Funny Things Other Cultures Do

sesswhat

positron wrote: »

I find it fairly strange that in some people here use a plastic sink inside the regular kitchen sink.. not sure if this is to conserve water or not, but in any case I haven't seen this in a few years now.

I would consider it to be common sense.

Steel or traditional ceramic sinks are hard surfaces more likely to chip or damage the dishes.

They dissipate heat very quickly compared with a plastic basin, so your water goes cold.

You need to use a lot more water to get the same depth in a large sink.

Finally, as someone mentioned earlier, you can lift the basin out if you need to use the sink temporarily for something else (for example if some tit thinks it's a good idea to pour a half-empty tea cup into your clean water)

There would be a traditional element to it as well though. I remember some of the old cottages where a plastic basin was the only sink, filled from a bucket from the well.

Another aspect to dishwashing is the 'to rinse or not to rinse' debate.

Bipolar Joe

I find filling the sink weird, in general. It's like taking a bath. All the grungy muck is floating about.

corktina

castletownman wrote: »

The poor knowledge the British tend to have on Irish geography, politicians and other things, despite us being their near neighbours, is quite hilarious.

Questions: Who is the British Secretary for State for Education? and where is Newcastle-under-Lyme? Bet you have to Google it...

sesswhat

corktina wrote: »

Questions: Who is the British Secretary for State for Education? and where is Newcastle-under-Lyme? Bet you have to Google it...

Most British people would have to google it.

corktina

yep so would I...(well I know where Newcastle under Lyme is, that's why I said it, to be all superior like.... :-)

The King of Moo

ronjo wrote: »

When you are in a hole, stop digging....

Slovaks nearly always sign their names with just their surnames.

Italians tend to write their surname first, especially in a more formal situation like filling in a form, or when they're part of a group. I think this is mainly because the language doesn't have a huge variety of first names (hence in a group you'll have a few people with the same first name, so it makes sense to differentiate by surname), partly because a lot of old-school priests will refuse to baptise a child with a non-Christian name.
It's a bt more liberal now, but it's still a much more Catholic country than Ireland, in the sense that you get more people actually directly involved in the Church and being genuine believers. Probably because their priests tended to be more equal members of society who got involved with the community, rather than authority figures, compared to here.

castletownman wrote: »

Okay maybe I was stretching it a bit when I mentioned their ignorance towards Irish politics, but certainly in terms of Irish geography, they are ridiculously poor. I remember Pointless had a final round question where the contestants had to name an Irish county to win the jackpot. They could hardly think of any (I think they nominated either Tralee or Killarney as an answer).

Now I may be jumping to conclusions by basing such opinion on a gameshow, but I've even found from personal experience that the English (more so than their Welsh and Scottish counterparts) tend to know very little about Ireland, and still seem to harbour that "those backward Paddy's" mindset.

And my original post was a p1sstake to begin with (a poor one at that). I didn't expect such serious responses

A lot of British people don't know much about Ireland, though you'd be surprised by the number who are fairly well-informed.

But why should they know anything about us? We're neighbours and culturally similar, but we're different countries. I don't see why people think they should be experts on Ireland. They're under no obligation to know anything about Ireland, and I don't care what British people know about Ireland.

Big Nasty

Tarzann wrote: »

Only in Ireland and the UK are we buying a "pint", i.e. 568 ml. In Europe, its 500 ml, but generally served in a pint glass which gives a lot of leeway to the barman to pour a pint with a huge head or just not fully fill your glass at all, annoys the hell out of me! If I order 2 or 3 pints, at the very least I expect them to be consistent from one to the other, and if not I protest as I know best, a dirty look to the barman :rolleyes:

You're kinda wrong there. When we order a pint we get served beer in a pint glass with approx 500ml of beer and the rest head. In most European countries when you order a 'demi', i.e. half liter you will find that there is an etching on the glass to mark where the 500ml of liquid should be. Your typical beer glass will be larger than 500ml but you *should* receive 500ml of liquid up to the 500ml line and anything above that should be head, or foam as they tend to call it. Therefore when you order a half liter of beer you get a similar amount to what we get here when we order a pint.

--Kaiser--

Russians tend to like a lot of toasts when they're drinking. Can be stressful when it's your turn and you can't think of anything

earlyevening

Women of the Hamer tribe in Ethiopia NEVER clean below their waist after puberty.

Plus, they're super promiscuous, but presumably only within their own tribe.

sesswhat

MCMLXXV wrote: »

You're kinda wrong there. When we order a pint we get served beer in a pint glass with approx 500ml of beer and the rest head. In most European countries when you order a 'demi', i.e. half liter you will find that there is an etching on the glass to mark where the 500ml of liquid should be. Your typical beer glass will be larger than 500ml but you *should* receive 500ml of liquid up to the 500ml line and anything above that should be head, or foam as they tend to call it. Therefore when you order a half liter of beer you get a similar amount to what we get here when we order a pint.

Although you are entitled to ask for the (pint) glass to be topped up with no head. Better value with cider otherwise .

The oversized pint glass with a line marked 'PINT TO LINE' was common enough in Britain and NI years ago but I don't drink pints now so haven't noticed if they are still around.

Paramite Pie

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

I've had 50/50 with customer service staff in France. Half lovely and the other half total geebags.

France is incredibly formal compared to Ireland. Even if you want to ask someone the time, you have to start off with 'Good morning, sir/madam, I'm very sorry to bother you, but..." Doing otherwise will almost certainly get their backs up and result in them being unfriendly to you!

Maybe I'm just very charming!!:D I only visited for a weekend though, I'm sure if I stayed longer the local douchebags would surface.

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

Wow, that post makes you sound like a total asshole. Also, the first sentence makes pretty much no sense. All the French people I've met have been sound as fuck.

He probably is a total asshole which is why the French were rude back.

sesswhat wrote: »

Most British people would have to google it.

Well to be honest I couldn't a single mountain or river in England beyond the Thames. Don't get me started on the Shires either, I only know Yorkshire cos my Uncle lives there and a few other super obvious ones.

So I don't expect the English to know all about Ireland either.

The Road Runner

In Brazil it is the done thing to arrive late. Usually 30 minutes after the time of the invite is ok