# Things you can only find OUTSIDE the U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337 "2002-07-23T05:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/1 "2002-07-23T05:12:18Z")
The OP. Ha! I kill me! ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/2 "2002-07-23T05:37:47Z")
I’ve never seen a bidet in a US hotel room. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/3 "2002-07-23T06:28:29Z")
We have “round-abouts” here is the states, but when I was in Guernsey they had “filters”. It was a type of 4-way yield, the first car to the intersection had the right of way. It worked but I always said a little prayer when approaching one. In Europe they use a totally different electrical system. Higher voltage and therefore different plugs. Didn’t bother me, but drove my wife crazy, even with adaptors. And we don’t have **Mt. Everest** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/4 "2002-07-23T13:49:43Z")
A decent cup of tea. ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/5 "2002-07-23T16:20:34Z")
St. Michael’s Fruit Gums Available only at Marks & Spencers (it’s their house brand). Wish I knew who makes them so perhaps I could find them elsewhere. Everytime someone I know is going to the UK, I BEG them to bring me a bag or three. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/6 "2002-07-23T16:57:55Z")
A Scotch Whisky distillery. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/7 "2002-07-23T17:46:40Z")
Silk Cut cigarettes. Used to be able to get them here in the States, but they stopped importing them after the big tobacco settlement. Damn shame, too. Some of the finest ciggies known to man. _hack, cough_ Where’s my smokes? _hack, cough_ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/8 "2002-07-23T18:18:55Z")
Automobiles that are not festooned with redundant safety features that add weight and expense while simutaniously cutting performance. * * * If you have enjoyed reading this post half as much as I have posting it, then I’ve enjoyed posting it twice as much as you have reading it. ---
**Author:** ![MattK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@MattK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattK)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/9 "2002-07-23T18:58:42Z")
There might be some specialty stores that carry the following things, but usually they are not available: _Real_ bread, like this stuff: [http://www.hueber.de/lerner/daf-beitraege/images/8vollkornbrot.jpg](http://www.hueber.de/lerner/daf-beitraege/images/8vollkornbrot.jpg) What Americans call bread is toast here. Sugar beet syrup Kinder surprise eggs Fanta soda Malt beer Frigo Brause (fizzy stuff) _Real_ pretzels Sausages that taste like sausage Good selection of chocolate - This is what I came up with right away, there is a lot more of course. I might sound a little biased, but I had to go through 10 months of eating basically the same 10 meals when I was in PA. ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/10 "2002-07-23T19:11:22Z")
Thorntons toffee. The people at Brynda’s work love it. Everytime we go back to England, or anyone comes over here, we make sure they bring several bags. Brynda took some into work yesterday after we got back from our honeymoon and she said it was all gone by lunchtime (admitedly there are a lot of people who work there). I used to think I could not find decent mints either, but I have found a shop that sells Trebor Extra strong mints (they are expensive though, about twice the usual price). Rick ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/11 "2002-07-23T19:34:43Z")
> [@](#): > > _Real_ bread, like this stuff: [http://www.hueber.de/lerner/daf-bei...ollkornbrot.jpg](http://www.hueber.de/lerner/daf-bei...ollkornbrot.jpg) > What Americans call bread is toast here. **MattK** , what’re you talking about? I can get that kind of bread at the meat market I visit weekly. 'Course, it’s in a German-intensive meat market in a German-intensive area that has newspaper machines that sell [Wochen-Post](http://wochenpostusa.com/) (and apparently Detroit is where it started). _That_ couldn’t have anything to do with it, though. :cough: :o 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/12 "2002-07-23T19:56:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > \*\*A decent cup of tea. \*\* You know, from the number of times I’ve seen this, you’d think that every English person kept a packet of loose leaf Darjeeling and Grandma’s Wedgewood tea service in their desk drawer. I haven’t spent a lot of time in the UK, but when I was there I recall being offered 1) the same old pot of hot water and a tea bag I’d get in most US restaurants or 2) a mug and directions to a large urn full of viscous brown stuff that had been brooding on its wrongs since early that morning. ---
**Author:** ![jessicala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@jessicala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jessicala)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/13 "2002-07-23T20:00:44Z")
Amarula! [www.amarula.com](http://www.amarula.com) (caution: site will ask for your brithdate to make sure you are of legal age) The taste is not unlike Baileys, but is more fruity. It’s a South African liqueur that used to not be available in the United States. It’s only recently (in the past year or so, I believe) that it’s been available here. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/14 "2002-07-23T20:07:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MattK \* > \*\*- This is what I came up with right away, there is a lot more of course. > I might sound a little biased, but I had to go through 10 months of eating basically the same 10 meals when I was in PA. \*\* Funny – I’d always thought exactly the same thing about Germany. That is, I figured y’all eat: -Sausage -Sauerkraut -Mustard -Pretzels -Beer -Chocolate and not much else. Given that I’m vegetariana (well, pescomielolactoovovegetarian 😉 ) and hate sauerkraut, I figured I was screwed if I went to Germany. Good bread, however, would help. Another thing you won’t find in the US: good Cadbury bars. The ones in England are sublime; the ones here wouldn’t be fit for candlewax. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/15 "2002-07-23T20:08:44Z")
Lion candy bars. YUM!!! ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/16 "2002-07-23T20:31:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MattK \* > **Fanta soda** You mean like the Fanta soda that’s available in supermarkets all across the South? ---
**Author:** ![DairyMary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@DairyMary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DairyMary)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/17 "2002-07-23T20:37:15Z")
I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in the DC area a while back that had a bidet in it. The friend who was with me thought it was a water fountain. He drank from it too. Of course in my cruel heart mode I had to tell him what it was really for after he drank from it. I don’t think I had laughed so hard in quite a while. Dairy Mary ---
**Author:** ![MattK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@MattK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattK)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/18 "2002-07-23T21:15:24Z")
Well, at least my mom’s cooking is pretty diverse, and only a fraction of it would be considered authentic German. I actually had a list of things that I wanted when I came back from my exchange year, so the first two weeks at home, I got only my favorite foods. Mhm… What I got in PA was pretty much this: lasagna, pizza, mac&cheese, chicken, hot pockets. Now repeat this for several months with the occasional fast food and candy thrown in. My host mom had a sign in the kitchen that said: “Make yourself at home, cook a meal.” Great. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/19 "2002-07-23T22:24:44Z")
The first seasons of _Futurama_ and _Family Guy_ on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337/20 "2002-07-23T22:54:44Z")
Kalashnikov brand vodka. It’s made by what I believe is one of the better (or at least more well known) distilleries in Russia, and is available in Germany at least, but not in the US. It comes in several different shaped bottles including ones shaped like a Soviet canteen and an almost life size one shaped like the rifle itself. Almost every AK-47 owner I know wants a bottle or two as a keepsake/investment, but apparently that’s not enough to get anyone to import it… I’ll pay a finder’s fee to anyone who knows a distributor in the US who will get it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-can-only-find-outside-the-u-s/120337.md?page=2)