If you live in a different country to your birth - cultural norms you find odd?

[Triffid1]

I am South African originally. As I was dropping DS (13) at his activity last night at 7pm, knowing I'd be picking him at 8:30, I was thinking how I just don't think I'm ever going to get used to the lateness of things for children in this country. I honestly don't think i was out of the house after 6:30 on a school night, ever, until I was about 16!!! Admittedly, we also started our days much earlier - school start was 8:05 I think.

And I admit, I find it even odder because you change your clocks so that it gets light earlier and dark earlier. And certainly where we are (SE England), everything happens LATER, not earlier. I'm also from Cape Town though so to be fair, it gets light much later so getting up in the dark was a pretty normal event in winter for us.

Does anyone else have anything like this that they find odd? Light please - I'm not looking to bash any other cultures just note the differences!

Without wanting to be flippant, if you go to Cape Town, the vast bulk of the time you are there you will 100% feel like you are in the developed world. Shops, restaurants, roads etc are all good. Our local Sainsbury's has just had a big make over and DH and I have been chuckling because it now reminds us of supermarkets at home in terms of how it is laid out and sign posted. I saw a tik tok video from an Irish comedian the other day who was visiting Cape Town and she was rhapsodising about Woolworths - our version of M&S!

It does feel like a different culture but that is the joy of travelling surely? South Africans are chatty and friendly and you will have a different experience out and about than here, but one that I am sure you will enjoy.

Stay in the main parts (as I do mostly when visiting anywhere new), take basic precautions around your bag and phone and jewellery (again, as tourists in any country should do), lock car doors while driving and don't leave anything (Nothing - not even a pack of tissues) in your car and you will have an amazing trip!!!!

Outraged at the suggestion we don't have good queueing systems in the UK, It's practically our national sport! I mean we even commemorated the death of the Queen with a national mega queue.

Thanks OP. If I were to go to South Africa I'd not wear any jewellery at all.

Also all my phone's data is backed up.

That’s a very good point. I think it’s one of those things you normalise but when you think logically it is actually gross. It’s like how in the uk we use dry toilet paper to wipe our butts. I’m used to it but it’s so gross.

@sashh I think a lot is due to medication of any kind is only available in pharmacies. It's a lot more intimidating going to be served by a person who may ask questions than buying them together with a pint of milk, toast and apples.

I got once a long lecture when I bought ibuprofen in Germany together with cough medication when DD had a feverish cold. While the lady at the pharmacy was right that not all fever need to be treated, DD also had a splitting headache, something always happens when she gets a cold.

I see what the other poster means. There is a variety of cheeses here, but not as many as in some other European countries. But then UK has got cheddar, which in my opinion is far superior to any other hard cheese, so there is no need for that much variety:)
I could go to a local Polish shop and buy a gazillion types of cheese, but they are all inferior to cheddar. I buy Gouda for my daughter as she prefers it, mozzarella for pizza and occasionally “mouldy” cheese if I fancy it, but there is always cheddar in my fridge.

Yes I thought that - unless it's a very small corner shop, I've never been into a supermarket that only sold cheddar. We have quite a few convenience size stores - mainly Tesco and Co-op and even they sell different varieties.

So you in fact do not know what a public facilities is.

A public toilet in the terms people are talking about is a toilet thats not a private household toilet very clearly. These toilets are open to any member of the public, they may have rules about paying entry to a location or buying a drink but they are open to the public... in fact the word 'pub' for example is short for 'public'.

The toilets in those places are not private to you and only the people you know. Resteraunt, Pubs, Clubs, Hospitals, Schools etc... are very much 'public' toilets.

Example: A school for example might not be open to any random person but they are open to 200-1000 people usually (people who if you crossed in the street will be general public not friends, family, roommates etc...). Along way off a 'private use' facility.

My dad always had an irrational paranoia that I would try and OD on paracetamol (no idea why, I'm not suicidal or anything, I think just the ignorant assumption that teen girls are 'dramatic'), he use to hide it from me or monitor how much I took.

The insane thing is we are a disabled house hold and I was the carer than handled my mams daily prescriptions (Morphine, Codeine, Insulin, Epinephrine and several types of sedatives are just some she had over the years etc...) and I myself was also prescribed controlled medications.

Yet he ran around hiding 30p packs of paracetamol in case I got depressed and tried to OD (because obviously thats clearly the only medication you could OD on lol).

Interesting people commented on medication- when we lived in Denmark the lack of medication on open purchase drove me nuts- I used to stock up on our UK trips -

You practically need a PhD to drive in the UK

One reason I don't drive in Germany (the other being the lack of motorway speed limits) is the 'rechts vor links' thing. I know I'd never remember to stop in the middle of what looks to all intents and purposes like a main road to let someone coming out of a side street on the right go first. So I'd soon be prosecuted or uninsurable or both. It's second nature to dh and ds1.

Yes yes yes to the superiority of cheddar. When I first came to Germany you couldn't get it. It was Gouda (never liked it), Emmental (OK) or Tilsiter (ugh). Now all supermarkets sell a basic cheddar, sometimes a really decent one.

@housethatbuiltme

Of course toilets in office blocks, schools, restaurants etc are not private facilities as in being for the use of one household - but they do belong to the organisation where they are based for the use of their employees and customers. Hence not for use by the general public. Would you expect to walk into a random office block and use their toilets? Never seen a sign in a cafe saying toilets for use of customers only?

Seriously cannot believe there needs to be a discussion as to what a public toilet is!

What about the price of cheddar in Germany? In my country it has always been more expensive than other ‘forrin’ cheeses, even before Brexit. My DM loved cheddar but only ate it when visiting here as the price back home was eye watering.
I only drove through Germany a few times while driving to my country with EXH. I loved driving on an autobahn on a Sunday morning. It was like driving in UK on Christmas Day, the roads were virtually empty.
Although I almost got myself a heart attack once, when trying to match the speed of the car in front of me in the inside lane, I realised I was driving at over 90 mph.
I refused to drive in Belgium and France as they were all zooming in and out of lanes crazily and constantly sitting on your back.

Maybe it's an island thing, I'm on an island and people here don't think twice about going to a funeral, or wakes. Islands tend to have more of a community spirit, maybe it's that. I know many people, myself included, who have a favourite pew at the crem!

I heard from people who've been there that New Zealand, even in the cities, tends to shut down really early in the evenings and people tend to go to bed before nine, and even the TV service winds down a bit. This apparently is put down to the fact it's still, mainly, an agricultural economy and everybody there (even if they're a few generations on from being farmers) goes with the agricultural timetable - to bed at dusk, up with the sunrise. It's sort of ingrained, apparently.
I'm wondering if this applies to South Africa too? (even if you live in Joburg or Bloemfontein or Capetown and work in an office and the last relative who ran a farm was your old groet-oupa - up early, in bed early. There's a reason why people are called Boers?)
The British are in the main a long way away from the land and have perhaps lost this habit.

Sorry I can’t find the person who asked about French women drinking in pregnancy, but I would say it’s probably similar to here. I didn’t pay much attention in France as I had no interest in children or getting pregnant then! Over here I have been pregnant and have pregnant friends. Contrary to the posts on here (I saw one the other day where someone wouldn’t have fruit juice or non-alcoholic beer because of the negligible alcohol content), nearly all of them had an occasional glass of wine. But there are a lot of popular viewpoints on here that I don’t find are true in real life!

That is fascinating! I am white British from working class East End of London stock. My grandmother had 3-and-a-bit rooms on the ground floor of a two-up two-down railway terraced cottage. She lived in one room with her bedroom in another and cooked in a very tiny add-on she called the scullery. The third room (the Front Room) wasn’t used at all, despite the cramped conditions of the rest of the place. This room housed the piano, the good rugs, the family ornaments and the only formal furniture my grandmother owned. When I asked, my mother told me it was for “entertaining”. All the other houses in the street worked in the same way. Later on, I wondered if it had been the working class version of the Victorian/Edwardian parlour. Later on, when my grandad died suddenly, I understood. It existed for the Visitation - the housing of the coffin before the funeral so that people could pay their respects.

I live in Italy and for the most part the cultural differences haven’t been a problem. Quite the opposite actually. Today though I was invited to lunch by friends (a couple) at their house. We sat down at half past one in the afternoon and I finally left at five o’clock!! It was a lovely evening and I’m not giving out at all, but I am exhausted so I can only imagine how they feel.

You think a toilet in a pub, club, fast food chain, school or hospital etc... is magically cleaner than a 'public' toilet.

We are talking about usage not property owner ship lol.

PP has used plenty of toilets provided for use of the public, even if thats with the caveat term 'paying public' its still available for use to 'the public'.

You think a toilet in a pub, club, fast food chain, school or hospital etc... is magically cleaner than a 'public' toilet.* * We are talking about usage not property owner ship lol.

Nope . I'm disputing your definition of a public toilet as you were the one who accused PP of being a liar.

I’m just back from a weekend in Denmark & Sweden where I caught a lot of trains, & realised that none of them had idiots making a racket with their phones.

That’s one cultural difference I really appreciated.

I'm sorry, but this is complete nonsense. No doubt some people in NZ go to bed before nine, as no doubt some also do in the UK, but to state that we all go with an agricultural timetable is just laughable. It most certainly is not ingrained in us. I'm lucky to be asleep before 11 pm, and I have friends who go to bed even later, and we live in a small rural town!

True, but it will stop those who are in a sudden high of illness just buying 20 then and there. Takes lot effort and time especially if you’re not local to lots of shops. Sometimes these things are done very quickly and without much thought so you want to delay that.

I was surprised not to be able to find disinfectant for personal use (eg Dettol) in France.

Can't speak for New Zealanders but no this isn't the case in SA.

Days do start earlier generally though. Kids start the school day at 7.20am and many industries start at 7.30am.

I have been known to go to bed at 9pm but no it's not the norm.