Homesick for Hamburgers
December 17, 2018 1:11 PM Subscribe
Tell me about things in other countries that are different than in the United States. Asking about things specifically, not politics, and also, not about the people themselves.
I was reading descriptions and reviews on Amazon about buckwheat pillows, and many people mentioned that they first used them in Japan. I realized that though I have heard many people tell me about travelling to Japan and about things like the trains, how polite everyone is, etc, not one person mentioned using these pillows. This applies to other descriptions of travel in faraway places that people tell me about. They tell me all about the big or noteworthy things - but not very much about the little things. Reader, this is my question. In your travels, what are little things you have encountered that are different than one experiences in the United States? Little tiny things that seem unimportant or uninteresting. (Tipping does not count as "uninteresting" - everyone mentions it. As they do bidets.) One example, which I've seen here on AskMe, is that in London there are no plugs inside the bathroom. Two more examples: firstly, when I was travelling in Italy, I bought a hairdryer, and it was missing the ubiquitous safety tag found on every hairdryer I've ever owned in the United States, which (almost) made me scared to use it. (Silly - it's just a tag, right?) Secondly, also while in Italy, I watched as study-abroad students became very, uh, despondent, for lack of a better word, in a restaurant in Florence, because there were no ice cubes in their water, and because they were homesick for hamburgers, the former of which was immediately resolveable, the latter, well, not so much. Et cetera. I am asking because I like to be accurate and detailed in my writing, and also because these things just plain interest me. I am asking with the utmost respect and interest. Much obliged!
I was reading descriptions and reviews on Amazon about buckwheat pillows, and many people mentioned that they first used them in Japan. I realized that though I have heard many people tell me about travelling to Japan and about things like the trains, how polite everyone is, etc, not one person mentioned using these pillows. This applies to other descriptions of travel in faraway places that people tell me about. They tell me all about the big or noteworthy things - but not very much about the little things. Reader, this is my question. In your travels, what are little things you have encountered that are different than one experiences in the United States? Little tiny things that seem unimportant or uninteresting. (Tipping does not count as "uninteresting" - everyone mentions it. As they do bidets.) One example, which I've seen here on AskMe, is that in London there are no plugs inside the bathroom. Two more examples: firstly, when I was travelling in Italy, I bought a hairdryer, and it was missing the ubiquitous safety tag found on every hairdryer I've ever owned in the United States, which (almost) made me scared to use it. (Silly - it's just a tag, right?) Secondly, also while in Italy, I watched as study-abroad students became very, uh, despondent, for lack of a better word, in a restaurant in Florence, because there were no ice cubes in their water, and because they were homesick for hamburgers, the former of which was immediately resolveable, the latter, well, not so much. Et cetera. I am asking because I like to be accurate and detailed in my writing, and also because these things just plain interest me. I am asking with the utmost respect and interest. Much obliged!
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is chatfilter, sorry. -- restless_nomad
Ha, the first thing that came to mind was the ice situation. In many countries, restaurants will also not routinely provide you with tap water for free.
posted by praemunire at 1:14 PM on December 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 1:14 PM on December 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
In parts of the middle East they serve bacon...... Made from cows. Spoiler alert it sucks the ass.
posted by chasles at 1:17 PM on December 17, 2018
posted by chasles at 1:17 PM on December 17, 2018
This is ultra specific but I cannot get Diet Mt Dew outside of North America and I always miss it dearly. You can usually find diet/max/zero pepsi/coke/etc but not any of the other stuff.
posted by ftm at 1:18 PM on December 17, 2018
posted by ftm at 1:18 PM on December 17, 2018
We were recently in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and decided to eat at an upscale burger restaurant. I expected all of the patrons eating their burgers with fork and knife. I was mildly intrigued by the extensive wine list and relatively thin beer options at a restaurant that serves only burgers. But there was one thing - one unforgivable crime against burger nature - that we could not get over.
Each burger was served with a sweet pickle. There were no dill pickles in the entire restaurant.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:20 PM on December 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
Each burger was served with a sweet pickle. There were no dill pickles in the entire restaurant.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:20 PM on December 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
Visited family in England as a kid and was distraught that neither peanut butter NOR grape jelly were normal, readily available foods.
posted by ITheCosmos at 1:21 PM on December 17, 2018
posted by ITheCosmos at 1:21 PM on December 17, 2018
Basically every toilet in thailand has a spray nozzle hose attachment on the side for actually cleaning up after you poop, then the paper is just to dry off.
Holy fuck i just had traumatic memories flood back about Australians thinking their bacon was cooked after it had steamed gently for about 30 seconds. No joke they told us it was burning before it had even gotten halfway to lightly browned.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:22 PM on December 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
Holy fuck i just had traumatic memories flood back about Australians thinking their bacon was cooked after it had steamed gently for about 30 seconds. No joke they told us it was burning before it had even gotten halfway to lightly browned.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:22 PM on December 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by suelac at 1:13 PM on December 17, 2018 [1 favorite]