Culture Shock

When going somewhere new, most if not everyone will experience some form of culture shock. That's because they aren't used to the way things are done in those countries.

1. Japanese convenience stores have everything you need and more

-The sheer awesomeness of Japanese convenience stores. My local 7-11 has sticky floors and doubtful-looking packaged sandwiches. The 7-11s in Japan is clean, well-lit, have a great selection of lunch/dinner prepackaged meals, and not only do they have a cold drink section, but they also have a special heated unit for hot drinks. When I saw all the technological innovations in Japan, I felt like I came from a third-world country.

2. Tattoos in Budapest certainly stand out...

-When I was in Budapest, I visited a couple of public baths. My boyfriend noticed a lot of people staring at me, after a while, I realized I was the only one with tattoos.

3. Children practically holding the bridge hostage in The Philippines

-On the trip from the airport, a group of homeless children took control of a bridge and demanded payment for people crossing it. People actually paid too

4. Snow is a foreign concept to children in Thailand

-I visited a school in a tiny village in the north Thailand mountains once. During a Q&A with the class, one of the children asked me what the weather was like in my country - I told him it was snowing. There was a little murmur in the classroom, then the teacher said, 'The children would like you to elaborate on this "snow"'. They had zero concepts of ice from the sky! Some of them may never see snow but it was cool to explain that to them.

5. Even at 1am, the trains in Japan are jam packed

-Went to Japan. The first night at 1 AM in the metro and it was loaded with people in suits and other formal clothing looking completely exhausted almost falling asleep on each other's laps, just an ordinary day for Tokyo people.

6. In the Czech Republic, beer is cheaper to drink than water

-How much people drink beer in the Czech Republic. You cannot get a nonalcoholic drink in a bar cheaper than a beer. And then I looked it up and low and behold, the Czech's have the highest beer consumption in the whole world

7. Good looks are common in Denmark

-My cousin and I went to Denmark a few years back. Everyone there is good-looking they all had good fashion and sense of style. It was ridiculous!

It got to a point where we played a game to find an "ugly"/dressed-down person. Couldn't find anyone for a solid 2 hours, and we were in the heart of downtown Copenhagen.

It made me want to live there because everyone is beautiful, but also did not want to live there because I'd feel pressured to appear my best 24/7. Sometimes I like wearing comfy, nonfashionable clothes when I run errands

8. Paying to pee in Europe

-Having to pay to use a public toilet in many parts of Europe.

I am from Australia where there are free public toilets everywhere, and before anyone asks, yes they generally are pretty clean

9. Roads or electricity are luxuries in South Sudan

-I landed in Juba, South Sudan. There was anti-aircraft stuff on the roof of the airport, child soldiers in the tiny arrivals hall. The airport gift shop was selling loose raw eggs and salt. There were no roads, no electricity, no bank system, no running water, and no garbage collection

10. The inequality in India is unrivaled

-I'm from one of the most unequal countries in the world, but going to India still blew my mind. Delhi is a heaving, throbbing city, people sleeping in literal dirt next to mansions. Perhaps the pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal was the most eye-opening. By far the most beautiful, perhaps most opulent, man-made structure I've seen on earth, but it's mired in the most saddening poverty imaginable

11. Wide open spaces in the USA

-Example of culture shock in reverse - I'm an American who has spent the past 2 years living in China. After my first trip back to the US (after a full year abroad) I was just really shocked by how much grass there was everywhere. Space is such a luxury in Beijing that it was startling to see how much is devoted to your average front/back yard. I was also shocked by how enormously wide the roads in my suburban section of the city felt!

12. Kids in Japan have so much freedom

-The level of freedom they give kids in Japan. When I went there as an exchange student at age 16, I had basically almost always had an adult with me when outside of the house, or at the very least, they always knew where I was. Suddenly, I'm in Sannomiya, a massive shopping hub in Kobe, and my host brother just tells me to do whatever I want while he's at German lessons for a couple hours. It took me an hour before I left the train station because I had to fight the instinct to wait and be told where I could go. It was so liberating, just going wherever I wanted, shopping and buying what I wanted, and my only limit was my walking distance and my available time. It was my first real experience of freedom, and honestly, back in America I still don't feel that way, even while driving. Now I just feel shackled to a car rather than my home

13. California has big everything

-I live in northern Canada in less than 800 people town in the middle of nowhere. So the first time I went to California was a massive culture shock. Big cities, 8 lanes of freeway traffic, having to lock your doors, skyscrapers (anything above 3 floors), subways, well... everything really. I think what got to me most was the lack of trees.

14. One thing in the US, another in the UK

-Smarties are chocolate.

I'm from the US and the first time I was in the UK, on the very first day, I bought a pack of Smarties thinking it was pure sugar to perk me up from the jetlag.

I "drank" the box to get a quick mouthful and was suddenly hit by the taste of chocolate and was shocked. (Also a couple of minutes later I found out that I was allergic to the dye they use in the coating--which I would've known if I bothered to read the box.)

Anyway, Smarties are chocolate. Beware

15. Few forks to be found in South Korea

-USA to South Korea for school. Eating lunch in the cafeteria for the first time on my second day, trying to eat ramen with chopsticks and realizing too late that I should've spent more time working with chopsticks before coming to a country with very few forks. Thankfully another girl nearby took pity on me and taught me through miming how to make it work