It’s perhaps a little bit encouraging to learn that even in the age of the internet and mass media, we can still go through some significant culture shock. For better or worse, that’s what travel is all about, seeing new things and having some of your preconceptions disrupted.
Someone asked “What was the most major cultural difference you noticed when you moved to another country?” and people gave their best ideas. So get comfortable as you scroll through, prepare to perhaps be surprised, upvote your favorite examples and be sure to share your own stories and experiences in the comments section below.
#1
Living in England was my first experience of people being comfortable with not being high achievers and pushing pushing pushing to be the best at everything all the time. It was okay just to be normal. One was still a worthwhile person.
I loved it.
Yes, I am an American.
Image credits: ConcertinaTerpsichor
#2
I studied in England for a semester. I consider it "moved" because I brought all my clothes, computer, bedding, etc. and had a small studio apartment off campus.
The food was the major thing. Rather, the ingredients. I ate about the same amount of food and walked about the same amount I do in the US, but I still lost over 20 pounds in the six months I was there. US diet is just so much filler junk that fattens us up.
Image credits: ThePieWizard
#3
The most major cultural difference was discovering that in some countries, it's perfectly normal to eat dinner at 10 PM. My stomach was on a strict “early dinner” schedule and was not prepared for this late-night culinary adventure.
Image credits: swtblssm
#4
I know this is gonna sound dumb, but when I visited USA the first thing that I was in awe about, was the trees, because they looked different than the ones from Australia. I just kept looking at all the different trees and flowers, because they were not the same ones I would drive past for the majority of my life.
Image credits: electriccqueen
#5
French people kiss on the cheeks to say hello, even with total strangers. I'm from Eastern Europe. We just say hi, sometimes shake hands in official settings, or hug if we're close to the other person. So, to me, that cultural difference felt like a violation of my personal space on many occasions.
#6
Different ways that are used to express laughter in chats.
E.g.
Western: Hahaha
Latin-America: Jajaja / Jjjjjjj
Brazil: Rsrsrsrs
Thailand: 55555 ('five" in Thai is pronounced 'haa')
Vietnam: kkkkkkk.
Image credits: Intelligent_Fun_8826
#7
Moving from Spain to the US one of the biggest cultural differences i noticed was how people here are way more focused on work and less on socializing. Back in Spain we have long lunches and siestas and people spend more time with family and friends here it feels like everyone is always in a rush and working long hours also the food portions are so much bigger in the us and tipping culture is a thing which took some getting used to.
Image credits: sweeeetsofia
#8
Having to wait for a restaurant to open up at 10 pm in Madrid to get dinner and then still being the only patron at 11 when people start coming in. I am used to eating around 6-8PM.
Image credits: Bella_Asian
#9
I grew up in America but moved away when I was a kid. Went back for somebody’s wedding and y’all have drive through EVERYTHING and hardly any pavements. Drive through liquor store. Drive through pharmacy. I had to get a car to take me from one side of a busy road to another because there were no pedestrian crossings. In Europe we have bridges over big roads. Was weird as hell.
Image credits: Steffi_Googlie
#10
Discovering that in some places, "being on time" means arriving 15 minutes late.
Image credits: Alloeisnotherelol
#11
At first, I was shocked by the car-centric design of American suburbs. I found it absurd that a shopping mall's parking lot took five times the space of the mall itself. Giant parking lots surrounded every building. They were very unusual for me.
Image credits: Sea-Dragonfly-5216
#12
This was a looong time ago, in 1989. My family left the USSR as refugees. I was 9. We were part of the large immigration wave from the USSR to the US in the late 80s.
The first stop after leaving the Soviet world was Austria. We got off the train at the Vienna train station, and I hit immediate culture shock. There was a little convenience store that sold snacks and newspapers. The first shock was automatic doors. That was some sci fi s**t as far as I was concerned. The second thing was comic books. I've never seen one before, and it blew my mind more than the doors.
#13
How showering demands a new level of skill in every country.
jtbc: One of the worst parts of waking up the first morning in a new country is trying to figure out how those three levers you've never seen before work through the fog of jet lag. That and how not to flood the bathroom floor.
Image credits: amused_prinky02
#14
In China people will just cut in front of you or interrupt you while you’re speaking to a worker like at the bank or train station. I’m still not fully used to it lol.
Image credits: wizoztn
#15
Hygiene differences. In one place it was perceived lack of hygiene, in another place it was perceived superstition about hygiene. I mean, my mother in law literally says jinns will hide under your fingernails if they grow too long.
Image credits: favouritemistake
#16
When I immigrated to the US I was shocked how people put their s**t on the front lawn for people to take away. All your neighbors seeing your junk outside! Lol I just laugh now.
Image credits: CrazyUnicorn77777
#17
Grew up in the US, moved away for 7 years, and then came back. I’d have to say I was shocked by wastefulness that I never noticed enough growing up here: boxes packed in boxes, individually wrapped everything (including produce that can be peeled), the amount of ketchup packets and napkins given at any fast food joint, plastic bags w/o additional charge.
#18
Four times a day, shops close for prayer. Other factors include the way people drive and the dearth of leisure options, like nightclubs, bars, and movie theaters. Am I missing any theaters? Oh, and if you're a single man, some retail centers won't let you in. Saudi Arabia is where I currently reside.
Image credits: hfdsfdassa
#19
Moving to Belgium from the US, the idea of business hours (publicly posted) being vague suggestions was hard to get used to. They’d list Weds 9-12 for example and then just didn’t open.
Image credits: heyitslola
#20
My first day in my new home in South America I was tooling around in my power chair (l’m an incomplete quad) when it’s frame collapsed (due to mishandling abuse by airline) and I was left helpless on the street in a big city. People here were typical city people, not particularly friendly or unfriendly, just living life. I saw a young man looking at me and I asked in bad Spanish if he could help me. Within seconds I was surrounded by folks in their twenties who were actively planning my rescue. They got me loaded into a cab and like twenty of these young people accompanied me back to my hotel, where they made sure I got comfortably situated while they checked into getting me a rental chair and found a specialty welder who could fix my power chair’s frame. Then they lectured my hotel manager on my care and feeding and said goodbye. I have never seen these folks again. All in all it was an excellent terrible first day in Ecuador. Really different from anything I experienced in 65 years in estados unidos.
#21
That everyone in Nagoya seems to care about the quality of the city. Lost my wallet, got it back with all the money inside. Seen people commonly walk many blocks with their trash in a plastic bag until they find a bin. Went to the gaikokujin center once or twice a week and there were always so many volunteers to help us learn the language and culture. Among my adult students, many people volunteered at things that had nothing to do with their day jobs, like an engineer who coordinated hurricane evacuations. Other people would clean up after concerts they didn’t even attend. And everyone feels safe to walk at night, or let their kids commute alone on the subway during the day.
America has great people too, but a big wedge of our pie chart is predatory.
#22
Realizing people in Japan still live in the 1950s mentality about what a woman can or should do. (Not just housewife but like a man will discover how to harvest geothermal energy, a woman's status from her husband etc).
Image credits: Willing-University81
#23
How it can take 4x the time to get to a place in Canada on the bus compared to driving there.
Public transit in the part of the UK that I come from isn't magnificent but jeez, it didn't take 1 hour and 30 minutes to travel 7 km.
Image credits: rayofgreenlight
#24
I had to learn to say this to everyone in South Africa-“Hi, how are you”. Then they will reply-“can’t complain, and you”. And then I will say- “good.good.”. If you don’t do greetings, you must have been raised by animals (as per my SA friends). It was funny, I learnt quickly.
#25
Realizing that jaywalking in Vietnam is basically an extreme sport.
expo1986: You either master it or become a permanent part of the traffic! ?️?♂️
Image credits: thickxolivia
#26
When I moved from Europe to the States, the sheer variety of accents and dialects amazed me! I thought I had a good handle on English, but I found myself asking people to repeat themselves quite a bit. It was like learning new versions of the same language, all over again.
Image credits: DandelionDance1
#27
A friend of mine moved here form Laos in 7th grade. I got to see the first time she ever saw snow, and she couldn't stop crying because it was so beautiful. As someone who has always lived somewhere that it snows, it was a real eye opener on taking things for granted. She was also pretty floored by the foliage too, but the snow (both falling and that perfect pristine surface you get after a good snowfall) totally broke her.
#28
In Japan, the concept of personal space on public transport doesn't exist during rush hour. It's like a game of human Tetris.
#29
Worse work-life balance in Canada compared to the UK. Where I live now, Alberta, you legally are not entitled to ANY annual leave in your first year of employment, it's determined at your employer's discretion. This is *crazy* to me.
In the UK from the very beginning of your job, if you work full time (37.5 hours) you're legally entitled to 28 days off per year.
I find tipping weird too. Like I'm giving you extra money for... doing your job?
On a more positive note, the roads and houses are notably bigger in Canada compared to the UK and it's a bit weird how in my area most of the roads have numbers instead of names. So 1st Street, 56th Avenue etc. Still can't wrap my head around that.
#30
Jumping continents from Asia to America, the first cultural shake-up for me was the scale of consumerism—it's just astonishing. Where I'm from, shopping is a necessity, not a hobby. Here, it feels like there's a holiday every month pushing you to buy, buy, buy! And speaking of which, the marketing here is relentless, from billboards to online ads, it's a bombardment of “sale” signs. But that's not all; the convenience of services is something else. You think of something you need, and voila, it's two clicks away or at a store down the block. It's convenient yet daunting, how easy it is to get sucked into a 'spend more' mentality. This adjustment to consumer culture ties back to the work ethic—you work hard, you earn, you spend. It's a cycle that's both impressive in its efficiency and energy but also a bit intimidating when you're used to a more low-key approach to living. And yes, I've been caught off guard more than once by the insistence on an immediate reply to emails or messages, regardless of the day or hour—there's an undeniable urgency woven into everyday life here.
#31
A big cultural rift for me was the "pick up your trash" culture in the US (or lack thereof). We'd go to the movies with friends and after the movie, I would pick up my empty popcorn carton, skittles wrapper, soda cup and head for the bin that was on the way to the exit. My American friends were shocked:
"you know that people get paid to do that, right?"
I'd answer
"yeah but I mean the bin is right there, it's on the way"
And they would go on
"yeah but they get *paid* to do that"
It's like I was robbing the movie theater employees of their money if I threw my own trash out...
Not sure if it's only shocking from a Swiss person's point of view or if anyone from other countries agree...
Edit: to be fair to them, we were 17 at the time... I guess we're all a*shats in our own way at that age heheh. I doubt they'd still hold this point of view today, 15 years later (sure as hell hope not...).
#32
I’m from Florida and I immigrated to Canada (Toronto) six years ago and eventually became a citizen.
Here are some differences I’ve noticed.
Shoes off when you go inside someone’s house.
People hardly ever complain about gas prices despite being higher.
The word buddy. For example, “when you get to the place, tell buddy I’ll be there 15 minutes after you.”
Far less political extremism or politics being brought up.
Bad neighbourhoods usually just mean poverty and d**g addicts. They don’t feel dangerous like the ones in America.
Far less excessive nationalism. Canada also has the ability to criticize itself.
#33
American here.
In India, (Uttar Pradesh)it was the driving. At first it was terrifying, lots of traffic, both cars and pedestrians. No real adherence to staying in lanes. Not a ton of traffic lights or intersection controls. People cutting each other off constantly
But never saw one wreck, hit pedestrian, or road rage incident. It’s f*****g incredible. It’s not what I’m used to, but god damn does it work.
#34
Adapting to the work-life balance in the US has been quite an eye-opener for me too. In my home country, I was accustomed to a more communal life—long chats with neighbors were the norm, not an exception. But here, it seems like having a packed schedule is a badge of honor. It's a shift from community-focused to achievement-focused living. Even hobbies are often discussed in terms of personal development rather than leisure. It's a different rhythm of life aimed more at what you accomplish than who you're with. And the coffee! Back home, coffee time is a ritual, a moment to relax, but here it's fuel for the hustle. It's all a fascinating reflection of the American spirit, which I'm learning to navigate (with a large cup of joe in hand, of course).
#35
Time off from work is treated very differently in Korea vs the US. In the US it's normal to take a vacation of up to a week or more assuming you have the time off available. In Korea if you leave your job for more than three days then you need to look for a new job.
A soldier friend of mine told me this when he married a Korean. He had a bunch of leave time on the books. However his new wife wasn't going to get time off to visit his family in the US.
#36
I “jaywalked” constantly in Canada, not realising it was a no-no. The word jaywalk wasn’t even in my vocabulary. It wasn’t until my boyfriend practically dragged me back to the footpath demanding to know what the hell I was thinking that I stopped. He also finds it very scary to drive in Ireland because people jaywalk all the time, especially in the city centre.
When you ask someone how they are in Canada, they will very earnestly respond exactly how they’re feeling and ask you in return. It always feels like too much information. Half the time in Ireland, we don’t even really answer the question at all. It’s treated more like “hello”.
#37
When I was a kid I briefly live in the us, I'm Canadian, and when I started school boy what a shock that was. Its like walking into a prison, metal detectors, beefy a*s security, like as a 13 year old its it was nuts to me. At school in Canada I could freely go to the washroom and that was fine, there I was always questioned why I wasnt in class and given the side eye. I had never felt so unsafe in my life, going to an American school back then was wild cant imagine it now.
#38
It was so jarring to see people wearing going out clothes and not having to go anywhere? like just sitting on the couch, watching telly in jeans. even worse if you're lying in bed in jeans...
one of the first friends I made when I moved here (Australia) would get up and get ready by putting on a bra, a face of make-up, jeans and a top, even socks and shoes... and then stay at home all day.
baffling.
and then I mentioned it to others thinking she was maybe a little conceited or weird and nope, they thought it was normal and they do it too ??♀️
#39
Lived in England and you notice alot less division based on different ethnic backgrounds. I didn't see as much of the "that part of town is the hood" like here in the states. The less fortunate didn't mean less morally corrupt.
#40
Husband is from India, moved to the US.
The thing he liked the most was being able to openly protest/discuss political issues (ex. abortion rights, gay rights, situation in Ukraine, rally for unions). Also loves how clean the water and air is here.
Thing he hates the most is that unless we're making food from scratch or eating at very healthy restaurants, how there's sugar in EVERYTHING. Even condiments and bread.
#41
When i visited Turkey i was laying sick in a family members apartment. Suddenly the walls were shaking and i could hear very loud music coming from outside. A wedding was taking place. Such a thing would never be allowed due to rules and regulations in the Netherlands. But in Turkey, it is very normal.
#42
I lived in South Korea as a child and I remember some things were quite different, but ultimately I was too young to remember the finer details. My long summer trip to Japan as an adult, though, was another story.
The biggest difference I noticed was that politeness had a similar yet very different purpose than that of politeness in the USA. Each of us students were paired off with a Japanese English student who was essentially hired to act as personal interpreters, guides, and cultural educators on top of gaining some college credits. They were off on Sundays but the rest of the days, they spent almost all waking hours by our sides. My student-partner was named Haruka ("Haru").
I told her that I felt right at home with people being polite and hospitable, as I was raised around that in the US, but she warned me to be wary of it. I specifically remember her putting it like this: "People here are supposed to be nice and usually mean it, but sometimes it's not nice at all." That is true for the US too but when I thought about it, people in the US could choose to just be douchebags sometimes, whereas in Japan it felt like everyone was expected to be nice so the alternative wasn't really there. So it was harder to read between the lines at times.
One day, me and Haru walked past a few girls. One of them smiled at me and gave me a compliment, and when we fully passed by the girl said something in Japanese to her friends and laughed. Haru immediately told me to wait there, and left to confront her (in Japanese) before returning to me and apologizing for what happened. I asked what happened and she just said "that girl was being cruel". Haruka declined to elaborate, but I remembered the warning she gave before. Having understood that whatever the girl did flew right over my head, I realized that I was out of my element, especially since my Japanese was kindergarten-level at best.
#43
As someone who moved from the chill Mediterranean coast to the bustling streets of New York, I couldn’t believe the non-stop nature of the city. Back home, afternoons are for siestas and evenings for family dinners that stretch on for hours. In New York, it's as if the city is fueled by espresso shots and ambition. The rhythm of life here is dictated by the ticking of the clock - punctuality is key, and time is money personified. It's a contrast that, at times, makes me nostalgic for the leisurely pace of my homeland, but also fills me with awe at the sheer energy that pulses through the avenues. Here, brunch is a power meal rather than a leisurely affair, and everyone seems to be walking with purpose. The constant buzz is infectious; it keeps you on your toes, striving for that New York minute where dreams are made. There's a beauty in the madness, the diversity, and the possibility that hangs in the air, somewhat like the steam rising from the manhole covers. It's not just a cultural shift; it's a whole different beat of life.
#44
Lived in Mauritania for about three months. Not Mauratis. Mauritania. Africa, all the way to the left, third country down.
Free range animals. Donkeys Dogs. Goats. Donkeys. they're just wandering everywhere. Being an animal person in the US can get you some strange looks, but petting the local donkeys and scratching their butts to the point that they'd take verbal commands had someone asking me to teach them English so they could talk to the donkey. (I THINK they were half kidding....)
The place spoke 5 language (wolof suniki pulaar hasania arabic) so you could go like 3 blocks over and some people would either need a translator or just not bothering dealing with anyone from over there.
Trash. there's no pickup. Throw it wherever it doesn't matter. Combine this with the first point, and there are donkeys walking around with basically a**l beads of plastic poop plastic poopball plastic pooball (they did NOT want help getting those out).
#45
When I studied in Spain in college, I was shocked at the amount of men that would make clicking sounds at women. And I guess that’s their way of cat calling? Not everywhere, but particularly the grocery store it seem to happen a lot and I’m not saying all Spaniards are chauvinistic but wow I was surprised.
#46
Didn’t move there, but visited Canada once when I was a kid. Seeing road signs in English and French was wild for me.
#47
15 years ago, I came to Germany for the first time and was really shocked by the Germans loudly blowing their nose in public.
#48
That I cannot wear perfume in the office or some people will complain, while extremely aggressive body odor is fine.
Moved from South America to North America, and nobody prepared me for the BOs ?.
#49
When I was studying abroad in Spain I was blown away by how prevalent smoking was. There definitely didn't seem to be the same stigma attached to it that there is in the USA.
#50
When I moved to New Zealand:
1. I didn’t know “tea” means the evening meal and “dinner” means the midday meal.
2. Taking a break at 10am and 3pm during the work day
3. Pies are gas (petrol) station food and people don’t really make homemade pies.
4. Taxes. They just deduct it out of your paycheck and that’s it. No BS with deductions and returns.
5. Even the private doctor was cheap. I had to pay full price to see the doctor and get antibiotics and it cost me 35 USD.
6. At the time I was there (2008) people texted way more and called way less.
#51
My family moved from Canada to UAE when I was 15 and the main things I noticed was:
- I couldn’t check my horoscope or access websites with explicit content. A lot of new age/wicca websites were blocked. I was really into Greek mythology and couldn’t research it like I did back home.
- needing a male chaperone when I leave the house. My male chaperone was my brother who was two years younger than me ? in Canada I was more independant and didn’t need to take my lil bro around with me.
-the weekends being Friday and Saturday was different
-Movies and tv shows had kissing scenes and sex scenes removed so sometimes the plot wouldn’t make much sense
My family moved back to Canada after two years and it felt like I had to relearn Western culture. I grew up Muslim so it was interesting being in A Muslim country. But it was a huge culture shock lol .
#52
I spent the first weekend I lived in Sicily hiding in my new apartment, afraid of what I thought was anti-American protesters with bull horns outside. It was a couple years after 9/11. We were at war with Afghanistan and Iraq and it was not popular over there.
When it was just guys selling the stuff they had harvested off their farms, using bullhorns to announce what they were selling. Which was common everyday stuff over there. Because I didn't know that and I wasn't fluent in Italian yet, I basically cowered in fear for the whole first weekend, afraid of a guy selling broccoli out of the back of his truck.
#53
People being genuinely religious. I came from an atheist German household and moved to Utah. The first couple of weeks it felt like I had moved planets. Or centuries.
#54
I spent some time living in Finland, the longest time I'd spent outside the UK actually, what struck me was how quiet it was. There's fewer people about, there's less bustle. People don't talk as much for as long, and not as loudly. And that's before I went to a more rural area, where I finally experienced true silence. In the UK even in rural areas you're never that far from habitation, so there's almost always the background noise from animals, people, or more usually cars. After coming back to the UK it's hard not to realise how loud cars are and how the noise pollution always affects you.
Edit: the weather also got to me. Not because it was extreme, but because it was so unchanging. Weather in the UK is always a gamble, sitting at the middle of 4 air currents leads to it being very changeable, but in Finland I could see the weather coming days in advance, and that was with the horizon hidden by hills, and not the ocean I used to.
#55
When I lived in South Korea, the culture around healthcare was completely different than in the states and is honestly among the things that 'radicalized' me politically. Here in the US you hear so much about people going without healthcare, sometimes for serious conditions, due to the cost. Over there accessible and affordable healthcare is so ubiquitous it isn't even a second thought. I remember early on in my stay there I was out playing soccer at a local field with some friends and locals and my friend sprained an ankle and get told to go to the hospital for it. For a sprain! We were confused initially, but were told 'why not? you are hurt so why not go see a doctor?' So we did, and it was like...maybe ten bucks equivalent. Hell, later on a friend had to get some minor surgery and all told at the end he paid like thirty bucks equivalent including for the prescription at the pharmacy afterwards. It absolutely blew my mind. It was just so easy, and cheap. And since Seoul is so dense you could find a doctor for just about anything within a few blocks of wherever you happened to be.
Among the many things I miss about living over there, that is a big one. How I wish we could have that here in the states.
#56
I lived in France for 9 months and the difference in the quality of the food was undeniable, it's so much less processed. I've always been on the chunky side but without even trying I lost 15 lbs in just a couple months, and I really mean it when I said I wasn't even trying, my host mom depended on me to eat all the leftovers lol
Also, I usually drink 2% milk because it's easier on my stomach but in France I could drink any milk with no trouble!
#57
From Canada to the US. Road construction was completed in weeks not months. New buildings would be built in months not years. You are basically allowed to park anywhere it doesn’t say you can’t- which is not many places even in most cities. Americans are much friendlier people than Canadians. Americans don’t expect companies to rip them off and actively do something about it when it happens. Government corruption isn’t accepted as a way of life and knowing the right people isn’t the only way to cut through red tape.
#58
USA to Portugal. I was struck by a couple of cultural differences:
1. Risk aversion - By American standards, I take mostly reasonable and calculated risks. By Portuguese standards, I'm an agent of chaos threatening to unravel the very fabric of reality.
2. Politics - this isn't unique to Portugal, but coming from the US, I didn't realize just how one dimensionally we talk about politics. Many folks I knew in Portugal were socially quite progressive, but culturally very traditional. It's far more nuanced there.
#59
On the flipside, people from Alberta found it really shocking when I mentioned that sales tax in the UK is 20% AND it's included on the shelf price.
#60
Nudity. Portugal there was nudity at the beaches and in the street.
Also kids drinking wine and smoking in the streets.
#61
India. Rubbish and litter dumped everywhere including waterways and nature reserves.
No thought. No compassion for other life forms, no self awareness.
