For example, I’m a white Jewish guy but I’ve adopted the Japanese practice of keeping dedicated house slippers at the front door.

  • kescusay@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    American, here. Got a bidet, and I am never going back. The fact that this isn’t standard in American households is disgusting.

    • Jeena@jemmy.jeena.net
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      Oh so true! Before I visited Japan for the first time I thought having shit left on my ass is just a normal thing. But later I also visited Morocco and they have a bucket of water on the toilet so you can wash yourself. It seems it’s only in Europe/America where people don’t wash themselves after pooping.

      • essergio2@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        There are bidets in many countries in Europe too. In Spain, most houses have them, and I’m pretty sure it’s the same thing in France and Italy.

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        1 year ago

        They have been disappearing in France, sadly, because people couldn’t afford the space…
        I’m adding integrated bidets to all our toilets in our oncoming renovation though.

        • Jeena@jemmy.jeena.net
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          1 year ago

          I like the integrated ones much more anyway. I got one for our second toilet from my fiance for my birthday, she’s a keeper :D

    • LemmyLefty@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I got one just around the time that toilet paper was getting yanked off shelves at lightning speed, and it has ruined me for public toilets.

      Peasant toilets. Hideous.

      Love my bidet. I feel so clean and it’s so nice.

    • density@kbin.social
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      I got a bidet but then I read you have to turn it off at the connection to the water (at the bottom/back of toilet) every time or eventually the gasket can wear out and it will explode and the water will just go and go and go. If that happened at night or when noone is home you’d have major water damage!! I thought you could just use it with the trigger. Do people really actually fully stop the water every time? I uninstalled mine because I don’t think I can reliably remember to do that.

      • kescusay@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Been using a bidet for several years, and that has literally never happened. I think you might have gotten bad info.

      • Open@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The T-adapter? That’s not mechanically complex and should literally last forever if made out of the correct materials and isn’t touched all the time. It should be no more fault prone than the connection to the toilet.

        A misaligned thread or a washer not fitting quite right might be an issue from a bad install. That’s an easy fix though and you should see a leak before things go catastrophic.

        If your really looking for piece of mind I’m sure there are t adapters that can close themselves down in certain failure states.

  • Leviathan@feddit.ch
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    1 year ago

    I set all my digital clocks to 24hr mode, something I picked up after living in Europe. Would never go back.

    • Mugmoor@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Likewise. I just found it much easier when trying to schedule my day. Not having to account for the switch from 12-1 makes the math simpler.

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        1 year ago

        I actually use some metric when measuring around the house for projects, especially for anything shorter than an inch. I can’t be bothered to figure out 1/16 of an inch…it’s easier in mm.

  • SpaceBar@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Before I quit drinking I believe I was following Russian culture with my vodka intake.

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    1 year ago

    I’m British and I say y’all fairly often. It just rolls off the tongue.

  • Ecksell@lemmy.one
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    Stretching. I think this originally came from southeast Asia, its so far back that its hard to discover. But I stretch every single morning. As a Native American I need that to limber up so I can dance, which I enjoy doing.

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    Sleeping on a thin futon laid out on the floor (Japan / Korea). And riding a bike or e-bike everywhere (Netherlands), even though US cities and infrastructure are hostile to humans

      • density@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Also better for bending over, standing beside, hanging off of and various other things… man I’d hate to just have a mat on the floor. How tragic.

  • dickbutler@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I heard Koreans use metal chopsticks and bought pack home. Took some time to learn how to use those but so much easier when I can put those in dishwasher.

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            1 year ago

            Yes there are several things I like:

            • Long handles prevent the part you actually hold from getting hot and they don’t fall into the bowl as often when you’re eating soup from a bigger bowl.
            • The length also allows you to reach things further away when eating family style meals.
            • The bowl shape is optimized for eating soup & rice. At the same time, bowl is not too deep that it is uncomfortable to eat non-soupy things.
            • Being metal lets you use the spoon to cut and scrape things, ceramic spoons are harder to use for that purpose because they’re typically thicker and more rounded.
      • Jeena@jemmy.jeena.net
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        Yeah, the Japanese ones are the easiest to use, but if you want to show off then using Korean ones is the ultra hard version. You get used to it though quite fast.

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    I would LOVE the house slipper bit. I’ve suggested it so many times. Wife and kids just won’t go for it. Wife says it’s rude to ask a guest to take off their shoes. I disagree but she just can’t see my point or view. If you want to enter my house, show respect and take off your shoes to keep my house clean.

    • stratoscaster@lemmy.zip
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      I just don’t get it lol. Whenever I enter someone’s house for the first time I ask “would you like me to take my shoes off?”.

      It’s not that hard, and especially obvious if they have light colored carpet

    • Open@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I have multiple guests slippers at the door with internal shoe cleaner also to hand, but that’s mostly for show as we clean them anyway. Regular guests eventually get to choose there slippers and we’ll get what ever they want.

      • Buddhist1961@programming.dev
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        I’m sorry, what do you mean by “internal shoe cleaner”? My wife and I have “inside shoes” (not really slippers) with a small shoe rack / bench next to the door, but we’re trying also to get slippers for the guests because so many of them usually ask if they should remove their shoes when they see us doing it. I’m having issues choosing the right slippers because I don’t want that using a slipper that many other people have used becomes a hygiene issue. I know that in most cases it’s not, but I don’t want guest to “feel” like it may be. How do you deal with that?

        • Open@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Anti bacterial shoe shoe spray, like they use in ice rinks or bowling alleys.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      My wife is from a shoes off in the home culture so our home is like that. Before I met her I could go either way on it.

      One time when she was away I put my shoes on our bed and sent her a picture of it just to tease her. Hehe

  • xXemokidforeverXx@lemmy.world
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    I’ve learned from the Japanese phrase ‘itadakimasu,’ which is said before eating as a way to thank the person that prepared the food. I think in the west, a lot of us grew up learning to say things like grace before a meal, but that is too religious for me and gives God credit for peoples’ hard work instead. I love the idea of ritualistically thanking the people who actually made the food. It was one of the things I appreciated while studying there that has stuck with me.

    • emptyother@lemmy.world
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      In my culture its common courtesy to thank a person after the meal, either the one who made it, brought it, or paid for it. But only if they’re present. It ain’t a ritual. Same-ish thing.

  • HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    From the USA: wearing a white t-shirt under my shirt or t-shirt. Helps preventing sweat stains under armpits. Really hot in the summer though

      • Alien Surfer@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        In the SW USA in summer it can get 117F (47C) and let me tell you, my dude, 100% cotton is still hot as hell.

        I don’t know this for sure, but to me it seems like the whole suit and tie and jacket thing was a northern European tradition and eventually an eastern USA tradition where it’s cold. That shit don’t work in the desert, and those who continue to claim “professionalism” and maintain such stupid customs are fools, in my opinion.

        I’m not middle eastern but those dudes have the correct answer to the desert. I really wish the thawb would catch on in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest USA.

        • density@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          just before the reddit strike there was a thread on /r/askhistorians about wearing layers in hot climates specifically referencing some cowboy-type TV shows. the historians were talking about how linens and even properly woven wool are a lot more comfortable in heat than cotton.

          I have some linen and I can see it being the case but the cuts/styles are not to my liking. Maybe I will have some tailored one day.

            • density@kbin.social
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              I have been sleeping on linen as much as possible for ages. I have pieces from a few sources and I’ve never found them scratchy. Not sure why as everyone else has the same comment. My actual “sheets” are just yardage from a fabric store at the heaviest weight I could find and it was pleasant immediately. I do have one cushion case that’s kind of scratchy, I probably wouldn’t want to sleep on sheets like that.

              Apparently it gets softer with laundering so just throw them in every time you do a wash I guess.

              • Alien Surfer@lemmy.world
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                You got your linen bed sheets at a fabric store? Maybe I’ll take a trip to my local fabric store and see if I can feel them. Agreed about the wash thing. That’s why I’m sticking it out, hoping they get softer over time.

                • density@kbin.social
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                  I got them at an online retailer. Extreme discount. I took a gamble as I thought it might not actually be linen at the price. Especially wide enough to make sheets. Don’t forget it shrinks.

                  Worthwhile going to a store to feel all what’s available, different weights, weaves etc. There might be a clothing or upholstery oriented place that has more useful. For textile-industry, do not expect meaningful online presences. A lot of fabric stores have a website from 1997. A few 200px photos of stacks of fabric, a list of random brand names, a phone number and an address. Call them and tell them you are interested in linen for drapery, sheets & upholstery and they will tell you if have have that kind of thing and if not where to go. But it is a touch and feel business so actually going is better.

                  Also the word “linen” is used to mean a lot of things. some of which contain no linen. you want “100% linen” and knowing about weights will help https://www.onlinefabricstore.com/makersmill/linen-fabric-product-guide/

                • threadloose@midwest.social
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                  1 year ago

                  I sew, and I wouldn’t even bother looking for linen in your local fabric stores. Most everything is going to be mixed with rayon and too narrow for sheets. That’s especially true if your local fabric store is Joann. I can recommend some online retailers, but my usual go-to in the past has been Ukrainian linen, and… uh, you know.

                  For your current sheets, it will take time for them to soften, but if you wash them on hot and tumble dry them, they’ll soften faster. There are multiple types of linen, and there’s a variety called softened linen where it’s been basically been beaten to soften the linen fibers and simulate wear. Linen that hasn’t been softened just hasn’t gone through that process and will be scratchier.

        • HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          those who continue to claim “professionalism” and maintain such stupid customs are fools, in my opinion Not if you have AC at 65 everywhere! /s

  • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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    I’m a big white guy but I wear sarongs all the time, having grown up on Java and wore them as a kid. Soooo comfortable and versatile.

    • Alien Surfer@lemmy.world
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      Sounds perfect for a desert climate. Another custom/fashion I wish would catch on in the hot desert of the USA.

  • Raging LibTarg@lemmy.world
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    I was what I think we would now call a “weeb” in my junior/senior year of high school, and had studied Japanese culture before making a short trip over there in the summer. One of the things I learned was that blowing your nose in public is seen as bad manners, and it really stuck with me. When you think about it, it is pretty gross to loudly blow snot into a tissue (bonus points for carrying a handkerchief!) in front of others, like (as an American) we’ll just do this at the dinner table without batting an eye.

    To this day, I try not to blow my nose in public places or in front of folks if I can avoid it, because it has grossed me out ever since learning how Japanese culture perceives it.

    • noseatbelt@lemmy.ca
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      Wtf? That is super gross. I’m Canadian and I don’t know anyone who would do it at the dinner table. I’ve seen my boss do it at his desk but he turns to face the corner next to his desk first.

      Ime most people go to the washroom to do it, or at least make sure they’re not near anyone else.

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      I’m American and I don’t think anyone in my social circle would blow their nose at the dinner table. Yours might just be gross.

      • Galluf@lemmy.world
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        What do you think you’re supposed to do after rating spicy buffalo wings that make your nose run?

        Sure there’s some settings where you don’t do it (or do it quietly). Many restaurants are also loud enough that you won’t even hear it unless you’re listening to it.

      • Raging LibTarg@lemmy.world
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        Or, you’re an American who lives in a country/continent where there are a wide variety of people outside of your little bubble who have different backgrounds and different cultural norms that you’ve very likely never considered.

        See, I can be demeaning too!

        • density@kbin.social
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          See, I can be demeaning too!

          Good thing you explained what you were going for because it was kind of hard to follow.

          You made an assertion about all americans:

          like (as an American) we’ll just do this

          and someone wished to dispute it based on their own experience.

          You described a behaviour as gross and indicate that it is common in your social circles. How is it demeaning to says that your social circles are gross? @htrayl is agreeing with you

    • Galluf@lemmy.world
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      It seems to me to be worse manners to just leave your snot as leaking out or making you sniffle. Better to get it over with rather than make people listen to that for minutes to hours.

    • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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      I’ve always used high beams as a thank you/I’m letting you pass/bro, your headlights are off, depending on the context.

      Here in Germany it’s common to quickly flash your hazards when you’re on the highway and enter a traffic jam to signal the person behind you “Watch out, I’m slowing down and won’t accelerate again”

    • 🧋 Teh C Peng Siu Dai@lemmy.worldB
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      We started doing so here in Singapore. Even our public busses flash hazard lights twice to convey a thank you sometimes now. In the context of someone giving way to you.

      But on a highway when there’s a sudden slowdown in front, we turn on the hazard lights to convey “dude slow down the dude in front is being weird”. Especially useful when there’s torrential downpours.

        • 🧋 Teh C Peng Siu Dai@lemmy.worldB
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          Not sure, haven’t been in any that I’ve driven so far. Our cars always have some lag between the latest tech and what’s actually being sold for some reason (tho arguably it’s getting better).

    • Myrhial@discuss.online
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      Single flash of hazards to thank someone is common in Brussels traffic, there are a lot of very selfish drivers on the road who never let anyone merge in. Haven’t seen it outside of here, maybe because people are usually a bit more polite or zipper merging works as it should.

      Common in all of Belgium to put hazards on to warn people behind you that there is a traffic jam up ahead. I really like that passing the baton system.

      Also single flash of high beams to notify someone you’ve seen them and they can cross or pass where they’d otherwise not have right of way. While you should always be as predictable as possible, sometimes doing it wrong resolves the situation faster for everyone.

      I also always raise my hand as a thanks when someone stops to let me use a crossing (I have the right of way as a pedestrian but I still feel like sending people a thank you for observing the rules correctly). Did that when walking in Brussels this morning out of sheer habit, realized that is probably actually pretty unusual for a big city. My small town habits are betraying me.