I’ve actually found that in parts of the US, Americans simply don’t understand you if you ask where the “bathroom” or “washroom” is. This seems particularly prevalent in the Southwest.
The thing about ice in Europe (at least France) is true. When I lived there, I was trying to get ice for a beer cooler for a July 4th party. My French pals seemed mystified at the thought of buying a bag of ice. They couldn’t be convinced that you can buy ice in pretty much every single grocery store, gas station, and liquor store in the U.S.
To this day, I have no idea how the French keep their beer cold on Bastille Day.
Oh, and in KL you can buy mashed potatos at the 7-11. They come out of a machine that looks like a soft-serve ice cream deal.
It seems like in Britain and other places I’ve been abroad they have not invented the single faucet that has both hot and cold and you can mix them. Also, the light switch is always outside the bathroom.
We have already discussed the shoes-off-in-Canada thing here several times, but that’s a big one.
Some places in Canada have this. There are also some delivery places that have a wireless debit/credit card machines they bring to your door, too – though with many such places you have to specifically request it when ordering, and there’s often a surcharge.
I’ve found that Canadians embrace technology much more than Americans do. You can pay for parking with a credit card in Canada. In many major cities in the U.S., you have to fold up dollar bills and shove them into a tiny slot. Of course, you have to have dollar bills in the first place.
Not a country thing (so far), but I always feel slightly disoriented when I go into Ontario because of the language thing. I’m classifying this as a little thing because English is still my first language, but it’s slightly odd going into a Timmy’s, getting halfway through your order, and realizing you don’t have the faintest idea what a roussette au miel is in English.
Another one I’ll mention is, in Portugal, there seems to be a distinct lack of street signs. Drove me bonkers.
Here in Quebec, Lactantia produces butter sticks.
Similarly, while he was living in a student residence in London, my brother asked for the washroom and, after some hemming and hawing, was finally directed to the laundry.
Yes! That drove me bananas. And the idea of having a little hot-water heater right in your shower, so you had to heat the water up before you could take your shower? Scary.
I learned that in Germany, Pizza is square, not round. And if you order Pepperoni, you get Balogna, but if you order Balogna, you get Pepperoni. Or something like that.
When it’s your Birthday, you have a party and buy the booze and a huge plate of food and stuff. Kind of a switch. Restaurants have to have their menu posted just outside the entrance. That way you can see what they offer and whether it’s too expensive?
France has excellent stinky cheese, you’ll spend an inordinate number on ciggies when they are priced in Italian Lira. Virtually everyone speaks English, or wants to, but they enjoy listening to someone mangle the local language.
Yeah, what is it about Europe and ice? I can understand the deal where 32 oz sodas filled with ice never quite caught on the way it did here, but why no ice for ice water or iced tea? I know it gets damn hot some places in Europe, why no affection for really cold drinks? And what about things like ice chests and such? Have they just not noticed that things stay cooler if you put them in ice? Can one of you Yurps explain? 
In Japan, they often put a sunny-side egg on top of pizza. Tastes good but looks very freaky.
In Japan, they sell beer in vending machines. As much as I’d love to see that in America, I doubt it would go over well.
The 7-11’s carry all kinds of delicious snack foods at the front counter. They sit in some kind of brine. I could start a whole thread as an ode to their spongy goodness.
The hardest thing to get used to when I went to Australia was saying the word “toilet” all the time and in polite company; it just felt wrong (of course when I came home I kept saying toilet instead of restroom for a few weeks :smack: ). And then of course there was the sight of most males (including teenagers) walking around in speedos (weird, but nice 
). Oh, then there’s the ketchup packets 
.
Yes, there is square pizza but it’s mostly found in take-away place that sell slices (restaurants don’t.) Most pizza is round. What seems to surprise Americans is that in German - just as in Italian - peperoni refers to peppers, not some kind of sausage.
Could you explain that one? I’ve heard before that there is something unamerican about the way we celebrate birthdays but what’s the difference?
In American there’s more than one way to serve a fried egg. Surely the whole point of a fried egg is a runny yolk?
The UK Light Switch Outside of the Bathroom thing is a biggie.
Also, their showers, which are really tubs with a shower massageattachment thingie on it that is not hung from the wall at all. I don’t get this.
Germany and their shelf toilets. That was weirdness in itself the first time I encountered those.
I think it is if you want Pepperoni ( like the US kinda) you order Salami. If you like it spicy, get Pepperoni.
Drinking water out of the tap in Germany is :dubious: upon. I have no idea why.
Telling Germans about the ice dispenser in the door of your Standard Frig gets envious looks. Also, our fridges are like the size of Al Capone’s Vaults compared to most of Europes, it seems. They all seem to have the kind that is a little bit larger than a college dorm fridge.
Going from Australia to Scotland…
Orange cheese
Bottles of milk made out of very thin squidgy plastic
Toilets and bathrooms with carpeted floors
Deep-fried pizza.
Much later on, when I was back briefly for a visit with my (then) 3-month-old daughter, I think I rather freaked out some of the locals by carrying her round in a ‘Baby Bjorn’ stype carrier, tucked up inside my coat. I got so many looks and comments I never would have at home, it seems like this was Just Not Done (she looked way cute like that though!)
No ordinary power outlets in a bathroom, electrical regulations. You do get light switches inside them quite often, on a pull-cord, which is permitted.
I really cannot recall ever encountering this here, certainly not in a private home. Are you talking about B&B-type places or something?
Count me in as a Brit who hates these and cannot understand why on earth they exist. “Oh but my feet get cold.” Really? Well hurry the fuck up, then!
On preview: Struan has a point, I suppose it is far more common in hotels, not least because I suspect they only need to wire up one set of switches per room?