One of the coolest things about traveling is that you come face to face with so many different behaviors, values, and ways of living. However, once you spend some time abroad in any country, you begin to realize that no place on Earth is ‘perfect’ and no culture is the ‘best.‘Every culture has its quirks, nuances, pros, and cons. The members of the r/AskReddit online community recentlyopened up aboutsome of the most annoying and questionable things that people from their cultures do. Scroll down for a dose of reality.We reached out to redditoru/CanaryResearch, the author of the intriguing thread, for their thoughts on embracing travel and the importance of being open-minded about other people’s cultures. You’ll findBored Panda’sfull interview with the OP as you read on!This post may includeaffiliate links.
One of the coolest things about traveling is that you come face to face with so many different behaviors, values, and ways of living. However, once you spend some time abroad in any country, you begin to realize that no place on Earth is ‘perfect’ and no culture is the ‘best.’
Every culture has its quirks, nuances, pros, and cons. The members of the r/AskReddit online community recentlyopened up aboutsome of the most annoying and questionable things that people from their cultures do. Scroll down for a dose of reality.
We reached out to redditoru/CanaryResearch, the author of the intriguing thread, for their thoughts on embracing travel and the importance of being open-minded about other people’s cultures. You’ll findBored Panda’sfull interview with the OP as you read on!
This post may includeaffiliate links.
Bored Panda was curious to get the OP’s take on what can inspire someone to travel abroad if they’ve never left their home country before. According to u/CanaryResearch, this inspiration can come from anywhere!“It can be as simple as a sense of adventure or following passions you already have, such as hiking in a new land if you already do that at home,” they shared their thoughts with us.“I also believe that placing yourself in another culture is one of the best ways to learn more about yourself, which is one of my favorite reasons I get inspired to travel.”
Bored Panda was curious to get the OP’s take on what can inspire someone to travel abroad if they’ve never left their home country before. According to u/CanaryResearch, this inspiration can come from anywhere!
“It can be as simple as a sense of adventure or following passions you already have, such as hiking in a new land if you already do that at home,” they shared their thoughts with us.
“I also believe that placing yourself in another culture is one of the best ways to learn more about yourself, which is one of my favorite reasons I get inspired to travel.”
Japanese ethnicity here. The dumbest thing in our culture is shame/guilt and “loosing face”. It’s generationally exponential too. Like if your great grandfather did something shameful, you’re supposed to still feel shame/guilt for it now. It’s the dumbest thing ever. This is partly why Japan has such a high suicide rate.
Indian here: Discriminate against menstruating women. Cannot participate in auspicious occasions / go to the temple / handle communal food / water plants considered holy. Sheesh.
“There isn’t one culture that is the best. What might work for you culturally might not work for others. You’re the visitor in their home, so try to be open to living as they do,” the OP noted a few of the main things to keep in mind.
“You may learn something great, or you may learn to be more thankful for what you already have.”
The OP opened up to us that they had no idea that their question would get so much attention on Reddit. In their opinion, the question resonated with a lot of people because “it allowed people to realize they share a lot of the same customs even if their respective cultures are very different in other aspects.”
As an American… Gender reveal parties.Like, it’s a boy/girl. Yea. I get inviting some friends over and maybe a special cake. But things have gotten utterly INSANE! I’m worried someone will launch an actual nuke at some point for one of these damned parties!
Westerner: Weddings cost an arm and a leg just to impress people you barely know.
In India - caste system.
Traveling and adventuring are both awesome activities that expand your mind and give you a fresh new perspective on life. However, some people are on the fence about doing this. They want to travel, however, they might be scared about the potential challenges. For instance, they might be afraid that it’s dangerous to go on trips abroad or they’re worried about the potential costs.
It really helps if you directly talk to your family or friends who have more experience traveling than you. They can give you lots of great pointers and allay at least some of your fears. There are also lots of great resources all over the internet about going to specific countries.
UK: fox hunting. Rich a******s on horses using packs of dogs to hunt down and tear apart a defenceless fox. Then smear the fox blood on their children.
Nigeria. Try to force every young person to respect every old person even if they’re literal criminals
Before you travel anywhere, one of the best things you can do is conduct someresearchabout the culture of the country and area. Though books, videos, and articles won’t acquaint you withallthe cultural nuances, they can be a general guideline to navigate most social encounters.
It really does help to travel with an open mind. You won’t believe how many kind and friendly people there are all over the world. At the same time, let’s not be too naive: some people, especially when they spot a tourist or a foreigner, might try to swindle others out of their hard-earned cash. Be realistic about the sorts of challenges you might face, and read up on the more popular types ofscams. They vary from country to country and region to region.
Ethnically Chinese. We burn billions (in Hell dollars) of underworld banknotes to our deceased relatives. Now I’m no necroeconomist, but I can imagine King Yama having major headaches over inflation in the underworld.
Venerate the monarchy, despite being fiercly proud of our percieved egalitarian and democratic society (Denmark)
You also can’t underestimate the power of language. If you know even a handful of common phrases, you’ll be able to connect with the locals on a whole other level. The more effort you put in, the deeper your travel experience is likely to be.What are the biggest upsides and downsides that you’ve noticed about your own cultures, dear Pandas? What would you change if you could? What cultural quirks have you noticed the most during your travels?Tell us all about your experiences and share your opinions in the comment section, at the very bottom of this post. We can’t wait to hear from you!
You also can’t underestimate the power of language. If you know even a handful of common phrases, you’ll be able to connect with the locals on a whole other level. The more effort you put in, the deeper your travel experience is likely to be.
What are the biggest upsides and downsides that you’ve noticed about your own cultures, dear Pandas? What would you change if you could? What cultural quirks have you noticed the most during your travels?
Tell us all about your experiences and share your opinions in the comment section, at the very bottom of this post. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Brazil. Fight each other for politicians that are clearly stealing from them.
We Filipinos have this thing called “utang na loob” or loosely translated to “debt of gratitude.” This is where enormous guilt is forced upon someone if they do not respond as expected to someone’s request, be it unreasonable, because “remember that time I lent my car to you? Now lend me $20k.”
Malta. We have show kitchens (marble benches, the best appliances money can buy, hardwood cabinets etc) - but actually cook in the little butlers pantry that is off the main kitchen.
German here:I’m stuck between “giving bombastic side eye if you just mention not having beer in your house because you dislike it overall” and “Screeching like a banshee whenever car drivers are faced with a minimum of discomfort”
In my country, theres a group of native people where women gain ranks in the comunity based on how many children they bring to the world, so they live in poverty but have like 7 or 8 babies, then they try to sell the kids because their land is also very close to another country border. They also tend to be heavy drinkers, is a s**t show tbh.I wont say which specific native group is as I dont want to talk bad about them in that way.But yes it is Panama.
India : Dowry. The effing dowry and expensive wedding.
As a semi slav I can tell you that Slavic superstitions are the strangest.Here are a few examples:Don’t whistle in the house because the money will disappear.Don’t shake hands at the entrance to somewhere because there are corpses underneath.If you need to look for something turn a glass upside down.If you are about to leave your house for a couple of days, before leaving make sure to sit down in silence for a minute or so so that the spirit that lives in the house would think you are not leaving and will not mess up the house.
Work yourself to death. If you don’t, you’re lazy. Sometimes I can’t believe how crazy work culture gets in Germany. Bragging about going to work no matter how sick you are, infecting coworkers. You get called lazy for working less than a 40 hour week.
See Also on Bored Panda
“I haven’t taken a vacation in 3 years!” - US
Taking photos of the deceased at funerals, including posing with themEdit: some people even decide social media is a good place for these photos. So weird.Edit#2: It’s one thing to take photos and keep private for memories - which is still weird to me - I prefer to remember what they looked like while living - not in their casket, blood drawn out, discoloured, barely looking like themselves - but each to their own. And then another thing to post to social media.. gives me heebie jeebies when my family does this. I will not allow this when my parents pass away (in fact makes me angry thinking of someone putting a pic of my dead dad on social media - just NO!)
Anything and everything that proves that you are, “dominant”, including but not limited to; breaking laws, disrespecting others, taking advantage of others, being disagreeable in general, violating others rights but demanding yours are respected, and trying to make people feel useless because they don’t care about or value your ideas of work and/or productivity. - Southern US
In the orthodox community, men and women are made to sit apart. Fyi; I’m not orthodox , but I am Jewish
Argue over the origin of Pavlova. Australia
Canada - cheat in relationships and brag about it, especially the whole ‘side piece’ bs - meaning any gender here.
Treating the number 4 with extreme superstition like it’s a plague/curse and replace it with 3A. IT’S JUST A BLOODY NUMBER, MOVE THE F ON ALREADY.
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The Philippines: Obsess over any western celebrity with even a h i n t of local blood. Also obsess over and worship (usually white or east asian) foreigners who are barely or semi-fluent in our language.
“If you are not obey your parents, you are ungrateful bastard”
Drinks alcohol at every opportunity.
going to work sick, despite there being basically infinite paid sick days off with very strong worker’s rights protections in place and also basically ignoring all sports except men’s football ( the soccer kind) when it comes to the broad public. maybe except tennis when there’s a great german player or F1 when someone like schumacher or vettel is around… bit apart from that…
Talk excessively loud all the time.
Dismiss and avoid people with mental health issues, even if they’re close family and friends.
Rub a chicken egg on people to “cure” them.
Hey how ya doing?Not bad, how about you?Well alright then.
Leaving the last of every bit of food at a party/work gathering/event. Someone has got to eat that!
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