Sunday culture shock

Living abroad requires a delicate adjustment and balancing of cultures. Moving from Scotland to Austria, the differences aren’t so great, perhaps, as with a relocation to Asia or Africa. But things are still different enough to be unsettling.
One of the first differences I noticed was the opening hours of shops here. During the week, supermarkets close at 7.30pm, at the latest. On Sundays, they aren’t open at all. No shops are. On my first weekend here, I wasn’t at all prepared for this. I planned to go into town to pick up a few toiletries, a new towel – things I’d forgotten to bring, or had to leave behind on account of baggage allowances. I wanted to get some groceries, too, after a few days of finding my feet and eating out. A friend had warned me that nothing was open on Sundays - but I didn’t realise she meant it literally. So, naively, I wandered around town, coming across shop after shop with shutters down.
I ate out again that Sunday, and I learned my lesson. To begin with, I thought it was highly inconvenient. What if I ran out of milk in the evening, or wanted to buy biscuits before bed? In the UK, I was so used to massive supermarkets, which stayed open until at least 10pm, if not for twenty-four hours. But now, I panic buy food every Saturday, to ensure my cupboards are well-stocked for the next day. ‘What do people do here on Sundays?’ I asked my flatmate after my first Sunday here. She just looked at me. ‘Nothing,’ she replied. She lived in London for a year, she told me, and when her Austrian friends came to visit her, instead of going to bars in the evenings, they wanted to spend time in twenty-four hour Tesco. They’d run round the aisles, amazed at the number of people shopping at midnight, and at the sheer size of the supermarket; the amount of choice contained within it.
If it’s inconvenient, then there’s also something nice about it. Who needs to be able to buy soup or soap or bread twenty four hours a day? No one really needs to of course, it’s just nice to know that we can. But it’s nice, too, to have Sundays completely free from material worries. Sundays here are all about relaxing for hours in coffee shops, spending time with friends and catching up on last-minute work before the week begins again on Monday. Sunday is a day of rest, whether religious or not, and a day of pure indulgence.
People in the UK often complain, ‘I thought Sundays were meant to be a day of rest!’, whilst rushing to work, doing chores or standing in queues in shops. Well, here in Austria, it really is a day of rest. It’s different, but it’s a difference I could definitely get used to.
Comments
I don't think that they should be opened the whole day because there would be no discipline. People must go at time to shops and buy things and do shopping!
I would like it because I love shopping and I hate when I have to put off it because shops are closed. But on the other hand, people need rest and it will be very hard to work every day.
İ think shops Should be open 24/7.
Yes they should, I always needed something in midnight :))))
IvaParker, nice comment;). I think I know one girl who likes shopping in unusual time...;)
Yes i think and if it is wonderful thing because in this world have and crazy people that would like to do shopping in 3 AM when everybody is sleeping
I think there must be at least some shops that work 24/7, because sometimes there can be an emergency situation, and you just need to buy something!
hahaha i love shoping
yes i agree
Yes all shops should be open 24 hours everyday to complete all the needs of people
First of all i want to thank you for everything, you do by help us and teach us through this website and for the question I think the shops should opend but until in lunch .
Yesss!!!!
i think shopes should be opened 24hours in a week
i think that in the morning shops should be opened ,but at night at least two shops to be opened
In my opinion not all the shops have to be opened 24 hours a day, but it's necessary to have almost one or two shops opened.
In my opinion shops should be opened at least 16/7. People may have their own thoughts about that weather shops should remain open 24 hours in a week.