Questions you have about other nationalities!

[WatermelonWaveclub]

Just for fun. DD and I were just watching a video where Americans were asking questions about the UK. What are your questions (can be for any nationality from any nationality)? And please feel free to answer other people's questions!

I'll start with some questions for Americans:

Are your grocery bags really those ones without handles? They look really awkward to carry!

Why do you not have electric kettles?

In High school films the English teacher for example always gives them some homework to do by the next day and says 'see you tomorrow' - do you have the same classes every day? We just had English twice a week or something!

I cook a roast carribbean style on the Sundays when I'm not at work, especially during the autumn/winter. Everybody I know speaks loudly about not using tinned beans/peas for the rice and peas, but I think a lot more people are using them and not letting on...

I mainly cook a roast for nostalgic reasons, reminds me of my childhood and my mother. Also provides me with enough food for 2-3 days.

I think one driver of the litigiousness of American society is that there can be such a high price to pay to treat injuries. You're on the hook to pay the medical bills for your injuries (outside of what your insurance covers, anyway)--wouldn't you attempt to recoup that loss if there was a possibility that the injury could be blamed on someone else's negligence/misconduct?

I guess the frame is what I mean and some of the exterior too?

And I made a mistake with the electrical bit, it's not legal but it passes inspection easily

I probably am just watching odd videos or TV shows, so it's pretty much like here with health and safety in the home and businesses then.

My mum will make a sunday roast every week. We always had one every sunday growing up. Now we are adults my sister and I are vegetarian and my brother wont eat red meat. My mum still cooks a roast beef for herself and the cats.

Of course I would, I wasn't implying that anyone shouldn't.

Do other countries have egg and spoon races, sack races and three legged races? Was wondering this at DD’s Sports Day today…

I am from Jersey and we usually say the city name (usually London as that's where most connecting flights are)

Saw an NZ friend on FB talking about a cigarette break: smoko.

I'm in NZ and we use smoko to mean a morning/afternoon tea break.

@starlitexpress when I was young going to visit my grandmother in France I always had hot chocate for breakfast and usury on the Sunday we had croissant for breakfast. There was always a 3 course meals for lunch that is true and even for dinner but lighter. And yes wine as well but usually one glass.

Of course there are health and safety laws in the US. There are federal laws and state laws. I don't know enough about the laws in other countries to compare them, but I do have some experience in how they operate. And businesses are very aware of the litigiousness of society and that drives many of the policies and procedures that businesses have in place.

I often see on American programmes them drinking tea. The only one I can think of the top of my head is an old one but in Charmed Piper was always drinking tea!

I don't. I haven't made a roast dinner since Boxing Day! 😂

Its very popular here in Ireland as well.

I love black pudding.

Totally agree.

Right, but what I mean is, I don't think the reputation for lawsuits comes mainly from the fact that there AREN'T health and safety standards. There definitely are. I think there is just a more obvious route to financial damages because of the way the healthcare system is structured, so Americans are more likely to want to sue if they can.

And vis-a-vis the wild things you find in houses like in the videos you shared, I don't think it's often the case that the homes were built that way to begin with, but rather because property owners have done bad DIY/poor maintenance/hired woefully unqualified contractors. I would guess that similar rates of poor maintenance/terrible amateur DIY happen in the UK.

I make a roast only a handful of times a year. I don't want to eat the same thing every Sunday. When I was growing up, though my mum made a roast every Sunday and we used the best china and ate in the dining room (usually ate in the kitchen.)

I would never say that, always 19th of July!

True. But on the other hand, there are people who want to game the system. A few years ago in the city that I lived in, there was a spate of collisions caused by people who would pull in front of a driver and hit their brakes, which would often cause a rear end collision, which is almost always considered the following car's fault. Then the passenger (s) in the vehicle that was hit would claim whiplash and other injuries. Sometimes these cases are settled by the insurance company just to get rid of them. It makes me nervous in traffic to this day any time someone pulls in front of me.

@Mooshamoo, correct me if I am wrong but Irish is still a mandatory subject in Ireland for both primary and secondary school.i have a French friend living in Ireland who said that she wish her kids learnt an useful language than one that no one really speak. She told me she doesn't know one Irish people who speaks fluent Irish apart her kids' Irish teacher.

Americans..
Why do you think 'herbs' has a silent H?
Not unless you're Jamaican it doesn't.

Is this thread about the US mostly?

I'd like to ask the French who live/lived in the UK - what are the things you prefer here compared to France, if any?

I always thought Americans studied a broader curriculum as they don't cut down to 3 subjects for A level. But sounds like they don't study that much of a broad range of subjects in general. Only 2 years of a language? Or would they have started learning a language in Primary school?

@KatharinaRosalie Yes, the market is big enough for proper voice acting.
Today with DVDs, Netflix, YouTube you can get access to the original and switch between languages if you feel like it.

The movies my DC watchend when they were small were not English but Czech.

I like people’s open mindedness and tolerance.
Less racism and a better acceptance of gay people and women’s rights. I prefer the values here and I am glad my children are being raised in the UK. I like the school system, it’s much more inclusive and kinder.

I miss France’s health system and French food! I also miss a more relaxed attitude towards children’s routines and bedtimes at the weekend and during the summer holidays. I also can’t get my head round kids eating tea sometimes at 4:30pm and not eating most meals as a family.

Question for European mums.. (but not all European): I might be wrong but it seems maternity leave is about 3 months or so in a lot of European countries. I'm genuinely curious who looks after babies majority of times when the maternity leave ends and once mums go back to work?