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

@Exhausteddog

I haven't rtft. Do some countries (i remember Greece being one) still have the system of not flushing toilet roll down the loo but placing it into a usually open bin next to the toilet?

Im from the uk. I wash up in a bowl. I change the water frequently - is the alternative washing up in running water as surely you would have the same issue if you washed up in a sink with a plug?
Also I wouldn't wash up without a bowl in a belfast sink for fear of breaking things.

Yes, the sewage system in some countries is unable to cope with toilet paper and gets blocked too easily. But I've never been in somebody's house in those countries where the bin is open or noticeable in any way.

@Prokupatuscrakedatus

@Soubriquet

Washing dishes in running water is a sign of wastefulness and incompetence.
For toilet bowls read the first 17 pages of this thread.

No it's a sign of cleanliness plenty of cultures round the world see stale water as unclean. You can feel free to choose not, I'm just telling you my opinion which I belieblve, I'm entitled to, in the UK at least, than you. Poop shelf is still pretty common, had it in all my relatives' homes. Glad it's being ousted though. Bye bye.

*thank you, not than you, lol

[quote Gwenhwyfar]"@SushiSoozie it's hot as hell inside people's homes"

It just isn't though! I've been hot on a bus and in an office building because both of those can have a greenhouse effect with too many windows, I've never been boiling hot inside a house in the UK in the summer.
Granted, I'm not from the south of England, but I'm not from the coldest part of the UK.
Are you really sure it's not the menopause? It's not normal to think it's 'hot as hell' in house in the UK.[/quote]
There may be one or two days every few years or so when we might use an electric fan but not enough to justify fitting air conditioning. If it was surely everyone would do it and it must be really rare.

[quote LifeExperience]@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.[/quote]
I agree it will not be possible to get rid of all the guns.

But as an American, I could not disagree more with all this 'it's part of our culture' BS.

I don't know anyone who has a gun. I don't know anyone who thinks they're 'fun to shoot'. I used to live in one of the most dangerous cities in the US during the crack epidemic and I never felt I needed a gun to protect myself. I don't know anyone who has seen a bear walking down their urban street.

Some people just like guns. You can try to dress it up with all these excuses but at the end of the day, you just like guns. And you don't speak for all Americans. Just speak for yourself, a gun lover.

Degrees c /degrees f

For fucks sake. Water freezes at 0 degrees c. It’s really simple why over complicated it??

@Highfalutinlootin I’d highly recommend google earth or a globe. It’s going to amaze you but Europe isn’t one homogenous place. There are lots of countries with all the geographic diversity of the USA but actual culture too. You could start with the European central plains.

@mewkins

If we had sockets in bathrooms we would have a lot of people electrocuting themselves while they charged their phones and ipads and used them in the bath.

We have sockets in bathrooms in Australia and it doesn’t seem to happen. It’s just much more convenient for drying hair etc.

Gun control won't work

Where there's a will there's a way.

It was enacted in Australia 12 days after the mass shooting of 35 people, the wounding of 25.in Port Arthur in 1996.

Probably the only admirable thing the then PM John Howard ever did.

it's hot as hell inside people's homes, hence my point about AC/fans etc

I find British houses really warm in winter I assume because there is decent heating! I find it stifling now I am not used to it. An old house in Britain is lovely and cool in summer though. New houses maybe not so much but that seems to be world over- some new houses here are so badly built and hot you need air con on most of summer whereas sensible older houses or ones built with the temperature in mind get away with ceiling fans (the best invention in the world) most of the year

@LifeExperience yes, bears only exist in the USA they are unique to your culture and turn back when they reach the border. That’s why Canada have stricter gun laws, because they have no bears

FYI there are wild bears in Europe, and wolves.

Are the comments about an Indian Rape Festival referring to that parody article that did the rounds a while back? I'm confused.

@catsmother

About thirty years ago when I visited friends in Australia they were fascinated - and somewhat horrified I think - by the (then) lack of separate showers in most UK homes. I got the distinct impression they felt baths were unhygienic and couldn't fathom why Brits would apparently prefer to bathe rather than shower. As others have already said, I think they just couldn't fathom how average UK homes often lacked the space to install showers (or any other nice to haves like utility rooms, walk in closets, decent storage, garages, even driveways/parking spaces).

They made a big 'thing' of trying to make me feel at home by inviting and encouraging me to use the bath in their house, which was designated as mum's room and only ever used by her, not to get clean, but more as a relaxing home spa type of experience. Mostly everyone used a fantastic large wet room which felt luxurious to me and I had a hard time persuading them that I'd be more than fine with that. Like, they kept emphasising again and again during my stay that I was welcome to use the bath, as if they couldn't understand a British person not wanting to.

When we stayed with Australian friends in the middle of nowhere, they had a massive jacuzzi bath which they never used because they never had enough water where they lived.

[quote Gwenhwyfar]"@SushiSoozie it's hot as hell inside people's homes"

It just isn't though! I've been hot on a bus and in an office building because both of those can have a greenhouse effect with too many windows, I've never been boiling hot inside a house in the UK in the summer.
Granted, I'm not from the south of England, but I'm not from the coldest part of the UK.
Are you really sure it's not the menopause? It's not normal to think it's 'hot as hell' in house in the UK.[/quote]
I'm too young for menopause, but do think I feel it more than others. But my mum also comments on how warm it is here when she comes to visit, she lived here years ago and remembers it being cold always.

Maybe my tolerance comes from the fact that in the Caribbean places are built to be cool, so my threshold is lower?

squirelfan Why should mixer taps be standard ? They waste water.

UK: people don't rinse their dishes when washing up. Just put them on the rack dripping with soap suds!

@gwenhwyfar come to my house in summer and upstairs is sometimes unbearable we have windows open and fans on in each room
Newish build terrace and well insulated, we rarely have radiators on upstairs all winter other than towel rail as its hot upstairs , so even an average uk summer day and its boiling , kids have fans on to and people who stay mention it

@cerisecherries

Britain. I don't understand your garden centres. They are crazy. In my country we go to buy plants and garden supplies at the garden centre. In the UK, you seem to go for meals, soft play, there are farm shops, indoor furniture, cosmetics, household items, and quite a bit of clothing. It's a whole other world for me!

This reminded me: pick-your-own is a form of entertainment and everything cost the same as in the supermarkets.

Do some countries (i remember Greece being one) still have the system of not flushing toilet roll down the loo but placing it into a usually open bin next to the toilet?

Yep, this was when plumbing couldn't cope with paper, also pipes were smaller. Now they're generally more standardised and larger, but the 'traditional' fear of toilets being blocked remains.

@LowlandLucky how do mixer taps waste water?

@thelegohooverer that was a really interesting and well written post. Thanks

I do find mixer taps easier to use. I lovethe mixer taps in the USA that are so flexible, like detachable shower heads

I don't think that you have contributed anything of intelligence or interest here.
No you won't do because I'm Irish.

@SquirrelFan I don’t if it’s wasting as such - but people probably wash their hands for longer than 10 seconds because they’re able to without scolding themselves or getting frostbite. You save water by default.