Calendar Dates

So there are two ways of writing dates using slashes:
1) month/day/year
2) day/month/year

In the United States, it is always #1.
In Canada, it is always #2.

Not a big deal once you know it, unless it's a date like 07/09/2015.  This kind of date requires some extra brain computing, as you have to stop and think about where the date is coming from.

So today I realized there are three ways of stating your birth date.
1) the (day number) of the (month number) - the 8th of the 9th
2) the (day number) of the month - the 8th of September
3) the month (day number) - September 8th

Brits say it using the first pattern.  Americans who have only been in the UK for a short time say it with the third.  Americans & Canadians who have lived in the UK for a long time mix the two by stating their birthday with the second pattern. 

Interesting...just wanted to share a little cultural learning I had today at my mum's group!

Idiom

A friend was over today and talking about how chaotic life was at the moment, ending her long list of events with "and the in-laws are having kittens."

I was surprised at such an ending but commented on how that will be fun. 

Oops!  No, someone "having kittens" is a British idiom, or at least one from the North (as that's where she's from and location dramatically affects things like this), which basically means someone is panicking.

Sweets vs. Desserts

Helena usually eats school lunch. There are foods that she's quite used to, like pasta with tomato sauce or fish & chips, but then there are also things like beef rolls or cheese & onion plaits that she's tried and liked.  At times, however, she prefers to take a packed lunch (or what she calls a "pot" lunch, as that's how packed sounds to her when spoken with a British accent).

Last week she asked if she could have dessert in her lunchbox, because there is always dessert with a school lunch.  That sounded very reasonable to me, so I added a pack of gummies.  When I picked her up that afternoon, she was quite concerned "Momma, I can't bring gummies to school.  They are not allowed!"

So this morning I asked about the gummies.  Her teacher replied that they really prefer children not bring sweets to school.  I explained that I was happy with that idea, and that the only reason I'd packed them was because there was always a dessert included with school lunches.  She then went on to explain that dessert to them is a piece of cake, a biscuit, or a chocolate bar.  Those things are fine but not sweets.

As you might guess, this is one of those things that doesn't completely make sense to my North American mind but I'm happy to follow the rules now that I know them!

Shutting the Door

We're definitely committing all kinds of social faux pas every day without knowing it, but there was one social action different from our North American one that we noticed from day one.  Shutting the door when you leave someone's house - you don't do it here!  When you walk out of someone's house, you do not shut the door behind you.  It doesn't seem to matter who you are, whether a friend or a furniture deliverer, you just don't do it.  You let the owner of the home shut the door, even if they're not at the door with you.

We had observed this action but then I heard a friend tell a story.  She was saying how one morning the kids were going absolutely crazy and she just had to leave to go to work.  Her husband told her to just go and so she walked out CLOSING THE DOOR BEHIND HER.