People Share 58 Moments Of Food Culture Shock They Experienced

"If I remember right, my first foreign country I visit was when I went to Hong Kong. I think the first big culture shock (and a pleasant one) was going into a restaurant and none of the patrons were speaking very much and definitely not speaking loud enough to be heard at another table. It was magnificent and ruined restaurants in America for me forever."

SirDolphin said:
"In America people boil the water for their tea.... in the microwave."

bizitmap replied:
"Americans make tea by throwing it in Boston harbor."

McBeaster said:
"I asked for a bottle of water in Iceland. The guy just shakes his head and goes "you don't need that" and filled me up a cup from the tap."

Auferstehen78 replied:
"We were told to save the bottles from our flight and just fill from the taps. It was the best water."

"Beer as a combo meal option at McDonald’s.

The BEST difference were the free tapas in Madrid. Order a drink, and they bring you free food. Everything from delicious olives to cheese to marinated mushrooms to bread to this one dish... it looked like cold potato salad but it wasn’t because it was actually delicious. Even better, really really good Spanish wine could be had for 2 euros a glass. But yeah, go bar hopping, eat all the free food, and you can skip dinner. The one weird thing is that all these bars would be lit up like an American diner would be in the morning. I’m used to bars in the US, which tend to be very dark."

wristconstraint said:
"In USA tipping. And not just tipping, but tipping so much that the entire thing I bought (e.g. a meal) is now in an entirely higher price bracket."

Joessandwich replied:
"Many of us in the US hate it as well. I’d prefer people be paid a living wage and not reliant on my “generosity” that is supposedly tied to their level of service (which it really isn’t, most people have a standard percentage they tip regardless of service."

"Oh I love telling this story. So my wife is Japanese. On my first trip over to meet her mother, she invited us out to a yakitori restaurant to meet a few of her friends. Now I don't speak much Japanese, maybe I can understand about 15% of what's going on, and the man next to me, her mother's friend, spoke no English at all but when he offered me a cup of sake I gratefully accepted, said 'kanpai,' and emptied the cup. He diligently refilled it. I accepted once more and emptied the cup. He refilled it. We did this quite a few more times until I turned to my wife and told her "I think this guy is trying to get me drunk! He keeps offering me more and more sake!" To which she replied "Stop drinking it, idiot, if you drink it all he has to refill it!" It seems as though my efforts to be polite (finishing what was offered to me) were actually contrary to what was polite in Japan; leaving a little of what was offered to show that you are satisfied. Once I left a little in the cup the man quietly paid and quickly left, no doubt with a sizable bar tab!"

"The stands and restaurants in Germany where you basically have to hike in. There's no casual foot traffic and it's not a simple drive. You are hiking and come to a beautiful view and there's a little restaurant or stand where you can get wine or beer and wurst and fries or whatever. Then you sit and enjoy the view you hiked to while enjoying your delicious food and excellent beverage. It's fantastic."

"I was watching American Hells kitchen and they said that Americans don't use butter or Margarine in their sandwiches. As a Brit, that doesn't make any sense."

gobroncoz said:
"I moved to Italy as a 10 year old. My mom gave me some money to buy some candy right when we landed. The candy I chose had a not insignificant amount of alcohol in it. Which didn't stop anyone from selling it to a 10 year old kid."

InsertBluescreenHere replied:
"Ate one of them at work I got in a gift basket thing at home. Did not know about the booze inside. Was lightly sucking on it at lunch then got hit with the whiskey suprise which made me cough and chew which made my office and breath smell like a bar. The supervisor was like what uhh you have for lunch. I explained and showed him the foil and he just lost it laughing saying he's done the same."

"Studied in France and I was shocked to see the Cafés turn into bars at night. They just switched out the menu and it went from selling hot cocoa to whiskey on the rocks!"

landob said:
"When I went to Japan. When I ordered from food from any type of chain that is also in USA like McDonald's, Denny's, Burger King, it looked like the picture on the menu or the commercial. It was truly bizarre. Like in the USA if you get a Big Mac it looks nothing like the picture or in the commercials. When You get a big mac in japan... it looks like the one in the picture. It's like somebody back there was painstakingly putting that burger together perfectly."

User No 2 replied:
"My dad had the opposite reaction when we moved to America. We ordered a double cheeseburger which was squashed & he earnestly complained to the manager, like some minimum wage worker was going to perfect it."

SirKendizzle said:
"Not eating your national animal in USA. Kangaroos are bloody delicious."

xRamenator replied:
"Well, there aren't that many bald eagles flying around here in the US."

ItsACaragor said:
"Spray cheese. I was not ready."

BucketOSkrimp replied:
"In a good or bad way? I've met two kinds of people on this subject: those who absolutely detest it, and those who will spray the whole can straight into their mouths."

ItsACaragor also replied:
"We were four guys from France, we bought one to experiment and it’s just disgusting even when lowering our expectations as much as we could."

"Drink sizes in Korea. I went to McDonald's or some other American fast food restaurant and order a meal with the regular medium drink size and out comes an American small cup. Cursed the small drink sizes as I would finish my drink before the food. Canned sodas at convenience stores were also smaller. Felt like I was getting ripped off. But I soon realized that those small sizes were what my body actually needed - I don't need a 16oz or 32oz soda alone or with a meal. American portion sizes are huge."

Antihistimine said:
"Not a serious one, but going to Europe for the first time and being shocked at tiny bottles of coke, that are generally warm and you don't get any ice! Coming from that free refill life and ice in everything I was traumatized."

Pinglenook replied:
"I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant anywhere in Europe that served me a warm soft drink. No ice, sure, or 2-3 ice cubes in stead of the cup full of ice you'd get in the USA, but the drink is always refrigerated."

"In USA not being legally allowed to drink until you're 21, as an Irish teenager I laugh at you."

"Whenever I would visit family around France I always had to remind myself of food customs. It's pretty rare you'll just sit down have a quick meal and continue with your day. Food is meant to be enjoyed so you take your time, a lot of local businesses particularly shops close around midday to accommodate for this so get comfortable. (not all shops do this, but it's best to just eat midday if you visit)."

"My dad was working in the states, one day he was eating out with some of his colleagues. When the waiter came and asked if he wanted a doggie bag, he said "no I didn't bring my dog with me from Denmark." They laugh their a**es off!"

Anodracs said:
"The sheer awesomeness of Japanese convenience stores. My local 7-11 has sticky floors and doubtful looking packaged sandwiches. The 7-11s in Japan are clean, well-lit, have a great selection of lunch/dinner prepackaged meals, and not only do they have a cold drink section, they have a special heated unit for hot drinks. When I saw all the technological innovations in Japan, I felt like I came from a third world country."

bread_berries replied:
"And there's SO MANY CONVIENENCE STORES, like it's not uncommon you can just SEE three Family Marts without even trying. The flipside is it's so easy to go out and eat or get food because (at least in the city) space is tiny. Our airbnb's "kitchen" was a thin cabinet in the corner with a small sink and an electric kettle, with a cabinet for bowls and glasses. There was no room for any more."

"I have lived in both Finland and the USA. Once I woke up in the middle of the day after a house party. I got up and found peanut butter in a cabinet and Jam in the fridge. As I started making a class PB&J the other people in the house surrounded me and gave me a face of confusion. Someone asked me "wait.. you are really going to eat that?". I guess people in Finland do not eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.. they all thought the idea was gross."