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!

"Hi, how are you?"
"I'm fine. How are you?"
"I'm alright," kind of thing with the people leaving. I found it funny that we were all there to see/had seen the doctor but were all apparently "fine" 😆.

@Nikitaspearlearring years ago I would occasionally answer "How are you?" with "Shithouse, thanks, how are you?" - said lightly, but it was more accurate. That was when I was working. These days, in a retirement village where I'm one of the youngest residents, it's common enough to say "Not great" and swap medical issues (and, sometimes, helpful info).

The Marina Alta. And no, I don't wear boots if it's hot, I wear sandals and then get horrified reactions from Spaniards chuntering about it being winter.

As long as it’s without socks you should be fine 😉

Lived in Japan. So many things.

But how much better the food was. It's easy and quite inexpensive to eat well. Even out and about all day.

You clearly don't host very much is you think wearing shoes inside a home is feral 🙄

Try opening your mind a bit before making such a ridiculous statement.

I've lived in the UK so long I forgot about this. I'd never seen a washing machine in someones kitchen till I moved here. Even small flats/apartments abroad always have a seperate laundry room.

I wonder myself. Here in NZ we don't have all this "filth" on the footpaths, and yes, most of the public toilets here are very clean as well.

These posts - and many others - expressing horror at wearing shoes indoors always make me wonder just how filthy British pavements and public places (shopping centres etc) with public toilets are. Is it the sheer number of people and the weather?

Very, in some cases. A lot of dog shit, council cuts, and some areas just seem to be populated by filthy bastards. The thought of standing on that and then my pristine cream wool carpet is actually upsetting.

Working in Tunisia and Morocco. An obsession with evil eye and not being gossiped about but gossiping takes up a a high amount of time in any social interaction 😆

As a visitor to US, the portion sizes.
Their starters are main meal in UK. And ordering chips, which turn up as crisp. Proper term is french fries.
Catches me every time.

Worst germs I would think, given the things animals like investigating…

I used to live in central London. I'd see people spitting on the street daily where I lived. Some also chewed a betal nut, which makes a red, residue mess when spat out. Not all parts of London, but yes, the streets are grotty!

Yes! My best example of this is when I was in A+E, anxious and in pain, and a doctor I work with in another hospital was doing an overtime shift there and saw me in the waiting area and said “hi, nice to see you, how are you?”. When I answered that I was not feeling very well he looked very surprised 😆

No there are no professional mourners now, but there used to be, it was called keening and involved people singing/wailing to express grief. www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/keening-tradition-died-irish-funerals

About windows opening inwards:

That's the norm in Germany, you open them wide for 10 - 15 minutes each morning to air the house, easy to clean, even with plants on the window sill, they just get moved.

We managed to get them for our bathroom in our current house, they are called "tilt and turn" as you can open them tilted and it's a lot better. Our bathroom is easily aired after 3 people showering.

I also miss the roller blinds from the outside, turning the room pitch black dark. It also helps keeping the rooms cool in Summer compared to just having curtains from the inside.

Either your a hermit that never leaves the house or thats not healthy (I know as I have nerve damage in my bladder and forget to pee and have the associated complications which can be life threatening and have hospitalized me before).

Unless you work in one of the very few jobs where you work from someones home like a cleaner or home carer have you not had a job for the last 40 years? surely you can't do 5-8 hours in an office, factor, shop, school etc... without going to the toilet.

Do you never go on nights out etc...

Either you don't know what a public toilet is and are using it to describe just such things a portaloos etc... or its just such a strange thing to lie about.

That's the ones I'm used to. Tilt them to air house, leave open otherwise. Also I never see anyoneopeni g their windows apart from summer to air house.
Accommodate outside shutters too.

I'm British born and bred, but completely agree. Why would you spend your holiday in a contraption that is considerably more uncomfortable than the home you live in? Madness!

youre very lucky then as public toilets in the uk are grim

I wear socks most of the year. Slippers are more comfortable than shoes.

My feet aren't gross because I look after them.

I’m in the south, was talking to someone this morning on the beach who had a big coat, hat, scarf and mittens on and furry uggs and people have been dressed like this since October 😂

I am actually! In Porto. (Although I think the same would apply for Spain, Italy etc.)
Something that's really normalised here in Portugal that I love - kids eating fish is very expected. Like whole grilled fish. Obviously they need some help with the bones etc, but it's taken totally for granted that children should and will eat it and enjoy it. In the UK I feel that fish (unless it's fish fingers) is seen as an adult food and 'difficult' for kids, and as a result so many children would be fussy about it.

We had some tilt and turn windows in a previous house. It meant that I could clean them myself and have no need for a window cleaner. I imagine that would be useful if you lived in an upstairs flat as well.

Re some of the other points.

1. Driving in the UK is a PITA. Our roads aren't designed for the volume of traffic they carry. The streets are narrow with on street parking in most towns and you have to stop and zigzag to avoid parked cars. What should be a 2 hour motorway journey often takes longer because there has been an accident. It once took us nine and a half hours to drive from Barnsley to Padstow.

2. Those of us who live in cooler and wetter parts of the UK do tend to remove shoes when entering people's houses. Unfortunately our streets aren't as clean as they might be - dog mess, vomit, bird pooh etc don't help. Walking into someone's house with wet and muddy footwear is etremely rude, and many houses have carpets because they keep houses warmer. I never ask guests to remove shoes. They just do because everyone does round here.

3. Most student halls of residence are self catered. Exceptions tend to be Oxbridge and Nottingham where most are catered. DD's old university now only has self catered halls.

Which country are you in @shortoedtreecreeper?

We had some tilt and turn windows in a previous house. It meant that I could clean them myself and have no need for a window cleaner. I imagine that would be useful if you lived in an upstairs flat as well.

Re some of the other points.

1. Driving in the UK is a PITA. Our roads aren't designed for the volume of traffic they carry. The streets are narrow with on street parking in most towns and you have to stop and zigzag to avoid parked cars. What should be a 2 hour motorway journey often takes longer because there has been an accident. It once took us nine and a half hours to drive from Barnsley to Padstow.

2. Those of us who live in cooler and wetter parts of the UK do tend to remove shoes when entering people's houses. Unfortunately our streets aren't as clean as they might be - dog mess, vomit, bird pooh etc don't help. Walking into someone's house with wet and muddy footwear is etremely rude, and many houses have carpets because they keep houses warmer. I never ask guests to remove shoes. They just do because everyone does round here.

3. Most student halls of residence are self catered. Exceptions tend to be Oxbridge and Nottingham where most are catered. DD's old university now only has self catered halls.

Oops. Didn't mean to post twice.