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What seemed weird when I visited your country
ev4n:
--- Quote from: Akima on 02 Jun 2014, 03:03 ---
--- Quote from: Method of Madness on 01 Jun 2014, 15:51 ---What's the fastest speed limit down there?
--- End quote ---
In Australia, the highest speed-limit on a non-freeway road is now 100km/h, I think. Freeway (in the UK you would say motorway) speed-limits vary by state. In NSW it is 110km/h. Trucks are fitted with speed-regulators which theoretically limit them to 100km/h on all roads.
Most highways in Australia are *not* freeways, but fairly narrow single-carriageway roads, with soft shoulders often 100mm or more lower than the "bitumen", as the tarmac metalled surface is known here, so 100km/h is plenty. It is questionably safe to overtake on many sections of such roads, because the closing speed of a vehicle coming the other way is 200km/h or 56m/s. If you pull out to overtake a 30m-long "B-double" truck on the Newell Highway, for example, and spend ten seconds on the wrong side of the road, an oncoming vehicle will have to have been something like 600m away when you started to overtake. Can you look at a white blob through the heat-haze, and be sure it is not, say, only 400m away? And that assumes there are no bends, bumps or dips to hide oncoming traffic.
--- End quote ---
I grew up at the intersection of 2 trans-Canada highways. Both are 2-lane for the most part, and both in places cross through the Laurentian Shield, meaning constant hills.
Passing lanes in the middle on up-hills are a must, especially on the Northern Route which is favoured by truckers.
Metope:
About tipping, I really haven't noticed much difference between the UK and the US when it comes to niceness and attentiveness. You get both great, mediocre and crappy waiters everywhere. If there's any difference, it would be the US waiters hanging over you all the time, while the UK ones will let you eat in peace. I get that it's a preference/cultural thing though, and I wouldn't let that affect the way I tip... But it is really awkward to be asked if the food tastes okay right after shoving the first bite into my mouth, let me chew and swallow first, please? I do tip more in the US than in the UK because of the wages, but I think it's nice to tip anywhere that has table service as a general rule.
GarandMarine:
Fuck I hate it when a waiter or waitress talks to me when I'm eating. Feels like they don't want to actually engage in conversation because I have food in my craw, also comes off as a bit rude to me personally. For one, I'm eating it, so chances are it's good, I'll flag you down if I have a problem.
Method of Madness:
The best way to do that is to politely say "I'm fine, I'll let you know if I need anything". Then hope you can actually get their attention if you do need something.
Metope:
That seems like a difficult sentence to say with a mouth full of food. :-P
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