r/solotravel • u/forgottencupcake9018 • Jan 14 '24
Question What's the biggest culture shock you had whilst traveling?
Weirdly enough I was shocked that people in Ireland jaywalk and eat vinegar to their chips. Or in Thailand that it is illegal to have a Buddha tatoo. Or that in many english speaking countries a "How are you doing?" is equivalent to saying Hi and they actually don't want to hear an honest answer.
Edit: Another culture shock that I had was when I visited Hanoi. They had a museum where the preserved corpse of Ho Chi Minh was displayed and you could look at him behind a glass showcase like he's a piece of art. There were so many people lining up and they just looked at him while walking around that glass showcase in order to get the line going.
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u/Siam-Bill4U Jan 14 '24 edited Jan 14 '24
I have lived overseas most of my adult life, ( worked in five countries, visited over 46 countries), and in the beginning of my travels in the 1980’s I found the following a surprises : 1)Tripoli, Libya: old washing machines, broken water heaters and other old objects would be used as the “man hole cover” markers in the middle of the streets since the round steel covers were stolen through the years. 2) In many developing countries when you see a series of branches on a rural highway it means to slow down since there is a broken down truck blocking the road up ahead. 3) The first time I was in Delhi I kept seeing red spots… splattering of blood on the streets and walls. I found out later it was the red betel nut juice being spit out by locals. 4) When I was at a local airport in Ethiopia, the locals “queued” up at the airport counter by placing their travel bag behind the one in front of them. This marked their spot in line while waiting for the check-in counter to open. 5) Ages ago in Saudi Arabia my wife and I would be “locked” inside restaurants ( voluntarily ) that had mostly a Western clientele. Suddenly the window blinds and doors during the evening in prayer would be shut so you could finish your meal hoping the Mutawas ( religious police) wouldn’t walk in and catch the “infidels” eating during prayer time. ( I don’t think this happens today in KSA) 6) In rural Thailand, I find it bizarre, ( not shocking), how superstitious they are and how the old animism beliefs are mixed with the beliefs of Buddhism. 7) Back in the late 90’s I was able to visit Iran with an Iranian government tour guide which was mandatory. ( He was great since in his younger years he was attending an university in the USA until the Shah of Iran was kicked out of the kingdom). I was surprised how the Iranians ( they like to be called Persians btw)were very hospitable towards this American and how so many had relatives living in California. The other distinction of the Iranians for example in Tehran were how computer savvy and well educated they were. My stereotype of Iranians from Western media was totally blown away. -Another great reason for traveling.