Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Things that baffle you about another country

999 replies

Soubriquet · 31/01/2021 18:00

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 Grin

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
donewithitalltodayandxmas · 01/02/2021 00:03

Yep all those people defending themselves from wildlife in the city’s of America

Yes thats what I thought plus don't they have bears and wolves in some european countries

Gwenhwyfar · 01/02/2021 00:03

"It’s more than a few days these past several summers, let’s be honest. "

Let's be honest. It's not is it? How many days this year saw temperatures so hot that opening the window made it hotter rather than cooler?
If you have allergies (I do too actually) some kind of filter would be a better idea.

GreenlandTheMovie · 01/02/2021 00:04

Why does a first world country like the United States have so many people living in tin shacks along the side of the roads?

Not even nice tin shacks, but bits of random corrugated iron, unpainted. Both rural and urban. I'm thinking of Seattle, rural Idaho, parts of Montana, Washington State.

LifeExperience · 01/02/2021 00:06

@Pinkcanoftan

LifeExperience

I love the fact that you are contributing to this thread from 23 acres in the Appalachians whilst I'm also contributing from the middle of England - how incredible the internet really is Smile. Sorry, just strikes me as wonderful!

I love Mumsnet. And lately I've had a lot of time on my hands because I recently retired, it's winter so no gardening, and I'm recovering from covid. You're all really entertaining and I appreciate you.
DifficultBloodyWoman · 01/02/2021 00:08

This is clearly lighthearted but some posters are getting very defensive!

Please accept this is the spirit it is intended.

As a Brit who has lived in many different countries, I can find things that baffle me in all of them. A short list:

No mixer taps in the U.K. Old houses, I understand, but even in some in some of the newer places.

Washing up bowls. Yeah, still don’t get it despite growing up with a granny that used them.

Re: basements - yes, the extra storage space is amazing however they can only be built in areas with very low water tables. The U.K. water table is very high in comparison with, say, Boston. Small local variation do apply.

Australian obsession with coffee. It has become snobbery for a country that like to pride itself on egalitarianism.

Whilst we are on the subject of Australia, the language. Why did you have to take a perfectly serviceable language and a) abbreviate everything with more than one syllable and b) start using weird phrases like ‘front court’ and ‘stoush’ (and those are just the ones I can think of now). I have actually had to check that I understand their meaning by asking people or checking a dictionary. And I’m an English teacher!

And Aussies love to travel...but not in their own country. I saw more of Australia in my first 5 years of living there than people who had been born in the country and lived there for 40-50 years! I still haven’t been to Bali though and it is entirely possible I am the only person in the whole country that hasn’t.

American obsession with gun ownership. Yes, it is part of the culture but it still baffles me as to why an assault rifle can be sold for deer hunting.

For any Americans wanting a kettle - Walmart was selling them two years ago. I can’t comment on the energy consumption but oh my gosh, they are so much more convenient than stove top kettles and I just don’t understand microwaving a cup of water to make coffee. Use a bloody (electric) kettle!

Why don’t Americans like to have books on show? I know American who are well educated and well read but they shove books in closets instead of putting them on shelves. (Is it because they have so many closets and need to find a purpose for them all?)

I agree that American kitchens all look 6-12 years out of date compared to the U.K. The property brothers are very cute but all of their kitchens look the same.

Eastern European (and German) toilets with poop shelves - I understand why they exist but, yeah, still find it weird.

French women and scarves - looks lovely and part of the classic, signature look but is it really practical when it is 35* and sunny? Fashion should follow function, not the other way around.

Malaysia & the Philippines - women have children very young, move overseas for work and let the grandparents raise them before returning to raise their own grandchildren. I’ve seen this repeated across generations. Why not work first then have kids so you can raise them yourself? I do wonder if I am missing part of the economic argument here.

truthisalie · 01/02/2021 00:09

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

Fu**ing hell😳

HarrysWife · 01/02/2021 00:11

@LadyJaye The UK - WHY do you not extend a reasonable level of trust to your citizens by allowing them to have sockets in bathrooms?

We voted in Boris and you want to trust us with sockets in bathrooms?! no.

@AdditionalCharacter Claiming to be Scottish when your ancestor from 8 generations ago...

i dont get this. on tv shows where they introduce themselves as italian or irish etc. mind boggling.

@FuckOffBorisYouTwat Cuba: the refreshing love of fat women and a very interesting like for hairy legs above the knee but not below

Im moving to cuba, i would be a bloody goddess to them.

Mamanyt · 01/02/2021 00:12

@Bookridden

Is it true that Americans don't have kettles?
We have stove-top kettles. We don't drink a lot of tea here, not enough to justify an electric kettle. Mine is stove top. Electric kettles are available, and those who do drink a lot of tea do have them. I DO have an electric coffee maker.

Insofar as the gaps in our toilet cubicles, I have no clue. But they've been there far longer than drug dealing would have been a part of it.

MIAUUU · 01/02/2021 00:12

I am from a poop-shelf country and sadly still haven't fully mastered the splash-proofing in non-shelf toilets. 😂 Open to tricks of the trade, I just try to make a toilet paper nest, but not always successfully... 😆

CityCommuter · 01/02/2021 00:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jasperjosephjulian · 01/02/2021 00:13

@Staffy1

Italy - why is there nowhere to sit down in Rome? No benches anywhere. I saw an elderly woman being ordered to her feet by an armed guard while sitting on some steps of a museum building. Even the cafes have limited seating with an extra charge with most people standing around eating.
I've sat on loads of benches in Rome Confused
donewithitalltodayandxmas · 01/02/2021 00:13

I think the reason we don't have sockets in bathrooms is because our power is high so safety.
I have a shaver socket though that can charge toothbrushes and obviously a shaver .

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 01/02/2021 00:15

Prokupatuscrakedatus

Thanks! I know it was always a completely irrational fear, but I just couldn't help it!

Do you not have to be an amazing shot to shoot a snake? I understand they are very wriggly and surprisingly fast, and not necessarily huge.

Remind me again: are we talking about the guns in the USA or the poo shelves in Germany here?!

Puzzled - it is absolutely true. The pooing Nativity man even has his very own Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer

Prokupatuscrakedatus · 01/02/2021 00:16

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
I am glad I could calm you down and reassure you.

Mamanyt · 01/02/2021 00:17

@GreenlandTheMovie

Why does a first world country like the United States have so many people living in tin shacks along the side of the roads?

Not even nice tin shacks, but bits of random corrugated iron, unpainted. Both rural and urban. I'm thinking of Seattle, rural Idaho, parts of Montana, Washington State.

Two reasons. We have a really horrible income inequality situation. That's first, and in my mind, foremost. And that's why the vast majority of those living like that are forced to do so.

Second, there are a certain number of people living like that by choice. They want no part of society, and exist on the fringes of it intentionally. I personally know one man living in a knocked-together shack with pretty much nothing who has a fairly large fortune sitting in a bank growing by the day, but he lives at subsistence level. When he dies, his fortune will go to animal rescue. If you saw him, you would never guess at his wealth.

Gwenhwyfar · 01/02/2021 00:17

"Malaysia & the Philippines - women have children very young, move overseas for work and let the grandparents raise them before returning to raise their own grandchildren. I’ve seen this repeated across generations. Why not work first then have kids so you can raise them yourself? I do wonder if I am missing part of the economic argument here."

They can earn loads more abroad so they can save and buy a home for their families when they come back. This is because of global inequalities not because they have children too young. Read the book Global Woman.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 01/02/2021 00:17

I am from a poop-shelf country and sadly still haven't fully mastered the splash-proofing in non-shelf toilets. 😂 Open to tricks of the trade, I just try to make a toilet paper nest, but not always successfully... 😆

I've never understood how the turds always land on the shelf but the dropped used paper never gets lodged on there and always directly finds the water?!

GreenlandTheMovie · 01/02/2021 00:19

Thanks for answering Mamanyt.

CokeAndPepsi · 01/02/2021 00:19

@Seychelles98

America
  1. Why are the free standing cookers (oven and hob together) so old fashioned looking? Since I first started holidaying there 25 years ago they still look the same! - we haven't had cookers like that in the UK for at least 30 years now!

  2. Why do the washing machines and tumble dryers open at the top and not at the front like the rest of the world?

  3. Why are you still using 2 pin electrical plugs and sockets? They're dangerous and not earthed!

  4. Why do building regulations / planning permission allow open electrical sockets to be installed to plug in your hairdryer in bathrooms usually right beside the hand basin counter which is usually wet! One of the quickest ways to get electrocuted!

  5. Why can you only buy one type of washing powder called Tide which has had the same packaging for 25 years? There doesn't seem to be any other brand!

I do love going to America and I love America people btw!

The thing about America is that it’s so large and diverse yet everyone forms opinions about the whole country based on their limited experience. I grew up on the east coast and I couldn’t tell you what goes on in Texas or Wisconsin, anymore than Brits can explain why things happen in France or Italy. But in my experience:

1). There is an enormous variety of appliance ranges available in the USA although I do think the trend these past 5 years or so is for heavier “professional” style appliances and those tend to look old-fashioned. It’s rare to find the sleek electric hob/glossy-cabinet look in America. Then again half of my friends in the U.K. have Agas so...

  1. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a top-loading dryer anywhere so that must be a regional thing. Years ago all washers were top-loading, which I prefer bc they work a lot faster and you can add/remove clothes or products anytime in the cycle. But top loaders are no longer considered water/energy efficient so most new ones now are front-loading.

3/4) I can’t answer that one. I can see how it seems more dangerous but all I can tell you is that in 47 years I’ve never known anyone to get electrocuted by their wall outlet or hairdryer or light switch. If you live with a partner who sleeps while you get ready it’s much easier to do everything in the bathroom, which also tends to have more light and good mirrors. In the U.K. I do my hair sitting on my bed bc there’s no other place. I have long hair and shed a lot so it can be a bit grim.

5). Where have you visited exactly?? Tide is the most common brand and it does have ubiquitous packaging but even a smallish supermarket would also have (off the top of my head) Persil, Snuggle, All, Gain, Woolite, 7th Generation, Dreft (for babies), and others that escape me.

My question is why is it so hard to find fragrance-free or lightly fragrances laundry products in the U.K.? And when you can find it it’s so expensive. Am I unusual in not wanting my clothes to reek of fake flowers or my grandma’s perfume?

Gwenhwyfar · 01/02/2021 00:19

@donewithitalltodayandxmas

I think the reason we don't have sockets in bathrooms is because our power is high so safety. I have a shaver socket though that can charge toothbrushes and obviously a shaver .
I don't think that's the reason because we're not just comparing with the US.
HarrysWife · 01/02/2021 00:19

Because it rains a lot here and the basements would fill up with water. grin

then you have yourself a ground floor pool Grin

Ok, so to all the fabulous Germans out there, can you help me.... you do your business, then fish it out USING WHAT? gloves or just your bare hands? you then whack it onto your poo shelf and then what? just look at it or use a tool? Then pick it back up and put it back in the toilet? Do you then clean your poo shelf? with what? How? and is this every time or? Envy

truthisalie · 01/02/2021 00:19

You do wipe the dishes into the waste bin before you put them in the water, do you? And you start with glasses and end with pots? And change the water as needed?

Dishes need to be rinsed as well. I know some folks wash dishes in the bowl and then take a towel wipe the dishes dry but without rinsing first.

Interesting why not to use a drying rack?

SionnachRua · 01/02/2021 00:20

How long do they take? I thought they were only an hour like a normal service? You can have shorter if you like

Sorry, that was poorly phrased. I mean the time it takes between death and funeral. As an Irish person where the usual turnaround is 3 days it seems bizarrely long! But again this is based on reading MN.

The funeral 'culture' - and again, learning this from MN so it may not be reality - seems so dry and aloof to me. In Ireland anyone and everyone goes. The deceased child's school teacher (from years ago)? Come along. Someone they vaguely knew from cycling club? They're in too.

elp30 · 01/02/2021 00:20

@Seychelles98

America
  1. Why are the free standing cookers (oven and hob together) so old fashioned looking? Since I first started holidaying there 25 years ago they still look the same! - we haven't had cookers like that in the UK for at least 30 years now!

  2. Why do the washing machines and tumble dryers open at the top and not at the front like the rest of the world?

  3. Why are you still using 2 pin electrical plugs and sockets? They're dangerous and not earthed!

  4. Why do building regulations / planning permission allow open electrical sockets to be installed to plug in your hairdryer in bathrooms usually right beside the hand basin counter which is usually wet! One of the quickest ways to get electrocuted!

  5. Why can you only buy one type of washing powder called Tide which has had the same packaging for 25 years? There doesn't seem to be any other brand!

I do love going to America and I love America people btw!

Our voltage is 110v so we only need two prongs. Three prongs and 220v is reserved for our dryers.

I have no idea what you mean about Tide. We are a land of huge choice in products. Tide is a brand name as is Daz in the UK. It's like saying the ONLY washing powder is Daz. No, it's just popular. My current one, see photo, is Arm & Hammer and the softener is a Mexican brand that's become popular and brought to the US. I live in Texas, btw.

Things that baffle you about another country
Gwenhwyfar · 01/02/2021 00:22

"As an Irish person where the usual turnaround is 3 days it seems bizarrely long! But again this is based on reading MN."

This just depends on availability of burial/cremation places I think. They are over-subscribed in London so can take a long time. It's not the same all over the UK.

Swipe left for the next trending thread