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Your culture shock moments
- Thread starter TissueBox
- Start date
Yes exactly. It's very polite and I see that, but sometimes it's a bit uneccessary, buses are really comfortable and it's not like drivers allow them to get filled to the wheels with people. At least as far as I saw.
I don't understand why it's so shocking the spitting in China. The air quality is generally horrendous so it makes sense to get mucus out vs swallowing it. Yeah tissues exist but ain't nobody got time for that.
Being in Israel was very strange because I'd never talked to people whose home/land is actively being attacked.
It's such a different experience compared to talking to people who are so far removed from the issues being discussed.
It's such a different experience compared to talking to people who are so far removed from the issues being discussed.
In the major cities, on busy bus routes, it can be essential. People do it on trains and buses in NYC. In a lot of cases, it speeds things up, because otherwise people have to fight to get off crowded trains.
This, i had bidets back home so when i moved to the U.S i told my new friends here about it and they literally called me gay. They said you like shooting water up your ass? I said thats not the point. You feel clean after using the bidet. Wiping your ass with dry toilet paper is not enough to clean it.
- Religious billboard signs in the US, even in "blue", Canada-bordering states.
- Having to toss toilet paper in the garbage bins in Mexico.
- People saying "s'il-vous-plaît!" ("please!") instead of "thank you / goodbye" when leaving a store in Belgium.
- A perfectly simultaneous and very loud chorus of "arigato gozaimasu!" from multiple restaurant staffers (all bowing repeatedly and in perfect synch, too) as we leave a restaurant in Japan.
I actually have a funny anecdote about that. I went to Japan with a friend (another Canadian) a year and a half ago, and we did a day trip to Kyoto where we rented bikes to move around.
Near the end of the day we were getting tired and hungry, so we stopped by a train station where there were lots of kiosks and shops to buy snacks. Our bikes had a "self-lock" mechanism which looked pretty fragile, but was better than nothing I guess. We tried to find a place to park them, and found a "bike parking" in some corner but didn't really know how it worked, if you needed to pay, if it was for specific rentals from that station or whatnot (the bikes all looked alike and ours looked a bit different) so we went elsewhere. Eventually we found a quiet corner with no traffic and parked them there, using the self-lock, and walked around, getting snacks, sitting down, chilling, taking pictures, etc. My friend took some pics of the train station because it was nicely decorated with brightly coloured columns and whatnot.
Then about an hour later we go pick up our bikes and... they're gone. I start getting very nervous, but my friend remained completely calm. She says "I told you before, bike theft doesn't happen in Japan. Someone must have moved them." We look around, don't find them, then decide to go check that bike parking we saw and... yep, there they were. xD We could even get them out of their slots for free since you only needed to pay for >24h. What a relief. And then we started laughing because, not only were our bikes not stolen at all, some nice Japanese person even picked up after us baka gaijin and put them away in their proper place. Thanks, Japan. <3
The best part? Later my friend starts browsing through her pics on her camera and bursts out laughing. Then she shows me: one of the pictures she took, in the background (which she never noticed while taking it of course), is a blurry gentleman carrying away our two bikes in his hands... xD
- Having to toss toilet paper in the garbage bins in Mexico.
- People saying "s'il-vous-plaît!" ("please!") instead of "thank you / goodbye" when leaving a store in Belgium.
- A perfectly simultaneous and very loud chorus of "arigato gozaimasu!" from multiple restaurant staffers (all bowing repeatedly and in perfect synch, too) as we leave a restaurant in Japan.
That's a white people thing? Huh. I typically jog alone, but the few times I've done with someone else, we did talk every now and then.
That's 'cause they are. :P
j/k TorontoEra I love you all
or do I...
Isn't that just to scoop up the rest of the rice from the bowl or something? Like what remains isn't sticky enough to be grabbed optimally by chopsticks so you scoop it up. I've seen Korean-Canadians (and Korean-Americans) do that and it makes sense to me.
Oh, that's a great one. Yeah, same here in Canada. Apparently bike theft is just simply unheard of in Japan.
I actually have a funny anecdote about that. I went to Japan with a friend (another Canadian) a year and a half ago, and we did a day trip to Kyoto where we rented bikes to move around.
Near the end of the day we were getting tired and hungry, so we stopped by a train station where there were lots of kiosks and shops to buy snacks. Our bikes had a "self-lock" mechanism which looked pretty fragile, but was better than nothing I guess. We tried to find a place to park them, and found a "bike parking" in some corner but didn't really know how it worked, if you needed to pay, if it was for specific rentals from that station or whatnot (the bikes all looked alike and ours looked a bit different) so we went elsewhere. Eventually we found a quiet corner with no traffic and parked them there, using the self-lock, and walked around, getting snacks, sitting down, chilling, taking pictures, etc. My friend took some pics of the train station because it was nicely decorated with brightly coloured columns and whatnot.
Then about an hour later we go pick up our bikes and... they're gone. I start getting very nervous, but my friend remained completely calm. She says "I told you before, bike theft doesn't happen in Japan. Someone must have moved them." We look around, don't find them, then decide to go check that bike parking we saw and... yep, there they were. xD We could even get them out of their slots for free since you only needed to pay for >24h. What a relief. And then we started laughing because, not only were our bikes not stolen at all, some nice Japanese person even picked up after us baka gaijin and put them away in their proper place. Thanks, Japan. <3
The best part? Later my friend starts browsing through her pics on her camera and bursts out laughing. Then she shows me: one of the pictures she took, in the background (which she never noticed while taking it of course), is a blurry gentleman carrying away our two bikes in his hands... xD
Mexican, been living in Japan for 2 years.
- People don't touch. My Japanese uncle (who lives in Mexico) doesn't hug his parents, despite seeing them like twice a year.
- Bicycles everywhere. They're legit scary, I've been hit by one, I've seen bicycle crashes.
- No sidewalks on many streets. There are lines painted on the road instead, so you're often walking centimeters away from the passing vehicles.
- Fish for breakfast. I love fish, but strictly after... 1 or 2pm!
- Instead of going to a big supermarket to buy everything, you have to go to many specialized shops.
- Shops closing at 9pm, wut. And no banks on weekends.
I love Japan, but I've definitely experienced culture shock since moving here!
- People don't touch. My Japanese uncle (who lives in Mexico) doesn't hug his parents, despite seeing them like twice a year.
- Bicycles everywhere. They're legit scary, I've been hit by one, I've seen bicycle crashes.
- No sidewalks on many streets. There are lines painted on the road instead, so you're often walking centimeters away from the passing vehicles.
- Fish for breakfast. I love fish, but strictly after... 1 or 2pm!
- Instead of going to a big supermarket to buy everything, you have to go to many specialized shops.
- Shops closing at 9pm, wut. And no banks on weekends.
I love Japan, but I've definitely experienced culture shock since moving here!
In Grenada, December 2004... Me a 20 year old white English lad with my bleached blonde Mohawk and a probably about 18 year old Grenadian guy walks up to me and says.
"Yo man, ya hair is bad man!"
My Reply
"Why what's wrong with it?"
"It's bad man!... It's Good, yo what's wrong don't you speak English and tings?"
In the end we ended up in a bar brought each other rounds of Beer... Carib I think??? He was a nice bloke. Grenada had just flattened by Hurricane Ivan at that point, and later in 2005 got battered again. :(
"Yo man, ya hair is bad man!"
My Reply
"Why what's wrong with it?"
"It's bad man!... It's Good, yo what's wrong don't you speak English and tings?"
In the end we ended up in a bar brought each other rounds of Beer... Carib I think??? He was a nice bloke. Grenada had just flattened by Hurricane Ivan at that point, and later in 2005 got battered again. :(
Let's see... What shocked me most about the US when I was there on an exchange program:
-Not tipping the boy/girl who bags your groceries. They live off tips here in Chile!
-Not being able to drink at 19. I'm old enough to go an exchange program for a year, on my own, but I can't drink? Seriously?!
-Sales tax. I usually was really excited about prices, or had the exact amount... But I always forgot the tax.
-American dependence on cars.
-Walmart not having a dedicated bread section and Americans just buying pre sliced bread, which is the worst. ever.
Here is what the bread store looks like here in Chile in a supermarket:
-Not tipping the boy/girl who bags your groceries. They live off tips here in Chile!
-Not being able to drink at 19. I'm old enough to go an exchange program for a year, on my own, but I can't drink? Seriously?!
-Sales tax. I usually was really excited about prices, or had the exact amount... But I always forgot the tax.
-American dependence on cars.
-Walmart not having a dedicated bread section and Americans just buying pre sliced bread, which is the worst. ever.
Here is what the bread store looks like here in Chile in a supermarket:
Something on Era and the old place that seems weird to me is that Americans make so many threads about fast food chains, like it's really ingrained in their culture.
Ordered a steak tartare in France because it sounded interesting, and found it had nothing to do with tartar sauce.
Buy something in Canada, and they ask you if you want it in a bag.
Buy something in Japan, and they wrap it for you, put it in a bag, tape the bag shut, put it in another bag, and throw another few bags into that bag just in case you wanted more bags for some reason.
Buy something in Canada, and they ask you if you want it in a bag.
Buy something in Japan, and they wrap it for you, put it in a bag, tape the bag shut, put it in another bag, and throw another few bags into that bag just in case you wanted more bags for some reason.
im a second generation filippino american who came to the US by my dad being recruited by the US navy in the philipphines. been in the US since i was 4. First time going back to the philippines i was 14 and it was for the whole summer. where my family lived, most of the neighborhood houses were built with bamboo. 3 months of tropical weather with no AC, living on an island country-side, killing your food to prepare it for dinner, bugs as big as my face, i got the whole nine yards. quite the culture shock for a 14 year old middle class american. wouldnt trade it for anything in the world though.
From the UK
Germany:
- Everywhere was clean and instead of 1 bin you have like 4 bins gathered together for different materials. This was about 8 years ago and the UK is slowly starting to catch up in that regard. Blew my mind back then, especially the cleanliness.
- Cars were parked diagonally on the roads.
Netherlands
- Those weird 2 tier toilets you have where you shit on a flat surface with no/little water and when you flush the water comes out like a stream and carries the poo into the tier below which has the water in.
- Everyone was friendly.
- Paying to use a toilet in a place of business, saw this in a McDonald's and in a fair few random nightclubs/bars so dunno if that's everywhere or not.
- When you buy a tram ticket, it was based on time and not distance. So I paid like 1 euro for a ticket I can use for like 90 mins.
Germany:
- Everywhere was clean and instead of 1 bin you have like 4 bins gathered together for different materials. This was about 8 years ago and the UK is slowly starting to catch up in that regard. Blew my mind back then, especially the cleanliness.
- Cars were parked diagonally on the roads.
Netherlands
- Those weird 2 tier toilets you have where you shit on a flat surface with no/little water and when you flush the water comes out like a stream and carries the poo into the tier below which has the water in.
- Everyone was friendly.
- Paying to use a toilet in a place of business, saw this in a McDonald's and in a fair few random nightclubs/bars so dunno if that's everywhere or not.
- When you buy a tram ticket, it was based on time and not distance. So I paid like 1 euro for a ticket I can use for like 90 mins.
Dont go to a park after a national holiday or on a Sunday to a local park!
Where in the US were you? I'm an impatient New Yorker and I get annoyed when I don't get the check right away. Even if I'm not planning on leaving right after I'm done.
When I travelled to Sweden, 100% of the people I asked for directions from had no idea where anything was. They were as lost as I was. Had several people tell me that my hotel didn't exist (which it did!!!)
I was even asked for directions!!!!! Everyone is as lost as I am there.
I was even asked for directions!!!!! Everyone is as lost as I am there.
America is a conglomeration of other cultures, the only thing we export is capitalism which fast food is a prime example of
Here is what the bread store looks like here in Chile in a supermarket:
Your bread is just sitting out in the open for people to fuck with? That's brave.
You're probably not going to find quality bread at Walmart but a lot of other grocery chains in the US have legit bakeries that do provide real bread if you're willing to pay for it.
Aren't you worried about people's hands fondling all of them finding one that's to their liking?
I wouldn't trust everybody to use those tongs. Sneezing, coughing, etc. in the vicinity. Yeah I don't think I'd be able to eat bread there.
User banned (1 week): Misogyny.
The last time I was in Glasgow I was surprised how it appears that everyone is okay with young girls going out while looking like street whores - also annoyingly drunken.
I am an american, and moving from a small town in Georgia to California was insane. Why is everyone so rude? Why don't people make eye contact when walking? Or even while talking? Why are waiters/waitresses so bad at customer service? Why is this so dang expensive?
Now after I have lived here for about 5 years...
Still don't get why people are rude. Waiters/waitresses still baffle me, but I feel bad because I know my tip still wont help them live anywhere near they work due to the cost of living here. Some people are legit stunned when I look them in the eye and thank them, and tell them I appreciate what they did, its like they dont know how to react to it.
Now after I have lived here for about 5 years...
Still don't get why people are rude. Waiters/waitresses still baffle me, but I feel bad because I know my tip still wont help them live anywhere near they work due to the cost of living here. Some people are legit stunned when I look them in the eye and thank them, and tell them I appreciate what they did, its like they dont know how to react to it.
I thought the point of "weekends" were that they were the two ends of the week. Sunday is the front end and Saturday is the back end, and they are back to back because the start of the next week naturally comes right after the end of the last week. Conveniently (in the US) neither is a work day and that makes it feel like a single unit of two days, so you can just collectively call the whole thing "the weekend". At least, that's where kid-me always assumed that came from. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I always assumed countries that start their weeks with Monday but still call Saturday and Sunday "the weekend" took the word (in its current "the two non-workdays of Saturday and Sunday" meaning) from us but not its origins (the two days that are the first and last days of the week, i.e. the ends).
...And now I need to go look up the etymology of it to see how wrong I am. lol
Wut? My Wallyworld has a gigantic dedicated bread section. And we have just as much unsliced bread as sliced.
Is paranoia about food a cultural difference too? Why would anyone fuck with bread?
London is beautiful?
Petty theft is mostly unheard of. I read of multiple instance of people returning money found on the floor to the police or lost and found.
This is exactly how I feel. I remember coming to my first college in the Bay Area and I got a job because of how "polite" I was to the person I was speaking with.
I'm pretty sure people here think I'm fake to some degree because of it, but, yeah, Missouri to California is definitely a difference.
Visited Germany with my girlfriend to visit family she had over there. Her cousin took us out to eat one day. He was driving his Porsche 911. I was surprised just how fast he was driving and so casual too. We were passing cars like they were standing still. I look over at just how fast he was going. The speedometer said 200 km/h, which is about 125 mph. We were on the Autobahn. He assured us everything was okay there was no speed limits. I was just thinking here in the US driving that fast would land you right in jail.
Exactly! Please and thank you probably helped me in getting this job. That and just holding doors open for strangers gets me funny looks sometimes.
This isn't the reason, though.
When I first set foot in Japan back in 1999, public trash cans were everywhere, and even when I began living here in 2001, they were still a very common sight.
The official reason why they gradually disappeared was counter-terrorism. It was slowly put into motion after the 1995 sarin gas incident if I'm not mistaken.
Although cost-saving has been very often mentioned as the actual motive behind the move.
Due to the disappearing of public trash cans, people began to default on convenience stores in order to dispose of their garbage. But it quickly got out of control. Store trash cans were filling up faster than the employees could change the bags, and since bags aren't free, it became more and more of a burden for store owners.
Due to that, owners had to put up signs forbidding people from throwing away their private stuff. But of course, people gave no shit and kept doing it anyways. So over the past few years, stores have been moving their trash cans inside more and more. There are still a few stores that keep them outside, but they're growing fewer by the day.
Ironically, the result is that there is now a tangible increase in littering. It has concretely become impossible to spend a day out in Japan without having to carry around gargbage, and unfortunately, there are many people who don't want to bother, especially kids.
So I guess at some point in the near future, public trash cans will have to be re-introduced?
From Texas to Oakland and there is no heavy trash pick up. Garbage just fucking piled up in areas. It's insane to me. Where do the tax dollars go?
And everyone is...mean? Like...general kindness to other human beings just doesn't exist on the same scale here.
And everyone is...mean? Like...general kindness to other human beings just doesn't exist on the same scale here.
True. I went to Peru a few years ago and the stray dog situation is Cusco in particular was extremely depressing. There were far more stray dogs than people walking with their pet dogs.
There was an older large dog at a bus station that really hurt to watch. My then gf and I watched him try to get some rest near a ticket counter for probably 30 minutes. He wasn't aggressive or doing anything wrong, but people treated it like just another piece of trash on the ground. It makes me sick just thinking about it. To an extent, it definitely soured what was otherwise a nice trip.
Edit: at the same bus station I had to PAY for the privilege of using a restroom that was basically flooded. There was an inch of water on the ground, toilets and sinks were leaking and overflowing, etc. if you're going to make me pay to use the shittiest restroom on earth, at least keep the fucking drain clear.
After that we got on the bus and I got the worst food poisoning of my life. It was not a good day.
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I went to a mall in Pakistan after having been there for one day. The family I was staying with had supplied us with toilet roll but toilet roll is not usually a thing you find in bathrooms.
So I'm at this mall and everything is "normal" in the sense it's like any Western mall I've been to, familiar brands, that echoey drone of people. I went to the toilet having forgotten about the paper and instead of a loo roll holder was a shower head, so after I pooped I had to blast my ass with this thing. Then what? No paper, so pulled my pants up and had a wet ass for an hour.
So I'm at this mall and everything is "normal" in the sense it's like any Western mall I've been to, familiar brands, that echoey drone of people. I went to the toilet having forgotten about the paper and instead of a loo roll holder was a shower head, so after I pooped I had to blast my ass with this thing. Then what? No paper, so pulled my pants up and had a wet ass for an hour.
I'm amused at all the bread comments. Most decent sized grocery stores in the US have bread sections comparable to all these pics I'm seeing. Even Walmart has a bakery section with a wall of bread.
Feels like some of you went down to the Piggly Wiggly or the Dollar General and assumed that all of America was the same.
Feels like some of you went down to the Piggly Wiggly or the Dollar General and assumed that all of America was the same.