There's a distinction between the differences which mean thatsomething just isn't there, and the one where it's just that it's got a different name.

For example the USA may not have "bank holidays", but it has got public holidays like Christmas Day and Labor Day and so forth.

Knowing about those kind of name differences is interesting and can avoid confusion - but it's the differences which involve something just not being there which really give a window into the foreignness of cultures we think we know.

I mean, do people in the US really not pull Christmas Crackers (as opposed to calling them something differentlike Bon-Bons) and read out the jokes and put on silly paper hats? What can Christmas dinner be like? What about Christmas puddings? Mince pies?

(On the same lines I've met Americans who were appalled to realise that there really is no equivalent of Thanskgiving at the end of November over here - unless you're like me and your birthday is around that time.)