What have you come to accept as normal which you struggled with when you first arrived?

[Othersideofthechannel]

For me, shops being closed at lunchtimes and on Sundays and UHT milk.

Shop opening times, yes, but UHT milk definitely not. I go to great lengths to get fresh milk for my tea.
Strikes (!)
Going round the room greeting colleagues when I get to work.

Ooh - Auld - that hand shaking/kissing thing drives me mad! I've reached a point where I am on kissing terms with some, and only hand shaking with others, and sometimes i get confused and there is embarrassing lunging!

What IS wrong with saying "morning", grabbing a coffee and checking MN your emails FFS!

I will NEVER accept that people will eat RAW mince in a sandwich and think it is nice.

I should have called this thread 'how have you 'gone native' but I couldn't think of anything catchy earlier.

Portofino, it can get a bit complex...some people here kiss twice, others three times, and I sometimes pull away too soon.
Where I work, if you're not on kissing terms, you don't shake hands: something too formal about it, apparently. But it means the gap between those you kiss and those you merely say "Bonjour" to is all the more obvious.

AA, do you just not like the taste of UHT milk, or do you think there's something actually wrong with it?! Just interested as the taste has never bothered me but I somehow have a lurking fear about it being bad for one's health (not enough to make me pay the extra for fresh milk though).

Yes to UHT milk here.

I now find eating a piece of cake with a teaspoon totally normal and find it hard to eat it with my fingers iyswim.

My mum thinks it's hilarious and precious that we ask (DC included) for spoons with our cake!

I'm sure I'll think of some more in a minute but I'm supposed to be marking...

oooh - lunchtime closing - yes it took me years to remember that if I arrived in town at 12 midday everything would be closed.

With small children there is officially NO chance of me lying in til 12 anymore so not a problem.

On a roll here...

Strikes (anyone else on strike tomorrow?), and communists.

I was brought up to believe communists were dangerous criminals, I now know loads!

Ooh, I've gone native on the cake/spoon thing without realising it.

Stikes - yes! At the drop of a hat. I have officially been on strike myself twice. In fact i stayed home and watched tv, but still.

In fact i misheard dd's garderie um teacher (?) tonight and thought she said she wasn't there tomorrow afternoon as she was on strike. In fact she is going to a funeral

I get dead excited on the rare occasions that Brico and Ikea are open on a Sunday. (Usually in weeks there was a bank holiday so no-one loses any pay)

Too many "in fact"s there maybe. It has been a long day!

Getting used to the price of wine was a real struggle though! I had to buy shedloads of it until it sunk in!

I'm on a roll now! Public transport! I NEVER used in the UK, apart from the odd train. I now have a bus pass (work pay) and use it everyday. And it is good, frequent and mostly reliable.

They do odd things though, like stop the tram in the middle of nowhere and shout "terminus" so everyone has to get off and wonder where the hell to go.

And luncheon vouchers. Fab. I use mine for shopping. And wine/beer in the staff restaurant.

I've got used to uht too.
I like being able to go out to the park at midnight in the summer.

I have accepted the fact that I am not going to get more than one or two things done a day.

I too, get excited by Sunday opening.

I am used to second breakfast, siesta, early Fridays etc.

Not wearing shoes inside the house, or allowing anyone else to.

I don't want to kick off a 10-page war but it's disgusting to tramp dog shit and spit through your house.

Weta, I really don't like the taste. It's kind of synthetic and plastic, and ruins my tea.

I suspect it's not very good for you either, but that's not my main motive.

Haventsleptforaweek, I would be on strike tomorrow if I weren't on maternity leave. In fact, I would have been on strike for 6 weeks now... I was on strike for 1 week, for the first time ever (usually my campus gets shut by the president for safety reasons, so I am prevented from working, rather than being on strike).
P.S. your maternity clothes are still coming in handy! Thanks.

Only being able to get paprika crisps

Shop opening times
Blue parking zones WTF
Driving on the wrong side of the road (then drive on the wrong side of the road when I visit U.k )
To kiss 3 times when you just get introduced to someone new uurrgghhh
Underfloor heating
Windows that open into the room not out!!!

Pretty much life here really

ditto on shoes in the house.

That when a bloke (usually) shouts 'hey bro' they may well be talking to me and the 'aye?' at the end of the sentence doesn't necessitate a reply in fact I still struggle with this one and find I'm always saying yes, no etc when they have long since moved onto the next sentence.

You found me in the Forriners' Corner discussing dog shit on shoes. How ingnominious!

I shall ask DH if he's still got it on his hard drive. He can put up a re-seed request on UK Nova if not. I am sure there is some way we can stop these tears!

We are in Sydney now so it'll be coming from even further afield than the last copy.

Have just spoken to DH. He didn't save it but will log on now and put up a re-seed request. No guarantees but I think it's fairly likely someone will respond. As we are both eldest children we are sympathetic to the plight of anyone who gets their possessions wrecked by younger siblings.

Will let you know in a couple of days how it's going.

Niftyblue, where are you?

I don't like milk anyway so it was easy to adapt to UHT milk seeing as I only drink the stuff when it is blended with banana or in hot chocolate.

I stand at traffic lights and wait to cross the road even if there isn't a car in sight. I've just got used to it. The only places I think about it is at tourist attractions or near them, you always see the tourists just cross and the Germans stand and tut and wait!

Otherside - agree re shop opening times. When back in the UK now it bothers me that shops close so early.

But UHT milk - no way. I still buy pasteurised, we all hate UHT.

Also - children's bedtimes. Lunch being more than a snack. Shopping almost daily. I have gone native on all of these counts.