Questions for American and other international/non uk mners

[Graphista]

I love learning about other cultures and lifestyles. Lived in Europe myself for a while but a long time ago now. Never been outside Europe though.

Pure curiosity prompted by watching tv shows and films made outside uk.

What's the difference between a condo and an apartment?

Do you have semi detached houses in America? Terraced? I ask because I think they must be called something else there.

What's the equivalent of our going to Spain & similar on package holidays where you are? What type of holidays do ordinary families have?

What about things considered traditionally British? Do other countries do Sunday dinner? On Sunday's or different days?

As someone who was a mature student twice I've also noticed that this isn't something that's portrayed on American tv, or even particularly on Australian or New Zealand output so is that because it's not a "thing" outside the uk or just a weird skewing due to scriptwriters?

What about gap years? Again American shows seem to have youngsters going straight to uni from high school if they're going to go.

Also there's a lot of talk of saving for kids to go to uni but I'm guessing there's support for students from poorer backgrounds? How does that work?

What are bank holidays like where you live? What do people do for them? Are they called public holidays or something else?

Drink driving seems to be very socially acceptable in the states, is that accurate?

Is "soccer mom" slang for sahm?

I got the impression going to summer camp was a thing a lot of American kids did, but then a friend said she'd been a camp counsellor years ago (not American) and that they're quite expensive so it's better off families that do this?

What's childcare like where you are? Again seems to be that in America and also Canada that pretty much anyone can set up a daycare business or be a Daytime "babysitter" (what we'd call a childminder)? Is it not well regulated?

Do American families really tend toward having cooked breakfasts of some description? There seems to be a lot of making pancakes, waffles, eggs & bacon in tv shows (makes me hungry!)

For other mners living in various countries what is the usual breakfast where you are?

When I lived in Europe when I was in hospital the meals were of course based on the norm for where I was living, but for me as a Brit it still felt odd having breads/crackers, cheeses, relishes and pastries for breakfast (I'm veggie, for non veggies there was also deli meats, sausage). I'm fascinated when I read articles on breakfasts around the world and see things like pickled fish, rice dishes even stews!

But then as a Scot I'm reminded of that "highlander" movie script section (a bizarrely cast film where a Frenchman is playing a Scot and a Scot an Egyptian with a Spanish name and a broad Edinburgh accent!) where Connor describes haggis to Juan and Juan is disgusted at the sound of it! So yea I appreciate a glasgow fry which can of course include fried slice of haggis, along with Lorne sausage, tattie scones, black pudding, white pudding, bacon, fried eggs, fried bread, mushrooms, tomatoes and baked beans.

Baked beans - that's another thing. It was one of the few things I bought at the naafi because British baked beans don't taste like baked beans from anywhere else. I Also bought marmite, white sliced (I liked European bread but sometimes our doughy white bread toasted and buttered was needed for the perfect beans on toast or fried egg sandwich)

So...tell me about real life in the rest of the world? I'm sure other mners will also have questions.

Ooh interesting.

My fun fact about Italy is that a typical breakfast for a DC is dunking a load of biscuits into a bowl of warm milk/cocoa/barley coffee. We have many special breakfast biscuits.
Even my cousin with the strictest DM had this for breakfast.

My question is do other countries have parent and toddler groups, they're not a thing in Italy (or Spain)

An apartment is rented, a condominium is owned.

Both baked beans and bread are generally wrong to Scottish tastes in my part of the US (Boston).

This blew my mind - roast turkey is eaten without roast potatoes here. And Brussels sprouts are common but mostly deep fried.

Ooh. I know the answer to the holiday question for Australians. I got talking to an Australian girl on a flight from Hong Kong. I told her that we had been to Bali.

Bali is the Australian equivalent to Majorca, and Kuta is the equivalent to Magaluf. It is very popular for Australian stag parties.

I think Australia is to Bali as England is to Ibiza

Biscuits for breakfast! Is there childhood obesity issues in Italy?

"An apartment is rented, a condominium is owned." How odd to have different names purely on that basis. Like it's anyone's business whether someone rents or owns!

"Both baked beans and bread are generally wrong to Scottish tastes in my part of the US (Boston)." Really? I wonder why

Roast potatoes are the best part of a roast! But then I'm a veggie.

Deep fried sprouts I've had they were yum and I normally don't like them

"Bali is the Australian equivalent to Majorca, and Kuta is the equivalent to Magaluf. It is very popular for Australian stag parties." Ooooo I love info like that!

It's like we very much are given the impression within the uk that we're the only country that has issues with drunken stupid behaviour but I know from living in Europe that's not the case eg lots of issues with football hooliganism in certain parts of Europe, but we just don't really see it reported here.

I've also wondered about Christmas in America. In films they never seem to have a Christmas lunch/dinner. It seems once presents are opened it's much like a normal day. I landed in America on Christmas day a few years ago. Everywhere was open as usual, shops, cinemas etc.

I think a terraced house is a townhouse in the US.

Breakfast in the Philippines:

• chocolate porridge with salted fried fish (champorado and tuyo); photo from Panlasang Pinoy website

• fried rice and fried eggs with meat, which could be tapa (thinly sliced dried beef meat), tocino (a sweet bacon-like preserves meat), longanisa (Filipino style chorizo), fried slices of Spam or sautéed corned beef, or fried bangus (milkfish)

• puto (small steamed rice cakes) with dinuguan (blood stew)

• tortang talong (aubergines soaked in beaten egg and fried)

^ -^ smooshed up avocado in a small bowl with milk and sugar

A soccer mom isn't a SAHM, it's just the equivalent of a football mum in the uk; ie. a mum who does a lot of running around and sitting on the touchline whole kids do their sporting activities.

Baked beans in Boston are awful, they have a big lump of fat in the tin that melts into the beans as they cook.

I am Canadian living I the UK but can answer a lot of your questions.

Condos are often multi-storey compared to an apartment that is more likely one story and often has its own entrance like a terraced house. You wouldn’t own the freehold, and often have residence associations that make decisions.

I don’t think you would have freehold terraced houses, but where I am from large detached houses are sometimes modified to be split in two (like a semi-detached) and then called a duplex.

We had Sunday dinners growing up. If I still lived in the same city as my family I would still be expected to attend now that I am in my 30s. (It was expected I go back to them each weekend at uni).

Yes, there were mature students at uni. Courses are much more modular so it is possible to register to take one module just because you are interested in it even if it’s not part of a degree/qualification you are aiming for. Some offices will sponsor staff to participate in taking random courses as part of continuous development. Some people had gap years. It not common amongst my friends. (That said, I took a year out in the middle of my degree and because you are less tied to particular years I know a few people who took extra modules or fewer modules than normal per semester and spread their undergrad over an extra year or some who graduated early).

Eggs and bacon or pancakes would be a weekend breakfast but a weekday breakfast could be a boiled egg and soldiers or when I was little an eggo waffle. We had a waffle iron at home. It is hard to find muesli (I brought a bag of Lidl musli back home the last time I visited from the uk). I would also as a teen add raw eggs to smoothies for breakfast (milk, banana, raw egg, nutmeg/cinnamon) and eat cheese for breakfast too. Toasted bagels with cream cheese or cheddar cheese on toast (particularly raisin bread).

There are so many more cheese options in your average UK supermarket than you get there. When I first saw the cheese section of Tesco’s, I thought I had gone to cheese heaven. It is also hard to find chutneys and marmalade’s. (I was going to say nice chutneys and marmalade but when I thought about it I really meant branson’s Pickle and super-market own-brand marmalade which I still consider luxuries).

My mum was shocked that people ate baked beans for breakfast in the UK. We only ate them in chillis, as a dinner with stewed pork chops or from the tin especially while camping. Some Mexican breakfasts (I.e. Huevos rancheros) would come with beans.

A lot of Americans go to Cancun for holidays.

Christmas Day involved a roast dinner when I was there, but what you have to remember is that the US calls it the holiday season, not the Christmas holidays as they encompass a lot of other religions not just Christianity. Thanksgiving at the end of November is much bigger as it includes everyone.

Mexico, Caribbean, Florida and Hawaii popular tropical hotspots. Club med is a brand of packaged/all inclusive holidays.

I find it weird someone travelling from UK to Hawaii and wonder why they wouldn’t just go to Spain if they were after a beach holiday.

I'm in Australia ( British born but here for many years). So here goes -
1)We don't have the term "condo" in Oz. I live in an apartment - I own it and it's just another name for a flat.
2)Semi detached houses are known here but quite rare. Only in the older areas of some cities, where "English style" housing was erected in days gone by. You sometimes see it in a new build but it's not common. Oz has plenty of space - houses don't need to be built so close.
3)A cheap holiday of the Ibiza type , would be Bali . Or one of the Great Barrier Reef islands. Party central.
4)Sunday dinner is pretty common in Oz, in summer it's more likely to be a barbecue though. Sunday roast with all the trimmings is a nice treat , more than a regular thing, mainly because of the hot climate .
5)Gap years seem to be getting more common now - mainly for kids with rich parents who can subsidise it.
6) Uni fees - anyone can go to Uni. The Government loans you the money and when you have a job which pays ( I think) more than A$50,000 pa, the tax man takes it out of your wages directly, at a rate of 5% pa. So people can get a good education and it doesn't hurt too much.
7) In Oz a bank holiday is called a public holiday. I think Oz has more of them than any other country. They are normally tacked onto a weekend, except for very serious holidays like Remembrance Day and Anzac Day which are held on the right date.
8)Drink driving is a big problem but is unfortunately common. We have a lot of random breath testing but people still do it.
9) A soccer mum here is not a sahm, it's just a very involved mother who goes to all the kid's activities.
10)Breakfast here isn't normally cooked unless you're that way inclined. More like some cereal, fruit , toast , maybe a crumpet. If you eat out, it's very likely that a full English breakfast will be on the menu but most people would never bother at home.

It's like we very much are given the impression within the uk that we're the only country that has issues with drunken stupid behaviour

Ha ha no I think that is a world wide problem !

The whole of Canada is in Cuba avoiding the Americans

As per @ittooshallpass, It is not politically correct to call holidays in December as Christmas, so offices/schools use terms like winter celebration and holiday season. Winter concerts at our school would include Hanukkah songs as well as Christmas carols.

Statutory holidays are important because people don’t have as much annual leave. Boxing Day isn’t a holiday and some companies may make you work.

But for Americans that DO celebrate Christmas, I wondered what a typical American Christmas Day would be like.

Yes, there are childhood obesity issues but they are fairly recent, the biscuits for breakfast aren't.

Vast over generalisation but I think the childhood obesity is because there are more prepackaged foods/snacks available now (eg when I was little 25 years ago you couldn't get individual chocolate bars in our village shop) and because DC don't do enough exercise because lots of parents (in the cities) are over-protective.

For America:

Semi-detached/terrace is called a townhouse

Ordinary holidays are within the US and people drive. If you live in the Midwest you may drive to Lake Michigan. Lots of beach towns in America.

Gap years are not common.

Drink driving isn’t acceptable in America but it’s more common due to lack of public transportation. Thank goodness for Uber.

Soccer mom is a particular type of mother who shuttles her DCs around to loads of activities and is overly invested in their performance. Almost always living in a suburb not a city.

At home daycare is US term for child minder.

Summer camp can be expensive, depends what type. Overnight ones with lots of facilities are costly. There are usually local ones run by community centers that are cheaper.

Cooked breakfast isn’t typical on weekdays but there are a lot of convenience foods like frozen waffles and pancakes, premade egg sandwiches, that can be warmed up quickly. Also lots of fast food/breakfast places like Dunkin Donuts to get coffee and hot food on the way to school or work.

Christmas in Australia is - because of the climate - more likely to be celebrated in a summery way. In my family we all spend Christmas Eve together at my DD's house. We go for drive to see all the houses lit up with lights ( very popular here). Then we have a relaxed dinner and all sleep there. In the morning we have the usual "Santa's been !" and all the kids have fun opening gifts. We have a late breakfast of bacon and egg rolls , and then everyone has a swim in the pool and has a relaxing morning. At lunchtime we have a big barbecue with various meats, prawns, and possibly a leg of lamb or a big roast chicken as well. Lots of the usual roast veges ( I always do Hasselback roast potatoes in the oven ). Other people turn up for lunch and they would normally bring a plate of something like cole slaw or green salad. For dessert we'd have a pavlova or a trifle. It's pretty rare for anyone to bother with hot things like Christmas pudding, or a Christmas cake - it's all too heavy on a hot day.

I’m Canadian and can answer some of these as we use many of the same terms: yes, condo is owned and an apartment is rented. I don’t think it’s a matter of being other people’s business, just let’s others know if they are looking to own or rent a place. A semi detached house is usually where there are two houses attached to each other. If more tan two houses they are typically called a townhouse. Because both our countries are so large, we frequently travel within our own countries for a vacation. Not to say we don’t have an “overseas” trip (European countries, for example). The concept of a gap year is not really a thing in North America. We typically go to university (or college as Americans call it) right after high school. Canadian universities are subsidized by the government, though it is still not cheap. There are scholarships, bursaries and loans that help families pay for uni. American college tuitions tend to cost quite a lot more than ours. We don’t have bank holidays, but have ‘statutory holidays’ (set by statute, hence the name). Drink driving, as you call it, or drunk driving, as we call it, is very unacceptable in Canada, I believe similarly unacceptable in the States. Soccer mom means a mom who spends a lot of time driving her children to soccer. Daily breakfast in Canada tends to be toast (we always eat it hot), with butter, jam, peanut butter, etc. Pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs, and such is more a breakfast that we have on a weekend, when there is more time.

Condo is short for condominium. You can rent or own a condo. They are generally run by a homeowners association. Apartments are rented.
You can have semis and terraced but the latter are usually called a townhouse.
Not sure about the holiday question, but some families might own or rent a condo or townhouse/house in Cape Cod (if in New England) or Florida (in the south) or similar places. You definitely get less people vacationing in another country as the US is so huge there are plenty of different places to go.
Yes Sunday lunch is a thing. My Jewish friends did a big family dinner on Friday nights though.
Mature students certainly do exist. My mother got her masters in her 40s.
Gap years are not a thing. University is 4 years in America kids tend to go straight there. They are also very expensive. There are state universities which can be a bit cheaper, but say University of Massachusetts is $15,000 a year of you are a resident of Massachusetts, but double if you are from out of state. Somewhere like Boston University is $54,000 a year. Both these figures are for tuition alone and do not include living expenses or books. But you can get financial aid (which is not a loan) which is means based, a student loan (repayments starts 6 months after graduation regardless if you have a job) and your parents. Many kids work throughout the year too. That is why you hear about college funds (family savings account specifically for college - university and college as words are interchangeable, though a university may be made up of different colleges like how Oxford is) because it’s incredibly expensive!
Public holidays can vary state to state but they are named individually like Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, Martin Luther King Day... people do the same as here.
It is certainly NOT acceptable to drink drive. People drink a lot less in the US and in some states you can be held responsible if you knowing let someone drive drunk (say if they drank at your house).
Yes I suppose a soccer mum could be a stay at home mum - I would normally associate it with a white middle class mum from suburbia who is very involved with her kids and takes them to soccer/sports practise! These are the mums that do the bake sales, are part of the PTA etc.
Summer vacations are about 12 weeks in the US and summer camp may be a tradition for some families but it can be pricey. But if both parents work full time it can be a lifesaver! Kids would go for about six weeks - some more some less. I went to a day camp.
Cereal is the norm for breakfast in a lot of families. School starts earlier (mine at 8) so it was all a bit of a rush and don’t know anyone who had a cooked meal beyond say toast or oatmeal. Pancakes and the like are a weekend treat.
As for Christmas it is a big holiday but in one sense Thanksgiving is more universally traditional turkey dinner because most Americans celebrate it. They would typically have turkey with stuffing, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, cranberry sauce and (very traditional) pumpkin pie or apple pie for dessert. Of course variations in the veg. Christmas dinner is a big thing too. Most major shops would be closed Christmas Day but open the next. Cinemas would be open Christmas Day. School would not get out til Dec 24 depending what day of the week it fell and they go back after New Years.
Baked beans ‘Beanz meanz Heinz’ was the ad tag line I grew up with.
Biscuits that are referred to in above posts are generally a southern thing, though of course are available everywhere, as is cornbread (kinda a sweet muffin type thing that I associate with ribs).

I'm a condo owner in Canada. You could live in a condo but rent it from the owner. Our complex also has townhouses, or terraced houses.

I work at a university and we have any older mature students. Gap years are not a thing, but I know many people, including myself, who took a break and travelled mid-degree.

My dad used to make baked beans with a huge lumps of fat, "pork and beans", and they were delicious?

When my friend ordered a cheese and pickle sandwich in London, I thought it was going to ba a pickle.

More: Boxing Day is a holiday. many Canadians go away to cottages , owned or rented. Obviously, a lot, (or should I say most?) people can't afford ownership.

Summer camps are not necessarily for those with a high income. I am working class and my parents sent me to summer camp for two weeks every summer.