Expats, tell me what aspect or social norm of your new country was strange to you?

[AjasLipstick]

I am a Brit in Oz and for me, the hardest thing to get used to was Sunday trading hours being like the UK in the 70s.

The weirdest thing was how much less formal people are...kids are dressed very informally and parties for children never have kids dressed up in party dresses but in shorts and t shirts. I like it now I'm used to it though.

Thought about this last night -
The Netherlands is a place known for it's amazing art works, and yet they would be the least romantic and least sensual people I have ever encountered. If you go to a restaurant, you can choose from the same things over and over - it is like there is only one recipe for a salad (A lovely goat cheese & walnut one), one recipe for pea soup or onion soup, etc... That, and people pride themselves on having eaten a white bread roll with a slice of (tasteless) cheese for lunch - every single day of their life since they could chew. They are very afraid to try new things there - especially food. When we moved there, we had some friends around for lunch who were shocked and horrified to find that we put avocado in a salad. Unheard of!!!

Oh yes. No ready meals. Everyone makes everything from scratch and I long for a Waitrose every now and then.

Also that pretty much everyone here can DO stuff.

I don't know one man that can't use a chainsaw or tractor, make jam, bake bread.

I don't know one women that can't sew, knit, can, bake every fucking desert under the sun.

It made me feel really intimidated and shit for quite a while.

Oh, and most people can ski, sail, hike up huge fuck off mountains.

I sat inside like a fat, scared city mouse for a year or so.

Canadian in the UAE. The UAE is so multi-cultural that it feels like you have to get used to 2 or 3 new cultures, not just one.

I think learning not to be so polite has been difficult. Emirati's expect and respect politeness, but Indians and other expat Arab's will walk all over you if you're too nice.

Learning to drive properly. Canadians do not drive properly, we drive like old women on the way to church.

Women only every thing, line up's, salons, banks, etc. Having a line of men part like the Red Sea once I joined the que.

The COMPLETE lack of que's!

It's better now, but when I first came here, never knowing if the person was going to shake hands or not.

The damned kiss-kiss.

Late nights!!! Arabs are night owls and nothing starts before 7pm (usually much later).

Brit in North Jersey usa.

The drink driving. Boggles my mind.

I'm from the NW and when home people will often interact with the DC. I get comments such as 'you have lovely looking DC'. Here I get a scorned glare. No one has ever interacted with them or made a comment.

DH is Danish and the fake feminism is extremely annoying. I'm the only wife with a career and I frequently am subjected to patronizing chats from DHs peers and their wives about how I shouldn't really be working so hard because the kids miss out. Meanwhile daddy has away more than he has been home for the last month and that's ok

crunchymint, what did you make of Migros in Switzerland? I'm particularly fond of the idea that convenience food means a boiled egg. And those open sandwiches! Dear god.

So all paper had to be bundled up into a very near parcel and tied with string to be collected. No just throwing it into a recycling bin or an untidy parcel

Between that and the Christmas folded tissue paper star decorations, it's like the Swiss equivalent of origami.

Aussie in the UK - totally agree re the 'You alright?' thing, I kept thinking I looked unwell/odd because why else would people ask if I'm alright! 'How are you?' just makes so much more sense to me. Also I find Brits are obsessed with picking apart accents and regional differences, whereas in Australia I never heard people talk about Adelaide accents or Brisbane accents - I wouldn't be able to tell the difference tbh!

Where I lived still had bakers, butchers, etc and only 1 very small supermarket.
There was in the supermarket literally 1 tiny freezer compartment on convenience food. Frozen peas, pizza, etc. And yes boiled eggs were convenience food. But women did not work, when their kids were young, or only very part time.

Brit in Serbia.

Everyone is shocked if I let my kids wander the house with bare feet (let alone go outdoors!), or go out with wet hair (the soft-plays here have a communal hair dryer to prevent this!). My kids going entire days without having soup, yogurt or bread is also considered highly strange, and the baby sitter was completely perplexed with my plan to fry the sausages, when it clearly stated on them that they were for the BBQ. Oh, and the school requiring that my son be tested for worms - his face after explaining to him what that meant he had to do for me to get a sample was an absolute picture of horror.

Mind you, I've lived out of the UK for the last 20 years, so going back there's always something new and odd (Crocs, Hotel Chocolat, I forget what else, but there's always something that everyone's going on about that we have no clue)

Brit in Qatar

-ves

Everything – from how you’re treated, to how much you are paid depends on your nationality
If you’re a local you can get away with anything
Being non-white – being asked where I’m ‘really from’ – If you’re Indian I admit to having West Indian roots and will happily talk cricket even with limited knowledge but if you’re in an official role and trying to pigeon hole me or excuse your racist behavior then every generation back to Moses – British…

<strong>+ves</strong>

How cheap it is to get clothes made – so I’m wearing trousers based on M&S ones circa 2010 and a top based on BM circa 2008
Working 7-3 in a government office and then having shops/banks etc open until 10
Despite all the shocking headlines about slavery – and a lot is true – just how much a person working as a servant/cleaner/taxi driver is able to change the lives of their families back home

Finn in England

I was 25 when I left Finland and have now been here for 20 years. When I first arrived I loved all the english quirks and not much bothered me.

But still, 20 years later I can't understand the dressing habits here and the complete lack of common sense. Snowing and freezing outside and kids are wearing wellies with only a thin cotton socks on their feet. And then parents wonder why they are miserable and don't enjoy the snow.

People on a night out without coats even if it's cold and raining. And one that still amuses me is when you get a first sunny day in March, out comes the women wearing a maxi dresses and sandals like they are on a beach holiday instead of a drab high street in Kent.

Conversely, I dread going to Finland sometimes, like in September. Even if it's +15 and sunny, you get funny looks if your child isn't wearing a woolly hat and scarf. Doesn't matter if it's warm, it's September and therefore autumn for heavens sake.

Oh god yes sausages.

Here people boil sausages before frying them?? WTAF.

Maple syrup on bacon. Frites with mayonnaise. Honey or maple with chicken fingers. Butter on pizza crusts. Cheeseboard as standard issue. Homemade baked beans with bacon in them. Coffee is huge vats of stuff for 2 dollars - Starbucks, Tim Hortons etc, no Costa or Nero. There's nothing like Greggs or Oddies here at all - lots of patisseries but the focus is on croissants and fancy pastries rather than cheese pasty's, egg mayo sandwiches and cornflake cakes!

Nothing stops for the snow. The snow removals guys are out, pavements are clear, kids are in school, the trains are running.

The vast majority of people have a dishwasher, tumble dryer and do not see this as a luxury item. There's no guilt felt for making your life easier. My mum (65) will only use a tumble dryer when she's old, as she says - at the moment she feels it's lazy to use one I don't see it as lazy, I have better things to do with my time.

Brit in the US:

Putting all your breakfast foods (sweet and savoury) on one plate
The constant medical ads on TV/billboards/the subway
Colleagues/acquaintances calling me Miss VodkaLime but not in a formal way, it's respectful/affectionate for someone you like but don't know that well
The obsession with college sports that seem to be more popular than the NFL etc
People asking quite personal questions on first meeting that would be considered inappropriate in the UK
Constant remarks on my accent, though that is becoming less as I've been here a while and although I'm definitely not picking up a US accent, my speech pattern has changed slightly

Living in UK from an African country...

In my home country, commenting on a person's body shape by way of compliment is a social norm. You would say, 'Hello dear old friend! Wow, you've become so fat! Tell me how you're earning all this money to buy all this food!' and they'd reply, 'Forget that! I want to be slim like you!' or 'Hello darling niece! You're now so skinny! I must go running with you!' and she may reply, 'No! I'm trying to gain weight so I can have a booty like yours!'. There's never any malice to it.

Calling someone 'fat' or 'thin' is a complete no-no in the UK. Here, commenting on something so obvious as a body shape is considered rude.

My visiting cousin learned this the hard way when she called my UK-born cousin 'fat'. I think she spent her first 2 nights in a hotel while we tried to resolve things!

Oh wow Lweji the Brazilians must get their queing habits from the Portuguese, I always mistakenly thought queues didn't exist in Latin countries, how wrong was I? The bank is the worst place, everyone stands in the queue and no one wants to be the arrogant tosser that walks up to one of the empty cash machines. So even the head of the queue is too polite to leave in case they're jumping in front of someone pregnant/old/with small children/smaller/poorer/more worthy/half bloody dead....so you have to start asking everyone and come to an agreement about who is next. It's a nightmare! Give me Italy any day

Also...
Living in UK from an African country...

Children can call their friend's parents by first name! . My kid's friends would say 'Hello Insideoutsider' and I'd be

That would be so disrespectful in my home country, it would be 'miss', 'Mrs', 'Mr', 'Aunty', 'Uncle' or 'KidInsider's mom'.

I still make my kids call their friend's parent's 'Miss firstname'.

Oh and some more.

The idea that children or particularly babies not fully dressed after sunset is neglectfull parenting. The night wind will bring all manner of diseases. You see kids in woolly hats when the temperature drops below 20.

Kids are outside playing at 9 pm and out in restuarants and bars on most evenings. Weekend evenings little kids can still be out at 10 pm. No children's menus anywhere and people rarely order their own food. Brazilians share everything. It's odd to order separate dishes as most meals will be big enough for 2-3 people.

Another funny thing about Japan is the way they have "seasons" for stuff. So for example certain weeks of the year are "the season" for swimming in the sea. Went to the beach a few days before said season, gorgeous day, and the whole place was deserted and we got all kinds of funny looks.
Clearly not the done thing. We might have actually been in trouble if we went in the sea because there are no lifeguards outside the "season" which IIRC only lasts about a month!

Constant remarks on my accent,

^^

This. It never ends. I've been here for 10 years and still sound fresh off the boat

Brit in North African country

So Miss EnthusiasmDisturbed how much do you/mother/father earn

Me: no thank you I do not want a second helping of food I have a bit of an upset stomach

Host: do you have diarrhea? Not at all asked discreetly and in front of quite a few people who then go on to discuss their and my possible kaka issues without a hint of embarrassment

Another one is the formality of names.

My full name is say, Stephanie, but even if I introduce myself as Steph people still call me Stephanie. Even if I tell them not to. Even if it's DH's family who I have known for almost 10 years.

frazzled same in Korea, no swimming outside the season, it is ‘dangerous’.

Also, at the swimminng pool, you have to get out every 40 minutes so you don’t get a stitch...this is even though 99% of people don’t even swim, they just bob about.

Oh and you have to wear a swimcap in the pool (fair) but everyone is so self conscious about their looks that they then put a baseball cap over it. Mad.

United Arab Emirates here. I remember on one of my first days at work sitting with my jaw on the desk as the Lebanese girl next to me casually called the local grocery for a delivery of chewing gum. Within 5 minutes the grocery had selected the gum, gone up the 33 floors in the lift and were standing at reception.

Don't feel like getting out of the car to order your sandwich? No problem. Park anywhere (doesn't have to be a road or even a pavement) and beep the horn and someone will come out of the restaurant to your car window.

There's no concept of things closing in the evening, everything is open late - feel like a trip to M&S at 11pm, no problem - except you may find there are no parking slots left

Children up late and in all restaurants - very family friendly.

Ladies queues! Don't sigh when you turn up at a busy Government institution, no matter how many men have been standing there for how many hours before you, you will be ushered to the front to be served first

One of the only negatives is the driving. ohhhh the driving. Put 250+ nationalities together on the same stretch of highway , some used to driving on hilly mountain tracks of Nepal, some used to driving on the fast highways in Germany mentioned on this thread. It is true that you need to know as much about what is happening behind you as in front of you - you drive looking in front and behind constantly. Every day is a hair-raising, fear inducing dice with destiny!

Oh another, turning left. It might be a regional thing but here if anyone wants to turn left they indicate and then move over to the right and wait until all the cars behind have passed before they turn. Only problem is that Brazilians are liberty takers so you can just wait until everyone has passed, begin turning and then some idiot on a motorbike will come flying past you while you are in mid turn.

This is a great thread though, dying here at the Little Buggers Day Nursery and kaka issues

Brit in Saudi.
Nodding along with Iftar and doormouses comments. My extras:
No-one uses seatbelts or childseats.
The kids go to bed really late - the malls start filling with families at 8pm.
You are not trusted to take a bag of shopping into a shop. But everything is perfectly safe just left by the door.
The temperature. There is hot, you can imagine very hot, but 50C is at another level all together. And people lived here without AC.