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.

Hotels in the US have a bottom sheet and a top sheet that do get washed. And the ones I have stayed in recently have a duvet (usually called a comforter) in a cover.

I don't like the duvet cover as top sheet because I like a layer or two that I can toss off if I get hot.

The top sheets that goes between you and the duvet or blanket yes. The blankets usually don't get washed. I have friends who both own and work in hotels.

I stay in hotels at once every two weeks, from bnb type things to naice ones. You rarely see a duvet fully encased in a duvet cover.

This is so interesting to read through! Some really interesting places on here lol. I haven’t lived abroad but my DH is from a group of islands in West Africa which was colonised so very Arabic and I visit and spend a lot of time around his friends and their families here (UK).
HappyEverIftar - oud, yes but I really like the smell of it now. It’s familiar and reminds me of him and my wedding day because my wedding dress and veil got it. It still smells of it slightly .
Also, rolling up sleeves and trousers before eating and washing both hands and feet before food.

Eating with hands -rice and sauce .... WITH HANDS. Everything! It’s sort of a joke amongst everyone to always ask me if I need a fork as soon as I come into peoples houses now. I’m not offended, I know they aren’t anymore.
When you say “Hello” the response is “cool” (obviously not in English). I think this would sound rude over here.
Children come to the door and shake your hand when you come in. The first time this happened I embarrassingly told DH I thought the child had hurt his hand because he kept trying to show me his hand .
Children also call everyone one Aunty or Uncle.
The list goes on ....
Strangely though he has never been to Germany but I remember when I met him I thought how strange it was that he always put mayo and tomato ketchup on chips. He does it with kebab meat to.
Deux - yes, the “too thin thing”. It’s funny because I think here we are led to believe it is best to be slim and fit for starting a family/having children and slimmer is seen as prettier but other cultures genuinely see a bit bigger as more beautiful/womanly and associate this with starting a family more easily.
I have only ever visited the Netherlands but as somebody has previously said, I was shocked by the way the children rode on the front of bikes. No helmets of belts. 3 kids in a sort of self made wooden box attached to the front of bikes. Multi story car parks .... for bikes!
I hope I get to visit some of the places mentioned here one day!

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.

I like this. It allows people to have a much better work-life balance.

@Locked0ut0fMN , totally agree about the Holy Week processions. They look positively medieval and disturbingly a bit kkk. Love them. And I'm atheist.

@NameChangeBiatch Yes, me too. Apparently the "outfits" cost 500 to 600 Euros. I'm off to start a velvet importation business!!

Yes, I live in Andalucía and was a bit "WTF" the first time I saw the Holy Week processions, the first nazareno I saw was in white too, so looking v KKK ish. I am about as atheist as you can be but I love semana santa, such an amazing spectacle, the music, the incense, the beautiful pasos.

The Holy Week processions are a part of life in Hispanic and even not-so-Hispanic sections of many US cities and suburban areas too.
www.dailyherald.com/article/20110422/news/704229888/

They don't have the same guild history that the European processions do.

That's interesting* @mathanxiety.* Didn't know that.

I love semana santa, it can be a bit graphic for kids though. My 5 year old felt funny on Friday as they have a theatre in the town square and then the procession with candles later. We had to take him out of the square and wait for the procession later. It was getting too much for him. The later procession is lovely though, especially as the priest and choir sings in Latin which makes me have goosebumps it's so beautiful. Walking the the streets with the entire town, lots of candles, choir music and inscence is a lovely experience.

Yes, mine were born here but we aren't catholic (DH is Spanish and brought up as a typical non observing catholic) and the kids don't do religion at school. They were asking all about the cross and crown of thorns and were a bit horrified by the (age appropriate) explanations. Was it Graham Greene who called it the "pornography of death"? Anyway, the processions are beautiful. Look at this, I'm a complete atheist but I find it quite moving:

Although I prefer the music that follows the Christ, it's more plaintive (this is a different procession to the one before, it's amazing because if you are watching it, the Christ almost looks as if he's walking, hard to explain):

germany again: how dirty ground veg are in the supermarket.

IAmMatty - 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

I know someone who moved to Edinburgh & worked out after a while that people were asking her which football team she supported so they could tell if she was Catholic or Protestant...she says "Partick Thistle" now as apparently they are neutral!

I have so many of these from living in the U.K:

• channels are FULL of quiz shows
• roundabouts with the arrows painted on
• Christmas cards being a big thing
• everyone claims to love cheese
• being so cold you need thermals
• people going bare chested at the slightest wink of sunshine
• newspapers still being fairly popular
• all the crisp flavours like roast beef and prawn cocktail, calling them 'crisps'
• cream cakes and buns are super popular
• being vegan is a big fad in London but we had it years ago
• tanning beds! So bad for you

I’ve lived and worked all over, I’m a mixture of all the parts I’ve collected. The crazier the better for me. After a while it all seems normal and starts to make sense.

South East Asia. Santa drove past me on a 1950s motorbike, in July, 50 degrees, in a country that doesn’t have Christmas.

Vietnam, cross the road by walking out into the traffic. Always drive on a random side of the road and put a family of six plus dog with paws up on handles on a motorbike.

Japan, karaoke taken very seriously. The school girl style thing and vending machines for underwear

Morocco, incredible amount of charity towards each other, kids not rude to others who are poor, so kind to each other, men standing around motorbikes in dark alleys at night are respectable groups of friends having a coffee who will immediately jump to the assistance of old ladies carrying shopping

California, the cheery Hey how are you from every other human and the only normal answer is awesome. Sun every day. Everyone has a pool. No one thinks this is unusual.

New York, people talking to God, loudly, walking down the street, me being told to use the f word in every sentence girlfriend. It’s impossible to sleep.

Mexico, did my male friend want to swap me for a donkey. A donkey spray painted black and white so tourists could pay to have their photo taken with a zebra.

France, how can they eat so much and not be fat. Christmas Day is Christmas Eve, contacting anyone on a Sunday is unthinkable. Restaurants closed at lunchtime, everything closed on Sunday.

Southern American states, Yes Ma’am, thank you Ma’am:)

India, trying to put me in Bollywood movies.

Cambodia, the response of hideous shock when I showed beautiful local woman the magic of spray tan

Italy, grown men and their Mammas and again, how are these beautiful people not huge

Botswana, random farm animals at my feet on public transport, people sit in layers, on strangers laps and passing me 20kg sacks of onions to hold.

My favorite thing is that the poorer a country or place, the more generous and welcoming the people are. The kindness is incredible.

We used to have milk in plastic bags delivered by the milkman when I was a kid, with special jug to put them in (UK WMids). Assume they never caught on.

My sister had a lot of attention when we lived in the Middle East as kids due to her auburn hair, whereas here she used to get called "ever-ready", "carrot top" etc etc

Duracell I mean!

I'm from the UK and find the one about British people not rinsing soap off plates very odd! I've always been taught to do this - would you not rinse your hair after shampoo - so why not rinse a plate?!

My odd things about living in Netherlands:

Suprise at peanut sauce with chips - but it's lovely and I miss it!
Noone politely lets you off the train before they get on - it is just a scrum!
Same with for example buying confectionary at a counter - noone queues it is a free for all!
There is a break in the middle of a film at the cinema. Not even at a good time...it just pauses half way through!
Older folk much more racist and conservative although the younger people seemed much more open minded and equal in for example sharing chores between a couple.
Coconut 'bread' - like a thin slice of coconut ice on bread - yum! However couldn't get used to sprinkles on bread - and even adults eating it as a normal breakfast.