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

I won't hide all the abuse that has gone on in Ireland. The world should know about the terrible things that happen to women there.

The arrogance of you. I don't know a single Irish person, even those who are still mass attenders, who don't acknowledge that Ireland has historically treated its women and girls like shit. We don't want to hear it? Yeah, that's why so many of us undertook actual hard work, to help make sure that the 8th was repealed, to make sure that marriage equality became a reality. Real work. Because we want holy Ireland to stay the same. But thank the Lord for you, Woodward and Bernstein in one woman, who swans over every summer shining a light on the real Ireland that is apparently so hidden. Where would we be without you?

@WagnerTheWehrWolf what I want to know is if that person acknowledges all the dreadful shit Britain has done? Or perhaps that's 'different'.

Great example here: www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/the-bloody-sunday-victims-their-stories-and-what-the-2010-saville-report-said-about-them-1.3825842?mode=amp

(Also btw I don't really want to turn this into whataboutery but I won't listen to a British person chastise Ireland unless they're willing to examine their own history and culture).

I’ve seen the nativity crapper has been mentioned but has anyone mentioned tió de nadal, the crapping Christmas log! think it’s a Catalan tradition you feed up your log and he craps sweets out.

We have my great great grandma's notebook and are in the uk. A lot of her recipes are in cups. So they are scaled up or down by using a different container or more/fewer cups. The instructions are great too and assume a high knowledge of cooking in the part of the reader, presumably she originally wrote it for herself. It will typically say "mix and cook until done" or similar.

Of course I am allowed to think that Ireland as a country is cruel to women. I can give hundreds of instances of where women have been treated cruelly in Ireland in recent times. I would love Ireland to improve their human rights.

OK. That would be great thanks! Obviously it can't be things like domestic abuse, rape, etc because we know that those things happen everywhere unfortunately. Hundreds of examples akin to what happens in Saudi Arabia in the past 10 years about an issue that we have fought hard to solve like Repealing the 8th. You can pm me if you don't want to clog this thread with your examples.

@InsideOfEmptiness there's a tap that dispenses sparkling water??????

I won't hide all the abuse that has gone on in Ireland. The world should know about the terrible things that happen to women there. Women should not be treated the way that they are in Ireland. I know too many women suffering in Ireland. I care about them

Well thank fuck for you, the single handed saviour of Irish women, shining a light on all our woes, rescuing us all from our lives of misery and abuse. Again, so unbearably patronising. We don't need you to rescue us. Generations of amazing Irish women have been doing that for ourselves, thank you very much.

Seriously, what terrible things do you think happen to women here? I mean now, in this day and age? That don't happen elsewhere?

That should say about an issue that we haven't fought hard to resolve.

Seriously, what terrible things do you think happen to women here? I mean now, in this day and age? That don't happen elsewhere?

She says she has 100s of examples so I'm sure we will be treated to them shortly as soon as she gets her links in a row.

'I won't listen to a British person chastise Ireland unless they're willing to examine their own history and culture'

A very good rule indeed, @SionnachRua

A few months ago I heard about the magical tap that dispenses sparkling water and I've been in a state of jealousy ever since to be quite honest.

Omg, I'm adding it to my fantasy house.

Octagonal library, large laundry room, double sink with food disposal, integrated coffee maker and sparkling water tap

There is indeed, @SleepingStandingUp, and I want it so badly! I think it's a Qooker one. Very expensive but I'd love one!

OuiOuiKitty, I'd imagine there's some frantic googling going on

I hope there's an entrance to a secret passageway in that octagonal library.

@SleepingStandingUp

Omg, I'm adding it to my fantasy house.

Octagonal library, large laundry room, double sink with food disposal, integrated coffee maker and sparkling water tap

May I move in with you to this dream home please?

[quote Annedunne181]@JaneJeffer Like how the people on this thread are fascinated to hear your insights?

I don't think that you have contributed anything of intelligence or interest here. Try harder[/quote]
why are you being so rude to people.
and if you have been visiting Ireland for many years, have you not noticed any changes since you first went there.
they voted for equal marriage some years ago, before many other countries. that's just one example.
i understand you are exercised by the wrong done to/ suffered by your relative, but why be nasty to people here.
i was taken aback when you accused someone of lying upthread. that is rude and aggressive. why not say they were mistaken. lying imputes malice, guilty intent. you can disagree with someone's views without being insulting, can't you.

@DrCoconut

We have my great great grandma's notebook and are in the uk. A lot of her recipes are in cups. So they are scaled up or down by using a different container or more/fewer cups. The instructions are great too and assume a high knowledge of cooking in the part of the reader, presumably she originally wrote it for herself. It will typically say "mix and cook until done" or similar.

American cups confuse me. A cup seems such an imprecise measurement compared to grams. Depending on how tightly you pack in the flour, whether you get it completely level etc... when you're baking a cake measurements matter.

Also, it's annoying having to do say a cup of grated cheese.

I watch quite a few US Youtubers and they are constantly getting flavoured drinks from Starbucks which is a bit lost on me.

I do like that Americans often have hairdryers/straighteners in their bathrooms - much more practical. Shame it isn't safe in the UK.

"Yes, the washing up bowls goes back to a time when people only had one sink (no 1.5 sinks) in the kitchen. If you'd filled the sink to wash up and then had a pot or cup with liquid in it that needed throwing away, there was nowhere to throw it. The washing up bowl allowed things to be tipped down the side of them that woukd go down the plug hole."

@WombatChocolate finally this makes sense! I only have one sink and I definitely face the dilemma of where to throw manky liquids while washing up.

@Lostinwinter

UK why do you not have top loading washing machines as standard?

access. small spaces. often have another appliance on top.

Quick - whuch one of the bickering posters will get the last word.....

@MirandaMarple

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.

In most cases it's likely that things are pronounced differently within their own country of origin, as they are here, it's no big deal. When I was learning German we had the same teacher for the first two years and she taught us to pronounced ich, mich,dich as ick, mick dick. A different teacher in the third year pronounced ish, mish, dish which is more common in Southern Germany. Why do we expect homogenous pronounciation?

@WagnerTheWehrWolf

This may have already been asked but why do American apartment buildings have laundry rooms in the basement? Who could be bothered shlepping all the way down there (where serial killers are known to lurk) to wash your tshirts and knickers?

My experience with this is in New York City, and I've heard several reasons, but the one that seems to make the most sense there is that older buildings can't handle the water demand from individual machines. Pressure is a significant issue in older buildings--they have water towers on top.

Plus in many buildings the hot water (US machines use hot & cold fill) is included in the rent.

When I did domestic science in the 60s we were taught tablespoon to ounces conversions. As far as I can remember, an ounce of flour was a heaped or rounded tablespoon and an ounce of sugar was a flat tablespoon, so was butter. A dessertspoon was half a tablespoon, and a teaspoon half a dessertspoon.
I normally round an ounce to 25 g, keeping in mind it’s actually a little more, but it makes calculating easy. However, nowadays I mostly just fling it all in and hope for the best.