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

toomuch
The doctors is really funny, I find it very amusing and join in with all the gruß gotting!
Also, people wearing dirndl/Lederhosen without a hint of irony.

The habit of Brits asking "how are you?" and then rolling their eyes at you if you reply anything other than "fine". Or running away before you can even answer the question. And the monologues about how very polite British people are. I am sorry, but only British people think that (and possibly Americans who get their impression of British people from watching Downtown Abbey). If you have to tell people you are something that would be self-evident if it was true .....

Another Brit in Germany here. Just about getting used to the endless hand shaking but I will never get used to having to say good morning to everyone in the GP waiting room! Regarding the please and thank you, I wonder if it's a regional thing - we live in rural south Germany and there's tons of please and thank you and have a nice day/weekend/holiday day etc etc.
What about the endless decorations? You have Christmas, then Fasnacht, then Easter, then there's a bit of a lull in the summer but then it's back again with Harvest and all the little arrangements of pumpkins and wooden squirrels and shit.

In defence of normal Scottish people is like to add that the whole Catholic/Protestant thing is not even on the radar of most of us @lljkk

Brit in Saudi Arabia:

Gosh where do I start?

-The clothes! Or more specifically, the abayas. I am gathering a fabulous collection, but it's a bugger to have to put on/take off several times a day. Hides the damage from a big meal well though, so every cloud..

-Shops closing for 30+ mins five times a day. When the malls don't open til 10am and the first call to prayer is around 1145 it doesn't give you much time to do the rounds!

-Once you're in the shops, no ladies changing rooms. So you have to buy and then go to the public toilet or take it home with you to try on. I've rapidly learnt that H&M cannot be trusted with their sizing.

-Like a PP said - handing in your shopping bags at the front of the supermarket or big department store for a token and then remembering to collect on the way out. Many's a time I've almost left without the rest of my purchases.

-Driving. Everything about it is utterly terrifying. When women are permitted to drive from June, I don't think I'll be taking my test anytime soon... you genuinely fear for your life on the roads. Something like 47 people A DAY die in road accidents in Saudi

-The waft of Oud is everywhere and is so overpowering (at least to my sensitive nose) I honestly haven't come across another nation/region that uses this much cologne/scent. It's ingrained in the money, the clothes you buy, the car seats.. everything.

-Best tasting dates you'll ever eat. Nothing like the Eat Me ones from Christmases past.

There is so so much more but thought this would give you all a taster!

Last time I saw a thread like this the OP was accused of being a bigoted xenophobe.

‘Helpers’ - having a woman living in a cupboard in your apartment who looks after your home and your children.

Only half way through but enjoying this thread.

Brit who used to live in China...

Being called fat as a compliment (I'm a size 8, this depressed me a lot even when I knew it was a compliment).

Being asked of you've eaten yet by way of a "hello" - I kept thinking I was getting asked to lunch etc...no

The lack of cards (quite liked that actually! One less thing to forget to buy!)

If you arrive somewhere new the onus is on you to go and introduce yourself to everyone.

In addition to this - all the handshaking and/or hugging when arriving or leaving. And the obligation to simply say your name when shaking a new person's hand, and the awkwardness this causes when you can't bloody remember who the bloody person is and whether you've met them before...

Banyan, I was very fond of my Aussie colleague and we kept in touch for many years after she went back to Oz. I was hugely embarrassed by my 'cultural difference' faux pas and we did get on well!

I am in Bavaria.
The driving here is shocking. Every man for himself; at speed.
The terrible queueing and general barging around, no one says excuse me while they shove you out of the way.
The obsession with everyone's "right to privacy" so you can't name the defendant in a court case etc but if you don't have your name on your mailbox the postman won't deliver anything. So any stranger can find out your name.
Hysteria when asparagus comes in at the supermarket in spring and a special machine to peel it?

Sorry, I should add I'm a Brit in the UK (re my Aussie colleague story).

But actually I was brought up abroad, but all my memories are childhood ones from donkey's years ago - so nothing current which is relevant to this thread.

Pan
Just want to add that I have spent a lot of time with Aussies and spent a lot of time there. I absolutely love them. They are brilliant.

SuburbanRhonda Yes yes - I'm a Brit in Germany and love the waiting room etiquette. It is also observed in the cash machine porch!

ChickenOwner why are you so angry? I really can't see why you seem to have such a problem with the poster you keep getting upset with. I can't work out why you think she hates the UK. She just sounded bemused by some of the things she wasn't used to.
You say you have lived abroad, surely there were things you didn't really get but it didn't mean you hated the place and everyone in it?

BanyanTree. I used to have an Australian colleague who worked in a different location to me, but we spoke frequently on the phone during the day. First call of the day always had a "how are you?" from her, I'd reply "fine thanks, and you?" I recall once when it must have been our second call of the day and she again said "how are you?" I replied that she'd asked me that an hour ago and things hadn't changed in that hour. Unfortunately I hadn't clicked that it was probably an Aussie convention and rather upset her by my response.

Kismett, your response to "alright" is either "alright" or "hi/hello"!

Toodamhottoday - I remember similar frustrations when I moved to Thailand first many years ago. We had been to India on holiday in the way and in some ways Thailand was fab in comparison! I could not live in India.

I’m Irish. Live in uk. But have lived in other countries.

Bulgaria - they nod for no and shake their heads for yes. That is confusing!

When DS was in nursery in Budapest they used to have to wear slippers. I didn’t find it odd really as we had to wear slippers at my school in Ireland. Much more hygienic really.

Always rinse dishes. DH doesn’t. Although I’ve trained him.

Don’t wear pants in bed.

We are all odd in our own ways I think!

Brit in Denmark.
A lot of what elderleylady said of Germany is also true for Denmark.
Other weird stuff about Denmark:
A lack of feminism awareness. Evetyone says we have equality in Denmark in much the same way as the sheep in animal farm say 4 legs good 2 legs bad. No one seems to notice that the forthcoming lock out of public sector employees will target mostly women - carers, sw, teachers, child carers.

Confirmations. Fucking obscene.

If you arrive somewhere new the onus is on you to go and introduce yourself to everyone.

Yy to kids getting themselves to school. Its lovely.

Sunday trading laws have caught up with the uk (almost) which is nice.

No milkman deliveries.

Cash points in the uk are light years ahead. Here I can print my balance and withdraw cash. Thats it.

Candidates for local elections giving out the voting papers at polling stations. I properly freaked out at that one.

And you would think that the country that is home to 10 million pigs they would have discovered that pork and apple is a good combination but no.

I stayed in Spain once for a few months, and I was considered really rude for not stopping and chatting daily to my downstairs neighbour who was also my landlady..right from the first day of moving in..

Whereas in Britain, the politest thing to do would be to 'keep yourself to yourself' for the first while, and maybe build a friendship slowly...

Old East Germany for three years.

I was completely freaked out by the hand-shaking (DD had to shake her teacher’s hand every morning at the age of 4!). By the time we left l loved it and much preferred it to air-kissing people you barely know.

Going to the GP was like a social occasion. Everyone in the waiting room would greet you as you came in. You took your coat off and put it in a wardrobe, which had mirrored doors so you could check you looked ok before you went in to see the doctor. Everyone was dressed smartly.

When you came out from your appointment you’d put your coat on, check your appearance in the mirror again and say goodbye to everyone in the waiting room!

Oh, and the drink driving!!

Spain here - the sheer amount of noise (people talking/shouting, neighbours being so noisy), the lack of family time with the long split working hours, the shops shutting for 'siesta', the love for pyjamas and slippers (even people walking around the streets in these!), oil instead of butter on sandwiches...

@Todamhottoday You brought back memories from my trip to India and Sri Lanka. The villages were nice though! The bit that got me was when they did not think twice about asking you the personal questions. How many children do you have? Why don't you have children? How much do you earn? Are you rich?

In California, working in retail, you can serve customer A while answering questions from Customer B. Serving 2 at once is fine & Customer B isn't rude to have asked a simple question while you were serving Customer A. If the question isn't simple, Customer B will just wait after all. Customer A doesn't mind.

There's a bit of skill in how to do it, both as customer and service person, but everyone manages, multi-tasking is the norm, Customer A doesn't mind the 10 second interruption as long as they're being taken care of as priority. Saves everyone time, so what's not to like?

Never happens in UK. Customer service can't do it. You have to wait your turn. So much time gets wasted in queues when folk just have simple question to get answer for...