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.

Toodamhottoday - I remember similar frustrations when I moved to Thailand first many years ago. We had been to India on holiday in the way and in some ways Thailand was fab in comparison! I could not live in India.

I’m Irish. Live in uk. But have lived in other countries.

Bulgaria - they nod for no and shake their heads for yes. That is confusing!

When DS was in nursery in Budapest they used to have to wear slippers. I didn’t find it odd really as we had to wear slippers at my school in Ireland. Much more hygienic really.

Always rinse dishes. DH doesn’t. Although I’ve trained him.

Don’t wear pants in bed.

We are all odd in our own ways I think!

BanyanTree. I used to have an Australian colleague who worked in a different location to me, but we spoke frequently on the phone during the day. First call of the day always had a "how are you?" from her, I'd reply "fine thanks, and you?" I recall once when it must have been our second call of the day and she again said "how are you?" I replied that she'd asked me that an hour ago and things hadn't changed in that hour. Unfortunately I hadn't clicked that it was probably an Aussie convention and rather upset her by my response.

Kismett, your response to "alright" is either "alright" or "hi/hello"!

ChickenOwner why are you so angry? I really can't see why you seem to have such a problem with the poster you keep getting upset with. I can't work out why you think she hates the UK. She just sounded bemused by some of the things she wasn't used to.
You say you have lived abroad, surely there were things you didn't really get but it didn't mean you hated the place and everyone in it?

SuperBeagle by "face washers" I know you mean flannels....hotels in the UK don't provide them because it would be GROSS to use a flannel which had been round hundreds of grotty faces prior to your own! Even if it was washed!

People take their own...or use disposable wipes. My Aussie MIL is obsessed with face washers....she's always buying them for my kids because she knows I don't!

SuburbanRhonda Yes yes - I'm a Brit in Germany and love the waiting room etiquette. It is also observed in the cash machine porch!

Pan
Just want to add that I have spent a lot of time with Aussies and spent a lot of time there. I absolutely love them. They are brilliant.

Sorry, I should add I'm a Brit in the UK (re my Aussie colleague story).

But actually I was brought up abroad, but all my memories are childhood ones from donkey's years ago - so nothing current which is relevant to this thread.

I am in Bavaria.
The driving here is shocking. Every man for himself; at speed.
The terrible queueing and general barging around, no one says excuse me while they shove you out of the way.
The obsession with everyone's "right to privacy" so you can't name the defendant in a court case etc but if you don't have your name on your mailbox the postman won't deliver anything. So any stranger can find out your name.
Hysteria when asparagus comes in at the supermarket in spring and a special machine to peel it?

Banyan, I was very fond of my Aussie colleague and we kept in touch for many years after she went back to Oz. I was hugely embarrassed by my 'cultural difference' faux pas and we did get on well!

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

In addition to this - all the handshaking and/or hugging when arriving or leaving. And the obligation to simply say your name when shaking a new person's hand, and the awkwardness this causes when you can't bloody remember who the bloody person is and whether you've met them before...

Only half way through but enjoying this thread.

Brit who used to live in China...

Being called fat as a compliment (I'm a size 8, this depressed me a lot even when I knew it was a compliment).

Being asked of you've eaten yet by way of a "hello" - I kept thinking I was getting asked to lunch etc...no

The lack of cards (quite liked that actually! One less thing to forget to buy!)

‘Helpers’ - having a woman living in a cupboard in your apartment who looks after your home and your children.

Last time I saw a thread like this the OP was accused of being a bigoted xenophobe.

Brit in Saudi Arabia:

Gosh where do I start?

-The clothes! Or more specifically, the abayas. I am gathering a fabulous collection, but it's a bugger to have to put on/take off several times a day. Hides the damage from a big meal well though, so every cloud..

-Shops closing for 30+ mins five times a day. When the malls don't open til 10am and the first call to prayer is around 1145 it doesn't give you much time to do the rounds!

-Once you're in the shops, no ladies changing rooms. So you have to buy and then go to the public toilet or take it home with you to try on. I've rapidly learnt that H&M cannot be trusted with their sizing.

-Like a PP said - handing in your shopping bags at the front of the supermarket or big department store for a token and then remembering to collect on the way out. Many's a time I've almost left without the rest of my purchases.

-Driving. Everything about it is utterly terrifying. When women are permitted to drive from June, I don't think I'll be taking my test anytime soon... you genuinely fear for your life on the roads. Something like 47 people A DAY die in road accidents in Saudi

-The waft of Oud is everywhere and is so overpowering (at least to my sensitive nose) I honestly haven't come across another nation/region that uses this much cologne/scent. It's ingrained in the money, the clothes you buy, the car seats.. everything.

-Best tasting dates you'll ever eat. Nothing like the Eat Me ones from Christmases past.

There is so so much more but thought this would give you all a taster!

In defence of normal Scottish people is like to add that the whole Catholic/Protestant thing is not even on the radar of most of us @lljkk

Another Brit in Germany here. Just about getting used to the endless hand shaking but I will never get used to having to say good morning to everyone in the GP waiting room! Regarding the please and thank you, I wonder if it's a regional thing - we live in rural south Germany and there's tons of please and thank you and have a nice day/weekend/holiday day etc etc.
What about the endless decorations? You have Christmas, then Fasnacht, then Easter, then there's a bit of a lull in the summer but then it's back again with Harvest and all the little arrangements of pumpkins and wooden squirrels and shit.

The habit of Brits asking "how are you?" and then rolling their eyes at you if you reply anything other than "fine". Or running away before you can even answer the question. And the monologues about how very polite British people are. I am sorry, but only British people think that (and possibly Americans who get their impression of British people from watching Downtown Abbey). If you have to tell people you are something that would be self-evident if it was true .....

toomuch
The doctors is really funny, I find it very amusing and join in with all the gruß gotting!
Also, people wearing dirndl/Lederhosen without a hint of irony.

In South Africa

Howzit? Does not mean how are you it's the SA version of g'day (or alright!). But for years I answered in a very British way 'yes fine thank you, and you?' Horrifying!

Also people asking where I stayed instead of lived. I used to go to great pains to explain I wasn't staying anywhere but lived in South Africa. People were too polite to explain to me that's what they say instead of live.

I think I probably sounded exceptionally British and pretty stuck up!

My family were ex-pats, Im really enjoying this thread, just talking about things being done differently without it being taken as diss-ing one way or the other us very familiar (and rare.....)

simply say your name when shaking a new person's hand,

Now, this one I really like, shake hands , you say your name, they say their name. Its all good.

Here, now ( England ) when meeting people, I am used to hold out my hand to shake and say !m Finally, only for the other person to look a bit bemused and say Hello Finally. And not say their own name. I get why Elizabeth Regina expects that she will be recognised, but everyone else ? Its not difficult, all you have to do say your own name. Then the conversation can move on to "did we meet at xxxxx" or "i think we both know xxx*

expat we don’t live in Spain but spend a lot of time there. There aren’t many tourists where we go so mostly Spanish people and it’s a smallish town so everyone knows each other
Dd now speaks some Spanish but before she did she thought everyone was having an argument and a fight was about to break out when the locals greeted each other. Once she got trapped in a toilet and a lady was trying to help her but dd thought she was being shouted at and by the time I got there was trying to escape under the cubicle door!
Waitresses your baby and taking it away into the kitchen for everyone to have a look at while you are eating your meal was a bit of a shock too.

Aussie in England.

• light switch pulls in the bathroom instead of power points.

• hand wave to other drivers for stopping

• No fly screens on windows / second security screen door - so windows and doors can be open.

• medical centres 9-5.30 and closed on weekends instead of 8 - 8/9 / 24 hrs and open on the weekends.

• waiting period to join a medical Center

• post being delivered on a Saturday / post office open on a Saturday

• tv ads being childish with lots of people in animal costumes / animated rather than using actual people ( that was when I first arrived - more people in ads now).

• the crazy amount of charity ads on tv

• the number of supermarket chains

• how cheap groceries are

• older people working in supermarkets

• hard water causing my hands to need a special soap to prevent cracking

• all the limescale

• no cockroaches

• lack of traffic lights and all the roundabouts

• sheer volume of people

• people not respecting your personal space

• that aweful sun glare when driving

" no cockroaches "

trust me there are cockroaches...:(

In the Netherlands I was shocked by the racism - it was a long way from the tolerant, liberal outlook I was expecting.

Banks only being open till lunchtime and closed on Saturday. Same with the post office. Queues and queue jumping in government offices, same again only open till lunchtime and the staff being surly and rude. Not just to foreigners but the locals too.
Having to take a morning or day off work to get anything done.