Questions that you need answered: International version

[Timetogiveupnow]

I believe there are people world wide on this site so how about asking those questions that others can answer?
America mumsnetters: without kettles how do you have hot water bottles? Or instant hot chocolate? Is it true you make tea in the microwave?

I'm uk based, there are people in America that don't have kettles??

I belive they are not common there but I'm willing to be told otherwise. Tbf coffee pots aren't common here. The times I've been to America I've had a coffee pot but no kettle. I've boiled water on the hob for tea.

My boss is American, we have a kettle in the kitchen and when she makes her own hot drinks she USES THE MICROWAVE. I was speechless

Not American nor US resident.
Own a kettle but it lives in the cupboard (lack of space on work surfaces) and comes out a few times a year when tea-drinking friends visit.

I heat water in a pan for hot water bottles.

And I always make hot chocolate with milk so would use a pan or microwave anyway.

U.K. citizen living in America - one of the first things we bought was a kettle and it was hard to find one. However in the last 8years more and more Americans have kettles - they drink a lot of herbal tea

Are there prawn cocktail crisps in America?

Been in America almost 40 years and always had a kettle. Milk in a pan for cocoa. No instant hot chocolate in my house. At work we have got hot and cold water machines, as well as a bean to cup coffee maker that offers you hot water for tea, but I don't believe it is right. If it's not steaming how can it steep right?

There are electric kettles widely available now, but not 40 years ago. A stove top whistling kettle did the job adequately. But noisily.

No prawn cocktail crisps. Or pickled onion monster munch. Except in the foreign food aisles and Indian delis

I've got one for people in dubai. Having been recently i was struck by how seemingly multicultural it is. So many people of different races, religions etc but all with a kind of sheen, not like London for example where we have the same mix, even more, but huge poverty.

My questions are:

Is there poverty in dubai but it's just hidden from the main areas where tourists tend to be?

Are there issues with the indigenous people (emerati?) being resentful of the incoming people in the same way we hear the "they're taking all our jobs!" rhetoric in the UK?.

I was only there very briefly and a lady from the Philippines was telling me how it's not as great a life as it seems but she didn't elaborate and it's had me wondering ever since!

Changing the subject......

Calling all French women - how come you don't get fat with all the lovely bread and cheese?

@ohmyword20, there is poverty here. The labourers, mostly from India and Bangladesh, live in labour camps in the desert and are shipped in and out to site. But the camps have been improved in the last few years, and the men earn more than they would at home. Occasionally you hear about companies that go bust and the men can’t go home because they’re owed so much money (wages/gratuity etc) And can’t get their visa cancelled and that’s real poverty. They’re then given food and clothing by benefactors or their embassy or local mosque. There are also people here who don’t have the right visas etc to be here (eg absconded maids) and they live under the radar, perhaps in a room share, and can’t get medical treatment etc. There is a charity specifically for them.

I believe that the emerati people aren’t resentful - there are plenty emerati only roles and the huge influx of foreign people here working has made the city what it is today and that is acknowledged and respected by the locals.

AgentProvacateur - isn't it basically slavery in Dubai? The workers have their passports confiscated and have no recourse if the company doesn't pay them or treats them badly?

For French/German/Americans... Ok most other nationalities... Why do you all drive on the wrong side of the road? (Light-hearted question, honestly!)

USA posters: Why??????

agent provocateur thank you for your response. I did notice one morning very early loads of really run down looking mini vans filed with what looked like workmen and wondered what that was all about.

TheElementsOdeToJoy

I'm not American but Coffee Mate makes coffee taste WONDERFUL. My question would be "Why Not ?"

@MrsJoshNavidi

Plenty of overweight French women!

Plus the really good cheese is pricey so we mostly have it on special occasions.

My quests why do a lot of ppl in the US use paper/plastic plates daily....at home??!!

Question*

Lipper because in a society where convenience reigns, its easier than washing up!

@MrsJoshNavidi...I suppose...but it actually makes me so sad for the environment 😟 it’s so wrong!

I'm American but now live in the UK. I'd never seen an electric kettle until coming here. Only know one person that drank tea in the US and they had a kettle for the hob. Everyone I knew drank coffee made in a coffee machine. If hot water was needed for a drink for some reason you'd microwave it. Also, hot water is safe to drink straight from the tap in the US, so to boil water for pasta you'd fill the pan with hot water from the tap first so it doesn't take ages.

In the USA, do you have a GP the way we do in the UK? Someone who is your first port of call and refers you elsewhere? Or do you have eg heavy periods and just Google a gynaecologist and make an appointment with her? Or you've got a stiff shoulder so you find a rheumatologist and make an appointment?

I heard Microwave water gets superheated and then it's dangerous?

Or do microwave tea-makers only drink it lukewarm?