What was the first culture shock you remember having?

[MeiganMcSeinna6]

high school for me , thought it would be all sweet an innocent , Wrong

In fairness, you deserve a non-patronising, ‘Well done,’ as you probably worked harder independently than all of the independent school attendees.

@Nomorefuckstogive

In fairness, you deserve a non-patronising, ‘Well done,’ as you probably worked harder independently than all of the independent school attendees.

Exactly. It's hardly an achievement to have got there with mummy and daddy paying for the best private education on the planet. I would be surprised if they didn't get in.

Working in rural Albania, dodging corrupt cops and organised crime, trying to navigate a society where seemingly anything goes but which in reality operates by way of a complex blend of laissez faire, custom and violence, and where as an outsider you can disappear without trace if you piss off the wrong people. As for the standard of driving...absolutely life threatening.

Loved it. Had to come home before I turned into one of them.

Mid 1960s, aged 8, posted to Singapore as dad military.

Arrived very early morning, straight to hotel then about midday dad decided we should go for a walk.

The heat, the smells, the noise!!. I started crying and said I wanted to go home, back to UK. It was so overwhelming and so different to what we had left a couple of days previously.

Two years later, none of us wanted to leave, we loved it there but dad's next posting was to Scotland and we had to go home.

@cobblers123 really interesting time in Singapore's history. Singapore gained independence in 1965 and the British troops left in 1967. Yoru dad probably left due to the withdrawal of British troops based on your timeline. Conscription of Singaporean men began in 1970.

I was born in Singapore in 1992 but my parents (born in 1963 and 1964) are older than the Republic of Singapore itself!

@araiwa

Walking out of Delhi airport

Delhi airport for me too! It was the first time I had been out of Europe and the heat and strange smell of the heat, a weird tropical smell, very humid. And taking the airport bus into town with cows wandering over the road.

Cairo, Egypt as a teen. I was wearing a mini skirt in 40 degree heat and the covered up school girls stopped and stared at me open mouthed.

The drugs are everywhere! Came from a rural village to big town and it was a shock I can tell you

@dementedma

Seeing my first drag act in a club in Belgium when I was 18. I didnt even realise it was drag at first..very sheltered upbringing! I felt terribly cool and sophisticated

I went to a show in Las Vegas and commented on the extraordinarily gorgeous girls in the review. My friend clued me in that they were all males. 😂

Moved from Wales to England, went to a chip shop and asked for a rissole.

There are no rissoles in England. None.

It's Wales' gain and England's loss.

I once asked this question to a group of Individuals who had just escaped from Uganda. Fascinating answers, but the one I really remember is a woman who said “ carrying my own luggage. I had never had to carry anything “!

@Nomorefuckstogive

In fairness, you deserve a non-patronising, ‘Well done,’ as you probably worked harder independently than all of the independent school attendees.

Not from them I didn't.

Morocco (Tangier) in the early 1960s. It was not a package destination in those days and very exotic to a young girl on her first trip abroad. The smell of cannabis along the street (I thought it was kebabs) and having men crowd around and hassle me. One of them said to my friend "Give me a kiss and Ill give you a camel!" We both burst out laughing.

Moving to London from a European capital city aged 12. It was wet, dark and miserable. First day of school and having to walk two hours home from school because the nearest tube stop was shut due to a bomb alert. I had no idea why my parents brought me here. Moved back to London from another European capital city a few years back and had the same feeling but this time via-a-vis my own kid (and minus the bomb alerts). A massive culture shock every time - here's hoping I will get used to it all again.

@Beachhutsandsand

UKs GPs. When I first moved to U.K. many moons ago I went to GP in London. I was appalled by the lack of basic care and look of the surgery. When I walked in , no coat hanger to put my coat on, the Dr pointed to put my clothes on the what looked dirty dusty muddy floor! What would be properly investigated back in my native country, it was brushed off here in 4 seconds as nothing. In my home country we have great care, the drs actually listen to you and you have coat hangers or senates available to put your clothes. You also get referrals and can see Dr specialist in few days, sometimes even same day depending on the clinic- this is all Nhs. Tests like smear test are done properly on a gynaecologist chair taken by gynaecologist so they have proper look and access down below. When I went for my first smear test in the U.K. I was told to lie on basic couch where one side was on the wall. The nurse used a ordinary torch to look inside me and searched for my cervix. My legs were not properly opened as not gynaecologist chair where you put legs into metal holders, so she couldn’t not take the test properly and lots of abnormal cells were missed.

Sorry you had abnormal cells missed, but it’s perfectly possible to take a smear properly without a special chair!

in the late 1990's a school trip to Russia (Kaliningrad region). It was shocking. People living in houses unrepaired since WW2. There was a small village where since the war all sorts of "damaged" people had been sent to. It was a sight like from Hills Have Eyes.

@Mintjulia

There being a major crime in our home town.

It had always been the dullest, most uneventful place imaginable (from a teenager's eyes). Then suddenly the police were everywhere, they stayed for months, and neighbours who had known each other for 30 years stopped trusting each other.

I have to agree I live in Keyham never thought a shooting spree would happen here, panic everytime a pratt sets of a firework that isn't planned now.

Going to work for the first time, age 16 into a garage and hearing grown ups swear, the mucky talking and general bad, sexist language.

It’s remarkable just how many of these detail culture shocks within the U.K. itself.

Out of interest, those who moved to the UK, what did you think it would be like before coming?

@sum15 having moved to the UK twice. The first time it was fairly similar to what I had expected. Early 90s London was seen as a poorish and fairly rubbish backwater if you came from Europe. Interestingly having moved back in recent years, I had actually expected it to have remained vibrant, exciting and joyful - i.e. like the London I left in mid2000s before the crisis and austerity. Instead, I found a much poorer and depressed city, very unequal and almost American and not in a good way. I am also amazed that most people seem to have swallowed austerity and accept this state of affairs, rather than trying to argue for change. For me, the UK is now more akin to poorer parts of Europe than the Northern Europe that it often seems to compare itself with. It's a shame really.

@FedNlanders

Going to Taiwan with my 6ft 5 husband with blond hair and blue eyes. People stared and took pictures. It wasn't bad or sinister, just weird. No one ever takes any notice of us at home. It was very strange.

Stephen Merchant had a similar experience in Vietnam.

He said people were just openly staring at him and affecting a sort-of Frankenstein's Monster's walk.

One of the locals even attached a 'kick me' sticker on his back.

Staying with DFs family in rural France in the 1960s no bathroom - not even an earth closet in the garden - just a bucket in a shed, no hot water or telephones - they all kept pet rabbits and pigeons (to eat) grew most of their own fruit veg and salads
I thought they were poor until we went out to Morocco to visit the rest of DFs family

Aged around 9/10 and being allowed to leave the street to play (we lived in a large village ) and my friend taking me to her Grandmothers flat which was on the other side of the village .

It was a social housing property , lots of flats/maisonettes all in a square overlooking a green in the middle where children from the flats were playing .

I was shocked because it was lovely , i had been warned by my parents to stay away from the flats as it was where all the bad un's lived ( both my parents had grew up in council houses and some of my much loved aunts and uncles still did back then , think my DM forgot her roots a bit there )

Going to see the pyramids in Egypt wasn't the amazing experience I expected , the pyramids themselves were amazing but the poverty right next to them shocked me , literally 100 foot away from them is shanty town , also using the
Toilet was free but it was the equivalent of £5 to have 3 squares of toilet paper to go with it.

Moving to London, temporarily, from Birmingham.
Had to report to work at 8.30 am so caught the first train from New Street to Euston.

Got if the train and headed to the tube at around 7.45

Waited for tube then waited for passengers to alight when a woman barked at me that I was so stupid to have a big suitcase at THAT time of the day.
Quickly followed by seeing that people, armpit to armpit , said not one single word to each other.
In Birmingham, you always passed the time of day , whether at a bus stop, seated next to someone etc...
To be fair, this was before personal internet, but still...

Whenever I go back to Brum, it's always so much chattier. In the southeast, you'd be seen as a nutter.