I came across a post and one of the points of that post was about how a part of Europe ate seating and another ate walking. First of all, what the hell? Who eats walking? Do you go to a restaurant and just order food and eat on your way home? I know that some asian cultures eat on their knees or sitting on the floor (according to anime, at least!) and i know some that have different cutlery from the Western countries. My sister has travaled a lot and she's been to countries where spitting in the floor of restaurants is something common.
This got me thinking about common things that I consider completely normal, but that on other cultures may be thought of as strange or out of the ordinary. I'm from Portugal (yes, Cristiano Ronaldo, i know) and i'm going to write down things that i consider "portuguese customs" and that might be very strange from other countries.
- People eat sitting in chairs, at 12am to 2pm and at 7pm to 9pm
- We use western cutlery
- The time is measured in 0 to 24h and we have Daylight Saving's Time
- Most people want to go to college and their parents pay for it
- People come back home after college and move out when they're between 22 and 30 years of age
- Summer vacation is usually considered going somewhere with a beach (we have a massive coastline)
- Winter vacation is going to Serra da Estrela
- Everyone drinks coffee, at 0.50€ to 1.00€, from 1 to 3 times a day, in a tiny cup
- There isn't the social convention of women sitting in a bar and getting paid a drink; to meet girls, we either talk to them out of the blue and ask for a phone number or someone introduces them to us
- Majority of population is Christian, although we have a fair share of other kinds of beliefs (every once in a while, a Jehova's Witness comes ringing the doorbell)
- Every religion or lack of religion is socially acceptable (well... as long as you don't worship Satan or something)
- Little nudity or swearing on TV; and only after a certain hour with an "Adult Content Sign" on the corner
- 4 TV Channels
- Commercial breaks last from 5min to 15mins (it's ridiculous...)
- Everyone is a football (the european football, not that ridiculous sport americans call football) fan / hooligan
- Saturday night is spent in a bar drinking beer and (if you're in the mood) in the disco until sunrise
- People are friendly (most of the time!) if you don't look like a fucking creep
- Immigrants and gipsies are all around us and there are lots of stereotypes about them
- Internet is expensive and comes in bundles with TV and Phone (30€ a month for Fiber is a good deal)
- Saturday and Sunday are resting days
- Sunday morning is church!
- The term "sedan" is unheard of
- The news come on during meal times and everone watches the news
- We only dub movies and cartoons for children; everything else is subbed (go to France or Spain and watch French Rambo....)
- We learn other languages in school. Most people opt for english, some for french/spanish and some for something more exotic
- In school, there are 10m to 20m breaks between classes, which are usually 1h30m each. There is also a lunch break and you pay for your lunch in the school cafeteria
- Most kids go to kindergarten before 4 years of Primary School, which are followed by 5 years of Middle School and 3 years of Secondary School (totalling 12 years of education before college)
- School starts in September and ends in June, with Winter vacation, Summer vacation, Carnival, Easter, etc
- Some kids join Professional Schools instead of going to Secondary School
- We pay for books, but not for classes until we get to College
- School is mandatory until the 9th grade
- Every couple of school years there are final exams to evaluate you
- Grades are INS (Insufficient), SUF (sufficient), BOM (good) and MB (very good) during Primary School, 1 to 5 during Middle School (3 means passing) and 0 to 20 during Secondary School
- People in the military get paid a lot and have tons of discounts (on public transportation and other services)
- There are highways everywhere (with tolls)
- There are good public transport systems (mostly in bigger cities or between districts)
- The country is divided in 18 districts (and 2 archipelagos), which are divided in Concelhos, which are further divided in Freguesias
- People have weird accents among the country (people in the north of portugal pronounce the sound "V" as "B")
- Everybody downloads everything
- Unit of measurement is Meter, Weight is Kilo, and dates are DD/MM/YYYY.
- ATM's let you pay bills, charge your phone (with money), withdraw, etc
Well, for now, I can't think of many more "common" things that might be really different from what happens on other countries. Maybe I'll add up to this list as time goes on.
Did you find some of these absurd? If so, comment down below with what is done in your country and try to think of things that you've always thought of as completely normal but might not be so.
High five!
David
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