Asklemmy

Speaking more than one language. Being from Switzerland, we're required to study 2 languages (+ our native one) at school. So it's not infrequent to encounter swiss people who speak 4+ languages

Knowing how to swim. Basic life skill in a water-rich country, but many expats can't.

We learned swimming in primary school in Germany, no opting out.

But having lived in several African countries and now in China, it's surprising how many people not only can't swim, but are deathly afraid of water.

In Australia it's not just knowing how to swim but where to swim and when. A lot of tourists drown in the ocean here because they don't know how to read the waves / don't have an understanding of the local area.

Here in Switzerland the question you ask is usually, "do you ski or do you snowboard"? It's just assumed that you can do at least one.

How to walk on ice is a big one. How to cross a street is another one here in Chicago (hint: look at the cars, not the lights).

Italy.

Cooking, every foreign person I know eats 20x more takeout and fast food than I do.

If the country is big enough (aka Canada) these differences can be between provinces. People from Ontario can't ride bulls, but every kid in Alberta can. Newfoundlanders can fish but Manitobans are afraid of water. In British Columbia you are taught how to roll marijuana cigarette in high school but in Nova Scotia scotch is the bag lunch drink of choice.

In the dry SW US the answer is drink water when it’s 100F or worse 115F+. Having a half liter of water from the hotel for the half day mountain hike, or pounding a half gallon of ice water and throwing up five minutes later. Your body doesn’t tell you when you should drink, it tells you when you are already behind on drinking.

Rural Japan.

My kids (2 and 4) can use chopsticks already. Plenty of restaurants around here where you won't see a spoon, fork or knife. (However, it's certainly possible to ask the staff for western cutlery, and in the main cities they're more likely to be prepared for that question)

I guess here in Korea it's eating with chopsticks. In Sweden it was Swimming (especially for my Indian work mates). In Germany it was opening a beer bottle with anything you just happened to have in your hand at that time. In Poland I'm not sure, but probably making those elaborate sandwiches for parties.

Dealing with winter. I live in the rural upper Midwest, where winter can hit -20 with whiteout blizzards, week-long power outages, and car-burying snowdrifts. I've seen too many people move here from warmer places and think "I guess I'll buy a warmer coat and a snow shovel", rather than "I should have a backup generator, a backup heat source, a few barrels of spare fuel, a month's worth of stockpiled food, and at least two different pieces of heavy snow-moving machinery tested to be in good working order".

Cutlery.
Growing up everyone around me could use a knife and fork, whereas chopsticks were something most people couldn't use or only used badly. It never occurred to me that the opposite might be true until I shared a meal with some co-workers from mainland China and saw how clumsily they used our utensils.
It wasn't until that point that I appreciated the amount of dexterity and finesse that goes into using cutlery well, and that I took it for granted because it's something learned in childhood.

Norway.

Cross country skiing. It's basically expected for every kid in school to be adaquate at cross country skiing. P. E. classes during winter could often consist of a ski trip, and a couple times per year the schools would arrange ski days with different acrivities on skis.

I'm Danish. Opening beer with a lighter or other things that aren't technically a bottle opener.

If you aren't from south / southeast Asia you'll struggle with our traffic. Our roads are a stream of everything from cycles to busses with no dedicated lanes. If you want to cross the road and can't find a zebra-crossing you gang up with other pedestrians, hold up traffic by shouting and waving, and cross.

Understanding languages you don't know - every city will have people speaking three or more languages, so you need to understand what someone is saying even if you don't speak their language. Broken English with gesturing is a lingua franca.

Going by yourself under at least 13 is nonexistent in the United States.

How to stay safe in the wilderness. We get too many people that aren't from around here that think you can do a hike late in the afternoon wearing sandals and only bringing a water bottle. People don't realize that the wilderness is a dangerous place if you aren't prepared. Weather can change rapidly and you need proper clothing and footwear to account for it. Make sure you have enough time for the hike and bring the essentials just in case something happens and you need to spend a night outdoors.

I grew up in rural Canada, but have been living in major metropolitan areas for most of my adult life. It still surprises me when I learn there are other adults that don't know how to chop wood, start a fire, work basic tools, etc.

The swimming lesson thing was interesting. I also assumed everyone learned how to swim in school.

Pooping in the toilet.

When I went to university with a lot of international students, there would often be poop on the seats.

My understanding is Asian toilets are different and a good few students from there were standing on the seat and aiming at the bowl from height, with mixed success.

Driving. Moved here from Bangladesh to UK. I did a big mistake by not learning to drive in my country. Now its too expensive here to learn. Here driving is required if you want regular job well paying jobs. Don't be like me. Learn how to drive.

Kinda reverse, but when I moved to Singapore I was amazed by how few people knew how to cook their own food. But then again you can get a meal outside for 3-5 bucks so not really an issue

Pronouncing local place names. Lots of scattered areas here with place names that are spelled like other places names (for example we got a town called Egypt, a town called Binghamton, etc.) except that they're all pronounced differently. For example, we have a town called Leicester, named after the actual Leicester, and locals tend to raise an eyebrow when someone asks "how do you get to lester" (that would be the normal way to pronounce it)? "Who's Lester? Is he the new guy in town?" "What? No, the town." "That's Leesester, not Lester." "I'm sorry, wut?"

I of course just add to the confusion if I'm the one to break the news, as I have a Kiwi accent, which is atypical around here. So it becomes a "what do you know" kind of interaction.

Male being good at talking and flirting with girls. Where I grew up (south of Italy) you have to be able to know what to do as a young heterosexual man, otherwise girls would completely ignore you. When I was young, italian girls expected "work" from boys, a lot of work. You could not throw money or take shortcuts (I don't know if it is still valid).

When I moved to north of Europe, in 3 different countries, I realized that for north european guys existing was enough to get many girls. It was so easy, girls flirt with you, they literally go after boys. You could do nothing and a girl would start flirting with you. And being decent at talking with girls meant that any average Italian guy abroad was a Don Giovanni.

Apparently, being able to tell the difference between laundry detergent and fabric softener. Had multiple asian-native room mates in college that made that mistake. They were all pretty fluent so I don't think it was a language barrier issue, but to be fair, Big Laundry doesn't exactly make it easy to tell what's what on first glance.

In my immediate surroundings: small-scale farming. The old folks all know how to run a few goats and sheep, will have a few pigs and chickens, a vegetable garden, some fruit and olive trees, grapes, small fields. Once you figure it out you can feed yourself comfortably, but it's a steep learning curve if you didn't grow up with it. Quite a few foreigners who move in because they dream of self-sufficiency overload themselves with new stuff and become overwhelmed. I still can't compete with my neighbors at gardening after 20 years but I'm getting the hang of it.

The ability open a glass bottle with a utensil instead of using a bottle opener.

Walking on a slippery surface. In Scandinavia all kids learn to walk on ice and snow, where you don't have a solid grip while walking. When people from tropical areas migrate here at an adult age they tend to have a hard time walking around at winter. This also affects the ability to learn skiing. I have seen a ski instructor giving up on a person, due to this.

How to order coffee, get what you want and keep the line moving without any needless human interaction.

I'm from Seattle and so many tourists want to chat up the barista. Go to the stripe and sip coffee stand for that. If you are ordering something that requires more than 10 words, use the app or be prepared to get something left off and move on. For the love of choice don't try to chat with some stranger in the line.

how to harvest produce, my town is surrounded from farmland, so we learned how to harvest everything from tomatoes to maize, from lemons to turnips

Canada BC specifically

The proper use of flushing toilets and bathroom etiquette

The industry I work in has many new Canadians and I believe they all need a crash course on this from the companies they are working for.

Swimming. My brother in law is from India and he never learned how to swim due to him growing up in a place with only one extremely dirty river and no other lakes or swimming pools near his family. Apparently no one in his family can swim. He kinda can swim now but it still looks funny. A bit like I must have looked from the outside when I learned to swim - as a six years old. I always found this very odd because the dude is smart, hard working and has a degree but it took years and him becoming a dad to realize that swimming is something pretty much everyone can.

Dealing with potentially 100°F/38°C summers and sub 0°F/-18°C winters

Sooooo you moved to live in the Netherlands, I assume? Awesome country, do enjoy!

And yes, swimming is a ver basic and required skill there as well

I always think it’s weird when I run into people that can’t whistle or make a horn sound blowing a blade of grass. I’m not even talking like those ear-piercing 2-fingers-in-mouth whistles, just regular Andy Griffith style.

Definitely understand there are many whistling taboos(as there should be, Russia) and some bored rural-ness that factor in.

Seperating Litter, I guess. Many dont do it correctly anyways, but its worse in other countries.

Speaking English I guess. Not the best, but better than in former eastern countries. But yeah, fuck colonialism, so not really a great thing.

Riding the bike. Everyone should do it, and shocking to see many other countries struggle with that even more.