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

Sashkin,

I totally agree. The portions of food in America are obscene really. Puts me right off my dinner! But people expect that there I suppose.

But the Doggy Bag is for the dog surely, not humans. I would never reheat the slops that are given in bags for consumption by me or any other human. But I am a fussy onion...

Canada, but this is a thug across all of North America:

Doggybags. Seriously, no I do not want the cold plate-scrapings putting in a box for me. No matter how hungry I am tomorrow, I won’t find a couple of soggy nachos and a half-eaten burger appealing. Just why?

Make the portions smaller if they are too big for one person to eat. I don’t want to take the contents of the slops bucket home with me after a lovely meal out. It really turns my stomach to even be asked. And then the waitress gives you a weird look when you say no!

(Normal leftovers, ie “extra portion that is still in the pan” is fine. It’s offering people the half-eaten plate-scrapings that is rancid.

What is it with Saudis and falcons?

Anyone realised how indecisive Brits actually are, once you move abroad?

I really rather like the idea of living in Iceland.

culture shock has always being when returning

This makes perfect sense to me. We up sticks and go off on an adventure, expecting things to be different. When we are 'coming back' to what is supposed to be 'home', we expect everything to be as we remembered it and struggle when it is, or seems, different to what we expect.

@Hakarl Mmmm, salty liquorice. And when i do get some, i just cannot stop myself over-eating it, too

The speed limit in the large village where my family lives is 20 kmh ifnot and the vast majority of drivers sticks to it but yes, on Autobahnen the speed can be crazy. Not only the speed but also how close cars drive up to the ones in front and how close to someone else cars are pulling out to overtake.

Maggie, omg what I’d give for a potato scallop ;) with chicken salt and Aussie bbq sauce - I have to make do with sweet n sticky Heinz bbq sauce as an welcome alternative ,to all that aweful smokey bbq sauce.

I have a question RE Germany:
If they drive really fast and agressively, how does that square up with all the small children wandering around on their own? Don't people worry about them getting squished?
Someone ( sorry don't know who) said this about France;
Saying “bonjour” to everyone, all the time. When you get in the lift at work, when someone else gets in the lift, when you go into a shop (and “au revoir” when you leave”), when you pay for something, when you pass your neighbours on the stairs. All the time.
I would do that if I go in a small shop, or pass a neighbour, or get in a lift.. (hello not bonjour-I'm British).
I have realised why, when in Paris, I found everyone lovely and friendly and they are renowned for being rude, maybe it's because I bonjoured the Hell out of everyone
I have lived in HK and the US, and agree that in some ways coming back to the UK was the weirdest. How cosy the TV feels, how crowded everywhere is, how everyone talks about the same stuff/uses the same buzz words, how terrified people seem of human interaction but seem to like dogs more than people.
I love my country but I don't always feel that I fit in.

glitzy yes, the chips! I have the same sentiment- they’re soggy and blah!! I remember when harry ramsdens opened in Melbourne over 20 years ago - same style of chips and no, they didn’t last for long! And they really need to put potato cakes on the menu (or potato scallops depending where you come from 😉)

Pocketangel, there was a great photo in the national press, here in the UK, about a year ago when a Saudi prince had booked seats on a plane for his 80 falcons!

Regarding cards - Aussies do give cards but usually it’s because that’s what you give with a gift. I think it’s quite lovely that in the UK people like to send cards for any reason. However, it doesn’t come naturally to me.

Fish and chips shops - I heard how the best fish n chips are in the Uk. I have been so disappointed! There is nothing wrong with the cod but I find the chips hit n miss. There is only one place I like the chips from a chippy over here. Even DH prefers the chips in OZ. However, triple cooked chips at a pub are very nice. The malt vinegar is so weak tasting. You can taste the vinegar on Aussie chips. It’s the same with salt and vingear crisps. The only ones I like are the Mcoys as they taste like the Aussie ones.

Yea

Ginger - fizzy pop
Chap - a knock at the door, notification.

mere like what Sunday said. It’s all logged. Perhaps it’s the Brits like queuing thing 😂

From SA, when was in UK:

Exs family kept calling me Petal. I really thought that were mispronouncing my name at first, until I heard them call someone else that as well. Then when they called me Pet, I twigged on that its a term of endearment (well I think so....)

I still do not get the half half wedding thing. For us, if you are invited to a wedding, you go to the wedding... to all of it. When we got an invite to go to a wedding in UK, but only to the party, I was flabbergasted. So I was to attend the party, but not to see them take their vows?? Very odd to me, still to this day.

What is the thing with having to take off your shoes to go into someone's house? At first I thought it was to not dirty the carpet, but this also applies to houses that don't even have carpets, ie laminate floors etc.

I was very very shocked to have posted a letter, and to my surprise, the person had it the very next morning. Utter shock, as our post to my neighbour would take at least 2 weeks.

Went to a party. Offered a Scottish child a drink. The child didn't get my accent, so mother said to child "Murphys asked if you would like some ginger". I pipe up, no sorry I don't have ginger, only orange flavour....... cue plenty hysterical laughs.

Same family, asked for a chap in the morning (stayed over at the party). I was as to which chap exactly she would have liked me to arrange.... to find out it is a wake up call..... .

And if a real Irish person spoke to me, I just stood there, as I needed a translator. Not a clue. I could not decipher what they were saying, as the accent is so strong, but its the speed at which they speak. Love the accent, just wish I could understand it better he he.

Some things mentioned upthread re SA I had a giggle about. We do have some weird and wonderful expressions which I do expect take a little getting used to.

Mere - Electronic pumps (which almost are in the UK now, don't know about other countries) log "turns" on the pumps so the next user can only start once the cashier has accepted the new user. The outstanding amount is still waiting on their system.

It's like in a supermarket, if you got to checkout and realised you'd left your purse in the car, they store the sale whilst going on to the next customer, then when you come back with money they bring up your sale to complete it.

I have lived in Germany for 16 years and I find the selfish attitude and behaviour here still very hard to accept. Queuing is one thing that the British are very good at but other nations don't seem to want to wait their turn.
You have to quickly learn to stand your ground here otherwise you will get trampled on.

thegreatbeyond are you me? My DH also S. American. I know when we visit friends or go to parties we spend an hour saying hello and doing the kiss thing and an hour saying bye and kissing! I am so used it now though I find it weird not doing it so I do it with everyone no matter where they are from! My mother also loves my DH as they have loads in common. I love my DH family, we get on really well but they are in SAmerica so only see them every few years but talk all the time. We hope to move out there in a decade or so.

Brit in the UAE

Flashing your headlights at someone here does not mean a) go on, you go first or b) Did you know you’ve forgotten to put your headlights on? It means GET OUT OF MY WAY OR I’LL RAM YOU WITH MY MASSIVE CAR! Very aggressive driving style...

Many shops don’t open until 3pm on a Friday (holy day) but can be open from 8am until midnight every other day of the week.

The ‘night culture’ of most things being open late. I phoned to get a doctor’s appointment for my 2 year old and was given one at 10.40pm that night! 😳

The expectation of things that are done for you - bag packing at the supermarket I get, but then wheeling the trolley to your car, unloading it into your boot and taking the trolley back? A waiter brings a can of coke in a cafe or restaurant, opens it and pours it for you as well as conveniently ripping half the wrapper off the straw for you. There is a lady in most public toilets who will get paper towels from the dispenser for you.

EVERYTHING gets delivered. You can phone your corner shop for a can of coke and a packet of cigarettes and someone will deliver them to your door.

Loose camels on the motorway.

A man sitting next to you on the plane with a falcon on his arm.

Families with maids, drivers, cooks and a nanny per child. Often when the mother doesn’t go out to work and the children are all at school. (Bit jealous about this tbh...)

I didn't let my small DC open birthday presents at their parties because it kind of grinds the party to a halt while that is happening, they could get overwhelmed by the presents and start playing with them instead of interacting with the guests, they didn't have the skills to manage smoothly if given duplicates and some guests might dive in amongst the presents and we would lose all hope of keeping track of who gave what.

In Oz when we get fuel and there’s someone behind us waiting we move our car and park it to let the person behind refuel rather than sit there and wait for for us to pay and leave! When I asked my husband why they don’t do this here he said people will assume you’re going to drive off and not pay! I thought it was because the cashier only knows how much you owe while the figure is still showing on the pump. So until you've paid, no-one else can use that pump, so you might as well stay parked by it.

80sMum - the present opening later is so the parent knows which present came from which person for the thank-you cards afterwards.
We make a list as they are being opened.

Also if presents are opened at the time, other children naturally want to play with them too and this can lead to squabbles.
Also the birthday guests should be enjoying the party, not watching birthday child get all the presents.
It’s all about manners, quite the opposite to what you’re thinking about regifting etc.

Plus people in England having to be warned after 9/11 not to touch abandoned bags at train stations: DH & I just looked at each other, "Why on Earth would you want to do that?:

There's always been warnings, pre-dates 9/11 by a long way! If anything things are slightly more relaxed now, there are rubbish bins at railway stations which is something there never was growing up because of the IRA

CakeRattleandRoll YES! Is it queso fresco? I remember that, I like it.

mundo same in Korea. An absolute obsession with things being 'jjijji' (dirty) - putting your handbag on the floor is jjijji, letting your kids touch the ground is jjijji, my mother in law doesn't even let my dog sniff around because that's jjijji too - but God forbid anyone should wash their hands before eating or after peeing.

Everyone looks immaculate at all times here too, and yet I know their hands are swarming with germs.

I don't want to sound racist but it really grosses me out. Women at work come out of the bathroom and directly start chatting to you and fixing their make up and they aren't even slightly ashamed about not having washed their hands. I think there's just a massive lack of education in this area.