the USA as a foreign country

[deird1]

dr_carrot is visiting America for the first time, and has many observations, for those who are interested...

I do find it funny that, when going to a foreign country, you expect all the big things - but get totally taken aback by all the little things that never occurred to you could be different. Because... they're done the way we do them. Why would anyone do them differently?

Hence my impression of Germany has very little to do with Matters Of International Importance, and a lot to do with the toilets and the way they close their windows.

Comments

[slaymesoftly]

That was interesting and fun. I remember feeling somewhat the same way when we went to the UK. It's the little stuff that surprises you. :)

[fenchurch]

Oh man, I have to totally agree with that, having been to Australia, the UK and even Canada. It helped a bit that when we were in Australia, we were staying with friends, so they were able to help us acclimate, but still...

It's also one of the reasons I love going to grocery stores whenever I'm in another country, because there's quite a bit that's the same on the surface, but the more you look, the more differences you can see (we actually plan trips up across the border to Canada just to stock up on Canadian grocery items a few times a year).

And funny you should mention toilets, because that was the big one that tripped us up when we were in Australia. Being American, we would ask about the restroom or the bathroom... which apparently comes across as a bit stodgy or stuffy to Australians, while toilet to us generally means just the porcelain thing that one would find in a restroom! And after a bit, we started asking for the washroom... which probably just shows how confused our brains were getting (and was probably due in part to our regular Canada trips).

BTW, I found it interesting how many things dr_carrot mentioned that aren't true about other parts of the US... things can vary by region here almost as much as they do by country.

[deird1]

And funny you should mention toilets, because that was the big one that tripped us up when we were in Australia. Being American, we would ask about the restroom or the bathroom... which apparently comes across as a bit stodgy or stuffy to Australians, while toilet to us generally means just the porcelain thing that one would find in a restroom!

Heh. Yes - it's even more problematic in the houses where the toilet is in a different room to the bathroom. Americans asking for the bathroom will end up in a place with a bath and shower, but no loo...

[brin_bellway]

There's a convention for which side of the sidewalk you pass fellow pedestrians on? I don't think I habitually do it a particular way. I wonder if I've been confusing people all this time whenever I happen to choose the left. (I generally pick a side as soon as I see a person walking the other direction, so they have plenty of time to go to the other side even if it isn't what they'd normally do.)
I don't think of escalators as being organised a particular way, either. If they are, I haven't noticed.

As for accents, I once asked a Tim Hortons employee if a "chocolate glazed donut" was a plain donut with chocolate coating or chocolate all the way though. She found it so obvious she was too confused by my asking to answer. (It turned out to be chocolate all the way through.) I realised shortly thereafter I probably should have found an excuse to say "process" (or rather prah-cess) so she could recognise me as a clueless American.

(we actually plan trips up across the border to Canada just to stock up on Canadian grocery items a few times a year)

I just did a similar trip in reverse. Mmm, Cheez-Its...

[deird1]

I don't think of escalators as being organised a particular way, either. If they are, I haven't noticed.

Here, the escalator you want to take is almost always on the left (with the right one coming towards you). And, at least on busy city escalators, all the stationary passengers will stay on the left so that people running to catch a train can sprint past on the right...

[dr_carrot]

I would never have realised that escalators were organised until I went some -where it was different to normal!

[brin_bellway]

And, at least on busy city escalators, all the stationary passengers will stay on the left so that people running to catch a train can sprint past on the right...

Now that rule, I have heard of, and it is indeed reversed.

[bobthemole]

My first month in the US I almost got run over by a pack of skaters because I was instinctively walking along the left side of a promenade instead of the right. If they hadn't yelled at me, I might still be doing it "wrong".

I noticed at my university that if I'm walking through a corridor, turn a blind corner and bump into someone, more often than not it'll be an international student I run into. And they'll be following the left wall instead of the right.


I'm curious now. How DO Germans close their windows.

[deird1]

German windows - or, at least, every single window that I encountered in Bavaria - have handles that, when closed, point downwards.

When you turn the handle to be horizontal, you can swing the window open from one side.

And then, if you close the window and turn the handle again to point upward, the window will open from the top - but it will only open a few inches, so you can get fresh air without technically having an "open" window.

They were rather nifty, all in all.

[stormwreath]

Hmm. In London, you always stand on the right of the escalator, leaving the left side free for people in a hurry to walk. So we're different to you there. And on the other hand, the escalator you want to take is usually the one on the left, at least on the Underground.

I'm confused. :)

[curiouswombat]

Gosh - I hadn't thought of there being too few pedestrian crossings in the US - or them being silent - meep!