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

Hakarl this level of friendly greeting happens in a lot of countries and isn't peculiar to Iceland.
I remember being part of an ex pat group when in Spain, consisting mainly of Brits but with three or four Dutch members. After the activity, the Brits would sit down for a drink together and the Dutch would stand isolated at the bar. I remember the shock and discomfort on the faces of the Brits when I went over over invited the Dutch to join us. In general, I find the Brits strange rather than vice versa, although I do acknowledge the friendliness of Brits very much varies by area.
Sweet warm muffin with ham and cheese??? Surely this is a mistake, and what is on offer here is a breakfast muffin (type of bread).
Whoever it was that jumped in with 'they maybe don't speak to you in the street because they don't like you' I think speaks volumes about the person who made that comment.

NotSureThisIsWhatIWant I would use 'disculpe' in the situation you describe. Having spent a lot of time in Spain, I confess that I much prefer the openness of greeting and general warmness of character. I recall coming back to the UK after a while away and feeling when out and about in a shopping area that I was in a scene from The Walking Dead!

@Hakarl - or anyone in Iceland!

Is it commonplace for Icelanders to say hello and goodbye to random strangers? I ask because recently, having lunch with a few friends in a London pub (and we were the only customers in the pub at that point), two guys came in and and said a cheery hello directly to us. We said hello back and when they went to the bar to order their drinks we heard, during their conversation with the barman, that they were Icelandic. They had their drinks and a snack and when they left, they said a cheery goodbye to us, which, of course, we returned. It was all rather jolly, but obviously not really the norm in the UK

@AjasLipstick
WomanFormerly Really? I have to say that for me it's been the opposite! Since moving to Australia, I've met so many amazing and open women...who genuinely want to get to know me or help me in some way.

I live in SA...where do you live?

In NSW, north of Newy in Port Stephens - used to be in Sydney. I find people very insular where I am (people tell me the culture is still country town though population pretty big and popular holiday destination).

Where in SA does you live - city or rural??

Private school is very common here- probably at high school the split is 50/50. God knows how so many afford it.

Catholic schools in particular are very heavily subsidised, but all private schools get per-pupil state funding, so they’re much cheaper.

My counterpoint to the high number of private schools in Australia is faith schools in the state sector in the UK. The idea you might not be able to go to your local state primary because you’re not the right religion.

echt:When used in a crowd situation, " Excuse me, please," I always think has overtones of passive aggression, leading shortly to all-out aggression, because it's usually said when you feel you're not making any headway and have had it, and will shortly start just pushing.

But, then, I grew up in Sydney, so my experience may not be typical.

I was actually talking about this with my Finnish colleague last night. She's only been in the UAE for about a year, and I've been here 12 years (well, 5 in Qatar, 7 in the UAE). We both work in the Energy field, which outside of the Gulf region is an incredibly male dominated field (especially out niche branch), particularly old, white male dominated. However, in the Gulf, the STEM industry & energy in particular, is female dominated.

Most of my co-workers, and my boss, are local females, the entire organization is geared towards females, with flex hours, no issues with half a day on mothers day, gifts for international women's day & mothers day, a crèche in the building, etc.

And YOUNG! I can't get over how young everyone is compared to Canada. Top jobs are traditionally held by people in their mid-40's and younger, whereas in Canada you'd be lucky to find management level below the age of 55. In fact, my 65 year old father had an easier time finding a job in Canada than my 35 year old brother did. There's no Baby Boomer preference here.

Also, the level of education is very high. Most of my co-workers have Masters and many are working on PhD's.

It's a very family oriented, female oriented culture, which is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you think the Middle East would be like.

A Cypriot in London:
The obsession with social class! A senior professor talking about being "working class". Seriously?!
Lovely libraries with gorgeous new books
Avoiding eye contact in the street and on tube
The general distaste for Catholics

@Slapdasherie why haven't I seen or even heard of these asparagus rolls? I've been here nearly 3 years and not a mention of them! I'm clearly not moving in the right circles! Although they do sound erm.... peculiar. I've had to feign delight at offerings of kiwi dip at drinks events enough so mothers pride wrapped tinned asparagus might tip me over the edge!

wobbles are you in Korea? Sounds familiar.

@AjasLipstick what do you mean by Sunday Trading hours? I'm in NSW and on a Sunday shops are open until 10pm which I found utterly bizarre to start with but I don't think that was how things were in the UK in the 70s?

And tinned asparagus wrapped in white bread with the crusts cut off.

Asparagus rolls! Love 'em.

My first visit back to NZ after 20 years was just before Christmas and my SIL was making up a plate to take to a party. Out came the loaf of sliced white, buuter and tins of asparagus.

Ooh, I said, is it a retro party?

It wasn't.

another one for Oz:

Not being able to buy alcohol in the supermarket, but from the (linked) shop next door or from drive through bottle shop. One radical supermarket (one not the chain) is trialling a aisle of alcohol but you have to enter the hallowed portals via a gate.

And speeding tickets- you don't declare them on insurance as everyone has them. You get a huge fine and one point for 2 kms over the limit even where it is 100km/h.

Private school is very common here- probably at high school the split is 50/50. God knows how so many afford it.

Folk being ultra direct. asking how much you earn, why are you fat etc.

Folk walking really slow and queuing for ages for a freebie.

Folk laughing/giggling inappropriately when nervous.

Folk following and taking pictures if my kids, just walking up and picking them up or letting them out their buggy.

Folk not strapping their kids into seatbelts or child car seats.

Blurring out anything considered sexual but no issue showing extreme violence on tv/movies.

Ah - good times!

oh yes swearing.

In US pissed means offended/angry. In ireland it meant drunk. That one was confusing for a while.

A couple more.

Re. Swearing. Fuck off is common parlance, even for kids as the first language isn't English so no-one even raises an eyebrow (except me). It's the equivalent of get lost

On the subject of swearing all major swear words are Catholic religious words : Christ, tabernacle, wafer, chalis _ I've translated from French to English but these would be on par with fuck and cunt

Had two kids over here, EMCS with DS then once pregnant with DD I was asked by the obgyn what I wanted. I told him another section please, he didn't even bother with a spiel about trying for a VBAC he just said fine. Second to none obstetric care.

You see a lot of small statues of Mary and/or bird baths featuring St Francis in front and back yards in the US. (They are not Mary gardens).

I lived in an Italian-american town for a while and there were statues/bird baths of Mary or Joseph or Francis everywhere (still are). Never saw that in Ireland - lots of town grottoes and lots of abandoned Infant de Pragues put out for a wedding and forgotten about but not those statues. The thing is they still persist - I think if you buy a house with one, most people are a bit superstitious about chucking it out so kind of leave it to the elements.

@Todamhottoday why ARE you there?

The phenomenon of Mary gardens began in the US and spread to Ireland. The first one in Ireland was at the Knock, Mayo shrine.

You see a lot of small statues of Mary and/or bird baths featuring St Francis in front and back yards in the US. (They are not Mary gardens).

@AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight

Living in Germany sounds AWFUL why on earth are you there?!

NZ to Uk.
Late night shopping - shops closing at 7pm - hardly seems worth it. Late night shopping to me was 9pm.
Having central heating - I love it, along with double glazing.

As a teacher in the Netherlands, I want to teach in Germany, I work in secondary ed and the older ones at that, I certainly don’t consider myself ‘in loco parentis’ what a thought!

@StickStickStickStick believe me nothing like a load of hot churros after a long night out.. even if that's just a distant memory for me!
Now I have them as a dessert at the mexican restaurant (Chiquito) and it feels so weird to me having them after a meal ha ha xxx

@SundayGirls thank you! I did get a lot of stick for that at the time...and yes it is horrible when you have no change on you. Makes you feel so bad xx

@Doodles - you just have to say no to those kinds of parties!