Differing cultural norms - worldly insights

The recent baby formula discussion got me thinking about cultural differences.
One fascinating cultural difference I learned this year thanks to Tim Ferris and Derek Sivers is about addresses in Japan. In the Western world, the streets are named and houses are numbered in sequential order. In Japan, the blocks are named and the houses are numbered in the order they were built. For the Japanese, the streets are empty spaces and the blocks contain all the importance (i.e. the people in buildings).
I think this is a brilliant perspective which I've never given 2 seconds of thought to previously.
Started this topic in case others have discovered other fascinating differences and wanted to share or ask questions about.

Happy 2019 Everyone and thank you for the contributions. As a tldr, some I really liked;
dust super quick to comment and pointed out that in Asia, people say their family name first.
thevofa fired up the discussion around cruelty to animals in different countries.
Shadowsfury don't start eating before the elder at the table or drink whilst looking at the elder in Korean culture.
sqleonhart "no shoes inside" policy for many Asian households.
MissG gave insights to spraying yourself after going to the toilet rather than wiping with toilet paper.
chumlee shout out to our Kiwi friends and their delightful accent when prouncing sex - I believe they think it means six.
Wiede in the Middle East, you tear bread with your hands, not cut it using knives.
DiscoJango plenty of great examples, particularly around Japan.
Tripnfelt interesting fact on filler words (i.e. um, ah, you know).
p1 ama USA imperial system vs the rest of the world.
munecito Venezuela's street names!
zeoko German toilets. Possibly more funky than squat toilets.

Comments

        • In the City of Whitehorse (Forest Hill - Blackburn area).

          • @91rs: Sorry that you have to encounter many rude people in Melbourne. And that it marred your impression of Melbournians.

            But I can assure you that as a Melbournian, when I travel to different suburbs, I notice where people in general gets more polite or more rude. In a general sense, not individually, as you can find nice and rude people everywhere. It is the demographics, and if a person encounters rude people often enough at a place, they may start to emulate the behaviour, so the problem gets worse.

            I do not know your suburb well, but perhaps this is what you are observing. I highly doubt it is the Melb-Syd rivalry, which is an amicable one.

            • @bluesky: Yeah Sydneysiders often think Victorians hate New South Wales/Sydney. In actual fact we barely care. If you want proper hatred, it's all about South Australia and the footy!

      • Are you sure they're serious? There's the friendly Melbourne-Sydney rivalry but what you're saying seems pretty unrealistic.

        I'm moving to Sydney this month, I wonder what it will be like the other way around.

    • Japanese men have been taking the opportunity to grope women on crowded public transport for a long time, I don’t call that polite. The main population problem japan has is that women don’t want to just be wife and mother anymore so a good number are avoiding marriage.

  • +3

    In the US, they write their date Month > Day > Year for some reason.

    • +3

      Sorting makes more sense then DD/MM/YY. Personally I use CCYY/MM/DD to take out the confusion working in a global company.

      • +1

        +1 people look at me strange when I use it for electronic documents :(

      • +1

        Sorting still make no sense because it ignores the year. YYYYMMDD is probably the best.

    • But apparently in they military the write it Day/Month/Year

    • +1

      this date format has no logic at all, seriously none, yet they do it.

  • +4

    In China the pause word, how we say "um" when pausing and thinking while speaking, sounds a lot like "nggr".

    • +2

      It’s sounds like “nega” or “naega”. Russell Peters made fun of this in his stand up routine https://youtu.be/BrsWp07BwVk.

      • hah, didn't realise some people considered it a pause word. I haven't seen this routine before either.

        It's not exactly the same as "um". It's closer to "thing-a-me-bob" and used when you can't think of the name of something. It translates to "that" or "that one" ("ne" = "that" and "ga" = "one").

        • Could it be used for both situations?

    • +1

      Good thing this is Australia, but its sad that this place is still getting influenced by americas ugly culture

  • +1

    How good is Japan Post?

  • +2

    Probably the most consequential cultural difference in practical terms is the US vs. basically the rest of the world in their insistence to use the imperial system.

    For most people who have never lived with the imperial system, this is a massive pain. I find that most distance units I'm fine with (I have a good sense of how far an inch, mile…etc. are), but anything else usually needs a quick Google to work out.

    Perhaps more importantly, for engineers/physicists…etc. it means multiplying by constants everywhere because most physical constants are measured in SI units.

    • +1

      I thought American gov officially went metric years ago?

    • +1

      This! I don't get it. They threw a little tea party and a small war to get away from the Imperials, and now still insist on using the imperial system.

      Meanwhile, the Imperials are using the metric system, like the rest of the sensible world.

      Not sure about Mexico or Canada though.
      Although it would be confusing if you were driving from one of the main 48 states to Alaska and Canada has the metric system.

      I do remember reading about a NASA satellite blowing up or something to that effect, because American engineers were using inches, and non-American engineers were using centimeters.

      • Although it would be confusing if you were driving from one of the main 48 states to Alaska and Canada has the metric system.

        Canada is indeed metric, their speed limits (for example) are posted in km/h like here in Australia.

        • Oh wow, thanks for that info!

          So that kinda confirms that the USA is reliably the only country still using the imperial system.

          • +2

            @KSMLJ: Along with Liberia and Myanmar

          • @KSMLJ: Don’t they use the imperial system in the UK?

            • +1

              @geech: No, the UK officially uses metric. Since they switched much later than us in Australia, colloquially people still use imperial units, e.g. for distances, drink sizes…etc. Friends from the UK tell me they teach metric in schools and exams are in metric units.

              • @p1 ama: Fair enough. I'm only basing it on when I visited nearly 15 years ago, and I thought things like fresh food in the supermarkets was sold in imperial - as well as most cooking recipes I see from the UK also list everything in imperial

              • @p1 ama: Speed limits in the UK are still in mph, so not all metric.

                • @skeggman: This is one of the weirdest things in the UK. The road signs are still in mph, but certain legal speed limits (e.g. for large trucks and buses are actually in metric, source - http://metricviews.org.uk/2007/12/uk-speed-limits-go-metric/). Given the only the UK and US are the only major countries with imperial road signs, I think it will eventually change. Almost everything is metric. Fuel is sold by the litre in the UK, not gallon, for example.

      • There were a few aviation accidents regarding this.

        That's why in aviation, is USA, they use the metric system for fuelling up.

  • +18

    After living in the US for the last 6 months, I'm still surprised when people say "Wow you're from Australia how did you live in such a dangerous country?" referring to the animals….last time I checked a snake with mental health issues can't go buy and assault rifle and kill a bunch of random people

    • +2

      Snakes don't kill lives, humans do. Unless the human is a snake and said snake buys a gun. More confusing than the trinity.

      • +5

        solid snake kills lives

        • That bastard.

    • -3

      Maybe he heard all the snakes are black or brown!

      https://i.imgtc.com/ugFV8tb.jpg

    • Plenty of animals that can kill you in Australia but unlike the US they don't chase you and eat you. Provided you don't get in the water.

  • in other countries, it's quite common for people to speak more than one language

    • +1

      You referring to the USA, NZ, UK?

      • +1

        Most of Asia, Africa, South America and europe.

        India and China in particular have a huge amount of dialects that are not mutually intelligible and are confined to small towns

        • +1

          @tomkun01 Just splitting hair…China has dialects, India has languages

          • @aerom: I'm not well versed about Indian languages, but Chinese "dialects" are often somewhere inbetween, say, a Japanese dialect and a completely different language. I'd argue that being mutually unintelligible classifies them more as languages than dialects

            • @belongsinforums: @tomkun01 do they use different scripts/grammer and numbers as well? That is my idea of language(Maybe wrong)

              • @aerom: Some, yes. Numbers are arabic worldwide these days. Old scripts have been lost through government regulation. The spoken languages are very much alive though. Korean is even a recognised chinese race!

            • @belongsinforums: Cantonese and mandarin are languages not dialects though?

  • +3

    In Venezuela naming streets is relatively recent. The original configuration of the cities uses corner names for addresses.

    The corner names are very creative and you have names like. Bag corner or the corner of the dead.

    So to give an address on the old part of the city you would go something like. From colourful corner to misery corner. Building San Antonio.

    So for every block you need to learn 4 names.

    The addresses over there take about 5 full lines as you also tend to include a landmark.

    When I first came to Australia I was always worried that the addresses were too short and weren't going to be found.

    • +7

      just add in some landmarks for good measure!

      mr john smith
      1 white court
      blackburn north
      around the corner from the maccas and the crazy dude that yells at cars
      melbourne
      vic
      3864

      • +1

        You would be surprised but some landmarks are just like that.

        Around the corner where the ice cream man parks his trolley (you'd hope the ice cream man doesn't chuck a sickie on the day).

  • +2

    Germany: Google shelf toilet!! Not sure how would I ever use it.

    • +3
      • +1

        Maybe a way around is to sit facing the flush tank so landing is just correct!! 😂😂😂😂

      • After reading that article (which appears to be American) I actually have to agree that you splash yourself in an American toilet (where the water level is much too high).

        Australian toilets really are the best design (they don't block up as often as US toilets).

        As for German toilets…I did not know that existed. HA Germans are an interesting people.

        • The worst part with an American toilet is they flood more easily. They are already half full of water, if they don’t drain the water comes in and goes over the top. The main advantage is you get less “clingons” as there is more water.

    • In Russia we used to have these toilets. Worked fine, only one flush required.

    • Those toilets are in other countries as well, specifically in the former Eastern Block.

      No issues with flushing.

  • In some/all Scandinavian countries front doors open outward. Saves heaps of space in the entry. Why oh why do doors have to open inward here. My current entry is tiny so considering fixing it…

    • +5

      inward opening doors have the hinges inside, so burglars cant pop the hinges from the outside.

      https://youtu.be/rnmcRTnTNC8?t=138

      • In the video at 3:30 he mentioned you can have security pins or jamb screws which prevent removal of the door even if the hinges are popped off.

    • My guess with doors opening inwards. Is to avoid someone hitting someone else with the door. Say your door opens into a hallway. How would you know someone was in the hallway. Whereas if the door open inwards. You would have to be unco to hit yourself opening your door towards you.

      As for someone going in to your room. They can knock before opening the door.

    • It’s a standard in Russia too. Makes sense in case of fire / emergency you push the door to get out.

  • +2

    This is one of the biggest differences between English-speaking cultures and the places overseas that we like to visit.

    TL;DR: We like to spell out everything we mean using language but many places rely more on non-verbal communication to convey meaning.

    I've lived overseas in a few high context cultures and as a fairly taciturn person I enjoy the reduced reliance on words in everyday conversation.

  • +2

    Asian culture (or perhaps just me) - I find it extremely awkward opening gifts in front of the person who's given it to you. Is this a thing?

    • +1

      May be related to the belief that red envelopes given for Lunar New Year should never be opened in front of the giver.

    • +1

      yep, i think it comes from being told off for opening a red pocket in front of my grandparents as a child. Whenever work throws a farewell party, I always find it awkward that everyone expects the 'farewelled' to open their gift on the spot.

    • +10

      Yes, opening both gifts or red pockets in front of the giver is rude because it shows that you care more about the gift/money itself instead of the person right in front of you who gave you the gift.

      But in the Aussie/western culture, the giver gets pleasure from seeing the expression of the person who gets and unwraps the gift right there. They also feel robbed when the receiver goes and opens the gift in private.

      • Oh wow socks!

      • Besides we all know the red pockets goes for the parents for 'safekeeping' and is never seen again.

        • -1

          What a stupid comment.

  • Not sure if this was in S.Korea or Bali, but whenever anyone ever handed over money to you, they would do it with a lot of respect.

    • The thais do the same also.

  • +2

    In asian culture, it is polite to hand over a business card with two hands and receive with two hands.

    • +1

      Same goes with recieving money from customer.

    • Yes have experienced this too.

  • Which culture eats dogs and cats again?

    • +1

      Koreans viets and chinese apparently eat dogs.

    • -6

      No one should be telling what they can and cannot eat, always the extreme green peace protesters costing tax payers!

      • +1

        we know what you're eating this year

        • -6

          Do you or neggers support those hippie idiots that use one viral vid of animal mistreatment to disrupt the whole animal chain production, that hinders country relations and ultimately causes more animal deaths due to stopping exports

    • +1

      I own a dog, a labrador retreiver to be exact, and just happed to eat dog when I went on vacation to S Korea.
      Not as easy to find as these days, as it's only really the older people that enjoy eating dog.
      Koreans only started eating dog due to the Korean War; when people really had nothing to eat anyways.
      From there, I suppose it became a tradition of some sort for the older people, especially people that went through the war, to have dog meat.
      And guess what, I heard it increases stamina ;)
      But I still prefer the taste of beef pork or chicken over dog anyways

      • +1

        These myths sounds like what my parents used on me to eat food that makes me gag :)
        Eat pigs blood jelly, its good for …
        Eat fermented fish it will make your… more…
        Eat duck foetus eggs. It will improve your….

        I never fell for it, and I'm sure there are other ways to improve my body :)

  • +2

    In India and maybe also some neighbouring countries, it is normal / not considered rude to honk to notify the driver ahead to give way. I think this might be the case because no one uses the mirrors over there.

    Common to see the sign 'Horn ok please' on the back of larger vehicles.

    • +1

      I've noticed in the Philippines that drivers will honk when they change lanes in front of someone, as a warning I suppose to say "I am moving here". Then again, a 4 lane road will have 6 lanes of traffic so…

    • +3

      Yes very true in Southeast Asian countries, a honk is equivalent to a bicycle ringing their bell to say "Be careful, I am near you"

      Here and some other countries. A honk is almost equivalent to saying "F…. You!!"

  • +2

    In Indian culture its social etiquette to touch the feet of your elders (at least blood relatives and immediate family) to show your respect when you meet them initially and then while leaving as well. So imagine if you go to dinner and you have your grandparents (both sides) and then maybe your uncle and aunts, how many pairs of feet you would be touching!

    • +1

      You would hate to be a germaphobe in that household.

  • +1

    The Chinese are extremely superstitious. Their unlucky number is 4 compared to western number 13. Hotels for example would not have the level 4.

    However, they take it to the next level and numbers play a significant role in their lives. House number with a 4 in it? Nope, no way they want that. Number 8 - lucky number.

    Many Chinese believes in Feng Shui as well.

    • +2

      I've always known this, but thought it was just a lucky/unlucky number. Though I found out recently it's to do with the numbers sounding similar to certain words.

      The way number 8 in mandarin is pronounced is similar to the way luck is pronounced in mandarin. Hence 8 being a lucky number.

      This is the same for the number 4. However 4 sounds the same as the word death. I've heard someone say 4 and death in mandarin and in fact it does sound quite similar. Here i was thinking it's unlucky as it's half of 8.

      This causes issues with some Chinese developers as they skip level 4 or unit 4 in newly built apartment blocks. For example they'll show 13 levels, but there is only 12 as they skip level 4. This is to please Chinese investors.

      The issue here is that, the council comes in at a later surge and changes this back to 12 to include level 4 and it throws out the addressing. Crazy stuff.

    • -1

      On the plus side, they don't believe in imaginary men who live in the clouds and control our lives

      • Off the top of my head, I can think of a number of deities that has Chinese worshippers :

        Jade Emperor – First God/Heavenly Grandfather
        Guanyin – Goddess of Mercy
        Caishen – God of Wealth
        Guanyu – God of War
        Kitchen God

        They originated from myriads of belief systems (Daoism, Buddhism etc), or real historical figures that gain mythical and deity status. Pretty sure there are others too. Worshippers hope for blessings in return for worship.
        I've also visited Chinese temples, they are very elaborate/decorative and interesting.

        • It's more customary than faith. Kinda like Japan. Find me a chinese buddhist evangelist and I'll change my mind.

          • @belongsinforums: Your initial premise was Chinese do not believe in deities who control their lives.

            The fact is : those who worship, do believe these deities will change or influence their lives (probably “control” as you put it, is too strong a word). E.g., those who worship God of Wealth is hoping that the God will bestow wealth upon them.

            Whether Chinese Buddhists are evangelistic or not has nothing to do with your initial premise. I am just stating facts; I have no interest in changing your mind.

            • @bluesky: That's true. I think that evangelistic tendencies are a measure of faith. But perhaps I'm wrong

              • +1

                @belongsinforums: Whether they have evangelistic (defined as wanting to convert people - so we're on the same page) is irrelevant to your original point, which is that they don't believe in higher beings/powers.

                It is possible for someone to believe in a god, yet not be evangelistic.

  • Good amount of baseless stereotypes in this thread.

    • hyperbole?

    • Examples?

    • +5

      Randolph Duke showing off the Aussie culture of opening the mouth before engaging the brain.

      • That’s not a thing, but you can add it to my list below.

    • Examples:
      natives of most countries (that are usually poor and live in the country side) are some of the nicest people you will meet

      americans inside voice is louder than our outside voices

      some hawain locals are so physically large they need to buy 2 airline seats for 1 person

      americans have been completely brainwashed against anyone that is muslim or looks ethnic and has a beard.

  • +2

    Dont shit where you eat. recognised by all worldly cultures

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