Different cultures have different ways of communicating and doing things. In some cases, they can be quirky but amusing. Like "La Mordida" in Mexico, smashing the face of the birthday person in their birthday cake. Others are much more nuanced, like the respect for personal space. At least that was the thing I had to get used to when I came back home: people standing extremely close to me in a queue.
As Reddit is a melting pot of people from different regions and cultures, they surely have experienced similar confusion while traveling. That's why when one person asked "What's the biggest culture shock you've experienced when visiting another country?", over 5,000 people decided to share.
And what about you, Pandas? Have you ever experienced culture shock in another country? What was it like? Check out people's answers and don't forget to share your story in the comments down below!
Bored Panda reached out to a professional traveler from Melbourne, Australia James Clark. He's been a digital nomad since 2003 and started his blog Nomadic Notes in 2009. We asked James to tell us more about the culture shocks he has experienced throughout his many years of traveling and what his tips are to overcome them. Read our conversation with him below!
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James Clark travels extensively in Southeast Asia, so his most memorable cultural difference – squat toilets – comes from there. "I encountered squat toilets on my first trip to India, which was an intimidating experience for someone who is not good at squatting."
"One day, I arrived at a guest house that was listed in a guide book. The manager showed me the room before I booked, probably knowing that as a Westerner I wouldn't want a room with a squat toilet."
Knowing what lies ahead, he decided it's best to learn how to use it since it might come in handy in future travels. "I figured I should take the room and learn how to squat, so when I am on the road with no other option, I would be better prepared," James tells Bored Panda.
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For newbie travelers, James recommends just accepting the fact that there's no shortcut to getting over culture shock. "If you are new to travel, then nothing can really prepare you for culture shock," he says. "Apart from getting your travel logistics in order, it's better to not overthink things too much. Part of the joy of travel is to experience the differences in culture."
Clark also admits that his many years of traveling has changed the way he views his own culture. "Having lived overseas for decades, my perspective has changed. I usually go back to Australia once a year, and I experience what is called 'reverse culture shock.' For example, I've lived in Asia for many years, so I now find it weird to wear shoes inside. I take my shoes off in Australian homes, even if everyone else is stomping around the house in their outdoor shoes," James tells us.
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Very trivial, but we sat at a table in England for an hour after finishing our meal, waiting on our bill. The kind server took pity on our poor sweet American asses and told us we needed to ask for the check, since it was rude for the server to assume we were ready to go.I was in Myeodong, South Korea in the spring and it was raining. The Myeongdong bus stop to the airport has no shelter, it’s just on the side of the road, but when it rains, somebody, I’m guessing the nearby store owners, leave umbrellas for the bus goers to use, which the bus goers use and leave hanging on the railing when they board the bus. There were so many pretty umbrellas hung along the railing and nobody stole them. They were just there for anyone to use and that was a huge shock for me..India. Bangalore specifically. I couldn’t believe the dichotomy between wealth and poverty. The poverty was the absolute worst I’ve ever seen, and the wealth the most opulent. It really changed me as a person, seeing how an entire people could live in such a horrible hypocrisy.In 2019 i was in Turkey and the way men are staring at girls (me) is frustrating. i don’t want to visit muslim countries anymore sorry.Georgia (country ). its like visiting grand ma for holidays. everyone wants to feed you by inviting to their table. very very hospitable people. stray dogs clean and all of them have tag on the ear indicating vaccinations.How late Italians stay up. All night. Every night. Dinner doesn't start until 9pm. Neighborhoods would have big meals that ran until 2am over drinks. You'd sit out eating gelato on a Friday night and see toddlers running around until midnight. Very safe, very friendly city. This was in Tuscany for reference. .Probably how chatty Americans get when they hear you have a foreign accent.
We're pretty introverted when out in public here in Scandinavia, so it was a big culture shock to have strangers strike up conversation. It was nice, most of the time! But very strange.People throwing trash out of car windows in the Balkans, including people on buses. As if it magically disappears once you drive off?I remember being in Tokyo and seeing people leave their bags unattended in cafes while they went to the restroom or ordered more food. No one touched them. Coming from a place where you guard your belongings closely, that level of trust was mind-blowing.Rural Scotland. Just how *early* everything closes and how limited things like fast food and convenience stores were. We were driving back to the AirB&B around 10 and it was like everything but the pubs had pulled up shop, even the gas stations. The flip side is how absolutely safe I felt wandering around after dark as a single female in a foreign country. Washing machines in the kitchen. How small/cozy the houses were (that's not a complaint, mind you).
Honestly, the real culture shock was in coming home and how absolutely *busy* things are in the US.I spent a long time in Brazil. One thing I picked up is standing close to people and being a little touchy. That people of Ohio did not love it when i came home. Although the kiss greeting caught on.People telling me I'm getting fat in China and then being surprised that wasn't happy to hear it.When I came to England I heard this conversation:
Girl 1: hey y'all'right?
Girl2: I'm good, and you?
Girl1: I'm good.
Girl2: that's good!
And then they walk off.
I'm from the Balkans. I had a cultural seizure, not just a shock.Visiting America from Australia, the number of people who couldn't understand my Australian accent. I'm not even that broad! I had multiple people tell me "sorry I only speak English" which I had to reply "... Me too!"
Ended up having to put on a truly atrocious American accent sometimes which made my sister nearly wet herself laughing. This happened at a few airports too, I would have thought they're used to accents there!Rural Romania around 2012. Small houses without indoor plumbing or a formal bathroom, with a satellite dish out on the roof. It's like they skipped some steps on the road to modernity. The food, though, was delicious and the people I met were real sweethearts.When I went to use the restroom in a restaurant in Tajikistan and I walked in to see two guys squatting next to each other with absolutely no dividing wall. I left.How far everything is in the US. Coming from an Asian country, there were lots of little shops and corner stores a walk away (especially if you’re in the city area. Here in America, everything is a car ride’s away, especially if you don’t live in the downtown areas (which most people don’t).
Also, I still haven’t been able to crack it, but I feel wildly uncomfortable being out at night in the US. Whereas, in my home country which isn’t necessarily the safest in the world, I’d have no problem feeling safe walking or coming home at 3AM. I think it’s something about it being so quiet with no one around at night that makes me feel scared. Back home, there would still be people around and public transport going in the middle of the night so it never felt too scary to be out.Was visiting a resort in Jamaica during college
The bartender kept hitting on us and we were trying to nicely get him to stop. I told him sorry I had a boyfriend
He said where’s your boyfriend?
A girlfriend of mine came up to me at that point and I said jokingly - here he is! While hugging her.
His smile abruptly stopped. He sternly said “we don’t do that here” and stopped serving us.
Totally scary. Coming from Canada, I took for granted that at home this would be fairly normal. I forgot that Jamaica is so anti-gay.Berlin. I was shocked when no one would cross the street unless the walk sign was on. It could be 1 AM, no cars on the road, and no one would cross the street. Whenever I did, people stared at me like I had three heads.How bad the driving is in India. Our bus driver would pass cars by driving on the wrong side in traffic.When visiting a very Muslim part of Indonesia and working at a scuba dive shop there, it was their view on dogs. In most Sunni Muslim societies, dogs are seen as unclean. It is forbidden by the Quran to keep them as pets and the only time Muslim people would keep dogs was for protection of the home or livestock, not for companionship.
I heard a lot of stories about locals shooting and poisoning street dogs like it was a perfectly normal thing to do for "pest control"
That would never happen in the West.Terrain changes. i’m from Chicago, Illinois which is pretty much entirely flat so i get excited at even slight elevation changes in nearby states like Wisconsin or Minnesota but i recently went to the Tatra mountain range in Poland and was absolutely blown away.I've been all over Europe, South America, parts of Africa and South East Asia, lived in Vietnam for a year and never felt culture shock until one tiny detail of moving to Switzerland.
In the UK, we get into a lift (aka elevator), avoid eye contact, look at the floor or ceiling, and say nothing. In Switzerland they greet each other as they get onto the lift, and then wish each other a good day as they get off. As a Brit I was mortified.When I was taking a taxi in China, I put extra yuen out for tip. Thank goodness my friend was there to say "NO, that's offensive" before we got out the right change.
Being from the US, I yearn for a livable wage for everyone and not having to subsidize someone's salary. I despise tipping after being in other countries.People shopping without shoes in New Zealand.
All the bars on windows & razor wire in South Africa. Both incredible countries though!Evening culture for the whole family. Seeing people with little kids in Italy out having dinner at 9 pm, social events and public spaces coming to life in the Middle East, as a sleepy American who really likes a long coffee and breakfast morning it’s always such a funny culture
shock to look across the square or over to the mall at 9:30 pm in my jammies and see the place lit up with activity.I (american) lived abroad for several years in various areas, predominantly SE Asia region.
Biggest culture shock: one of my first travels, when I was a kid, was to Central Mexico. I remember a public toilet where you had to pay to enter. I was stunned and for the rest of the trip extra paranoid to make sure I always had change while also never had to pee.
Bonus: Americans are so freaking loud! (I say, as an american)
I could be in a super crowded public area and always ALWAYS tell when a pair of Americans was around because they would be the ones talking so loud you could hear them over everyone else like 50 yards/meters away.Got thrown out of a shop in Europe for not wearing shoes.
It’s normal in New Zealand to kick off your shoes in summer. Usually adults wear shoes or flip-flops/jandals, but it wouldn’t raise eyebrows if you walk into a shop barefoot, people just assume you’ve been at the beach or kicked off your shoes on a long drive. Kids are barefoot at school. It’s polite to take off your shoes when you enter a house.
Learnt the hard way the rest of the world considers shoes mandatory.When I got here in the U.S., people
asked “How are you doing” so casually. Where I came from, we only ask this to people we know very well. I was confused about how to respond. Lol.Three year olds walking alone to Kindergarten in Switzerland.Friend from US visited me in Germany. He was dead confused when we went for a walk in the park and I pulled out two beers. Apparently public drinking like in Germany isn't allowed in the US.The siesta in Spain. Everywhere shut. Everywhere. I'm not sure if it's still the same. This was some time ago.How expensive everything other than grocery store food is in iceland.Japan. No public trash cans. I was newly pregnant and nauseous all the time. I carried barf bags everywhere. I was weirdly excited to see a trash can when I got back to America.In Delhi, we saw a literal toddler - maybe 2? Probably younger - walking down the highway alone. I asked our driver if we could stop to help her and he just laughed at me. Another time a little kid, maybe 4 or 5 tugged on my jacket to ask for money and before I could even turn around to look at him our rickshaw driver pushed him down onto the ground and told him not to bother me. I regret going on that trip.The portion sizes in America, i asked for a side of eggs and got a full plate along with a main course (i was 12 and like 6 stone idk how they thought id be able to stomach it).First day living in the center of Australia went to the local convenience store. Walking up and down the isles checking products and prices out.. When I came to the frozen food section I found a product I was not expecting. Sitting in the open case was a plastic wrapped three foot long furry whole kangaroo tail.I visited the "Palace of the Sun" in North Korea. That is where Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie in state. They are embalmed, like Lenin. And to see them, you have to wear smart clothing (if you aren't, the guides will not take you). Then, you go through a metal detector and have the soles of your shoes cleaned. You are transported on travelators, through long corridors lined with pictures. Then, you get to the actual rooms where you bow three times at each coffin. Once on each side, once at the feet, but you do not bow at the head.
While you are doing all this, imagine a reddish gloom. And there are North Korean soldiers standing at attention (I assume all day long) in the same room.
That was one of my most remarkable travel memories.Went to Canada and no one was allowed to wear shoes inside homes.Being in Japan, seeing vending machines everywhere and even ordering food at a vending machine in a noodle restaurant. Then you go sit at a booth with a curtain in front of you and they pass your food through the curtain and then close the blinds. Strange but not a bad experience. Just different. Also the jet lag of an opposite time zone can be brutal.I visited Morocco years ago and that was definitely a long series of big culture shocks.
* I was told not to touch anyone with my left hand as it’s used to wipe and viewed as unclean always
* I foolishly asked my host family for a beer on my first night and they actually bought one from a smuggler in town because alcohol is virtually illegal there… one can of cheap lager cost more than anything else I did there
* People openly smoking hash all over the place however
* The insane driving. I took a bus across Morocco and the driver had an assistant whose entire job seemed to be leaning out the door of the fast-moving bus to scream at anyone who got in our way
* Almost no women out after dark where I stayed
* Open air markets with gutted animals for sale
* S******g in an open hole you squat over… practice your balance before going
* Haggling over everything and knowing you’re getting ripped off anyway. I knew how much a taxi to the airport was supposed to cost, I knew I was overpaying, but it was still the equivalent of like $3 so I couldn’t be bothered arguing.The biggest culture shock I experienced was during my visit to Japan. The level of politeness and attention to manners was striking. People bowing as a sign of respect, the use of honorifics in language, and the overall courteous behavior were very different from what I was used to.Marrakech with a female friend (I'm female). They didn't like us not having male escorts. They really didn't like seeing our shoulders (got spat at by women in a very touristy location).
We were only 20 and very naive, 20 years ago!I had thought I was prepared to see poverty in Ethiopia. I was still shocked by it. And I was confused that 1 o'clock was when the sun came up. They also use a different calendar than in USA and Europe.Having the cops turn up to whatever bar I was at in rural Thailand wasn't fun. Quickly paying my tab and dashing so they don't find something to "fine" me for was even less fun.South of Phuket, Thailand.
Nothing but russians. Locals hated them, so did I.
Loud, rude and obnoxious people, the lot.
3 days in, with 2 weeks left of my hotel, I upped and left to the other side of the country, and had a much better experience.The 2nd hand smoking culture in Europe. I’ve stayed at length in France, Italy, and England but am from the US. I vividly remember witnessing MANY parents take their children for a morning walk and light up cigarettes. Or stay late at a restaurant until midnight, just chain smoking since dinner with their friends and baby napping.Caracas, Venezuela, everyone who handles money, including clerks, packs sidearms in a holsters. Cops/Military in public areas fully geared up carrying combat rifles. Armed guards outside banks, with clients waiting outside, not inside. Bribery for preferred service present everywhere. Chants of “gringos” heard when we passed some ordinary folks on city streets.
Went on a jungle tour to a remote village. When we departed, assembled kids lined up with middle fingers aloft chanting “F**k Americans”. Weird, but a bit humorous, as none of us were from the USA. .It was more when I returned to my home country (US) than when visiting another country. I was shocked by how violent and disrespectful Americans were to each other as part of normal life and how it wasn’t even noticed except to intentionally pretend not to notice it.
One of the first places I had to go was a store to get some toiletries. I saw two separate instances of people abusing their child, one fight starting between customers, a few instances of customers abusing staff, and one staff insulting a customer for asking where something was. I wasn’t even in a Walmart. People just ignored each instance.UK: the lack of AC or even electric fans in the house. It's so silent, and the air feels stale sometimes.Okay, not me, but something I've seen many times:
I'm Brazilian-German, got one parent from each country. I've lived in Brazil nearly all my life, and know other people who are also Brazilian-German, as well as Germans living in my city. One common culture shock between the people of those two countries is showering. We shower every single day here, some people even more than once a day. Germans don't do it that often. Whenever there's some kind of exchange program between the two countries, the organizers typically give both sides a heads-up about this difference so everyone is prepared. I know it's not only Germans who don't shower every day, though.. Many people here associate Europeans in general with bad personal hygiene because of that.
Also, people here are taught to brush their teeth three times a day (morning, after lunch, evening), and recently many Brazilians found out that's not how it is in a lot of places around the world, It's been a whole thing online lately.Tipping culture in Japan is nonexistent. It’s actually seen as disrespectful if you offer to tip. I’ve also never seen a Japanese person smoke a cigarette in public after being there for about 15 months.I'm from Scotland i wasn't prepared for just how different Philippines is. Not like here where we have supermarkets they have a street full of vendors selling different things you buy as you need not do weekly shopping trips, how crazy the wires overhead are not like ours neatly done, how wild the roads are eight lanes cross section no roundabout or lights or nothing just like mad max out there lol, the lack of seating even in malls there's none, people going to the toilet in a bag on the street, the scale of pollution from cars you can't open the car window. So many things i can't name.Squat toilets in China. It was 1985 and I was doing a junior year abroad.In Latin America the pedestrian does not have the right of way. You, as the pedestrian need to be extremely vigilant about avoiding getting hit by a car.
I was in a taxi in Colombia who side-swiped a biker and the biker ate s**t hard. The taxi yelled some curses at the poor guy and just sped off.The amount of Pepsi Max people drink in Denmark.
It's like a religion.
