I’m in Britain and I really hate the eyelashes, fillers and makeup here for young girls sometimes and the intense pressure I see everywhere to get them. Poor girlies.
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Vietnam: wearing masks to stop the spread of infectious disease, but also drinking out of communal cups in restaurants.
My understanding was more that the masks were for pollution
I’m British and the lashes and lips thing makes me sad. I have no room to talk as I get botox but you can’t tell at all. I don’t want to be taken out every time someone blinks or talks though
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.
Wait until you see the fillers in Rome! Some are so tan they have this odd orange-chestnut tone.
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.
Same in NL although the basic fee is under 5€ at least per month.
Do Danes use credit cards? I just visited a friend recently in Aalborg and she had no idea what a credit card was or how it works…
This is the same in Germany
Yeah I wouldn’t surprise. At least we don’t have paper bureaucracy here :)
Can’t you use online European banks like Starling, Monzo, etc?
I’ve been using Revolut for a long time but they also force you to automatic bill payments via Danish banks so at some point you have to have one I believe.
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.
I’m old enough to remember when all, or almost all, banks in the US did have banking fees on accounts. Currently it depends on the type of account and whether the bank calls it a fee or account charge.
As to overdraft fee’s, check and see if you can opt out of overdraft. You’ll need to keep a close eye on funds, but you can potentially save a fair bit of money in the long run.
Yep good old days in US, they were begging me to get a credit card, bonuses, rewards etc. here there’s nothing and you have to pay :)
I was shocked when I moved to Canada and there were account fees, had to pay for cheque books.
Yet you accept huge overdraft fees per transaction done i such a way that the client pays as much as possible to the bank.
Automatic overdraft can be easily disabled by calling the bank or going online.
It’s less common in the US now, but when I opened my first checking account post college, there was a small monthly fee. This was pre-2008 crash, so maybe that was outlawed around then?
I am in the US. Citi bank and Chase both have monthly account fees. I am sure there are others as well these are just a few I have had experience with.
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.
Except that there are EU countries where you just fill in an online form.
I don’t think that is the case, it doesn’t happen as standard around the EU
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.
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)
And every time hurricane comes they all are shocked that poorly constructed homes are ruined like a play card house and would take forever to hear from insurance company to move their arses to file the claim. My neighbors got half of their house destroyed by an oak tree during Sally and it took them 1.5 years to restore that side of the house and move back in. Big part of it was insurance company dragging their feet to proceed the claim ( they had to conduct few inspections to make sure it was indeed a hurricane that impacted that ). But God forbid to miss one payment, they will punish you immediately.
The homes are not insulated? I remember feeling cold during the winter/ rainy months and had a space heater… could never understand because it’s so much colder where I’m from.
Nope. Not ceiling, walls, floors and single pane windows.
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 .
Ah, I thought this was just New Zealand
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.
Bloody hell 😱 Cyprus eh? That’s rubbish. Sounds like you’ve escaped though? And moved to somewhere nicer?
We’re in the UK and about to emigrate to Mauritius. I did have Portugal on my list for a while. But I’ve decided that the whole of Europe is a bad idea and we’re going to stay out of it.
Portuguese houses have the same construction; total lack of insulation and central heating. Yet in the north it can get fairly chilly in winter! It even snows on higher ground … And it’s humid all year round so massive problems with mold. After looking at the sad state of house construction and the multitude of statues of notable ex-slavers/colonisers in the public squares 🙄, I decided against.
South Africa is like that as well. Coming from Europe I’ve never been that cold for that long in my life. In winter you are constantly cold wherever you go, except for shopping malls and some fancy offices.
As an Aussie who moved to the US, I have gotten so soft over internal temperature. Having it 21C/71F year round. I can’t imagine going back to the wild swings of trying to sleep in Australia when it’s 10C or 30C indoors.
I feel you. Same in Japan on the main island
It’s like this for me in Portland Oregon and it literally snows here every year. I have to bundle up indoors all winter
haha definitely true.
I see your Australian and give you Japan- where this is also true and our winter temp where I live is usually in the single digits if I’m lucky for the high. Summers aren’t nearly as hot- but humid as all get out. Do they have central air and heat there? In the winter I get to bust out the kerosene heaters and hope I don’t suffocate myself on accident
In Singapore: the ‘bomb shelters’ that double as bedrooms for domestic helpers.
Are you in Liverpool or Manchester or maybe Essex? This look is highly dependent on specific area.
That’s confusing. They put milk in Tee. Milk !!!
Tea?
Yeah tea sorry for German autocorrect. Tee tea
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.
America is the same way. I think that’s just western culture in general.
Mexico: believing in alebrijes and la llorona but not in mental health
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??
Am I supposed to dress if I am staying home all day? Why?
American prize comfort over all things. If possible, it got even more prevalent during and post covid lockdowns. In my area of the Midwest, one really puts down dressing down so why bother?Honestly, I have not put on a pair of hard pants in years.
Upvote for “hard pants”
I’m always up for slagging off the yanks but… What’s so wrong with that exactly?
I mean it’s the most “culturally confusing” for me. Dressing up or even getting dressed at all is a lot to do with respect. How much self respect you have, how much you’d like it from others. How much you want to make a good impression. It’s nothing “wrong”in theory, like wear whatever makes you comfortable right? But when it comes to social situations a lot still don’t put in the effort to dress appropriately. I can’t ever imagine wearing sweatpants or a sweatshirt to a friend’s house, or to anyone who has put in the effort invite me over to their house and host me! But yet so many people I’ve hosted in my house have come over wearing sweatpants or which I find really disrespectful. Like a lady in my neighborhood (pretty affluent, houses are worth low 7figs) hosted a wine night and invited the ladies on our street to join and there were women there in their pajamas??? I honestly would be so mad if I was her! It’s a cultural thing I guess!
Yeah fair enough that was the question. I personally don’t really care what other people are wearing so long as it’s not extremely provocative.
Sweatpants (or trackies as we call them) are just a comfortable thing to wear on your legs if you ask me. I personally like wearing jeans for the more secure pockets, but each to their own you know.
I was flabbergasted at the way dishes were washed in my UK landlady’s home. First you make a huge sink of 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?
I heard this is because the water is calcic.
I have much to say about the calcic water. My landlady & family had no qualms boiling and drinking water from a kettle full of white deposits floating around. I was the only one trying to clean up the kettle. It was a losing battle tho.
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.
I’ve seen that a lot when I lived in both the UK and the Netherlands (though more commonly in the latter).
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!
Or the similar variant where they have the other side of the sink or a large bowl filled with lukewarm rinse water and everything gets set in there to “rinse” in the same increasingly soapy water before being set to the side to dry.
Nope
I’ve seen idiots do this before, but most people have a drying rack and rinse stuff
Oof an ex bf of my sister used to do that. So gross since all the dishware will have soapy remains on them.
I witnessed this in Germany. And was blown away by it.
my roommate is dutch and lived in london before she moved here (nyc) and this comment has finally given me an explanation as to why she’s so terrible at washing dishes…thank you for clearing up that mystery 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 🤯
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!
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.
The fairy! Hhhahaaha. I’ve lived with Irish flatmates before. They washed “normal” but they weren’t the cleanest… left lots of food waste in the sink…
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.
Omg it’s the same in Australia — it drives me insane!
No, I think that’s just the way this lady does it.
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.
American here. It’s not common to wear outside shoes in the house.
It is not common all over the US and not usually done during all seasons.
In the part of the US where I live, it’s warm 11-12 months a year. I drive everywhere when and my shoes don’t get very dirty. It is usually not a big deal to wipe the shoes on the outdoor and then on the indoor rug and then walk into my closet to put them away. We have tile floors in every room and it is very easy to mop.
Asking guests to remove their shoes is considered weird and tacky.
We have tile floors in every room and it is very easy to mop.
And how often do you mop?
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.
I have a pair of outdoor shoes at every possible exit to my house right now. LOL
“European homes”? It’s definitely not a thing as a general rule in Eastern Europe, but I can’t say I’ve experienced that in Austria, Germany, France or Spain either.
I have never in my life seen a person just walk in with their shoes on in Europe. That’s unbelievably rude
Saw it in the UK as well. Worse — teenagers propping their dirty shoes on fabric bus seats.
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
We’re in U.K. & I do notice our British friends / handyman tend to just barge in without taking their shoes of adding,”oh, nice flat!”