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Someone In This Online Group Asked “What Was Something That Shocked You When You Visited A Foreign Country?” And 35 People Delivered
Being in a place where things are done differently than you are used to can cause confusion, anxiety and a feeling of uncertainty, even if the environment you are in is actually better than the one you feel more comfortable in. All those feelings can be described as a culture shock as a person is cut off from the cultural patterns that are familiar and has to adapt to something new.
Most often the term is used when talking about moving to another country or traveling. There are ways to soften the culture shock and one of them is asking people to share their own experiences on Reddit so you can prepare for it. We’re not sure what was the motivation of Kampfhamster248 to ask “What was something that shocked you when you visited a foreign country?” but it sure does help to know what people in the thread had to say before going somewhere for the first time.
Which one of these surprised you the most? Maybe you are from the aforementioned countries and can deny or confirm these claims? What would you personally answer if asked the question? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
More info: Reddit
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#1
When I went to Japan I went to a bathhouse and my leg started spasming violently when I got in a tub. I thought I was having a stroke, but it turns out they have pools with electrical currents to promote longevity. That was literally my most shocking experience overseas
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#2
Falling snow. I'm Australian so while we have snow the chances of experiencing falling snow when you're on holidays is slim.
The first time I experienced falling snow was when I was in Paris at the age of 20. I LOST MY S**T. Squealing and had a ball. Everyone probably thought I was crazy but for me it was magical and amazing.
MarmotArchivist 2 years ago
How wounderfull, that you got to experience a new country and your first snowfall at the same time.
#3
How f**king clean Japan is. You can walk around Tokyo for a day and struggle to find as much as a gum wrapper on the ground. It is truly incredible.
#4
When I moved to the Netherlands a few years ago from the USA I deliberately wrote down the things that struck me as strange a few weeks into it because I knew I wouldn't remember later, and here are a few.
Bicycles are everywhere and are a far more common mode of transport than cars... yet no one wears helmets.
A Dutch person telling you "I speak a little English" is like Stephen Hawking saying "I know a little physics." I really had no idea it could be so easy to move to another country where you don't speak the language, and that's because the Dutch are so amazing at English (unlike other countries, for example, TV here isn't dubbed but instead in original language and just subtitled).
Big Bird is blue in Holland! I mean, they claim he's Pino, Big Bird's cousin, but I'm not fooled. You know he really just moved here to explore an alternative lifestyle.
#5
How price tags in America do not include Taxes!
Evil Little Thing 2 years ago
Taxes change by state, county, and sometimes municipality. We have a regressive tax system, so sales and property taxes provide a significant amount of money to local governments.
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LH25 2 years ago
Depends on the state. Not all states have sales tax, so the price shown on a shelf is the price. And once in a while the price does include taxes, it will say so in that case.
Zara VP 2 years ago
That's odd...I live in the US and have been all over. I do not recall seeing the tax included in the price tag anywhere. Where have you seen this?
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I'm Kid A 2 years ago
We've more-or-less gotten used to it at this point. We just assume it's going to be a bit more than what it says. Not a huge deal unless you have a very limited amount of cash on you or are making a large purchase... that's not to say we don't mind it, of course - it would be quite nice to have it included, but I assume that's nothing more than a wishful myth we've heard about far off fantasy lands like "Europe". We've been inundated with those legends lately. I mean, healthcare? Really? And I suppose you all ride unicorns to the hospital, too.
Lukas-not-Luca (he/him) 2 years ago
It's annoying as f**k- and I'm an American (to be fair most things people find annoying about America I find annoying too)
Kimberly Herbert 2 years ago
At least in Texas it is because we have 2059 different jurisdictions that can impose a sales tax. Now the State + (Other Jursitiction) sales rates are close to each other there can be enough of a difference to affect the price. So if a grocery store HEB advertises on Houston TV/Radio that cokes are $x. Are they going to include a spread reading addendum for each of the Jurisdictions? off the top of my head. Houston Harris County (31 towns cities) Galveston County (15 towns/cities) Fort Bend County (20 towns/cities) Mongomery County (17 towns/cities) and there are several other counties in the coverage area of the TV stations.
Memere 2 years ago (edited)
Exactly. In just the county where I live, there are 32 cities, unincorporated communities, & townships. So each one of those has different sales tax rates on top of the county sales tax. There are 105 counties in my state, and while not all of them have as many cities/towns/whatever, each county has a different sales tax. It's on the shopper to educate themselves as to how much the sales tax is. I moved from one state to another & the first thing I did was look up the sales tax in the county & city I moved to.
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Jane Jane 2 years ago
I can understand how this could be confusing for those visiting the USA.
GoGoPDX 2 years ago
It's confusing for me, who lives in the US. I live in Oregon, no sales tax. I always forget when I go to other states and it is so annoying.
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jolie laide 2 years ago
Yeah it's confusing as heck, especially at grocery stores because anything deemed "edible" isn't taxed but "non-edibles" (like toilet paper, toothpaste, etc.) ARE taxed. If you ever shop in a grocery store in the US, do what I do. Keep a running total in your head, either rounding up or rounding down. Anything under $.40 round down, anything over $.40 round up. For example if a pack of chicken is $5.48, round up to $6. If a bag of apples is $2.17, round down to $2. By the time you check out, your final total should be really close to what you have in your head, usually to within $5 - 7. You can use the $.50 mark for up or down, but remember that only some things are taxable and depending on what you buy, you could be cutting it close or have more extra that you kick yourself for, always thinking of that 1 item you decided not to buy but could actually afford in the end.
Alex Bailey 2 years ago
This information is known the the store though - it's in their pricing system when you pay at the checkout. How hard can it be to price the item up to include everything on the shelf?
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Res Earch 2 years ago
Sales tax is different in every state and in some places different in different counties/towns so large chains would all need different price tags instead of all of them matching.
Memere 2 years ago (edited)
And they would have to pay someone to keep track of the sales tax in the different locations & make sure the stores have the correct amount added to the price tags. And we know the owners don't want to do that! Plus, as everyone in the U.S. knows, those taxes WILL go up when our elected officials decide they need more money - that means someone at the store headquarters has to watch that too.
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robin aldrich 2 years ago
And on top of the state sales tax individual counties in some States add an additional percentage or 2...it's really confusing when you're shopping and cross county lines and have to think what percentage sales tax you're gonna be paying.
Bob Standen 2 years ago
When I was there in the 1970s that's the first thing that annoyed me, as every state has different rates of tax, confusing.
Glirpy 2 years ago (edited)
I have thought about this for a long time. Base don each state's sales tax, why don't they mark up the cost of the item to the nearest dollar and just have the tax rolled into the cost? Then, not only could you "not charge" sales tax at checkout, but you could do away with metal coins altogether. No more getting back pennies, nickels, dimes, whatever. Just paper money. Then the US could stop having to mint any new coinage as save so many metal resources every year that could be used for other things.
crazy parsnip 2 years ago
So how do you know how much you would pay for it? Surly it isn't the same tax rate for all the products
Kyle Simmons 2 years ago
Basic math skills. It's REALLY not that big of a deal.
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Memere 2 years ago
Yeah, so? At least BP used a stock photo of a store in the U.S.! Not all stores actually put price stickers on the shelf anymore, much less the product. I hate that too - if I can't see a price on something, I won't buy it.
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jknbt jknbt 2 years ago
sales tax rates change with every different municipality, village, city, and county... it would be impossible to modify the tag in every different location. It's just part of it to be a little surprised (sometimes pleasantly) at check-out. Sometimes you can save several percent just by buying the same item a few miles away if you are wise to what is going on & work the system. You are really a little too fragile for your own good, mr. ex-pat, if you let this disturb you and completely spoil your day. Get over it & figure out how to work the system to your advantage.
Florian Gerstmeier 2 years ago
Total BS. When they have the correct price in the register at the check ot they can print the correct price also on the shelves.
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#6
Swedish babies are hardcore. And people are awesomely chill and friendly. In mid-January, it was knee-deep snow everywhere, yet in Stockholm is was pretty common to see parents enjoying a drink at a cafe, with a queue of prams outside in the snow.
The babies are wrapped up heavily yes, but they are fully comfortable leaving them outside like that. No fears over child-thievery, or worries about the cold. These kids are brought up to be metal right from the word go. It's awesome.
I imagine if you tried that in the UK (or especially US) there'd be hysteria and child services would relieve you of your parenting.
May 2 years ago
They grow up healthy, it's very good for them to sleep outside in the fresh air, and nobody steals babies in the Nordic countries. Or almost nobody, one time a mentally ill Danish lady took one (she thought it was hers) but the police found it within a couple of hours and the baby was fine. That's the only case I know of.
#8
How many homeless people there are in the USA. I've been to 30+ countries and I've seen more homeless in the US than anywhere else. I'd say even more than homeless dogs in Mexico. It's was extremely shocking.
LH25 2 years ago
It might seem that way, based on where you visited, but actually the US doesn't have the highest homeless rate, from what I could find. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_homeless_population One link I found. The US is down the list a bit. Granted, it’s hard to compare since countries may have different ways of defining and counting the homeless, but this chart has the US with a lower rate than the UK, Australia, France, Sweden, Mexico, Israel, Germany and Austria for example.
#9
Living in Germany I have recently talked to an exchange student from Bangladesh. He was seriously shocked that people would stop at red traffic lights although there were no other cars/pedestrians around. Gave me a good laugh.
#10
How truly polite the Japanese are. And how unbelievably clean the cities of Japan are.
#11
How corrupt the police force is in Mexico.
#12
This is silly, but in 2003 I visited Germany and was absolutely blown away that the escalators didn't start moving until you approached them (like automatic sliding doors). In America they're always just going. I thought it was genius.
#13
How fat the majority of the people were in the midwest United States
#14
Trains in India. Furious fighting, shoving, scratching, and clawing to get on, then for the rest of the eight hour journey scrupulous "I'm so sorry I brushed your foot with mine" politeness.
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 2 years ago
I have never taken a train but I see people hanging out of the train I think because of the lack of space. There are at least 4 or 5 people hanging out the doors and everything looks so cramped
#15
How small all of the fruit was in England. One apple in the US is like two UK apples. I went through a lot of apples.
everyone's favorite person 2 years ago
I think that's because the US sells a lot of genetically modified fruit...
#16
The tap water in Vienna. Holy s**t it was delicious.
Don't Look 2 years ago
Try Sweden. You can’t even buy bottled water in Stockholm. I tried. They politely told me to just get water from a public fountain. Cleanest water ever. And I know there’s a lot of bottled water in the first district in Vienna.
#17
French people (or Parisians, at least) are INTENSE about escalators. Your options are to either stand to one side (the right side, I think?) or sprint up the other side like an angry baboon is chasing you. If any part of you sticks out into the passing lane - you'll hear all about it.
#18
When I went to New York I couldn't get over how familiar everything looked on my first day there. I must have seen way more films and TV shows filmed in Manhattan than I realized, but pretty much everywhere looked exactly as I expected it to.
#19
Originally from Canada, spent a few weeks in China. I was shocked when I regularly saw kids squat down on the sidewalk and take a dump.
#20
I lived in Japan for a year. The satellite radio at my school had a channel called "Rokki" that played the Rocky theme song on a loop 24:7.
#22
I don't carry coins with me usually, which makes it tough to pee in a lot of Europe.
Ivana Bašić 2 years ago
Yeah, in my family we call them pee coins and we don't use them to pay for things because we know we'll need them for a real emergency. We have a small kid and spend a lot of time out of the house. :D
#23
How much Indian food there was in London.
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 2 years ago
I mean, Indians have been emigrating to the UK for years now. I think it is partially because they used to rule over our country for nearly 200 years
#24
The traffic in Rome.
I live in Finland and it's unusual if my trip to university is delayed by a single second by other people, so people wasting over one hour stuck in traffic every day would be the most frustrating thing I can imagine.
#25
Slovakia -> Austria. how clean can a country be. lack of dirt, roads and sidewalks in good condition, flowers everywhere. no old torn posters, no billboards on every lamp post.
I like to think that their state or police make them clean up against their own will but most probably they just like it that way and we got used to our dirt during communism.
julien 2 years ago
Researchers at Yale University and Columbia University collaborated with the World Economic Forum to measure the cleanliness and environmental friendliness of over 180 countries around the world. Cleanest Countries in the World 2021 : 1. Denmark 2. Luxembourg 3. Switzerland 4. United Kingdom 5. France 6. Austria 7. Finland 8. Sweden 9. Norway 10. Germany
#26
When I visited Hollywood, I couldn't believe how disgustingly dirty it was, and how unsafe I felt! It may just have been that I was unlucky enough to experience a couple of crazy incidents in my first two nights, but it definitely wasn't all the glitz and
ALSO: people seem to be assuming that Hollywood Boulevard was the only place I saw in the whole of LA, and that I've condemned the city because of this one area. This isn't true. I was just stating that it was shocking to me that it was so different to my expectations, but I had an awesome time in LA, ventured around to multiple different area, and even had a great night out in Hollywood at an insane nightclub. Hell, even though it was shocking at first, I even like that I now have some crazy stories to tell from my time there!
Don't Look 2 years ago
It’s the most plastic, fake place I have ever been. Strange because just north in Ventura County it’s not quite the same.
#28
Shops are closed on Sunday in France except Subway and McDonalds
MarmotArchivist 2 years ago
There are a lot of European countries where stores are closed on sunday.
#29
When I went to America McDonalds had refillable Dr Pepper. I was in heaven.
#30
The parking in Portugal is shocking the whole country seems to park their cars like they have stolen them.
#32
Spotted a Ferris Wheel & Resort surrounding a reservoir in Afghanistan. Wasn't prepared for that at all.
Also, the social aggressiveness of Females in Iceland! They will court a male in a heartbeat.
#33
In South Korea there is no seperate shower in the bathroom. The showerhead sprays directly on the floor and there is a drain in the corner of the room.
#34
How expensive the alcohol is in Australia. I had to sit down after I saw the 40 dollar crate of beer.
What do you think ?
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 2 years ago
When I was very young I was suprised about how many buildings were there in Hong Kong. It was also suprising about how we had to use the subway system a lot.
Don't Look 2 years ago
Worlds most vertical city. I say that because HK island has more vertical buildings than Kowloon, New Territories…
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אריאל רז 2 years ago
US: You can turn right in red light, but if you turn left in green light, you may easily get a car crash if not careful...
Heather Pobicki 2 years ago
Some places it's illegal to turn right on red. And yes, turning left on green, there are no turns at some lights, we have jug handles (nj). My brother was in a serious motorcycle accident because someone turned left at a light right in front of him, my brother had the right of way. Almost cost him his life.
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Jill Chambers 2 years ago
I'm glad everywhere has toilets now. I was really shocked by Spanish toilets in the 1990s.
Trisec 2 years ago
I live in New England. Driving down I-95 to Florida is like visiting a foreign country.
Omi bub 2 years ago
By far my biggest shock was the lack of universal healthcare in other countries (I'm british) & also lack of basic social support. Seeing disabled people begging in the street was shocking & I couldn't understand why all the people who saw it didn't feel deeply ashamed. (Plus when I saw a McDonald's with an armed guard in Manilla)
NAVYA PRASAD 2 years ago
I live in India, you should not give money to disabled people, few of them are acting, many will buy alcohol few belong to a group that kidnaps kids and make them beg for profits and make them disabled. It's hideous.
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ChickyChicky 2 years ago
India: how locals didn't know their neighborhoods. We needed to get to a street nearby and no one we asked knew what we were talking about. It turned out it was three streets over.
JK Rowling 2 years ago
It's less that they don't know the names, and more that they're never told. Streets in India don't have signs with their names on them. My mom, who'd lived in Pune's Kothrud district for 3 decades, didn't know most of the street names until she heard them on Google Maps. Instead of asking for street locations, it's better to just go with landmarks.
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LagoonaBlueColleen 2 years ago
I feel like this should be one of those lists Pandas could add their own post to. One shock when I was visiting Manchester, UK, was how much litter was everywhere, including in the parks. Not that there's no litter in Canada. It was the amount that shocked me. I watch a lot of British media and did some research before I went, so some things I was prepared for.
Pezor Zass 2 years ago
I've heard this from other people recently; that the litter situation in the UK is surprisingly bad. Anybody know why that is?
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Mazer 2 years ago
Getting a haircut in England. 😳 Total eye opener. Tip the washer grrrrrl, and never EVER say “It’s okay, I will just towel dry it” eep. Then I mistakenly opened my banana to eat while standing on the sidewalk watching an antinuclear demonstration. One would have thought I slapped the Queen. Truth is I had horrible jet lag, having flown in from Hawaii and honestly if the Queen had shown up and given me the side eye, I probably wouldn’t have noticed
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 2 years ago
When I was very young I was suprised about how many buildings were there in Hong Kong. It was also suprising about how we had to use the subway system a lot.
Don't Look 2 years ago
Worlds most vertical city. I say that because HK island has more vertical buildings than Kowloon, New Territories…
Load More Replies... אריאל רז 2 years ago
US: You can turn right in red light, but if you turn left in green light, you may easily get a car crash if not careful...
Heather Pobicki 2 years ago
Some places it's illegal to turn right on red. And yes, turning left on green, there are no turns at some lights, we have jug handles (nj). My brother was in a serious motorcycle accident because someone turned left at a light right in front of him, my brother had the right of way. Almost cost him his life.
Load More Replies... Jill Chambers 2 years ago
I'm glad everywhere has toilets now. I was really shocked by Spanish toilets in the 1990s.
Trisec 2 years ago
I live in New England. Driving down I-95 to Florida is like visiting a foreign country.
Omi bub 2 years ago
By far my biggest shock was the lack of universal healthcare in other countries (I'm british) & also lack of basic social support. Seeing disabled people begging in the street was shocking & I couldn't understand why all the people who saw it didn't feel deeply ashamed. (Plus when I saw a McDonald's with an armed guard in Manilla)
NAVYA PRASAD 2 years ago
I live in India, you should not give money to disabled people, few of them are acting, many will buy alcohol few belong to a group that kidnaps kids and make them beg for profits and make them disabled. It's hideous.
Load More Replies... ChickyChicky 2 years ago
India: how locals didn't know their neighborhoods. We needed to get to a street nearby and no one we asked knew what we were talking about. It turned out it was three streets over.
JK Rowling 2 years ago
It's less that they don't know the names, and more that they're never told. Streets in India don't have signs with their names on them. My mom, who'd lived in Pune's Kothrud district for 3 decades, didn't know most of the street names until she heard them on Google Maps. Instead of asking for street locations, it's better to just go with landmarks.
Load More Replies... LagoonaBlueColleen 2 years ago
I feel like this should be one of those lists Pandas could add their own post to. One shock when I was visiting Manchester, UK, was how much litter was everywhere, including in the parks. Not that there's no litter in Canada. It was the amount that shocked me. I watch a lot of British media and did some research before I went, so some things I was prepared for.
Pezor Zass 2 years ago
I've heard this from other people recently; that the litter situation in the UK is surprisingly bad. Anybody know why that is?
Load More Replies... Mazer 2 years ago
Getting a haircut in England. 😳 Total eye opener. Tip the washer grrrrrl, and never EVER say “It’s okay, I will just towel dry it” eep. Then I mistakenly opened my banana to eat while standing on the sidewalk watching an antinuclear demonstration. One would have thought I slapped the Queen. Truth is I had horrible jet lag, having flown in from Hawaii and honestly if the Queen had shown up and given me the side eye, I probably wouldn’t have noticed
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