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 was led to believe that water from the hot water tap in the U.K. is not drinking water. And this is coming from a part of the country where we have no problem at all drinking from the cold tap as the water tastes excellent.

This might be the case in some older houses where there is still a separate hot water tank, but it wouldn’t be an issue with most modern boilers.

Yes, our house growing up had a tank and I’m sure I’ve just carried on with what my Mum said without really giving it much thought! We have a combi now so maybe I’ve just found a way to get the pasta cooked more quickly!

Depends how the water is heated.

When I was growing up my mum said not to drink hot water from the upstairs taps because it came from a hot water tank and might have been sitting around for a while, but from the downstairs tap was fine because it came straight from the mains.

Swimming Togs in Ireland

Swimming Togs in Ireland
And 'tog out' for putting on Gaelic gear.

We had an American boss and in a meeting he said our office manager had been working her fanny off. We all laughed but it was kind of awkward!

Americans call is a 'fanny pack', but to you, what is a fanny???

In the US it's an outdated term for bottom or arse.

I don't know about the Dutch but we''re dark haired Irish and we look like ghosts next to the blonde Swedes in the summer. They're very fair skinned, but in a honey coloured way that does tan. Whereas we go between lobster red and see through white.

It's a problem regardless of whether it's an old water tank or a modern boiler. Hot water is more corrosive than cold and therefore takes in more of the toxins from the metal pipework it flows through. You really shouldn't consume water from the hot tap.

I was in Denmark one summer and noticed that a lot of Danes, while being 'fair' in the sense of light-haired, were a gorgeous honey-tan colour. I'm a Brit/Celt and also only ever achieve a Scottish tan at best...

My husbands Swedish, he couldn’t be any paler
if he tried, he was once asked by a doctor if he had a pigmentation disorder, nope, just very very pale. We’re on holiday in Spain at the minute, not the slighest sign of a tan apart from a small handful of very subtle freckles.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s noticed! Dutch, Danes, Swedes, they have really light blond hair but their skin is to tanned. There must be a reason…

I’ve noticed it too @ScottishStar. Presumably many of us in the UK have some Celtic heritage, part of which is having very pale skin which doesn’t tan easily (or at all). Scandinavians are often fair haired but obviously have a different skin tone.

In most UK houses, the only fresh water from the rising main is usually the cold tap in the kitchen.
The mains water also feeds into a tank (usually in the loft) that supplies other cold taps & whatever tank or boiler heats the water. So this water is sitting around in a tank that could well be contaminated by dust, or a drowned mouse.
I'll clean my teeth with tank water, but I don't swallow it. I'll also only fill the kettle from the cold tap.

My dad was Scottish (and I’m talking his family being from waaaay up north) peely wally with black hair. Until he saw a photo of the sun and he would go very dark brown.

There's a theory that Spanish Armada ships landed or were wrecked around the north of Scotland, and some of the sailors and crew survived to mix with the locals. (The name and looks ofJimmy Perez, the main character in the Shetland books, are based on the idea that some of his ancestors could be Spanish.) Possibly your dad had a few deeply hidden Armanda genes?

His granny did use to say something about Portuguese blood. Did they get as far as Aberdeen?

Did anyone answer about the gaps in the USA toilet doors?

I'm an American and don't recall ever seeing gaps in the doors large enough to see through, so I'm a bit mystified by it all.

JFK and San Francisco airports toilets both had gaps as did one set in Macy's in NYC. Some days were bigger than other but a definite gap.

In most UK houses, the only fresh water from the rising main is usually the cold tap in the kitchen.

I don't think this is true of most UK houses. It's definitely not true of any I've lived in since I was about 16. I've fitted new bathrooms in the last three houses I've owned, so I know for a fact all the cold taps were fed from the rising main. Most houses don't have water tanks unless they have very old-fashioned central heating systems, so the rising main is the only place cold water can come from.

Same here. Plus we Americans don't look. The next time I hear a British accent in the stall next to me, I am going to be extra careful. 😀

I'm an American and don't recall ever seeing gaps in the doors large enough to see through, so I'm a bit mystified by it all.

Definitely have them in New York public toilets. You can see the outside through gaps down the sides. You would have to get up pretty close to see in but it’s still really unnerving!

Scottish here, so can I ask a thing about identity as in the massive need for so many Americans to try to a line themselves with any Scottish or Irish roots they may have. So many think their ancestors came from the Highlands and have this very romantic notion of the place when in fact most immigrants came from the lowlands.

I've done research into my Scottish ancestry. They came from the Hebrides. It's not particularly romantic in that they were essentially economic refugees. They settled in an area of North Carolina where most settlers were from the Gaeltacht.