I asked my hotel for a pot of coffee. It did not go as expected. I just recently moved to the lovely Kiev, Ukraine. I've been staying at a hotel while waiting for my apartment to get good internet installed. Working late last night I called my (5-star) hotel roomservice to ask about coffee.
"Hello, Room Service"
"Yes, I'd like a pot of coffee please"
"A... pot"
"Yes, I don't just want one cup, I'll be up for a while."
".... You want ... in pot. Ok we can put the coffee from the cups into a pot for you"
"No I just... are you saying you would make cups of coffee, and then pour the cups into a pot?"
"Yes sir if you want the coffee in a pot we can put it into a pot for you. What sort of pot you like?"
I marvel at their service. But I have to laugh at the complete cultural breakdown.
"uh.. Actually that would really defeat the purpose completely so how about just send up 4 cups of coffee"
"ok sir"
A few minutes later a nice lady comes with 4 cups of coffee on a lovely silver tray.
"so you guys don't do coffee pots here?"
"Sorry I don't think I understand"
I explain the whole concept to her. That Americans drink a LOT of coffee so we just brew a big batch, all at once, and then pour it out as we go. Companies even buy extra big pots for their staff, 1-2 feet tall - constantly refilled.
She marveled for a second and then said, "You must all have strong heart"