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An open mind is one of the most important things travelers need when jet setting around the world. You might not always know what you’re ordering off a menu or why the toilets look so different from back home, but that’s just part of the adventure!

Every country has its quirks, so some people have been opening up on Reddit about the things no one bats an eye at in their own nations. Below, you can learn all about these unique things that make nations special (while simultaneously confusing foreigners) and read conversations with travel experts Alyse of The Invisible Tourist and Dave and Deb of The Planet D!

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#1

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused In Canada, we put maple syrup on snow and wait for it to get all gooey then we eat it

chillphilsonthegrill , Sarah J Report

Final score:
222points
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#2

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused In Denmark our way of caring for our children baffles a lot of foreginers.
i.e. we find it natural to leave them unattended, they are left in their prams to nap basically everywhere, usually outside no matter what time of the year it is.

Zrina94 , Josh Withers Report

Final score:
176points
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To learn more about the cultural differences visitors find when traveling internationally, we reached out to Australian travel expert Alyse, also known as The Invisible Tourist. Alyse was kind enough to share a list of things that are perfectly normal in the Land Down Under that might be surprising or confusing for tourists.

“There are quite a few!” she told Bored Panda. “Having Christmas in summer is awesome. We have our extended holiday period over Christmas and New Year's to relax, enjoy beaches and to catch up with family and friends. School kids call erasers rubbers, thongs are what you would call flip-flops, and a slippery-dip is a slide at the local park.”

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“We always welcome visitors from abroad with a warning about our Drop Bears,” Alyse added. “These are vicious koalas that jump from trees onto unsuspecting tourists, and the only way to soothe them is with Vegemite (spoiler alert, only visitors believe Drop Bears are real).”
#3

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Throwing cheese down a hill then running after it

Seeyouyeah , Dave Farrance Report

Final score:
165points
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#4

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Thanking the bus driver.

Madra_ruax , Csongor Kemény Report

Final score:
163points
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The travel expert also noted that Australian slang can be confusing for foreigners. “To get by in Australia, it's essential to shorten words then add an O or IE to the end - arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbeque), mozzie (mosquito), cozzie (swimming costume/bathers), servo (service station/petrol station). An exception to this ends with an A - Macca's, our word or McDonald's.”

“If you're wanting to purchase alcohol for a party, you won't find it in our supermarkets,” Alyse continued. “We have separate stores that sell alcohol only that we call Bottle-o's."

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You also probably don't need to worry about snakes if you're taking a trip to Australia. "Visitors are surprised that there aren't snakes everywhere, like social media would otherwise have you believe," Alyse says. "I've maybe seen a real snake in the wild once or twice in my entire life.”
#5

In the UK, its definitely how we treat our friends. At uni quite a few people, especially Americans got pissed at me for insulting them. That's just how we act. Only worry when we're being polite

anon Report

Final score:
155points
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#6

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Thirty days of confinement to a room in your house after having a baby and only leaving to go to the doctor.
Not sleeping by your significant other when they are going hunting the next day because you "have power" that will affect the kill.
Not stepping over things while pregnant to prevent the soul from leaving the baby.
Also, never touching meat while on "your time" because the "power" will spoil the meat.
Dancing for four days without water or food in the early summer to help the people...
I am on a reservation in the United States. The US has some 500+ tribes but many have the same beliefs and traditions.
So, there US you have something totally bizarre to you that is completely normal to us

nativehoneybaby , JÉSHOOTS Report

Final score:
152points
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There are some food names that might confuse visitors in Australia as well. “Cilantro is called coriander here, peppers are called capsicums, aubergines are called eggplants and courgettes are called zucchinis,” Alyse explained. (As an American, I have to say that sounds like a hybrid of British and American terminology…)

“All Aussie kids grow up eating Fairy Bread (bread with butter and sprinkles), Sausage Rolls (meaty pastry), mini Meat Pies and Tim Tams (choccie bikkies) for snacks at parties,” the Invisible Tourist shared.
#7

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused We let cheese melt, throw some schnaps in there and eat it with bread cubes on a long fork.

Oh and if your bread falls off the fork you'll have to do some silly stuff like sing a song or jump naked in the snow...

Skinnj , Juliano Mendes Report

Final score:
148points
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#8

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused The friendlier the language the closer you are to a beating, the dirtier the language the more we like you.

anon , Kampus Production Report

Final score:
143points
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Alyse also shared some of her most memorable moments from traveling abroad when she noticed local customs that were different from what she's used to. “Ordering food from a vending machine rather than a waiter in Japan, then sitting down inside and having it brought to the table,” she noted. “Paying for a chair on the beach is weird for us in Europe. We just throw a towel down anywhere on the sand at home.”

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“Getting drinks/food from a waiter rather than the bar in continental Europe (ordering it all from a bar must come from our British ancestors),” the travel expert continued. “Having to tip for everything in the USA. We understand why now, but it adds so much extra on top. Not having the taxes included on price tickets in the USA, and having to fumble for change at the register to pay the difference. Paying to use the toilet in the UK and Europe, as we don't need to do that.”
#9

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Apparently white gravy is a thing that's not very common outside of southern America...

kawaiimoesugoidesu , WallyBooger Report

Final score:
136points
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#10

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused The fact gum is illegal here in Singapore may be odd to foreigners, but there's a reason for that. The reason being people constantly spitting gum onto the ground, sticking it on cars and elevator buttons, making everywhere you went covered in gum. And when the gum dried up, it would become very hard to remove.

Im_Tsuikyit , Quinn Dombrowski Report

Final score:
135points
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We were also curious if there were any customs from other nations that Alyse wished Australians would adopt. “Australia can be a great place to live, but being an island continent has its challenges,” she noted. “Many of us would love to adopt European high-speed or Japanese-style bullet trains to travel between our capital cities. Most visitors don't realize how far away everything is here, for example Sydney to Melbourne is 9 hours drive (870kms), and Melbourne to Brisbane is 18 hours drive (1776km). Heck, even flying from Sydney to Perth or Darwin is 5 hours.”

“The other would be not tolerating drugs and other crimes,” the traveler added. “Countries in Asia have very strict consequences for such things, and therefore crime and delinquency is much lower than major cities in Australia. We tend to go a bit easy here, in my opinion.”

If you’d like to learn more about Alyse’s travels, get some tips for your upcoming trips or learn more about Australia, be sure to visit The Invisible Tourist! 
#11

We have like a whole years worth of child leave here in Sweden and are encouraged to split between the parents, so there is lots of dads at the park with their kids.

Heard an American ask what was up with all the 'mannys'? -_-

ZaMiLoD Report

Final score:
134points
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#12

In Bulgaria we nod for No and shake for Yes. This doesn't make us an impression but foreigners get really, really confused.

Tip: Listen to what we say, not how we move our head. :)

EasyDeezy Report

Final score:
134points
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We also reached out to travel experts Dave and Deb of The Planet D to hear a Canadian perspective on this topic. "There are so many things that Canadians find perfectly normal that may seem strange to foreigners," the travelers shared.

"The first thought that comes to our head is that we call our one-dollar coins a Loonie. When Canada changed from dollar bills to coins, the new coin had an engraving of a loon on it. A loon is an aquatic bird that is very common in Canada. So instead of calling it a dollar, Canadians called it a Loonie," Dave and Deb explained.

"When the two-dollar coin came out a few years later, it had a polar bear on it. Instead of making a nickname to do with the polar bear, Canadians ended up calling it a Toonie. It rhymes with Loonie and totally makes sense to us." 

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#13

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused We call flip-flops 'thongs' and erasers 'rubbers'.

imnotavegan , betsy Report

Final score:
129points
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#14

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused In the U.S. we have dry counties where stores cannot sell alcohol, but if you drive 4 miles up the road you can buy all the booze you want. Like just sell me my damn booze.

nightcrawler_5 , Paul Sableman Report

Final score:
120points
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Dave and Deb also shared their thoughts on customs they've observed in other countries. "Something I find really weird about our neighbors to the south is that they wear their shoes indoors," they told Bored Panda. "Most Canadians don't walk into their houses with shoes on, and when we visit our friends and neighbors, we always take our shoes off. In America, it is common to leave their shoes on. To us it is weird. There is a lot of gross stuff on the streets and sidewalks, why would we want to bring that into our house?"

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#15

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused In Iran it is common to say no out of politeness when offered something. Only if the other person asks again will you say yes. Actually, you might even say no multiple times.

Cab drivers will do this too for instance. You ask how much you owe them and they'll say something along the lines of "oh don't worry it's worth nothing" to which you then reply by insisting on paying. Only then will they tell you the price and bla bla bla.

sunchild21 , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:
112points
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#16

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused We burn a Viking galley in January with a +-1000 men with burning torches walking around town all dressed up in anything you can imagine with one main squad dressed up in handmade Viking armour with weapons (diffrent each year), then we burn the boat in the town centre. Then we go to lots of town halls drink and dance for the whole night only to get home in the early hours usually worse for wear.

alex_sl92 , Vicky Brock Report

Final score:
112points
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Dave and Deb also admitted that they wish Canada would get on board with the heated toilets you can find in Japan. "We loved the Toto toilets that washed and dried our private parts, and that warm seat was so welcoming. They even had Toto toilets in the park's pavilion at Nikko National Park during our hike," they noted. "It was heavenly. Canada should adopt that, and we'd also never have to deal with the 'Great Toilet Paper Shortage' again."
#17

Eating fries covered with cheese curd and gravy.

binaryblade Report

Final score:
110points
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#18

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Colombia: Putting cheese in our hot chocolate. You put in a bit of cheese in the cup, it melts and you take it out with a spoon and eat it with bread. No, it doesn't make your chocolate taste cheesy, it just melts in a nice way.

The first time I did this with foreigners they were completely beside themselves.

molecularpoet , Quinn Comendant Report

Final score:
108points
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"Canada has a lot of quirkiness," the travelers shared. "I sometimes think we are quirkier than other countries, and we all seem to like it that way. It is a huge country, and there are many quirks in different regions. For example, when visiting Dawson City, Yukon, it is customary to drink the Sour Toe Cocktail that contains an actual dead human toe. When visiting Newfoundland, visitors (Come from Aways) can become honorary Newfoundlanders when they drink Screech rum and kiss a cod fish."

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If you'd like to hear more about Dave and Deb's travels or learn fun facts about the great nation of Canada, be sure to visit their blog The Planet D!
#19

In the UK we don't have one tap spout in a sink that you control the temperature of. We have two separate spouts: one hot that strips the flesh from your bones and one cold that gives you frost bite.

MajestyA Report

Final score:
97points
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#20

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Sitting naked and silently in a hot and sweaty room with other people

Aapelus , Ron Lach Report

Final score:
96points
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#21

* Need some groceries? Get on your bike and stuff everything in your *fietstas*.

* Kids need to go to school? Bring them in your *bakfiets* (freight bicycle).

* Trying your best to talk Dutch to someone? Get an answer in English.

Roland0180 Report

Final score:
89points
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#22

Saying sorry to random people if they bump into you, even if it wasn't your fault.

Frostedchunks Report

Final score:
89points
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#23

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused In Singapore, when I go to a foodcourt/coffeeshop/foodhall, I can reserve a table or a seat by placing a packet of tissue/my handkerchief on the spot. No need to leave my bag or bottle or anything else to reserve the spot before I walk over to a food stall to buy food. I come back and my 20cents packet of tissue is still there. Basically, no one will dare steal your spot/tissue or move it away. Pretty convenient eh.

bluezebra1990 , Sergiy Galyonkin Report

Final score:
88points
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#24

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Shabbat elevator service. In Israel, in a lot of places, the elevators are programmed to stop at every floor going up and down, so that the religious people don't have to push buttons and therefore "operate machinery" on Shabbat. So, if you wanna get to your floor on time, just take the stairs.

anon , Jason Dent Report

Final score:
87points
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#25

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Celebrating the attempted terrorist attack by Guy Fawkes.

Explained it to my friends girlfriends from Portland and she thought it was the most bizarre thing ever.

BobletOfFire , Pierre-Selim Report

Final score:
82points
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#26

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Here in England we get totally drunk because the sun is shining. It's reason enough to finish work and go straight to the nearest pub with a beer garden then drink until closing.

I imagine in some countries you'd never be sober if that happened.

anon , ELEVATE Report

Final score:
78points
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#27

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused In England it's pretty common to greet someone by saying something along the lines of "you alright?". I said this to my American friend and she responded by asking what I wanted?..

Team_Rocket_Landed , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:
77points
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#28

Groundhogs Day must seem incredibly strange to non-Americans.

gabgruz14 Report

Final score:
77points
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#29

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused In Belgium we have neighborhoods where 90% of the people living there speak French yet they are forced to speak Dutch in all official capacities unless they specifically ask for French after the fact. Call the police, they speak Dutch first, then you have to ask them to speak French to you. Receive official documents from the community? In Dutch first, then you have to ask for them in French.

And that's really just the tip of the iceberg.

viktor72 , Jérôme Report

Final score:
73points
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#30

At the longest day of the year, everyone has to gather in a large field and jam a large wooden p***s covered in flowers into the ground. Then we dance around it. Historically this was to ensure a plentiful harvest but nowadays it's just an excuse to get drunk.

TommyTbone Report

Final score:
70points
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#31

Calling your mates c**t, and c***s mate.

kewday96 Report

Final score:
68points
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#32

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Sitting in circles on birtdays and putting sprinkles on bread as breakfast or lunch.

Freefight , Pavel Danilyuk Report

Final score:
63points
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#33

There are beaches where you should be naked (do not have to but you should be, besides maybe little kids or what ever)

No pixeling / blackening titts in TV, beer and wine for 16 year olds.
And I guess the most important on parts of our "highways" you can drive as fast as you want (which is actually pretty touristy here).

Luwi00 Report

Final score:
63points
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#34

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused Kissing people on the cheek (even the one you don't know personally) to say hello.
Welcome to France guys o/

Kamiyee , Ketut Subiyanto Report

Final score:
62points
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#35

Something I noticed is that students (perticulary Greek, Italian, French) that come to the UK find our drinking culture strange. As where maybe they would go out and have a few drinks then go home we will go home once we are dragged back vomiting at out door.
P.s. not really something I'm proud of just something I noticed

dhrisher Report

Final score:
60points
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#36

40 Things That Are Totally Normal In Some Countries, Yet Make The Rest Of The World Confused We call the clear water as "sky juice"

butterpopkorn , Uber Turist Report

Final score:
59points
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#37

Climbing up a super oily tree trunk along with a bunch of bare chested men with the goal of grabbing a bunch of s****y prizes tied at the top.
EDIT: It's called Panjat Pinang.

SAINT_OF_SHIT Report

Final score:
58points
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#38

We eat the inwards of sheep and they are delicious! We call it "κοκορέτσι". It's the greatest greek dish. It's like 4 x gyros!

geoponos Report

Final score:
47points
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#39

Brunost (goat cheese)

It's pretty normal in Norway, Denmark & Sweden

Edit: Should've said that it's a type of brown colored goat cheese, which contains from whey as one of the main ingredients.

SavageCake Report

Final score:
47points
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#40

Calling some random dude "your man". Equal in meaning to "that guy".

i_am_just_a_number Report

Final score:
46points
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