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.

A Brit in India,

Men urinating everywhere

The spitting of tobacco which leaves a vile brown stain up walls.

Cows, everything stops for cows and trying to pass them and the rabid dogs really scares me.

Having your bag searched and a plastic tag put on the handles so you dont steal anything, or in some places your handbag is put in another bag and sealed. Then on leaving the store you have to show your receipt to a security officer to be stamped to show you have paid.

Being electronically' wanded' by security going into shopping malls, men one side women the other.

Having neighbours think Im odd because I dont have or want a maid and Im quite capable of doing my own cleaning..

Selfies, got this really gets on my nerves, locals want selfies with me all the time, no stop it its rude and pushy. Almost fell down an escalator when a whole family pounced on me. And even the doctor in the hospital wanted one, just go away..

Spacial awareness of other people, Im sick of others pushing in front of me even though you can see yes I too am waiting in a line. The standing very very close to me is unnerving, young men wanting to be as close to me as they can without touching. And the hassle from men in general, just f off will you. Total lack of respect for women.

Not being able to drive as the driving is very dangerous, therefore loosing a lot of my independence and having to rely on others , which means I cannot be spontaneous or pop back out if I have forgotten something..

Not seeing a mushroom in the shops for 7 weeks, and now know if you see something buy it, you may never see it again....like tonic water...

God I could go on, WTF am I doing here?

FifiVoldemortsChavvyCousin -

I had the same issues as Zuluwarrior with the telephone calls in a West African country though.
The 'Hello' 'Hello?' 'Hello!' Hello?' thing. I put the phone down on a few people thinking I had got a faulty line and that they couldn't hear me, until I learned to say the whole 'How are you?' 'I am fine thank you, and how are you?' 'I am also fine' ritual before you could commence the actual conversation. Could well be something that is in common with a lot of African countries, as Zimbabwe is nowhere near Ghana!

@AjasLipstick Here, in a small South Australian town, people are so friendly that when I first used to go into shops and people would be very friendly, earnest and open I used to wonder if they really cared how I was

Only last year, I found myself asking the people selling me takeaway coffee in Sydney's CBD, whether they actually knew me, they seemed to ask such detailed questions and really listen to the answers.. and actively didn't expect or want tips...

NotSure

Wow.

I wasn't being 'sensitive'. Read through your original post again. It is absolutely clear what you think about this country!

Lljkk I think we (english)) are a nation divided with pants wearing. I've always worn pants to bed and thought everyone did until reading mumsnet and hearing about bits airing! It's certainly not an English "thing."

Not rinsing dishes is though. I never thought about it til I left home! Dishwashers more common now.

True to stereotype I do think queuing is polite and don't "get " countries where pushing in is seen as okay!

DH is from South America. The 'hello' and 'goodbye' ceremony of kissing and hugging everyone in the room is hard for me! It also got a while to get used to how the family is SO important. But that also works both ways - my Mum thinks he is a great son in law :)

NotSure

And please don't patronize me about life in other countries - I have lived in a Central European country and a South East Asian one for many years before returning to the UK.

I noticed that about Aussies when I was there. You walk into a shop and they say things like "hi, how are you today? Are you doing anything nice? What have you got planned for the rest of the day? Are you on holiday?Let me know if I can get you your size. Have you seen this, it's new in today. That would look great on you" and you are like because you are from London and you are not used to people being friendly and helpful. It is a bit unnerving at first but after you get used to it you realise they are just being friendly and not looking to manipulate you out of hundreds of pounds.

ChickenOwner - no need to give NotSure a hard time - she was only answering the thread question...it doesn't mean she 'hates' the UK,
this might be interesting reading for you..
www.lossesintranslation.com/stages-of-immigration.php

Hicdragonis rooting around 😂

I feel I must defend my fellow kiwis, I would only wear my togs with shorts or a towel wrapped round my waist (we do have SOME standards you know😂) if I was popping into the dairy (aka corner shop/offie although not usually licenced) on the way home from the beach.

Also I would usually wear jandals (aka flip-flops) rather than bare feet (but I'd have no qualms about bare feet in that context).

Stick, there is pushing in and there is physically pushing you to the side. The first time this happened I just stood there in total shock the proceeded to watch everyone else barge in front of me, so now, sad to say, its a if you cannot beat them.....

This thread is fascinating! I lived America and the drink driving really shocked me. They don’t really do public transport where I was, and would never use a taxi. I had friends who had never been on a train or public bus.
The health care adverts I found strange... ‘do you had diabetes, ask your doctor for this pill’ on the normal tv adverts. Surely you just use the one your doctor prescribes?!

I still don't understand the "alright" thing! What am I supposed to say?!

Fifi well that's me telt 😂. I prefer not to out myself further by specifying the country but i shall be more careful in future!

Canadian in the UK

People considering a two-hour drive an epic odyssey. I do get it now - crowded motorways and the risk that a two-hour drive will turn into a 5-hour crawl.

Tea rounds in the office. For me, getting up to go make my beverage is an excuse to move around and stretch while still thinking about what I'm working on. I don't consider it a favour to have a brew delivered, nor do I want to be distracted by feeling obliged to take orders for ten different drinks. Plus the anxiety of making sure you maintain the right balance of rounds accepted to rounds made.

I lived in Tokyo for a while and I could write a book about how weird stuff was out there to me but the one that stands out is swimming pool etiquette.
So I'm swimming along minding my own business and suddenly a whistle blows and everyone gets out. Everyone sits on the benches in almost complete silence. 5 minutes later another whistle and everyone gets back in. I was totally .
Later a friend explains to me that it's the rule that every 45 minutes or so everyone has to get out so as to make sure no one over exerts themselves!!! It's not so much the crazy rule but the fact that everyone without exception did exactly what they were told. A good example of a ridiculously officious but well behaved society.

Elisenbrunnen, where are you? I've lived in various places in Germany and always noticed the 'Ein Brötchen' in the baker and no acknowledgement of the beer/food being brought to the table. And I get one-liner texts (but usually only after an initial text exchange has taken place with the whole 'Liebe X' and 'Viele Grüße').

Kismett you are supposed to say 'alright?' or 'owite' or 'aight'

In California, working in retail, you can serve customer A while answering questions from Customer B. Serving 2 at once is fine & Customer B isn't rude to have asked a simple question while you were serving Customer A. If the question isn't simple, Customer B will just wait after all. Customer A doesn't mind.

There's a bit of skill in how to do it, both as customer and service person, but everyone manages, multi-tasking is the norm, Customer A doesn't mind the 10 second interruption as long as they're being taken care of as priority. Saves everyone time, so what's not to like?

Never happens in UK. Customer service can't do it. You have to wait your turn. So much time gets wasted in queues when folk just have simple question to get answer for...

@Todamhottoday You brought back memories from my trip to India and Sri Lanka. The villages were nice though! The bit that got me was when they did not think twice about asking you the personal questions. How many children do you have? Why don't you have children? How much do you earn? Are you rich?

Spain here - the sheer amount of noise (people talking/shouting, neighbours being so noisy), the lack of family time with the long split working hours, the shops shutting for 'siesta', the love for pyjamas and slippers (even people walking around the streets in these!), oil instead of butter on sandwiches...

Oh, and the drink driving!!

Old East Germany for three years.

I was completely freaked out by the hand-shaking (DD had to shake her teacher’s hand every morning at the age of 4!). By the time we left l loved it and much preferred it to air-kissing people you barely know.

Going to the GP was like a social occasion. Everyone in the waiting room would greet you as you came in. You took your coat off and put it in a wardrobe, which had mirrored doors so you could check you looked ok before you went in to see the doctor. Everyone was dressed smartly.

When you came out from your appointment you’d put your coat on, check your appearance in the mirror again and say goodbye to everyone in the waiting room!

I stayed in Spain once for a few months, and I was considered really rude for not stopping and chatting daily to my downstairs neighbour who was also my landlady..right from the first day of moving in..

Whereas in Britain, the politest thing to do would be to 'keep yourself to yourself' for the first while, and maybe build a friendship slowly...

Brit in Denmark.
A lot of what elderleylady said of Germany is also true for Denmark.
Other weird stuff about Denmark:
A lack of feminism awareness. Evetyone says we have equality in Denmark in much the same way as the sheep in animal farm say 4 legs good 2 legs bad. No one seems to notice that the forthcoming lock out of public sector employees will target mostly women - carers, sw, teachers, child carers.

Confirmations. Fucking obscene.

If you arrive somewhere new the onus is on you to go and introduce yourself to everyone.

Yy to kids getting themselves to school. Its lovely.

Sunday trading laws have caught up with the uk (almost) which is nice.

No milkman deliveries.

Cash points in the uk are light years ahead. Here I can print my balance and withdraw cash. Thats it.

Candidates for local elections giving out the voting papers at polling stations. I properly freaked out at that one.

And you would think that the country that is home to 10 million pigs they would have discovered that pork and apple is a good combination but no.