Funny Differences

[StantonHyde]

While browsing here and the bitching post, I see lots of stories about "cultural" or family difference--most of which are not too funny, but rather stressing. I started thinking about the funny differences between my husband's family and mine and with other people I know, too. What are some of yours??

1. Friend from VERY Italian family makes amazing home made pasta dish for Texan boyfriend. She puts the fork and the spoon (for twirling pasta) in the bowl. He promptly gets a knife from the drawer and starts cutting the pasta. She went across the table, screaming, "What are you doing?". Poor guy. Had no idea.

2. My mom's biggest gripes about DH? She knitted and he is allergic to wool. "What decent Anglo Saxon is allergic to wool??" He has opinions about home decorating--doesn't he know that husbands just don't go there!!

3. In college, a group of us were discussing what our parents would do if we dated somebody of a different race. I knew that would be fine--my parents always taught me everybody was equal. But for my father, the fly fishing fanatic--"In our house there was a thin line between religion and fly fishing."?? So the deal breaker?? I said, "I could bring home somebody of a different race, but a bait fisherman, that would be a different story." DH does not fish so he is exempted from this requirement.

What are some of the weird, funny differences between your family and DHs?? (THis is especially topical with the upcoming holiday season.)

[mamalia]

Oh gosh, this is so timely. I'm actually going to start a post about a cultural difference that I'm wondering about how to handle with my DD.

Off the top of my head, here are some funny ones...
Lolo is Filipino for grandfather, in Hawaiian it means Crazy
In Japanese culture sticking forks (or utensils) straight up into a dish is bad luck - I think it is tied to death because of how it looks like incense sticks
Japanese signing your name in red is bad luck but in other asian cultures it is lucky

Malia

[megs4413]

MIL and GMIL have this really big problem with the fact that we don't have a professional portrait done of DD regularly and send them to the family. This isn't something we ever did in my family (unless it was school pictures) so I was not familiar with the custom. I got reamed last christmas about how Great grandma had a picture on her shelves of every single grandchild and great grandchild---except for my DD....i was like, "well EXCUUUUSE me! who was gonna tell me this rule???"

in my house growing up, my dad did all the cooking....in DH's house it was mom....guess who's job it is at MY house! I don't know how to cook--Dads do that!!!!

FIL has a big old gun on his mantle...i remember going to their house the first time and seeing it and being really scared of them! I was only 14 and DH and i weren't even dating yet..it was my first time over to his house as a "friend" and I really almost never went back! we weren't even allowed to play with squirt guns or play guns as kids so seeing a real one displayed like a peice of artwork was really scary to me. It was REALLY scary when they told me it was in working condition!!!!! thankfully DH was cute enough to get me to come over there again and become his GIRLfriend....that was almost 10 years ago!!!!