[monkbroc]

Moving Day is an example of something I thought was normal but only realized was a local custom when I moved to another country.

Frozen thinly-sliced fondue meat (beef, pork, turkey) being available at any grocery store was another one. Fondue in a pot of beef broth is a popular dish for dinner parties in Québec since it scales no matter how many guests you have and each guest can eat however much or little they want. In the US the closest I can find is beef bulgogi from a Korean grocery store.

What are some examples of things you thought were "normal" until you moved elsewhere?

[stevekemp]

>What are some examples of things you thought were "normal" until you moved elsewhere?

Where I come from, the UK, all the entrances to your house, your flat, and shops that don't have automatic/sliding doors would open _inwards_. You'd push a door to enter. Now I live in Finland an doors open outwards.

There are a ton of tiny differences I've noticed since moving from the UK to Finland, another example would be that light-switches turn on/off in the opposite direction to that I'd expect.

That said though I've started taking a lot of these things for granted now, so it is actually quite hard to think of more examples!

One thing I'll never take for granted is that the majority of flats here in Helsinki have their laundry-machines in the bathroom. In the UK the washing-machine would ALWAYS be in the kitchen, or in a dedicated laundry area if the house was large/modern enough.

(Also the UK would have all rooms of a house be carpetted, barring a reasonably modern trend of solid-wooden floors. In Finland houses are universally carpet-free, although people frequently use rugs.)

[kekeblom]

It’s actually fire safety code in Finland that doors have to open outwards. It should be easier to evacuate the building in case of a panic.

You might still find old buildings where this is not true and they probably just predate the regulation.

[bodas]

It's also for fire safety reasons that doors open inwards in the UK. It means that the door can't be blocked from the outside.

[wyattpeak]

What an interesting contrast. I wonder if there's some regional difference in behaviour, or if it's just a case of mandating something which seems superficially beneficial.

[bodas]

To be clear, if it's an emergency door in a large building where a crush could occur, it will open outwards. But most residential buildings aren't big enough to require that, except for large tower blocks.

[Zenst]

Which makes sense, until you get to fire-exit doors in the UK, which all open outwards in work buildings, which they have to by law if the building contains a certain number of people. Hence many small shops/offices will have exceptions.

But a whole myriad of rules: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-appro...

[popman]

The UK seems to expect people to panic less in case of a fire, I suppose.

[amelius]

Did they measure the effect of the regulation?

[bencoder]

Also from the UK, and lived in Finland for a year. This surprised me massively when I moved considering the possibility of the door being blocked by snow on the outside.

You also get the great drying cupboards above sinks (and correspondingly, kitchen sinks without a window directly above them)

[justsomedude43]

I believe having a washing machine in the kitchen is a British thing. I've never ever seen anyone do that and I've been to quite a few EU countries.

[dagw]

I've lived in a couple of flats in Sweden that did it that way, mainly because the bathrooms are so small there is no space there for a washing machine.

Although by far the most common solution is to have no washing machine in the flat and a shared washing machine in the basement

[astura]

Many Americans have washing machine in the kitchen, especially in older and smaller apartments.

[alister]

In Montreal, people line up in a neat straight long single file to board a bus, or for other kinds of queues. In many other parts of Canada/US, people either huddle around the entrance ready to push in or reluctantly make a disorganized line.

Switching to Brazil, I have a long list of things that people from the US or Canada would think of as normal, but don't exist in Brazil or are very rare (like garburators, limousines, and bathtubs -- not kidding about bathtubs!):

http://brazilsense.com/index.php?title=Common_in_the_USA_and...

[cwe]

This doesn’t seem to apply at busy metro stations, sadly

[miguelrochefort]

Brits to the same.

[clearly]

We will queue for anything. However we won’t generally complain openly if someone jumps the line... just mutter under our breath.

[evincarofautumn]

Well I only moved across the country (NH to CA), so the biggest differences I’ve noticed have been in dialect and food.

People think I’m quaint for using “wicked” as an adverb here, but the local “hella” is both less emphatic and used slightly differently. And my accent probably comes off as “old-fashioned”.

Part of it is just moving from a rural area to a suburban one, but at least among my friends & family back home, it was pretty normal to make a whole meal, or a substantial part of it, from home-grown, homemade, wild-caught, or foraged foods. I would’ve expected to see more of that here in CA considering its agricultural fertility, but I have to go out of my way to visit farmer’s markets or “localvore” restaurants. In New England it was just around—my family would grow/make/catch/find/harvest stuff and swap it with friends, neighbors, and coworkers. You knew someone who kept chickens, so you’d take some eggs off their hands so they wouldn’t go to waste; your garden produced far too many green beans, so you’d give them away—that sort of thing.

[function_seven]

> but the local “hella” is both less emphatic and used slightly differently.

So you're in Northern CA, I take it? In Southern California, “hella” is widely mocked. Regional differences are quite fractal :)

[evincarofautumn]

Yeah, SF bay area, although I didn’t actually hear “hella” that much until I started spending time in Reno, NV, where my partner is from. Most of my coworkers have been from elsewhere in the country & world.

[verelo]

So I live in Canada, but grew up in Australia. In Canada, you inherit the fridge and washer/dryer of the apartment when you move in. Back in Australia, fridges and washer/dryers are often things you need to bring along on your own. They're big items, I much prefer them coming with the property (if they don't suck, which in places I've lived, often they have!)

[Declanomous]

I visited a friend who had moved to Europe when I was in high school. I was astounded when I learned that German apartments came with no appliances, and if I recall correctly, things like counters were also brought with.

It makes sense if you are planning on living somewhere for a long time, but it blew my mind. In my experience people didn't even move their appliances when they sold their house and moved to a new one.

[raverbashing]

Yeah, everything in Germany seems to be set so that you don't move (and I'm not just talking about houses, but pretty much every other type of contract) for a long time.

Also for some reason they love integrated appliances. It seems their biggest fear is someone walking into their kitchen and finding a fridge there.

[rerx]

In German cities with tense housing markets you are usually required to buy off the kitchen furniture and appliances from the previous tenant, who usually overcharges insanely. Otherwise you would just not be forwarded to the landlord.

Also, these days a nice kitchen is an important status symbol for when you have guests over. So many Germans prefer to get new and personalized kitchen equipment when they move in. Knowing of course that later they will be able to sell it at little loss.

[swimfar]

Kitchen cabinets and all the light fixtures too.

[richardw]

That sounds crazy. Can you bring kitchen cabinets with you, or are they re-installed brand new each time you move?

If the latter, sounds like good business for installers!

Is there a rationale or just habit?

[turbinerneiter]

It's not a general thing.

My place had a kitchen with fridge when I moved in. A lot of places on the market now have too. New and renovated places often don't have a kitchen, but there are some that do. When you rent a place that had a former Tennant you often buy the installed kitchen from them.

That's the situation I experienced in Munich since 2009 - may be different in other places and may be changing from how it was before.

There is definitely a growing amount of places coming with a complete set of furniture - but that's just a trick to increase rent. It circumvents a law that regulates how much more expensive you can make a place for a new Tennant. Everybody hates those places.

[eecc]

Agreed... I got screwed in Amsterdam over that. In NL you can lease the furniture for 20% it’s value yearly - and the actual contract was worded such that the furniture should have been Vitsoe collection rather than IKEA. The worst was that the landlord couldn’t be bothered to fix isolation and the boiler thermostat because we’d be paying for the energy regardless; the final settlement was brutal (always take over the energy contracts, always.)

[verelo]

Wow, wild. On the plus side i bet IKEA is killing it on the kitchen sales.

[hocuspocus]

Newer apartments these days come with a kitchen, especially in areas where people move frequently.

But even with a kitchen, apartments are very bare indeed, no built-in cabinets or wardrobes, no curtain roads, ...

[markc]

>things like counters were also brought with.

Are you from the midwest? This construction seems to be regional. Say this in much of the country and they'll wait expectantly for you to finish your sentence.

[rmccue]

> Back in Australia, fridges and washer/dryers are often things you need to bring along on your own.

Note though that a lot of apartments come with dryers. Apartment buildings' bylaws often preventing hanging washing on balconies, so I suspect they're legally required to offer an alternative.

[verelo]

Interesting! I’m not shocked to hear it, as an owner of a unit i wouldn’t want people banging up walls with these items every time they move.

[grecy]

I'm an Aussie also living in Canada. Out of curiosity, where are you? I'm in Whitehorse. Every time I go back to Australia it feels dull in comparison to Western Canada.

[verelo]

Toronto, and agreed. Although I’m shocked to hear Whitehorse isn’t dull. Where were you in Australia?

[strayamaaate]

Another Aussie in Toronto. I’ve found the driving here quite a contrast to back home. Drivers tend to veer all over the road, and don’t really indicate. Love the relatively small number of speed cameras though, Australia is getting a bit out of control with the whole multinova thing.

[grecy]

Was in Melbourne.

I have never found anywhere more exciting than Whitehorse on the planet - IF you LOVE the outdoors. It's paradise.

[zmk_]

In the Netherlands you are often expected to remove/install floor when you move. Also, interestingly, no warm water in toilets in there either. The weirdest discrepancy between US/Can and Europe is the amount of water in and the size of toilets.

[stevesimmons]

Design of toilets especially... The traditional Dutch toilet bowl has an inspection platform at the back that your poo lands on... [1].

Whereas American toilets have huge bowls full of water so whatever you excrete bobs around disconcertingly close to where you are sitting!

[1] https://www.expatica.com/nl/insider-views/Everything-you-nev...

[kiallmacinnes]

I've seen these in Germany. I had no idea what it was for at first!

Surprisingly, it remains clean once flushed - which I had serious doubts about when I first saw it!

[verelo]

Install floor? Like, carpet or hard wood? This seems like a lot of work.

[evandijk70]

It is, takes about a weekend with two people. But it is compensated by renter's protection, so almost every lease in the Netherlands is permanent, even if the owner sells the house. Typically, people stay in a rental for quite a while.

[verelo]

Seems you get similar protections to what we get in Ontario.

[rixed]

Hard wood, tiles... Anything until you reach the concrete.

[nhf]

If your area has a Chinatown or large Chinese grocer, you can get your fondue meat by asking for "hotpot meat" there.

[xiaq]

Funnily enough, “cheese hotpot” is exactly how many Chinese call fondues.

[ghshephard]

Singapore - No hot water in kitchens. I thought I just had a weird apartment, but everyone swears, that outside of a few expat focussed house/apartments, 90+% of the country doesn't have hot water in the kitchen.

[Sytten]

I feel you (from Quebec too, working abroad). The thing that shocked me the most in europe is the lack of facial tissues, cleaning stuff and many other things we generally have in the pharmacies.

[NicoJuicy]

Why would you need facial tissues from a pharmacy?

[SerLava]

For blowing your nose because you have a cold.

In North America there's more space, and I think pharmacies are larger. The European pharmacies I've seen would have had to ditch 5% of their medications if they wanted to make space for a shelf of tissue boxes.

[Slartie]

I'm speaking of Germany, but I think it is similar in other European countries. We consider a pharmacy to solely be a place to get medicine from, which is not allowed to be sold in other kinds of stores. They are usually located in smaller buildings where there is not much space to sell anything else (at least nothing big; most have some non-medicine but body-related products taking little space).

The "pharmacies" that are actually middle-sized grocery stores with a medicine counter used to baffle me a lot for the first times I was in the US. It felt really weird to go there not needing any medicine, just to buy drinks or food.

[taejo]

To me it's the German drogerien ("drugstores") are weird :) They focus on health and hygiene related products, but don't have a pharmacy counter.

[Slartie]

Indeed, if they had a pharmacy counter, where one could get prescription medicine, they would be pretty close to the American pharmacies. I never thought about that...

I think the reason why they don't is that pharmacies are pretty strictly regulated in Germany. They must be directly owned and supervised by a licensed pharmacist, and a single pharmacist may only own a small number of them (something like 3 or 4, a small number so he actually has a chance of supervising them personally). This prevents "chain pharmacies" from operating here, but it's probably also a huge hurdle when it comes to chain-style drugstores wanting to operate a pharmacy section - I guess the entire drugstore would either have to be owned by a pharmacist in that case, or the pharmacy would have to be operated as a separate entity (with a separate checkout process) inside of the same building, which is something that is pretty frequently seen in German shopping malls or those mall-like sections in front of big grocery superstores where smaller merchants can rent shop space.

[SerLava]

Yes we still have independent pharmacies that are medicine only, but a very large portion of them have been superceded by Walgreens and CVS which are 60% pharmacy/health and 40% a convenience store.

It is quite nice to pick up a can of soup and some orange juice while you're buying decongestants and whatever else. This model is better for the rural and spread-out US where everything is so far apart.

[NicoJuicy]

Local stores sell tissues, even paper ones.

But a pharmacy is for medication. Tissues aren't medication, can't be predescribed by a doctor and can't be ingested.

It's also not created by a health company, it's not required to be sterilised, ... In the end, you can even use toilet paper, if you have no tissues and it will make no difference.

[evandijk70]

Renter's protection. Any lease in the Netherlands was permanent until the renter left. Most still are. Living 30 years in the same rental is not exceptional.

[jdeibele]

Does the rent go up or is it fixed?

[saalweachter]

The small city I grew up around has a weeklong street festival that is a primary fundraiser for all charitable groups within 50 miles - every church and marching band and sports club political group has a food booth, Boy Scouts sell parking, etc. Move away and get confused at everyone having these small anemic standalone pancake breakfasts and ice cream socials, find out the Fall Festival is like the second biggest street fair in the US after Mardi Gras.

[wj]

My wife grew up in St. Louis and assumed that basically all white people were Catholic and that you have to tell a joke to get candy when you are going door to door on Halloween.

[cperciva]

Looking out the window and seeing trees and mountains.

[popman]

Jaywalking isn't a thing here. You can just walk across any road that's not a motorway, as long as you don't get hit by anything. Same with Simple trespass. Although that's the case in a lot of places.

[sametmax]

Having decent bread at any corner of a street.

All movies are dubbed.

Only cops have weapons.

On the road, roundabouts have only one way.

You have an old money and a new money and you need to help old people with it.

Pubs and restautants should give you free water.

[walrus01]

People thanking the public transit bus driver in Vancouver.

[NicoJuicy]

We Belgians have a "washandje" to wash our face with it.

You can stick your hand in it and use it.

It's not known anywhere else and we actually laugh with it :p

[NSSec]

Sorry buddy, us dutchies got them too. Also, I think 'wascloths' aren't as special as you think.

[NicoJuicy]

Yeah, Dutch too, that's correct. But almost nowhere else

[miguelrochefort]

- Cheese curds being available at any grocery store.

- Bagged milk

- Ketchup chips

[glandium]

In France, school year starts in September and ends in June.

[mavhc]

Isn't starting in September common?

[glandium]

Err somehow I thought the US was like Japan, which it is not. But Japan is April to March.

[guiomie]

I had fondue in Los Gatos, and the meat what in cubes, cubes!!!!