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 😅

Lourdes.

Extreme poverty in parts of Africa, India and even Greece.

Same! 100% I think it's pretty grim in public. Check you've not got bogeys everywhere and wash your hands!

I've visited Israel many times, and the cultural uniqueness is something I experienced every day.

The most striking thing is that every Friday at sundown when Sabbath (Shabbat) commences, I remember the streets were deserted the closer it got to sundown as people go to synagogue then home to light candles and have dinner, All cleaning and food prep is done beforehand and nobody picks up a mobile phone for 24 hrs, as cleaning, cooking and technology are classed as work.

When I went to Beirut in ‘79 I couldn’t stop staring - I’d never seen so many incredibly handsome men! I learned not to admire anything in someone’s home, or an item of jewelry or the owner would INSIST that it should be mine, very embarrassing when the new friend pulled the ring off and tried to give it to me. Lebanon had the most fabulous fruit I’ve ever eaten, same for their food generally especially as I’d grown up in a small town in southern Scotland!

A friend from Cape Town arriving in Liverpool by train commented on the back to back houses, saying how horrible and shocking they were.

Conversely, my own culture shock was flying into her home city descending over vast leafy suburbs, each house having a pool, but then huge shanty towns quickly coming into view before landing. The contrast stunned me.

My friend's family in Cape Town had a pool, a housekeeper, employed people in their small business, etc. but they could not afford to fly as I could. Holidays were road trips in South Africa unless visiting family overseas.

Because of our ability to afford international flights, they thought we must be well off and couldn't understand how my self-employed husband did all the work himself in his own small business and that we lived in a back to back for a time ourselves.

Made for interesting conversations 🙂

Oddly it was returning back to UK after living 25 years overseas. The casual racism was a shock. The drinking culture. Enormous amounts of red tape to get anything done. The greyness and the rain.

Aaaaah thanks for explaining!
Couldn't you say though it would be having notions to assume it's OK to wear outside shoes into people's homes. That ones comfort in their feet is more important than someone else's comfort in their home?

Haven't heard it like that before so thanks for that 😊

On the use of knives while eating thing: in the US, generally speaking, the fork is always in the right hand when you are putting food in your mouth. If a knife is used, you have the fork in your left hand, cut with your right, then put the knife down and switch the fork to your right. Anything that can be cut with the fork, will be because it is faster. But we eat a lot of things that can't be cut wit a fork, like steak, so we do use the knife.

Some of us who have lived in the UK (like me) have adopted the European style because it is clearly more efficient. However, we do run the risk of being perceived as being a bit pretentious (As in, look at me, I have lived in Europe long enough to learn how to do this). I actually do a combination. I never mastered the art of pushing food on to the back of my fork.

Nah, I'm going to need the names of those chip shops 😂

They wear their uniform at weekends because they are going to school at weekends. (Source: Mother of 3 Japanese school children) And it a culture shock every weekend 🤣🤣🤣

@EVHead @OldTinHat
Not just in Paris, at Sable D'Olonne where DD was stalked whilst with me, DH and her older sister.

I've lived in various parts of France for over twenty years and had children here. I've never seen ànyone smack a child.

India for me too. I can only describe as some sort of lovely chaos. The colours, the many many people, the cows.

I was in total awe of how ordered and clean the roads were when my dad collected me from Heathrow!!

In the 1980s, from council house, council estate and state school as a second generation immigrant to Oxford college. So glad I learned which forks to use by watching Upstairs Downstairs as a kid.

Italy. It was so chaotic and people yelling instructions - even at us! Vanuatu. Talking to locals on Tanna, and seeing the poverty. Most of the island didn't even have electricity. But they were amazing people.

We've been to many cultures & most don't shock us anymore. We're off to Japan with DC in tow shortly & haven't travelled in a while so we'll see!

And the Australians & rain comment is... Odd.... DH & DS just spent two weeks in the mud camping at a scout Jamboree & just got on with it. We go inside because it doesn't rain gently here, it pours. And it'll be sunny again in fifteen minutes. Why get wet?

Driving in Italy with a friend. Both of us were young and blonde (older and greyer now). We stopped at a red traffic light in the middle of Rome. A police officer appeared, approached the car, and signalled to us to wind the window down (we were scared that we had broken some law at this point). He leaned in, smiled and leered 'Ciao belle' at us. The lights went green, he removed himself from the window and we drove off feeling a bit icky.

No it isn't.
People are talking about differences because, you know, people and circumstances in other countries are different.
There is no prejudice, discrimination or antagonism of any individual or group of people because of their membership of a certain race.
You should learn the definition of racism and how not to project it onto reasoned discussion.

What's so different about it?

Hated it there and the constant hassle, although a few people were incredibly kind.

In the shopping centre lifts, people were employed to press the button for the floor you needed to go to and they sat on a stool next to the buttons all day.

This used to be very common in shops in the UK until the 1960s or so. The lift operators were often people with disabilities.

Not so much a culture shock for us, in fact we were the shockers, but this has reminded me of a couple hilarious moments from when my DH and I did a road trip across Germany.

I needed to pop into a town to find some fake tan - we parked in a multi story and managed to get into a lift that didn’t take us to the shopping centre as planned, but somehow opened directly into a huge open-plan office full of business people quietly working at desks, who all raised their heads in unison to look at us as the doors opened and we trotted out. I’ll never forget the 50 odd looks of cold contempt, and the complete silence as we made a hasty retreat, apologising profusely 😆
On the same trip, our car’s air con later packed up - it was during the heatwave of 2018. I was 6 months pregnant so it got to a point where I implored DH to pull over on a quiet country road so I could get out and strip down to my underwear. The moment I’d got my dress off, about 20 tractors came over the hill and streamed past, with a load of German farmers giving me similarly unimpressed looks 😆

The funerals I have been to have been about 3 weeks later

@AnotherBritInTheUSA I've been to the US 8 times - mainly NY and California but DH has been much more as a tour manager- (music) - I do agree that it can be a damn site cheerier and service often far better - you can get great food too, particularly in California , it just costs!!! - I also found a lot of people very open and friendly - I remember a few times when we sat and had a coffee at laurel canyon stores in LA and I don't think we have ever been and not had people initiate conversation with us and make suggestions of 'have you been to xxx' etc or you must try xxxx --in a way you just don't tend to get in vast parts of the UK - I'm like that myself so really liked the vibe- I so feel for the people in LA - we met so many lovely folk out there even as tourists and many more too with work.

Is this real? If that was me, I would never end up leaving the bathroom- I always have a cold throughout Winter.

This 'where do you blow your nose thing' needs its own AIBU!