If you live abroad

[NonUrinatInVentum]

From the country you're from (I'm in Switzerland but from Ireland) what's the weirdest thing or quirkiest custom about the place you live?

In Switzerland you're not allowed flush the toilet after 10pm regardless of whether you do a No.1 or No.2 👈🏻 not envy.

Stranger and neighbours frequently and freely give you an earful about how ill behaved your children are and how to remedy said behaviour.

You can Google any Swiss licence plate and find out the name and address of who owns the car

DNA That is interesting - either they were unlucky with their choice of cards or - more likely - my places were not small enough.

DH finds the US very 'old fashioned' as far as banking is concerned.

@Timeywimey10 I was just coming on to say that too! Round here you just cannot enjoy a quiet dry weekend without someone hammering, sawing or mowing. A quiet Sunday would be amazing.

Also the hedge trimming date thing is very sensible, on the school run we are frequently stabbed with overgrown trees and bushes blocking the pavements.

@Prokupatuscrakedatus I can support the dated approach to card payments in Germany as according to @DNAwrangler, God, it's painful! They have those Packstations but don't allow card payment? Where am I? Why do they grumble if I want to pay by card?

And another thing that gets on my wick is when I do pay by cash, don't bleeding well ask me if I have 2cents/5cents or 20 Funcking cents. I have given you a bloody 50€ note, and the sum was clearly less. Don't go looking in my wallet from where you are sat and then start grumbling about the above mentioned absence of cash.

I hate not being able to mow the lawn on a Sunday/ national day off/ after 7pm. The hedge height rules that get sent out by the local Gemeinde. That kids can't be rambunchious in the library. That the local playground is off limits after 6pm according to the sign on the gate (before anyone gets arsy).

I'll be back!!!

Oh yeah, the paper TAN numbers that get sent to people wishing to do internet banking. Again, what century are we in? Yes, it's being phased out, but Golly it's slow eh!

That people don't put money into your hand; the change gets slapped onto the counter.

That saying "what?" Is perfectly normal

That school aged children have too much to say to adults or contribute to conversations between adults. How I hate this! If I wanted a 5 year old's opinion, I would have asked my own.

That when you buy a house you meet with the owners at the lawyer's office. And go through page by page the contract. These meetings are long and laborious. What if you don't like the look of the others?
Anyway, the estate agent doesn't need to turn up.

@melassa oh god yes that draught will finish you off. It took us years to convince my Nonna to get aircon. She was convinced coming into a cool room from the warm would cause pneumonia, as would going out without your vest on even in 40 degree heat.

I am a German living in the UK but we regularly go back to visit family and have our main holiday so DD can practice her second language.

The closed shops on Sunday! The no noise on Sunday and no washing outside on Sunday really gets me. That would be a major adjustment of I ever go back.

The obsession with keeping children dry and warm, DD ran around without a coat, just a hoody when it was around 16 degrees and the children at the local petting farm wore winter coats because it was October. The same inSummer when we went to a farm Museum, lots of school children on a field trip in waterproof clothing on a dry sunny day.

But I love the way they just let children go on their own. No driving or dropping of at school for the who,e of primary, they go from start on their own on their bikes. Fair enough they are 6-7 but they leave primary at 10-11 so not older than ours here in the UK.

Ha! That’s it, the dreaded draught. I couldn’t think of the word, all I had in my head was colpo d’aria.

I have another colleague who bought a car with air conditioning, but won’t turn it on. She will instead crack open her window about 2 mm, but no more, because otherwise she will get a “cervicale” (aka stiff neck with accompanying headache). For work trips in the summer we now take my car, she wears a thick scarf to counteract the effects of my aircon. Said colleague smokes in her car, I did suggest that the smoking might kill her before aircon but to no avail. It’s almost a Pavlovian response, the slightest gust and she’s got her stiff neck.

Other than that I can’t think of anything else overly weird. Maybe I don’t notice anymore. Probably been here too long. I do notice odd things about the UK the odd times I visit. Like the deathly aircon at full blast just because it’s July yet outside it’s 12° with a howling gale. I stupidly forget to bring socks in the summer as in Italy anything but sandals is a distant memory in by July. I always end up having to buy some, I never learn.

I lived in Germany (suburbs of a town)
Fireworks were set off in the middle of the road on NYE (mid night ish)

If you rent and it snows more than 2cm, you have to sweep the pavement outside your house because your landlord could be sued if someone hurt themselves.

We had to buy third party insurance for the kids. It would cover incidents like if my kids fell off their bike and dented someone's car door.

They love hats on babies. Older people were always telling me that my babies needed more layers.

I don't live there anymore but we had a rubbish shoot. We would put everything down the shoot and an older lady would sort through it (in order to find something valuable / recycle I guess). Literally her job was to go through our rubbish. And yeah that includes gross stuff like tampons. I didn't realise for ages. Mortifying.

More German stuff

People used flames to kill weeds in the garden.

They don't collect cookers in the autumn. Some elderly people saw me doing that with Ds and were very amused at the tradition.

That my internet banking password never changes and they do a pin reset over the phone with a real life person who keys it in

When you enter a store / get to a cashier etc everyone always says hello and have a nice day, and you're expected to reciprocate. It's actually quite nice, when I go back to the UK now for holidays I do the same which marks me out as quite odd however, lots of ppl do love the opportunity to chat, they're just a bit surprised!

That everyone has a weekly garden service - looks lovely but we have streamers / mowers / leaf blowers going every bloody day from 7.30am

There are tons of bylaws in Calgary, mostly related to parking, pets, garden fencing and noise. Your home is not your castle in Canada 😄

I suppose it is all normal to the natives.

None of it is really that bad though. However, the Scandi countries sound mad as a box of frogs to me! I am sure they are lovely though. We have Norwegian neighbours and they are just wonderful people. Probably glad to be away from all the rules and regs in Oslo!

@pikapikachu, sorry but I collected conkers when I was in primary school in the early Eighties, people must remember it. We built figurines with tooth picks now for years, DD ‘s childminder was amazed by the “German Engineering”.

I think the restrictions about fireworks are right. I lived near Wembley, we had fireworks from Divali to Bonfire Night, it got a bit much.

You should have seen the recent “Specials” on Lidl, weed killer flame thrower.

@Swedetalker my Nordic husband does this and I mock him forever :D I also take particular pleasure in placing haphazard items between his carefully lined up ones for a laugh.

We also have the Silent Sundays where you get judgemental looks if you dare to do anything that isn't relaxing and having a giggle. No lawn mowing, nope! For that is a sin on a sunday, or .. something.

Also the insistance that you wait until minus 10 before bringing out your long wool underwear. Yeah no.. I dragged out my winter coat this morning because it was minus 3 already, I AM NOT WAITING FOR XMAS! (I def got judgemental looks on the bus)

In Cyprus you still have to put toilet paper in the bin not down the toilet. If you trim up at a weeding or christening with a gift you'd be the talk of the event. Cold hard cash in an envelope is what is expected. You don't even need to provide a card. Some people send their wedding invites in to the post office to distribute so you will often find an invite to a random strangers wedding in your PO box.

Apart from this there are many rules and laws which largely go ignored.... one way street - drive down it whatever way you please , park on the double yellows right in front of the shop door - no one will bat an eyelid. Ignore the smoking ban as the police will come round periodically and issue a fine regardless if anyone is smoking at the time - same goes for music fines so you might as well play it as loud as you want, unless your uncles, sons, cousins father happens to be a police officer - in that case you get off with everything (this works to advantage in other sectors too) I'm amazed they ever got and have kept EU membership 😆

I live in Ireland and people here seem to hold their own politicians accountable for their country’s problems rather than blaming them on Brussels, I can’t get my head around it.

You should have seen the recent “Specials” on Lidl, weed killer flame thrower

I bought one a couple of years ago, not as much fun as I'd hoped and now sitting in the shed to never be used again

I used to live in Germany (left 15 years ago) and we were not allowed to empty the water from the bath after 10 pm at night.
Now living in China:
split pants instead of nappies - a random puddle on the floor of the supermarket is probably urine and not from a leaky fridge.
putting a flannel on the back of your child's neck rather than allowing them to remove an item of clothing because they are hot
wearing three pairs of trousers in the winter - winter seems to be determined by the calendar and not the actual weather outside!
coughing up phlegm is a bloody national past time - my neighbour does this at 10.30pm every night without fail
shoving into the front of the queue to ask a question - happens all the time when checking in at the airport

shoving into the front of the queue to ask a question - happens all the time when checking in at the airport

was at the transit desk in Abu Dhabi airport asking a question, a Chinese man comes up and starts talking at the staff member helping us, as if we and the queue of people behind us weren't there. I was with my girlfriend at the time, who was a blonde haired white French lady, imagine his shock as she turned to him and said in fluent Chinese to wait his turn as there's a queue (she spoke 6 languages). He went scuttling off at speed.

@Cruddles - fabulous!