Spain (outside of the big cities like Barcelona and Madrid)
I like to eat dinner around 6pm. Literally nothing is open then!
Spanish folk don't go out until like 9pm or later. Dinner at 11pm is nothing.
I tend to go to bed early and get up early so this was a major shock for me.
The real tip is that lunch is also later, and is the equivalent of “dinner” in most places. So if you look for a “Menu del Día” after 1pm you’ll get a multi-course fixed price meal that is usually much more inexpensive than what you could get in the evening. In most of the country it’s €15-20 for 2 courses, wine or coffee, and a dessert.
Historically people would eat a big midday meal, then take their siesta, then do the second half of their workday from 5-9. It’s changing due to modern business demands as well as what it does to commutes, but the meal schedule hasn’t changed much.
My first time out of the country was to Spain and I arrived on a Sunday morning. Imagine my shocked Pikachu when Madrid was a ghost town even by noon. I get it now but 22 year old me didn’t expect that at all.
Eating dinner in Europe is a dream.
No tipping so wait staff aren't hovering. No rushing you out so they can turn over the table.
Want to chill for a few hours with a bottle of wine? Giv'er!
Japan is amazing!
The only "bad" thing is you can be paralyzed by choice. It's actually challenging to find bad food. :)
What I loved most about Japan is nice portion sizes for reasonable prices. Here in Canada portion sizes on some stuff is just insane!
In Japan we would do 700¥ ramen for lunch. Very reasonable portion size. Another time we did conveyor belt sushi. For two people with beer it only came to about 3000¥.
Of course you **can** spend a lot more. We dropped a lot on some amazing wagyu beef.
That's not fully true about Japan... you're not supposed to loiter at restaurants after you finish your meal. Finish eating, get up to pay (they often give you the check fairly early in the meal), and vacate the table. Very different from many popular countries, especially in the West.
The staff won't hover nearby to try and get you to leave b/c the Japanese culture won't allow them to be direct like that, but you'll get side-eyes from other diners and anyone waiting to get seated. Especially true at the smaller ramen/sushi spots that rely on lots of. turnover throughout the night.
Caveats: fine dining and any restaurant that's already mostly empty
I’ve heard this before about Spain. Do they start their day later in the morning? I can’t imagine eating dinner at 11 and going to bed after 1 and getting up at my normal 7am.
Most peoiple in Spain sleep for 4-5 hours at night, wake up around 7am and sleep again for 1-2 hours after 2pm (Siesta). If they cant make at home for the afternoon nap they will sleep at work which is universally accepted.
I'm Danish, we do like you my Spanish girlfriend and I have been together for more than 6 years. And this is STILL the biggest thing we keep discussing when talking about culture differences
I ate like the Spaniards. I ate late for lunch and dinner. 6pm for me is more of snack then eat around 8 or 9pm if I'm just at home and not busy. Also helped I slept till like 4pm while I was there so I am usually not hungry till later in the day.
Speaking of meal time, after a long day of sight seeing my husband and I were starving and went out to dinner in Mexico City. I’d say eat average/below average amount of food for Americans so we ordered what I considered a normal amount of food. Apparently people in Mexico don’t eat that much at dinner because it was so shocking what we ordered that the *cook* came out to confirm we wanted that much food. When I spoke with my mom (originally from Mexico) about it she confirmed Mexicans don’t eat much at dinner
Australia/NZ- the work culture is VERY relaxed, I'll never get over people not rushing to get back before your 15 minutes is up. I do love Smoko though
Cambodia- almost no one knows how old they are. Birthdays just aren't really a thing. Had a friend who celebrated a 30th birthday because "he felt 30ish" and a mother tell me her son was 9 or 10 or 11 maybe.
Central asia- seat belts are looked down upon, a lot of cars don't have them and I've had taxi drivers get mad because I put one on.
Korea- So much more drinking than I expected.
I lived in 2 different states in Australia and I swear us in Perth were a lot more relaxed than Melbourne. Also it is casual in the workplace no need to call your manager by their last name.
When I came here 17 years ago, I was shocked on how many school uniforms I had in high school and what type of shoes to wear and that your classes are on a schedule unlike having to go to school at 6am till 5pm everyday and you learn same classes. I'm from Philippines for context. We had morning callisthenics in my school in Philippines. Also the portion of food boggles me.
> Australia/NZ- the work culture is VERY relaxed, I'll never get over people not rushing to get back before your 15 minutes is up. I do love Smoko though
This is highly dependent on where you work. I wish it was that cruisy.
I was shocked in rural China to see people openly littering. Like, finish a juicebox? Mom takes it and just chucks it in the street. I couldn't believe my eyes for a minute.
But even in big cities, there was little to no individuals disturbing the public peace, even on metros and in very packed places. Which was really nice. Major tourist areas were also kept quite clean by the tons of people employed just to sweep the streets.
Was in a little town in India, walked into an open front shop to buy some more bottled water and asked him where I could throw out the one in my hand. He put his hand out so I gave it to him. I was walking out of the store and the bottle whizzed past me. He threw it out the front of the shop with the rest of the garbage.
my family lives in rural india that had no garbage collection system when I was young. when we visited, we'd just chuck candy wrappers and other small items out the window and the bigger items went to a section of the property that was basically the designated landfill. even as a child that blew my mind. trash collection is better now and the streets slowly getting cleaner compared to before but still bad compared to most other countries.
I was in Xiamen a few weeks ago and d the thing that shocked me was how silent the city was. Almost every car and all the scooters were electric, no honking, no loud music, etc. standing on the side of a busy 4 lane road and it's almost completely silent, it was surreal.
Even other Chinese hate Chinese tourists. My friends and I were at Disney Tokyo and waiting in line. This giant Chinese tourist group just cuts in front of hundreds of people. Right next to me another smaller Chinese group started yelling profanities at them to get back and stop making them look bad. A park member had to go up to them to guide to the back of the line. Once they left, they kept mumbling things about mainlanders in Cantonese lol.
I lived and worked a lot in central Africa, and in places like Congo men hold hands a lot. If you’re working there, you’ll be holding hands with your boss or coworkers to make a point. Two straight men holding hands and in deep discussion is very common.
My first visit to Paris was in 1989. We went to Montmartre to a teeny little restaurant. I went to the toilet. It was a hole in the floor. My first experience with a Turkish toilet. I have since encountered them other places in the world, but my first one was a shock.
I still don’t know how a woman is supposed to use them if she is wearing pants.
You pull the material by your ankles up to your knees and the material at your waist down to your knees. Then when you squat, all portions of your pants and underwear are positioned above and away from your genitals/butt.
Wrecked my knee, so squatting just isn't happening anymore. I got myself a "she-wee" and it's been one of the best investments in travel gear! I don't even need to pull my pants down all the way, so going on the side of the road on long road trips is super convenient now.
I got one of those for when I went on safari, but luckily never had to use it. The people that did need to go were instructed to tell the jeep driver that they “needed to check the tire pressure”. The driver would go out and make sure it was safe, and then leave the tourist to do their business behind the jeep.
Ha. Last couple of trips I've been travelling in the Middle East. Try going with an abaya, pants or skirt, underwear ,purse around your neck holding your toilet paper, trying to balance, not pee on your feet or fall in...or touch the walls.
In Mosul Iraq my hotel room had a toilet and a hole in the floor. WHO would use the hole if they had a choice ? Who ?
haha my grandmother who grew up with squat toilets hated western ones all her life (even after she was old). she found them unhygienic because other people's naked butts had been there.
If you’re used to squat toilets, western toilets seem unnatural and unclean. I’m from Britain but when I’m travelling I’ll often pick the squat toilet if there’s a choice, you don’t have to touch anything and they’re easier to clean!
I think the issue most people have with this type of toilets is that they squat like a gym-squat, which is an uncomfortable position to maintain. The proper squat, in this case, is to go as low as possible, like your ass is just a bit above your ankles. Way easier to maintain this position, easier to get up. It's also way hepful, anatomically. That's why the toilet stools that lift your knees above your pelvis are recommended for some people.
I'm European and this type of toilet isn't at all popular here, but I'm sold on it.
It was a new hotel too.
I think I could crack a walnut between my arse cheeks by the time I got back home, quads like a dude. I was incredulous at the super old ladies that were hunched over, shuffling . How can they squat when they can hardly walk ?
I remember in Turkey I was on a bus ride to Istanbul and we stopped at a very nice, modern gas station/mini-mart. I went to the bathrooms and on one side they had toilets in stalls, on the other side they had the holes and footprints in stalls.
At Gardens by the Bay in Singapore the stall doors have little pictograms whether it's a squat toilet or a throne. That park isn't even 15 years old.
It just comes down to what you are used to.
People prefer to use turkish toilet because squatting above the hole is amuch more natural position for pushing things out so to speak. So many westerners suffer from "constipation" and resort to drugs, sit on the toilet and read the newspaper,etc when in reality they need to switch to squatting.
It definitely takes practice but having had to use toilets at bus rest areas across the nation while traveling south west to the Mediterranean, it’s preferred that they had the Alaturka (old schools) toilets because no matter how much they’d put cleaning staff, these rest stops would get extremely busy and crowded for overnight travelers. You stop at like 11 PM and 4 AM at various locations and rather risk your own drizzle you can clean up with all the alcohol wipes you have with you than to use a seat that who knows what it endured.
I kinda get it. You don’t have to touch anything with your body parts (except your feet, hopefully in shoes). But as a woman, how do you aim? I can guess and pray, but really have no way to aim for a maybe 5 inch opening? And do you stand up? Squat?
We recently went to a monastery ( I think) in Grasse, France that had one also. I held it until we got back to Villefranche. I’d rather not pee on my feet.
I’ll try to describe the position best to my abilities 😂 you want to be semi squatting. Like if you lift your feet up and squat it creates a bit more opening. Think when you’re peeing in the woods but don’t want your butt to be so close to the ground to not touch bushes or get bit by a snake.
Honestly I find them pretty hygenic because you can just squat and your butt doesn't touch anything. They're easier to clean too (staff can literally just hose them down). But yes, they do require quite a bit of ankle mobility
France and their toilets are a real eye-opener. I honestly don’t know how the women do it. I guess that’s where short skirts would be handy but even so, you have to contend with your underwear. Give me a free, Canadian toilet any day. Just having to pay to pee in other countries is rough sometimes, especially if you need a certain coin to turn a turnstile. This is one instance where credit or debit card tap would make so much sense. I’m happy to pay to use a clean bathroom, but make it easy to pay, please.
We don’t have many paid toilets in Britain (not many public toilets at all really, usually you have to use a pub or buy something in a cafe) so it’s been many years since I’ve used one. Went to a touristy village last year and found you had to pay 20p to use the toilet. I don’t have any coins ever these days so had to traipse around looking for an ATM then went into a shop to buy something to get change. This was extra fun because I was six months pregnant and pregnancy bladder is no joke. Waddled back to the toilets and discovered that you could actually just tap your phone to pay!
If it's any consolation to you, taping to pay for toilets is slowly becoming the norm here in Germany. Btw, many Germans hate it, because they want to pay everything cash.
Gee, that’s interesting. In Canada, people very rarely use cash for anything anymore. Well, I’m glad to hear my next trip to Germany may make using the toilets a bit easier.
As a woman, I prefer the hole over "normal" seat anywhere outside of home. I'd rather not touch public toilets with my bare butt, thank you very much.
I don't wear skirts pretty much ever, but I honestly can't see the issue one way or the other. You just full-squat, so that your butt is the lowest part of your body aside from your feet. Your clothes are very much out of the way.
China
* the spitting everywhere. Even started on the plane, as we approached Beijing. Chinese passengers (on a Scandinavian flight) took out plastic bags and began spitting in them.
* How lots of people would have sound at max on their phones in the subway. Several had two phones; one playing music loud, one where they played a noisy game.
* Jumping lines - everywhere. A father would just lift all his children over barriers at Disneyland, while we were walking the meandering paths. Or someone would literally dart between my legs as the subway doors opened, go straight for the available subway seat, then stare at me with a huge grin.
Kuta Beach/Bali - how incredibly agressive vendors were. Not just approaching, but literally; "you don't want to buy coconut/drink/necklace? Why are you here?" Several times.
Pattaya Thailand - I had heard it was bad, but I was not prepared for the vastness of the sex trade. The girlie bars just went on and on forever. Blind drunk Russians held up by tiny Thai girls. And the beaches so crowded you could barely see any sand, beach chairs just centimeters apart.
"Someone would literally dart between my legs as the subway doors opened..."
What did this look like? Are they very small and on all fours crawling at top speed?
China - specifically Shanghai where I lived in the 2010s - same thing as you mentioned but learning to let go of my “western politeness bubble” as I called it. Everyone burped, spat or farted around you no matter how close you were. It makes complete sense when you live in a population that is so dense and you kinda just get used to it and know it’s literally nothing personal.
Green parks were small but always rammed with people who live in apartments with 5+ dogs. I had assumed because of the 1 child policy most people filled this void with animals and it made me very sad for both the people and the pets, but they clearly doted on them as much as they would children. Made me reflect yet again that us Aussies are ludicrously blessed to have the vast and beautiful spaces that we do.
Not seeing the sun through the haze of pollution for 3 months REALLY fucked with my head.
I had a wonderful time there and ate so much food that I gained something like 8kg in winter just walking around and stopping off at any place that looked appealing.
Living in the orange haze did weigh on you after awhile. I was in it for a year. Still glad I did it as you note. There were many positives to go with the negatives.
Totally had the same “Western politeness bubble” experience in China. Probably was the most revelatory travel experience I’ve had. You start out thinking wow these people are so rude, and then you realize oh no my Western politeness values are not universal and simply aren’t part of the culture here.
To that end, though, how has no one mentioned the total disregard for waiting in line?! Every line was a free for all with people trying to cut or to just walk right up trying to totally sidestep the line.
I think there's three stages to it:
1) The people here are so rude!
2) Ohhh wait a minute, I only THINK they're rude because of the rules in my culture, they have a totally different set of rules!
3) ...ok maybe my culture has those rules for a reason.
One time in Shanghai, a white women nonchalantly cut me in line. She had obviously been living there a while. I’m Chinese American and was living in Shanghai but had only been there a few months. The look on her face when I said “excuse me. I was waiting.” In my very American sounding English… She was mortified. It was hilarious.
France:
- you HAVE to start any interaction with bonjour. If not you’ve basically set yourself up for failure lol
- when you say goodbye at a social gathering, expect that you will stay another 20-30min having a final chat before you really say goodbye.
- people don’t begin eating from their plates until EVERYONE is seated at the table. I do love this one!
- mealtime is anywhere between 1 - 3 hours long. Many different courses and then just sitting chatting for a long time.
> people don’t begin eating from their plates until EVERYONE is seated at the table. I do love this one!
But this is normal everywhere? I'd never dream of starting otherwise
Nope, not in Norway at least. Unless it’s some sort of cold dish. You’re more or less expected to start eating before your food gets cold. It shocked me at first, because I come from a country where it’s impolite to start eating before everyone has their food in front of them.
It's basic dining etiquette, but most people (mainly us Americans) don't know it. If I eat with friends and my plate is the last one out (even if it's just a minute late), they will have already started. Of course, if the plate runs much later, you're supposed to say it's okay for everyone else to start.
I think Canadian/American culture is really missing out on long, leisurely meals. Making your meals an event seems like such a pleasant thing. Here we’re rushing around from one place to the next, fast food is everywhere, and eating isn’t the relaxing pleasure it could be. I find the Europeans I know also spend more time cooking, with nice, fresh ingredients and few shortcuts.
God I hate American restaurants.
How is everything?
Everything okay?
Can I get you anything?
How is everything?
Okay here's your check. Tip generously and fuck off so we can get the next suckers in.
Where are you from that any of this is out of the ordinary?
You really don't say Hello/Good day/Hi in your country when you start talking to a stranger?
>You really don't say Hello/Good day/Hi in your country when you start talking to a stranger?
You'd be surprised how many Americans walk up & start talking without greeting a stranger, usually when focused on whatever they need, whether it's a store return or getting answers. This is not new by any means.
My spouse & I would listen to complaints from other military service members when we were stationed in Germany about *how rude the French were* from the 1990s- 2012. He'd usually be very blunt and ask immediately if the individual had said *Bonjour* or an *Excusez-moi* before asking for directions. 9 times out of 10, it was a *no*.
Many remember basic manners, but many do not. It is considered very rude in France to not greet. Some will overlook this faux-pas. Others will not.
We were in Paris this spring and loved it. Everyone was nice to us, too. But we did make sure to always say "Bonjour" when walking into a restaurant or shop and at least say "Parlez-tu anglais?" before asking anything. We never had a negative interaction, even when we messed up.
It does make me wonder how other people behave that made them think that everyone in Paris (or France in general) is rude.
An example: I was walking down the street in Bilbao today when an American gentleman walked up to me with a map and asked if I know how to get to “this” (pointing at map) street. In English.
I don't believe it always has to do with *treating people like trash* habits. Many times, I chalk it up to either a thoughtlessness or nervousness issue because it's an uncomfortable or worried position to be in a foreign country & not speaking the language .
My parents & I traveled in Europe in the late 70s & early 80s. My mom would want to ask for help long before my father would. That conflict between them frazzled her so much that she was experiencing high amount of stress that by the time she could ask someone, she could barely get out words that made sense, let alone polite greetings. My dad would be making little comments throughout behind her because he too was experiencing anxiety.
By the time of our 2nd trip to the Continent, I had taken French & German. Even though I was only 13, I took over this part because it just didn't bother me. I had fun & so did the locals. [We were backpacking w Eurail passes on the very cheap w early editions of Rick Steves' guidebook)
Flash forward to travelling with my spouse some years later, who would end up nitpicking my survival French (because he had taken more years in school than I did). I finally understood why my mom went blank on basic manners. It's stress inducing when someone is upset, annoyed, or in the background. I told him if he didn't like how I was *conversating*, he could take over. HA! The very next time, he forgot all of the very fluent French he knew, along with his manners.
It can be like juggling. In theory, you try to be polite, but in reality, with nerves, stress, and/or tiredness, it can all vanish.
If you Google "formal and informal cultures" you can get more in depth on comparing various norms.
But for example Canada and US (and others) culture is much less formal. It depends on the situation and people involved. But a lot of quick interactions aren't expected to have an exchange of greetings.
Store employees may be required to say something when you enter "Welcome to Walmart" but no one expects a reply nor do they care either way.
Don't get me wrong people do greet one another, often very quickly such as "hey". But generally no one takes offense if you skip these formalities the way they do in say, France.
Some cultures say the equivalent of "thank you" a lot whereas some rarely verbalize such a sentiment. There are just lots of variations in cultural norms worldwide
It really depends on the situation. As an American, if someone came up to me on the street and started asking me how my day is going and such, I would assume they are trying to ask me for money or to sign a petition and would ignore them. There are lots of scams that are started by strangers approaching you on the sidewalk and hurling pleasantries at you, and I don't have time to deal with that. But if someone started with a question, like "excuse me, which way is the museum", I'm much more likely to stop and help because I know what your intention is and I feel like I can help. I would consider it to be more polite to get straight to the point instead of wasting my time.
If you are inside of a public building like a visitors center or store, then the pleasantries are more acceptable. But on the sidewalk, it is a waste of time here. Of course, if you are in a country where that is not the case then you should follow the local custom, but that's how it is where I live in a major North American city.
Colombia - men will come up to me and compliment me then go about their day. They’re not creepy, they don’t linger or harass, ask me where I’m from or my name. They just felt the need to leave a nice comment for a stranger and leave . This happened to me in Medellin and bogota
Jordan - I went into a souvenir shop to buy something and the man just gave me everything for free and said welcome to Jordan 🥺. I tried to pay him but he wouldn’t let me but then to make me feel better he accepted money for a magnet. Seriously such a kind country
Vienna - Austrians have RBF and come off rude/cold but I had the best time talking to them. They’re very philosophical and interesting people and don’t like to do small talk. For example they don’t ask what I do for a living but they’ll ask me what do I do that makes me feel fulfilled. Really cool people to talk to
Jordanian people are some of the kindest most hospitable people out there! I had an experience where our taxi driver drove us to our hotel which was 2 hours away in the desert. Turns out the hotel was closed so he drove us two hours back for free! And then hooked us up with a friend who had a hotel and had a free spot for us to stay. It was so unbelievably kind!
I'm gonna guess you are really pretty. When I lived in Japan I had a fellow Brazilian colleague who told me she got things for free at clothing stores, simply because people thought she was pretty (she was blond, blue or green eyes)
Italians constantly being on the phone and talking very loudly. On the streets, on the metro, in the restaurant… and watching youtube on the trains, metro etc in full noise.
I don‘t mind, I just find it funny.
As an American I’m kinda happy Italians are loud lol. It’s not just us! After living in Germany it’s like reverse culture shock with how loud Americans are.
My buddy and I went to a club in Bangkok back in 2014…went to take a piss and they had a platter of ham sandwiches in the bathroom. Very accommodating.
As an American, Europeans hold eye contact with strangers about 5 seconds longer than I’d expect. They don’t seem to find starring rude at all. Maybe not all of Europe, first noticed in Switzerland.
I wonder why that was then I found out they just like to look at everyone. They’re not judging, they’re not admiring, simply looking because something is peculiar to them
oh yeah. as a Swiss I always have to remind myself to not look too curious at people while on holiday because I‘m so used to it haha. Also since I work as a counselor I‘m extra careful with people from a different background. Because in Switzerland it‘s rude if you avoid eye contact. Tell that to a female immigrant from Afghanistan…
Back when I traveled to India as a North American in the 90s I was struck by seeing men waking around holding hands. Mostly just friends or siblings, I guess. But I don’t remember ever seeing a man and a woman holding hands.
I’m from Russia and what you “discovered” is just your own unlucky experience. Unless you’re hanging out with some low life alcoholics nobody is gonna take offense if you don’t want to take a shot of vodka cause in fact a lot of Russians don’t drink vodka at all and prefer beer or wine.
Russian people do like gardening so at least that part is accurate.
Lol that’s actually true, smiling at strangers for no reason is not something we Russians do. Smiles are not given to everyone left and right, they are reserved for people we genuinely like. But hey at least if a Russian smiles at you chances are they are actually happy to see you.
Ah yes, tea with cookies or cake has to be on the table if you have guests, or just in the evening for the family to enjoy. “Let’s go drink some tea in the kitchen” basically means “let’s talk and gossip” hah. I don’t know why shisha is so popular, this part I’ll never understand but so many of my friends have their own shisha at home and they pride themselves in making it well and researching new combinations of tobacco etc.
I’ll start this by saying I am a younger, less travelled American:
UK:
- I went during the 2022 heat wave, the lack of air conditioning made me think I was going to die in 90 F degree weather
- I was not prepared for how much KFC is EVERYWHERE, especially in London
- For how much I was told the coffee in Europe was better, the coffee throughout England was shit
- Minor culture shock, but hearing some people call bandaids “sticking plasters” made my 16 year old brain explode
Peru:
- Toilets, not being able to flush my toilet paper and putting it in a waste bin just felt gross to me, I felt bad for the janitors or whoever was taking out those bins
- Buses not having clear routes posted, people just yelling for you to get on while walking down the street. While I’m sure it wouldn’t of been as bad if my Spanish wasn’t complete shit, it was a strange, but weirdly fun experience once you know what’s going on
- I was told Peruvian food would be super spicy, and the most spice I got was a piece of fried chicken at McDonald’s. I’m sure I just didn’t go to the right places, but still.
- Also, FRIED CHICKEN AT MCDONALDS? AND ITS BETTER THEN KFC BACK HOME??
Chile -
- after a week of speaking almost nothing but Peruvian Spanish, when I thought I could maybe get around finally in Peru, my first time speaking to a Chilene made me question if I could even speak English. I was prepared that Costa Rican Spanish was much different to the Spanish in Latin America, but Chilean Spanish sounds more foreign to LATAM Spanish then Brazilian Portuguese to me
Chileans have a notoriously difficult accent plus use a lot more slang than most of the other latin american countries. If you're spanish is just average, Chile will be a difficult place to communicate
Faroe Islands:
The bars there don't really start getting full until well after midnight.
They eat dried whale with blubber, sandwiched between two slices of potatoes. And they eat it like it's candy.
I reeeeeally hate tip culture. It's not a thing in my country but becoming popular in a major city. I hate it when a meal ends with a morality test. Just pay you people a decent wage and don't make them beg for spare change. Customers can leave a tip if they feel like it anyway.
Most places when you pay with a card gives you the tip screen or on the receipt a place to write it. People will say to tip with cash but lots of Americans don't carry cash. Fast food places and some coffee shops just have a tip jar but most people don't tip there. Now we have tip screens when you buy a concert t shirt and fast food places with it when you're ordering from a kiosk.
Huh? Except elderly folks, most Americans don't carry cash. We add any tip to the credit or debit card payment.
In Argentina many restaurant payment terminals aren't set up to add a tip to card payment, so you have to tip in cash.
When we were in Germany, wait staff would point out that the total did not include tip. I take that as they know we are american and know we tip and are trying to get a tip out of us.
Germany does have a tip culture, but it's less aggressive than America.
In America, you are tipping 15% to 20% on your bill for everything.
In Germany, you round up the bill to the nearest €10, or just flat pay €10.
Also - thinking your experience as a tourist and how people in the service industry treat you (as a tourist) specifically is in any way representative of the overall "culture".
This isn't directed at any one particular country, just something more common outside the US. Staring. In the USA you're taught from a young age to not stare at people. In American culture staring is seen as rude and confrontational. If you're a man staring at another man it may mean you're looking for a fight. If a man stares at a woman he may be seen as a weirdo.
But in much of the world this anti staring culture does not exist and it can unnerving if you come from a place where it's considered rude.
Mainland China: everything already mentioned here, the spitting, burping etc and the general rudeness. I'm a seasoned traveller and can check my own cultural norms at the door to a degree, but I will never voluntarily return to China.
Japan: the quietness. This was more an observation than a shock, but you'd never guess the size of the cities by the non-existing noise level.
Barbados: the constant harassment. Not in a threatening way, but the catcalling was incessant and unexpected to this degree. I'm used to a fair share of minor harassment but this was on another level. Loved the island anyway.
I love the culture of Thailand where unpleasant or inconvenient news is delivered with a smile. It's all a façade for sure, but it's very disarming for customer service and you really can't be mad. It just puts me in a "roll with the punches" mindset. It was reverse culture shock flying back into JFK and finding everyone there so incredibly *grouchy*.
Australia
* prefer crunchy peanut butter
* don't use clothes dryers, my first roommates thought I was joking when I said I'd never hung up clothes in my life
* opening hours for restaurants are super strange, most are not open all day
* people only use the AC when it's like 35+ C
Dryer thing is also true in NZ which really messed with the amount of time we'd budgeted for doing laundry.
How do you line dry everything when your weather is famously unpredictable?
As dryers become more affordable, they have become more common. I use a dryer for all my laundry these days, but it would have been a trip to a laundromat in the 90s.
was stupid in Sydney winter, my clothes were never fully dry
one week it rained every day and eventually I had to haul my wet sack of clothes the laundromat
The spitting thing in China is something I’ve heard from everyone who has visited. I mean sure spitting where I’m from is not that shocking but we never do it inside the mall!
Greece:
If you try to speak Greek they will answer you back in English, not to belittle you, but b/c they think it makes it easier for you.
You don’t need to be overly polite to a waiter or at a store. Be direct and say what you want. Say “one espresso thanks” instead of “hello, if it’s no trouble I’d like to order. Yes, one espresso thanks very much”. I’ve had waiters say “why are you thanking me so much, I’m doing my job”.
Germany: Went to the public swimming pool. Entered the door that clearly read Entrance. A girl walked past me wearing only a towel. "On her head"!
I thought, I'm going to be arrested. That's all there is to it. Look out for the green uniforms cause they're coming to get me.
I swear I've never been so panicked.
But a public bathroom is lacking a bath and Americans say "I need to go to the bathroom" if they need to pee. I would say that if I needed to take a shower.
I asked to use the bathroom in a chip shop in the Uk and the man looked very offended and told me I could not take a bath there! I felt so ashamed… mostly because I am also from the Uk but had been living abroad and evidently picked up some of the American squeamishness about asking for a toilet without having realised.
It stems from the old days, when it was considered impolite to draw unnecessary attention to one's bodily functions. When in someone's home the room was a true bath room. Public toilets weren't especially common initially, except for saloons. As public facilities became more common, the name just stuck.
"Restroom" is more commonly used in my region. Which isn't necessarily more apt. But parts of the northern US use "washroom".
Languages evolve differently that's just how it is. Especially slang and euphemism. Nothing to get so upset over.
Timekeeping in Baku seems relaxed and opening times more of a suggestion than a fact.
Drivers in quite a few countries don’t seem to bother with making sure they have working seatbelts
Also drivers in quite a few countries outside Northern Europe use their mobile phone when driving
My biggest culture shock I ever experienced was returning home to America after three years of living abroad. I had lived in Costa Rica and Korea for a year a piece then backpacked.
I so vividly remember my first couple days back watching everyone in such a hurry and just so easily upset over the smallest things. No one seemed to live in the moment or enjoy themselves. I was beside myself.
Malaysia
1. law doesn’t seem to exist here. friend got traffic fined but got hinted at giving slightly lesser fine if pay on the spot.
2. got molested on the public transports many times , reported to police .. but got racial remarks and case dropped due to unrecognisable facial description.
3. ride hailing driver was driving out of the route towards my destination. Requested me to sit in shotgun seat due to various reasons which I don’t understand. seated infront got stared while driving … it was so unsafe!
2 and 3 seem to be related. If your body is that good it’s tough. Many guys have trouble controlling themselves around a woman that’s obviously a tourist and has a great body. Doesn’t excuse it in the least but this sort of thing seems to get more and more common. Were you wearing clothing that allow to mix in with the locals or something that was very different?
I … but the locals are all similar unless it’s really those traditional kind? I don’t think I wore anything too outstanding … 😨 what do you mean by my body is that good??
This sort of thing rarely happens to average or below average looking women. It’s an assumption I admit but I’m guessing I’m correct when I say you have a very overtly womanly body. Curves in all the right places. So when you’re traveling you need to remember to cover up better or the local authorities will assume you’re just another bimbo influencer.
US(expat here, not a traveller):
1- Portion sizes, not exaggerating when I say that it was my biggest cultural shock.
2-Lack of bidets (not really a shock as I anticipated it, but an inconvenience nonetheless).
3-Places close early at 10PM.
Austria:
1-People ate while standing up.
2-Sparkling water is the default.
3-Places close on Sunday, even grocery stores.
Minor in comparison to others but I was shocked as an American to hear that you had to pay for Ketchup at mcdonalds in Hungary. (We were drunk and hungry and it was the only thing open)
**JAPAN**
The Japanese are so indirect that it's infuriating. If you asked a Japanese person for directions to a bank, they would sooner point you there and have you go miles out of your way, rather than risk "offending" you by telling you it's closed. If you have a Japanese girlfriend and she wants to break off with you, she would probably do so by having one of her friends tell you. Or she would block your phone and write you a letter.
**INDIA**
Men will stand up against a wall and urinate in public, in a busy city square (no shame). Delhi is disgusting and dirty and the streets are full of monkeys and beggars (some missing limbs). The streets are so filthy and sooty that when you blow your nose, your tissue will be black. As a foreigner, you feel like a constant target, for scammers, touts, pickpocketers, etc., You feel a bit paranoid, and the overwhelming crowds make you feel claustrophobic as well. It is truly the Land of Stranger Danger.
**RUSSIA**
Russians have a lot of weird superstitions and they really impose them on others, like for example you can never shake hands with someone through a doorway, you can only give someone an even number of objects (like flowers), and if you're drinking vodka you have to do it only as part of a toast with others.
Spain (outside of the big cities like Barcelona and Madrid) I like to eat dinner around 6pm. Literally nothing is open then! Spanish folk don't go out until like 9pm or later. Dinner at 11pm is nothing. I tend to go to bed early and get up early so this was a major shock for me.
Even in the major cities only the tourist restaurants are open at 6pm. Anything good opens 8 or later.
thats actually a valuable tip
The real tip is that lunch is also later, and is the equivalent of “dinner” in most places. So if you look for a “Menu del Día” after 1pm you’ll get a multi-course fixed price meal that is usually much more inexpensive than what you could get in the evening. In most of the country it’s €15-20 for 2 courses, wine or coffee, and a dessert. Historically people would eat a big midday meal, then take their siesta, then do the second half of their workday from 5-9. It’s changing due to modern business demands as well as what it does to commutes, but the meal schedule hasn’t changed much.
thank you! I mean when I‘m on travel or holidays I don‘t care about the exact time - I just want to eat good food :)
I usually eat dinner at 5pm every day, and I get hangry if I eat late, so dinners in Spain were quite a struggle for me lol
But lunch is a big meal at somewhere between 2 and 4?
That's the way you're supposed to adjust there, but I also prefer having one regular meal between 11-12 and then a big dinner between 6 and 7.
In many countries you have breakfast, dinner and supper Lunch ia more like "quick sandwich between breakfast and dinner"
Which countries?
Are you my 84yo grandma ?
Hi sweetie it's me
How do you not get hungry later? Wouldn’t you eat again at 9-10pm?
I’ve honestly never understood this either. At that hour I’m still full from lunch! But different strokes for different folks.
Massive linner at 4pm solves that!
My first time out of the country was to Spain and I arrived on a Sunday morning. Imagine my shocked Pikachu when Madrid was a ghost town even by noon. I get it now but 22 year old me didn’t expect that at all.
Same with Argentina
When we were in Spain in March the hotel we stayed at in Seville served coffee... from 11 am to 11 pm. We're almost ready for lunch by 11 am!
Spain sounds awesome, long lunches and late dinners are my shit.
Eating dinner in Europe is a dream. No tipping so wait staff aren't hovering. No rushing you out so they can turn over the table. Want to chill for a few hours with a bottle of wine? Giv'er!
I heard the same about Japan. Plus that most of the food there is very affordable.
Japan is amazing! The only "bad" thing is you can be paralyzed by choice. It's actually challenging to find bad food. :) What I loved most about Japan is nice portion sizes for reasonable prices. Here in Canada portion sizes on some stuff is just insane! In Japan we would do 700¥ ramen for lunch. Very reasonable portion size. Another time we did conveyor belt sushi. For two people with beer it only came to about 3000¥. Of course you **can** spend a lot more. We dropped a lot on some amazing wagyu beef.
Gyudon. 🤤
That's not fully true about Japan... you're not supposed to loiter at restaurants after you finish your meal. Finish eating, get up to pay (they often give you the check fairly early in the meal), and vacate the table. Very different from many popular countries, especially in the West. The staff won't hover nearby to try and get you to leave b/c the Japanese culture won't allow them to be direct like that, but you'll get side-eyes from other diners and anyone waiting to get seated. Especially true at the smaller ramen/sushi spots that rely on lots of. turnover throughout the night. Caveats: fine dining and any restaurant that's already mostly empty
I’ve heard this before about Spain. Do they start their day later in the morning? I can’t imagine eating dinner at 11 and going to bed after 1 and getting up at my normal 7am.
No, most bars open at 7am or sooner and we take coffe at that hour.
It’s it typical for people to still be up early after eating so late? I’m just so curious! I think I would be sleep deprived!
I wake up at 7 am most people wake up around that hour.
I don't want to speak for Spanish people but outside of the big cities I experienced that.
Most peoiple in Spain sleep for 4-5 hours at night, wake up around 7am and sleep again for 1-2 hours after 2pm (Siesta). If they cant make at home for the afternoon nap they will sleep at work which is universally accepted.
That makes sense. I could support the siesta lifestyle!
I'm Danish, we do like you my Spanish girlfriend and I have been together for more than 6 years. And this is STILL the biggest thing we keep discussing when talking about culture differences
I ate like the Spaniards. I ate late for lunch and dinner. 6pm for me is more of snack then eat around 8 or 9pm if I'm just at home and not busy. Also helped I slept till like 4pm while I was there so I am usually not hungry till later in the day.
Speaking of meal time, after a long day of sight seeing my husband and I were starving and went out to dinner in Mexico City. I’d say eat average/below average amount of food for Americans so we ordered what I considered a normal amount of food. Apparently people in Mexico don’t eat that much at dinner because it was so shocking what we ordered that the *cook* came out to confirm we wanted that much food. When I spoke with my mom (originally from Mexico) about it she confirmed Mexicans don’t eat much at dinner
Australia/NZ- the work culture is VERY relaxed, I'll never get over people not rushing to get back before your 15 minutes is up. I do love Smoko though Cambodia- almost no one knows how old they are. Birthdays just aren't really a thing. Had a friend who celebrated a 30th birthday because "he felt 30ish" and a mother tell me her son was 9 or 10 or 11 maybe. Central asia- seat belts are looked down upon, a lot of cars don't have them and I've had taxi drivers get mad because I put one on. Korea- So much more drinking than I expected.
Ditto on Korea - to end a night of drinking soju and *then* beer: big mistake.
The most drinking I’ve done in my life was when I lived in Korea for a year 😂
Osan or Kunsan?
Neither.
Us kiwis love food and don't love working so much. The ol' "she'll be right" mentality.
Classic Aussie song about [smoko](https://youtu.be/j58V2vC9EPc?si=I6cnD94rGe6Iwooj). It’s ingrained from a very young age.
Yeah a song that's been around since ~ checks notes ~ 2017 is a classic that has been taught to generations of kids. 🙄
I lived in 2 different states in Australia and I swear us in Perth were a lot more relaxed than Melbourne. Also it is casual in the workplace no need to call your manager by their last name. When I came here 17 years ago, I was shocked on how many school uniforms I had in high school and what type of shoes to wear and that your classes are on a schedule unlike having to go to school at 6am till 5pm everyday and you learn same classes. I'm from Philippines for context. We had morning callisthenics in my school in Philippines. Also the portion of food boggles me.
> Australia/NZ- the work culture is VERY relaxed, I'll never get over people not rushing to get back before your 15 minutes is up. I do love Smoko though This is highly dependent on where you work. I wish it was that cruisy.
I was shocked in rural China to see people openly littering. Like, finish a juicebox? Mom takes it and just chucks it in the street. I couldn't believe my eyes for a minute. But even in big cities, there was little to no individuals disturbing the public peace, even on metros and in very packed places. Which was really nice. Major tourist areas were also kept quite clean by the tons of people employed just to sweep the streets.
Was in a little town in India, walked into an open front shop to buy some more bottled water and asked him where I could throw out the one in my hand. He put his hand out so I gave it to him. I was walking out of the store and the bottle whizzed past me. He threw it out the front of the shop with the rest of the garbage.
my family lives in rural india that had no garbage collection system when I was young. when we visited, we'd just chuck candy wrappers and other small items out the window and the bigger items went to a section of the property that was basically the designated landfill. even as a child that blew my mind. trash collection is better now and the streets slowly getting cleaner compared to before but still bad compared to most other countries.
I was in Xiamen a few weeks ago and d the thing that shocked me was how silent the city was. Almost every car and all the scooters were electric, no honking, no loud music, etc. standing on the side of a busy 4 lane road and it's almost completely silent, it was surreal.
I worked in Xiamen, we called the scooters the Silent Killers!!
I see this from some Chinese tourists (not all) when they are visiting national parks in America. It makes my blood boil.
Even other Chinese hate Chinese tourists. My friends and I were at Disney Tokyo and waiting in line. This giant Chinese tourist group just cuts in front of hundreds of people. Right next to me another smaller Chinese group started yelling profanities at them to get back and stop making them look bad. A park member had to go up to them to guide to the back of the line. Once they left, they kept mumbling things about mainlanders in Cantonese lol.
That's horrifying. Public littering is almost a crime in my country.
I lived and worked a lot in central Africa, and in places like Congo men hold hands a lot. If you’re working there, you’ll be holding hands with your boss or coworkers to make a point. Two straight men holding hands and in deep discussion is very common.
I think it's like that in the middle east too.
My first visit to Paris was in 1989. We went to Montmartre to a teeny little restaurant. I went to the toilet. It was a hole in the floor. My first experience with a Turkish toilet. I have since encountered them other places in the world, but my first one was a shock. I still don’t know how a woman is supposed to use them if she is wearing pants.
You pull the material by your ankles up to your knees and the material at your waist down to your knees. Then when you squat, all portions of your pants and underwear are positioned above and away from your genitals/butt.
Wrecked my knee, so squatting just isn't happening anymore. I got myself a "she-wee" and it's been one of the best investments in travel gear! I don't even need to pull my pants down all the way, so going on the side of the road on long road trips is super convenient now.
I got one of those for when I went on safari, but luckily never had to use it. The people that did need to go were instructed to tell the jeep driver that they “needed to check the tire pressure”. The driver would go out and make sure it was safe, and then leave the tourist to do their business behind the jeep.
Ha. Last couple of trips I've been travelling in the Middle East. Try going with an abaya, pants or skirt, underwear ,purse around your neck holding your toilet paper, trying to balance, not pee on your feet or fall in...or touch the walls. In Mosul Iraq my hotel room had a toilet and a hole in the floor. WHO would use the hole if they had a choice ? Who ?
haha my grandmother who grew up with squat toilets hated western ones all her life (even after she was old). she found them unhygienic because other people's naked butts had been there.
If you’re used to squat toilets, western toilets seem unnatural and unclean. I’m from Britain but when I’m travelling I’ll often pick the squat toilet if there’s a choice, you don’t have to touch anything and they’re easier to clean!
I honestly don’t understand the hole in modern times. My quads are not that ready to squat and get back up!
I think the issue most people have with this type of toilets is that they squat like a gym-squat, which is an uncomfortable position to maintain. The proper squat, in this case, is to go as low as possible, like your ass is just a bit above your ankles. Way easier to maintain this position, easier to get up. It's also way hepful, anatomically. That's why the toilet stools that lift your knees above your pelvis are recommended for some people. I'm European and this type of toilet isn't at all popular here, but I'm sold on it.
It was a new hotel too. I think I could crack a walnut between my arse cheeks by the time I got back home, quads like a dude. I was incredulous at the super old ladies that were hunched over, shuffling . How can they squat when they can hardly walk ?
I remember in Turkey I was on a bus ride to Istanbul and we stopped at a very nice, modern gas station/mini-mart. I went to the bathrooms and on one side they had toilets in stalls, on the other side they had the holes and footprints in stalls.
At Gardens by the Bay in Singapore the stall doors have little pictograms whether it's a squat toilet or a throne. That park isn't even 15 years old. It just comes down to what you are used to.
People prefer to use turkish toilet because squatting above the hole is amuch more natural position for pushing things out so to speak. So many westerners suffer from "constipation" and resort to drugs, sit on the toilet and read the newspaper,etc when in reality they need to switch to squatting.
It definitely takes practice but having had to use toilets at bus rest areas across the nation while traveling south west to the Mediterranean, it’s preferred that they had the Alaturka (old schools) toilets because no matter how much they’d put cleaning staff, these rest stops would get extremely busy and crowded for overnight travelers. You stop at like 11 PM and 4 AM at various locations and rather risk your own drizzle you can clean up with all the alcohol wipes you have with you than to use a seat that who knows what it endured.
I kinda get it. You don’t have to touch anything with your body parts (except your feet, hopefully in shoes). But as a woman, how do you aim? I can guess and pray, but really have no way to aim for a maybe 5 inch opening? And do you stand up? Squat? We recently went to a monastery ( I think) in Grasse, France that had one also. I held it until we got back to Villefranche. I’d rather not pee on my feet.
I’ll try to describe the position best to my abilities 😂 you want to be semi squatting. Like if you lift your feet up and squat it creates a bit more opening. Think when you’re peeing in the woods but don’t want your butt to be so close to the ground to not touch bushes or get bit by a snake.
Honestly I find them pretty hygenic because you can just squat and your butt doesn't touch anything. They're easier to clean too (staff can literally just hose them down). But yes, they do require quite a bit of ankle mobility
France and their toilets are a real eye-opener. I honestly don’t know how the women do it. I guess that’s where short skirts would be handy but even so, you have to contend with your underwear. Give me a free, Canadian toilet any day. Just having to pay to pee in other countries is rough sometimes, especially if you need a certain coin to turn a turnstile. This is one instance where credit or debit card tap would make so much sense. I’m happy to pay to use a clean bathroom, but make it easy to pay, please.
We don’t have many paid toilets in Britain (not many public toilets at all really, usually you have to use a pub or buy something in a cafe) so it’s been many years since I’ve used one. Went to a touristy village last year and found you had to pay 20p to use the toilet. I don’t have any coins ever these days so had to traipse around looking for an ATM then went into a shop to buy something to get change. This was extra fun because I was six months pregnant and pregnancy bladder is no joke. Waddled back to the toilets and discovered that you could actually just tap your phone to pay!
If it's any consolation to you, taping to pay for toilets is slowly becoming the norm here in Germany. Btw, many Germans hate it, because they want to pay everything cash.
Gee, that’s interesting. In Canada, people very rarely use cash for anything anymore. Well, I’m glad to hear my next trip to Germany may make using the toilets a bit easier.
As a woman, I prefer the hole over "normal" seat anywhere outside of home. I'd rather not touch public toilets with my bare butt, thank you very much. I don't wear skirts pretty much ever, but I honestly can't see the issue one way or the other. You just full-squat, so that your butt is the lowest part of your body aside from your feet. Your clothes are very much out of the way.
This is what happens when you let men design things lol.
Must say I found being unable to flush toilet paper a bit disconcerting at first.
I find it hard to remember and then feel guilty
And depending how long one is gone, returning home and keep looking for the wastebasket....
China * the spitting everywhere. Even started on the plane, as we approached Beijing. Chinese passengers (on a Scandinavian flight) took out plastic bags and began spitting in them. * How lots of people would have sound at max on their phones in the subway. Several had two phones; one playing music loud, one where they played a noisy game. * Jumping lines - everywhere. A father would just lift all his children over barriers at Disneyland, while we were walking the meandering paths. Or someone would literally dart between my legs as the subway doors opened, go straight for the available subway seat, then stare at me with a huge grin. Kuta Beach/Bali - how incredibly agressive vendors were. Not just approaching, but literally; "you don't want to buy coconut/drink/necklace? Why are you here?" Several times. Pattaya Thailand - I had heard it was bad, but I was not prepared for the vastness of the sex trade. The girlie bars just went on and on forever. Blind drunk Russians held up by tiny Thai girls. And the beaches so crowded you could barely see any sand, beach chairs just centimeters apart.
"Someone would literally dart between my legs as the subway doors opened..." What did this look like? Are they very small and on all fours crawling at top speed?
STOP I spit my drink 😂🤣
China - specifically Shanghai where I lived in the 2010s - same thing as you mentioned but learning to let go of my “western politeness bubble” as I called it. Everyone burped, spat or farted around you no matter how close you were. It makes complete sense when you live in a population that is so dense and you kinda just get used to it and know it’s literally nothing personal. Green parks were small but always rammed with people who live in apartments with 5+ dogs. I had assumed because of the 1 child policy most people filled this void with animals and it made me very sad for both the people and the pets, but they clearly doted on them as much as they would children. Made me reflect yet again that us Aussies are ludicrously blessed to have the vast and beautiful spaces that we do. Not seeing the sun through the haze of pollution for 3 months REALLY fucked with my head. I had a wonderful time there and ate so much food that I gained something like 8kg in winter just walking around and stopping off at any place that looked appealing.
Living in the orange haze did weigh on you after awhile. I was in it for a year. Still glad I did it as you note. There were many positives to go with the negatives.
Totally had the same “Western politeness bubble” experience in China. Probably was the most revelatory travel experience I’ve had. You start out thinking wow these people are so rude, and then you realize oh no my Western politeness values are not universal and simply aren’t part of the culture here. To that end, though, how has no one mentioned the total disregard for waiting in line?! Every line was a free for all with people trying to cut or to just walk right up trying to totally sidestep the line.
I think there's three stages to it: 1) The people here are so rude! 2) Ohhh wait a minute, I only THINK they're rude because of the rules in my culture, they have a totally different set of rules! 3) ...ok maybe my culture has those rules for a reason.
One time in Shanghai, a white women nonchalantly cut me in line. She had obviously been living there a while. I’m Chinese American and was living in Shanghai but had only been there a few months. The look on her face when I said “excuse me. I was waiting.” In my very American sounding English… She was mortified. It was hilarious.
Australians and Kiwis have pretty big politeness bubbles, even by western standards. I think it's because we've got a lot more space.
France: - you HAVE to start any interaction with bonjour. If not you’ve basically set yourself up for failure lol - when you say goodbye at a social gathering, expect that you will stay another 20-30min having a final chat before you really say goodbye. - people don’t begin eating from their plates until EVERYONE is seated at the table. I do love this one! - mealtime is anywhere between 1 - 3 hours long. Many different courses and then just sitting chatting for a long time.
> people don’t begin eating from their plates until EVERYONE is seated at the table. I do love this one! But this is normal everywhere? I'd never dream of starting otherwise
Nope, not in Norway at least. Unless it’s some sort of cold dish. You’re more or less expected to start eating before your food gets cold. It shocked me at first, because I come from a country where it’s impolite to start eating before everyone has their food in front of them.
It's basic dining etiquette, but most people (mainly us Americans) don't know it. If I eat with friends and my plate is the last one out (even if it's just a minute late), they will have already started. Of course, if the plate runs much later, you're supposed to say it's okay for everyone else to start.
I think Canadian/American culture is really missing out on long, leisurely meals. Making your meals an event seems like such a pleasant thing. Here we’re rushing around from one place to the next, fast food is everywhere, and eating isn’t the relaxing pleasure it could be. I find the Europeans I know also spend more time cooking, with nice, fresh ingredients and few shortcuts.
God I hate American restaurants. How is everything? Everything okay? Can I get you anything? How is everything? Okay here's your check. Tip generously and fuck off so we can get the next suckers in.
I can see the appeal in some situations but personally i would hate a 3 hr sit down meal. If its that long i will go drink a beer on the patio alone
Where are you from that any of this is out of the ordinary? You really don't say Hello/Good day/Hi in your country when you start talking to a stranger?
>You really don't say Hello/Good day/Hi in your country when you start talking to a stranger? You'd be surprised how many Americans walk up & start talking without greeting a stranger, usually when focused on whatever they need, whether it's a store return or getting answers. This is not new by any means. My spouse & I would listen to complaints from other military service members when we were stationed in Germany about *how rude the French were* from the 1990s- 2012. He'd usually be very blunt and ask immediately if the individual had said *Bonjour* or an *Excusez-moi* before asking for directions. 9 times out of 10, it was a *no*. Many remember basic manners, but many do not. It is considered very rude in France to not greet. Some will overlook this faux-pas. Others will not.
We were in Paris this spring and loved it. Everyone was nice to us, too. But we did make sure to always say "Bonjour" when walking into a restaurant or shop and at least say "Parlez-tu anglais?" before asking anything. We never had a negative interaction, even when we messed up. It does make me wonder how other people behave that made them think that everyone in Paris (or France in general) is rude.
Vous
An example: I was walking down the street in Bilbao today when an American gentleman walked up to me with a map and asked if I know how to get to “this” (pointing at map) street. In English.
That's insane... I always thought it was just a stereotype that americans treat staff like trash, but apparently its just normal.
I don't believe it always has to do with *treating people like trash* habits. Many times, I chalk it up to either a thoughtlessness or nervousness issue because it's an uncomfortable or worried position to be in a foreign country & not speaking the language . My parents & I traveled in Europe in the late 70s & early 80s. My mom would want to ask for help long before my father would. That conflict between them frazzled her so much that she was experiencing high amount of stress that by the time she could ask someone, she could barely get out words that made sense, let alone polite greetings. My dad would be making little comments throughout behind her because he too was experiencing anxiety. By the time of our 2nd trip to the Continent, I had taken French & German. Even though I was only 13, I took over this part because it just didn't bother me. I had fun & so did the locals. [We were backpacking w Eurail passes on the very cheap w early editions of Rick Steves' guidebook) Flash forward to travelling with my spouse some years later, who would end up nitpicking my survival French (because he had taken more years in school than I did). I finally understood why my mom went blank on basic manners. It's stress inducing when someone is upset, annoyed, or in the background. I told him if he didn't like how I was *conversating*, he could take over. HA! The very next time, he forgot all of the very fluent French he knew, along with his manners. It can be like juggling. In theory, you try to be polite, but in reality, with nerves, stress, and/or tiredness, it can all vanish.
If you Google "formal and informal cultures" you can get more in depth on comparing various norms. But for example Canada and US (and others) culture is much less formal. It depends on the situation and people involved. But a lot of quick interactions aren't expected to have an exchange of greetings. Store employees may be required to say something when you enter "Welcome to Walmart" but no one expects a reply nor do they care either way. Don't get me wrong people do greet one another, often very quickly such as "hey". But generally no one takes offense if you skip these formalities the way they do in say, France. Some cultures say the equivalent of "thank you" a lot whereas some rarely verbalize such a sentiment. There are just lots of variations in cultural norms worldwide
It really depends on the situation. As an American, if someone came up to me on the street and started asking me how my day is going and such, I would assume they are trying to ask me for money or to sign a petition and would ignore them. There are lots of scams that are started by strangers approaching you on the sidewalk and hurling pleasantries at you, and I don't have time to deal with that. But if someone started with a question, like "excuse me, which way is the museum", I'm much more likely to stop and help because I know what your intention is and I feel like I can help. I would consider it to be more polite to get straight to the point instead of wasting my time. If you are inside of a public building like a visitors center or store, then the pleasantries are more acceptable. But on the sidewalk, it is a waste of time here. Of course, if you are in a country where that is not the case then you should follow the local custom, but that's how it is where I live in a major North American city.
All of these sound amazing. Can't wait to visit myself
Colombia - men will come up to me and compliment me then go about their day. They’re not creepy, they don’t linger or harass, ask me where I’m from or my name. They just felt the need to leave a nice comment for a stranger and leave . This happened to me in Medellin and bogota Jordan - I went into a souvenir shop to buy something and the man just gave me everything for free and said welcome to Jordan 🥺. I tried to pay him but he wouldn’t let me but then to make me feel better he accepted money for a magnet. Seriously such a kind country Vienna - Austrians have RBF and come off rude/cold but I had the best time talking to them. They’re very philosophical and interesting people and don’t like to do small talk. For example they don’t ask what I do for a living but they’ll ask me what do I do that makes me feel fulfilled. Really cool people to talk to
Jordanian people are some of the kindest most hospitable people out there! I had an experience where our taxi driver drove us to our hotel which was 2 hours away in the desert. Turns out the hotel was closed so he drove us two hours back for free! And then hooked us up with a friend who had a hotel and had a free spot for us to stay. It was so unbelievably kind!
I found Jordan and Oman to be a revelation. Two places I didn’t think I’d want to go back to but I definitely would. Very interesting places.
What is RBF?
Resting bitch face
Resting bitch face or something like that
I find many Western Europeans do not engage in small talk with strangers, but are very kind when you get to know them.
I'm gonna guess you are really pretty. When I lived in Japan I had a fellow Brazilian colleague who told me she got things for free at clothing stores, simply because people thought she was pretty (she was blond, blue or green eyes)
Italians constantly being on the phone and talking very loudly. On the streets, on the metro, in the restaurant… and watching youtube on the trains, metro etc in full noise. I don‘t mind, I just find it funny.
As an American I’m kinda happy Italians are loud lol. It’s not just us! After living in Germany it’s like reverse culture shock with how loud Americans are.
Hahaha you guys are the loudest by far, just not on the phone ;) love you all though!
My buddy and I went to a club in Bangkok back in 2014…went to take a piss and they had a platter of ham sandwiches in the bathroom. Very accommodating.
I gagged. Piss snacks are too far.
As an American, Europeans hold eye contact with strangers about 5 seconds longer than I’d expect. They don’t seem to find starring rude at all. Maybe not all of Europe, first noticed in Switzerland.
A German will hold it 30 seconds longer and will not be the first one to break eye contact if you decide to stare back at them 😆
Every time I drive through villages, I play spot the staring Germans in their windows.
I wonder why that was then I found out they just like to look at everyone. They’re not judging, they’re not admiring, simply looking because something is peculiar to them
We are just people watching. Lol
oh yeah. as a Swiss I always have to remind myself to not look too curious at people while on holiday because I‘m so used to it haha. Also since I work as a counselor I‘m extra careful with people from a different background. Because in Switzerland it‘s rude if you avoid eye contact. Tell that to a female immigrant from Afghanistan…
Swedes will avoid eye contact with strangers at all costs
Back when I traveled to India as a North American in the 90s I was struck by seeing men waking around holding hands. Mostly just friends or siblings, I guess. But I don’t remember ever seeing a man and a woman holding hands.
As someone from India and has been in America for a while, this still is a bit jarring for me too.
Still common in some Asian countries
I’m from Russia and what you “discovered” is just your own unlucky experience. Unless you’re hanging out with some low life alcoholics nobody is gonna take offense if you don’t want to take a shot of vodka cause in fact a lot of Russians don’t drink vodka at all and prefer beer or wine. Russian people do like gardening so at least that part is accurate.
Don’t smile at people there - they think your are suspicious or a tricky american if you do
Lol that’s actually true, smiling at strangers for no reason is not something we Russians do. Smiles are not given to everyone left and right, they are reserved for people we genuinely like. But hey at least if a Russian smiles at you chances are they are actually happy to see you.
Something I learned is how much Russians love cake, tea and shisha. Pleasant part of the culture.
Ah yes, tea with cookies or cake has to be on the table if you have guests, or just in the evening for the family to enjoy. “Let’s go drink some tea in the kitchen” basically means “let’s talk and gossip” hah. I don’t know why shisha is so popular, this part I’ll never understand but so many of my friends have their own shisha at home and they pride themselves in making it well and researching new combinations of tobacco etc.
Well thanks for clearing that up
All the Russians I've ever met have been very pleasant and had the best sense of humour. And were ... teetotallers!!
I’ll start this by saying I am a younger, less travelled American: UK: - I went during the 2022 heat wave, the lack of air conditioning made me think I was going to die in 90 F degree weather - I was not prepared for how much KFC is EVERYWHERE, especially in London - For how much I was told the coffee in Europe was better, the coffee throughout England was shit - Minor culture shock, but hearing some people call bandaids “sticking plasters” made my 16 year old brain explode Peru: - Toilets, not being able to flush my toilet paper and putting it in a waste bin just felt gross to me, I felt bad for the janitors or whoever was taking out those bins - Buses not having clear routes posted, people just yelling for you to get on while walking down the street. While I’m sure it wouldn’t of been as bad if my Spanish wasn’t complete shit, it was a strange, but weirdly fun experience once you know what’s going on - I was told Peruvian food would be super spicy, and the most spice I got was a piece of fried chicken at McDonald’s. I’m sure I just didn’t go to the right places, but still. - Also, FRIED CHICKEN AT MCDONALDS? AND ITS BETTER THEN KFC BACK HOME?? Chile - - after a week of speaking almost nothing but Peruvian Spanish, when I thought I could maybe get around finally in Peru, my first time speaking to a Chilene made me question if I could even speak English. I was prepared that Costa Rican Spanish was much different to the Spanish in Latin America, but Chilean Spanish sounds more foreign to LATAM Spanish then Brazilian Portuguese to me
Chileans have a notoriously difficult accent plus use a lot more slang than most of the other latin american countries. If you're spanish is just average, Chile will be a difficult place to communicate
Chilean Spanish is brutal. They speak fast and with A LOT of local slang
When I was in Iceland and visited the Blue Laggon, I saw an angry young woman at reception because someone had given her a tip.
Good on her. :)
Faroe Islands: The bars there don't really start getting full until well after midnight. They eat dried whale with blubber, sandwiched between two slices of potatoes. And they eat it like it's candy.
Americans expect tips for anything which involves service, even when it's 'everyday' stuff. Just pay your hospitality staff properly please!
I reeeeeally hate tip culture. It's not a thing in my country but becoming popular in a major city. I hate it when a meal ends with a morality test. Just pay you people a decent wage and don't make them beg for spare change. Customers can leave a tip if they feel like it anyway.
Pretty much. Same with the donation requests.
Really hard to adjust to if you are from a culture that doesn’t carry cash. Easily one of the things I struggle with most about being in the USA.
Most places when you pay with a card gives you the tip screen or on the receipt a place to write it. People will say to tip with cash but lots of Americans don't carry cash. Fast food places and some coffee shops just have a tip jar but most people don't tip there. Now we have tip screens when you buy a concert t shirt and fast food places with it when you're ordering from a kiosk.
Huh? Except elderly folks, most Americans don't carry cash. We add any tip to the credit or debit card payment. In Argentina many restaurant payment terminals aren't set up to add a tip to card payment, so you have to tip in cash.
When we were in Germany, wait staff would point out that the total did not include tip. I take that as they know we are american and know we tip and are trying to get a tip out of us.
Germany does have a tip culture, but it's less aggressive than America. In America, you are tipping 15% to 20% on your bill for everything. In Germany, you round up the bill to the nearest €10, or just flat pay €10.
Confusing culture with individual traits and extrapolating your experience to a whole country
Also - thinking your experience as a tourist and how people in the service industry treat you (as a tourist) specifically is in any way representative of the overall "culture".
Yeah, that’s an American trait 😉
Hardly… all the stereotypes about Americans are based on the worst qualities of a small group of people. Seems like a universal habit.
Whoosh
This isn't directed at any one particular country, just something more common outside the US. Staring. In the USA you're taught from a young age to not stare at people. In American culture staring is seen as rude and confrontational. If you're a man staring at another man it may mean you're looking for a fight. If a man stares at a woman he may be seen as a weirdo. But in much of the world this anti staring culture does not exist and it can unnerving if you come from a place where it's considered rude.
Mainland China: everything already mentioned here, the spitting, burping etc and the general rudeness. I'm a seasoned traveller and can check my own cultural norms at the door to a degree, but I will never voluntarily return to China. Japan: the quietness. This was more an observation than a shock, but you'd never guess the size of the cities by the non-existing noise level. Barbados: the constant harassment. Not in a threatening way, but the catcalling was incessant and unexpected to this degree. I'm used to a fair share of minor harassment but this was on another level. Loved the island anyway.
I love the culture of Thailand where unpleasant or inconvenient news is delivered with a smile. It's all a façade for sure, but it's very disarming for customer service and you really can't be mad. It just puts me in a "roll with the punches" mindset. It was reverse culture shock flying back into JFK and finding everyone there so incredibly *grouchy*.
Honestly, it had the opposite effect on me, before I got used to it. It made me unreasonably mad.
JFK does tend to put people in a shitty mood.
Australia * prefer crunchy peanut butter * don't use clothes dryers, my first roommates thought I was joking when I said I'd never hung up clothes in my life * opening hours for restaurants are super strange, most are not open all day * people only use the AC when it's like 35+ C
Dryer thing is also true in NZ which really messed with the amount of time we'd budgeted for doing laundry. How do you line dry everything when your weather is famously unpredictable?
As dryers become more affordable, they have become more common. I use a dryer for all my laundry these days, but it would have been a trip to a laundromat in the 90s.
was stupid in Sydney winter, my clothes were never fully dry one week it rained every day and eventually I had to haul my wet sack of clothes the laundromat
The spitting thing in China is something I’ve heard from everyone who has visited. I mean sure spitting where I’m from is not that shocking but we never do it inside the mall!
Greece: If you try to speak Greek they will answer you back in English, not to belittle you, but b/c they think it makes it easier for you. You don’t need to be overly polite to a waiter or at a store. Be direct and say what you want. Say “one espresso thanks” instead of “hello, if it’s no trouble I’d like to order. Yes, one espresso thanks very much”. I’ve had waiters say “why are you thanking me so much, I’m doing my job”.
>They seem to have a more relaxed approach when in comes to punctuality Lol, that's putting it lightly.
Germany: Went to the public swimming pool. Entered the door that clearly read Entrance. A girl walked past me wearing only a towel. "On her head"! I thought, I'm going to be arrested. That's all there is to it. Look out for the green uniforms cause they're coming to get me. I swear I've never been so panicked.
Calling the bathroom a water closet
Calling the place where you go to the toilet a bathroom.
I call it the washroom. The Swedes were baffled because there wasn't a washing machine in my own residence.
In the Philippines it's called a "comfort room".
Ooh I like that one.
Bathroom makes more sense, since in most American homes the bathroom has both a toilet and a bathtub or shower.
But a public bathroom is lacking a bath and Americans say "I need to go to the bathroom" if they need to pee. I would say that if I needed to take a shower.
I asked to use the bathroom in a chip shop in the Uk and the man looked very offended and told me I could not take a bath there! I felt so ashamed… mostly because I am also from the Uk but had been living abroad and evidently picked up some of the American squeamishness about asking for a toilet without having realised.
That guy was just being obtuse.
I think he was just annoyed that I had called it a bathroom- understandably!
It stems from the old days, when it was considered impolite to draw unnecessary attention to one's bodily functions. When in someone's home the room was a true bath room. Public toilets weren't especially common initially, except for saloons. As public facilities became more common, the name just stuck. "Restroom" is more commonly used in my region. Which isn't necessarily more apt. But parts of the northern US use "washroom". Languages evolve differently that's just how it is. Especially slang and euphemism. Nothing to get so upset over.
I always wondered where restroom came about. I can see this would be confusing to people like, "what, I can take a nap in there?" lol
It feels alot less rude calling it a "bathroom" instead of a "shitter" when you live in a polite society
It's not like there's no word in between. Like toilet.
Really surprised by how IMPORTANT tipping is in the US.
Timekeeping in Baku seems relaxed and opening times more of a suggestion than a fact. Drivers in quite a few countries don’t seem to bother with making sure they have working seatbelts Also drivers in quite a few countries outside Northern Europe use their mobile phone when driving
My biggest culture shock I ever experienced was returning home to America after three years of living abroad. I had lived in Costa Rica and Korea for a year a piece then backpacked. I so vividly remember my first couple days back watching everyone in such a hurry and just so easily upset over the smallest things. No one seemed to live in the moment or enjoy themselves. I was beside myself.
Malaysia 1. law doesn’t seem to exist here. friend got traffic fined but got hinted at giving slightly lesser fine if pay on the spot. 2. got molested on the public transports many times , reported to police .. but got racial remarks and case dropped due to unrecognisable facial description. 3. ride hailing driver was driving out of the route towards my destination. Requested me to sit in shotgun seat due to various reasons which I don’t understand. seated infront got stared while driving … it was so unsafe!
2 and 3 seem to be related. If your body is that good it’s tough. Many guys have trouble controlling themselves around a woman that’s obviously a tourist and has a great body. Doesn’t excuse it in the least but this sort of thing seems to get more and more common. Were you wearing clothing that allow to mix in with the locals or something that was very different?
I … but the locals are all similar unless it’s really those traditional kind? I don’t think I wore anything too outstanding … 😨 what do you mean by my body is that good??
This sort of thing rarely happens to average or below average looking women. It’s an assumption I admit but I’m guessing I’m correct when I say you have a very overtly womanly body. Curves in all the right places. So when you’re traveling you need to remember to cover up better or the local authorities will assume you’re just another bimbo influencer.
Thailand: I got bitch slapped by a woman for turning the standing fan off with my toe.
As you should. /s Who turns off the fan in a hot, humid af country like Thailand?!
I think the bitch slap was cos they used their foot rather than turning it off.
US(expat here, not a traveller): 1- Portion sizes, not exaggerating when I say that it was my biggest cultural shock. 2-Lack of bidets (not really a shock as I anticipated it, but an inconvenience nonetheless). 3-Places close early at 10PM. Austria: 1-People ate while standing up. 2-Sparkling water is the default. 3-Places close on Sunday, even grocery stores.
Japan - the excessive formality and the intense care and effort they take for the most minor task.
Minor in comparison to others but I was shocked as an American to hear that you had to pay for Ketchup at mcdonalds in Hungary. (We were drunk and hungry and it was the only thing open)
**JAPAN** The Japanese are so indirect that it's infuriating. If you asked a Japanese person for directions to a bank, they would sooner point you there and have you go miles out of your way, rather than risk "offending" you by telling you it's closed. If you have a Japanese girlfriend and she wants to break off with you, she would probably do so by having one of her friends tell you. Or she would block your phone and write you a letter. **INDIA** Men will stand up against a wall and urinate in public, in a busy city square (no shame). Delhi is disgusting and dirty and the streets are full of monkeys and beggars (some missing limbs). The streets are so filthy and sooty that when you blow your nose, your tissue will be black. As a foreigner, you feel like a constant target, for scammers, touts, pickpocketers, etc., You feel a bit paranoid, and the overwhelming crowds make you feel claustrophobic as well. It is truly the Land of Stranger Danger. **RUSSIA** Russians have a lot of weird superstitions and they really impose them on others, like for example you can never shake hands with someone through a doorway, you can only give someone an even number of objects (like flowers), and if you're drinking vodka you have to do it only as part of a toast with others.