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 😅

Travelling in the southeastern states of the USA in the 1990s, I was shocked by the racism I observed.

Barbados. Live in London so was taken aback by how friendly and nice everyone was. People saying hello to you in the street... people were just so nice. As a londoner who has lived in London my whole life- I found it strange but nice. Also so laid back... I wish I could have stayed.

Barrhead and parts of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire in Scotland , the only places I know that you could get a man introducing you to his wife and his sister and only one woman would be standing there 😂 🤣 🤣 🤣

Fair enough.

You might know the answer to something that's always puzzled me @LavenderViolets

I did some consultancy work where my contact was the service director of the UK branch of a Japanese company that supplied industrial machinery. In his email signature he had a picture that looked like a cartoon fish that a child had drawn. He was quite difficult to deal with and it never felt appropriate to ask him about it but I was always curious what it meant and if it was normal in Japan, he was British though.

The real poverty in India yet everyone smiles

How beautiful Albania is as a country and how lovely and inviting Albanians are overall.

Bought up in an Irish household in England, my parents insisted we didn’t blow our noses up in public - had to go out of room to do it.
I must admit , the sound of snot blowing into a hanky in public, does make me feel sick.

Yes they are, very genuine and friendly.

I live a few miles from Glasgow, and was shocked when I saw women out at the shops and off sales in their pyjamas and dressing gowns...😆

I’ve been to Marrakech twice, with my young adult daughters, and never experienced any harassment at all. Same in Turkey.

Ridiculous comment! So, Le Pen is a socialist?

Definitely Marrakech. I'm pretty well travelled and the moment I got off in the square I was like wow. Was followed and shouted after aggressively and unfortunately robbed (when buying something he didn't bag up all the items- traditional clothing) The stench of camel crap and god knows what else was overwhelming, people will no limbs lying in the streets with flies all around them. Must say though I had the best food probably I have anywhere in the world and the hotel I stayed at was amazing

That’s probably because of the awful caste system. People believe they have to accept their situation.

In Thailand just watching the TV news I was struck by the difference in the focus of the news, which events from which parts of the world made the headlines. There were items about nearby countries and then the Middle East, Africa, India. It really made me realise that the focus in the UK and EU is so biased and western centric.

Coming to the UK age 29 from having been brought up in Spain and having a great social life. Took me a very long time to get used to having to be ready for a night out at 6.30 or 7, eat food quickly and then the focus is on getting as much alcohol into your system as quickly as possible, and then to be told the night is over some very few hours later...and queuing at nightclubs...in the freezing cold...Don't miss those days for sure...

Leaving Paris and moving to mainland China in the early 90s after Tiananmen Square, not Hong Kong. No supermarkets for food shopping. Having to shop in shacks and sneakily open clear plastic bags with resealable metal tops, dip my freshly licked finger into the white stuff and then taste to see if it was sugar, wheat flour, pounded rice or other. Fish was bought live at that time so I didn’t.
Maps didn’t really exist for driving the car. Drove over ‘no foreigner past the sign’ to be greeted by machine gun holding soldiers.

Money was two different sorts, one for Chinese and one for foreigners. They loved mine but only gave change in theirs which I wasn’t officially allowed to use. No chèques or bank card, think of buying a car with small denominative notes in carrier bags
Trying to find crockery and cutlery, all is made in China but for export.
Worst was No Christmas. However, it was fun.

As a 13 year old moving from a rural Irish high achieving state all girls school to an inner city school in the UK.
I would say 80% were EAL students and it was a very deprived area. A child was stabbed in the alley next to the school and I was threatened a number of times for having an Irish accent.
I didn't speak for two years and have totally lost my accent because of this. It certainly taught me a lot and toughened me up!

Went through the same after being out of the UK for several years . Obtaining a NI for my children was a pain. The woman on the phone was rude and couldn’t believe they didn’t have NI nos. House buying, obtaining telephones was also a nightmare. It’s like being away was a crime.

Were you not expecting these things then ?

That definitely sounds a bit of a culture shock @Washingupdone
How come you moved there ?

Well it was about 20 years ago so I can’t quote anything precisely but essentially they thought I was a vulnerable person and questioned why I was walking from a shopping mall to another huge shop and not driving instead. They asked whether I had done anything to prevent me from driving ie. drugs or alcohol consumption. When I convinced them I was sober and of sound mind and just wanted to walk they left me alone.

Being told very directly but with no malice that I was very fat in Hong Kong (size 12 at the time)

I can understand blowing your nose discreetly but digging for coal on the desk right next to mine with full surround sound is just gross and rude, sorry. Why not just go to the toilet and do it there?