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 😅

How do you wash up @Notbornintheuk ? You know that washing up liquid and hot water is a very effective way of washing dishes?

Ontario’s fentanyl crisis was a big change this Christmas from the place it was a few years ago big shock 🫨

Not everyone on Britain does it that way. I always wash lightly soiled things first (not in greasy water) and then rinse when I'm not using the dish washer.

Oh come on, nobody has that! Maybe one in a million bathrooms.

Yeah, I found that when I was younger, and also in Spain and Italy. It wasn't fun but rather a pain in the arse and I was glad to get back to the UK and only be leered or catcalled at from afar.

I think those countries have got a lot better for that recently though, or I hope so anyway. DDs were ok when they were out on their own.

Well they're doing it wrong because you empty the water out and fill with fresh and rinse under a hot tap

Fascinating thread 

And @CatsndtheBear thank you for the explanation

Yes and washing clothes.

My Spanish friends find it unhygienic to have a clothes washing machine ( and therefore dirty clothes) in the kitchen as many do in the UK. She also thinks it creates work lugging it down stairs when the machine and drier can be upstairs.

Didn't Kirsty Allsopp have a thing about this too.

I think it was the hot drinks that the poster was referring to. There is always a choice of soft drinks, nowadays there are also many zero alcohol beers, wines, gin and anywhere doing cocktails will also do non alcohol 'mocktails'.

And in respect of the original comment about not drinking tea in a bar - anywhere that is a pub which serves food (eg like Wetherspoons) will also serve teas and coffees.

I'd be surprised if Spanish people are using tumble dryers like people do in the UK.

When we've stayed in properties in Spain the washing machine has often been outside on a balcony or other covered but semi open area because the washing is dried outside. Using a tumble dryer in Spain seems so unnecessary most of the time.

Why? There are plenty of other places to visit. Why would you rush back to somewhere you were unsafe, were sexually assaulted and had other bad things happen, if there's nothing otherwise tying you to the place?

I don’t think I made my post clear at all, sorry!

I meant a proper bar, like low lights, party music, cocktail bar, where you go late on a Saturday night to party. Totally different atmosphere to a gastropub/ Spoons. And of course if you don’t drink alcohol, I’d imagine most people getting a mocktail or other soft drink. Not a cup of herbal tea!

@BoredZelda I understand this. It was a feature of the north east town i used to live in. Off Licences where you bought your booze through a hole in a metal grille, like banks used to be. Not seen it in a chippy, that's bonkers.
I did see a chippy with a bouncer though!

I think a PP didn't belive my experiences of the town in lived in for 30 years.

No idea why anyone would that stuff up.

Including the burned out cars, burglaries, the back alleys having lockable gates at each end.

All true and real. Moving South totally threw me.

COMPLETELY naked? Visable tallywacker?

@Here4thechocs

Sounds like a misunderstanding between 'hosting a party' and an invitation to join a group of people going out together to celebrate someone's birthday. They are different things.

My unwashed* clothes don't spread themselves all over the kitchen. They make less contact with food preparation surfaces than they would if I was wearing them.

*that's 'unwashed' not filthy and disease ridden BTW.

@LeaDond
That's interesting - I always wondered about the placing of the washing machine in Spanish accommodation - mostly in bathrooms but often on the balcony.

It's because I have a sister in Australia (we are British) and I've visited a couple of times for a month each time. One of the main things that struck me about Australians is that they seem really into sports and are very outdoorsy, and all their outdoor areas are set up beautifully for the sun with covers over the play areas, water fountains everywhere, public BBQs that noone seems to vadalise, it's amazing. But when it rains they all run for cover and hide like it's a nuclear attack.
And when my sister comes over here to visit she acts like it's child abuse that I make my kids walk to school in the drizzle and she will barely let her own child near a window if it's a bit wet 🤣

Yep. Completely naked.

"Well this is turning into a racist thread quite quickly"
Also another PP asked that writer to explain what they found racist. Did they ever respond?

To return to culture shock:

in 1976, going to New York. I was brought up in London, and worked in the City (which was still Dickens’s London in many places) but I couldn’t believe the density and high rise of NYC. Banks of lifts in large office blocks, with different lifts for different blocks of floors ( because it would take too long to stop at each floor). A friend lived on the 17 th floor of her ‘building’ she thought it was totally normal ( of course it was) . She looked into a similar building on the other side of the street. The weird disjunct in elaboration between the bottom two or three stories which were visible from the street, the middle part which was plain and then a fancy top. In the restaurant at the top of the Twin Towers you were above the clouds ( and it did feel vulnerable). I could hardly believe how low rise London looked from the plane going back.

1978 in Jerusalem, thé extraordinary variety of cultures and creeds in display in the Old City: various sects of Orthodox Jews, multiple types of Christian priests , monks and nuns all differently habited, strict Muslim women heavily veiled, Bedouin in white robes and corded headdresses and of course the many, many different nationalities and faiths of Pilgrim. I could sit for hours beside one of the City gates and just watch the crowds. Eheu fugaces ….

Touraine in 2001, of course thé châteaux , but also such beautiful houses, wonderful food in the markets and supermarkets, local wine sold at the vineyard, the slower pace of life, the little courtesies in shops and restaurants. I loved it so much we went to live there for fifteen years.

I’m English but I know my history and understand why that would be a shock. It was similar when I moved to Belgium and first saw the big statue of King Leopold right next to the Matonge Congolese district.

@Miq @samarrange
The "Jesus" thing is even a culture shock to the other christians/catholics!

Here's a hilarious comedienne talking about how christians have direct access to their buddy Jesus:

most profound culture shock in my life was waking up the morning after the EU referendum to find that my fellow citizens had voted to leave the EU

I think if there is a dance floor that people will take drinks on or if it’s somewhere where most people will be drinking stood up/ by small tables it makes sense to only serve cold drinks from a health and safety perspective of drinks getting spilt.