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?

Re Netherlands and cycling, was appalled to see a woman (no helmet) whizzing along flat out with a baby (no helmet) held in one arm.

Was in central Amsterdam for 4 nights and not one of the many thousand cyclists we saw wore a helmet.

helgahere1 yes you're right.

Just as there's huge gaps between people in many countries.

And all of us are immigrant Labour here, westerners too. We have to work in order to have a visa, or be sponsored by a spouse.

If you don't work, you can't stay.

@IJumpedAboardAPirateShip
Brown Wi-Fi spiders ! Lol that's why my Wi-Fi is crap the spider is on it all the time

^The Netherlands:
Why is it that the thousands of cyclists I saw riding in Amsterdam do not wear protective headgear?^

1) if a cyclist hits your car, it's your fault

nowadays it's not always automatically the car driver's fault, it can be 50% blame apportioned if the cyclist does something very stupid.

I think there are proportionally not all that many accidents because firstly, cycles are kings of the road and cars know that and secondly all those cycle lanes make a big difference as a pp said.

They did a big study apparently and came to the conclusion that enforcing bike helmets would decrease the numbers of serious injuries a bit, but enough people overall said that they'd stop using their bikes, so overall the health of the country would go down gradually. Some parents round here do put their kids in helmets, but not that many.

ime the amount of rain varies wildly depending on where you are in the UK (I remembers holidays near Seathwaite!) but overall it rains less in the NL, despite the Dutch complaining about it.

Upper or middle class people don't seem to give a shit - or at least they don't see it as a major defining factor about themselves in the same way.

dear god, this just isn't true ime. Seeing the UK from a bit of a distance nowadays I've come to realise it's so deeply ingrained in society that it pretty well defines it in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. It's like fish not seeing the water they swims in.

@Gertie75 spiders, not really. We just don't put our hands into dark places and be sure to spray outdoor furniture regularly. I would never leave my shoes outside either, although plenty do.

Snakes - yep, big issue for me, but I live in a seaside area. My neighbour had a poisonous snake living in his garage, and IT DIDN'T BOTHER HIM . He said it would 'slither away when it's ready'.
I really want to get involved with my local tree-planting group, but am too scared of the snakes in the beachside areas they do the planting.
I was sitting by a river once and my now DH said 'don't move'. I thought he was being silly, but there beside my hand was a poisonous snake. Ughhhh.

Wait... you people don't fill hot water bottles from the hot tap?? (Brit in Norway)

Americans: what is strep throat?? Is it just a sore throat.

Do they have private fee-paying schools in Dk and the Netherlands. That encourages our class system in the U.K.

@hopeishere Strep throat is an infection of the throat and tonsils. Bacteria called group Astreptococcus, also known as Streptococcus pyogenes. cause it hence strep throat. UK here.

Americans - do you feel comfortable with your children visiting relatives/friends who may have guns in the house? Or going out and about in public places in states that have concealed carry laws, so you don't know whether the drunk dude who's getting rowdy might have a gun on him or not? I find the whole concept of legal gun ownership baffling so it's hard to get my head around.

I live in a city with a very high homicide rate which is gun driven.
I only see guns on police.
The violence is concentrated to very specific areas.
The no gun signs on public buildings still bring me up a little short.
But in the UK I grew up in the countryside and shotguns were common.

@AlCalavicci oh my god fucking autocorrect! Brown widows!!

Thankfully nobody we know or send our kids to has a gun and everybody we’re friends with believes in gun control same as us. But yes it does worry me in general that there are guns out in the general populace even though I’ve never seen one even on a police officer so it hasn’t impacted me - but these shootings seem to happen out of nowhere and in populated areas otherwise not known for gun crime

British expats who lived in the US for a while. Yes we had kettles and were unusual.
Our children had a paediatrician. We had a PCP or a primary care physician. Mine was a specialist on-gyn as well.
I only lived in 3 big cities (two on the East Coast and one on the West Coast) so didn’t drive anywhere to eat (ie not 3 hours).

I don't worry about guns particularly, but I have refused to send my children to one friend's house because I know they don't secure their guns. Similarly I refuse to send my children to my sister's house in the UK because they have dangerous dogs that they don't control. It's not common but it is something you'd consider seriously once you're aware of it in specific cases.

I don't really worry about violence generally where I live though. I just gave a stranger a lift to the supermarket because it was raining and he was getting very wet. It never occured to me he might have a gun or wish to do me any harm.

Oddly, I live in a state with very high gun ownership, very permissive gun laws and a low gun (or general) violence rate. I guess it's a bit of an outlier.

Do they have private fee-paying schools in Dk and the Netherlands. That encourages our class system in the U.K.
Yes they do in dk but the difference isnt as big here, mostly because there are massive subsidies to make it affordable for everyone.

I read an article a few years back that said that in the USA they don't seem to have that low level antisocial behaviour that even small towns and villages often suffer from in the UK. You know, the teenagers hanging round who think it's a laugh to burn things and break windows and torment vulnerable old people by throwing eggs at their house, just because. But who aren't actually hardened offenders, just selfish pains in the arses. Would American posters say that's generally true? Or was the article just a load of arse?

isabellerossignol It's certainly true of everywhere I've lived in the US, but I imagine there are areas where it's a load of arse.

A couple of years ago a bunch of kids DS's age broke into a local business and did a fair bit of petty damage - the kind of damage my friends in the UK did fairly often as teens. The whole community was horrified. The police worked out who did it straight away. They were dealt with by the courts, plus the property owner was consulted - he talked to them, talked to their parents, talked to the judge.

Our police haven't been through massive budget cuts, so we have enough police to be keeping an eye on teens who are hanging around, and prevent them from causing low-level trouble. If you're out and about after midnight the police will question you about where you're going and why you're out.

But again - I can only really speak for where I live.

My US city may have sky high gun crime but parcels are routinely left on doorsteps in my area there is no concept of having to drive to a collection depot or hide them in bins etc.
But I imagine that could be different in other areas.
It is a very unequal society.

Do they have private fee-paying schools in Dk and the Netherlands. That encourages our class system in the U.K

I think it's so very deeply and subtly engrained that it's impossible to eradicate, feepaying schools or no

@midwestspring same here, parcels left in doorsteps (though petty crime has increased locally recently) and I don’t think about it every second of every day but I can’t deny that when the inevitable mass shooting hits the news I don’t get worried and remember I live in a country where it could easily be my children’s school next. I don’t live in fear, just how I didn’t live in London in fear of terrorist bombings (though that is a massive amount less than gun crime here!) but yes it does weigh in my mind...and I live in a leftie liberal place where everyone wish the NRA would jump off a cliff

Yes where I lived was a big city and much safer than London in terms of parcels left outside or even leaving your buggy (or stroller as the Americans say) outside. I wouldn’t leave my Bugaboo outside in London but it was fine in the US. But there was a shooting 5 mins from my house and I lived in a ‘nice’ place with strict gun laws.

This is a VERY generalised observation. But I found American children quite rude/arrogant/outspoken on a 1:1 basis in a way that British children would not be BUT much better behaved in groups especially older kids. I found groups of American teenagers to be quite considerate and polite. But individual 6/7/8 year olds say to be really gobby.

Was back in Australia with my British DW last year, she was worried about all the creepy crawlies. My family and i kept telling her she's getting worked up over nothing, it's all hype.

Then we saw a red back spider in my parents garage

I found groups of American teenagers to be quite considerate and polite. But individual 6/7/8 year olds say to be really gobby

Oh yes - we've lived in one place for the last 12 years so I've known a lot of children from very young who are now teens. Some of them were horrendous at 6/7/8 yet turned out to be lovely teens. I'm often astonished when I meet them now, remembering what horrors they were when they were younger.

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?

That largely depends on your insurance. Most people have a GP (or Family Practitioner, as we tend to call them). Most women would not need a referral to see a gynaecologist. My insurance allows me to see any specialist without a referral.

As to the kettle thing, our electricity in the US is different and it takes an electric kettle longer to boil. But it also has more to do with food habits. Most people are coffee drinkers and instant coffee is generally considered the devil's brew in the US; we have electric coffee brewers. Tea drinking is on the rise, but still much in the minority, except for iced tea. Like lots of us who drink iced tea (I'm in the South) I brew tea for iced tea by boiling water in a kettle on the stove top (hob). But that is not every day. I make it by the pitcher full.

As for hot water bottles; I haven't seen one of those in years.