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!

@Tomasinabombadil I really like Yorkshire Peach!

The Finns stereotype the Swedes as a bit wussy, their saunas are barely warm etc.
I think there is a general feeling of smugness but Finns will downplay it when talking to foreigners, and talk about the bad points. More proud of the nature here though, there's no shame in talking proudly of the blue lakes and green forests.

Its not just the UK, quite a few countries have TV licenses, to fund the public broadcasting. Finland used to have it then abolished it about a decade or so ago and instituted a tax instead which works out cheaper than the license even if you are paying the highest rate (its a progressive tax).

In America where the houses seem so spread out I'm assuming everyone needs to drive? Does everyone get their licence as soon as they are old enough and is it as expensive to learn as in the UK or do family members do the teaching? We have a 'local' shop selling basics every few streets you can 'pop' to by walking two mins down the road but do these really exist in most Ameican towns or is it just larger supermarkets?

Maternity leave is 5 months obligatory leave in Italy, plus there is optional extra leave for another 6 months but this part is at 30% salary so some go back to work after 5 months.

where I live there are not many nurseries that take under 6 month babies, places are as rare as hens teeth so unless you have a relative who can look after baby or can afford a nanny most people (mainly Mums but some dads) will take a couple of months of optional leave. You do get breastfeeding time off up to your baby’s 1st birthday though, which is usually condensed into 2 hours at the end of the working day, so essentially you work part time for the 1st 13 months. This is also open to Dads if mothers decide not to use it.

@gimmepeaceandsky
Re: question for English women please:
Why some women speaks in a way that they drag the end of each word as if they are singing ?
I find it extremely irritating. Is this some type of “posh” talking or what ? Do they realise they are doing this ?

It's called vocal fry, I don't use it but it seems to be popular in some genres of reality TV. Kardashians do it. It can be used to shame women for their voice, even though it's been around since at least the 30s.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rcmb6

I am French by marriage so can comment a bit on this. My parents-in-law are from the Ardèche and we lived near Paris for 9 years so what I am about to say fits those contexts. In France there is a LOT of regional variation when it comes to good so I am totally expecting someone else to come along and say I’m wrong 😂 BUT ANYWAY:

breakfast: my in-laws tend to just eat LOADS of bread with butter, homemade jam, and local honey. They often have juice and my FIL will have filter coffee while MIL will have a tisane. She keeps a box of English Breakfast in just for me 🥰 she usually also has some gluten-free crackers in. DH and I will have an espresso afterwards. In Paris it’s much more common to have a croissant and espresso (or a cigarette 😂) for brekkie, though we always had something more substantial and protein based due to our working hours - so we’re not ‘typical’ at all. I would say croissants etc are more like special occasion breakfast rather than a treat food, though it probably depends on the family. Kids will quite often get brought a croissant or pain au chocolat at the school gate when they’re collected at 4 for their ONE snack of the day.

2-3 course meal with wine at lunch used to be the case but is disappearing. People in France are as likely to have a sandwich or salad al desko as anyone else. When I worked in Paris I would occasionally go out for lunch with a friend (2 courses and a glass of wine - note A GLASS, singular, because you still need to be able to function afterwards 😂) but only if I was sure I had 2 hours to spare because service is typically on the leisurely side! Some chains do a special ‘rapide’ or ‘business’ menu designed to get you in and out in 45 minutes (usually 2 courses and a glass of wine).

2-course or even 3-course menu is typical in the evening but not in the way you imagine. The first course is usually a really simple salad or soup before the main event (e.g. a stew or meat/fish with 1-2 sides; often potatoes or rice rather than a vegetable though!). Cheese is available but not everyone in our family takes it at lunch and dinner (though my FIL usually will!). Then fruit. But yes…LOADS of bread, always…how else are you going to mop up all the spare sauce/gravy?!

Vocal fry is an American thing. It sound painful to the ear.
Are you thinking of the 'rising inflection ' ? Where a statement sounds like a question???

I think the French are just less extreme/‘out there’ in their style than the Brits. They tend to go for a very muted and neutral colour palette as the base (e.g. cream, taupe, grey, black, brown, maybe navy), and then just add small accents of colour, no really crazy patterns or massive jewellery. They don’t really like to look silly so we Brits and our Christmas jumpers are a bit alien to them! There’s also a certain amount of fat shaming in French culture: pretty much anything over a size 14 and you pretty much have to go to a plus size store (at least in Paris). There’s definitely a certain pressure to maintain yourself.

I love Yorkshire Peach too, very funny but equally insightful and super honest about America and the differences between our two countries.

She lives near me, I’d definitely go and chat to her if I ever see her!

I've heard feck mean to steal something too. But it's also a euphemism for the other F word. The one that isn't feck , Father....

@amoobaa 'So, on American TV shows, whenever there is a phone call/conversation between characters, they never seem to say goodbye at the end of the call- they just hang up.'

I'm married to a yank and have a lot of US family and spent time here and yes, they do often just hang up without saying goodbye! There's loads they do that I would have ( sort of still do) consider really rude - they're not big on please and thankyous either, will go get themselves a drink or snack without offering anyone else, there's no such thing as 'rounds' in a bar, they ask THE most personal questions sometimes - but have put it down to them just being quite straight forward and cracking on with things. They ask a LOT of questions, but don't always lsiten to the answers...

'in Ireland at least has been dumbed down to feck which is completely acceptable
Feck is not the same as fuck. Feck means to throw something.'

Feck is more like saying ' bloodyhell' in Ireland ( for an adult, kids would get a c,ipped ear for saying feck) as in ' For fecks sake!' when something annoys you, but it's also use for throwing something, usually in a careless manner...

Why would you need to order it well done for your kids though? My son has been eating his meat à point since he started to eat 🤷‍♀️ and he’s still not even 4 yet. So maybe that was the giveaway. Speaking French does not equal ‘being’ French culturally.

'In America where the houses seem so spread out I'm assuming everyone needs to drive? Does everyone get their licence as soon as they are old enough and is it as expensive to learn as in the UK or do family members do the teaching? We have a 'local' shop selling basics every few streets you can 'pop' to by walking two mins down the road but do these really exist in most Ameican towns or is it just larger supermarkets?'

In a city like NYC - you can walk and have a local corner store everywhere else you drive. Kids drive at 16 and get a car as soon as they can afford it. Where my US family live - in several different cities- there's no popping to the shop option. You want milk, you get in a car.
I find it a bit depressing. In my In laws town there's the 'old town' which has some pavements you can walk on but that's only a few blocks and it's just around the houses. There are literally no pavements, so although they live about half a mile from a Walmart and a Strip Mall there's no walkable route over there.
If they want to go for a walk they drive to a park to do it.

It varies by region of course (and also whether someone is in a city), but yes, it's very common for teens to get their driver's license when they turn 16 (most having has a learner's permit from 15). Drivers Education is taught in high schools, but parents might supplement that with lessons and practice or private supplemental lessons. Also the learner's permit requires an adult licensed driver in the car with the learner and that is often a parent.

There was a whole thread about walking and "popping" into a store in the US recently. (I could fine it if we had a decent search feature on this site.) Again that depends on the locale, but many neighborhoods where I live are not easily walkable and the only small food shops are convenience stores attached to gas stations.

No French person would feel odd or be made to feel so for not liking cooking or fashion. Lots don’t. Despite not wanting to stand out with crazy clothes or hairstyles etc, they’re actually quite individualistic in their outlook (liberté, remember!). Unlike the Dutch, who just claim to be but actually aren’t 🙄

I have a question for the Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danish.
What are the stereotypes you have about each other?

Ah this is an interesting question. According to my observations, there aren't universal stereotypes, but each country has different ones about their neighbours. Except for Finns, the Scandi countries don't really think about Finns. People who think about Finns are Estonians, and they joke that all Finns are a bit slow and very solitary and introverted. And Latvians have the exact same jokes about Estonians. And, when we get to Scandi countries, I've head Danes saying the same about Swedes - jokes about how the best night out for a Swede is if he doesn't meet any other people. Swedes have a lot of jokes about Norwegians, mostly that they are a bit dim - I don't know what Norwegians think of the others though.

The question about being superior - one of the worst things you can be in any Nordic country is boastful and braggy. You should be humble and never think that you are better than anybody else, it even has a name - Jantelagen. So even if Scandinavians appreciate the support and all, they would never go out waving flags and declaring that they live in the best country in the world.

Oh wow, a chance to understand something I've wondered forever!

In American movies/TV shows, people will always lie down on the sofa or even in bed without taking their shoes off! Is this seriously a real thing?!

Oh and I have a similar question as posted above, about countries where you use a hose/bottle/jug instead of toilet paper. I was in Malaysia, all public toilets only had hose and no paper, ever. How do you dry yourself? Does everyone carry their own little towel or you just air-dry? OK I guess if you wear dark flowy skirts but surely would get wet patches otherwise?

I have lived in NL for 5 years. English exposure via TV and film is definitely a big thing here. They subtitle rather than dubbing and there is a big interest in and knowledge about British culture and politics generally (the Platinum Jubilee and the Tory leadership race have both featured heavily in the news for example). They’re also a trading nation and know that English is vital if they want to trade and make money worldwide (arguably the Dutch’s #1 passion!) so they learn it from an early age at school as well.

And Irish, Black Pudding is delicious that's why

My French husband has lived in the U.K. and he likes how polite and considerate the British are. He says TV is better in Britain, as is breakfast - no contest! He says Britain can be more accepting of difference too. There’s nothing else really though. He lived in the U.K. 2003-2005 and I left Britain for France in 2008. We have precisely no intention of returning to live in the U.K.

I forgot to say in my comment. We’d say we were going “across” if we we were travelling to the UK.

Although I lived in France for 9 years (where maternity leave is much longer than you say!), my experience of having children is in the Netherlands (I had my first here in 2018 and am now expecting my second). Basically maternity leave in NL is more like 4 months: 4-6 weeks before the birth and 10-12 weeks after, so lots of Dutch women go back to work when baby is 3mo BUT then there is parental leave which you can spread over many years. Most Dutch women take it as one day a week on their return to work - which they then spend with their baby. Dad gets parental leave too (though not as much) which then becomes the ‘papadag’ whereby they look after baby one day a week. It’s also very common for each set of grandparents to take baby 1 day a week. As such, Dutch children typically attend daycare only 1-3 days a week - and the Dutch government subsidises it heavily.

(As for me, I just took all my parental leave in one block and stuck it onto my maternity leave. So I had my son in November 2018 and returned to work in May 2019.)