30 Surprising Customs People Encountered in Other Countries

‘Charging for the use of public restrooms’
30 Surprising Customs People Encountered in Other Countries

As an American, hearing about a country where it’s customary to eat a hamburger or slice of pizza with a fork and knife sounds like a horror movie. But it’s no horror movie, it’s just Denmark. This is one of the many culture shocks Redditors faced when they left home and roamed around unfamiliar lands, including the Mexican tradition of having an altar to Jesus everywhere — even in the places you’d least expect it. 

aeropagitica 9y ago Americans swapping cutlery in their hands in order to cut up and then eat a meal. It's one utensil per hand, no swapping here in the UK. + 69 ...
somethingasaur 9y ago When I was in China, I saw more than one toddler just poop in the street. There's this hole in the back of their pants and they'll just be like: walking around, squat, poop, and the parents don't even seem to notice. + 18 ...
Rocket365 11y ago Ireland, when a fire alarm goes of, ignore it and keep doing what it was you were doing. The fire does not exist unless you can see it or someone tell you there is in fact a real fire. 47 ...
 11y ago If you see a baby stroller, there's a 90% chance that it's a dog and not a baby. - HK & Japan 32 ...
thewhitedeath 8y ago Brazil and nicknames. Everybody has a nickname. The cultural thing is, is that despite what your nickname is, it's rarely offensive. You have a big head? You get the nickname cabeçao ( bighead.) You look like a witch, you get the nickname bruxa (witch). It's all in fun and rarely offensive. + 67 ...
ExponentialDelay . 8y ago Germans will just stare at you in public like it's nothing, even if you catch them. Really disconcerting on public transport to an American minding their own business. + 51 ...
kosembnihat . 8y ago In Thailand, it's common when a motorbike drives on the pavement. When the traffic is jam, all the bikes would be taking shortcuts on the pavements. 7 ...
 8y ago In Greece: Bribery. Fucking everyone does it 15 ...
Tayto2000 11y ago In Ireland, there's a tradition of almost aggressively refusing gifts other people offer you as a form of thanks. This is accompanied by a similar custom of insisting people accept a token of thanks in an even more aggressive manner. In the end, the person being offered the thanks accepts, but they have avoided the perception that they only did the good deed so they could get something out of it, and because they were so insistent on giving something to the person who helped them, the person offering the thanks gets to present themselves as a
 8y ago In Vietnam traffic, if you can fit, you can go there. That means going the wrong way on the highway, going up on the sidewalk etc.. People are constantly playing chicken with oncoming traffic, everyone cuts each other off, everyone is always honking their horns, and oddly enough I didn't observe any road rage; it's just a shit ton of people getting where they need to go as quickly as possible without killing each other.
Its42 8y ago Living in South Korea as a foreigner: It's socially acceptable for your employer to force you to go out late at night on a work day and drink copious amounts of alcohol with your coworkers. And yes, you still have to show up tomorrow at normal time. + 93 ...
thebuscompany 9 8y ago Charging for ice, tap water, and the use of public restrooms. + 159 ...
ItsViliii 4y ago When i visited Spain i noticed that people are way more touchy with each other i was at a car mechanik and the mechanik that was teaching me would just lean against me and watch me do my job i i tought it was weird but when i got home i read an article about spain and there it was mentioned that they are closer to each other + 186 ...
Whats-Up_Bitches e 4y ago In Denmark: went to a restaurant and people were eating pizza and hamburgers with utensils. + 231 ...
mobit7 9y ago Germany: Drinking tap water daily, you will die if you try that a single day in my country. France: Kissing openly in public, you will be celebrity and maybe punished legally if you try it in my country. + 1.5K ...
Blue-Wolf e 9y ago Probably not the weirdest, but London not having any trash cans is certainly interesting. + 1.6K ...
Grogu-I-am 4y ago In the USA for some reason toilet cubicle doors are half the size of everywhere else in the world + 713 ...
 4y ago Elderly people in rural Japan squatting in the middle of the sidewalk. Not pooping, just squatting to rest. I mean, self-care is important but I almost tripped over an old lady early in the morning. + 648 ...
Elbatcho 4y ago I wasn't prepared for how hot water would smell in Iceland. Because it comes from being heated geothermically it smells like sulfur. Showering the first time was a little bit of a shock. + 966 ...
magnettics 9y ago Cock fights and openly sold magic mushrooms, in Indonesia. + 1.8K ...
umpteen 9y ago Went to the cinema in Japan to see a Harry Potter film (in English with Japanese subtitles). The film was good, I guess the humour didn't translate well into Japanese which is fine, but at times I was the only person laughing in an every-seat- filled cinema. Anyway, that wasn't the weird thing. When the film finished and the credits rolled, no one moved. I started packing up my things and realised I was the only person in a room of at least 100 people making a move to leave. So I sat down again. I realised
CWHats . 9y ago . Edited 9y ago Strip club in Mexico has a fairly sizable altar to Jesus behind the bar, bleeding heart and all.
Jackpot777 9y ago - Edited 9y ago Brit, married to American, in PA since 2001. I still can't get used to the idea of a deadly weapons section in a big shop. Women's clothing, seasonal decorations, electrical goods, sporting stuff like tennis racquets and golf clubs, shitload of shotguns and pistols.
 E 9y ago People sun baking in central London parks in their underwear. A bit of sun would come out and office workers would sit out in their lunch breaks without tops. + 2.9K ...
crappenheimers 9y ago In the country of Samoa, in the evening time around 7:00 in most villages, dozens of men go out to stand out in the road in front of their homes and blow on conches to mark the sa, or a quiet prayer time. It is illegal to be anywhere walking in the village, to be loud, etc, for the length of the 5-10 minute sa. + 3.1K ...
tokyosuits 9y ago My wife and I make a point to visit grocery stores in every country we go to. It's interesting to see what the locals eat. Anyway, we were in the Philippines at a grocery store late in the afternoon and we heard an announcement. We didn't know what they said and just ignored it. As we walked into the open vegetable section we were both talking and I was looking at something. My wife grabbed my hand. She was obviously startled. I looked up and nobody was moving or making any noises. It was like time stopped.
VicVictory 9y ago Absolutely no addresses in Costa Rica. If you want to go somewhere you have to know the landmarks around that area. I guess it might help with defences considering they have no army, but its a pain in the ass to get home from the bar. + 3.9K ...
 9y ago In Ecuador, I drove down windy roads lined with houses, and on the roofs of many houses, dogs were just chilling. Apparently it's completely normal to use the roof of your house as a backyard to let your dog roam. + 3.7K ...
 9y ago Edited 9y ago When I was in Taiwan waiting for the bus, I saw everyone getting in line to board. It was the strangest thing, no one was pushing or shoving to get on first. Everyone just waited for their turn, like civilized people. You don't see groups of people taking up the whole sidewalk there, either. Now I'm back home and I feel surrounded by barbarians sometimes. Edit: I'm from Belgium + 3.4K ...
 9y ago Not necessarily weird, but I lived in Japan for 6 years and there was a shit ton of vending machines, like out in the middle of no where in the country and almost 2 per block in the city + 26 ...

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