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.

When I visit the UK, I'm always amazed at how people eat on the streets. Business people walking along at lunchtime chewing a sandwich as they walk.

JustHereForThePooStories I think that's quite a recent thing. I'm under 30 and certainly when I was a child my parents wouldn't let me eat in public except for in cafes/restaurants and at picnics. Even a bag of crisps, let alone a sandwich! They considered it very uncouth, although fish & chips at the seafront was excluded from this rule for some reason.

In the USA, being able to buy guns and bullets in supermarkets along with your fruit and veg. Blew my mind, pardon the pun.

In Cyprus, 24hr bakeries; you can buy a cake at 3am. Dangerous for a carboholic.

In Germany, having sweets on all the tables in the pub on Christmas Eve. Lovely.

JustHereForThePooStories
When I visit the UK, I'm always amazed at how people eat on the streets.
Me too. Also on the tube.

Not exactly a culture shock but never quite got over supermarkets in Italy selling jugs of Nutella.

I live in Korea and married to a Korean so tons of stuff:

the fact that my FIL does nothing in the house and doesn't even thank my MIL for anything. He finishes dinner, stands up and walks away. Totally normal here but I find it hard.

Attitudes to sex: my husband was shocked to his core that I had condoms in my bedroom. Women are not meant to be 'prepared' for sex. (And he is quite open minded - he didn't think anything bad, he just never thought a woman would buy condoms.)

EVERYTHING to do with work - working til 11 for no thanks, 10 days holiday a year, being forced to get pissed with your boss, being told not to lift heavy stuff because you're a woman, having no say in anything because your boss decides everything.

People commenting on your appearance- and very rarely positively. My MIL had kittens when I went out without make up on.

People spitting in the street. I remember looking at this lovely looking guy, nice suit, handsome, and he just hawked up a massive blob of snot and spit it on the pavement. People do it a lot and I find it horrible.

Also how horrible a lot of white expats are, especially men. The way they look down on Korean people as if they are so dumb and worthless - but obviously they are desperate for a Korean girlfriend. Quite pathetic.

Gun laws in the US. Just after I my arrival a ticket in the next dissident fit a loaded gun out of get mother's friend handbag, and shot herself, injuring the friend seriously too. In the talk that followed people were upset, but it was agreed that no one would stop carrying their guns, as they didn't feel safe without them. I attempted the argument that of no one had s gun, no one would need one, ( citing the UK as an eg of this logic working) and was verbally attacked quite forcefully. The right to bear arms was paramount, despite the fact that when that was put in the constitution guns were muskets that took about 10 mins to load , limiting impulse, and doing less damage.
It shocked me in a way that all the squat loos in Asia did not touch.

seoul yes, the good thing about SARS is that it reduced hawking and spitting by about 90% in HK.

Portion size in the USA.

This thread is fantastic reading. I've travelled to Germany/France/Austria but only as a child via the ferry. I've never been on a plane and this thread has made me realise just how much I've missed out on.
My sister lives in Australia and has traveled to every continent. Her stories enthrall me. My favourite was when she stayed in a very posh hotel complex in Cuba for work. Each day a bottle of champagne and some fruit and chocolates were left in her room. She put the champagne in her suitcase and gave the food to ecstatic hotel workers or cab drivers.
Her last day was free and her dp had joined her so they decided to explore before going to the airport. On the advice of the receptionist they hired a cab driver to show them sites he thought they would like. My sister asked if he would take them where he and his family went and he said they didn't go anywhere. He asked if they were hungry and took them to his home. His wife was very warm and welcoming but apologised for the simplicity of their home and food. The 2 children were so sweet and polite and insisted that my sister and her dp took their seats at the dining table. My sister said the food was delicious and the home like a 50's style one you see in American films. Everything was threadbare but very pristinely kept. The couch was 40 years old and they simply would never be able to afford to replace it. When it was time for my sister and her dp to leave she went to the car and took a bottle of champagne from her suitcase and handed it to the wife. The couple acted as if they'd won the lottery and said they'd save it for their anniversary the following year. My sister then handed over the remaining bottles. The wife found it too much and cried her eyes out.
My sister also used to bring a suitcase home from her travels filled with toiletries from posh hotels, nice flip flops she'd barely worn, samples of jewellery and makeup from her work etc. Me and our mum would raid her luggage. My sister gave the suitcase and its contents to this lovely family. This was in the late 80's. My sister still has a beautiful framed photo of them with this family in her office. She sends them cards at Christmas and a parcel with lots of British themed items (so far a red post box that was a piggy bank, a hackney cab toy, and a dalek biscuit tin which they requested :o) She went back to visit when she was working again and was invited to a wedding. The man still works at the hotel as a cabbie/guide in his late 70's and drives the exact same car.
My sister has always been such a lovely and kind person. When they asked after her dp and found he had passed away they were so sad and sat quietly holding her hand. She said it was the first time she'd felt peace in herself since he'd gone.

Taking a road trip round the west coast of America and realising that although we spoke the same language, we were culturally so different. The mythology of the pioneer and The American Dream is really a thing. Invisibility of native cultures, which given the history of the west is fairly depressing. But its easier to see blind spots when it's not your culture (e.g. The physical legacy of slavery in cities like Bristol and Liverpool is totally there but easy to not 'see').

Lovely story Free. Thanks for sharing it. I'm sorry for your sister's loss.

Free that put tears in my eyes. Your sister and her friends sound like such nice people.

Some things that struck me about America, driving in beautiful countryside and then suddenly you'd see a massive advertisement hoarding stuck on a hill in the middle of nowhere!

Also, driving in California along the coast, the huge skies! The landscape is just so vast compared to the UK, you never see skies that big here.

In both India and Thailand, I was always surprised by how, early the sunset was considering it was hot and sunny. It started at 6ish and by 7pm it was pitch black!

Was shocked in Koh Samui, Thailand, how the bars where prostitutes worked were on the high street alongside normal shops and restaurants, they were just like ordinary bars, but with bored looking young women hanging out, dressed in tee shirts and shorts , I think I expected them to be v seedy and hidden away down some dark alley!

Thanks Enid and Bertie. My sister has never settled and appreciates that she was so lucky to find someone who shared her desire to travel. She has also told me some horrific stories and how she feels overwhelming guilt for riding elephants and snuggling up to tigers and chimps that she now realises were spiritually broken. She's now an avid campaigner against this kind of cruelty. She enjoys meeting the locals and has had me asking for donations of not just money but vests, shorts, sandals, pens, pencils, sweets etc that we send over. She was visiting a place (I think it was The Gambia) and we collected up all the lost property from my kids primary school and sent it over. She sent me a message a few weeks later with a photo of all the little girls proudly wearing the blue and white gingham school summer dresses and the PE pumps. . They all had big smiles. One little girl couldn't grasp that people (well the children) would lose items of clothing especially shoes and dresses but she was glad they did. :o

YY to previous posters who have mentioned the drinking culture in Britain. Actually that one still shocks me.

About Denmark and Norway: how sleazy and rude the men could be when when attempting to pull you. Also the drunkenness in Denmark was something else and I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to a good session.

A uk one here: how the whole entire town would dress up in fancy dress for new year's evening in certain places in Devon and Cornwall. Thought they were taking the pissed until nye came and we the only boring ones in normal clothes in every single pub we went to.

A big smile and a can do attitude will get you anywhere. Plus a few words of the lingo too. Show a bit of respect. Easier now that we can translate things on the phone, rather than expecting people to understand English as an arrogant given! I know they do, but still....

To me the biggest culture shock is not that horrible, but by our standards it certainly is...

Everyone in the US drinks and drives. They never walk, take a bus or train, never take a cab, they just imbibe and drive. But they can survive the sobriety test so they reckon they are ok, or the cops are nuts or something like that.

Take it from me it is done all the time. I was a bit shocked at first, but that's their culture.

Everyone in the US drinks and drives.

This is an extreme over generalization. Attitudes in the US about drinking and driving have changed considerably in the past two decades especially. Everyone I know is very careful and there is always a designated driver in a group. And there are quite a few people who don't drink at all.

Australia is freezing for nearly 6 months of the year. Late autumn, all of winter and early spring. Complete lack of insulation means that you are nearly always cold to your bones or wrapped up like the mitchelean (sp?) man. Also surprisingly and immensely bureaucratic.

Australia is freezing for nearly 6 months of the year. Late autumn, all of winter and early spring. Complete lack of insulation means that you are nearly always cold to your bones or wrapped up like the mitchelean (sp?) man. Also surprisingly and immensely bureaucratic.

It was -7 when I left home at 6:30am yesterday.

I do live where it snows though.

We built our house for this reason. Building regulations here are fucking terrible. We've lived in some really (overpriced) shitboxes. Condensation on windows in winter, no proper heating, no insulation, virtually no houses have double-glazing etc.

free
your post made me cry.
my faith in humanity has been restored.

Post I have family in Oz and every winter (ours) they pay some cash into my account and I stock up on clothing from primark for them to receive in their winter. Fleecy nightwear, hoodies and thick socks are top of the list. I've never been and though I've been doing this for years I still struggle to get my head around the fact that Australia is cold in the winter. Oh and it's still cheaper for them to import clothing from the uk than buy it there. :o

Cheddar Yep, we buy a lot of our clothes from overseas.

I bought a Parka London coat last year because I couldn't find anything that wasn't a ski jacket which was adequate for winter. It got here two days later! Amazing. Australia Post can't get their shit together enough to get a piece of mail from one suburb to the next in a week.

YY to previous posters who have mentioned the drinking culture in Britain. Actually that one still shocks me.

Having had this idea that we are about the worst in Europe, I wasn't ready for Karneval in Germany.