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Just a few centuries ago, the average person's life was limited to their hometown, and many people might travel only a few dozen miles from home in their entire lives. News was also scarce - the only thing one could count on were the stories of rare travelers.
So it's no surprise that many people lived their entire lives believing that everyone else in the world lived the same way, with the same traditions and rules. However, in recent decades, everything has undergone big changes. Someone can be born in Asia, study in Europe, and then come to live and work in America - and there are countless examples of this.
Consequently, people inevitably encounter foreign cultural traditions, and yes, some of these habits and customs can actually be downright baffling for them.
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A classic example is the tradition of kissing upon greeting. In many European countries, for example, France, Italy, Spain, and in Latin America, even people who barely know each other may kiss on the cheek upon meeting. Moreover, in France, for example, there may be several such kisses, depending on the region you're in.
For example, in Paris and the surrounding area, the "standard" is two kisses, and in Montpellier, three kisses, while in some regions of northern France, people even kiss four times. Now imagine what a culture shock this tradition is for, say, the Japanese, Chinese, or Scandinavians, where such a kiss in public can be considered simply provocative or even offensive!
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English, Spanish, French, ok.
But Polish or Chinese or Japanese? I literally cannot parse anything.
It is humbling.
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There'a only six lizards native to Canada and only one native to my province and i don't live in range of it.
Anywhere i go that just has lizards i'm always like wow! A lizard! And the locals usually treat it like getting excited at seeing a rat.
Yes, i know we have bears and wolves and moose and such in Canada and that's exciting if you can see them safely but also surprising! A lizard! Look at it doing a little push up!!!! .
By the way, the modern world is also developing its own traditions in different countries. For example, regarding the use of headphones in public places and on public transport. Yes, this, too, is not a universal custom.
And while, say, in Korea or Japan, anyone listening to music or watching YouTube on a smartphone on the subway is nearly required to wear headphones, in some Eastern European countries, you'll be greeted by a cacophony of sounds from various smartphones at varying volumes.
At the same time, God forbid you ever reprimand someone in another country - even if you're sure they're breaking the "generally accepted" rules of conduct! Our world is still an incredible melting pot of different cultures, and there aren't really that many universal, global rules.
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In the second leg of the trip we went to go ski. We were in a very small Japanese town, far away from any of the major cities. When we arrived, we first went to a restaurant, preparing for the communication to be pretty difficult.
Walked in to be greeted by a blonde haired, blue eyed teenager who spoke perfect English. Looking around the room there was not a single Japanese person. It turns out, Aussies have taken over the Japanese ski towns to the point where they seemingly outnumber Japanese people.
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Edit: Dutch Caribbean btw.
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- Privacy in your family isn't really a thing, the culture is more collectively minded. Like you don't have your own stuff in the same way. Homestay families will see a snack in "your room" (considered a strange American thing to want a room with your own door) and eat it because its sort of assumed everything is meant to be shared, especially food.
- Similarly you do NOT eat in public, like outside of an explicit restaurant. That's super rude, food is meant to be shared, so if you pull out food and hoard it that's a social mistake.
- People aren't really stressed about time or being out of control all the time. Trying to make it somewhere? Well, hope the bus comes, there's no way to know if it will. Want to eat? Okay, you're eating that day's buffet lunch at the place next to your work. Living there forced me to let go of a ton of anxiety I had that I didn't even know I had. You just... need to adapt and go with the flow, and everyone else understands that. Being late isn't really a big deal because life is unpredictable.
- You do not challenge authority. I went to the doctor and the healthcare workers were shocked when I started asking questions. The responses are like, "What do you mean you have a question or concern about the medicine? The doctor prescribed you the medicine, so you take it." Like, the conversation sort-of ends there.
- Rwanda is a... "democracy" (HEAVY QUOTES... because uh... it isn't really...). You don't really have free speech. The first time I left the country I felt like I could finally breathe. I could finally criticize the president. Sometimes if politics came up with people, I'd get the response: "Politics? Why are you asking me that? I'm not a politician, so I wouldn't know anything about that?".
Incidentally, the cross-cultural interactions also leave their mark on centuries-old traditions. For example, Europeans and Americans, when dining in China or Southeast Asian countries, were often surprised that burping after a meal wasn't considered a flagrant breach of etiquette, as is customary in Western culture, but rather a sign of respect for the host and gratitude for a hearty meal.
However, today, many guidebooks and travel bloggers are increasingly noting that in large Chinese cities, young people and businesspeople are increasingly adopting Western interpretations, so that in a fashionable restaurant in Beijing or Shanghai, loud burping at the table may only elicit dirty looks.
The world is changing, and different cultures and traditions intersect and sometimes mutually enrich each other. Well, this makes traveling to some distant place on our planet all the more wonderful. It's an opportunity to see and learn something new.
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I’m a man btw, I feel like that’s relevant here and I’m guessing they’d probably consider it even more shocking and whatnot if a woman said she didn’t want kids.
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We're pretty sure that if you've traveled a lot or interacted with people from different cultures, you've also encountered something in their behavior or habits that seemed strange or even confusing to you. Meanwhile, it's quite possible that our customs also seem strange to some, right?
So we'd love to hear from you about any examples of "culture shock" you've encountered in your life. Please feel free to share your stories in the comments below.
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They were walking all over the very nice carpet in the same shoes that they wore all day outside and stepped in God knows what!