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

993 replies

AjasLipstick · 18/03/2018 06:53

I am a Brit in Oz and for me, the hardest thing to get used to was Sunday trading hours being like the UK in the 70s.

The weirdest thing was how much less formal people are...kids are dressed very informally and parties for children never have kids dressed up in party dresses but in shorts and t shirts. I like it now I'm used to it though.

OP posts:
doraexploradora · 18/03/2018 17:45

the amount of take away food and the relative mountain of rubbish this produces was a shocker for me

userofthiswebsite · 18/03/2018 17:42

This is such an interesting thread...
Lived on the edge of Paris for a little while and always taken aback by the supermarket closing for 90 mins as a lunch break.
Never imagine that happening at Tesco.
Getting odd looks when carrying drinks on the Metro etc rather than sitting in a cafe and then doing the next thing in your day.
Always having policeman with scary dogs waiting on the platforms when you'd get off the late trains.

madamedepoppadom · 18/03/2018 17:42

Elderly I love it when "Grüss Gott" gets speeded up so it just sounds like "Scott!"

madamedepoppadom · 18/03/2018 17:39

Ifkip I've heard about that Irish having to refuse tea three times thing before and I've often wondered... what if you don't actually like tea? Is there an accepted way of telling your host that so you don't keep getting asked?

I've spent quite a lot of time in Austria, and apart from the popularity of slippers that has been mentioned already, the things that struck me most were:

You don't get invited to people's houses (or more often flats) unless you've known each other well for a long time. They're more likely to suggest meeting up in a café. This doesn't mean they don't like you, it's just their way.

If they even suspect that you might be an English speaker they will often insist on speaking English to you, even if you answer in quite good German.

Tea and coffee are not automatically served white (I don't like them white anyway, but if you do, it's worth knowing). White coffee is called brown coffee (einen Braunen).

Sweet dishes are sometimes eaten as a main course, especially at lunchtime.

A lot of snow is really not a big deal.

Not much is open on Sundays, except in very touristy areas.

"Palatschinken" is nothing to do with ham (Schinken) - it's pancakes. So you don't need to throw up your hands in horror if someone offers you some with ice cream and chocolate sauce!

People used their titles and qualifications all the time. You might see an advert that says "room to let in flat-share, contact Engineer So-and-So" or receive a wedding invitation saying that Heidi X is marrying Holger Y, MA.

AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight · 18/03/2018 17:29

I love the different regional greetings in Germany, and the dialects in general. I've lived in different places and have friends all over and I love all the 'Moin' and 'Gruß Gott' and 'Tachchen' (in Berlin) and so on. Dialect and accent is (mostly) much less of a class issue than in the UK, and although there's rivalry and piss-taking between regions/dialects, you'd never hear the kind of snobbery you sometimes get on threads on here about people not 'speaking properly'.

laddylonglocks · 18/03/2018 17:29

Also in Jordan- little shower hose next to the toilet- AMAZING! I have never felt so clean. I installed one in our toilet in the UK as I can see how just using toilet paper is gross.

All shops, schools, doctors, dentists, petrol stations etc have big pictures of the king displayed, they adore him.

Curlyshabtree · 18/03/2018 17:27

Was definitely piece of cheese. It was 25 years ago in the Highlands if that makes any difference!
I also remember a guy who was looking for his piece box - I thought it was some collection box for a peace organisation.....

CookPassBabtridge · 18/03/2018 17:25

Jordan, Middle East- being fed huge amounts, and if I cleared my plate they would take that as a sign I was still hungry and fill the plate again! The trick was to leave a little bit. The food was so beautiful though so I never minded the pushiness. They just love feeding people until they explode.

Golondrina · 18/03/2018 17:23

I agree with quite a lot of the Spain stuff except the after school activities. My kids do a couple each and we live in a small village. It's very very common.
Also, the doctors is computerised mow, although people do still find out who is the last in the queue.

Kismett · 18/03/2018 17:18

Our bath has a strange sort of shower hose down at the level of the taps. The wall isn’t tiled fully so can’t take a standing shower. I don’t understand why it wasn’t made a full shower in the first place!

Lweji · 18/03/2018 17:16

Which reminds me.

It surprised me going to the UK that there were bathtubs without showers. Shock

Lweji · 18/03/2018 17:15

The rinsing vs non-rinsing must be an UK thing. Where else is there that divide?
Same for baths.

soulrider · 18/03/2018 17:13

Yes, there were arguments amongst my house mates (all UK nationals) between the rinsers and non-rinsers. I never assumed one way was the default British way.

Flockoftreegulls · 18/03/2018 17:04

The rinsing dishes thing keeps coming up, I have always rinsed. I wasn't aware of this at all!

Teufelsrad · 18/03/2018 16:51

I've always called it a packed lunch. We did have a play piece though(Snack that you ate during break)

dancerdog · 18/03/2018 16:47

Teufelsrad I see I cross posted there! Also for info for anyone who cares, taking your 'piece' to school in the West of Scotland means a packed lunch, not a gun.

Unfortunately 'packed lunch' is increasingly common.

Teufelsrad · 18/03/2018 16:45

Completely unscientific 'study' but some years ago when I went on holiday surrounded by several hundred Aussies and Kiwis(In Europe) there was a noticeable difference between the Aussies and Kiwis. The Aussies were much colder and standoffish, they kept themselves to themselves, but the Kiwis were incredibly friendly and pleasant.

I dare say that you'd get a completely different result if you took another group of several hundred Aussies though.

dancerdog · 18/03/2018 16:44

Curlyshabtree I think you might have misheard, it's a 'piece and cheese'.

Or, a piece and sausage, etc etc

soulrider · 18/03/2018 16:37

I find it strange that people go to a new country and see one thing done one way and assume that everyone in the country does it that way!

I've worked in England for 20 years in at least 5 different organisations and never once been part of a tea round.

Lived in the midwest for a while and don't recall anything that everyone did over there that nobody in the UK would do, except perhaps enjoy root beer floats!

Teufelsrad · 18/03/2018 16:36

Curlyshabtree I'm Scottish and a piece is indeed a sandwich but in my case, if you asked me for a piece of cheese I'd have given you exactly that, some cheese, but a piece and cheese would get you a cheese sandwich.

toomuchtooold · 18/03/2018 16:30

OneDayIWillHaveAGreatUsername I have a set of those plastic eggs Blush Never been invited to a bastel afternoon thank Christ, but I could've entered bakeoff with the number of cakes I've been required to produce since the kids started kindergarten...
I feel your pain regarding the tea. The only place in our town where you can get a decent cup of tea is at the McDonald's because it's almost exclusively staffed by Afghan and Syrian refugees, who all know how to make a decent strong cup of tea Grin

You have Swiss in-laws? I have Swiss in-laws! I like the three kisses on the cheek thing, and also the fact that they look at me funny if I use the German word for anything that they use the French word for (trottoir, sanitaire, velo) and also the insistence that there is a massive gulf of difference between south German dialects and Swiss German.

BonnieF · 18/03/2018 16:21

Brit who lived in Bavaria for a while.
Gruß Gott!
Nudity. In Bavaria, getting naked in public either outdoors in summer or at the Therme (spa) is considered perfectly normal, unremarkable social behaviour.
Lederhosen and dirndl. People of all ages really do wear this stuff. It isn’t just in touristy beerhalls in Munich or during Oktoberfest.

I also lived in the southern US for a while.
In Britain, most people either aren’t religious or pay lip service to religion. It’s somewhat different in Georgia. Religion is ubiquitous, is taken very, very seriously and is a huge part of almost everyone’s life. Nice, well-meaning people would invite me to attend their church with them, and trying to politely explain that you are not religious without offending them was tricky.

GrouchyKiwi · 18/03/2018 16:03

Kiwi (obvs) in UK.

  • children starting school in one block, not on their 5th birthday (or new term if their birthday was in the holidays).
  • children starting school at 4.
  • school starting in September, not the actual beginning of the year.
  • school catchment areas.
Seems I find UK schools weird. Grin

Also:

  • the obsession with class, and how MC people are faintly embarrassed of being so.
  • agree with PPs on the words "pants" and "alright". DH pretends to be confused when I talk about which pants the children will wear today.
  • people crying over sport.
  • the tiny, narrow, terrifying, crowded roads. Took me 10 years to be brave enough to get my UK driving licence.
  • not having to sell your first-born child to afford dental treatment.
pallisers · 18/03/2018 15:59

I'm Irish living in the US.

People turning up on time for events. Like you invite people for dinner at 7 and they show up at 7 on the dot, not 7.30.

Eating dinner so early. Most people seem to have it at 6 at the latest. We eat at 7 or 8 and our kids' friends think we are weird

Not parking on the wrong side of the street

How sweet so much of the food was

Decorating for various holidays (think this may be from the German influence based on this thread). People decorate graves for the holidays too.

Eating in the street/on public transportation. This was absolutely shocking to me 20 years ago when I arrived. Now it is exactly the same in Ireland.

Once had a very bonding experience with a colleague from Taiwan about how weird it was if you said "ah no I wouldn't put you to the trouble" to the offer of a cup of tea, it might't be offered again.

When I arrived every american who had ever spent time in Ireland staying in a family home had only one question for me --- why did we not rinse the dishes after washing them? :)

Curlyshabtree · 18/03/2018 15:54

I also lived and worked in Hong Kong, I once phoned someone, his secreatary answered and when I asked to speak to him she replied: “he’s not here he’s gone for shit”. Grin

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