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.

You live in Europe NOW OP ( presuming you live in the UK). It's pointless saying "this is how they do it in Europe" when it consists of many very different countries and cultures!

The super confusing thing is that you can rent a condo, but it's rented from a single person who owns it (kind of a sublet) rather than a proper apartment.

There's a bit of flow back and forth between the terms colloquially--people in Florida tend to talk about condos they're renting, e.g., while many New Yorkers would call the place they live their apartment even if they own it. (Actually, they'd probably say 'my place', but still).

But the core difference is owning v renting.

As for drunk driving, people do it, though it's not accepted and is highly illegal. It gets worse in rural areas. North Dakota was the highest in 2012 with 11.3 deaths/100,000 people from DUIs. In comparison, the UK is about .3 deaths/100,000 people. ND has almost no public transportation and anyone going to a bar outside of a couple cities would have to drive. On the other hand, NJ had a rate of 1.7 and NY (which would be much lower for the city and much higher for the north of the state) was 1.5.

It can be hard to make big observations as the country is so large.

@InTropicalTrumpsLand isn't pão-de-queijo like a cheesy bread roll?

That's true about New York. People are much more likely to call it an apartment even if they own it. There are historical reason for that.

This discussion brings to mind my confusion when I first went to live in Scotland as a student and one of my friends told me that his parents lived in a tenement. I knew that his father was a lawyer and his mother was an accountant so clearly middle-class and fairly prosperous. In the US the word tenement has connotations of very overcrowded housing for the very poor.

Based on my experiences of living in the Midwest: A condo is what we have in the UK. A building of flats all owned by individuals (although they may then rent them to someone else - so you can “rent” a condo).
Apartments are in a building all owned by the same company and rented out. I’ve never really come across this in the UK except for temporary accommodation.

I'm not quite sure about pão de queijo being a cheesy bread roll, though I've seen it described as such. For once, there's no flour in it, but "polvilho", which is a yucca's/cassava's/manoic's starch, and no yeast, either. Apparently it was inspired by something called chipa?

One thing I remembered to mention now is that due to the school afternoon shift, many children have a later bedtime than what is considered normal in Great Britian. In fact, I don't think I ever slept before 10pm, even as a toddler. It was great for me because my father would be at work from 7am to 7pm and I'd still get to spend hours with him. With UK bedtimes, I would barely see him.
I did have to switch to the morning shift for high school, though, and getting used to wake up as early as 6 to be at school by 7 was awful.

Wow! Tiger mums sound scary!

"You live in Europe NOW OP ( presuming you live in the UK). It's pointless saying "this is how they do it in Europe" when it consists of many very different countries and cultures!" Bit pedantic and yes I am aware that

A I live in Europe now and

B that different countries even parts of those countries can have different cultures.

I was generalising which is perfectly normal.

I've lived in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium but I don't really remember Belgium as I was quite little then.

I have friends and family all over the world and discuss some of this kinda thing with them but don't want to irritate them by asking about all kinds of details when they may not want to discuss, unlike on mn where I can ask and those happy to discuss can do.

"It can be hard to make big observations as the country is so large." Yes I understand that. Though in a real/felt way I find it hard to "get" coming from a country so huge and with such different cultures and experiences of its citizens.

"This discussion brings to mind my confusion when I first went to live in Scotland as a student and one of my friends told me that his parents lived in a tenement. I knew that his father was a lawyer and his mother was an accountant so clearly middle-class and fairly prosperous. In the US the word tenement has connotations of very overcrowded housing for the very poor." It is confusing I agree but there's reasons - tenements were originally social housing but I think because they were well made, fairly good quality buildings they became popular with more well off families when they started to be sold off.

Both my parents very much working class scots raised in tenement flats. Actually my mum was born into a "room end" - literally 1 room for her and parents with an outdoor toilet, they only moved to the tenement when her sister was born and they were being rehoused as where they were living was basically condemned and due to be torn down.

But even as social housing for the poor, the families put in them then (1950's) thought them luxurious and were very grateful for the chance to live in one. It was the first home my mums parents had with running water and electricity! There were 9 of them in a 2.5 bedroom flat with one bathroom.

But they were often converted Victorian houses with bay windows and high ceilings, so good solid nice buildings and later/current families who had/have fewer children, living in them have really liked them.

Re drink driving - for years my uncles seriously thought it was only drinking alcohol while driving that was illegal, not being under the influence. The law specified no open containers of alcohol in a moving vehicle.
They live in very rural middle USA, so would collect me from the airport, escape onto the freeway, then stick on cruise control as it was a five hour drive in a straight line from then on. And all the local roads were so straight and flat, not to mention deserted, it's pretty difficult to have an accident even when plastered. Or when 14 and 15yos get a license after about 3 hours of tuition.

Attitudes to alcohol vary hugely though - many places, if you go for a drink after work with colleagues, having more than one alcoholic drink will cause them to worry about you.

Adding sweet stuff to Thanksgiving veg was trendy in the 50s and 60s and hasn't totally died out - Jello salads aren't always sweet but green jello with green beans is, then there's marshmallow with sweet potato.

Santa in America gets left milk and cookies, never booze, and mince pies and Christmas puddings and crackers are virtually unknown. I'm glad airport scanners are better now - the time we landed late at night and the American customs assumed a pudding must be Semtex as nothing else was the same density, was not fun.

tenements were originally social housing but I think because they were well made, fairly good quality buildings they became popular with more well off families when they started to be sold off.

Not necessarily. For example, the New Town in Edinburgh is mostly Georgian tenements designed for (and still lived in by) the wealthy middle classes - with marble fireplaces, fancy cornicing and ceiling roses, etc. But still referred to then as now as tenements. My American family are always a bit shocked when I say I live in a flat in a tenement

I would say that being a mature student is more common in the USA than it is in UK. Two American cousins recently got their first degrees at age 32, 40... my 48yo cousin is currently studying for an MSc (he already has JD, BSc & BA). One of my mother's aunts got a PhD at age 69 (& then taught at Uni level for 10-11 yrs, until she retired in about 1987).

Working until your mid 70s is increasingly normal, too.

I would love have a tenement flat in the New Town. That's DH's dream if we win the lottery. It would need to be the big lottery.

I thought terraced homes were called "rowhouses"?
(I don't know where I got that from though, so don't hold me to it!)

But if they are called townhouses, what are (our) townhouses called - the usually 3 storey, often terraced rows of buildings?

You can own an apartment in NYC. The main differences are a shared lobby and elevator and not your own main entrance (think like a hotel) apartments aren’t “leasehold “. Condos typically have their own entrance and are similar to “leasehold”

In some cities, the older terraced houses are sometimes call row houses, but the most common term nationwide for what are generally thought of as terraced houses in the UK are called townhouses in the US.

This is a picture of typical townhouses in my state.

What's a leasehold?

Skim read so apologies if someone has mentioned this.

Re Christmas & other holidays: Remember that the US is HUGE and made up of many different traditions. What's 'usual' on the East Coast isn't necessarily what's 'usual' on the West Coast or in the South or Midwest. Even in a specific area there may be so many 'transplants' that a family in California that originated elsewhere may have brought their 'traditions' from their place of origin.

Our typical Christmas is a mashup of traditions from my Dad's British side of the family (my grandparents were from Cornwall) and my Mum's Midwestern (Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry) family. So we pull crackers but eat Iowa ham balls and cheesy potatoes. We have dutch apple pie but also warm gingerbread with hard sauce (brandy butter) or trifle (no one likes Xmas pudding/cake aka the dreaded fruitcake) . Throw in a little of our Southern California upbringing and we make turkey tamales or enchiladas with our leftovers. One size definitely doesn't fit all.

Does everyone have a 'doorman' in US cities? And does everyone send their laundry 'out?' 😆

Ha! No--doormen tend to be for larger or fancier buildings. They're fabulous, though: take packages, hail taxis, answer questions, deal with repairmen, etc. In some buildings they even do elevator button pushing. Love a doorman.

Lots of people send laundry out in cities. Even more go to the laundromat themselves. The best is laundry delivery; they charge by the pound plus a small delivery fee and everything comes back pressed and folded and smelling of starch.

In suburbs, most people have a washer and drier at home. Few people line-dry all their clothes, unless they're either quite poor or quite crunchy.

Not ha! as in laughing at you, but ha! as in, that would be wonderful.

@Nancydrawn really? So even if the weather is nice, folk don't hang their clothes out to dry?

Oh and is it legal to talk on a hand held mobile whilst driving in the US? The Kardashians seem to do this all the time!

Ginger mobile phone whilst driving laws vary from state to state. But its DEFINITELY illegal to use a 'handheld' device when driving in California (where the Kards live). No talking, texting, web-surfing, nada. It all has to be handsfree. The Kards seem to think that the rules don't apply to them and if they get pulled over and cited the fine would be nothing to them. Seriously, like they'd care if they had to pay a $300-500 fine.

And FWIW I hang my clothes out if the weather's nice although I'd say most people don't. Now that you mention it, I can't think of a single person I know who has a permanent clothesline, although some of them have drying racks to use if they don't want to put a particular item in the dryer. Some places actually have rules (called CC&Rs) that forbid the putting up of clotheslines as 'unsightly'.

Thanksgiving in Canada is the 2nd Monday in October - earlier than in the States because, being further north, our harvest time is earlier.

So even if the weather is nice, folk don't hang their clothes out to dry?

Where I live it would be considered downright idiosyncratic to hang your clothes out on a clothesline. In fact come to think of it I have never lived in a house that had a clothesline. Many homeowners associations even have rules that prohibit line drying outside. As environmental policy, some states, like mine, have overridden these regulations with right-to-dry laws. Still, you almost never see laundry drying on a line outside where I live. And with our weather, we would be able to dry outside all year.

Most places it's illegal to text while driving. Talking varies much state by state.

Idiots seem to think that putting it on speakerphone and holding it 8 inches from their mouths counts as not hand-held.

As for laundry, absolutely. It's often a marker of either poverty or particular politics. The former makes it alarming in the eyes of many neighborhood associations (as per AcrossThePond) while the latter is very specific.

My American friends are baffled by the paucity of driers in the UK where, as one pointed out, it rains all the time and is damp even when it's dry.