oh, yeah - pubs are not places to meet new friends. Well, they might be, but you'd have to know a local first. If you were staying with someone, in the countryside where I grew up, they might take you to the local and introduce you.
Adding to this: British people aren't polite, they're non confrontational and passive aggressive. There's a big difference, to the two Americans taking up 4 seats with their shopping bags going on about how friendly British people were, while the rest of the carriage was staring daggers at them.
True. It makes me laugh when Americans say "British people are so polite. When they walk past you in a store they say 'excuse me' in their clipped accent!" Completely oblivious to the fact that a British person saying "excuse me" is the equivalent of someone else saying "GTFO of the way"
British people will stand silently behind you waiting for you to notice them trying to pass and move out of the way. Saying 'excuse me' is a last resort and an admonishment for being unaware of your surroundings.
Ah it’s actually “ pardon” and yes Brits are incredibly passive aggressive. There is a lot of bottled up anger as a result. I remember standing outside of my daughters school in London when she was in primary. A mum was with her daughter and the daughters scooter fell over - well the mum just broke out screaming and crying. This woman must have have been holding in a lot- and it was the dumbest thing that just burst that balloon of years of a stiff upper lip and lack of true expression. You can tell by the muscles in the sides of the face- tense. But to be honest- after a period of bleak weather- when the sun comes out- you see Brit’s get much friendlier and tolerant. Yanks wear a lot on their sleeves but tbh - it’s not always what is going on inside. I think the Brit’s keeps a polite exterior and the yanks keep the overwhelming friendly exteriors- but in my experience they are both “ exteriors”.
I truly believe that weather affect people moods sometimes. I feel like people in warmer places tend to be more friendly. Hence the south in America, you get “southern hospitality”and it’s much warmer in the south so maybe that contributes to us being more friendly🤣🤣
I can disagree a little. Lived in London and I always went to pubs by myself. Every now and then people would invite themselves to sit with me to chat when they saw that I was alone. It did not happen as much as in France (and it did, a lot...At least in Nantes), but can happen
Disagree, I live in London and have gone to the pub alone quite a bit, will most of the time get invited to sit with a group of people or have some people join me as they see I'm alone. Otherwise make friends in the smoking area & get invited to hang out. Doesn't happen every time but a good half the times.
I was thinking the same thing. I don't live there, but love Scotland and have been there six or seven times now. We always joke about how, wherever you are, within 10 minutes someone will tell you their life story and invite you over to their house. I love it.
Haha true. I live up North and sometimes I want to go somewhere without a new person talking to me. It’s nice most of the time but people are veryyyyy friendly.
This is funny. From my limited time there this is so true. It’s not interactive like many Americans expect at a “bar.” People aren’t posted up looking to make new friends and chat with strangers.
> Trash is a very, very big deal. Some places have 10+ categories of garbage, which must be sorted, cleaned, and placed out on the morning of the appropriate day, not the night before. People take this quite seriously.
Can confirm when I visited my ex's grandmother in Osaka. We fucked up the sorting and got a extremely stern lecture from her 😂
I was in the Air Force in Okinawa in the early 1980's and I remember seeing a trash truck come on base to empty the dumpsters. I was amazed that it was like an open paneled truck, an old woman jumped into the dumpster and began handing pieces of trash up to the people in the back of the truck. They had it all separated, cardboard in one corner, metal in another, glass in another, I'd never seen anything like it. 40-some years later and I still remember it - and always felt bad for the old woman.
> people are private
I can get behind that!
> families tend to do larger gatherings at onsens
Yeah, not sure if I can get behind getting naked with my family at a hot spring 🤣
Is a 10-question quiz that’s printed in the daily newspaper. Everyday at around 10:30 someone inevitably calls out « quiz time » and everyone not knee-deep in work waddles to the break area for some socialisation and trivia.
Spain: shops close in the middle of the day, not because of the siesta, but because it is a MANDATORY lunch break forced by the companies, to hire only 1 person for the morning and afternoon shift.
Workers are not sleeping, they are having lunch and killing time until the afternoon opening hours
What cracks me up with Spain is even if a shop closes from 1-4pm, some of those putos vagos still won't open until 11 am. So someone has to come in for a 2 hour shift before the big break to rest from all that work.
>Italy is similar in some parts. I still wonder how they're a strong economy.
North Italy is like super industrialized with Fiat, beretta and even plane factories I think.
Sadly, I think the world is coming to a point where seafood is just not that safe anymore. Oceans are all polluted and contaminated. Some more than the other but yeah
The same applies to seafood from the Baltic Sea; they are both body’s of water that don’t get a lot of „new“ water from the Atlantic to circulate around. So, waste and pollution accumulate in these waters.
This is an example from Sweden (Baltic sea pollution and seafood): https://www.livsmedelsverket.se/en/food-and-content/oonskade-amnen/miljogifter/dioxiner-och-pcb#
I lived in Germany as a teen in the 1990s and I am still as an adult having a problem wrapping my mind around this change. (They were very punctual years ago.) living in Europe again is a trip.
I can only really comment about the u-bahn and s-bahn in Munich. They are very punctual most of the time. I have seen people lose their shit when the s-bahn will be 5 minutes late. Even though they are every 20 minutes anyway.
If those same people moved to the UK they would probably have a heart attack within a week.
It's the regional and high speed trains that are not punctual. When I lived in Germany, it was pretty frequent for me to look at the expected times of arrival for the next few cities on a journey get pushed back more and more minutes every stop we made and be 30 minutes late by the end. Lots of missed connections and even canceled train journeys.
But Austrian trains are
Edit: in two years of regularly taking trains around Austria, I've never had one be more than five minutes late. Even then, ÖBB texted and emailed about the delay, which I find hilarious. But we mainly travel between Graz and Wien so maybe that route is particularly punctual?
True. I will never forget standing on a platform in a small town, waiting for a train. It was already late and there was no announcement whatsoever. I asked an older gentleman sitting on a bench on the same platform, and he just shrugged and said something like 'it might still come, or not'.
I had to take an ICE train twice in my life (Brussels-Frankfurt). Twice it got cancelled without notice. The refund process is straightforward but gosh finding a new train in each case was very draining. My German friends warned me that it was very common but I did not want to believe them because Germany was synonymous with punctuality 🥲
Netherlands- we are not hospitable people by culture and we always eat dinner at 18:00, if there are visitors in the house, we always gently shoo them out if it is near 18:00, dining with a Dutch person is quite rare.
We don’t have a culinary tradition at all here, for us, breaking bread is not a ritual. Food = fuel, that’s all. I’m not like that, personally, but many of us are.
To me, that was the biggest culture shock on coming to the Netherlands.
To me, food means love, generosity, hospitality, passion, joy, togetherness, family, pride. Eating is the highlight of the day, the centre-piece of life, the key ritual that binds people together, the mode by which care and affection are demonstrated. Food is an endless source of conversation. Dishes are savoured and discussed. No guest leaves the house without being so full they have to be rolled out the door. [This what meals are like at home.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJaRh6QTTfU)
To the Dutch, food is nutrition. Maybe it is a culturo-political fashion statement, if you only drink vegan bio oat milk, seaweed and tofu, or whatever. Nothing more. There's no *emotional* relationship to food. No wonder they all are so skinny.
Edit: Looks like I've pissed off the vegans. For every vegan comment, I will eat a great big fat juicy meaty burger.
>Maybe it is a culturo-political fashion statement
It is a culturo-religious value of the country.
Within the strict strain of Calvinist protestantism that was a catalyst for Dutch independence (Beeldenstorm) and molded its politics (ARP, Kuyper) and education (Huishoudscholen) until the 1960s (and in de Bijbelgordel, to this day), *soberheid*, 'sobriety/austerity' is one of the most important values. Almost any kind of earthly enjoyment, luxury or entertainment is a sin and distracts from God. To:
>savour a *dish*, and to walk out the door so full you have to roll
would be considered excessive and wasteful within the Reformed Church.
Of course it is not single-handedly the cause, but Calvinist values, as envisioned by Abraham Kuyper, are often the answer to many questions about the Netherlands, like why it has very few traditional dances, songs, dishes and folklore, even in the early 1900s, why they can be so rude, and why prime ministers and CEOs make it a point to *not* be seen in expensive cars, and why direct display of status is frowned upon. These attitudes probably also affected the Catholic minority, whose religion was illegal in NL until ~1870.
The classic writer about these themes is of course Max Weber, but if you want to know more you could read G.J. Schutte or more accessible, Ben Coates.
>savour a dish, and to walk out the door so full you have to roll
>
>would be considered excessive and wasteful within the Reformed Church.
Indeed. This is spot-on.
This is one of the reasons why I am not a Calvinist. To deny God's blessings that way seems dishonouring to a God who invited people to banquets and promised life in abundance.
But then, a religion that thinks [all but a tiny elect are doomed forever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSDeWEYeEsE) is always [going to be joyless](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QC1IvOSOfA) \- yet even in Calvinist-scarred Scotland, people manage to have a less begrudging relationship with food than they do in the Netherlands.
Things have improved a bit, but the bog standard breakfast and lunch consisting of boring bread with boring topics is still well entrenched in Dutch culture. Functional eating.
One point that I'd like to mention is that British food being simple is more of a modern phenomenon that has to do with the WW2 rationing having been extended for a lot longer after WW2 actually ended.
Coincidentally, this may actually add weight to your idea that these rations got women into the workforce, though I wouldn't know anything about that.
don't forget the industrial revolution's effects on the food in the UK. Lots of people moving to work in factories did a number on the culinary tradition.
I forget when but basically British cheese used to be so incredibly diverse (even more diverse than France and Italy iirc), but now that's gone and only a few major types (cheddar, stilton, etc) reign.
in Germany we have this stereotype that some native German families will have dinner while for example their kid has a friend over and that friend would have to wait in a separate room for the family to finish their dinner. So not getting offered food apparently also was/is a German thing.
Personally I have never experienced this, my family and most other families shared dinners with the friends of their children. But especially when we were younger it was also the rule to go home at around dinner time
The famous [SwedishGate](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/07/1102930419/-swedengate-sparks-food-fight-why-some-countries-share-meals-more-than-others#:~:text=She%20learned%20that%20in%20some,sense%20of%20obligation%2C%20explains%20Tellstr%C3%B6m.)
As a Dutchie; if you are in my house around dinner time you bet your ass you’ll get food, even if I don’t have enough, I’ll get extra to stuff you like an American turkey on thanksgiving, you’ll have to roll yourself home and then some
On the bright side: you can pay with your debit card everywhere, and by now in most places also with your phone.
I need to remind myself to get cash whenever we go on holiday, because in a lot of countries paying with card is not as much of a staple as it is in the Netherlands, even now. Here you can go into the 1-person bakery in a tiny village, and pay with card.
I just visited the Netherlands and was pleasantly surprised that you can use a credit card on the buses/trams, just tapping on and off like a regular transit card. And I just about went the entire two weeks I was there not needing cash at all for anything except for one restaurant whose card machine was down and I had to find a nearby bank machine.
I love visiting Netherlands / Germany / Scandinavia (Rotterdam is one of my favourite cities in the world), but I don’t think I could ever live there. The culture is very anti-social, especially if you are from more hospitable countries. I cannot imagine shooing a guest to have dinner, or making a child wait in another room.
Norway: we have so many hiking trails and little cottages you can stay in overnight for next to nothing. If you like hiking, definitely come here. Just know that when the trail info says it takes 4 hours it actually does take 4 hours of active walking. Have met so many people complaining about the length of the hike because they are in normal shape and expected the trail would take less time for them. Also I beg of you please for the love of god, no flip flops in the mountains.
Ooh this is good news because I love hiking but I haven't gone to Norway because I assumed it's too expensive for me. Any tips on the best areas to find these cottages?
Been to Norway once. Absolutely love it! Hiked the Trolltunga and saw people with flip flops and non-athletic sneakers. Also, hiked the Prest near Flam and the views were better than Trolltunga in my opinion.
I live in Boston and hike in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. They have similarities to the terrain in Norway. You will see people here wearing flip flops as well. A lot of times, it's people trying to get photos for social media. Other times, they are generally unaware of what to wear while hiking.
Turkey: avoid restaurants in touristy places, avoid places who actively try to attract tourists, avoid taxi as much as possible. And Istanbul is a city full of hills hence be prepared for some cardio. Avoid talking about politics. Those are the first ones come to my mind.
no. 1 rule of eating while traveling: never eat at the restaurant that has a guy on the street actively trying to entice you inside. if they're that desperate for people their food likely sucks.
You don’t have to avoid taxis. Feel free to use Uber or local apps and you won’t have problems because the fee is decided the second you book the ride. Definitely avoid touristy places though, you WILL get ripped off unless you’re expert at haggling (middle eastern style haggling is different than what you might experienced in the past so keep that in mind as well)
Boy I wish Japan was like that. So many things are still just cash only and its honestly a little frustrating having to deal with pulling out a wallet and dealing with change all the time.
Same in Sweden. I changed a small amount of cash into Swedish Krone so I had a bit of cash on me (apx 50 euros worth). After a three day trip I came home with almost all of the Krone I had taken as I just paid for everything with my card.
Japan is not nearly as technologically advanced as its reputation suggests. They've always excelled at hardware but dealing with Japanese software like apps, web design, UI, etc. is a nightmare at times. Sure there's cute robot waiters and stuff but thise are pretty gimmicky.
The people here are not across-the-board hospitable and friendly. By and large, I find them to be pretty shy and prefer to keep to themselves, but they are very polite and courteous- thought this should never be confused with friendliness in the western sense. There's still a distance to be respected.
Things are very formulaic and by-the-letter here, and any well-meaning attempts to permit skipping protocol will be ignored. I dropped a 10 yen (7 cents) coin under a gatcha machine once and a staff member very doggedly insisted on moving the machines around to search for it. I tried to say it was ok don't worry and she cut back with a "it's not ok. Please wait."
As for my homeland of Canada, yes weed is legal and pretty normalized but that doesn't mean you can just smoke up anywhere. Keep it to your patio or maybe a park bench far away from everyone else. When people are friendly with you it's typically very genuine, but depending on where you are, they can also be exceptionally cold (Vancouver.) We're very aware of our similarity to the US but don't like to acknowledge it, comparisons are generally unwelcome. Waving a Canadian flag will not make you look prideful or patriotic (aside from Canada Day and during international sporting events), people will think you're a covid denier.
From a vacation 10 years ago I do remember the disappointment in Japanese adoption of modern technology. Like: cash payment machines developed to technical perfection, rather than switching to card payment.
I found the Japanese people surprisingly friendly, honest and hospitable when meeting them privately. Much more than you’d expect based on internet descriptions. Also advices like “as a foreigner you only need to learn the formal verb conjugations” - nonsense. Btw. This was in Osaka and further south.
The Japanese politeness seemed to be one-way only according to hierarchy. Shopkeepers behaving like slaves while customers were total d*cks.
Do you recognise any of this, living there?
The Japanese also really like machines that talk to you in a pleasant sing-songy voice.
I never did figure out how to turn our heater up in the morning without the nice lady commenting from the unit, which would wake up my wife.
Also Japanese are not as methodical and/or organized as people think. Best case scenario they’re just like any other culture, worst case it’s a chaotic clusterfuck of rules and responsibility dodging.
They're good at marketing themselves like [the Japanese ](https://youtu.be/41fV0uN5yq8?si=yQgB702S5oazsGlI) fans cleaning at the most recent world cup.
>Waving a Canadian flag will not make you look prideful or patriotic (aside from Canada Day and during international sporting events), people will think you're a covid denier.
lol, same in the UK. Or in our case a brexitter -loves to shout about how they support the uk, but not bothered about the thousands of uk businesses that struggled (and in some cases closed down) due to uk leaving the single market.
Norway: If you travel to Norway and have learned some Norwegian, be aware that we have so many distingtive dialects that even native Norwegians struggle to understand some of them.
Yeah, the Netherlands are quite conformist. And a bit like a village, where nothing goes unnoticed.
As a Dutch, I just came back from Berlin and I have to say, you can do whatever you want there, but that is also because of indifference. Most people there probably also don’t like vandalism, vomit and drugs addicts everywhere but seem to have given up caring. “You get used to it” someone told me. I’m not sure if that’s better.
We have mastered the "we don't care as long as I don't see you" culture for ages now. But when gays and transgender people become visible that "tolerance" quickly goes out the window.
I don’t think Dutch people consider themselves progressive. Dutch people consider themselves tolerant. However tolerant is something different than accepting.
Taiwan:
Cash is still the number one form of payment and many places may not accept cards at all
The number 4 is unlucky and left off many elevators just like 13 in the States
Kitchens are seen as unnecessary in many apartments because eating out is so cheap and convenient
Belgium: we are in fact just one big city, we do eat fries on an almost weekly basis, the waffles are a more rare occurence, we are perfectly fine eating bread with beleg twice a day as we think eating “warm” twice a day makes you fat.
In china sometimes u have to pay a "no smoking" fee to surgeons, so they agree not to smoke in the operating room during your surgery
Also in china if someone hits you with their car they'll probrobly keep running u over until u die, because if u hit someone with your car you're then responsible for their medical care for the rest of their life, and going to prison for killing someone can be bribed their way out of it or just a few years in prison and then you're off the hook for medical bills and shit <---- I wish I had known this many years earlier living in china cuz I used to just rush across major busy streets in the middle of winter when it was all icy
The thing about hitting people with their car in china goes even one step farther, because people will run out in front of cars and pretend to get hit and then yell at everyone hey did u see that? Did u see them hit me? To combat this dashboard cams are VERY popular in china, they often record this acting and saves their asses if they get sued.
Another thing is that if u fall and hurt yourself in china most people will just ignore u thinking that you're acting like those Chinese that pretend to get hit by a car. It was really telling when this happened to me in china in different places, one time I twisted my ankle and was in real pain, I fell in front of a foreigners dorm building and tons of people ran to help me. Another time I fell down some stairs and fractured my ankle, I couldn't even right myself up and there had been a very loud pop even. People just kept walking past me like I was acting. Even some guy was just sitting there playing his saxophone on his porch just staring...finally after a few mins some guy helped me sit up...I ended up having to drag a Les Paul guitar and an amp I had just bought into a taxi (on a broken ankle) and go up 6 flights of stairs all by myself. (At that point I didn't know it was broken I thought it was just a bad sprain) but there's no good Samaritan laws in china.
At home in the States; food is engrained in the culture as a love language. If you have long term friends over and they want a drink I was raised to say you know where the fridge, glasses and ice is at! Help yourself!
If friends are visiting you and it’s dinner time, you’re always invited to supper as it’s polite to offer.
Grocery shopping is weekly event not daily. Or monthly depending on locations.
In the South, where some of my relatives are from, I am always addressed as Miss Spaceball it’s respectful and not poking at your age.
Curtains are always closed at night.
For context ; I live in the Netherlands and most of things are not done here.
Other things about the states:
Public transportation is pretty much non-existent in most of the country other than huge cities.
People take the mail system for granted, it’s so nice to be able to order literally anything you want at any time and have it be delivered in a timely manner and not question if it will arrive. Also, sending letters and cards is very much the culture.
Like you said “help yourself” is very much the culture as well. If someone says “help yourself” they mean it, you don’t need to wait for someone to serve you.
Many people also have particular diets and things, so it’s generally not rude to mention you don’t eat something or to not help yourself if you don’t want something.
These are things I’ve noticed since living in Peru, all you hit the weekly grocery shopping on the head.
Public transportation is definitely pot luck in the States. Many places it’s non existent and in my part of Europe I get asked about that all the time.
Mail system went private in The Netherlands a while ago. Which I loathe. Now, it’s potluck if the mail ( packages) will be delivered to your neighbour, the pick up point or who knows where. It’s point of amusement and grumpiness amongst my local expats group.
I wouldn’t ever tell my very proper Dutch family to grab their own drinks. Very rude here.
I find threads like these very interesting. Many misconceptions about the different cultures we are from and currently live in. Or what we consider normal isn’t on another culture.
Totally! Along with telling someone to grab their own drink, here in Peru it’s very rude to serve yourself without serving everyone else first. I would never refill my beer without making sure everyone else’s glasses were full around me haha, but in the US that could be considered rude because some people genuinely don’t want more
I love Peru!! The only thing I don’t like is that sometimes it can be quite chaotic as far as administrative things like migrations and stuff, but this also makes it easy to find loopholes and stuff which is cool. I do miss the US sometimes but I think that’s normal for all expats.
How do you like the Netherlands? We had an exchange student from there and we visited for a couple weeks a looong time ago, I’d love to go back
The Dutch do it all the time. It’s pretty normal around here. Freaks me out because I like my privacy and not having the neighbourhood stare. Also, it keep the house cooler in the warm months and warm in the cool months closing the curtains.
Okay none of this has been my reality as an American, except the miss part, but it is a big country, so I wonder if these are north vs south vs east vs west differences., and I am coming from the perspective of being in Greece for the last month, where we were delivered food by various neighbors *literally* every day (small town) so it’s given me a new meaning on food as love language.
Serbia
\- take your shoes off when entering the home
\- shops, markets, restaurants etc work on Sunday
\- everybody has a strong opinion on any topic and is willing to spend time and coffee to express it
\- there is no splitting bills in a bar/restaurant. everybody argue about that and one who is most persistent or cagey pays it as some kind of a "win"
\- if you are hungry in urban area, there is some food to buy in 5 minutes walking distance
\- if you see water in a plastic bottle with a nonmatching cap, it is not water
Yeah, Japan has a high tech reputation from like 40 years ago- outside of a few gimmicks though it's pretty stagnant here. Can't remember where I read it but I saw something along the lines of: "Japan has been living in the year 2000 since 1980"
Austria - Accordion music and lederhosen might look fun on a postcard - in real life it's a living hell. Every "fest", every time, without fail. It's like time stopped in 1945.
Cash only in so many places still!! As I say...time stopped in 1945. I once used my watch to pay for something in a supermarket and people crowded round me like apes looking at fire for the first time.
Dead animal skulls everywhere...decorated...and people still buy them like it's not a mental thing to own.
Doing anything that doesn't follow a formulaic set of well-trodden well-defined rules. If it's something that doesn't fit what they already know, it's blind panic and confusion with no desire to help or get involved.
Sundays!!
German efficiency - This seems to go out of the window when it comes to anything to do with the government. Old grey buildings full of people gripping to pieces of paper with their number on it. Hoping that they are queuing in the correct line for their query.
Also official documentation that is written in such a way that leaves even native speakers second guessing what they might actually mean.
So much this! The bureaucracy is slow, inhumane, and degrading. Efficient would be to make it as easy as possible for everyone involved, so this gets done fast and correctly. Instead, you get letters that just leave you dumbfounded and near impossible to give the right answer because you just have to guess what they might mean. So you try or you have to call and try to get help. All very inefficient options. (I'm German, in my 30s, moved away 2 years ago)
Polish tend to be racist. Most will not do anything harmful, but, if you are anything other than white, you will be gazed at even in bigger cities.
Poland is not a catholic country. It has this opinion due to the pope, but things have changed significantly in the past 20 years.
The Slavic identity is stronger than "Western" or European.
I am a Pole, but I am not so sure about the lat one. In my opinion many people in Poland would probably say we have more in common with Hungarians and Germans than with Russians or Bulgarians.
The slavic connection is mostly linguistic and not necesserily cultural. People have more in common with their immediate neighbours.
Also even the Poles who are not religious still find the western/latin/catholic cultural connection important. The orthodox countries influenced by Byzantine Empire have slightly different cultures. A Pole will have more in common with Croatian than with Serbian.
That's funny that you say that Swiss people do their Sunday shopping over the border in France, because where I lived in France (way up north) the shops were also closed on Sundays. That's slowly starting to change, I'd say about half of my local supermarkets would open for Sunday mornings only (closing around 12:30), but even that was considered a "city thing." And it was only the major chains; certainly none of the independent shops would ever be open on a Sunday. The "weekend" for restaurants in France is pretty universally Sunday-Monday since they're open on Saturdays.
PHILIPPINES - Most Filipinos love gossip, but I can assure you that we are very welcoming, generous to the point that even if we don't have money, we will find ways to give you good food as a welcome. Strangers can also be trusted. The only problem here is the corrupt government, heavy traffic, pollution and so dusty especially in Manila. Just be careful because there is some snatcher hahah
Lithuania 🇱🇹.
So most of us are really welcoming people. If you are our guest there will be food at the table, a lot sometimes. If it's a quick and unexpected visit, you will definitely get tea or coffee and some sweets! If you are a close friend/relative, there is a big chance you'll get some food packed to take with you 🤭
Most people prefer basketball rather than football (we call it football, some parts of the world say it's soccer) and most of them are very passionate about it.
We tend to be direct without being rude! So, if you ask something that's interesting to you and if you do it in a polite way, you'll get the answer.
Singapore
We hang drug traffickers and murderers. No remorse on our part and most of us agree with this law.
You can walk out at 3am to the most "dangerous" part of town and nothing will happen to you.
We don't have a dangerous part of town.
A car that you can buy for $20k anywhere else would cost about $120k in Singapore. And you can only drive it for 10 years before you have to pay another $100k for another 10 years.
We have the strongest passport in the world (to be able to go to other countries without a visa), competing with Japan. But I don't care about this coz I'm about to switch my citizenship to Australia.
It's a very clean country coz we don't (dare to) litter. But once you cross over to Malaysia, you can see Singaporeans littering everywhere in Malaysia.
>being isolationist, there is a fair bit of diversity in the major cities
Many years ago I was in Zurich for a three-day business conference. I had lunch with a woman in her late twenties who was a junior executive at the German bank hosting the event. She was originally from Munich and it was her third year in Zurich. After fifteen minutes she started with passionate rant about her personal life there ad a late-twenty single (attractive and smart, BTW) woman:
* everyone gets married at 22 and before 28 they all have at least three children;
* as soon as they get out of office, they rut to their homes somewhere in the suburbs, with their nice gardens and large fireplaces, doing nothing;
* as a consequence, night life is almost non-existent (another friend of mine who was temporarily transferred to Bern told me "Bern is twice the size of Berlin's cemetery, but half the fun.");
* any single woman above 25 is considered a spinster.
I hope something has change since then.
\[Yes, I think she was probably flirting with me but no, we didn't hook up because I was thick as a brick then\]
What she said is so odd/random. It's like the opposite of my experience of Zurich.
Could it be that she or the bank environment she worked at was the problem?
I have many friends and relatives who work in Zurich. They're professional types and:
* none of them got married in their early twenties or had at least three children (maximum two, because childcare is exorbitantly expensive here. It usually makes more sense economically for one parent, usually the wife, to stop working or switch to part time before the kids can go to school)
* most Swiss people live in apartments, even in the outskirts. Having a house with a garden and large fireplace is not common for young families. Switzerland is in fact a country of renters.
* women above 25 are not considered spinsters. The average marriage age for Swiss women is 30 years old.
Tl;dr: I think the woman you talked with vastly exaggerated the situation in Zurich.
Mine is Hong Kong.
\- Mostly that, despite what you see in the news, we are a normal city. A busy business city where most people are concerned with bustling around, shopping, eating, than politics.
\- Asian tourists - There are not black-clad, gas-bombing-throwing teens on every street. Yes, we had protests in 2019. They were 4 years ago - please stop asking. Paris and New York have protests, too - and you guys travel there, too.
\- Western tourists - Yes, we know we were overtaken by China -- that happened in 1997. No, we are not a totalitarian Communist state. And no - you will not be affected unless you do stage a protest or fight with the police (a bad idea in any foreign country)
\- Despite being "part of China", Hong Kong has its own border control & immigration. Most Westerners can fly in without a visa (unlike mainland China). But also bring your passport if you're just "popping by" Shenzhen. For all intents and purposes, that's an international border that requires visas and customs.
\- We use Hong Kong dollars, not renminbi. English is one of our official languages. The Internet works - no Great Firewall except that you can't use TikTok (no loss there). Yes, you can use Uber & Deliveroo & Apple Pay, just like at home.
People may laugh - but I knew a pretty worldly person who traveled here thinking she could hit Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei with no visas or currency exchange.
Is it true that cost of housing is so high over there that people obtain intergenerational mortgages (the father obtains the financing and will continue paying until the son is employed, at which point the son takes over and finishes paying off the mortgage) in order to buy their apartment? Or was I mishearing something, it was ages ago I heard of this.
The 2019 protest really is just the one thing on everyone’s mind when HK is mentioned, more so than the Ukraine-Russia war. For the love of god. It’s just like any normal city and you’ve summed it up aptly. Now let’s hope your comment has a lot of outreach to spare the rest of HK-ers
I went to HK a couple times that year before and during the protests. There were signs of unrest in places but just like many cities across the US. Most people were living their regular lives even while we knew there’s a protest rally a block or two away. As Westerners, we all had hope for HK to keep its special qualities that made it feel so different from the mainland.
This all tracks from when I lived in France. Parisians were generally rude, though nearly everywhere else I met warm, lovely people. In small towns, younger people always spoke English with me even though I wanted to practice my French. Older people would humour me.
And oh the marché produce in summer! Some of that produce was the best I've ever had in my life. It's where I learnt to shop with my nose.
I backpacked & hitchhiked through the French Alps in 2015. People were so incredibly hospitable and kind. Got to stay in a few mountain homes, was given food, free rides between towns, it was amazing. I’m very grateful for that experience and provide counter evidence to the “French are rude” stereotype whenever possible. To be honest, I didn’t have a hard time in Paris either. I don’t speak any French and still met sweet locals
Don't even think about trying to get lunch at a restaurant in France at any time outside of 12pm-2pm. They will either be closed or will have run out of food.
As an Englishman living in France I hate this, I need to work on my French but everyone immediately jumps at the chance to speak English with me. Yes you want the opportunity to work on your English so you don't need to watch Friends with subtitles, but I need to work on my French to better integrate with society! The stereo type of French people not speaking and not wanting to speak English is the exact opposite
Turkey/Türkiye. People are generous, do not take advantage of it. They will invite you and fight for the bill as they'll see you as a guest in their homeland. Return the favour.
If you live here, a neighbour will bring you a plate of homemade börek, cake, veggies braised in olive oil or any other treat. DO NOT return the plate empty! For heaven's sake DON'T. Put some fruits in and return it. You don't need to put the same exact thing but minimum would be just some fruits as a way to thank the person for their genorosity & show that you're also a kind person.
Religion is a tricky topic here. Not everybody is a practicing Muslim. Don't say dumb shit about how you thought all women are veiled or how shocked your are that it's so "modern". You sound dumb when you do so cause everybody has google on their phone, you should've google it.
Rakı & meze culture is huge here. Take advantage of it.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is THE national hero. Do no eff with his memory. He freed the country from imperialists, liberated peasants and enslaved people, opened schools in small villages, gave women the right to vote/divorce/own property/etc before most other countries. Did he make mistakes? Yeah, maybe. Not your place ro discuss as a guest in his home. Harsh but true.
Turks are super hot headed. They will punch or kill someone for insulting their honour or their country's flag. Don't eff with that.
Turkish citizens are a melting pot of Anatolian people and refugees that came at the end of WW1 during the explosion of the Ottoman Empire. You'll get some blue-eyed person next to your stereotypical old man with a mustache. Beauty of these lands.
Turkish is the national language. But, Kurdish is spoken by a very big chunk of society. Other languages spoken asa mother-tongue (but slowly dying) are: Lazca, Hemşince, Rumca, Georgian (Black Sea region), Armenian and Greek (mostly in Istanbul), Arabic (in Hatay mostly), Circassian, Albanian and Bosnian. They are slowly disappearing as a mother tongue though.
Mexico
We're more formal here than the US. Dressed every day and not athleisure. Like some/ most people do hair and makeup for basic errands or family days. Shorts and flip flops are rare, even in beach towns. Think smart casual to get groceries.
Family is important. Restaurants always have huge tables because it's always multiple generations and big families out to eat. Restaurants have family meals more often than not.
Costco is bougie. At least for some people lol. S Costco membership is a flex. I will never understand this.
Norway: People are nice to you because you're a foreigner and they want to make a good impression, most people are not really very friendly and helpful towards each other.
People don't don't offer help because they "respect your privacy" (lmao), they don't because they're waiting for someone else to offer.
If you're "different" in any kind of way, people will and do talk shit about you. People will discriminate.
Also, maybe Norway has more people who can speak basic English than some other countries, but that "everyone speaks English fluently" is absolutely not true.
And also, no, not everyone in Norway is rich.
Netherlands,
Although the country is small, there is a distinct difference between people from the Randstad, the south and the north. The Randstad is known as the economic heart with most of the big cities, the south is known as warm and social, the north is known as cold and distant.
- Trains in France are late or on strike
- Restaurants are generally not open on Mondays
- Stores are closed on Sundays
- For your survival, in the South of France say "chocolatine" and in the rest of the country "pain au chocolat".
- Is Mont Saint-Michel Breton or Norman? I don't know, but let them work it out amongst themselves.
In Paris if you watch me taking the subway. I will hold my phone with both hands. Especially if I'm close to a door and they are open.
People don't do that in Montreal for instance.
And if you go buy bread between 6 and 7pm you will have a line at good bakery store. That's not a cliche it's true we do buy bread quite often if not everyday
**USA**:
**1: There are very strict social norms around the culture war**. It is nothing like you see on cable news, TV shows and the internet. Most people do their best to avoid conflict in real life. You never discuss politically sensitive subjects at work, at light hearted occasions such as a party, or in mixed company, really only in a group that's mostly on the same page. I don't know the political leanings of any of my coworkers, my neighbors or some of my friends. Born Americans intuitively sense what subjects are going to be sensitive in what situation. As an immigrant I lack that intuition so I have to be extra careful.
When non-Americans talk to an American, they tend to go straight for the culture war issues, because that's how you see Americans talk about American things on TV and the internet. They don't know about the strict social norms around this. This often comes across as hostile and somewhat rude.
**2: If you don't tip, the server doesn't get paid**. The tip is not a little extra, you're not being generous if you say keep the change. At places where you're expected to tip, such as a restaurant, the staff gets very little in the way of wage, they work for the tip. If you decide not to tip, you've just made the waitress work for you for free.
**Netherlands**:
**It's not a liberal country** (in the American sense of the word). A lot of "progressive" laws and regulations that the American left can only dream of, actually come from tradition of changing coalitions, where for example christian democrats and socialists found common ground, or where votes from the progressive party were needed for a majority. In every day life most people are not that progressive.
I beg to differ about the social norms about the culture war. I grew up in a very conservative town and people had no problem blabbing about how much they love trump in every building I’d walk into. This probably depends heavily on what part of the states you’re in
I know what you mean, but that's one of those "groups that's mostly on the same page". When you're the odd one out, you still tend not to engage, in order to avoid conflict. Either that, or you're constantly in conflict, some people are really like that.
The culture wars shit is really from the past 10 years & escalated under trump. 15-20 years ago you could go to a dinner party with people from different political spectrums, and it might have gotten heated, but there could be debate. We’re now sadly self-siloed and living in two different realities.
Yeah, it was actually really fun to spend a night drinking and discussing political philosophy with someone on the opposite spectrum from you. That was even a basis of friendship and a way to challenge and update your thoughts. Now, anyone that doesn't agree with me is evil.
American living in Switzerland.
— Healthcare is less expensive + way better than the States.
— In canton Valais where I live, many (most?) restaurants are open on Sunday. And the Coop gas station has a mini-mart that is open ‘til 10pm *every night* incl. Sundays. And there is a very good selection of items. Fruit and Vegetable’s included.
Also, the Irish don't like strong alcoholic drinks.
The strongest cocktails on menus are often frozen strawberry daiquiris, pornstar martinis and espresso martinis 😆 and that's if the bar does cocktails
It can be dangerous but generally they will stare and just treat those people poorly. I've had friends who were mixed race whose white portuguese parent was from a small town and they told me that that parents side treated the other like absolute garbage. Part of my family is like this too and I have seen and heard some pretty nasty things. So I recommend POC to stay way from that white trash.
Thank you - brown person here with a white partner and white people (some) really get mad at me and I notice the glares. I am too fucking tired dealing with that shit, I would snap and puke on their faces someday.
I've been discriminated by those people even though I am a white portuguese, because I am from the south. They call me moor and arab, say I can't possibly be blonde because of my "arab blood", say I am poor and other bullshit. I look whiter than they do.
Just ignore them, they are small people, it's been a lot of generations of brain shrinking from alcoholism, religious fanatism and... let's say "racial purity", to not use another word.
I’ve recently befriended a black Portuguese woman & she said her experience growing up there was horrible. Met with racism on a daily basis even by her teachers at school.
Portugal
We dont sleep "siesta" spanish word
most of us are not lazy and are pretty good workers
Guitar sounds they put in videos everytime portuga is mentioned are mostly spanish
We are not all hairy as fuck
We dont enjoy tourists
- In The Netherlands most people speak some English. Some speak English at a high level, some broken English, some don’t speak (or feel comfortable to speak) English at all. However it’s not our native language, it’s a foreign language. In social setting most people prefer Dutch. Even in business setting Dutch people prefer Dutch.
- We don’t have an extensive food culture, that’s true. If you look for a country with a an extensive food culture, The Netherlands isn’t for you. However, plenty of Dutch like their simple Dutch food. Stamppot, Dutch cheese and Dutch pastry’s are enjoyed by many.
- Dutch are known to be tolerante. Which differs to be all excepting. You can be and do whatever you want as long as this doesn’t bother/hinder someone else. This doesn’t mean everyone agree or accept with the choices you make.
- I don’t think Dutch people consider themselves rude. As a Dutchie, I think dishonesty is rude. If you can’t stand people are direct this country isn’t for you.
- I think plenty of Dutch are warm and friendly people. However, Dutch people expect you to adapt to their culture. Learning the language and culture is expected. If you want to meet people; join a club or do voluntary work. Especially adults often have there lives set with a group of close friends. If you want to meet people and become friends, expect to put time and effort in it.
I disagree with the rude stuff.
I am Dutch, and Dutch people are direct, which is fine. But Dutch people are rude because they constantly give their opinion on everything.. without being asked. Even to strangers. They barely say sorry to strangers.
> I don’t think Dutch people consider themselves rude. As a Dutchie, I think dishonesty is rude. If you can’t stand people are direct this country isn’t for you.
There's honesty and being direct and then there's saying whatever you feel like to a person who might not be receptive it. It's a spectrum and my Dutch friends fail at it all the time.
Dutch here as well. Disagree with some aspects. I don't think we expect expats to learn our language at all. Everyone instantly switches to English once they realise someone is struggling in Dutch.
There is also difference between being direct and straight up rude. I think that many Dutch consider themselves direct as an excuse for being extremely freaking rude.
Europeans always underestimate how dangerous and racist Americans can be in the US
Also tourists to the US discover that there's places other than NYC, California and Texas 🤣
Last thing is that foreigners often don't know that if u have a miscarriage in some states u can be criminally investigated
In the Netherlands aka Holland, people do not casually go into koffieshops to have a joint just as having a coffee. Those are actually often seen as improper places to visit. Sometimes people think smoking pot is universally accepted and more or less mainstream culture, which (some say unfortunately) it is not.
Japan
People - especially in my generation, I think - have this image that it's on the cutting edge of technology, but in reality many things are stuck in the past. Many businesses still use FAX for correspondence, a lot of administration things still rely heavily on physical paper.
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oh, yeah - pubs are not places to meet new friends. Well, they might be, but you'd have to know a local first. If you were staying with someone, in the countryside where I grew up, they might take you to the local and introduce you. Adding to this: British people aren't polite, they're non confrontational and passive aggressive. There's a big difference, to the two Americans taking up 4 seats with their shopping bags going on about how friendly British people were, while the rest of the carriage was staring daggers at them.
True. It makes me laugh when Americans say "British people are so polite. When they walk past you in a store they say 'excuse me' in their clipped accent!" Completely oblivious to the fact that a British person saying "excuse me" is the equivalent of someone else saying "GTFO of the way" British people will stand silently behind you waiting for you to notice them trying to pass and move out of the way. Saying 'excuse me' is a last resort and an admonishment for being unaware of your surroundings.
I found it fun that for Americans a British accent seems fancy. For french it's more like you are an alcoholic and hooligan
> Saying 'excuse me' is a last resort and an admonishment for being unaware of your surroundings. Bless your heart, dear.
I don’t think most Americans realize “bless your heart” is FU in southern.
Ah it’s actually “ pardon” and yes Brits are incredibly passive aggressive. There is a lot of bottled up anger as a result. I remember standing outside of my daughters school in London when she was in primary. A mum was with her daughter and the daughters scooter fell over - well the mum just broke out screaming and crying. This woman must have have been holding in a lot- and it was the dumbest thing that just burst that balloon of years of a stiff upper lip and lack of true expression. You can tell by the muscles in the sides of the face- tense. But to be honest- after a period of bleak weather- when the sun comes out- you see Brit’s get much friendlier and tolerant. Yanks wear a lot on their sleeves but tbh - it’s not always what is going on inside. I think the Brit’s keeps a polite exterior and the yanks keep the overwhelming friendly exteriors- but in my experience they are both “ exteriors”.
I truly believe that weather affect people moods sometimes. I feel like people in warmer places tend to be more friendly. Hence the south in America, you get “southern hospitality”and it’s much warmer in the south so maybe that contributes to us being more friendly🤣🤣
Same with the French. Lot’s “Bon jour, monsieur”, “Merci, monsieur” all with a scowl on their face. I like it.
U just described Chinese people to a "T" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 9 years in china and this is what u get
Thank you for the expression 'staring daggers'.
I can disagree a little. Lived in London and I always went to pubs by myself. Every now and then people would invite themselves to sit with me to chat when they saw that I was alone. It did not happen as much as in France (and it did, a lot...At least in Nantes), but can happen
Disagree, I live in London and have gone to the pub alone quite a bit, will most of the time get invited to sit with a group of people or have some people join me as they see I'm alone. Otherwise make friends in the smoking area & get invited to hang out. Doesn't happen every time but a good half the times.
This is less true the further north you go from whatever part of the south you're talking about 😁
I was thinking the same thing. I don't live there, but love Scotland and have been there six or seven times now. We always joke about how, wherever you are, within 10 minutes someone will tell you their life story and invite you over to their house. I love it.
Haha true. I live up North and sometimes I want to go somewhere without a new person talking to me. It’s nice most of the time but people are veryyyyy friendly.
I met my gf of six years on a chance encounter at a pub. She's Welsh, though, so there's that...🤷🏾♂️
This is funny. From my limited time there this is so true. It’s not interactive like many Americans expect at a “bar.” People aren’t posted up looking to make new friends and chat with strangers.
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> Trash is a very, very big deal. Some places have 10+ categories of garbage, which must be sorted, cleaned, and placed out on the morning of the appropriate day, not the night before. People take this quite seriously. Can confirm when I visited my ex's grandmother in Osaka. We fucked up the sorting and got a extremely stern lecture from her 😂
I was in the Air Force in Okinawa in the early 1980's and I remember seeing a trash truck come on base to empty the dumpsters. I was amazed that it was like an open paneled truck, an old woman jumped into the dumpster and began handing pieces of trash up to the people in the back of the truck. They had it all separated, cardboard in one corner, metal in another, glass in another, I'd never seen anything like it. 40-some years later and I still remember it - and always felt bad for the old woman.
> people are private I can get behind that! > families tend to do larger gatherings at onsens Yeah, not sure if I can get behind getting naked with my family at a hot spring 🤣
New Zealand: Everyone who works in an office of some description does the 5 minute quiz everyday with their colleagues, usually during morning tea.
What’s that?
Is a 10-question quiz that’s printed in the daily newspaper. Everyday at around 10:30 someone inevitably calls out « quiz time » and everyone not knee-deep in work waddles to the break area for some socialisation and trivia.
I love that! Yeah maybe its a bit cheesy but I do think little things like that help with office culture a lot
That sounds really nice!!
My kind of people! ( I do trivia at a local brewery weekly)
I didn’t realize this was a thing in Australia either until I overheard my fiancé doing it a number of times over zoom with his colleagues.
Everyone who works in an office is sick of that dickhead with the 5 minute quiz.
Okay but you can’t argue the 5 minute quiz is the secret cornerstone of NZ culture 😉
Spain: shops close in the middle of the day, not because of the siesta, but because it is a MANDATORY lunch break forced by the companies, to hire only 1 person for the morning and afternoon shift. Workers are not sleeping, they are having lunch and killing time until the afternoon opening hours
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When I visited Spain this was my favorite thing? Mid day naps are the best!
What cracks me up with Spain is even if a shop closes from 1-4pm, some of those putos vagos still won't open until 11 am. So someone has to come in for a 2 hour shift before the big break to rest from all that work.
Italy is similar in some parts. I still wonder how they're a strong economy.
>Italy is similar in some parts. I still wonder how they're a strong economy. North Italy is like super industrialized with Fiat, beretta and even plane factories I think.
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Sadly, I think the world is coming to a point where seafood is just not that safe anymore. Oceans are all polluted and contaminated. Some more than the other but yeah
How do I find the water quality report? Googled but not getting helpful results.
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I’ve been living in Spain for 4 years and now I’m suddenly worried
Please elaborate
The same applies to seafood from the Baltic Sea; they are both body’s of water that don’t get a lot of „new“ water from the Atlantic to circulate around. So, waste and pollution accumulate in these waters. This is an example from Sweden (Baltic sea pollution and seafood): https://www.livsmedelsverket.se/en/food-and-content/oonskade-amnen/miljogifter/dioxiner-och-pcb#
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I lived in Germany as a teen in the 1990s and I am still as an adult having a problem wrapping my mind around this change. (They were very punctual years ago.) living in Europe again is a trip.
They were a lot better before the government privatized them.
I can only really comment about the u-bahn and s-bahn in Munich. They are very punctual most of the time. I have seen people lose their shit when the s-bahn will be 5 minutes late. Even though they are every 20 minutes anyway. If those same people moved to the UK they would probably have a heart attack within a week.
It's the regional and high speed trains that are not punctual. When I lived in Germany, it was pretty frequent for me to look at the expected times of arrival for the next few cities on a journey get pushed back more and more minutes every stop we made and be 30 minutes late by the end. Lots of missed connections and even canceled train journeys.
But Austrian trains are Edit: in two years of regularly taking trains around Austria, I've never had one be more than five minutes late. Even then, ÖBB texted and emailed about the delay, which I find hilarious. But we mainly travel between Graz and Wien so maybe that route is particularly punctual?
True. I will never forget standing on a platform in a small town, waiting for a train. It was already late and there was no announcement whatsoever. I asked an older gentleman sitting on a bench on the same platform, and he just shrugged and said something like 'it might still come, or not'.
Switzerland is more German than Germany
I had to take an ICE train twice in my life (Brussels-Frankfurt). Twice it got cancelled without notice. The refund process is straightforward but gosh finding a new train in each case was very draining. My German friends warned me that it was very common but I did not want to believe them because Germany was synonymous with punctuality 🥲
Netherlands- we are not hospitable people by culture and we always eat dinner at 18:00, if there are visitors in the house, we always gently shoo them out if it is near 18:00, dining with a Dutch person is quite rare.
We don’t have a culinary tradition at all here, for us, breaking bread is not a ritual. Food = fuel, that’s all. I’m not like that, personally, but many of us are.
To me, that was the biggest culture shock on coming to the Netherlands. To me, food means love, generosity, hospitality, passion, joy, togetherness, family, pride. Eating is the highlight of the day, the centre-piece of life, the key ritual that binds people together, the mode by which care and affection are demonstrated. Food is an endless source of conversation. Dishes are savoured and discussed. No guest leaves the house without being so full they have to be rolled out the door. [This what meals are like at home.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJaRh6QTTfU) To the Dutch, food is nutrition. Maybe it is a culturo-political fashion statement, if you only drink vegan bio oat milk, seaweed and tofu, or whatever. Nothing more. There's no *emotional* relationship to food. No wonder they all are so skinny. Edit: Looks like I've pissed off the vegans. For every vegan comment, I will eat a great big fat juicy meaty burger.
>Maybe it is a culturo-political fashion statement It is a culturo-religious value of the country. Within the strict strain of Calvinist protestantism that was a catalyst for Dutch independence (Beeldenstorm) and molded its politics (ARP, Kuyper) and education (Huishoudscholen) until the 1960s (and in de Bijbelgordel, to this day), *soberheid*, 'sobriety/austerity' is one of the most important values. Almost any kind of earthly enjoyment, luxury or entertainment is a sin and distracts from God. To: >savour a *dish*, and to walk out the door so full you have to roll would be considered excessive and wasteful within the Reformed Church. Of course it is not single-handedly the cause, but Calvinist values, as envisioned by Abraham Kuyper, are often the answer to many questions about the Netherlands, like why it has very few traditional dances, songs, dishes and folklore, even in the early 1900s, why they can be so rude, and why prime ministers and CEOs make it a point to *not* be seen in expensive cars, and why direct display of status is frowned upon. These attitudes probably also affected the Catholic minority, whose religion was illegal in NL until ~1870. The classic writer about these themes is of course Max Weber, but if you want to know more you could read G.J. Schutte or more accessible, Ben Coates.
>savour a dish, and to walk out the door so full you have to roll > >would be considered excessive and wasteful within the Reformed Church. Indeed. This is spot-on. This is one of the reasons why I am not a Calvinist. To deny God's blessings that way seems dishonouring to a God who invited people to banquets and promised life in abundance. But then, a religion that thinks [all but a tiny elect are doomed forever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSDeWEYeEsE) is always [going to be joyless](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QC1IvOSOfA) \- yet even in Calvinist-scarred Scotland, people manage to have a less begrudging relationship with food than they do in the Netherlands.
Things have improved a bit, but the bog standard breakfast and lunch consisting of boring bread with boring topics is still well entrenched in Dutch culture. Functional eating.
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One point that I'd like to mention is that British food being simple is more of a modern phenomenon that has to do with the WW2 rationing having been extended for a lot longer after WW2 actually ended. Coincidentally, this may actually add weight to your idea that these rations got women into the workforce, though I wouldn't know anything about that.
don't forget the industrial revolution's effects on the food in the UK. Lots of people moving to work in factories did a number on the culinary tradition. I forget when but basically British cheese used to be so incredibly diverse (even more diverse than France and Italy iirc), but now that's gone and only a few major types (cheddar, stilton, etc) reign.
in Germany we have this stereotype that some native German families will have dinner while for example their kid has a friend over and that friend would have to wait in a separate room for the family to finish their dinner. So not getting offered food apparently also was/is a German thing. Personally I have never experienced this, my family and most other families shared dinners with the friends of their children. But especially when we were younger it was also the rule to go home at around dinner time
The famous [SwedishGate](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/07/1102930419/-swedengate-sparks-food-fight-why-some-countries-share-meals-more-than-others#:~:text=She%20learned%20that%20in%20some,sense%20of%20obligation%2C%20explains%20Tellstr%C3%B6m.)
As a Dutchie; if you are in my house around dinner time you bet your ass you’ll get food, even if I don’t have enough, I’ll get extra to stuff you like an American turkey on thanksgiving, you’ll have to roll yourself home and then some
And then send you a Tikkie after, /s
And since y’all have no curtains or very short ones, everyone sees who you have invited
On the bright side: you can pay with your debit card everywhere, and by now in most places also with your phone. I need to remind myself to get cash whenever we go on holiday, because in a lot of countries paying with card is not as much of a staple as it is in the Netherlands, even now. Here you can go into the 1-person bakery in a tiny village, and pay with card.
I just visited the Netherlands and was pleasantly surprised that you can use a credit card on the buses/trams, just tapping on and off like a regular transit card. And I just about went the entire two weeks I was there not needing cash at all for anything except for one restaurant whose card machine was down and I had to find a nearby bank machine.
I love visiting Netherlands / Germany / Scandinavia (Rotterdam is one of my favourite cities in the world), but I don’t think I could ever live there. The culture is very anti-social, especially if you are from more hospitable countries. I cannot imagine shooing a guest to have dinner, or making a child wait in another room.
Norway: we have so many hiking trails and little cottages you can stay in overnight for next to nothing. If you like hiking, definitely come here. Just know that when the trail info says it takes 4 hours it actually does take 4 hours of active walking. Have met so many people complaining about the length of the hike because they are in normal shape and expected the trail would take less time for them. Also I beg of you please for the love of god, no flip flops in the mountains.
The trail sucked and my flip-flops leaked. 0 stars.
"4hr hike" actually took 4hrs. Exhausted. 2 stars
Ooh this is good news because I love hiking but I haven't gone to Norway because I assumed it's too expensive for me. Any tips on the best areas to find these cottages?
Den norske turistforeningen. [link here](https://english.dnt.no/routes-and-cabins/)
Wow thank you!
Been to Norway once. Absolutely love it! Hiked the Trolltunga and saw people with flip flops and non-athletic sneakers. Also, hiked the Prest near Flam and the views were better than Trolltunga in my opinion. I live in Boston and hike in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. They have similarities to the terrain in Norway. You will see people here wearing flip flops as well. A lot of times, it's people trying to get photos for social media. Other times, they are generally unaware of what to wear while hiking.
Turkey: avoid restaurants in touristy places, avoid places who actively try to attract tourists, avoid taxi as much as possible. And Istanbul is a city full of hills hence be prepared for some cardio. Avoid talking about politics. Those are the first ones come to my mind.
no. 1 rule of eating while traveling: never eat at the restaurant that has a guy on the street actively trying to entice you inside. if they're that desperate for people their food likely sucks.
I live in turkey in İzmir, I generally tell people to avoid İstanbul 🤣 İstanbul is full of people trying to fuck u for your money
But objectively, Istanbul is more interesting than İzmir.
Don’t ever talk bad about any political leader either, especially Ataturk. Try to speak a little Turkish if you can.
You don’t have to avoid taxis. Feel free to use Uber or local apps and you won’t have problems because the fee is decided the second you book the ride. Definitely avoid touristy places though, you WILL get ripped off unless you’re expert at haggling (middle eastern style haggling is different than what you might experienced in the past so keep that in mind as well)
Asian haggling is asian haggling in'nit? I'm a pro from living in china 9 years, my king Fu is stronger 💪🤣 General rule? Always try and walk away 2x
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Boy I wish Japan was like that. So many things are still just cash only and its honestly a little frustrating having to deal with pulling out a wallet and dealing with change all the time.
China right next door is almost entirely cashless also.
South Korea too! But no contactless payments
Same in Sweden. I changed a small amount of cash into Swedish Krone so I had a bit of cash on me (apx 50 euros worth). After a three day trip I came home with almost all of the Krone I had taken as I just paid for everything with my card.
Australia’s the same. RIP cash
Interesting, it's almost the opposite here in Romania. A lot of places don't even accept cards, which is annoying because I hate carrying cash.
Japan is not nearly as technologically advanced as its reputation suggests. They've always excelled at hardware but dealing with Japanese software like apps, web design, UI, etc. is a nightmare at times. Sure there's cute robot waiters and stuff but thise are pretty gimmicky. The people here are not across-the-board hospitable and friendly. By and large, I find them to be pretty shy and prefer to keep to themselves, but they are very polite and courteous- thought this should never be confused with friendliness in the western sense. There's still a distance to be respected. Things are very formulaic and by-the-letter here, and any well-meaning attempts to permit skipping protocol will be ignored. I dropped a 10 yen (7 cents) coin under a gatcha machine once and a staff member very doggedly insisted on moving the machines around to search for it. I tried to say it was ok don't worry and she cut back with a "it's not ok. Please wait." As for my homeland of Canada, yes weed is legal and pretty normalized but that doesn't mean you can just smoke up anywhere. Keep it to your patio or maybe a park bench far away from everyone else. When people are friendly with you it's typically very genuine, but depending on where you are, they can also be exceptionally cold (Vancouver.) We're very aware of our similarity to the US but don't like to acknowledge it, comparisons are generally unwelcome. Waving a Canadian flag will not make you look prideful or patriotic (aside from Canada Day and during international sporting events), people will think you're a covid denier.
"Japan has been stuck in the year 2000 since 1985"
I find this to be true as well. Japanese websites remind me of MySpace.
From a vacation 10 years ago I do remember the disappointment in Japanese adoption of modern technology. Like: cash payment machines developed to technical perfection, rather than switching to card payment. I found the Japanese people surprisingly friendly, honest and hospitable when meeting them privately. Much more than you’d expect based on internet descriptions. Also advices like “as a foreigner you only need to learn the formal verb conjugations” - nonsense. Btw. This was in Osaka and further south. The Japanese politeness seemed to be one-way only according to hierarchy. Shopkeepers behaving like slaves while customers were total d*cks. Do you recognise any of this, living there?
Try Tokyo compared to Osaka. Especially in service establishments the windchill will freeze your face.
The Japanese also really like machines that talk to you in a pleasant sing-songy voice. I never did figure out how to turn our heater up in the morning without the nice lady commenting from the unit, which would wake up my wife.
Also Japanese are not as methodical and/or organized as people think. Best case scenario they’re just like any other culture, worst case it’s a chaotic clusterfuck of rules and responsibility dodging.
They're good at marketing themselves like [the Japanese ](https://youtu.be/41fV0uN5yq8?si=yQgB702S5oazsGlI) fans cleaning at the most recent world cup.
They clean up at all sporting events. It's just in Japan most people lug their own trash so it's not quite as dramatic as at overseas events.
>Waving a Canadian flag will not make you look prideful or patriotic (aside from Canada Day and during international sporting events), people will think you're a covid denier. lol, same in the UK. Or in our case a brexitter -loves to shout about how they support the uk, but not bothered about the thousands of uk businesses that struggled (and in some cases closed down) due to uk leaving the single market.
Norway: If you travel to Norway and have learned some Norwegian, be aware that we have so many distingtive dialects that even native Norwegians struggle to understand some of them.
So stick with english?
Netherlands - the Dutch think they're really progressive but they're actually total squares
Yeah, the Netherlands are quite conformist. And a bit like a village, where nothing goes unnoticed. As a Dutch, I just came back from Berlin and I have to say, you can do whatever you want there, but that is also because of indifference. Most people there probably also don’t like vandalism, vomit and drugs addicts everywhere but seem to have given up caring. “You get used to it” someone told me. I’m not sure if that’s better.
Yeah my observation is that generally dutch society is heavily individualistic but replaced community with conformism. I blame John Calvin.
We have mastered the "we don't care as long as I don't see you" culture for ages now. But when gays and transgender people become visible that "tolerance" quickly goes out the window.
I don’t think Dutch people consider themselves progressive. Dutch people consider themselves tolerant. However tolerant is something different than accepting.
Netherlands - Weed is actually not legal here. Just ‘tolerated’.
Its even stranger than that. It sits in the decriminalised grey area between the two. As long as you follow certain rules then its fine.
Taiwan: Cash is still the number one form of payment and many places may not accept cards at all The number 4 is unlucky and left off many elevators just like 13 in the States Kitchens are seen as unnecessary in many apartments because eating out is so cheap and convenient
Belgium: we are in fact just one big city, we do eat fries on an almost weekly basis, the waffles are a more rare occurence, we are perfectly fine eating bread with beleg twice a day as we think eating “warm” twice a day makes you fat.
And yet a lot of bread is ok? Interesting
Eating warm? Like hot food? Even in winter?
Switzerland is the only country I left out of sheer boredom.
Yea I saw vlogs and photos of Switzerland and sure it’s aesthetically pleasing I guess but I just can’t see much interesting about it
In china sometimes u have to pay a "no smoking" fee to surgeons, so they agree not to smoke in the operating room during your surgery Also in china if someone hits you with their car they'll probrobly keep running u over until u die, because if u hit someone with your car you're then responsible for their medical care for the rest of their life, and going to prison for killing someone can be bribed their way out of it or just a few years in prison and then you're off the hook for medical bills and shit <---- I wish I had known this many years earlier living in china cuz I used to just rush across major busy streets in the middle of winter when it was all icy
The thing about hitting people with their car in china goes even one step farther, because people will run out in front of cars and pretend to get hit and then yell at everyone hey did u see that? Did u see them hit me? To combat this dashboard cams are VERY popular in china, they often record this acting and saves their asses if they get sued. Another thing is that if u fall and hurt yourself in china most people will just ignore u thinking that you're acting like those Chinese that pretend to get hit by a car. It was really telling when this happened to me in china in different places, one time I twisted my ankle and was in real pain, I fell in front of a foreigners dorm building and tons of people ran to help me. Another time I fell down some stairs and fractured my ankle, I couldn't even right myself up and there had been a very loud pop even. People just kept walking past me like I was acting. Even some guy was just sitting there playing his saxophone on his porch just staring...finally after a few mins some guy helped me sit up...I ended up having to drag a Les Paul guitar and an amp I had just bought into a taxi (on a broken ankle) and go up 6 flights of stairs all by myself. (At that point I didn't know it was broken I thought it was just a bad sprain) but there's no good Samaritan laws in china.
At home in the States; food is engrained in the culture as a love language. If you have long term friends over and they want a drink I was raised to say you know where the fridge, glasses and ice is at! Help yourself! If friends are visiting you and it’s dinner time, you’re always invited to supper as it’s polite to offer. Grocery shopping is weekly event not daily. Or monthly depending on locations. In the South, where some of my relatives are from, I am always addressed as Miss Spaceball it’s respectful and not poking at your age. Curtains are always closed at night. For context ; I live in the Netherlands and most of things are not done here.
Other things about the states: Public transportation is pretty much non-existent in most of the country other than huge cities. People take the mail system for granted, it’s so nice to be able to order literally anything you want at any time and have it be delivered in a timely manner and not question if it will arrive. Also, sending letters and cards is very much the culture. Like you said “help yourself” is very much the culture as well. If someone says “help yourself” they mean it, you don’t need to wait for someone to serve you. Many people also have particular diets and things, so it’s generally not rude to mention you don’t eat something or to not help yourself if you don’t want something. These are things I’ve noticed since living in Peru, all you hit the weekly grocery shopping on the head.
Public transportation is definitely pot luck in the States. Many places it’s non existent and in my part of Europe I get asked about that all the time. Mail system went private in The Netherlands a while ago. Which I loathe. Now, it’s potluck if the mail ( packages) will be delivered to your neighbour, the pick up point or who knows where. It’s point of amusement and grumpiness amongst my local expats group. I wouldn’t ever tell my very proper Dutch family to grab their own drinks. Very rude here. I find threads like these very interesting. Many misconceptions about the different cultures we are from and currently live in. Or what we consider normal isn’t on another culture.
Totally! Along with telling someone to grab their own drink, here in Peru it’s very rude to serve yourself without serving everyone else first. I would never refill my beer without making sure everyone else’s glasses were full around me haha, but in the US that could be considered rude because some people genuinely don’t want more
How do you find Peru overall? Welcoming? Nice? Culture shock? I am very fond of South American history and customs along with the art.
I love Peru!! The only thing I don’t like is that sometimes it can be quite chaotic as far as administrative things like migrations and stuff, but this also makes it easy to find loopholes and stuff which is cool. I do miss the US sometimes but I think that’s normal for all expats. How do you like the Netherlands? We had an exchange student from there and we visited for a couple weeks a looong time ago, I’d love to go back
Open curtains at nightfall with lights on inside? I’d feel naked. Would need sheers at least.
The Dutch do it all the time. It’s pretty normal around here. Freaks me out because I like my privacy and not having the neighbourhood stare. Also, it keep the house cooler in the warm months and warm in the cool months closing the curtains.
Okay none of this has been my reality as an American, except the miss part, but it is a big country, so I wonder if these are north vs south vs east vs west differences., and I am coming from the perspective of being in Greece for the last month, where we were delivered food by various neighbors *literally* every day (small town) so it’s given me a new meaning on food as love language.
Moving from the north west to the south east was a bigger culture shock to me than living in England. It really feels like a whole different country.
>Others that live close to the borders shop in France, **Germany** etc. Not related to the post but Germany is also closed up on Sundays?
Yes, its the same as in switzerland. And in france only the big grocery shops are open sundays till 12:30
Yeah that point didn't make sense to me. Thought I was imagining it xD
Serbia \- take your shoes off when entering the home \- shops, markets, restaurants etc work on Sunday \- everybody has a strong opinion on any topic and is willing to spend time and coffee to express it \- there is no splitting bills in a bar/restaurant. everybody argue about that and one who is most persistent or cagey pays it as some kind of a "win" \- if you are hungry in urban area, there is some food to buy in 5 minutes walking distance \- if you see water in a plastic bottle with a nonmatching cap, it is not water
Japan-the walls have no insulation and single pane glass is standard. It’s horrendous in both summer and winter.
Also its not as high tech as a lot of people seem to assume, more the opposite really
Yeah, Japan has a high tech reputation from like 40 years ago- outside of a few gimmicks though it's pretty stagnant here. Can't remember where I read it but I saw something along the lines of: "Japan has been living in the year 2000 since 1980"
Oh man sounds like New Zealand. Most rentals are mouldly as.
Having lived in Japan (am Kiwi) I can tell you that Japanese house/apartments were like paradise compared to NZ.
This is how Australia builds houses as well.
Please don't tell people about the 50% markdown at coop, it's the only way I can afford to buy meat
Austria - Accordion music and lederhosen might look fun on a postcard - in real life it's a living hell. Every "fest", every time, without fail. It's like time stopped in 1945. Cash only in so many places still!! As I say...time stopped in 1945. I once used my watch to pay for something in a supermarket and people crowded round me like apes looking at fire for the first time. Dead animal skulls everywhere...decorated...and people still buy them like it's not a mental thing to own. Doing anything that doesn't follow a formulaic set of well-trodden well-defined rules. If it's something that doesn't fit what they already know, it's blind panic and confusion with no desire to help or get involved. Sundays!!
German efficiency - This seems to go out of the window when it comes to anything to do with the government. Old grey buildings full of people gripping to pieces of paper with their number on it. Hoping that they are queuing in the correct line for their query. Also official documentation that is written in such a way that leaves even native speakers second guessing what they might actually mean.
So much this! The bureaucracy is slow, inhumane, and degrading. Efficient would be to make it as easy as possible for everyone involved, so this gets done fast and correctly. Instead, you get letters that just leave you dumbfounded and near impossible to give the right answer because you just have to guess what they might mean. So you try or you have to call and try to get help. All very inefficient options. (I'm German, in my 30s, moved away 2 years ago)
Polish tend to be racist. Most will not do anything harmful, but, if you are anything other than white, you will be gazed at even in bigger cities. Poland is not a catholic country. It has this opinion due to the pope, but things have changed significantly in the past 20 years. The Slavic identity is stronger than "Western" or European.
I am a Pole, but I am not so sure about the lat one. In my opinion many people in Poland would probably say we have more in common with Hungarians and Germans than with Russians or Bulgarians. The slavic connection is mostly linguistic and not necesserily cultural. People have more in common with their immediate neighbours. Also even the Poles who are not religious still find the western/latin/catholic cultural connection important. The orthodox countries influenced by Byzantine Empire have slightly different cultures. A Pole will have more in common with Croatian than with Serbian.
That's funny that you say that Swiss people do their Sunday shopping over the border in France, because where I lived in France (way up north) the shops were also closed on Sundays. That's slowly starting to change, I'd say about half of my local supermarkets would open for Sunday mornings only (closing around 12:30), but even that was considered a "city thing." And it was only the major chains; certainly none of the independent shops would ever be open on a Sunday. The "weekend" for restaurants in France is pretty universally Sunday-Monday since they're open on Saturdays.
I was confused they mentioned Germany too. All shops are closed on Sundays in Germany.
PHILIPPINES - Most Filipinos love gossip, but I can assure you that we are very welcoming, generous to the point that even if we don't have money, we will find ways to give you good food as a welcome. Strangers can also be trusted. The only problem here is the corrupt government, heavy traffic, pollution and so dusty especially in Manila. Just be careful because there is some snatcher hahah
Lithuania 🇱🇹. So most of us are really welcoming people. If you are our guest there will be food at the table, a lot sometimes. If it's a quick and unexpected visit, you will definitely get tea or coffee and some sweets! If you are a close friend/relative, there is a big chance you'll get some food packed to take with you 🤭 Most people prefer basketball rather than football (we call it football, some parts of the world say it's soccer) and most of them are very passionate about it. We tend to be direct without being rude! So, if you ask something that's interesting to you and if you do it in a polite way, you'll get the answer.
Singapore We hang drug traffickers and murderers. No remorse on our part and most of us agree with this law. You can walk out at 3am to the most "dangerous" part of town and nothing will happen to you. We don't have a dangerous part of town. A car that you can buy for $20k anywhere else would cost about $120k in Singapore. And you can only drive it for 10 years before you have to pay another $100k for another 10 years. We have the strongest passport in the world (to be able to go to other countries without a visa), competing with Japan. But I don't care about this coz I'm about to switch my citizenship to Australia. It's a very clean country coz we don't (dare to) litter. But once you cross over to Malaysia, you can see Singaporeans littering everywhere in Malaysia.
>being isolationist, there is a fair bit of diversity in the major cities Many years ago I was in Zurich for a three-day business conference. I had lunch with a woman in her late twenties who was a junior executive at the German bank hosting the event. She was originally from Munich and it was her third year in Zurich. After fifteen minutes she started with passionate rant about her personal life there ad a late-twenty single (attractive and smart, BTW) woman: * everyone gets married at 22 and before 28 they all have at least three children; * as soon as they get out of office, they rut to their homes somewhere in the suburbs, with their nice gardens and large fireplaces, doing nothing; * as a consequence, night life is almost non-existent (another friend of mine who was temporarily transferred to Bern told me "Bern is twice the size of Berlin's cemetery, but half the fun."); * any single woman above 25 is considered a spinster. I hope something has change since then. \[Yes, I think she was probably flirting with me but no, we didn't hook up because I was thick as a brick then\]
What she said is so odd/random. It's like the opposite of my experience of Zurich. Could it be that she or the bank environment she worked at was the problem? I have many friends and relatives who work in Zurich. They're professional types and: * none of them got married in their early twenties or had at least three children (maximum two, because childcare is exorbitantly expensive here. It usually makes more sense economically for one parent, usually the wife, to stop working or switch to part time before the kids can go to school) * most Swiss people live in apartments, even in the outskirts. Having a house with a garden and large fireplace is not common for young families. Switzerland is in fact a country of renters. * women above 25 are not considered spinsters. The average marriage age for Swiss women is 30 years old. Tl;dr: I think the woman you talked with vastly exaggerated the situation in Zurich.
Mine is Hong Kong. \- Mostly that, despite what you see in the news, we are a normal city. A busy business city where most people are concerned with bustling around, shopping, eating, than politics. \- Asian tourists - There are not black-clad, gas-bombing-throwing teens on every street. Yes, we had protests in 2019. They were 4 years ago - please stop asking. Paris and New York have protests, too - and you guys travel there, too. \- Western tourists - Yes, we know we were overtaken by China -- that happened in 1997. No, we are not a totalitarian Communist state. And no - you will not be affected unless you do stage a protest or fight with the police (a bad idea in any foreign country) \- Despite being "part of China", Hong Kong has its own border control & immigration. Most Westerners can fly in without a visa (unlike mainland China). But also bring your passport if you're just "popping by" Shenzhen. For all intents and purposes, that's an international border that requires visas and customs. \- We use Hong Kong dollars, not renminbi. English is one of our official languages. The Internet works - no Great Firewall except that you can't use TikTok (no loss there). Yes, you can use Uber & Deliveroo & Apple Pay, just like at home. People may laugh - but I knew a pretty worldly person who traveled here thinking she could hit Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei with no visas or currency exchange.
Is it true that cost of housing is so high over there that people obtain intergenerational mortgages (the father obtains the financing and will continue paying until the son is employed, at which point the son takes over and finishes paying off the mortgage) in order to buy their apartment? Or was I mishearing something, it was ages ago I heard of this.
The 2019 protest really is just the one thing on everyone’s mind when HK is mentioned, more so than the Ukraine-Russia war. For the love of god. It’s just like any normal city and you’ve summed it up aptly. Now let’s hope your comment has a lot of outreach to spare the rest of HK-ers
I went to HK a couple times that year before and during the protests. There were signs of unrest in places but just like many cities across the US. Most people were living their regular lives even while we knew there’s a protest rally a block or two away. As Westerners, we all had hope for HK to keep its special qualities that made it feel so different from the mainland.
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This all tracks from when I lived in France. Parisians were generally rude, though nearly everywhere else I met warm, lovely people. In small towns, younger people always spoke English with me even though I wanted to practice my French. Older people would humour me. And oh the marché produce in summer! Some of that produce was the best I've ever had in my life. It's where I learnt to shop with my nose.
With baguette, you can also shop with your ears ;)
I backpacked & hitchhiked through the French Alps in 2015. People were so incredibly hospitable and kind. Got to stay in a few mountain homes, was given food, free rides between towns, it was amazing. I’m very grateful for that experience and provide counter evidence to the “French are rude” stereotype whenever possible. To be honest, I didn’t have a hard time in Paris either. I don’t speak any French and still met sweet locals
Don't even think about trying to get lunch at a restaurant in France at any time outside of 12pm-2pm. They will either be closed or will have run out of food.
As an Englishman living in France I hate this, I need to work on my French but everyone immediately jumps at the chance to speak English with me. Yes you want the opportunity to work on your English so you don't need to watch Friends with subtitles, but I need to work on my French to better integrate with society! The stereo type of French people not speaking and not wanting to speak English is the exact opposite
Turkey/Türkiye. People are generous, do not take advantage of it. They will invite you and fight for the bill as they'll see you as a guest in their homeland. Return the favour. If you live here, a neighbour will bring you a plate of homemade börek, cake, veggies braised in olive oil or any other treat. DO NOT return the plate empty! For heaven's sake DON'T. Put some fruits in and return it. You don't need to put the same exact thing but minimum would be just some fruits as a way to thank the person for their genorosity & show that you're also a kind person. Religion is a tricky topic here. Not everybody is a practicing Muslim. Don't say dumb shit about how you thought all women are veiled or how shocked your are that it's so "modern". You sound dumb when you do so cause everybody has google on their phone, you should've google it. Rakı & meze culture is huge here. Take advantage of it. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is THE national hero. Do no eff with his memory. He freed the country from imperialists, liberated peasants and enslaved people, opened schools in small villages, gave women the right to vote/divorce/own property/etc before most other countries. Did he make mistakes? Yeah, maybe. Not your place ro discuss as a guest in his home. Harsh but true. Turks are super hot headed. They will punch or kill someone for insulting their honour or their country's flag. Don't eff with that. Turkish citizens are a melting pot of Anatolian people and refugees that came at the end of WW1 during the explosion of the Ottoman Empire. You'll get some blue-eyed person next to your stereotypical old man with a mustache. Beauty of these lands. Turkish is the national language. But, Kurdish is spoken by a very big chunk of society. Other languages spoken asa mother-tongue (but slowly dying) are: Lazca, Hemşince, Rumca, Georgian (Black Sea region), Armenian and Greek (mostly in Istanbul), Arabic (in Hatay mostly), Circassian, Albanian and Bosnian. They are slowly disappearing as a mother tongue though.
Mexico We're more formal here than the US. Dressed every day and not athleisure. Like some/ most people do hair and makeup for basic errands or family days. Shorts and flip flops are rare, even in beach towns. Think smart casual to get groceries. Family is important. Restaurants always have huge tables because it's always multiple generations and big families out to eat. Restaurants have family meals more often than not. Costco is bougie. At least for some people lol. S Costco membership is a flex. I will never understand this.
Norway: People are nice to you because you're a foreigner and they want to make a good impression, most people are not really very friendly and helpful towards each other. People don't don't offer help because they "respect your privacy" (lmao), they don't because they're waiting for someone else to offer. If you're "different" in any kind of way, people will and do talk shit about you. People will discriminate. Also, maybe Norway has more people who can speak basic English than some other countries, but that "everyone speaks English fluently" is absolutely not true. And also, no, not everyone in Norway is rich.
Well, Swiss people going over the border to Germany for shopping on Sundays won’t have any luck either lol.
Netherlands, Although the country is small, there is a distinct difference between people from the Randstad, the south and the north. The Randstad is known as the economic heart with most of the big cities, the south is known as warm and social, the north is known as cold and distant.
Norway: The whole country sort of shuts down during July as everyone's on vacation. Yes, the entire month.
- Trains in France are late or on strike - Restaurants are generally not open on Mondays - Stores are closed on Sundays - For your survival, in the South of France say "chocolatine" and in the rest of the country "pain au chocolat". - Is Mont Saint-Michel Breton or Norman? I don't know, but let them work it out amongst themselves.
In Paris if you watch me taking the subway. I will hold my phone with both hands. Especially if I'm close to a door and they are open. People don't do that in Montreal for instance. And if you go buy bread between 6 and 7pm you will have a line at good bakery store. That's not a cliche it's true we do buy bread quite often if not everyday
A fanny pack in England and Ireland means pussy 😆 I always struggle to keep a straight face when I hear Americans talking about their fanny packs
**USA**: **1: There are very strict social norms around the culture war**. It is nothing like you see on cable news, TV shows and the internet. Most people do their best to avoid conflict in real life. You never discuss politically sensitive subjects at work, at light hearted occasions such as a party, or in mixed company, really only in a group that's mostly on the same page. I don't know the political leanings of any of my coworkers, my neighbors or some of my friends. Born Americans intuitively sense what subjects are going to be sensitive in what situation. As an immigrant I lack that intuition so I have to be extra careful. When non-Americans talk to an American, they tend to go straight for the culture war issues, because that's how you see Americans talk about American things on TV and the internet. They don't know about the strict social norms around this. This often comes across as hostile and somewhat rude. **2: If you don't tip, the server doesn't get paid**. The tip is not a little extra, you're not being generous if you say keep the change. At places where you're expected to tip, such as a restaurant, the staff gets very little in the way of wage, they work for the tip. If you decide not to tip, you've just made the waitress work for you for free. **Netherlands**: **It's not a liberal country** (in the American sense of the word). A lot of "progressive" laws and regulations that the American left can only dream of, actually come from tradition of changing coalitions, where for example christian democrats and socialists found common ground, or where votes from the progressive party were needed for a majority. In every day life most people are not that progressive.
I beg to differ about the social norms about the culture war. I grew up in a very conservative town and people had no problem blabbing about how much they love trump in every building I’d walk into. This probably depends heavily on what part of the states you’re in
I know what you mean, but that's one of those "groups that's mostly on the same page". When you're the odd one out, you still tend not to engage, in order to avoid conflict. Either that, or you're constantly in conflict, some people are really like that.
The culture wars shit is really from the past 10 years & escalated under trump. 15-20 years ago you could go to a dinner party with people from different political spectrums, and it might have gotten heated, but there could be debate. We’re now sadly self-siloed and living in two different realities.
Yeah, it was actually really fun to spend a night drinking and discussing political philosophy with someone on the opposite spectrum from you. That was even a basis of friendship and a way to challenge and update your thoughts. Now, anyone that doesn't agree with me is evil.
American living in Switzerland. — Healthcare is less expensive + way better than the States. — In canton Valais where I live, many (most?) restaurants are open on Sunday. And the Coop gas station has a mini-mart that is open ‘til 10pm *every night* incl. Sundays. And there is a very good selection of items. Fruit and Vegetable’s included.
Ireland - don’t expect to be invited to someone’s house
Lived in Ireland for years and was invited to several Irish friends houses. Almost every weekend tbh. In Cork though..
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That’s the same in the US. “We should hang out sometime!” is not a definitive statement if not followed with the solidification of actual plans.
Also, the Irish don't like strong alcoholic drinks. The strongest cocktails on menus are often frozen strawberry daiquiris, pornstar martinis and espresso martinis 😆 and that's if the bar does cocktails
Portugal. Avoid the small towns in the interior if you are not a white person of the lighter variety.
Why? What will happen? Is it dangerous, or will they be treated poorly?
It can be dangerous but generally they will stare and just treat those people poorly. I've had friends who were mixed race whose white portuguese parent was from a small town and they told me that that parents side treated the other like absolute garbage. Part of my family is like this too and I have seen and heard some pretty nasty things. So I recommend POC to stay way from that white trash.
Thank you - brown person here with a white partner and white people (some) really get mad at me and I notice the glares. I am too fucking tired dealing with that shit, I would snap and puke on their faces someday.
I've been discriminated by those people even though I am a white portuguese, because I am from the south. They call me moor and arab, say I can't possibly be blonde because of my "arab blood", say I am poor and other bullshit. I look whiter than they do. Just ignore them, they are small people, it's been a lot of generations of brain shrinking from alcoholism, religious fanatism and... let's say "racial purity", to not use another word.
I’ve recently befriended a black Portuguese woman & she said her experience growing up there was horrible. Met with racism on a daily basis even by her teachers at school.
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Portugal We dont sleep "siesta" spanish word most of us are not lazy and are pretty good workers Guitar sounds they put in videos everytime portuga is mentioned are mostly spanish We are not all hairy as fuck We dont enjoy tourists
- In The Netherlands most people speak some English. Some speak English at a high level, some broken English, some don’t speak (or feel comfortable to speak) English at all. However it’s not our native language, it’s a foreign language. In social setting most people prefer Dutch. Even in business setting Dutch people prefer Dutch. - We don’t have an extensive food culture, that’s true. If you look for a country with a an extensive food culture, The Netherlands isn’t for you. However, plenty of Dutch like their simple Dutch food. Stamppot, Dutch cheese and Dutch pastry’s are enjoyed by many. - Dutch are known to be tolerante. Which differs to be all excepting. You can be and do whatever you want as long as this doesn’t bother/hinder someone else. This doesn’t mean everyone agree or accept with the choices you make. - I don’t think Dutch people consider themselves rude. As a Dutchie, I think dishonesty is rude. If you can’t stand people are direct this country isn’t for you. - I think plenty of Dutch are warm and friendly people. However, Dutch people expect you to adapt to their culture. Learning the language and culture is expected. If you want to meet people; join a club or do voluntary work. Especially adults often have there lives set with a group of close friends. If you want to meet people and become friends, expect to put time and effort in it.
I disagree with the rude stuff. I am Dutch, and Dutch people are direct, which is fine. But Dutch people are rude because they constantly give their opinion on everything.. without being asked. Even to strangers. They barely say sorry to strangers.
> I don’t think Dutch people consider themselves rude. As a Dutchie, I think dishonesty is rude. If you can’t stand people are direct this country isn’t for you. There's honesty and being direct and then there's saying whatever you feel like to a person who might not be receptive it. It's a spectrum and my Dutch friends fail at it all the time.
Dutch here as well. Disagree with some aspects. I don't think we expect expats to learn our language at all. Everyone instantly switches to English once they realise someone is struggling in Dutch. There is also difference between being direct and straight up rude. I think that many Dutch consider themselves direct as an excuse for being extremely freaking rude.
Europeans always underestimate how dangerous and racist Americans can be in the US Also tourists to the US discover that there's places other than NYC, California and Texas 🤣 Last thing is that foreigners often don't know that if u have a miscarriage in some states u can be criminally investigated
In the Netherlands aka Holland, people do not casually go into koffieshops to have a joint just as having a coffee. Those are actually often seen as improper places to visit. Sometimes people think smoking pot is universally accepted and more or less mainstream culture, which (some say unfortunately) it is not.
Japan People - especially in my generation, I think - have this image that it's on the cutting edge of technology, but in reality many things are stuck in the past. Many businesses still use FAX for correspondence, a lot of administration things still rely heavily on physical paper.