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What seemed weird when I visited your country
ankhtahr:
Hmm. Isn't this thread similar to the "When in Rome" thread? At least intended it to be.
As for Loki: I still get strange looks for using the northern Germarn default greeting here. Fucking "Moin" doesn't fucking mean fucking "Good morning"! It is being used during the whole day. Goddammit. "Moi" is low Germar for good. "Moin" is just short for "Moi'n Dag".
It isn't so complicated. So stop looking at me weird when I use it in the evening. I definitely won't stop saying it. It's just too useful to have a universal greeting for every time of the day, formal enough for store personel, and informal enough for friends. It's short and simple.
Moin Moin!
Papersatan:
WRT US pricing I'd like to point out that:
some goods are priced before they reach a store (clothing and books come to mind)
sales tax in the US varies not only by state but also by county, and sometimes by city
the tax on some items in some places changes throughout the year (NYS used to have a week where clothing was tax-free for example)
for a large chain keeping a database from up to date with the current with tax price for each item at each store cost more money/resources than calculating the tax at the register.
Method of Madness:
Going on the coffee thing, Israel. Iced coffee means ice plus coffee, you'd think that'd be simple. Nope! I went into several places in Israel and asked for one and they started to make some blended monstrosity before I realized what they were doing and said no, I wanted coffee that's iced. It wasn't until the end of the trip that I learned I had to ask for a "cold Americano" (which I would've been fine with, but I went without coffee nearly the whole time!)
Mlle Germain:
I have just moved from Germany to the UK, which I love for many different reasons.
But a few things I still find very funny: The standard example is probably having two separate taps for warm and cold water at the sink. I find it so much more convenient to be able to have medium temperature water directly without having to mix it in the bowl.
Then the fact that bikes seem nearly always to be sold without lights, bell, mudguards... So you have to buy everything extra and most people have clip-on lights with batteries. In Germany this isn't allowed unless the light shows how much of the initial energy is left in the battery. Most bikes are sold completely equipped with lights being powered by a dynamo. You don't really get a choice - although you can of course switch to your preferred equipment later.
--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 03 Nov 2013, 12:16 --- When I came back to the UK I bought a sandwich from a woman who called me pet and chatted about the weather.
--- End quote ---
That is something I found very endearing. Many salespeople here seem to be much keener on making contact with their customers than in Germany.
And about milkshakes: I love milkshakes and to my experience, they are much more common in the UK than in Germany. And all that I've tried were very good!
Metope:
Oh my god, the tap thing annoys me to no end. Why two different taps? So you can scold one hand and freeze the other, or just spend ages switching both hands between them, it doesn't make any sense to me. I actually know someone from England who was so annoyed they renovated his building and put the single tap which mixes the water, because he preferred mixing it himself.
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