I was just reading a few threads and doing a bit of spot research on certain topics when a random thought struck: There are some interesting but rather mundane differences between the US and Canada when it comes to how products are packaged and sold.
For example:
In the USA, bagged milk is evidently a pretty novel concept, while it’s quite common over here (along with milk cartons).
On the other hand, butter sticks are virtually unheard of here. Butter is sold in single or half-pound bricks, but in the USA it seems prevalent that one-pound bricks are pre-cut into quarter-pound sticks.
Then there’s pizza (and other cuisine) delivery, a staple of living in Canada and the USA, while in the UK it is (or was, anyway) a rare beast indeed. Heck, while we’re on the topic, there are some chains that seem to deliver in some regions of the same state/province but not others. Taco Bell in London, ON features a delivery service, but not in Toronto or surrounding areas.
So for those who are worldly enough to be familiar with such things, what other mundane differences are there between countries that might strike one as curious if one finds themselves visiting or even living elsewhere?
I was startled to find in Ireland that the bathroom “stalls” feature walls which go all the way to the floor and ceiling. Here, there are generally 4 or 5 foot panels of metal which are installed with gaps of about 12-18 inches on the bottom and several feet on the top - the only barrier is a few inches above the head while standing to mid-calf while sitting. The door swings on hinges, often with a 1/2 inch gap on either side, and is held shut by a metal latch or slide of some sort. But every public bathroom I was in in Ireland was basically a series of small rooms, complete with heavy doors, regular doorknobs and full doorframes, inside a bigger room. It felt very luxurious, as that’s only done in the poshest of restaurants here.
On the other end of the spectrum, of course, are the “bathrooms” in Bali - tiled floor (if you’re lucky) with a hole in the middle you squat over. Bring your own t.p. And pay 5 rupiah for the privilege.
I knew I had left Canada and entered the US when I saw a men’s room signed reading “Men/Hombres”. I’ve always considered bilingual to be English and French, not English and Spanish.
I was puzzled by that suggestion, too. I’m hardly living in the centre of the universe, but I havea whole stack of leaflets for places I can get deliveries.
Everywhere we went in the U.S., the bathrooms were called restrooms. They are not called restrooms in Western Canada - they might be, but usually they’re called bathrooms or washrooms.
When we went out for meals, the waitstaff were almost universally very good, but we found it strange that we got the bill for our meal served with the dinners (if we didn’t want any dessert). In Canada, the waitstaff will ask you if there is anything else after you’ve finished eating, and then get your bill. The U.S. way was very efficient, but not practical if you changed your mind after you were finished eating and decided that yes, you could stuff a little cake in there, too. Oh yeah, they brought containers to our table and we packed our own leftovers if we had too much food. Here that is done in the kitchen and brought back to you. I prefer to pack my own - I know what I want to eat, and what I don’t want.
We usually had to show picture ID when using our credit cards in the U.S. We don’t have to do that here (not yet, anyway).
And then all hell broke loose when I took my shoes off when I visited some United Statesians…
Oh, I often get meals delivered here. It’s not at all unusual, as others have pointed out.
Back to the OP: Wall-mounted light-switches. In the US, it’s up for on; here, it’s down for on. Same for other, similar switches, and not just on walls. In fact, there’s a whole slew of domestic electrical differences between the two, including voltage, wiring, plugs, fuses and other things. That would be a thread on its own, but the light-switch one is mundane enough for now, methinks.
That particular bit of data was from a friend lived in the UK for a time in the 80s, so it’s probably quite outdated now – though at the time, delivery was just as prevalent here as “take-away” (no delivery) was there.
This go me thinking about washrooms, and remembering what I found in Australian mens’ rooms in pubs and restaurants and airports and other public places. No separate urinals, as in North America, but instead a porcelain or stainless steel wall, sloping steeply down to a trough at floor level.
Also, in the Australian houses I visited, the toilet tended to be in a separate room from the sink, tub, and shower. A little odd at first, but after seeing how using the sink for shaving, say, didn’t prevent someone else from using the toilet, it seemed a very sensible arrangement.
I think your restaurant experience will vary here in the US depending on where you are. Here in the Northeast generally less fancy and/or chain places will bring you the check without asking, and make you pack your own take home containers. More fancy (pretentious?) places will ask you first before bringing the check, and will most certainly pack your food for you.
I use my credit card pretty much daily and am almost never asked for picture ID. Maybe for very large purchases. It always catches me by surprise when they ask, just because I am not used to it.
Canadians buy everything with debit cards. Our banks have even banded together and created the Interac system, which means that you can use your debit card from any Canadian bank anywhere in Canada(other than retailers that don’t accept debit).
Most Americans, on the other hand, go into convulsions at the thought of a card that can dip into your bank account from anywhere.
Any hotel, inn, or bed & breakfast in the UK will naturally have an electric kettle and tea bags so you can make tea in your room. If it’s a nice place, there will also be cookies or digestive biscuits. It is one of the reasons why I love that country. Tea is nearly impossible to get at a hotel in the US, unless you are desperate for a cup and willing to put up with a brew made with not-boiled, coffee-flavored water from a coffee-machine.
Perhaps in your experience, but I’ve swiped plenty of debit cards. Probably about 1 in 4 or so, and that might be low for the area, as I work at a specialty shop, where one might buy gifts or a nice bottle of wine that you might not have in the budget.
I’ve heard tell that there are lots of *curry shops * in England. I wish I had one here. I have to drive twelve miles to get to the nearest Indian food joint. And the Indian food places I’ve been to always have cloth tablecloths and elegant decorations, which makes me a little uncomfortable in the crummy clothes I’m likely to be wearing.
I’ve had a debit card for going on ten or fifteen years now, and I use it for everything, and have never had a convulsion. How’d you get the idea we don’t use them?
The one thing I saw in France (and I believe is true of most of Western Europe) is the cool little wireless credit card machines they bring right to your table when you eat at a restaurant. None of this “I’ll be right back with your credit card slip” that they do here in the US.
I wish they’d do that here. It was much more convenient.
Oh yes it does…waking up on a coach during a long night-time journey, looking out at the road markings to see if they’re still the Belgian ones or if they’ve changed to French ones yet.
The introduction of these was tied in with the introduction of chip-and-pin technology in all credit & debit cards. Before then, magnetic swipes were proving to be a big target for cloning, and many banks & card companies were advising customers to accompany staff to the till rather than have the slip brought back to them, so the handheld devices may have become more common even without the use of chip-and-pin.
