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

Also, why do their shops close early on Saturdays? Isn’t that the peak trading day?

@SionnachRua

England - the customs around funerals. Why do they seem to take so long? Why do people angst over whether they should or shouldn't go?

Tbf I feel like MN could be warping my understanding of English funerals but the above is so alien to me.

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

I seem to remember reading that as Germans eat a high amount of pork, worms are a lot more prevalent,so the shelf catches the poo in order to be scrutinised.

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.

@TableFlowerss

When I was in America I’m sure the toilets looked like they were about to over flow? I remember thinking ‘if I flush that, it’s going to flood the place’

Is that a ‘thing’?

There’s hardly any water in British toilets.

This. Toilets are like swimming pools in the USA, full of water.

The complete opposite of the German inspection shelf.

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!

I really don't think the cookers are so far behind! It's partly aesthetic, but high-end cookers are if anything more advanced than the ones I use in the UK. Very much depends gas v electric.

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

Many of them do. My current units do, for instance. It's partly about space--there's no need to stack them in many places, so it's easier to load/unload.

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

Most kitchen outlets are 3 pronged and grounded. My house has mostly 3 prong sockets, but 2 prong plugs. The electricity here is half as strong as the UK.

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!

Again, electricity half as strong. Also why there aren't switches next to plugs. Electric regulations vary from city to city.

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!

There are literally dozens of different brands of detergent at the store. (Off the top of my head, Arm and Hammer, Cheer, Gain, Seventh Generation) There are also many different kinds of Tide: pods, powder, liquid, regular, HE, different smells, mixed with pre-stain, etc. Not sure where you're shopping! But I will say that Tide is the most popular detergent. It's really effective, I suppose. And has that perfect laundry smell.

@Normandy144

The date thing is just a reflection of the way they speak and say dates. They always say the month first, so when you hear things on TV for example advertising a movie or new show, they say "out February 3rd" as opposed to 3rd of February. So that's why they do the short date the other way around.

Not enough of an explanation for me because there are plenty of people in the UK who will say something like August the 4th, but would never write 8/4/21.

UK: the forced effort to make things sound British and superior. Like:

• in positive news it is called the Oxford vaccine, in negative news (e.g. when efficacy is questioned) it is called Astra-Zeneca vaccine. Do people really buy into this bullshitting?
• British Summertime: for the rest of the world it is just summertime, so funny to force 'British' in front of it in everyday language
• This one I find incredibly funny, read it in an astronomy book: "Planets have two names: a Latin and an English name" !!! 😂😂😂

We have all kinds of cookers-ranges, cooktops with separate ovens, etc. Some washer/dryers open at the top and some in front. More open in front these days.
Electric that is up to code is perfectly safe.
We have many, many types of clothes detergent. Tide is the most popular but by no means the only one. I use Persil. There's also Gain, Arm and Hammer, All, Dreft, Sun and numerous small brands.
Honestly, no offense meant, but it sounds to me like you either haven't been in the US for many years or you've stayed in very old buildings that weren't up to code. All plugs near water have to be GFI and that's been the rule for decades. I have a new build house and the electrical codes are very strict.

@LifeExperience

A few other things-electric kettles have never really caught on in the US, because hot tea is not as popular. Coffee is very popular and most people have at least one electric coffee maker.

Kettles are common on the continent, but not ubiquitous like in the UK for the same reason that people drink more coffee and for the odd cup of tea for a guest they may use the microwave or a pan.

@TH22

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

My understanding is that it was a marketing campaign - when KFC was new to Japan - that stuck.

I had a quick Google and this article explains it much better: www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20161216-why-japan-celebrates-christmas-with-kfc

Not really what OP asked but I’d bloody love a gun. I currently sleep with a hammer under my pillow, and I don’t even live anywhere scary, it’s just in case!

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 . Sorry, just strikes me as wonderful!

@MollyButton

And they should have screen windows too. Just because we don't have particularly hot summers, it doesn't mean we don't have flies. And moths, daddy-longlegs, beetles, wasps etc. It would be nice to open a window without having to let the local wildlife in.

There is a lot less wildlife to come in in the UK (and Europe as a whole). Just listen to the night in summer in Virginia compared to the night anywhere in Europe - it is far far noiser. The reason is to do with the last ice age and the fact that mountains in Europe run East/West and in the US they run North/South. So when glaciation happened it was easier for species to move South in the US, then North again when the glaciers melted. In comparison in Europe more species became extinct.

I know some people do get them, but I've never seen, heard or felt mosquitoes in the UK. We get them where I am now on the continent, but they're not the malaria-carrying ones, it's not the end of the world, same with a few flies.

Only just started this ^briliant thread, but please, PLEASE tell me this is a joke??

"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"

India's rape festival why would someone think that's a good idea

How is a washing up bowl different to a sink though ? I use a bowl so don't scratch. My sink and i can rinse down side as only have single basin?

LadyJaye Sun 31-Jan-21 23:01:51
I think most medical professionals would agree there are a lot of benefits to be derived from regularly getting up close and personal with your movements, as it were.

Clever Germans. Vorsprung durch Technik, and all that.

I believe the common term for it is ‘lay and display’ 💩

NZ: walking bare feet around the town to fetch your takeaways...having a steak and mince pies at every petrol station.
Norway: photos of women breasts in all posh restaurants around Oslo...it’s art. Always drinking beer out of wine glass.
Croatia: you can order a fruit juice topped up with cream in many places.

It's just something you notice when you live in the US that's different to here, it's just their style of language. In the UK we usually say 3rd of January or yes I concede we might say January the 3rd but in the US they drop the 'the' and 'of' and it's always January 3rd so it's therefore very natural for them to write the short date to reflect the way they say dates. Just something I noticed when living there both in the workplace and in media etc. Sorry if you don't believe me.

The German poo shelf thing: I spent a summer working in Germany as a student, and before starting a new job as a waitress, I had to provide a stool sample. I was provide with a sample jar, and there was a little spatula/spoon attached to the inside of the lid. The purpose of the poo shelf suddenly became clear. (This was the 90s.)

") 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!"

Most countries in the world allow sockets in bathrooms. Being electrocuted in this way is pretty rare. I hoovered my bathroom today and was glad to have a socket there.

Why do Australians watch home and Away when they pretend its summer all year round?

Yes, that really used to annoy me about Home and Away, alongside the sibling groups who could hardly have looked less alike, and the characters who returned from holiday with an altered date of birth and a face transplant.

"why on earth don’t their clothes shop changing room cubicles have mirrors?"

I didn't know this, but I've been to some French shops like this and it's to force you to come out to look in the mirror where the assistant can give you the hard sell.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

It's been answered above at least for my area: nativity does include the whole of life in all it's aspects. Have a look at Italian or - if you think it would be more appropriate i. e. cleaner - Bavarian nativity collections.

I have a figure representing a mother leading a daughter to the scene.