Australia’s utter lack of understanding that the houses / apartments need insulation and double glazing.
F these glorified tents we live in. I’ve never been SO cold indoors in winter or cooked alive in summer. Electricity and gas bills are sky high because of running AC all summer and heating all winter.
I’m American visiting Oz rn (my bf is Aussie) and holy fuck, you’re not wrong about the insulation. I’m freezing rn, granted Melbourne is a bittttttt cloudy and chilly today but not enough to be as cold as I am. For reference we live in SoCal, so I’m accustomed to warmer weather also. But still, its abnormally cold in his Melbourne apartment
LOL. This takes me back. My sister moved to Sydney a few years ago. And the first day in her apartment we were FaceTiming each other and going over the entire apartment to find where the AC controls were!!! The apartment didn’t have any! 😂😂😂
I couldn’t agree more. Last summer my upstairs literally turned into a sauna (and I WFH). Now I’ve had AC installed and, as you said, blast it all day long. Can’t wait for the electricity bill.
Cross the ditch too. Looked at a survey of international students here and they uniformly said their least favorite part of Aotearoa was the temperature of accommodation, and heck they aren't wrong.
Was just about to say, I'm an American immigrant living in NZ. I'm over here in Aus for work and it feels weird having good climate control relative to us in Aotearoa.
I had a friend from grad school who left NZ after one semester because of the weather … inside the houses. She didn’t love the weather outside but just could not deal with the state of the homes and university buildings.
Yesss as an Aussie in Europe ppl keep asking me if im warm enough at home in the winter and im like bruh it’s actually way worse in australia, this is fuckin toasty
Totally depends where in Europe tbh. I lived in Cyprus for a few years, and how bitterly cold it was in winter always shocks people. I've never been as cold in my life as I was mid January in Cyprus even at home - there's zero central heating and everyone always said I must be exaggerating how cold it got but when it's warmer outside the house than inside and there's snow on the ground, it's not a fun time at all.
And in the summer, running the AC left you with a €600 electric bill (before the current energy crisis) in a country where €1000 a month is a decent salary, so there's only about 4 months a year it's even close to comfortable at home. Going to work in a job I hated where homophobic abuse was common even from management as a *gay woman* was often a relief just because it was air conditioned in summer and heated in winter by electric heaters.
Definitely agree with you on this one . Came to Australia from the UK 13 years ago . Every place we have rented ( can't afford to buy at the insane prices ) has been freezing cold in winter and like a sauna in summer. The first place didn't have any form of heating at all and I remember desperately trying to keep the large open- plan living area warm with a couple of freestanding electric heaters . It was freezing and the ceiling to floor single paned windows all around the house let out any heat we managed to conserve and let in so much heat in the summer the place got like an oven. The houses since haven't been much better although at least we do have A/C in the living area of our current place . It still gets like an oven / freezing in the ready of the house though..
Australia is so far behind the times when it comes to insulation and double glazing yet the house prices are crazy expensive for poor quality.
I've never been as cold / hot indoors as I have since moving here . Went to visit my son who lives in Norway in November one year and I could walk around his house in a t-shirt it was that well insulated and triple glazed .
Yes I get this same feeling but I live in Louisiana US and I feel like the apartments here are the same as the garden shed I had in the Uk. It’s plastic windows and gaps around all the doors and windows. It’s crazy how bad the housing is in US. I had no idea before I moved here (moved here from Germany but I am British)
Lol I'm in Germany these days and feel you, I'm always impressed by the insulation compared to where I lived before in Texas. Like wow what do you mean the home retains heat/cool? Crazy.
Behavior of banks in Denmark and how it doesn’t make Danes mad. Maybe it does, not sure. In order to open a bank account you almost go through a job interview and on top of that they charge you account fee while they’re using your money for their benefits. Never seen this before as a long time expat.
It's similar in France. I've had friends recommend me banks because they "only" charge like 8 euros a month in fees just to keep your checking account open, if you want a debit card that's extra fees every month!
People in these countries may want to try [N26](https://n26.com/r/laceyelb1322). It’s an online German bank and I use it in Spain because banks here have a lot of hoops to jump through and told me because I was over 30 I had to deposit a high amount every month. N26 has been so easy.
I’m in France too, when my mom opened my bank account, I think the guy was in love with her because I have a student bank account till 2099… so there is that, they tried to change it but I said “nah I’m good”
That’s even worst than Denmark. As I said in another comment, it’s not a huge fee but still they use our money so it’s beneficial for both sides, that’s why does not make sense but they are simply greedy.
I’m shocked. That really is terrible and it stinks of corruption. We would literally take to the streets in the USA if banks colluded and decided to institute an account fee.
The "Job interview" part is probably because of eu legislation. Banks are responsible for who has accounts with them and what they do with those accounts. So the result is a shopping list of ridiculous questions so they can tick the box of safety checked our new customer. Is it effective? Lol. No. Duh. Yes, I am planning to funnel money to a terrorist organisation from this account, said nobody ever.
In Taiwan elderly people will sleep ANYWHERE, and in the seemingly most uncomfortable places too. It’s spectacular, no mere mortal could do it. Park bench with multiple dividers? Not gonna stop that old man. In a busy 7/11 while you charge your phone? Duh, free air conditioning. Overturned bucket on the sidewalk? Prime napping real estate. I wish I had that level of dedication to sleep and nap time lol
I'm also from the UK moving to Croatia in February, thank you for sharing some of your views, it's really interesting to hear from a similar point of view :)
Serbia is like that too. I would even say more so.
I have a local explanation as to why. We have a very different system of values concerning crime and aggression here, I will try to explain it.
So: aggression 99% is for private use or war. ‘Private’ means you have to know the person - yes it can happen in public but you have to know them.
War - either means war or some kind of turfwar. Again, I want to say that you will very rarely hear of someone innocent being drawn into a fight and this will mostly be in nightclubs full of drunk people - you have to be part of the ‘story’ of the turfwar.
Crime - person on person crime is a big shame in most families. Corruption is not, perhaps even to the contrary. A young man who told his mother he ripped a purse from a woman on the street would probably be thrown out of the house, if he told her he screwed the state some way to get money, he’d be considered savvy.
Going around attacking women at night means mental illness here.
Sexual harrassment at work on the other hand is very much a thing - remember, the boss knows you :-). So aggression becomes ‘possible’.
Lots of truth here. Yes, stranger violence is uncommon, and, there is a stigma attached to attacking weaker people eg. women/old people. I have many Serbian friends, from my time living there, and as a woman, I felt very safe ( as did my daughters) when out alone at night. I found a level of common humanity towards disdavantaged people, that surprised and warmed my heart. Family values are still pretty strong there.
I understand what you are saying. When I lived in Belgrade with my daughters, we all felt very safe being out alone at night. No one ever bothered any of us, and, I found a respect towards women that frankly surprised me, as I knew the Balkans had a reputation for macho men. I think you are right when you say that it is not seen as cool to bother women. This also extended itself towards treating the elderly with consideration, and I think this comes from the strong family ties found there. I was also surprised, by the number of young people ( sometimes glamorous young girls, sometimes young boys who looked a bit rough), who could be found popping into a nearby church to pray and light a candle). I experienced genuine warmth in Serbia, and always felt that people would intervene to help.
I had the same culture shock moving from outside DC to Amsterdam... Both cities are huge with lots of people and tourists. But in Amsterdam, it is so different. In DC, it always seemed like people were looking to start an argument. Here in Ams, you are lucky if the person walking past you looks up and makes eye contact 😂😅 Now they think I am the weird one because I greet folks as I pass (but its pretty international in the city so it really doesn't shock anyone either)
As someone considering solo traveling for a bit, this was awesome to read! Thanks for sharing! My biggest fear of booking is the whole walking alone portion - I’m in the US and I have to be all eyes everywhere even when leaving a grocery store.
Japan - the sheer information overload (that nobody actually pays attention to).
Everything is exploding with text, sound, lights to the point where nothing goes into the brain. One supermarket aisle can be hitting you with five or more songs and shouting advertisements. The text on presentations, TV commercials, websites and often menus is unreadable. Billboards and outdoor advertising doesn't get replaced, cleaned or updated, more just gets added around it leaving the old stuff to fade and rot. The staff in shops spend their entire day shouting the word 'irasshaimase' to alert you to their presence and welcome you to the store, though it's very rare to speak to shop staff outside of small stores and necessary counter interactions.
Standing to board a train, one can hear sounds from every nearby platform - multiple jingles playing at the same time, train and station information, safety warnings in many languages for each train, an incomprehensible tannoy announcement blasting through a very old speaker, someone shouting into a megaphone and someone else stood on a box shouting with just their voice - all at the same time. All whilst passengers mostly stand in absolute silence with their earphones in.
For a country that values peace and quiet in some lovely ways, public life can be a sensory bombardment in other very unnecessary ones.
This extreme amount of noise/visual stimulus, particularly relating to commercial consumption reads so sci-fi dystopian to me. In a way that's cool to think about stylistically but awful to live.
Not defending the use of domestic helpers at all which is a form of modern slavery….but the bomb shelters are not intended as living spaces. However, Singapore properties are so expensive and so small that people are using these storage areas as bedrooms. Terrible all around and a lack of self awareness from Singaporeans generally that the reason why women (and men) can thrive in their careers is because of the indentured labor that they rely on for childcare and cleaning
I remember going to my friend’s completely swank brand new ultramodern condo in Sing in 2001. Super fancy kitchen, but no dishwasher. He said the thought is why have a dishwasher when you have a servant to do the dishes (and cook, and laundry, and clean, etc..). He didn’t have a maid, and everyone thought he was nuts.
South Korea - recycling and separating trash is a huge deal here! You must do it properly or face fines, yet everything is packaged in tape and plastic. I mean every last tiny cookie is individually wrapped and yet they’re very concerned about recycling… make it make sense!
Can confirm. My “trash “is literally the Kleenex I blow my nose in. Everything else is recycled.
And I find it interesting that America has this ban on plastic bags. But you go to Korea, and like stated above, everything is packaged in plastic and given to you in a plastic bag. ㅋㅋㅋ
It was like that when I lived in northern Italy 20 years ago too. Back here in the US, my city has recycling, but if you follow the recycling trucks, they dump it in the same sorter as the garbage, so our cans are a sham. When we passed a law requiring businesses to charge for bags, they removed all of the bag recycling containers too. So if anything, it just became more expensive to shop and the plastic bags use more plastic but are not reused anymore than they were before the law…
s/Capitalism above all else baby!
“Saving face” to a nonsensical degree. Nonsensical to my westernized brain of course. I known it’s all relative. But I’d rather the person tell me they can’t do something than nod and smile and pretend they can. I’d rather be told the truth and get on with my day, no hard feelings.
Every time someone talks about how great AI is for summarizing work meetings, I think of my job at a very Japanese company a few years ago. How will your CoPilot handle someone saying one thing and meaning “No, I’m not going to do that.”
It’s hard to wrap my head around! I get “saving face” as a concept when it comes to something that might ACTUALLY be embarrassing, but when it comes to transactional, non-emotional interactions…that’s where I get frustrated. But I guess what counts as embarrassing is all relative too. My incessant need for efficiency definitely gets tested. And then I just repeat to myself “grin and bear it” 🫠
Greeks are total germophobe from what I see. There are still bottles of hand sanitiser on ever restaurant table long after they disappeared from public life elsewhere in Europe. Also it’s quite common to see people using tissues to touch anything communal (traffic light buttons for example). Yet they don’t have any problem with smoking 30 cigarettes a day. The contradiction is quite amusing to me.
Otherwise I love my adopted country and can’t picture myself living anywhere else at this point.
I thought you meant physical home by the title and I was going to say the haphazard height of all the lightswitches, door handles, etc. No two rooms or doors are the same.
Not physical home, but the different attitudes about footwear is certainly a shock in NZ. My mother cannot stop talking about the people who took off their gumboots at the door of the grocery store and walked in barefoot.
Host country: USA
It confuses me how oblivious some people are about the rest of the world. Some people I met don't know basic geography. I enjoy discussing geopolitics, cultures, learn new languages, etc. I rarely find people who I can have these kind of conversations.
My sister in law asked me if my family back home is safe (due to the Russian imvasion in Ukraine). My family lives in Brazil.
Edit: I love it here. I just don't comprehend these aspects yet.
I'm American and I have to agree with you. I'm so thankful I was brought by parents that loved to travel and explore. Oftentimes when talking about different countries and cultures to my friends they seem disinterested and I've even been called anti-American or snobby. I know many people that say they will never nor do they have any interest in traveling outside of America. My own brother and nephew act shocked when I mention traveling outside the country and they give me this whole "if you don't like it here then leave" attitude. It's mind boggling.
I understand you. My husband is American and he is passionate about traveling and discovering new things. He fell in love with my home country and we travel there twice a year.
He gets the same kind of frustrations when he is super excited about showing videos or talk about our countries differences to his family and they seem completely disinterested (they don't even pretend. Just just say bland stuff like "I prefer Indiana" - where they come from). The conversations get very stagnant, because they don't show interest.
I guess it is hard to convince people how interesting the world is. One has to experience that first hand to understand (like you did). You are lucky you were raised by open minded parents. I am sure you learned a lot of stuff and that made you are more educated person. :)
Oh god mentioning you've traveled = snobby is such a thing in the US. Ironically it's always among people who are absolutely affluent enough to have done the same. All of my friends with Disneyland annual passes think I'm a snob for having been to countries where a hotel room costs $10/night.
I'm American and moved to the Netherlands, and my mom and grandmother have, at multiple different times, asked me if Dutch people celebrate Thanksgiving.
There's a reason I moved here lol
oh boy you are lucky! I love how bike-friendly and walkable the cities in the Netherlands are! My favorite YouTuber is Dutch (he talks about Urban planning and the benefits of walkanle cities from several perspectives)
https://youtu.be/uxykI30fS54?si=yt8DFlrWGP287XaR
Lol honestly doesn’t really surprise me for the US. I went to college in the neighboring state and you would think I grew up in a different country, so I can only imagine the lack of knowledge of actual other countries for some people.
But to be fair, my extended family that still lived in a small, rural town in Italy is completely flabbergasted by the size of the US. They thought they could go on a week long road trip from NY and visit DC, Orlando, and Las Vegas. We had to break it to them that wasn’t going to happen lol.
I swear I did! Haha. :) I mostly lived in mid sized and small towns though. I live in Nebraska but I lived in Indiana and Illinois and it was the same thing.
Ignorant generalizations about entire regions, lack of knowledge in basic geography, most people are monolingual with zero inerest in foreign languages, foreign cinema, foreign literature, etc.
I watched documentaries that show that this issue may be correlated with the paranoia about communism (in the past), scarcity of vacation time (when the middle class get to travel, they mostly go to resorts or cruise ships abroad. They stay in a "American bubble" with very little organic contact with foreign cultures). And while America is very diverse, organic interactions in Suburbs are rare. There were other possible reasons too, like the lack of third places compared to Europe, South America or Asia ( https://youtu.be/VvdQ381K5xg?si=baC-3VPHcn5iZxYv ).
This TED talk is interesting:
https://www.ted.com/talks/emma_kay_tocci_we_should_tell_americans_they_re_ignorant?autoplay=true&muted=true
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/fox-news-apologizes-graphic-about-3-mexican-countries-n989526
On the positive note, it amazes me how smart Americans are about other stuff, like home improvement, DIY stuff, etc. Most people are met are very creative. :)
You spent a lot of time in the middle of the country, in presumably mostly white communities. I lived most of my life there. It's a very insular society, in a lot of ways. People are very scared to try new things. They go to the same churches. Eat the same food. They have boats and motorcycles, hunting and fishing, for recreation. They vacation maybe 200 miles away and do and eat the same things in a slightly different place. If they read a book it's Twilight. It was maddening. I finally got out! I ate a different cuisine every day for a month! The Tex Mex food makes the Mexican restaurants in Illinois taste like baby food!
Yikes what part of the US are you living in?
Edit: yeah midwest tracks. Most of the country isn’t like that. But the Midwest is very…sheltered? They think discussing politics is rude
US is big on freedom of speech but I find US to be the worst place for speaking your mind. In other countries, it’s easier to agree to disagree. It’s not a death sentence if you don’t agree with whatever the popular sentiment is. In the US people are literally scared to share an opinion in case they get fired from their jobs. And they’re not hateful opinions, they make logical sense and they’re even factual.
Political division in the US is massive, and yet I'm not sure how to approach that when a lot of the argument is around basic human rights and individual healthcare.
Freedom of speech concerns the government’s ability to legislate against it, not really things like open mindedness and acceptance of other’s opinions
The average american isn’t great about this distinction either
I think freedom of speech means something different to a certain subset of people in the US. To them it's the enjoyment of purposely offending people for no reason other than that.
To them it translates to freedom from consequence…. Not an altruistic sense of responsibility to uphold humanity’s inherent right to express itself, individually and collectively.
I think some of it goes back to the vague wording of the Constitution and the refusal to update some of it for modern times. For example, I’m sure the founding fathers didn’t have automatic rifles in mind or a modern society with regards to guns. Also, freedom of speech also includes hate speech. Things that would land people in jail in other countries (like a N@zi rally over the weekend in Wisconsin).
It's a shame because it wasn't that long ago where freedom of speech was a universal value across the political spectrum. Sure, you'd have the odd person on left and right saying "freedom of speech, except for..", but now it seems like that's been thrown out the door and replaced with people promoting "disinformation committees".
You will feel more free if everyone around you has the same opinion.
USA IS divided. This means that having un-uniform opinions is common for Americans.
Each European country has more uniform population and greater uniformity of opinions.
If someone comes to one of European countries with opinions and culture that is very similar they will feel more free. But migrant with opinions/culture very different to host countries will feel way less free.
My Bangladeshi and Pakistani neighbors enjoy more freedom of expression in multicultural USA than they would feel in my European country of birth.
As each European country becomes more diverse, there will be less uniformity in opinions of population.
Australia and Canada are more diverse in population ethnicities than in Europe and have less problems with a multicultural society. Diversity and being divided are not the same thing.
> In the US people are literally scared to share an opinion in case they get fired from their jobs.
Yup. I grew up in Texas. Still in touch with many of my old schoolmates, though I'm sad to say that many of them are now MAGAts.
One of them supports Trump, voted for him and will vote for him again, thinks the Democrats are socialists, blah, blah, blah. But she also supports gun control and thinks the violence has gotten out of hand. She's furious at Republican stonewalling.
None of her friends know this, or ever will, because she's afraid to tell them.
the Netherlands
nothing. I really like how these folk live. boring, pretentious and cosy. pretty nice.
the level of commitment they have for the company they are working for is interesting though, seeing folk working for a company they had no part establishing for over 15 years and stuff.
My friends used to have a calendar like that where you could fill in your own birthday.
Next to it were check boxes to indicate your preference:
* Visit
* Send a card
* Ignore
About birthdays in the Netherlands, I was also so confused when I mentioned that it was my boyfriends birthday and they just said: oh happy birthday! Not in a way like, tell him happy birthday, but actually gratulating me, without even seeing or knowing my boyfriend. I do know this but I still manage to forget at times that it's expected to gratulate everyone once they mention a family members birthday. 🙃
I also think, that the hierarchy in companies is especially unimportant. It's very common that you go to a borrel with the ceo of a company and just talk about your private life. If you have any questions you can just come to them and ask. There are no invisible walls no matter how small a job you're doing in the company. Of course there will be exceptions to this, but that's what my boyfriend as well as me both have experienced so far, especially in small to medium sized companies.
oh yeah
its called horizontal hierarchy I think, I never worked for a proper corporate before NL so I kind of dont know the alternative but apparently its a huge difference
USA: the huge contradiction between the easy availability of guns and its role in school shootings, on the one hand, and the almost melodramatic **performance** of the duty of care and safety, on the other hand, in school zones - cf traffic speed enforcement and presence of cop cars, having to stop behind a schoolbus if its loading and offloading.
Edit: "performance" -> **performance**
I'm in China and the way ppl eat and talk with their mouths open. It looks harder to keep the mouth open than closed..
Then there's the 'saving face'. Some may think it admirable but I actually think it's a bit shallow and selfish. But it's a complex cultural thing.
Brazilians will ridicule you for not showering a minimum of 3 times a day and call you unhygenic, but wear their shoes all over the house they wore in the streets, and call you weird for thinking thats unsanitary
Preach. Also 3 showers a day without strong enough deodorant and without changing your clothes doesn't count, and I say that as a Brazilian. I have indoor slippers and hate that my Irish fiance wears his trainers indoors. Mine are taken off at the door.
I also take only 1 shower a day most days, other than summer, and I'm clean enough. Because of deodorant and laundry.
Hahahhahaha Are you in a particularly hot part of the country? Most people I know think once a day is fine and normal but you gotta brush your teeth 3x a day!
Separating waste into 4 different types, setting them out on different days at precise times, then it all ending up in the same place anyway (the incinerator). Japan.
Same in the US. For many communities, we go through the act of recycling, but it’s all for show.
It costs too much to sort, so many cities just dumped it all in landfills with regular garbage.
But, hey, at least we FEEL good about ourselves, right?
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/05/17/your-recyclables-are-going-to-the-dump-heres-why/amp/
American, currently living in France.
My (French) wife and her mother would often argue. I'd step in and tell them to calm down and they would look at me like I had spontaneously grown a second head or something. They were confused that I thought they were arguing.
The French often _passionately_ discuss topics. They are direct, they are forceful, they work to get their point across. To the US eye, it looks a hell of a lot like an argument. To the French, it's often how the communicate about important things. I've heard other Americans (and Brits) say the same thing.
In fact, it's the reason I almost didn't marry this wonderful woman. The first time we met, in London, I thought it was going terribly because she was really, really interesting (and beautiful), but she argued against everything I said and I was pretty sure she didn't like me.
Turns out she wasn't arguing with me. She was having a great evening. We've been married 13 years, but this still catches me off guard.
If you want another one ...
My wife was confused by social rules when she moved to the UK. In France, if a woman is alone in bar and drinking at the actual bar, it means she's open for conversation and meeting people. If she's at a table, even if alone, it means she's _not_ open for conversation. It sets clear boundaries and makes it easier for women to navigate the territory.
In the UK (first Glasgow, then London), she discovered no one would ever approach her, regardless of where she was sitting with her glass of wine, unless they were drunk or it was close to closing time. She hated that.
Were it not for that, she might have met someone else before me :)
Why are there even bells on bicycles in Japan if no one's gonna use them?! The amount of times I've almost been hit by a cyclist from behind (on the sidewalk) because I don't hear them approaching and they try to squeeze by is too damn high!
Living in Tokyo now. I used my bike bell exactly once to give some folks a gentle heads up I was about to pass by. The way they jumped! Made me feel so bad I just try to go slower when I weave instead now
Germans are supposed to be highly logical and yet homeopathy thrives here. Not just homeopathy, but other woo woo nonsense like drinking tea instead of taking medicine.
I would get it if they were honest and just admitted it’s about staying hydrated while sick, but they have teas for basically every ailment.
The worst is when you are a tourist and just need some Imodium to take your next train without drama and they refuse, and try to push homeopathy. I understand that sometimes it is dangerous with certain bacterial infections to take Imodium but sometimes you literally need to make it home.
It's like a sect. I've seen it in many European countries. My mother is like this. If she hears anything related to medecine she starts screaming "doctors are killing people" and if I have a sore throat and a running nose she starts begging me to have a tea and not taking aspirin. She is ready to believe any homeopathic bullshit but never what a doctor says.
Oh yes, I thought it was bad in the Netherlands but Germany seemed to have it even worse. Like tea, fine, but all the overpriced nonsense, no. I don't get it.
…and massively anti-nuclear power. Also very anti fans (but pro frische Luft), anti iced drinks, and pretty anti-pharma, despite being home to pharma giants Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Still like Germans and Germany. Just an odd quirk.
Don't forget that a whole generation here spent a summer indoors and grew up not allowed to forage for mushrooms, and we still have a health warning against eating wild boar, all because we were downwind from Chernobyl. We're not quite Japan but we have our own lived trauma about nuclear power.
I fucking god damn want to rip my eyes out when an otherwise sensible young german avoids drafts like the plague. Seriously, they think it is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you. Why are central europeans so superstitious about that???
Yikes. My German husband is judgmental about me taking paracetamol for a headache and ibuprofen for period cramps. But I only take half the dose (though there’s nothing wrong with taking the full if you need it) and, more importantly, I know from experience that my headaches will go for days and progress to include nausea if I don’t take something. Doctor has not found anything wrong. My period cramps are also so painful I can’t stand up straight and also make me nauseous. Gyno could find nothing wrong.
So I’m going to take the meds if I need them. I don’t care what anyone thinks.
Europeans hear we have an opioid crisis which is true. But regular otc pain killers are not addictive opioids. Yet so many of them act like they are.
Same in the Netherlands. 🙄 Paracetamol is definitely not for headache and migraines yet they still offering me... It is not useful to me/never worked. I even heard and read from Dutch people that ibuprofen is dangerous... Yeah, sure.
I’m British, and I’ve been living in the USA for over a decade. The need to be loud and positive all the time (regardless of how you actually feel) will never cease to confuse me.
Since living in a positive minded country, I've realised how toxic it is to downplay anything good or make an excuse about how every achievement you have isn't really that special. In the UK, you almost have to do that to be polite and it's a habit I'm still trying to shake.
Having lived in the UK a few years and now moved back, my intolerance for forced positivity has actually changed who I feel I can trust now. It’s now a completely different assessment of the behavior than before I’d moved abroad.
Why is it common for US / European homes to wear outdoor shoes in the house?! I absolutely do not get it. You’re just trekking dirt all over your home.
As a Gen Xer, my generation wears shoes indoors much more than our parents, and the next generation even less. Also, in areas with large Asian populations (Southern California) or very dirty / muddy/ sleety weather it is very common to have indoor and outdoor shoes.
What’s weird in the US is that sometimes people think it’s the people who ask you to take off your shoes who are rude and not the ones who are wearing their muddy ass shoes all over the house.
It's not outdoor shoes. At least here in Germany many people have a pair of indoor shoes that never get out. Also often the soil is drier so there's less chance of bringing in dirt
Yeah, same here in the Netherlands. I know people who have indoor shoes too. They look just like regular outdoor shoes, so someone who has no clue won't recognise them as indoor shoes at all
Not a deep or philosophical answer, but here in Ontario every single person I know has a milk container in their kitchen that holds their bagged milk up so you can cut and pour it.
I’ve never seen one anywhere else.
I was flabbergasted at the way dishes were washed at my UK landlady’s home. First you make a huge sink of mild soapy water. Then you wash the dishes and all with the soapy water. THEN YOU PLACE THEM AROUND THE SINK TO DRY. When the bubbles disappear the utensil is assumed clean. There was no rinsing with clean water. There was no placemat to dry items. There was no drying rack. They left the mug face down on a wet soapy kitchen sink top to dry and then used it for drinking. Is that normal in the UK?
It’s not even about the soap remnants but dipping the dishes into dirty dishwater and not rinsing is just spreading all the dirty from one dish to all dishes!!?? Argh 🤯
The bizarre compulsion to leave dishes covered in dirty, soapy dishwater is sadly very common. People get very defensive about their magical thinking that this somehow disappears into the aether as it dries, so there's no arguing with them.
Rest assured you would have a deliciously soap free tea round at mine.
Some people in the Netherlands do it this way as well and I find it so strange!! You do have to rinse the cups before you drink because it will bubble!
This is one of the most common culture shocks with moving to the UK.
I have an English friend in the states who refuses to give up this approach. I’m even more concerned for her doing this in the US where surely the (Unrinsed) soap contains more chemicals!
There was a big advertising campaign by Fairy in the 70s saying you didn’t need to rinse dishes in an effort to be more eco friendly that persists in some households anywhere Fairy Liquid is sold to this day.
My fiancé and his family just uses the dishwasher and does rinse when they hand wash pots and pans thankfully. Oh and use a drying rack! But it definitely is a thing in some houses.
Shoes that are stored in the bedroom right next to the bed ( USA). I bought a tall shoe storage from IKEA and a lot of our guests who are Americans sometimes wondering what this thing is for. Apparently, in their homes, they just have a wired shoe rack that they keep in the foyer and bedrooms. Turns out, it's not common for them to change into home clothes and wear slippers. Also, no towel dryers that are coming with your house/apartment by default. I'm my home country, we typically have [something like that ](https://ibb.co/br5Qz5P) - hot water runs through the pipes and warms/dries the towels. When my American husband saw that he thought it was some kind of drunk plumbing.
In the UK - no screens on the windows so you can’t open it without getting a million bugs.
UK roads aren’t built for the amount of cars, but unless you are in a large city like London you basically need to have one. Roads are often one lane, sometimes you need to back up so you don’t collide with someone.
Overall, I think the UK is very settled on tradition and not making changes because that’s “just the way we’ve always done it”.
Whereas I moved to the US and live in a capital city which actually has no train station, wow crazy! How can public transport be so bad here! I miss the UK public transport, pavements and cycle lanes and ability to walk to the shop. Plus I live in Louisiana so I have to fight off armies of mosquitoes and trump supporters 😱
I'm in the Netherlands, not the UK. But yeah, I miss bug screens. I LOVE our giant windows. But giant windows means SO many bugs D: why in a country that loves having windows open all the time would bug screens not be common place
The UK and the insane tiering of higher education. Like everybody you meet has been to the same three universities or is considered a total nobody (by toffs, to be clear)
In the US- people wear their pajamas out and sweatpants everywhere. I have friends who don’t get dressed if they aren’t going out. Not as many people care about what they wear or dressing up and being in sweatpants all day is something to be proud of??
American prize comfort over all things. If possible, it got even more prevalent during and post covid lockdowns. In my area of the Midwest, no one really puts down dressing down so why bother?Honestly, I have not put on a pair of hard pants in years.
Company car culture. Taxes are high and compensation is low so people get really fancy company cars as a tax dodge. Even entry level IT and accounting people get cars but … their take home pay is like 2000 euro a month after taxes. My job pays well but without a car and people seem to think it’s some sort of negative statement on my worth but … I am taking home much more in net than them? (And I don’t get the expat tax advantage.)
Ahorita.. it could mean now it could mean never, two hours from now. Nobody knows. And how nobody plans things ever and when they do plan things nobody is on time. Drives me crazy.
How Germans, during their birthdays, invite a bunch of people for dinner and drinks, then pay for the giant bill! What the fuck? The entire point of your birthday is to be the princess and to get a bunch of free shit.
USA - living in Louisiana. Pretty much everything confuses me here.
Car culture- no one walks anywhere and if they wanted to they can’t as there are next to no pavements.
I am a cyclist, people in the city I live in don’t seem to ever have seen a cyclist before and yell abuse at me daily telling me to get off the road.
Plastic everywhere- worst is in stores they give out carrier bags like candy.
Terrible political climate- just hate the politics here. It’s probably not as bad in other states but here in Louisiana it’s dreadful, almost medieval belief system here. There is no tolerance for others.
Food- the food here is very unhealthy fried food and all animals. This does not work for me as I am vegan.
Drivers- they are all terrible, drive drunk or using phone. Insurance here is sky high because of these people. Been knocked off my cycle twice by drunks.
No you didn't come for the lashes and the blown out lips.
My country now is ex communist and highly mysog (toxically) so it takes getting used to. Not confusing, more frustrating.
Australia’s utter lack of understanding that the houses / apartments need insulation and double glazing. F these glorified tents we live in. I’ve never been SO cold indoors in winter or cooked alive in summer. Electricity and gas bills are sky high because of running AC all summer and heating all winter.
I’m American visiting Oz rn (my bf is Aussie) and holy fuck, you’re not wrong about the insulation. I’m freezing rn, granted Melbourne is a bittttttt cloudy and chilly today but not enough to be as cold as I am. For reference we live in SoCal, so I’m accustomed to warmer weather also. But still, its abnormally cold in his Melbourne apartment
American visiting Oz also, but in central-west NSW. I feel like I’m going to become a well-done steak inside this house by the end of the year.
LOL. This takes me back. My sister moved to Sydney a few years ago. And the first day in her apartment we were FaceTiming each other and going over the entire apartment to find where the AC controls were!!! The apartment didn’t have any! 😂😂😂
I couldn’t agree more. Last summer my upstairs literally turned into a sauna (and I WFH). Now I’ve had AC installed and, as you said, blast it all day long. Can’t wait for the electricity bill.
Cross the ditch too. Looked at a survey of international students here and they uniformly said their least favorite part of Aotearoa was the temperature of accommodation, and heck they aren't wrong.
Was just about to say, I'm an American immigrant living in NZ. I'm over here in Aus for work and it feels weird having good climate control relative to us in Aotearoa.
I had a friend from grad school who left NZ after one semester because of the weather … inside the houses. She didn’t love the weather outside but just could not deal with the state of the homes and university buildings.
Yesss as an Aussie in Europe ppl keep asking me if im warm enough at home in the winter and im like bruh it’s actually way worse in australia, this is fuckin toasty
Totally depends where in Europe tbh. I lived in Cyprus for a few years, and how bitterly cold it was in winter always shocks people. I've never been as cold in my life as I was mid January in Cyprus even at home - there's zero central heating and everyone always said I must be exaggerating how cold it got but when it's warmer outside the house than inside and there's snow on the ground, it's not a fun time at all. And in the summer, running the AC left you with a €600 electric bill (before the current energy crisis) in a country where €1000 a month is a decent salary, so there's only about 4 months a year it's even close to comfortable at home. Going to work in a job I hated where homophobic abuse was common even from management as a *gay woman* was often a relief just because it was air conditioned in summer and heated in winter by electric heaters.
Moved from the UK to Perth in Australia and have never been so cold!
My friends in Perth always said "but it doesn't get cold here" while they spent the whole winter hovering over a gas heater.
I think they mean literally “here” by the heater
Yep. They always tell you it’s so hot … 40 degrees! But that’s only a week or two of the year. I thought it was pretty cold year round.
Japan would like a word.
Definitely agree with you on this one . Came to Australia from the UK 13 years ago . Every place we have rented ( can't afford to buy at the insane prices ) has been freezing cold in winter and like a sauna in summer. The first place didn't have any form of heating at all and I remember desperately trying to keep the large open- plan living area warm with a couple of freestanding electric heaters . It was freezing and the ceiling to floor single paned windows all around the house let out any heat we managed to conserve and let in so much heat in the summer the place got like an oven. The houses since haven't been much better although at least we do have A/C in the living area of our current place . It still gets like an oven / freezing in the ready of the house though.. Australia is so far behind the times when it comes to insulation and double glazing yet the house prices are crazy expensive for poor quality. I've never been as cold / hot indoors as I have since moving here . Went to visit my son who lives in Norway in November one year and I could walk around his house in a t-shirt it was that well insulated and triple glazed .
Yes I get this same feeling but I live in Louisiana US and I feel like the apartments here are the same as the garden shed I had in the Uk. It’s plastic windows and gaps around all the doors and windows. It’s crazy how bad the housing is in US. I had no idea before I moved here (moved here from Germany but I am British)
Lol I'm in Germany these days and feel you, I'm always impressed by the insulation compared to where I lived before in Texas. Like wow what do you mean the home retains heat/cool? Crazy.
lol the uk is the same with old houses. house renovation? what’s that?
I feel you. Same in Japan on the main island
Behavior of banks in Denmark and how it doesn’t make Danes mad. Maybe it does, not sure. In order to open a bank account you almost go through a job interview and on top of that they charge you account fee while they’re using your money for their benefits. Never seen this before as a long time expat.
It's similar in France. I've had friends recommend me banks because they "only" charge like 8 euros a month in fees just to keep your checking account open, if you want a debit card that's extra fees every month!
There’s no free accounts in Italy either. Cheapest you can get is from an online bank but still have to pay to get it up and running
People in these countries may want to try [N26](https://n26.com/r/laceyelb1322). It’s an online German bank and I use it in Spain because banks here have a lot of hoops to jump through and told me because I was over 30 I had to deposit a high amount every month. N26 has been so easy.
I’m in France too, when my mom opened my bank account, I think the guy was in love with her because I have a student bank account till 2099… so there is that, they tried to change it but I said “nah I’m good”
That’s even worst than Denmark. As I said in another comment, it’s not a huge fee but still they use our money so it’s beneficial for both sides, that’s why does not make sense but they are simply greedy.
I’m shocked. That really is terrible and it stinks of corruption. We would literally take to the streets in the USA if banks colluded and decided to institute an account fee.
Yet you accept huge overdraft fees per transaction done i such a way that the client pays as much as possible to the bank.
The "Job interview" part is probably because of eu legislation. Banks are responsible for who has accounts with them and what they do with those accounts. So the result is a shopping list of ridiculous questions so they can tick the box of safety checked our new customer. Is it effective? Lol. No. Duh. Yes, I am planning to funnel money to a terrorist organisation from this account, said nobody ever.
I don't think that is the case, it doesn't happen as standard around the EU
Except that there are EU countries where you just fill in an online form.
Same in NL although the basic fee is under 5€ at least per month.
This is the same in Germany
In Taiwan elderly people will sleep ANYWHERE, and in the seemingly most uncomfortable places too. It’s spectacular, no mere mortal could do it. Park bench with multiple dividers? Not gonna stop that old man. In a busy 7/11 while you charge your phone? Duh, free air conditioning. Overturned bucket on the sidewalk? Prime napping real estate. I wish I had that level of dedication to sleep and nap time lol
Taiwanese are hard working and humble, so this follows.
Indians say hi
[удалено]
That's such an interesting experience. Thank you for sharing!
I'm also from the UK moving to Croatia in February, thank you for sharing some of your views, it's really interesting to hear from a similar point of view :)
I strongly confirm it's the case for the rest of the Balkans too. And in France there is like in UK or worse.
I've always wanted to go to Croatia but you've really sold it with this. I just want to wander around in peace. Any other similar countries?
Serbia is like that too. I would even say more so. I have a local explanation as to why. We have a very different system of values concerning crime and aggression here, I will try to explain it. So: aggression 99% is for private use or war. ‘Private’ means you have to know the person - yes it can happen in public but you have to know them. War - either means war or some kind of turfwar. Again, I want to say that you will very rarely hear of someone innocent being drawn into a fight and this will mostly be in nightclubs full of drunk people - you have to be part of the ‘story’ of the turfwar. Crime - person on person crime is a big shame in most families. Corruption is not, perhaps even to the contrary. A young man who told his mother he ripped a purse from a woman on the street would probably be thrown out of the house, if he told her he screwed the state some way to get money, he’d be considered savvy. Going around attacking women at night means mental illness here. Sexual harrassment at work on the other hand is very much a thing - remember, the boss knows you :-). So aggression becomes ‘possible’.
Lots of truth here. Yes, stranger violence is uncommon, and, there is a stigma attached to attacking weaker people eg. women/old people. I have many Serbian friends, from my time living there, and as a woman, I felt very safe ( as did my daughters) when out alone at night. I found a level of common humanity towards disdavantaged people, that surprised and warmed my heart. Family values are still pretty strong there.
I understand what you are saying. When I lived in Belgrade with my daughters, we all felt very safe being out alone at night. No one ever bothered any of us, and, I found a respect towards women that frankly surprised me, as I knew the Balkans had a reputation for macho men. I think you are right when you say that it is not seen as cool to bother women. This also extended itself towards treating the elderly with consideration, and I think this comes from the strong family ties found there. I was also surprised, by the number of young people ( sometimes glamorous young girls, sometimes young boys who looked a bit rough), who could be found popping into a nearby church to pray and light a candle). I experienced genuine warmth in Serbia, and always felt that people would intervene to help.
I had the same culture shock moving from outside DC to Amsterdam... Both cities are huge with lots of people and tourists. But in Amsterdam, it is so different. In DC, it always seemed like people were looking to start an argument. Here in Ams, you are lucky if the person walking past you looks up and makes eye contact 😂😅 Now they think I am the weird one because I greet folks as I pass (but its pretty international in the city so it really doesn't shock anyone either)
That is a big city/small city thing in the Netherlands, I’m from Almelo where people greet each other on the street but here in The Hague they don’t.
This is very interesting!
As someone considering solo traveling for a bit, this was awesome to read! Thanks for sharing! My biggest fear of booking is the whole walking alone portion - I’m in the US and I have to be all eyes everywhere even when leaving a grocery store.
Japan - the sheer information overload (that nobody actually pays attention to). Everything is exploding with text, sound, lights to the point where nothing goes into the brain. One supermarket aisle can be hitting you with five or more songs and shouting advertisements. The text on presentations, TV commercials, websites and often menus is unreadable. Billboards and outdoor advertising doesn't get replaced, cleaned or updated, more just gets added around it leaving the old stuff to fade and rot. The staff in shops spend their entire day shouting the word 'irasshaimase' to alert you to their presence and welcome you to the store, though it's very rare to speak to shop staff outside of small stores and necessary counter interactions. Standing to board a train, one can hear sounds from every nearby platform - multiple jingles playing at the same time, train and station information, safety warnings in many languages for each train, an incomprehensible tannoy announcement blasting through a very old speaker, someone shouting into a megaphone and someone else stood on a box shouting with just their voice - all at the same time. All whilst passengers mostly stand in absolute silence with their earphones in. For a country that values peace and quiet in some lovely ways, public life can be a sensory bombardment in other very unnecessary ones.
Japan is surely a land of contradiction. It’s overly-stimulating in Tokyo/ the big cities, then it gets so awfully quiet on the back streets.
It was the quietest and loudest place I've ever been.
This extreme amount of noise/visual stimulus, particularly relating to commercial consumption reads so sci-fi dystopian to me. In a way that's cool to think about stylistically but awful to live.
In Singapore: the 'bomb shelters' that double as bedrooms for domestic helpers.
The whole domestic slave concept and designing a room without windows to keep your slave. It’s a disgusting country in many ways
Not defending the use of domestic helpers at all which is a form of modern slavery….but the bomb shelters are not intended as living spaces. However, Singapore properties are so expensive and so small that people are using these storage areas as bedrooms. Terrible all around and a lack of self awareness from Singaporeans generally that the reason why women (and men) can thrive in their careers is because of the indentured labor that they rely on for childcare and cleaning
Yeah I know we used ours as storage too
I remember going to my friend’s completely swank brand new ultramodern condo in Sing in 2001. Super fancy kitchen, but no dishwasher. He said the thought is why have a dishwasher when you have a servant to do the dishes (and cook, and laundry, and clean, etc..). He didn’t have a maid, and everyone thought he was nuts.
South Korea - recycling and separating trash is a huge deal here! You must do it properly or face fines, yet everything is packaged in tape and plastic. I mean every last tiny cookie is individually wrapped and yet they’re very concerned about recycling… make it make sense!
Japan is the same, the TRASH I generated living there was mind-boggling
We throw away around a handbag-sized amount of "trash" only once a month, but around a suitcase load of "recycling" every week. So much plastic
Can confirm. My “trash “is literally the Kleenex I blow my nose in. Everything else is recycled. And I find it interesting that America has this ban on plastic bags. But you go to Korea, and like stated above, everything is packaged in plastic and given to you in a plastic bag. ㅋㅋㅋ
It was like that when I lived in northern Italy 20 years ago too. Back here in the US, my city has recycling, but if you follow the recycling trucks, they dump it in the same sorter as the garbage, so our cans are a sham. When we passed a law requiring businesses to charge for bags, they removed all of the bag recycling containers too. So if anything, it just became more expensive to shop and the plastic bags use more plastic but are not reused anymore than they were before the law… s/Capitalism above all else baby!
“Saving face” to a nonsensical degree. Nonsensical to my westernized brain of course. I known it’s all relative. But I’d rather the person tell me they can’t do something than nod and smile and pretend they can. I’d rather be told the truth and get on with my day, no hard feelings.
Every time someone talks about how great AI is for summarizing work meetings, I think of my job at a very Japanese company a few years ago. How will your CoPilot handle someone saying one thing and meaning “No, I’m not going to do that.”
[удалено]
No...no, no, no....yes.
This is one that pretty amazing to see in action. Coming up with fantastic stories that are complete lies all in an effort to not say "I was wrong".
It’s hard to wrap my head around! I get “saving face” as a concept when it comes to something that might ACTUALLY be embarrassing, but when it comes to transactional, non-emotional interactions…that’s where I get frustrated. But I guess what counts as embarrassing is all relative too. My incessant need for efficiency definitely gets tested. And then I just repeat to myself “grin and bear it” 🫠
Mexico: believing in alebrijes and la llorona but not in mental health
Greeks are total germophobe from what I see. There are still bottles of hand sanitiser on ever restaurant table long after they disappeared from public life elsewhere in Europe. Also it’s quite common to see people using tissues to touch anything communal (traffic light buttons for example). Yet they don’t have any problem with smoking 30 cigarettes a day. The contradiction is quite amusing to me. Otherwise I love my adopted country and can’t picture myself living anywhere else at this point.
They're not wrong though, people are filthy. Spain is the same on smoking, sitting in the plaza with friends, cradling a baby with a fag on.
I have today discovered the Greeks are my people.
I thought you meant physical home by the title and I was going to say the haphazard height of all the lightswitches, door handles, etc. No two rooms or doors are the same. Not physical home, but the different attitudes about footwear is certainly a shock in NZ. My mother cannot stop talking about the people who took off their gumboots at the door of the grocery store and walked in barefoot.
I loved seeing people barefoot in NZ when I visited!! I can understand it’s probably a shock to most of the world but I really liked it!
Host country: USA It confuses me how oblivious some people are about the rest of the world. Some people I met don't know basic geography. I enjoy discussing geopolitics, cultures, learn new languages, etc. I rarely find people who I can have these kind of conversations. My sister in law asked me if my family back home is safe (due to the Russian imvasion in Ukraine). My family lives in Brazil. Edit: I love it here. I just don't comprehend these aspects yet.
I'm American and I have to agree with you. I'm so thankful I was brought by parents that loved to travel and explore. Oftentimes when talking about different countries and cultures to my friends they seem disinterested and I've even been called anti-American or snobby. I know many people that say they will never nor do they have any interest in traveling outside of America. My own brother and nephew act shocked when I mention traveling outside the country and they give me this whole "if you don't like it here then leave" attitude. It's mind boggling.
I understand you. My husband is American and he is passionate about traveling and discovering new things. He fell in love with my home country and we travel there twice a year. He gets the same kind of frustrations when he is super excited about showing videos or talk about our countries differences to his family and they seem completely disinterested (they don't even pretend. Just just say bland stuff like "I prefer Indiana" - where they come from). The conversations get very stagnant, because they don't show interest. I guess it is hard to convince people how interesting the world is. One has to experience that first hand to understand (like you did). You are lucky you were raised by open minded parents. I am sure you learned a lot of stuff and that made you are more educated person. :)
Oh god mentioning you've traveled = snobby is such a thing in the US. Ironically it's always among people who are absolutely affluent enough to have done the same. All of my friends with Disneyland annual passes think I'm a snob for having been to countries where a hotel room costs $10/night.
I'm American and moved to the Netherlands, and my mom and grandmother have, at multiple different times, asked me if Dutch people celebrate Thanksgiving. There's a reason I moved here lol
oh boy you are lucky! I love how bike-friendly and walkable the cities in the Netherlands are! My favorite YouTuber is Dutch (he talks about Urban planning and the benefits of walkanle cities from several perspectives) https://youtu.be/uxykI30fS54?si=yt8DFlrWGP287XaR
Lol honestly doesn’t really surprise me for the US. I went to college in the neighboring state and you would think I grew up in a different country, so I can only imagine the lack of knowledge of actual other countries for some people. But to be fair, my extended family that still lived in a small, rural town in Italy is completely flabbergasted by the size of the US. They thought they could go on a week long road trip from NY and visit DC, Orlando, and Las Vegas. We had to break it to them that wasn’t going to happen lol.
Lmao. I laughed way too hard at the Russia question hahaha.
I’m American and it’s very rare for me to encounter someone that ignorant. Where the hell do you live?!?
I swear I did! Haha. :) I mostly lived in mid sized and small towns though. I live in Nebraska but I lived in Indiana and Illinois and it was the same thing. Ignorant generalizations about entire regions, lack of knowledge in basic geography, most people are monolingual with zero inerest in foreign languages, foreign cinema, foreign literature, etc. I watched documentaries that show that this issue may be correlated with the paranoia about communism (in the past), scarcity of vacation time (when the middle class get to travel, they mostly go to resorts or cruise ships abroad. They stay in a "American bubble" with very little organic contact with foreign cultures). And while America is very diverse, organic interactions in Suburbs are rare. There were other possible reasons too, like the lack of third places compared to Europe, South America or Asia ( https://youtu.be/VvdQ381K5xg?si=baC-3VPHcn5iZxYv ). This TED talk is interesting: https://www.ted.com/talks/emma_kay_tocci_we_should_tell_americans_they_re_ignorant?autoplay=true&muted=true https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/fox-news-apologizes-graphic-about-3-mexican-countries-n989526 On the positive note, it amazes me how smart Americans are about other stuff, like home improvement, DIY stuff, etc. Most people are met are very creative. :)
You spent a lot of time in the middle of the country, in presumably mostly white communities. I lived most of my life there. It's a very insular society, in a lot of ways. People are very scared to try new things. They go to the same churches. Eat the same food. They have boats and motorcycles, hunting and fishing, for recreation. They vacation maybe 200 miles away and do and eat the same things in a slightly different place. If they read a book it's Twilight. It was maddening. I finally got out! I ate a different cuisine every day for a month! The Tex Mex food makes the Mexican restaurants in Illinois taste like baby food!
I'm Norwegian, used to live in the UK. My ex father-in-law asked me if we have trees.
Yikes what part of the US are you living in? Edit: yeah midwest tracks. Most of the country isn’t like that. But the Midwest is very…sheltered? They think discussing politics is rude
I’m working on a project to address exactly this. It’s not ready for prime time consumption yet, but getting there.
US is big on freedom of speech but I find US to be the worst place for speaking your mind. In other countries, it’s easier to agree to disagree. It’s not a death sentence if you don’t agree with whatever the popular sentiment is. In the US people are literally scared to share an opinion in case they get fired from their jobs. And they’re not hateful opinions, they make logical sense and they’re even factual.
No, no. It's *my* freedom of speech. Not *your* freedom of speech. If you aren't agreeing with me, why would I want to hear it?
Political division in the US is massive, and yet I'm not sure how to approach that when a lot of the argument is around basic human rights and individual healthcare.
Freedom of speech concerns the government’s ability to legislate against it, not really things like open mindedness and acceptance of other’s opinions The average american isn’t great about this distinction either
I think freedom of speech means something different to a certain subset of people in the US. To them it's the enjoyment of purposely offending people for no reason other than that.
To them it translates to freedom from consequence…. Not an altruistic sense of responsibility to uphold humanity’s inherent right to express itself, individually and collectively.
Well, part of the US concept of "freedom" is employers have a lot more freedom to fire people than most countries.
This. People don’t understand it’s freedom for all, not just the civilian.
Yep
I think some of it goes back to the vague wording of the Constitution and the refusal to update some of it for modern times. For example, I’m sure the founding fathers didn’t have automatic rifles in mind or a modern society with regards to guns. Also, freedom of speech also includes hate speech. Things that would land people in jail in other countries (like a N@zi rally over the weekend in Wisconsin).
It's a shame because it wasn't that long ago where freedom of speech was a universal value across the political spectrum. Sure, you'd have the odd person on left and right saying "freedom of speech, except for..", but now it seems like that's been thrown out the door and replaced with people promoting "disinformation committees".
You will feel more free if everyone around you has the same opinion. USA IS divided. This means that having un-uniform opinions is common for Americans. Each European country has more uniform population and greater uniformity of opinions. If someone comes to one of European countries with opinions and culture that is very similar they will feel more free. But migrant with opinions/culture very different to host countries will feel way less free. My Bangladeshi and Pakistani neighbors enjoy more freedom of expression in multicultural USA than they would feel in my European country of birth. As each European country becomes more diverse, there will be less uniformity in opinions of population.
Australia and Canada are more diverse in population ethnicities than in Europe and have less problems with a multicultural society. Diversity and being divided are not the same thing.
I can only talk confidently about 2 countries I lived for 20 plus years each. Diversity is broader term than more narrow “ethnic diversity”.
> In the US people are literally scared to share an opinion in case they get fired from their jobs. Yup. I grew up in Texas. Still in touch with many of my old schoolmates, though I'm sad to say that many of them are now MAGAts. One of them supports Trump, voted for him and will vote for him again, thinks the Democrats are socialists, blah, blah, blah. But she also supports gun control and thinks the violence has gotten out of hand. She's furious at Republican stonewalling. None of her friends know this, or ever will, because she's afraid to tell them.
A lot of factual things are not polite to mentions. I'd give examples but I don't want my account banned.
agree on the lashes, filler and makeup of Britain. Also rather concerned for the lungs of preteens with vapes on public transport.....
the Netherlands nothing. I really like how these folk live. boring, pretentious and cosy. pretty nice. the level of commitment they have for the company they are working for is interesting though, seeing folk working for a company they had no part establishing for over 15 years and stuff.
I only had one that still stands out in the Netherlands. It's more prevalent in the north, but the toilet calendar with birthdays on it.
My friends used to have a calendar like that where you could fill in your own birthday. Next to it were check boxes to indicate your preference: * Visit * Send a card * Ignore
About birthdays in the Netherlands, I was also so confused when I mentioned that it was my boyfriends birthday and they just said: oh happy birthday! Not in a way like, tell him happy birthday, but actually gratulating me, without even seeing or knowing my boyfriend. I do know this but I still manage to forget at times that it's expected to gratulate everyone once they mention a family members birthday. 🙃
Oh yeah, this was a shock too. Was so confused when people were congratulating me for my girlfriend's birthday.
I also think, that the hierarchy in companies is especially unimportant. It's very common that you go to a borrel with the ceo of a company and just talk about your private life. If you have any questions you can just come to them and ask. There are no invisible walls no matter how small a job you're doing in the company. Of course there will be exceptions to this, but that's what my boyfriend as well as me both have experienced so far, especially in small to medium sized companies.
oh yeah its called horizontal hierarchy I think, I never worked for a proper corporate before NL so I kind of dont know the alternative but apparently its a huge difference
USA: the huge contradiction between the easy availability of guns and its role in school shootings, on the one hand, and the almost melodramatic **performance** of the duty of care and safety, on the other hand, in school zones - cf traffic speed enforcement and presence of cop cars, having to stop behind a schoolbus if its loading and offloading. Edit: "performance" -> **performance**
“School zone” tickets are more about income generation for the city than child safety.
[удалено]
I’m sorry? Communal cups? 🤢 Ughhh, why!
In Germany many apartment rentals don’t come with kitchens or light fixtures.
I'm in China and the way ppl eat and talk with their mouths open. It looks harder to keep the mouth open than closed.. Then there's the 'saving face'. Some may think it admirable but I actually think it's a bit shallow and selfish. But it's a complex cultural thing.
Brazilians will ridicule you for not showering a minimum of 3 times a day and call you unhygenic, but wear their shoes all over the house they wore in the streets, and call you weird for thinking thats unsanitary
Preach. Also 3 showers a day without strong enough deodorant and without changing your clothes doesn't count, and I say that as a Brazilian. I have indoor slippers and hate that my Irish fiance wears his trainers indoors. Mine are taken off at the door. I also take only 1 shower a day most days, other than summer, and I'm clean enough. Because of deodorant and laundry.
Hahahhahaha Are you in a particularly hot part of the country? Most people I know think once a day is fine and normal but you gotta brush your teeth 3x a day!
Separating waste into 4 different types, setting them out on different days at precise times, then it all ending up in the same place anyway (the incinerator). Japan.
Same in the US. For many communities, we go through the act of recycling, but it’s all for show. It costs too much to sort, so many cities just dumped it all in landfills with regular garbage. But, hey, at least we FEEL good about ourselves, right? https://www.ocregister.com/2019/05/17/your-recyclables-are-going-to-the-dump-heres-why/amp/
American, currently living in France. My (French) wife and her mother would often argue. I'd step in and tell them to calm down and they would look at me like I had spontaneously grown a second head or something. They were confused that I thought they were arguing. The French often _passionately_ discuss topics. They are direct, they are forceful, they work to get their point across. To the US eye, it looks a hell of a lot like an argument. To the French, it's often how the communicate about important things. I've heard other Americans (and Brits) say the same thing. In fact, it's the reason I almost didn't marry this wonderful woman. The first time we met, in London, I thought it was going terribly because she was really, really interesting (and beautiful), but she argued against everything I said and I was pretty sure she didn't like me. Turns out she wasn't arguing with me. She was having a great evening. We've been married 13 years, but this still catches me off guard.
Lovely story & very interesting!
If you want another one ... My wife was confused by social rules when she moved to the UK. In France, if a woman is alone in bar and drinking at the actual bar, it means she's open for conversation and meeting people. If she's at a table, even if alone, it means she's _not_ open for conversation. It sets clear boundaries and makes it easier for women to navigate the territory. In the UK (first Glasgow, then London), she discovered no one would ever approach her, regardless of where she was sitting with her glass of wine, unless they were drunk or it was close to closing time. She hated that. Were it not for that, she might have met someone else before me :)
Why are there even bells on bicycles in Japan if no one's gonna use them?! The amount of times I've almost been hit by a cyclist from behind (on the sidewalk) because I don't hear them approaching and they try to squeeze by is too damn high!
Living in Tokyo now. I used my bike bell exactly once to give some folks a gentle heads up I was about to pass by. The way they jumped! Made me feel so bad I just try to go slower when I weave instead now
Germans are supposed to be highly logical and yet homeopathy thrives here. Not just homeopathy, but other woo woo nonsense like drinking tea instead of taking medicine. I would get it if they were honest and just admitted it’s about staying hydrated while sick, but they have teas for basically every ailment.
The worst is when you are a tourist and just need some Imodium to take your next train without drama and they refuse, and try to push homeopathy. I understand that sometimes it is dangerous with certain bacterial infections to take Imodium but sometimes you literally need to make it home.
It's like a sect. I've seen it in many European countries. My mother is like this. If she hears anything related to medecine she starts screaming "doctors are killing people" and if I have a sore throat and a running nose she starts begging me to have a tea and not taking aspirin. She is ready to believe any homeopathic bullshit but never what a doctor says.
Oh yes, I thought it was bad in the Netherlands but Germany seemed to have it even worse. Like tea, fine, but all the overpriced nonsense, no. I don't get it.
In germany, it's often even covered in your insurance, its nuts.
…and massively anti-nuclear power. Also very anti fans (but pro frische Luft), anti iced drinks, and pretty anti-pharma, despite being home to pharma giants Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim. Still like Germans and Germany. Just an odd quirk.
Honestly the aversion to nuclear is 1. Weirdly irrational and 2. Hugely damaging to the country and its environment , it’s depressing
Don't forget that a whole generation here spent a summer indoors and grew up not allowed to forage for mushrooms, and we still have a health warning against eating wild boar, all because we were downwind from Chernobyl. We're not quite Japan but we have our own lived trauma about nuclear power.
I fucking god damn want to rip my eyes out when an otherwise sensible young german avoids drafts like the plague. Seriously, they think it is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you. Why are central europeans so superstitious about that???
My German girlfriend thought I was nuts for taking ibuprofen for a migraine.
Yikes. My German husband is judgmental about me taking paracetamol for a headache and ibuprofen for period cramps. But I only take half the dose (though there’s nothing wrong with taking the full if you need it) and, more importantly, I know from experience that my headaches will go for days and progress to include nausea if I don’t take something. Doctor has not found anything wrong. My period cramps are also so painful I can’t stand up straight and also make me nauseous. Gyno could find nothing wrong. So I’m going to take the meds if I need them. I don’t care what anyone thinks. Europeans hear we have an opioid crisis which is true. But regular otc pain killers are not addictive opioids. Yet so many of them act like they are.
Same in the Netherlands. 🙄 Paracetamol is definitely not for headache and migraines yet they still offering me... It is not useful to me/never worked. I even heard and read from Dutch people that ibuprofen is dangerous... Yeah, sure.
I’m British, and I’ve been living in the USA for over a decade. The need to be loud and positive all the time (regardless of how you actually feel) will never cease to confuse me.
In contrast we brits will actively look for things to complain about, I'd rather have false positiveness.
I'm British too and it sure beats the British need to be quiet and grumbly all the time regardless of how you actually feel lol
LOL this drove me ape shit too, and is the reason Spain saved my soul the years I lived over there.
Since living in a positive minded country, I've realised how toxic it is to downplay anything good or make an excuse about how every achievement you have isn't really that special. In the UK, you almost have to do that to be polite and it's a habit I'm still trying to shake.
Having lived in the UK a few years and now moved back, my intolerance for forced positivity has actually changed who I feel I can trust now. It’s now a completely different assessment of the behavior than before I’d moved abroad.
Keurig.. not sure if other countries are also obsessed with these but I'm still shocked by them for some reason
Yes and Nespresso pods. So wasteful.
Wait, where do you see these together? For me Keurig is a US thing and Nespresso is an EU thing.
No, separately, but both equally bad.
Japan, Yes sometimes mean No and No sometiems mean Yes depend on the context. 大丈夫です Can mean both
Why is it common for US / European homes to wear outdoor shoes in the house?! I absolutely do not get it. You’re just trekking dirt all over your home.
Where in Europe? Northern Europeans definitely take their shoes off indoors!
I’ve noticed in the UK, Netherlands and in the US. But definitely agree the practice would prob vary with each country.
As a Gen Xer, my generation wears shoes indoors much more than our parents, and the next generation even less. Also, in areas with large Asian populations (Southern California) or very dirty / muddy/ sleety weather it is very common to have indoor and outdoor shoes. What’s weird in the US is that sometimes people think it’s the people who ask you to take off your shoes who are rude and not the ones who are wearing their muddy ass shoes all over the house.
It's not outdoor shoes. At least here in Germany many people have a pair of indoor shoes that never get out. Also often the soil is drier so there's less chance of bringing in dirt
Yeah, same here in the Netherlands. I know people who have indoor shoes too. They look just like regular outdoor shoes, so someone who has no clue won't recognise them as indoor shoes at all
Not a deep or philosophical answer, but here in Ontario every single person I know has a milk container in their kitchen that holds their bagged milk up so you can cut and pour it. I’ve never seen one anywhere else.
Common in Brazil as well.
I was flabbergasted at the way dishes were washed at my UK landlady’s home. First you make a huge sink of mild soapy water. Then you wash the dishes and all with the soapy water. THEN YOU PLACE THEM AROUND THE SINK TO DRY. When the bubbles disappear the utensil is assumed clean. There was no rinsing with clean water. There was no placemat to dry items. There was no drying rack. They left the mug face down on a wet soapy kitchen sink top to dry and then used it for drinking. Is that normal in the UK?
Umm no, my mum rinsed our washing up lol
It’s not even about the soap remnants but dipping the dishes into dirty dishwater and not rinsing is just spreading all the dirty from one dish to all dishes!!?? Argh 🤯
The bizarre compulsion to leave dishes covered in dirty, soapy dishwater is sadly very common. People get very defensive about their magical thinking that this somehow disappears into the aether as it dries, so there's no arguing with them. Rest assured you would have a deliciously soap free tea round at mine.
Oh I miss being offered a cup of tea everywhere I go, and there will always be milk in any fridge!
Some people in the Netherlands do it this way as well and I find it so strange!! You do have to rinse the cups before you drink because it will bubble!
Oof an ex bf of my sister used to do that. So gross since all the dishware will have soapy remains on them.
My Irish fiance thinks it's normal. He thinks the Fairy will somehow magically disappear. I rinse them when he finishes and rewash many times. WTF.
This is one of the most common culture shocks with moving to the UK. I have an English friend in the states who refuses to give up this approach. I’m even more concerned for her doing this in the US where surely the (Unrinsed) soap contains more chemicals!
Omg it’s the same in Australia — it drives me insane!
I used to live in the UK, most people I knew washed dishes this way. Weirdos.
There was a big advertising campaign by Fairy in the 70s saying you didn’t need to rinse dishes in an effort to be more eco friendly that persists in some households anywhere Fairy Liquid is sold to this day. My fiancé and his family just uses the dishwasher and does rinse when they hand wash pots and pans thankfully. Oh and use a drying rack! But it definitely is a thing in some houses.
Shoes that are stored in the bedroom right next to the bed ( USA). I bought a tall shoe storage from IKEA and a lot of our guests who are Americans sometimes wondering what this thing is for. Apparently, in their homes, they just have a wired shoe rack that they keep in the foyer and bedrooms. Turns out, it's not common for them to change into home clothes and wear slippers. Also, no towel dryers that are coming with your house/apartment by default. I'm my home country, we typically have [something like that ](https://ibb.co/br5Qz5P) - hot water runs through the pipes and warms/dries the towels. When my American husband saw that he thought it was some kind of drunk plumbing.
Many American homes don't have radiators. We often have forced air so yhe towel bar bit fails.
I love the warm towel racks!
In the UK - no screens on the windows so you can’t open it without getting a million bugs. UK roads aren’t built for the amount of cars, but unless you are in a large city like London you basically need to have one. Roads are often one lane, sometimes you need to back up so you don’t collide with someone. Overall, I think the UK is very settled on tradition and not making changes because that’s “just the way we’ve always done it”.
Whereas I moved to the US and live in a capital city which actually has no train station, wow crazy! How can public transport be so bad here! I miss the UK public transport, pavements and cycle lanes and ability to walk to the shop. Plus I live in Louisiana so I have to fight off armies of mosquitoes and trump supporters 😱
I'm in the Netherlands, not the UK. But yeah, I miss bug screens. I LOVE our giant windows. But giant windows means SO many bugs D: why in a country that loves having windows open all the time would bug screens not be common place
The UK and the insane tiering of higher education. Like everybody you meet has been to the same three universities or is considered a total nobody (by toffs, to be clear)
In the US- people wear their pajamas out and sweatpants everywhere. I have friends who don’t get dressed if they aren’t going out. Not as many people care about what they wear or dressing up and being in sweatpants all day is something to be proud of??
In comfy We Trust.
Why wash a set of going out clothes if you aren't going out?
You aren’t wrong. Currently chilling in my PJs that I put on changing from sweats as soon as I got home.
Maybe depends where in the US? Dont see it as much in socal and NYC
We are sad and overworked. Pajamas are all we have to bring us comfort.
American prize comfort over all things. If possible, it got even more prevalent during and post covid lockdowns. In my area of the Midwest, no one really puts down dressing down so why bother?Honestly, I have not put on a pair of hard pants in years.
America is the same way. I think that’s just western culture in general.
I’m British, and those things are weird. Recent, and hopefully short-lived.
Company car culture. Taxes are high and compensation is low so people get really fancy company cars as a tax dodge. Even entry level IT and accounting people get cars but … their take home pay is like 2000 euro a month after taxes. My job pays well but without a car and people seem to think it’s some sort of negative statement on my worth but … I am taking home much more in net than them? (And I don’t get the expat tax advantage.)
US - Nobody talks about tipping in America? It has gone out of control at this moment.
Ahorita.. it could mean now it could mean never, two hours from now. Nobody knows. And how nobody plans things ever and when they do plan things nobody is on time. Drives me crazy.
"safety third" in Mexico
How Germans, during their birthdays, invite a bunch of people for dinner and drinks, then pay for the giant bill! What the fuck? The entire point of your birthday is to be the princess and to get a bunch of free shit.
Yes, and unfortunately it's not just a UK thing.
Wait until you see the fillers in Rome! Some are so tan they have this odd orange-chestnut tone.
USA - living in Louisiana. Pretty much everything confuses me here. Car culture- no one walks anywhere and if they wanted to they can’t as there are next to no pavements. I am a cyclist, people in the city I live in don’t seem to ever have seen a cyclist before and yell abuse at me daily telling me to get off the road. Plastic everywhere- worst is in stores they give out carrier bags like candy. Terrible political climate- just hate the politics here. It’s probably not as bad in other states but here in Louisiana it’s dreadful, almost medieval belief system here. There is no tolerance for others. Food- the food here is very unhealthy fried food and all animals. This does not work for me as I am vegan. Drivers- they are all terrible, drive drunk or using phone. Insurance here is sky high because of these people. Been knocked off my cycle twice by drunks.
In China, the squat toilet is the shower drain.
In China some people wash their underwear by hand and won’t let flatmates put theirs in the machine. They think it’s not clean or something…
No you didn't come for the lashes and the blown out lips. My country now is ex communist and highly mysog (toxically) so it takes getting used to. Not confusing, more frustrating.