Culture Shock

Culture shock is the main reason why I've never wanted to travel outside the US. Sure, places like the UK are fairly similar, and I wouldn't even know the difference, but it's still worrisome to me. It's mainly for the reason that I'm picky about food. Most other places have different types of food that I would be too afraid to try. Who knows, maybe over time, I'll get over this fear and make an effort to travel elsewhere. :lew:
 
This happened to me after I had lived in New York for so many years, then when we were coming out here, our car broke down and we ended up in Georgia. Right we were thrown off by how different everything was. Stores actually had a closing time. We were used to 24 hour stores, so we were like "what the hell". The people we were around also had a slight accent. We were used to seeing all the sidewalks and lights everywhere when we walked outside, but in Georgia..... It was quiet, dark nights. That's the closest I've come to a culture shock.
 
The biggest culture shock I got was in Russia. I thought I understood what to expect beforehand, but it did catch me off guard.

Russians don't smile nearly as much as Australians do. In Australia, it is generally normal to smile out of politeness when you make eye contact with someone, when talking to people etc etc.. Apparently, Russians only smile when they are genuinely happy. They also, have a pretty blunt manner of speaking; often speaking in short, loud bursts. This sounds like it's no big deal, but I initially thought everyone hated me and I was pretty miserable. :lew: I was glad I spent 7 nights on a Russian train, so I got the chance to realize that they are wonderful people once you break down the initial barriers.

Extreme poverty.

Crossing a road in Russia seems unbelievably dangerous.

There is a much higher security presence in Russia than what I'm used to: a lot of people in official looking uniforms with batons, security is heavily armed, there are a lot more metal detectors and the police are very intimidating. I wasn't used to seeing fully automatic weapons and soldiers in everyday life, so this made me pretty uncomfortable.

Basically, on my first day in Russia I went for a small walk, then stayed in my hotel for the rest of the day because I felt like everyone in the city wanted to fucking kill me. :lew:
 
Never really been to place where ive been really shocked by how different the people are. When I was in Germany I thought the people seemed very grumpy. Like the sash said over here its quite common to smile if someone looks at you or say 'fit like' or 'alright?' something like that when you make eye contact with them.
I thought everyone in Germany seemed very grumpy, in shops and stuff there was no conversation with the person at the till. They just payed and left looking all grumpy. The prime example was this waitress at a rooftop bar we were in. She had such a scowl on her face. When we did talk to her though suddenly she just sprung to life and was happily chatting away to me with a big simile on her face. This seemed to be the case for mostly everyone i thought. They didnt start a conversation but as soon as you did they were all very happy to talk to you. The Germans I thought were all well mannered, very nice and warm people.

Driving through the 'countryside' in Turkey. Im not sure you could call it that as it was all very brown was quite shocking. The houses there were little run down sheds. They were full of holes and some were barely standing up. It was like what I imagine driving through Africa would be like :hmmm: It was a very poor area, the people have it tough i reckon. the Turks though are very very nice people. They can be annoying as hell when theyre trying to get you to come to their restaurant and theyre bar or shop but they were genuinely really really nice people. Getting you to come to their bar was important for buisness, they need the money. But after a few days of everyone stopping you it really grinds at your patience. You could instantly start up a conversation with them and there wouldnt be any struggle for banter. Smooth talkers too, the ladies loved them.
Looking forward to seeing Auzzy culture later this year :D Ive already finished reading my slang book so i can fit right in :ohoho:
 
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