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Culture shock can happen in different ways. Sometimes, you may experience it while visiting another country. Other times, it happens in reverse, when you return from your home country after spending a long time abroad.
But there’s also the type of culture shock where you think a particular item or practice is universal, only to find out that it is mostly unique to your country. This is what people shared in a recent Reddit thread, with responses ranging from avocado as a sweet treat to having an astrology section on the nightly news.
Have fun reading through, and feel free to join in on the discussion through the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Montenegro
I thought every country had an official competition of just lying around under the tree. Turns out it's just us
Edit: Since everyone's asking for more details. It's held once a year, during the summer and yes, it is outside. The location is always the same. Whoever lasts the longest, wins, so there is no set end date. The winner gets a cash prize of 200€. Everyone can enter, foreigners included. There are no age brackets. You can eat, drink, nap and talk. I'm pretty sure bathroom breaks are allowed (I don't think it would even be legal to not allow them all things considered).
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#2
England
Christmas pantomime — they're camp, silly plays aimed at children during Christmastime. It's a normal thing that happens every Christmas in the UK and Ireland. They usually have someone in drag, and there's lots of audience participation. You don't realize quite how strange they are until you take someone not from the UK to see one, and they're completely baffled.
Dee Hampton 4 hours ago
Visitors to UK: dear friends, despite the fact that you are encouraged to shout out "He's behind you!" at pantomimes, please refrain from doing it if you go to see 'Macbeth' at the Barbican (!)
#3
UK
Beans on toast with a skosh of curry powder. It's the best.
Spencer's slave no longer 7 hours ago (edited)
Beans on toast with HP, Worcestershire or a smidge of proper Marmite. Watercress in baked beans is delicious too.
#4
Sweden
Sandwich toppings in squeezable tubes. There amour of flavours are vast - ranging from prawn cheese to caviar.
#5
Vietnam
I thought everyone ate & saw avocado as a sweet dessert (turns out a lot of people think avocado desserts are disgusting). i was genuinely surprised to saw other cultures eat it in savory dishes.
#6
United States Of America
Those red solo cups. Apparently y'all think those are movie props. Haha.
NecessaryJudgment5:
I remember going to a party with lots of international students in the US. When they saw the red cups, they were all like “wow, it is just like in the movies!”
StrangeOne 6 hours ago
I always thought it's weird how Americans make a big deal out of them. They're just cups. We get them in Canada. I get there's measurements for different types of alcoholic drinks, like beer, wine, liquor, etc. For some reason, drinks don't taste good when they're in these cups. Your body heat warms up the liquids too quickly. Maybe it's just me, but I need my fancy, adult drinks in a glass.
#7
Czech Republic
Sourdough bread being the norm.
Here, when someone says "bread", they ALWAYS mean sourdough. It's normal. You can buy it anywhere. Baking one at home isn't big of a deal. It's the toast bread that needs to be differentiated. So imagine my surprise when I found out that the world has flatbreads and toasts instead.
Verena 5 hours ago
A huge part of the many variations of German bread is made with sourdough. I live in the Netherlands since a couple of decades, and always bring several "real" breads with me when visiting family and friends. Dutch bread is fantastic as holuday treat, but not for every day (and buttering it is a nightmare)
#8
Iraq
Idk how to describe it, but we have a dessert called kaahi, it's basically very very crispy bread eaten with syrup and Qaymar (a type of cream cheese that only made in Iraq), yeah that tastes like heaven and no one eats it other than us.
#9
Belgium
Apparently a lot of people think mayo with fries is gross. In Belgium it's probably the most popular sauce to have with fries (although I prefer tartar sauce).
Jaya 6 hours ago (edited)
Netherlands too. We do other sauces too, but mayo is the standard choice. In fact, it's so strongly considered the default that you don't even say "fries with mayo" when you order, but simply "fries with". We also do combinations: mayo and spicy tomato ketchup (which we call curry), or mayo and peanut sauce and raw onions, or all of those together 😄 (although that last one might be regional?)
#10
Italy
The bars. In Italy, we have 'bars,' which are places where you get a coffee, a beer, a sandwich, or cigarettes, and you always find newspapers on tables. They're a specific kind of place, not like your typical bar in other countries. I was stunned when I discovered that they aren't present in all countries of the world.
Rosa Montañà 4 hours ago
Bars in Spain are like this too, like a cafe but serving alcohol too.
#11
Canada
I dunno how universal it is, but as a kid we used to make cinnamon toast.
Bread, butter (lots), then cover the butter with a mix of sugar and cinnamon, and toast it.
I loved it!
#12
South Korea
Sweet garlic bread.
In fact it’s sweet by default in Korea, so I relatively recently learned that it isn’t in most countries.
#13
India
"Sizzling brownie (on a hot plate) with vanilla icecream, hot fudge and walnuts". I think this is pretty popular in at least the urban cities in India, and my whole life I assumed it was something we imported from the west (because it is obviously not Indian flavors). Turns out it is an Indian concept and I have only found this specific combination in Indian restaurants in the US.
Glen Ellyn 5 hours ago
I wonder if Indian brownies are different than what you find in the US. Homemade brownies fresh out of the oven are wonderful! Scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with it? Heavenly! 😇😋
#14
Brazil
I was pretty shocked as a child to find out people in other countries usually don't have rice and beans for lunch. In my mind, there was no other way of having lunch and blandly having a sandwich, a snack or a fruit seemed really wrong.
#15
Ireland
Having to face a hangover in a different country without the aid of a trusty breakfast roll isn't easy
#16
Australia
Sausage Sizzle outside of a hardware store. You get a sausage, you get a slice of white bread, you drizzle on some sauce and go into the store to get some cheap plywood or something, and it’s the best.
#17
England
Stone & lbs as the main measurement of human weight. I don’t get why we use it either. No other countries outside of the UK & Ireland use stone.
For literally everything including animals else we use kg.
#18
Australia
Saying “hip hip - hooray” three times after singing happy birthday to someone. That was a sad day for me.
#19
Puerto Rico
Having an astrology section on the nightly news.
#20
USA
Yellow school buses! I have had so many people from other countries tell me they thought that our yellow school buses were a movie/TV thing only.
I don’t know if I ever thought they were “universal” necessarily, but I do find it amusing that folks thought they were mere fiction.
#21
Bulgaria
Таратор / Tarator - a cold soup made with yoghurt, water, diced cucumber, fennel, garlic, sometimes crushed walnuts. You usually just add salt, some people might add some oil and/or vinegar.
Roman Arendt 6 hours ago (edited)
It's delicious, especially on hot summer days and so easy to prepare. And cheap. 👍🙂
#22
Finland
Dish drying cabinets. These are practically in every house. I think people are starting to use them elsewhere as well, since, well, it's great, but I don't think a lot of countries have them common. Sweden maybe?
#23
Australia
Fairy bread. First, you spread your butter thickly on a slice of bread, getting it right to the edges. Then, pour some hundreds and thousands — the little multicoloured beady spheres, similar to sprinkles — onto a dish, so you don't make a mess. Finally, press the bread into the hundreds and thousands, buttered side down, and cut into triangles.
Upstaged75 5 hours ago
I hate those things! I think I still have some stuck in my teeth from about 30 years ago.
#24
The Netherlands
Here, homework and test answers are marked with a 'krul' instead of a checkmark. It looks kind of like a cursive letter R, with a big loop. I was surprised to find out other countries don't do this.
Burned Panda 6 hours ago
And if you’re very creative, you can turn it into a cat by adding the eyes, a little nose, and a mouth.
#25
Australia
Chicken Salt. You toss this on your chippies and it just makes it taste so good, and it’s the best.
#26
South Africa
Flying ants. These things are like these massive insects that fly into the house when it rains, and then their wings fall off, and they fall to the ground, and their shredded wings are all over the floor, and you have to clean it up. And then you have these things crawling all over the floor.
I was trying to explain this to someone from America and I think she thought I was joking.
#27
Poland
Strawberry pasta. Basically just pasta with strawberry sauce on top. My favourite is with frozen strawberries; you just blend them with sour cream, add some sugar, and pour that on the pasta. It's yummy, especially when it's a hot summer day and the pasta is warm but the sauce is cold.
#28
Canada
Gravy with your fries. Order fries at any sit down in Canada and they'll ask if ypu want gravy, I tried to order gravy for my fries in the states and they looked at me like I had three heads.
Edit; I fear I must clarify, I refer not to a poutine, but a side of gravy for which to dip your fries.
Forrest Hobbs 6 hours ago
Chips and gravy is common here in the UK, but you'll generally get it poured over the chips. Fries? Get ahtahere! 😁
#29
Canada
Bagged milk.
#30
Canada
I didn’t know Clamato was mostly a Canadian thing until I travelled .. guess clams and tomato’s aren’t universally loved as a drink.
#31
Mexico
Las Mañanitas is the song people sing on birthdays. It's totally different than 'Happy Birthday,' and it's traditionally sung in the morning, to wake the person up. I thought they did it throughout Latin America, but it turns out it's just a Mexico thing.
Dee Hampton 3 hours ago
In years gone by, in UK, the birthday boy or girl would get 'the bumps' where high-spirited friends and family would take their victim by the hands and feet, swing them about a bit, then lower them down and raise them up for the number years they have been in the planet, bumping their behind (gently) on the ground. Now I have written it down, it sounds really insane.
#32
USA
One of the things that actually surprised me about other countries is that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches aren't more widespread. I figured it was kind of a standard thing in a lot of places, because "nuts and fruit" seems like a universal mix. Turns out it's basically only an American thing, and peanut butter isn't that popular overseas.
Spencer's slave no longer 7 hours ago
Peanut butter and jam, jelly is an entirely different food outside of the US.
#33
Canada
We eat hotdogs with bread, I'm poor growing up.
Have you tried Kraft dinner.
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
And above, you have the Australian sanger (aka snag sarnie). Sausage in a bread slice!
#34
USA
Ranch Dressing. Has no one thought to put a bunch of herbs in buttermilk?
Roman Arendt 6 hours ago
Germany: We did (Buttermilchdressing), but we're not as obsessed with it. And we certainly don't put it on pizza.
#35
Germany
Drogeriemarkt. It translates to drugstore, but that's not quite the same. It's a store for everyday household items. Not a grocery store. There is a bit of organic food and some snacks, but mostly cleaning stuff, hygiene products, makeup, a lot of baby-related products. I was astounded to learn that even our direct neighbours don't have these stores. My best friend moved to Switzerland and misses them a lot. You don't know that you'll need a DM until you've been to one.
#36
Sweden
We have sweets by the kilogram in all grocery stores. We had Americans visit, and they thought it was free samples.
quentariel 6 hours ago
In Finland too. It's especially clever way to buy chocolates that are otherwise really expensive nowadays.
#37
Colombia
Fried plantain! I love it and it’s such a Colombian side at lunch and more.
#38
USA
I didn't realize that thanksgiving food wasn't international. I understand that we're the only country that celebrates it, but I didn't realize that things like sweet potato casserole were also unique to us too.
#39
Germany
Maybe moreso because i was too young but as a kid when i went abroad i was gobsmacked that they didn't have Spezi (Popular drink in Germany that is basically coke with orange). In the end i just told them to mix Coke with Fanta, which they did, but that just isn't the same.
Trillian 3 hours ago
In general I find other countries lack nice tasting (not very sweet) non-alcoholic drinks. I was in the US when pregnant and all you get is water and soda. We have Schorle with a ton of different juices, Fassbrause in different flavors, ice teas that does not taste like syrup ...
#40
USA
Well this is definitely a New England thing, (though I have seen other regions of the states that eat it), the good old fluffernutter sandwich. Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.
Upstaged75 5 hours ago
My mom says this was her favorite sandwich growing up. Sounds unappetizing to me.
#41
Denmark
In Denmark we have chocolate sheets that we put on bread. It was only a couple of years ago I learned that it was non-existing outside of Scandinavia.
Roman Arendt 6 hours ago
Not only in Scandinavia. Germany/Austria: Eszet-Schnitten. Loved them as a kid.
#42
Canada
Butter tarts. I had no idea they were Canadian until a few years ago .
#43
Canada
This isn't exclusive to Canada, as it extends to some neighbouring states, but the concept of what a 'cottage' is. To me it's always been a building (of various fanciness or sizes) in a forested area, most often on a lake where you go and do stuff like have campfires, swim, and go boating. In post-Heated Rivalry discussions, I learned that there is not a universal understanding for what a cottage is.
#44
USA
Fry Sauce. I’ve learned that it is even specific to my state in the U.S. , Utah. It has become a little more widespread over the years.
It’s mayonnaise mixed with ketchup. Sometimes people add other sauces like mustard or BBQ sauce to it, but usually just mayo and ketchup.
My uncle went somewhere in Europe and asked for fry sauce. When they didn’t know what he was talking about, he asked for mayonnaise and ketchup. They brought him out a bunch of each, then he proceeded to put them in a bowl and mix them up. They were very offended.
#45
Denmark
Remoulade - a cold sauce based on mayonnaise, mixed with finely chopped pickles, capers, herbs, and sometimes curry. We put it on everything! Fish, hotdogs, french fries...
#48
Portugal
Christmas crackers, apparently *not a thing* in continental Europe or the US.
#49
Canada
Nanaimo Bars.
StrangeOne 5 hours ago
I think every province in Canada has its own desert creations, and that's cool.
#50
USA
Biscuits and gravy and just biscuits in general. I thought it was just a normal breakfast item and everybody had biscuits with breakfast.
Upstaged75 5 hours ago
I like biscuits (yes we know that's what you call cookies in other countries) but that gray gravy grosses me out.
#51
Germany
Strandkörbe
Forrest Hobbs 6 hours ago
Apparently, 'Strandkörbe' = 'Beach chairs'. Not unheard of outside of German speaking nations, I think you'll find. Deck chairs is the usual term here in the UK - although they're not like that.
#52
Scotland
The word outwith.
Forrest Hobbs 6 hours ago
Oh yes. The first time I heard 'outwith', I was - erm - slightly bewildered. I was a few hundred miles south of Scotland at the time. The perpetrator seemed to have no idea he was confusing anyone. We were all young. 😉🤣
#53
Canada
When I was younger I thought everyone used the Imperial system (don't get mad at me I was like 5) but I couldn't be more wrong.
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
Most countries have evolved to use metric, which is sensible and wasn't designed by drunk mathematicians with a broken abacus....
#54
UK
Christmas crackers seem to mostly be a British thing, though I wouldn't be surprised if they exist in some other Commonwealth countries.
#55
USA
Peanut butter cups…. The food of the gods.
Dee Hampton 3 hours ago
Yes, when the lost city of Atlantis is discovered, there will be a sophisticated bloke called Reese in a toga
#56
Canada
Not universal, but I definitely thought Jiggs Dinner was at least Canada-wide when I was a kid (from Newfoundland). The looks I got in a Toronto bar in my early 20s, as I was trying to explain the bucket of salt beef my mom used to bring home for Jigg’s 😂
#57
USA
Corn bread. I had no idea it was an American thing. Apparently it’s not a thing in Europe.
Forrest Hobbs 6 hours ago
I realize the OP will never see this, but here in Europe, all our bread is made out of corn - 'corn' referring to 'the generally most common grain crop', typically wheat. The word 'corn' predates the European discovery of the Americas, and possibly originates prior to the domestication of maize in the Americas.
#58
UK
The only thing I can think of is actually pretty specific, even here where I live which is the UK but I’m a big fan of half-and-half for your food.
It’s a Welsh thing but I didn’t realise it a turkey wasn’t a thing everywhere until I was about 11 years old.
Basically, say you order a chicken curry at the pub (first example I could think of!) and usually it just comes with rice and sometimes, depending on the pub or restaurant, you can have either rice or chips to go with the curry.
In Wales though, you can have both and it’s called half-and-half and you don’t have to pay so much more for extras or get way too much food given to you because you want chips and rice with your curry.
#59
Portugal
Sweet popcorn is the default — and it was the only option in cinemas for my entire childhood and teenage years, as far as I knew. It blew my mind when I found out as an adult that most of the world eats salty or mixed popcorn. I eat it mixed sometimes now, because my boyfriend was not raised in Portugal and prefers it, but it's still really bizarre to me.
Bill Swallow 5 hours ago (edited)
Back on the farm, at Christmas time, Mom would make a kettle of homemade caramel - starting *completely* from scratch. Then pop a couple dishpans of popcorn, add the caramel (still warm enough to be slightly fluid and workable) and a bunch of salted peanuts, mix well, and form into popcorn balls, wrapping them in waxed paper. Oh my God they were good! You can sometimes find popcorn balls in the store, but they mostly use some muck made with high-fructose corn syrup, like white Karo - and no peanuts.
#60
USA
This is super regional in the US, but in New Mexico, if you order pretty much any kind of Mexican dish the question is always Red or Green (referring to what type of chili sauce you want covering your food). And the answer “Christmas” implies you want both red and green.
#61
Ukraine
1. Smetana.
2. Being able to avoid idiotic paperwork and bureauceacy by registering almost everything online.
#62
Canada
Do other countries have ketchup chips? i thought it was an everywhere thing but then my cousins moved to the US and said there were no ketchup chips there. maybe that’s changed. they would load up on ketchup chips whenever they came to visit.
StrangeOne 5 hours ago
In UK, Walkers comes out with limited time ketchup chips. My UK bf says he likes the actual Canadian Old Dutch ketchup chips way better. I didn't like Walkers version.
#63
USA
Fresh boiled peanuts. It's bangin'!
NightOwlPanda 6 hours ago
I'm fairly sure this is almost exclusively a Southern thing. Like putting a few salted peanuts in a Coke, which a Southern-born friend told me about.
#64
USA
Getting ice in your water without specifically asking for it.
#65
USA
In Philadelphia, the best sausage sandwiches in town are all at Home Depot, we use rolls though.
Also, when I was a kid we used to butter bread and cover it in sugar.
#66
Mexico
Soda in plastic bags.
Bill Swallow 5 hours ago
Mmmm... I think I'll stick with eminently recyclable (and stackable) aluminum cans instead of plastic bags, thanks.
#67
USA
FREE REFILLS… what the hell, if you get a drink somewhere in the US as long as it’s not alcohol, unlimited free refills, and water brought to you by default when going out to eat.
It’s so weird to pay for every single refill.
Spencer's slave no longer 6 hours ago (edited)
Outside of the US, unlimited liquid sugar is not something we want.
#68
Colombia
Putting honey in fried chicken ✊😔
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
Honey soy chicken is definitely a thing in Australia and many Asian countries
#69
USA
Lemonade. Like proper lemon, water, and sugar lemonade. Everywhere else it's a carbonated lemon soda.
#70
USA
John William’s Olympic theme from the LA Olympics is played for every NBC broadcast, so I just assumed it was the official IOC anthem heard globally… turns out it’s just an us thing.
#71
USA
IFood, an app for ordering food, I thought it was an international app, but it's Brazilian.
Bob's is a fast food chain better than McDonald's and Burger King and with the best milkshakes, it's only in Brazil and I thought it was from the USA lol.
#72
USA
Taylor pork roll and scrapple. Turns out they weren’t even country specific. Outside of south eastern PA and west NJ they’re practically unheard of. Though scrapple is from Germany and apparently popular there.
Noyfb noyfb 6 hours ago
Scrapple is a mixture of pork meat, pork organs (varies a lot) and cooked cornmeal (maize meal), cut the loaf into slices and fry it. Substitute oatmeal for the maize, and you get goetta, an Ohio specialty.
#73
USA
In Texas, sliced white bread served with your barbecue. If you’re buying enough for a few people, they’ll often give you a half or whole loaf still in the plastic sandwich bread bag. When I lived in Boston, I remember someone telling me about having visited Texas and eating barbecue at “that place that serves it with white Wonderbread.” I was like, “Sir, that is every barbecue establishment in Texas.”.
#74
USA
Chocolate chip cookies. I really thought that was just the default cookie for everyone.
What do you think ?
V 5 hours ago
New Zealand. Chocolate afghans. They are a chocolate and cornflake biscuit (cookie for the Americans) topped with chocolate icing with a walnut on top. I have no idea where the name came from but they are delicious and one of the things I miss the most from New Zealand. I think I might have to make some soon, lol.
V 5 hours ago
New Zealand. Chocolate afghans. They are a chocolate and cornflake biscuit (cookie for the Americans) topped with chocolate icing with a walnut on top. I have no idea where the name came from but they are delicious and one of the things I miss the most from New Zealand. I think I might have to make some soon, lol.
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