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Author Topic: What seemed weird when I visited your country  (Read 95825 times)

Pilchard123

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #150 on: 07 Nov 2013, 14:45 »

Quote from: Icelandic police officer Haraldur Sigurðsson in Alda Sigmundsóttir's ebook "Living Inside the Meltdown"
To serve and protect.

"FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC" ?
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ankhtahr

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #151 on: 07 Nov 2013, 15:50 »

Hehe. Pratchett.
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lepetitfromage

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #152 on: 08 Nov 2013, 09:31 »

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I find it really weird how college football players are kind of celebrities. They’re scrutinized and have fans and do TV interviews, and it just boggles my mind so much. They’re just students that do an extra-curricular activity! I don’t understand.
THIS.

Actually, we're missing the even bigger picture.  High school football players.....

This is very much a regional thing...mostly in the South/Southeast, at least to the level I assume you're talking about (FNL and what have you)

Ugh. High school football is huge around here too- and I'm in NY. There's a big chunk in the newspaper dedicated to high school sports and they are constantly on the local news channels- usually football (especially when my alma mater won the state championship. my god it never ended.*) but Track and Field is pretty big too.

*To be honest, my friends and I were rooting against them because we knew they'd just get even more funding and our crappy little art program would suffer even more. :-(


Stack of Norwegian pancakes

OMG. Those look delicious. Do you have a recipe for them? I know I can just Google but tried and true is the way to go.
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Valdís

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #153 on: 08 Nov 2013, 10:32 »

Yeah, we don't do them American-style here either. I have some sort of jam (Raspberry, strawberry, drottningssylt (half blueberries, half raspberries mix) etc. all work great. As does mashed-apples) and roll them up with it inside. Cutting up bite-sized chunks along it. Yummy. I think drottningssylt ("Queen jam") is my favourite.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #154 on: 08 Nov 2013, 10:47 »

I found this googling 'scandinavian pancakes recipe', but there are several others out there. They're easy to make! Although I have no idea why it's telling you to use lingonberry jam, I've never heard of anyone eating that with pancakes. It's probably just because they're Swedish too, and everything Swedish goes together, right? :roll:

I also find it funny that everything Scandinavian is always called 'Swedish' or 'Danish' something, even when it's not actually Swedish or Danish. Poor Norway, not getting credit for anything.
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Valdís

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #155 on: 08 Nov 2013, 10:51 »

Although I have no idea why it's telling you to use lingonberry jam, I've never heard of anyone eating that with pancakes. It's probably just because they're Swedish too, and everything Swedish goes together, right? :roll:

WTF NO WAY :psyduck:

I also find it funny that everything Scandinavian is always called 'Swedish' or 'Danish' something, even when it's not actually Swedish or Danish. Poor Norway, not getting credit for anything.

Do you have reason to believe they specifically originated in Norway? Not saying they're Swedish, ofc, I just figured that was what non-Americans referred to as pancakes.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #156 on: 08 Nov 2013, 10:57 »

Oh, I meant in general, with the pancakes I have no idea actually.
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GarandMarine

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #157 on: 08 Nov 2013, 10:59 »

Y'all quit callin them thare critters pancakes ya hear? Thems ain't nuthin like a proper flapjack.
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pwhodges

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #158 on: 08 Nov 2013, 11:11 »

Flapjack:



Oats, butter, and honey; baked.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #159 on: 08 Nov 2013, 11:48 »

Thanks, Metope! They do sound pretty easy :-)
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #160 on: 08 Nov 2013, 12:10 »

No problem! Sorry for not giving you a more authentic recipe, but I've actually never made them myself, and the recipe my mother uses is in her head. After googling I realised they're all pretty much the same and it seems accurate compared to the ingredients I've seen on the counter when mom makes them, so I think it's fine.
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Grognard

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #161 on: 08 Nov 2013, 15:25 »

that ain't a flapjack!  that there is crumbcake or coffeecake.
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Method of Madness

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #162 on: 08 Nov 2013, 15:26 »

More like some sort of oatmeal brownie.
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pwhodges

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #163 on: 08 Nov 2013, 16:50 »

Flapjack recipe

I use honey rather than syrup.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #164 on: 08 Nov 2013, 19:03 »

More like some sort of oatmeal brownie.

Without chocolate, the correct term would be "oatmeal blondie."
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Method of Madness

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #165 on: 08 Nov 2013, 19:56 »

That's always sounded odd to me.
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Pilchard123

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #166 on: 09 Nov 2013, 01:24 »

Without chocolate, the correct term would be "oatmeal blondie."

And now I have 'Heart of Glass' stuck in my head.
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pwhodges

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #167 on: 09 Nov 2013, 01:54 »

the correct term would be "oatmeal blondie."

We have our differing "correct" terms on this international forum!  That name's quite appealing, though.
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LookingIn

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #168 on: 09 Nov 2013, 02:07 »

They look a lot like thick, chewy granola bars and are made with just about the same ingredients. Must be how they are brought together and the amounts used that differ, it looks delicious!
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Barmymoo

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #169 on: 09 Nov 2013, 02:51 »

Flapjack is about my favourite thing ever, and I will make some today! I have all the ingredients :) Thanks for the reminder.
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GarandMarine

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #170 on: 09 Nov 2013, 06:47 »

Without chocolate, the correct term would be "oatmeal blondie."

And now I have 'Heart of Glass' stuck in my head.

I'll see your Heart of Glass and raise you a Castle of Glass

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ankhtahr

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #171 on: 09 Nov 2013, 08:13 »

I'd raise you a "Dirty Glass", but I can't find a unblocked video on my mobile internet connection.

Edit:

Nevermind. Found it:
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GarandMarine

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #172 on: 09 Nov 2013, 08:35 »

That song always makes me giggle, my ex-fiancee's name is Darcy.
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bhtooefr

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #173 on: 17 Dec 2013, 03:04 »

I really need to get some international travel in, but I can at least comment on things I find weird about my own country, right?

One issue with the whole sales tax thing is how sales tax is handled. It's not just different counties having different rates, but also different uses of things having different rates.

Some states tax food differently on whether it's hot or cold (hot being prepared, cold being unprepared). Some states tax food differently on whether it's to be consumed on premises or off (Ohio is that way). Some states tax clothing differently on a few different factors. And, then you get into sales tax exemptions for various businesses (kinda like how VAT is passed onto the consumer, but because of how sales tax is collected, you instead get a sales tax exemption at point of sale).

Mind you, I'm opposed to sales tax as a method of collecting the funds for the operation of a government (sin taxes to discourage harmful behavior and compensate for the damage that that behavior causes are fine, though). It's rather regressive, really. But, this is Chatter, not Discuss, so I digress.

One thing I find weird, although it's very much regional... the casual Christianity. The more rural the area, the more you're expected to be Christian (and by that I mean a specific American-centric definition of it), and patterns of speech even center around that faith.
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Method of Madness

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #174 on: 17 Dec 2013, 18:03 »

So glad I live in the godless* northeast.

*Just an expression, of course. We've got plenty of gods up here!
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #175 on: 17 Dec 2013, 20:14 »

Everyone in the states drives all the time, everywhere. I understand why, because everything is incredibly spread out, but it's so weird to me. Especially on the west coast, everything is so wide and vast and open, the roads are so wide and... yeah. My west coast-based boyfriend told me he felt claustrophobic when he visited the UK because everything was so narrow and tiny, but to me this is the norm.

Also I'm 25 and I can't drive, which everyone I know from the states finds really weird.

There's actually quite an interesting story behind why Los Angeles in particular has really shitty public transportation but an infinite number of highways.
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lepetitfromage

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #176 on: 18 Dec 2013, 06:12 »

bhtooefr: Sales tax really is bizarre. The weirdest part about it to me is that it even varies by county. Here in Dutchess county, we pay .125% more than our neighbors in Ulster but they pay a whole percent more than a few other counties.....which I believe are in Western NY.

For the longest time, I remember my parents would take us shopping for school clothes when we went to visit relatives in NJ- no sales tax on clothes there!
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bainidhe_dub

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #177 on: 18 Dec 2013, 06:48 »

Maryland has a week every August when they don't charge sales tax on any clothing item under $100 to encourage people to do school shopping. Otherwise it's 6% on most things except groceries.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #178 on: 18 Dec 2013, 10:58 »

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)


Are you really saying that a bookstore (or clothing store) in the US has no say in how much they charge for a book or an item of clothing? That's not how I thought the free market works, but whatever - surely you know this better than I do. I just would have thought the store buys in stuff at whatever bulk price they can negotiate, and then charge whatever they see fit.

My culture shock things about US (IIRC):
  • You couldn't buy stationery at a mall bookstore (they would advertise marital aids on yellow pages though)
  • You could buy stationery, items of personal hygiene and candy at a pharmacy (aka a drug store)
  • These people actually use bank cheques for paying utility bills and for shopping? Is this like the 70s or something?
  • Why would anyone want to use a credit card? Why run up a debt? Can't you like afford to pay for it right away?
These I learned to live it. I mean, yeah, things don't work quite the same way all over the globe. So?

The thing I never learned to accomodate for in the US: the overwhelming desire of the people to keep indoor temperature between 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit. Goddammit. It's 90 degrees out, and I am dressing accordingly. I don't want to catch a flu for needing to stand in the line in a bank or while shopping groceries. Cool it to make it manageable if you must, but make it like 75 or something that's still warm. The same thing every single year - the first week on the Western side of the pond I came down with a flu because of this.

Is their a moral to all this? Wherever you go, people usually have a reason to doing things the way they do them. The reason is often not visible to a casual visitor, and may be connected to other local solutions in unexpected ways. It may depend on the problem having appeared in slightly different historical setting. Assuming that the locals are just weird is natural and human, but won't give you much understanding.
« Last Edit: 18 Dec 2013, 11:06 by Skewbrow »
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94ssd

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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #179 on: 18 Dec 2013, 13:25 »

Are you really saying that a bookstore (or clothing store) in the US has no say in how much they charge for a book or an item of clothing? That's not how I thought the free market works,

Welcome to corporate America. If it's a chain store, it receives the item in bulk and is told what price to sell it for. There is very little room for variation. Price setting is generally done by regional managers rather than by the managers of individual stores, who, by the way, are given lengthy instructions on how to deal with every situation and would be fired if they deviated from them.

Quote
You couldn't buy stationery at a mall bookstore (they would advertise marital aids on yellow pages though)
Generally a bookstore means what it says, it sells books. Print shops are considered a separate entity.
 
Quote
You could buy stationery, items of personal hygiene and candy at a pharmacy (aka a drug store)
I've always thought having food, drinks, etc. at pharmacies was weird, but I thought it was normal to have hygiene stuff there.

Quote
These people actually use bank cheques for paying utility bills and for shopping? Is this like the 70s or something?
I do most transactions through debit/credit card, but that's not always a possibility, especially if paying rent or at a lot of local shops. I loathe carrying around large amounts of money, it makes me nervous.

Quote
Why would anyone want to use a credit card? Why run up a debt? Can't you like afford to pay for it right away?
Two reasons. First is that people are tricked by too-good-to-be-true "free" cards and low rates, but fail to consider hidden fees. Second is because credit is king. If you don't build up and maintain good credit, you may find yourself unable to buy a car or home, or take out any sort of loan. I use my credit card for things I know I can pay for so that I can establish good credit.

Maryland has a week every August when they don't charge sales tax on any clothing item under $100 to encourage people to do school shopping. Otherwise it's 6% on most things except groceries.

North Carolina had this, but "low-tax" McCrory has gotten rid of it and raised the sales tax as part of an overall scheme to collect most of the states sales revenue through sales, rather than income, tax. What this actually amounts to is a regressive tax on the poor for their basic goods and services.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #180 on: 18 Dec 2013, 13:33 »

If you don't build up and maintain good credit, you may find yourself unable to buy a car or home, or take out any sort of loan.

Surely this is only true if you are intending to buy the car or house on credit?
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #181 on: 18 Dec 2013, 13:47 »

In some circumstances and places it could harm your credit rating for a check for renting, for instance; sad but true.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #182 on: 18 Dec 2013, 14:22 »

Weird. Surely you can build up a good credit check by simply having a small overdraft though? I don't understand how USA bank accounts work to be honest - I kept being asked whether I wanted to use credit or debit when I was there. Here, you have either a credit card or a debit card, at least as far as I know.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #183 on: 18 Dec 2013, 14:43 »

In Britain we have separate cards for each account; in many other countries, a bank will issue one card that can be used for multiple accounts of different kinds - hence the question.

Surely you can build up a good credit check by simply having a small overdraft though?

Depends on your viewpoint; an overdraft may be seen as irresponsible, whereas using (and paying up to date) a credit card shows responsibility - of a kind. (Not saying I agree with the logic; but I can see what's in their minds.)
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #184 on: 18 Dec 2013, 14:44 »

Are you really saying that a bookstore (or clothing store) in the US has no say in how much they charge for a book or an item of clothing? That's not how I thought the free market works,

Welcome to corporate America. If it's a chain store, it receives the item in bulk and is told what price to sell it for. There is very little room for variation. Price setting is generally done by regional managers rather than by the managers of individual stores, who, by the way, are given lengthy instructions on how to deal with every situation and would be fired if they deviated from them.

Quote
You couldn't buy stationery at a mall bookstore (they would advertise marital aids on yellow pages though)
Generally a bookstore means what it says, it sells books. Print shops are considered a separate entity.
 
Quote
You could buy stationery, items of personal hygiene and candy at a pharmacy (aka a drug store)
I've always thought having food, drinks, etc. at pharmacies was weird, but I thought it was normal to have hygiene stuff there.

Quote
These people actually use bank cheques for paying utility bills and for shopping? Is this like the 70s or something?
I do most transactions through debit/credit card, but that's not always a possibility, especially if paying rent or at a lot of local shops. I loathe carrying around large amounts of money, it makes me nervous.

Quote
Why would anyone want to use a credit card? Why run up a debt? Can't you like afford to pay for it right away?
Two reasons. First is that people are tricked by too-good-to-be-true "free" cards and low rates, but fail to consider hidden fees. Second is because credit is king. If you don't build up and maintain good credit, you may find yourself unable to buy a car or home, or take out any sort of loan. I use my credit card for things I know I can pay for so that I can establish good credit.

Well. I later learned that all this is how things are done in the US. Fine. That was exactly the culture shock part.

I later got one "preapproved" credit card application turned down, basically because I had paid for my car by a bank cheque (not sure what it was called), i.e. in cash. I was mildly miffed because the campaign letter was specifically targeting graduate students soon getting their PhDs. And I was brought up believing (and still believe) that it is more fiscally responsible to pay for something like a car then and there as opposed to going into debt. If the credit company disagrees, I look elsewhere. I only had a credit card for my last 4 months in the US. At that time I held a postdoc position at MSRI (Berkeley, CA), and was paid enough to satisfy the credit company without any credit history.

So how are things run here:
  • utility bills and such: I make a deal with the power company/phone company/newspaper/whatnot and the bank. They can charge my bank account directly. To cater for the eventuality that I want to challenge the bill, they need to mail me a copy of the bill in advance. That has recently been replaced by a messenging system with the websystem of the bank.
  • Shopping, groceries, gas, whatever. I use my charge card for everything (it is actually a combination charge/credit card). Most of the stores have on-line connection to a server verifying that my account has sufficient funds. EU recently forced some changes to the system (for the worse as usual), and a charge card is now called a debit card. If stores don't have on-line connection you need to sign an invoice slip, and they need to wait for their money a day or two.
And I'm not saying that the US would not have had the technology to do the same in the 80s. There must have been powerful reasons, why that was not done. Inertia - probably. My pet theory is that a big part was played by the fact that banking sector in the US is/was very splintered. Comes with the size of the country, really. Finland is small. We had four nationwide chains of banks. So it was easier for them to agree on a standard interface for all the needed transactions, and it gained momentum. But EU managed to do the same 20 years later, so size is no longer an explanation. Do you guys still pay for phone bills by mailing checks?

Oh. One thing. In last century you couldn't buy liquor or drinks with a credit card at all here. The eagle eye of we the people was trying (in vain) to guide us to responsible consumption of alcohol, and running up a debt while drinking was a no-no :-D. The EU changed that, too (for the better?)

Here, you have either a credit card or a debit card, at least as far as I know.
Strange. I have always held a combocard. But I only use the credit side, when buying things from the internet or travelling. Actually I think I might be able to use it as a debit card in Sweden also, because my bank is a Swe/Fin-merger.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #185 on: 18 Dec 2013, 14:51 »

Some cards can be run different ways. It's not accessing multiple accounts, but a debit card or credit card processes differently. Some people have a preference as to how it's run.

For me I actually specifically bought my car on credit and make regular small credit card purchases and pay it off in a timely manner to keep my credit high.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #186 on: 18 Dec 2013, 14:55 »

Presumably you wouldn't need to do that if it weren't for the fact that having a "good credit rating" is seen as a positive? If the culture were that it's better to pay for things with money you actually have, right now, then there would be no need to build up a good credit rating.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #187 on: 18 Dec 2013, 15:05 »

So how are things run here:

For utilities and the like in Britain we can either set up a Standing Order (the bank pays the amount we have specified, on a cycle we specify) or a Direct Debit (the utility takes the money required, possibly up to a maximum - but I'm not sure about that).  It's possible to set up a Direct Debit (different name I can't remember) from a credit card - but this is very dangerous indeed, because there is no protection if they go on taking money when you ask them to stop (cc companies have even been known to reanimate closed accounts to pay a demand of this kind).

In my experience debit cards and charge cards are different: debit cards have direct access to your current account (checking account I believe some people call it), whereas a charge card takes the money at the end of the month, but does not allow extended credit (e.g., in Britain at least, classic Amex and Diners cards - though Amex now do separate credit cards).  My debit card links to the Visa system, and so works in most of the world (I've used it in cash machines around Europe and the US, as well as in Russia, China, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka...); it charges a fee for cash withdrawals abroad (not at home), but less than any of my credit cards (one Visa and one Mastercard, in case I have to have the right sort somewhere).

In Britain any debit or credit card will work in any machine - but I know that in some countries, cash machines will only handle matching cards.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #188 on: 18 Dec 2013, 15:10 »

In the US, when you get the choice of processing a debit card (which is connected to funds you already have) as credit or debit, this is what it means:

Credit means that it's being processed through Visa or MasterCard's network, you use a signature to verify who you are (above a certain amount), and the retailer pays the transaction fees.

Debit means that it's being processed through a debit network (Pulse, NYCE, MAC, Tyme, SHAZAM, and STAR are the examples that Wikipedia gives), you use a PIN (no chip) to verify who you are (always, not just above a certain amount), you can also request cash back above the amount of the transaction, and your bank (which may choose to pass them onto you) pays the transaction fees.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #189 on: 18 Dec 2013, 15:44 »

Weird. Surely you can build up a good credit check by simply having a small overdraft though?

It's much cheaper for me to make credit card payments (since I limit what I pay for with it) than it is to pay overdraft fees at my bank, which are pretty steep.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #190 on: 18 Dec 2013, 15:47 »

Also, you can build credit by paying off cards before the interest charges ever hit, too.

And, credit checks also affect employment opportunities, even.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #191 on: 18 Dec 2013, 15:53 »

Credit means that it's being processed through Visa or MasterCard's network, you use a signature to verify who you are (above a certain amount), and the retailer pays the transaction fees.

We don't use signatures any more unless the machine is broken, but the rest is the same here, except a UK credit card withdraws money from a completely separate account whose balance (usually) only goes negative (a loan account, in effect), and you then repay in part or in whole from the positive balance in your current account. 

When you use a credit card for actual extended credit, where does money that come from? - or can't you carry credit over like we can (which would sound like my description of a charge card)?
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #192 on: 18 Dec 2013, 16:14 »

If you use a credit card, that is extended credit, and you either pay for it by the end of the month, or you get charged interest. (And then you have American Express, which was purely a "charge card", where the balance simply had to be paid by the end of the month, but I believe they do have credit options now. And Discover is the fourth major credit/charge card network.)

If you process a debit card as a credit card, that is not extended credit, it just processes through the credit network.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #193 on: 18 Dec 2013, 16:38 »

If you process a debit card as a credit card, that is not extended credit, it just processes through the credit network.

Ah, right.  That's different then from some European cards (I believe) which can actually operate multiple accounts.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #194 on: 18 Dec 2013, 19:41 »

Also, you can build credit by paying off cards before the interest charges ever hit, too.

And, credit checks also affect employment opportunities, even.

I just got a letter saying that my car insurance premiums were lowered slightly because of a positive credit check that was done on me. Granted, they're also going up significantly because of an accident I had. But the credit thing will definitely help.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #195 on: 18 Dec 2013, 23:35 »

Ok- enough of my culture shock, thanks for the bits. For a change of beat here are a number of things that positively surprised me about the US. Again, this is all thru the eyes of an impecunious grad student, i.e. one who stayed longer than an accidental tourist, did a fair share of travelling, but never had to lead the life of a "normal" adult. Some of these have been covered earlier, but are worth repeating.
  • [Homer Simpson voice]Mmm. Waffle House.[/Homer Simpson voice] Decent breakfast can be had anywhere on the British Isles as well, but Italy? or France?
  • Motel 6. If you plan a roadtrip in these parts, it is kinda iffy. There are some motels, but they are too close to the price range of a hotel. And they don't form nationwide chains, so finding information about them is a lot harder. The network of motels in the US is very convenient.
  • Interstate highway system. May be a German would be less impressed, but that really works (NYC is admittedly a bit of a problem). Start from Northern Indiana. Three turns and you are, well, wherever you wanted to be. A recollection: the series of "official" postcards titled "Picturesque Indiana" has one with a photo of cars driving on I-80.
  • Price of gasoline. My first encounter with this was when I visited Texas with my Yugoslavian house mate. It's just... if you complain about it, don't expect sympathy from me :-)
  • Rain checks. I had been so used to the special discount offers by grocery stores coming with a small print "max 2 per household, while supplies last" that I had stopped looking for it. What's more, in the US you don't have to ask whether all the discount price coffee is gone. A cashier girl will give you a rain check without asking.
« Last Edit: 19 Dec 2013, 04:43 by Skewbrow »
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #196 on: 19 Dec 2013, 03:19 »


You could buy stationery, items of personal hygiene and candy at a pharmacy (aka a drug store)

That is also partially true for Germany. A well-sorted pharmacy (Apotheke) will usually carry drugs, the most basic items of hygiene (like soap), first aid stuff,  pregnancy tests, sometimes herbal teas and cough drops and similar candy that is generally thought to be "more healthy", but probably isn't. Also sometimes measuring devices for blood pressure and the like.

Most pharmacies will also have bathroom scales which you can use for free (most people don't use them, but it's traditional to have them).

They also have condoms.

I have seen them carry sex toys "novelty personal massaging devices" in the Netherlands.

A drug store (Drogerie) on the other hand will carry everything of the above, minus the drugs, plus umbrellas, toothbrushes, a broad choice of shampoos, makeup, perfume, hair color etcpp. A sample can be seen here. You are unlikely to get any of these in a Apotheke.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #197 on: 19 Dec 2013, 05:04 »

Weird. Surely you can build up a good credit check by simply having a small overdraft though?

It's much cheaper for me to make credit card payments (since I limit what I pay for with it) than it is to pay overdraft fees at my bank, which are pretty steep.

Ah yes, I forgot to clarify I was talking about interest-free overdrafts. Mine is £500 but I could extend it to £2500 if I wanted. I do not want.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #198 on: 19 Dec 2013, 07:02 »

How does that work? Is it like the credit card Paul was describing? In the US I'm only familiar with 'overdraft' as a negative thing - you tried to charge for more than you have in your checking account, and the bank let the transaction go through but then you owe for the balance of the charge plus a penalty around $35. You can end up with multiple overdraft charges and a big negative balance in your checking account if you don't realize and do a couple transactions when you have insufficient funds. $40 Slurpees are the tastiest.

You can get 'overdraft protection' where it will pull the balance from your savings account instead, but banking regulations limit you to 6 withdrawals from a savings account each month. My credit union handles that by only letting you do 6. BofA converts your savings account into another checking account if you're considered to be treating it like one.
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Re: What seemed weird when I visited your country
« Reply #199 on: 19 Dec 2013, 07:08 »

Basically, I have a current account (and a debit card - a pot of money which doesn't earn any interest that I use to pay my rent, regular payments to charities, buy things etc, all the day to day expenses, and it's where my income gets paid into as well) but if my balance hits £0 then I can spend a further £500 for free, and the next time I get some money paid in, it will repay that borrowed money first. It's kind of like credit, except that there's no time limit on when I have to pay it back and no interest is charged.

It's a typical arrangement for students, because student finance is paid rather weirdly and it's hard to juggle monthly outgoings against an income which arrives in three, non-evenly spaced dollops. Also because normally, being a student is the first time you have to pay your own bills and people are learning how to do that. I'm not looking forward to the point at which my interest-free overdraft dries up (two years away from now) because I'll have to keep a closer eye on my finances. I think it is possible to get an interest-free or very low interest overdraft on non-student accounts too but most people just use credit cards instead. I'm hoping I'll not need either but that's probably a little optimistic.
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