I know not everyone on this sub is from the US but what are things you have been surprised to learn are not a “standard” in other parts of the world (compared to where you grew up)?

I’ll add a few of mine

  • Ice is not standard outside the US
    • We went to Ireland and I had recently broken a part of my ankle, finding any ice was a wild endeavor
  • US food portions are actually substantial
    • this one is super easy mode but still, it shocked me seeing how and what we eat against other countries
  • Major cities/countries can have power grid issues (looking at you South Africa)
    • I had no idea that the grid was that unstable in SA until this most recent season of Other Way
  • limemintflavour@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I’m from Eastern Europe but I worked in an English grocery store for a minute and we carried ice, I couldn’t understand why people would buy a bag of ice to keep in their freezer instead of just using ice trays lol, unless everyone was throwing big parties.

    For me the absolute weirdest thing was learning that a lot of British people wash their dishes by filling up their sink with soapy water, dunking their dishes in that and then just letting them dry without ever rinsing them?? Even if you scrape off any food there’s still gonna be some bits left, not to mention the dish soap? And I don’t believe they all keep their sink clean enough for that to be hygienic either. I could maybe get used to people not immediately removing their shoes at home, but the dishes will haunt me forever.

    • VoodooChickenFeet@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      My ex husband is from Wales, and he did that and so did his parents! Well, they didn’t just dunk the dishes–they actually scrubbed them clean–but then dunked them back in the soapy water and then placed them on the drying rack, suds and all. I always assumed it was just a quirk of his family. But, my best friend happened to marry a guy from England, and she told me that her husband and his family do the same! So now we wonder if it’s an “all of Britain” thing, or just a generational thing? I asked my ex once how he could stand, say, drinking tea out of a cup that had dried soap caked on it. And I received the most quintessential British response ever: “Well, sometimes the first cup tastes a bit soapy, but you get on with it.”