Things that baffle you about another country

[Soubriquet]

America:-

Why are the gaps in the toilet doors so wide? Do you really enjoy an audience?

Why can’t tax be included in the price? If I want to buy something for a dollar it should be a dollar! Not dollar plus tax!

Australia:-

Still weird that you have Christmas in summer.

Wonder if they have different Christmas songs there.

Can’t see walking in a winter land being a big hit.

More like hiding from a hot heatwave

Is it true that Americans don't have kettles?

I think they have kettles that go on the stove but electric kettles cost too much too run

Spain (and some other countries with Catalonian tradition overspill):

Having, as an essential figure of a Nativity scene, a man squatting down in the corner and curling out a turd.

Belgium (along similar lines):

Having a world-famous statue/fountain of a little boy, who could have been surrounded by a grand arch of water, maybe had it pouring, glistening down over his shoulders or even gushing our of his mouth; but no - it had to be designed to look like he was having a wee, didn't it.

Oh I know the answer to the American sales tax thing! Also annoyed me and I asked an American friend. Apparently sales tax is set at a state level so companies can't just set a price for the whole country and put a price tag on things. The price is the price, then each state adds it's own tax. Compared to the UK where VAT is the same everywhere, so included in the price.

That's what I've been told anyway and made sense to me, hope it's correct!

(Re Australian Christmas Carol when I was at school as far as I can recollect!) found it!
hymnary.org/text/across_the_plains_one_christmas_night

www.bing.com/videos/search?q=john+wheeler+australian+christmas+carol&docid=608018106676872999&mid=514E409F429041BC7BA8514E409F429041BC7BA8&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

Why the Americans refuse to give up their guns!
or be stupid enough to vote for Trump

Kettles are very widely used in America, actually.

Youngest sister is an expat in the US. Don't get me started about the saga of trying to find an electric kettle for her English Breakfast Tea that is compatible with their electricity supply.

Italy

• Why are you so bad at saying foreign names? Making up a fake name / word for every foreigner you know is not cute and funny.

Sweden

• Why do you so strongly oppose any kind of parenting? Adults should make decisions for their children and parents having at least some control of their children is a good thing.

Germany

• Why does your toilet have a shelf?

I think with the German poop shelf, it’s to stop the splash...

America again...why don’t you like the idea of an NHS style health care?

Why should it cost you thousands upon thousand of dollars just because you have injured yourself or gotten cancer?

@Bookridden

Is it true that Americans don't have kettles?

or eggcups. Apparently they just boil their eggs and put them on a plate

Now I’m sure I’ve seen in American TV shows people using egg cups

Not paying service staff a living wage!!

Why?!

Why should they have to rely on tips to live??

Plenty of Australian carols and Christmas songs. I well know the carol referenced above; there's another "out on the plains the brolgas are dancing ..." which is rather nice too.

You really can't move Christmas to another time of year and not celebrate it in December with the rest of the world. We used to go to a cathedral carol service on Christmas Eve, and Carols from Kings was broadcast on the radio on our way home. But because it was still too early for that year's service, it was the year before's one ...

What you can do though, is add a 2nd celebration so some places in the mountains make "Christmas in July" a thing (good for making money out of it ...).

I remember one fun Christmas song from my childhood that was something about when Santa's reindeers couldn't manage the heat so he had to get kangaroos instead "six white boomers". I've got the refrain in my head now ...

@HollyGoLoudly1

Oh I know the answer to the American sales tax thing! Also annoyed me and I asked an American friend. Apparently sales tax is set at a state level so companies can't just set a price for the whole country and put a price tag on things. The price is the price, then each state adds it's own tax. Compared to the UK where VAT is the same everywhere, so included in the price.

That's what I've been told anyway and made sense to me, hope it's correct!

Yes that annoying sales tax and at one point overseas visitors could reclaim their VAT when they visited the UK so why not vice versa for us in the USA and that recent resort tax

Poland...

Why is it traditional to celebrate Christmas on the 24th?

@Pythonesque I remember that! but I think it may have links to - umm - Rolf Harris (yep - just checked) isn't it sad, not just terrible because of his horrible actions & taking advantage of vulnerable people, but also because it stains the lovely songs & memories - I wasn't that shocked at Jimmy Saville, I always thought he was a bit creepy, but Rolf, I actually liked.

Ha the stove kettle annoyed us so much on holdiay in Florida we bought an electric kettle. Then realised it didnt turn off when it was boiling, just kept boiling, i didnt even know a kettle like that existed, whats the flipping point of it not turning itself off

The German poo shelf is so they can check for worms. They have a habit of eating raw meat and therefore get them a lot

Aren’t the big gaps in American toilet cubicles to stop drug dealing and toilet sex? 😮

The German toilet shelf is an inspection shelf... 😳

I have often wondered about the massive gaps down the sides of American toilet doors though. No privacy and now some places are being all "gender neutral" and woke, despite having these big gaps everyone can see through.

American kettles take too long to boil. Their mains voltage is half that in the UK.

Japan

Why is your age of consent 13?

Also Japan...what's with the obsession of KFC on Christmas Day?