my records which were all computerised and accessible to everyone dealing with me, a dietician to help with gestational diabetes diet, hospital paeditrician for care of the babies, and excellent nursing care, in both of the hospitals I delivered in. This was both with and without private insurance in the US.

How many British women experience time in a labour ward and a post natal ward, with no private shower or loo, over-extended nursing care, being left alone while in labour, and lack of privacy?

“Fashion and food the worst things about France imo.”

My parents came over to meet my inlaws and they brought lots of English cheeses which went down very well. The English wine was less of a success though!

My husband is very into English bacon and cider, and he can make a good cup of tea now.

LoveinTokyo when I give my neighbours English cheese they are amazed at how good it is and ask for more. In our bit of rural Normandy we can buy Spanish, Italian, Chilean, Soth African etc wine. When it is Italian week in Lidl we have prosecco wars at 0830 on the first day. 😀
I agree about the predictability of the cuisine though. We watch Méteo à la Carte at lunchtime and the recipes are sooo boring. Fashion and food the worst things about France imo.

Oh and the kissing thing! In London I kiss most of my friends and family hello and goodbye and a lot of business acquaintances too. In Ireland it isn't done as much. I have one very close friend there who is almost family (married to a distant cousin). I see her every few months and a;ways used to kiss her until my DD pointed out that she absolutely hated it.

OTH I really felt I had been accepted there when I walked into our local bar after being away for a few weeks and the owner came out from behind the counter to kiss me and welcome me home.

Oh and going to the bank in France just makes me want to kill myself.

Luckily the people in my branch are nice (unlike the people in the other banks we tried who really didn’t give a shit about customer service), but the systems are like a throwback from the 1960s. And did I mention the opening hours? Crazy.