What's the biggest culture shock you've experienced?

[Sacredhandbag]

Good or bad?

For me it was definitely the bike culture in Amsterdam - and I loved it.

But also, the over enthusiasm of shop workers in America, the silence in the streets in Japan, and the way Australians are so outdoorsy but can't handle the rain 😅

I remember being asked whether I worked once and thinking 'do they think I'm an heiress or something?'. I realised later it was because the person knew a lot of housewives.

Moved to a European country with a reputation for being boring. Went to a bar one evening with some new friends. A proper bar, not a cafe. The two women I was with ordered herbal tea.

I can’t imagine this being culturally acceptable in the UK!

Mary is persona non grata among fundamentalists.

Lol! I live in NYC and this is definitely not a cultural thing.

A really happy one was a recent visit to Lourdes in France. It's a place of pilgrimage for Catholics and many people with varying levels of disability and illness go there seeking a miracle cure or relief from pain or just a break.

It was so refreshing to be in a place where disability was totally accepted. Where the whole infrastructure was set up to be welcoming and accessible to people who are marginalised in most public spaces.

I didn't see any medical miracles but just the loving, accepting atmosphere of the town (junky religious souvenirs included) was a miracle of sorts.

Being felt up on the buses in Rome. A man literally squeezed my boob, my arse was felt and I had to slap away a hand that was in my bag!

I've lived in Spain and was always impressed with how well-behaved little spanish children are, even in supermarkets. I used to pop across to Gibraltar, and let's just say, the kids were very different.

I googled NA and it came up with Namibia which figured, knowing how amazingly Ghanaians treat their dead.

But then having seen it meant North America (do we use "NA" here in the UK?), I remembered my mum visiting friends in Detroit which coincided with a neighbour's funeral which my mum was coerced into attending. She was NOT expecting an open coffin with the deceased sitting up and made up to be smiling. Her shocked gasp was heard by all. (Ironically my mum was born in Canada.)

I am not a big traveller but my biggest culture shock was my first visit to Liverpool with my boyfriend who later became my first husband.
He was a scouser and on arrival and especially my first night out on the town with his lovely mates I could not believe how friendly everybody was.
The weather might have been a lot colder but the people were a hundred times warmer.
It was lovely.

Sounds fantastic, I wanna live there 😀

A massive generalisation there

I have a long career in education in the UK.

Recently, exploring a child’s two week absence to find the 10 year old, primary pupil was absent due to severe withdrawal symptoms from vaping.

Moving to the UK from Serbia and having to adapt to the cultural norms regarding communication. Serbian, and actually the Slavic languages and cultures in general - and the Dutch, apparently - are much more direct and ‘blunt’ in a way that is perceived as rude in the UK. The same with facial expressions - I’ve admittedly got that stereotypical blank/stone/bitch faced expression so I was often thought to be angry or miserable when that wasn’t the case at all. I also had to learn to interpret what was meant from what was said.

I did make conscious efforts to soften myself a bit, but I don’t think I could ever be described as particularly diplomatic by British standards.

I loved Marrakesh! No harassment at all.

Absolutely Japan. It's interesting to see a lot of people have said about the people being so incredibly polite and couldn't do enough for you - as a young solo female tourist I have to say I have never ever felt so bewildered and ignored as I did over there. Even trying to order food in Osaka I was met with completely blank looks - even when gesticulating to the pictures (I knew never to point). I did learn from a tour guide later on that apparently I am the complete opposite in every way to the standards of beauty they have over there, so it could have just been because I'm ugly AND English😂

Also, the NOISE - I'm autistic and at times it was almost painful - whilst it's an experience to hear the different jingles for each train station, the piped bird noises in the subway, the three different tones at the same time for crossing the road, and the non-stop singing jingles in Don Quixote and the konbini.... it soon gets incredibly tiring!

I have to laugh at those who got a shock re Northern girls and their lack of coats though - I'm nearly 40 now and still won't wear one unless I'm in a restaurant (sheer lack of cloakrooms is part of the reason). I'm a small North East town girl and remember going out for my 18th in the middle of December, in the snow, in a tiny mini dress, heels and not much else, not even a bra 😂

Curry for breakfast in India!

Yeah. You don’t have to worry about fussing a dog. Perhaps that’s why they get so much attention.

Oops, that was supposed to be in reply to the Op re Amsterdam!

the abundance of fruit and berries in the hedges

^

Eh?!

The car thing was very weird though. I had the money to pay, but they kept wanting to talk to my husband 😂

Fair enough though, I am sure it is different in different places, and everyone's experiences are different.

I loved our time there so much.

99% of English people will have no idea why that was a culture shock for you.

Probably, in Egypt, seeing women sitting by swimming pools at very expensive hotels , completely covered in black clothing, with total face coverings and gloves. Their husbands openly letched at our skinny 14 year old daughters in the pool and I went inside to get dressed.
Another, in Tokyo, in department stores, being addressed and bowed at by every single assistant.

Bulgaria. A man with no limbs sleeping on the pavement.

yes! We spend many weeks a year in the US and it just isn’t the done thing to blow one’s nose in public. This is heaven for me as I have always found public nose blowing absolutely disgusting. I have had the misfortune to marry a family of people that seem to love blowing their noses, loudly and into handkerchiefs 🤢 and even at the dinner table 🤢🤢 (My husband wouldn’t dream of it)

Why in the UK we don’t treat it as an activity to do it private is beyond me.

I'm originally from Scotland but have travelled a lot for work
Italy - The hole in the ground toilets. The fab food and the amazing wine for next to nothing

Israel - the way men greet each other and kiss each other. The soldiers hiking with their guns on their backs

Las Vegas - The size of the portions of food OMG / the gambling and all of the excesses in one spot

Japan - hole in the ground toilets and then then the automatic ones amazing. Gorgeous people

Ireland - Feck is used by everyone - the kindest people you would ever meet and they all talk to you.

Newcastle - it was snowing and all the gals only had a slip dress on and no coats at all

Tunisia - a guy with an 8" scar on his face followed us from the beach and took us through the souk - terrifying - trying to persuade us to shop

Bangkok - the policemen lying to us and telling us the big buddha was closed - to get us to shop in his brothers shop in the other direction - glad it was day 1 it set the standard

Interesting perception there @Gwenhwyfar
Perhaps its the high level of service end expectations in their own country which makes some Americans appear a little demanding when encountered in other countries.