Biggest cultural shock you have come across?

[hibbledobble]

What have you encountered while travelling that was your biggest cultural shock?

I'll go first: in Poland I saw families/extended families living 10+ in a 2 bedroom home. The concept of having a bedroom or even a bed to oneself is seemingly unheard of. Everyone sleeps in different beds each night, and beds are often shared. Having visitors in this set up is no problem either: everyone just rearranges. Water also came from Wells, lots of homes had no bathrooms. Ovens were these metal beasts that were plugged into the mains.

Japan; uber-polite, almost no crime, no litter, everything immaculate, Buddha statues in forests and up mountains. Felt so safe even in crowds in the middle of Tokyo at night. Not saying it's perfect, but it's a gorgeous country.

I wanted to say the exactly same thing.
So clean and safe. No litter, no graffiti.

Oh dear, which parts of the UK is it banned in treaclesoda??
And @ Cormorant, well put indeed!

Philomena I live in N Ireland, and most parks and some streets have signs up saying that alcohol is prohibited in public and that you can be fined.

Sitting on a park bench in St Petersburg one evening, somebody on a horse jumped the railings from the street and cantered off into the darkness. We were just remarking that you don't see that every day when a man walked past leading a bear on a chain.

Strangers making eye contact and having conversations on the subway in NYC.

as the Chinese students were standing on them and breaking the seats

I don't get this at all. Assuming you are a cultural squatter, if faced with a western toilet why not just either crouch over it or sit on it and bring your knees up to your chest if that position is something you are more used to.

Or if you are set on a squat, lift the loo seat and stand on the porcelain. It's got to be easier to stand on a flat porcelain rim than on a bevelled loo seat surely?

It seems utterly crackers to stand on a loo seat to squat on it no matter how you have been brought up.

The rationing shops in Cuba. I associated rationing with the 2nd world war, I'm Cuba everyone gets ration books - it was new to me

cheers it's what Malaysian travelled we and across in NZ did, they also broke all the loo seats

If I go again I will be taking scarves to hang over the gaps!

Seriously, don't do this. It will seem deeply weird. As I said upthread, people don't look. At least Americans don't.

Besides, the little gaps on the sides and the bigger ones on the top and bottom provide ventilation and are convenient for handing toilet paper to someone whose cubicle is lacking.

In India, never got used to:
Being constantly stared at
Being chatted up everywhere I went, from shopkeepers, rickshaw drivers, waiters etc
No prices on anything in the shops and having to haggle
The lack of pavements!
The volume of traffic and the consequent pollution
Pp eating curries with their hands
Lack of clean drinking water, had to even use bottles water to clean your teeth!
Seeing swastikas everywhere!
Hardly any women in public spaces, shops, bars and restaurants were all staffed by men
Soldiers with machine guns at airports and banks
How much men and women were segregated
Women in cities with bare feet and carrying umbrellas
Women on motorbikes sitting behind the men, wearing saris sidesaddle
Seeing men with no limbs living on the streets
Frequent power cuts, even in 34 degrees heat!
How pp would ask you v personal questions and couldn't quite get their heads around the fact I was there without a man!
Seeing cows roaming around towns, even on the beach!
Spice in everything, Inc tea and omelettes.

Bloody loved it tho, such a beautiful, fascinating country!

Just thought of another one, actually in the UK. On the Outer Hebrides, a sign on the entrance to the park/play area saying not to use on the Sabbath!

20 years ago when I worked in Portugal, discovering that there were actual shanty towns in and around Lisbon. Think they have all been knocked down now.

I've seen that too OneWild. They used to put barbed wire down the slide and chain up the swings apparently. Also, "No Golf On The Sabbath".

Moving from London to Devon in 1994. Knocked sideways by the disgusting racism.

Similar to onewildnight, arriving on Harris (Scottish Island) on a Sunday and no where being open to buy firelighters. I'd heard it was religious, but literally no where was open apart from the churches.

EsmesBees do you know that a few years ago a NATO boat went into Stornoway harbour on a Sunday to fill up with diesel or whatever it is they use. The reply was "No, we don't sell diesel on the Sabbath" so the NATO guys had to hang around until Monday morning.

We once went to the tourist office in Harris to book a B&B and were surprised that some places wouldn't take guests on a Saturday night as it would mean serving breakfast on the Sunday. This was a long time ago, it may have changed a bit.

I got a pretty big cultural shock on our day out last weekend! We were in rural Norfolk, a place we visit frequently, when we saw a man on a moped with a rifle casually slung across his back! I'm clearly more of a town than I thought!

Other than that I'm not particularly well travelled so the usual puplic toilets in France and driving in Italy. The taxi driver laughed when I let out a terrified life-flashed-before-my-eyes squeal .

No I hadn't heard that middling. But can believe it. When we went the passenger ferries had only just started running on a Sunday and it was proving very controversial.

Seeing a large, live pig strapped to a roof rack on a dual carriage way in Thailand. Going about 70 mph

Coming to Britain I had a culture shock and probably still suffer from post trauma of seeing people walking into my house with shoes on

My most recent one was in England, having dinner with friends and my sister and everyone had a glass of wine - even the drivers!! I was stunned & horrified. The lower drink driving limit must only have been in for a couple of years in Scotland? I just think it's marvellous how quickly zero tolerance to any alcohol & driving has become a cultural norm.

To answer a pp question - I thought it was illegal through Bye-laws to drink outside in most towns in Scotland? No more beer in the park.

These are a very long time ago:-

On holiday in Menorca when I was 8 a Spanish wedding party turned up at our villa complex and little Spanish boys, aged about 5, all puffing away on cigarettes.

In Germany on exchange trip aged about 15 coming out of the bedroom to find my German partner's older brother standing at the basin on the landing just in his pants. But that's nothing compared to the other German exchange trips where locking bathroom doors was frowned upon. Especially shocking the poor English guy brushing his teeth in the bathroom and host relative coming and having a dump using that bathroom's loo.

I think we do need to remember the quote There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign

Chottie

Ive never heard of people standing on toilet seats in the UK!