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

That and bruschetta (pronounced bruh-sketta, not bru-shetta)

What is the obsession with absolute correct pronunciation of words not in our language? Like the age old chorizo one. Its not out of ignorance but simply for the fact it's not my native language. Although we should all definitely go round pronouncing 'restaurant' like Micky Flannigan does.

@WagnerTheWehrWolf, ooh, I wonder if General Electric are behind this attitude towards dryers vs. washing lines. They would certainly have stood to profit from that.

@WagnerTheWehrWolf

Americans are so weird about washing lines. I suspect it stems from a terror that someone might suspect they didn't have a dryer and had thus FAILED in their pursuit of the American Dream.

In the Carousel of progress.

I used to visit this attraction in Disney land and the USA had so many more mod cons earlier in comparison to the UK

@mommybunny

I have never met anyone in the US who didn’t think hanging laundry outside to dry was low-class. It was associated with housing projects and redneck shacks. Hanging your laundry outside indicates you can’t afford a dryer and is perceived as undignified. For better or worse. It is what it is.

Maybe it’s a throwback to a more prudish time when you would be mortified to have your neighbours see your underwear. I don’t know.

What about the drive to lower carbon emissions, are people in the USA not bothered about climate change? (I'm sure you are)

d my hairdryer directly into the outlet in the bathroom wall which is probably insane mind.

My electrician brother has been known to do that in his younger days!

Why don’t all speak English

I really think that Ireland is the strangest country that I have ever been to.

You couldn't make up some of the stuff that goes on there.

It is a cruel country. I think that I have seen more cruelty towards women in Ireland, than I have seen in any other country that I have been in.

I remember people telling me about Dara Quigley, when I was in Ireland. Dara Quigley was a mentally ill woman who, in a mentally ill state, one day walked naked through Dublin. A policeman had access to the CCTV footage of Dara being naked. He copied the video of her being naked and then shared it theough whatsapp to his friends. Dara then killed herself. That was only three years ago. I have heard so many things like this in Ireland.
I hope as a country, it improves on women's rights.

Anyway I am going to think about what baffles me about other countries now.

Re. air conditioning - yes in the UK, some new builds are terribly designed, and the indoor temp can be above 30 degrees all day, despite blinds and open windows and fans. I have a portable air con that vents out the window and it barely touches it. I would love proper air con, needed from June - Sept in various years. Curse the developers that think every building needs floor to ceiling glass windows on two sides of the properties. And who won't allow outdoor blinds or awnings.

Canadians - almost all the ones I know are not at all obsessed with guns. One or two who enjoy hunting may have them, but it's not an obsession at all.

UK crisp flavours very odd.

Uk school system very rigid about starting school age and keeping everyone in one year.

Still want answers to my question about Chinese etc people shuffling their feet, and Japanese people making V signs in photos.

I don't think it's hard to figure out 15%, you take 10% of the bill (easy), then add half of that again. Though I admit we are used to it.. Someone upthread mentioned 18% I'd need a calculator for that.

@woodhill - it’s a very valid question. I haven’t lived in the US in over 20 years, so I may be talking out my ass here, but I don’t think the perception that Americans generally don’t care about climate change is totally unfair. It’s changing definitely, but I don’t see any sign that it’s anywhere near as acute as here in the U.K. and Europe.

That said, I do get really frustrated every time DH bangs on about putting clothes out on the line at the first sign of a dry-ish breeze. When it’s warm and sunny out and I know the laundry will be completely dry well before the end of the day, and I’m not busy with work, yes I will put it on the line. But just because his mum didn’t believe in tumble dryers (and didn’t work full time herself) I’ll be damned if I’m going to be schlepping wet clothes outside and bringing them back in still wet!

I managed to dry the dog towels outside today - icy on the ground but the sun was shining. I don't have a tumble dryer.

I think it is one of the cruellest countries I have ever been in. They treat women like dirt. My aunty (who was raped) was forced by the Catholic Church to give up her baby for adoption. The women that these things happened to are all still alive. It wasn't that long ago. There are so many terrible stories like this in Ireland. I have heard awful, awful things there.

Crazy how a country that is the cruellest ranks so highly for quality of life. Joint 2nd best in the world with Switzerland next to Norway measured according to average longevity, education and income.

[quote mommybunny]@woodhill - it’s a very valid question. I haven’t lived in the US in over 20 years, so I may be talking out my ass here, but I don’t think the perception that Americans generally don’t care about climate change is totally unfair. It’s changing definitely, but I don’t see any sign that it’s anywhere near as acute as here in the U.K. and Europe.

That said, I do get really frustrated every time DH bangs on about putting clothes out on the line at the first sign of a dry-ish breeze. When it’s warm and sunny out and I know the laundry will be completely dry well before the end of the day, and I’m not busy with work, yes I will put it on the line. But just because his mum didn’t believe in tumble dryers (and didn’t work full time herself) I’ll be damned if I’m going to be schlepping wet clothes outside and bringing them back in still wet![/quote]
Yes, i remember Disney being good about having recycling facilities but none at the house we were staying in, only general rubbish.

I must admit we try & put our washing out as much as possible, we do have a utility room and tumble dryer

I guess what I’m saying is if DH is so obsessed with air-dried clothes he is welcome to put it outside himself!

Another one asking about the huge gaps in between the doors and frames of public toilets? Public is the right word! I just don't get it.

@Pinkfreesias

Another one asking about the huge gaps in between the doors and frames of public toilets? Public is the right word! I just don't get it.

When I was in Canada the gap was at the bottom. The door started at about knee height.

Why do some people think the UK school system is strange and rigid? If you go to private school (as I did), you are promoted upwards during the year if you are clever enough and not just automatically moved to the next class at the end of the year. I zipped through 6 classes in 4 years.

@FelicityPike

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

I am American and I agree.

I didn't know about the special Thames Valley, but most places do have air so you can cool the place down by opening the window, if only at night and very early in the morning, then closing the curtains as soon as it's sunny.

That really doesn't work well - and we are in the middle of summer atm so I know what I'm talking about. Air con is far far better.

But then again, you can have it in your kitchen like the rest of the world.

Truly, 'the rest of the world' does not have their laundry in the kitchen!

@Annedunne181

I really think that Ireland is the strangest country that I have ever been to.

You couldn't make up some of the stuff that goes on there.

It is a cruel country. I think that I have seen more cruelty towards women in Ireland, than I have seen in any other country that I have been in.

I remember people telling me about Dara Quigley, when I was in Ireland. Dara Quigley was a mentally ill woman who, in a mentally ill state, one day walked naked through Dublin. A policeman had access to the CCTV footage of Dara being naked. He copied the video of her being naked and then shared it theough whatsapp to his friends. Dara then killed herself. That was only three years ago. I have heard so many things like this in Ireland.
I hope as a country, it improves on women's rights.

Anyway I am going to think about what baffles me about other countries now.

Oh please, Ireland has a shameful history there is no denying that but to state it so currently a state that is ‘ cruel country ‘ is outrageously untrue.

What happened to Dara Quigley is not an indication of a state that perpetuates cruelty to woman. It was, of course, horrendous behaviour by a member of the Gardai and he has rightly lost his job. Such abuse of powers happens the world over.

It’s evident you hold a very poor view of Ireland, an opinion you are entitled to but to assert that Ireland today is cruel country today could not be more wrong.

@SushiSoozie

I wondered how long it would be until we got very offensive posts about Ireland. Took longer than I thought but they were more offensive than ever

Fuck me do you know nothing at all about Ireland!

Given that this is MN where the terms throwing a paddy and Irish twins are used quite regularly? I mean, are you surprised...

@sunflowersandbuttercups

Gun control won't work. I know Europeans don't understand Americans, but we don't think like you do. We have our distinct culture and guns are a part of it. A few points: 1) Nobody knows how many guns there are in the US. Estimates range from 400 million to over 600 million. There is no national registry and only a few states keep that data, so nobody knows who owns the guns. Again, other than a few jurisdictions, that data is not recorded.
2) Huge numbers of Americans will not turn in their guns. For example, when the governor of Virginia proposed strict gun control in his state a few years ago the majority of counties declared themselves 2nd Amendment Sanctuaries. Politicians and law enforcement simply told the governor they wouldn't comply, and he had to back down. There are now hundreds of 2nd Amendment Sanctuary counties and at least one Sanctuary state. All because one governor got gun grabby. The federal government doesn't have enough police to enforce gun confiscation and local authorities won't do it.
3) People of all political persuasions own guns. Democrats tend to be more for gun control and republicans less, but there is a lot of overlap. I have one son who is an avowed socialist. He also enjoys shooting for sport. He just bought a handgun and is in the market for an AR-15. Why? They're fun to shoot. Lots of Democrats own guns and hunt, especially in traditional working class blue states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Even Vermont, arguable the bluest state, allows firearms to be carried openly or concealed without a permit of any kind.
4) In Europe the case can be made that no one needs a gun. The same isn't true here. This huge landmass only began to be tamed a few hundred years ago, and there are vast areas of the US that are still wild. Alaska has polar bears
which can be very aggressive. Brown bears and mountain lions are common in the Rockies. Less aggressive black bears are routinely seen in cities and suburban neighborhoods. They walk through our little mountain town. My husband saw bears in Pittsburgh. And no, they weren't in the zoo. Packs of coyotes are the worst. A pack chased my neighbor on a tractor. She wasn't armed at the time, but she is now, all the time.
"Just get rid of the guns" isn't just implausible, it's impossible.

‘The treat woman like dirt’ !!
Why do all your aunties still live there ?

@eaglejulesk

I didn't know about the special Thames Valley, but most places do have air so you can cool the place down by opening the window, if only at night and very early in the morning, then closing the curtains as soon as it's sunny.

That really doesn't work well - and we are in the middle of summer atm so I know what I'm talking about. Air con is far far better.

But then again, you can have it in your kitchen like the rest of the world.

Truly, 'the rest of the world' does not have their laundry in the kitchen!

The countries I've lived in (11 in total) had washing machine in kitchen, not bathroom. I'm not talking about laundry basket, which would normally be in bathroom or bedroom.

Gun control won't work.

'Prohibiting 8 year olds from working in factories won't work' I'm sure many interested parties said 100 years ago.

Nothing changes unless you change it.