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!
#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).
Image source: Montenegirl, Paulina Herpel
#2 Sweden
Sandwich toppings in squeezable tubes. There amour of flavours are vast – ranging from prawn cheese to caviar.
Image source: Cheeseoholics
#3 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.
Image source: Significant_Can_5060, reddit
#4 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.
Image source: Commie_scumb
#5 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!”
Image source: RuroniHS, cottonbro studio
#6 UK
Beans on toast with a skosh of curry powder. It’s the best.
Image source: darkhelmet03, HibbertUK
#7 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.
Image source: action-no-hope
#8 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.
Image source: Wise_Tune_2080
#9 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.
Image source: CommercialChart5088, reddit
#10 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.
Image source: bored_stoat, reddit
#11 Puerto Rico
Having an astrology section on the nightly news.
#12 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.
Image source: Specialist_Dust2089
#13 Ireland
Having to face a hangover in a different country without the aid of a trusty breakfast roll isn’t easy
Image source: AutomaticIdeal6685/, reddit
#14 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.
Image source: 3Thirty-Eight8
#15 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!
Image source: Malthus1, reddit
#16 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.
Image source: Fast_Bee7689
#17 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.
Image source: rikusorasephiroth, DerpsAU
#18 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.
Image source: Competitive-Mobile-3
#19 Canada
Bagged milk.
Image source: theflesheatingmuffin
#20 Australia
Saying “hip hip – hooray” three times after singing happy birthday to someone. That was a sad day for me.
Image source: sterilepillow, Samuel Lopez Cruz
#21 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.
Image source: Noxolo7
#22 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.
Image source: Easy_Charge898
#23 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.
Image source: Lexi_November, stevemajor
#24 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.
Image source: Consistent-Shoe-9602
#25 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).
Image source: DueAd9005, Absisvenomous
#26 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?
Image source: Hashishiva, LetsGoToTheMars
#27 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.
Image source: Pnk_sawdust
#28 Sweden
We have sweets by the kilogram in all grocery stores. We had Americans visit, and they thought it was free samples.
Image source: Thykothaken
#29 Canada
We eat hotdogs with bread, I’m poor growing up.
Have you tried Kraft dinner.
Image source: evilpercy
#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.
Image source: Flimsy_Situation_506
#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.
Image source: Lindanga
#32 Australia
Chicken Salt. You toss this on your chippies and it just makes it taste so good, and it’s the best.
Image source: 3Thirty-Eight8
#33 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.
Image source: gentlybeepingheart
#34 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.
Image source: pechymcpeach
#35 USA
Ranch Dressing. Has no one thought to put a bunch of herbs in buttermilk?
Image source: Redbubble89, reddit
#36 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.
Image source: J_hoff
#37 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.
Image source: ThisOneRedditTem, Sabotenn
#38 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.
Image source: herolyat
#39 Colombia
Fried plantain! I love it and it’s such a Colombian side at lunch and more.
Image source: saltytearsss
#40 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.
Image source: rabies_peppermint, reddit
#41 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.
Image source: EntireDance6131
#42 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.
Image source: butthatwasbefore
#43 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.
Image source: Jayra0823
#44 Canada
Butter tarts. I had no idea they were Canadian until a few years ago .
Image source: Stunning_Patience_78
#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…
Image source: Needy_Sheep
#46 Taiwan
Corn soup at McDonald
Image source: TxJxCh
#47 Portugal
Christmas crackers, apparently *not a thing* in continental Europe or the US.
Image source: MentalPlectrum
#48 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.
Image source: arcticwolf9347
#49 UK
Christmas crackers seem to mostly be a British thing, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they exist in some other Commonwealth countries.
Image source: Ben-D-Beast
#50 USA
Peanut butter cups…. The food of the gods.
Image source: skibidi99
#51 Germany
Strandkörbe
Image source: Waschbetonkugel
#52 Canada
All Dressed Flavoured Chips, I was shocked when I found that one out.
Image source: Awier_do
#53 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.
Image source: rosiedacat, Artistic_Panic_868
#54 Canada
Nanaimo Bars.
Image source: MenacingGummy
#55 Ukraine
1. Smetana.
2. Being able to avoid idiotic paperwork and bureauceacy by registering almost everything online.
Image source: Wojewodaruskyj
#56 USA
Biscuits and gravy and just biscuits in general. I thought it was just a normal breakfast item and everybody had biscuits with breakfast.
Image source: No_Math_1234
#57 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.
Image source: nuptial_flights
#58 USA
Fresh boiled peanuts. It’s bangin’!
Image source: ratchetcoutoure
#59 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.
Image source: Hyper_Applesauce
#60 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 😂
Image source: AdBright8774
#61 USA
Corn bread. I had no idea it was an American thing. Apparently it’s not a thing in Europe.
Image source: OhNoBricks
#62 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.
Image source: harrietmjones
#63 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.
Image source: Ski4ever5
#64 Scotland
The word outwith.
Image source: Saltine3434
#65 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.
Image source: Koshnat
#66 USA
Getting ice in your water without specifically asking for it.
Image source: Samuel_Trollfa-GE
#67 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.”.
Image source: Gordita_Chele
#68 USA
Lemonade. Like proper lemon, water, and sugar lemonade. Everywhere else it’s a carbonated lemon soda.
Image source: fajitasteve65
#69 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.
Image source: anon
#70 Colombia
Putting honey in fried chicken ✊😔
Image source: spanish_joint_Cm
#71 USA
Chocolate chip cookies. I really thought that was just the default cookie for everyone.
Image source: acetrainerhaley
#72 Mexico
Soda in plastic bags.
Image source: __DeezNuts__
#73 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.
Image source: skibidi99
#74 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.
Image source: deathwotldpancakes
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