#EverydayWonders #CultureShock
Oh, the things that we take for granted in our own country! To us, they may seem mundane, but to foreigners, they can be truly incredible. Take something as simple as our public transportation system, for example. While we might grumble about delays and packed trains, visitors from smaller countries are often amazed by the sheer size and efficiency of our transit networks.🚇
And then there’s our diverse food scene. We might think nothing of grabbing a piping hot bowl of pho or a plate of freshly steamed dumplings, but to travelers from other parts of the world, these dishes can be mind-blowing. The flavors, the aromas, the sheer variety – it’s like a culinary adventure around every corner!🍜
Even our everyday architecture can leave visitors in awe. From towering skyscrapers to centuries-old temples, the blend of modern and traditional can be a visual feast for those from more homogenous landscapes.🏙️
So, while we may see these things as just a part of our daily lives, let’s remember that to many outsiders, they’re part of what makes our country so incredibly unique and fascinating. It’s all about perspective! #IncredibleEveryday #CulturalRiches
Nightless nights, reindeer, some people really like our metal music.
Capybaras
Insanely large food portion sizes at restaurants
Fireflies. My French teacher said she was hosting some French exchange students at her house, and seeing the fireflies just blew their minds.
Hot Springs. Waterfalls. Northern Lights. Light out at 3am.
Buildings older than 200 years.
My house was built in the 1720s at the latest (maybe late 1600s) and it’s literally just my house.
Two hour long lunches with wine on workdays
The Irish pub culture. I work in one and I see lots of travellers really enjoy the atmosphere and comment that it’s not the same in their countries at all
When you push the button to make a traffic signal change, it works.
Driving 200 kilometers per hour on the Autobahn
Lions.. I live in South Africa.. Seeing game is like OK cool
Some of these are probably specific to my corner of the country and not the country at large, but here goes: Milk in bags, mixing English and French in the same conversation, keeping a door open for whomever’s coming behind you, apologizing when someone bumps into you, laws that demand you have winter tires on your car past a certain calendar date, bike paths everywhere…
Raccoons! And seeing them in ads as the featured animal for the Stockholm Zoo was wild, because they’re mainly just a nuisance.
Stroopwafels.
I work for a Japanese company in the United States. There is always a group of Japanese members that work here for 5 years at a time.
They always buy the big SUVs and trucks because Japanese vehicles tend to be small. One Director level guy bought a Lincoln Navigator along with a Corvette. Dude went full American with his vehicle choices.
(Bicycle) infrastructure.
The name Kevin. Apparently in Austria and Honduras only morons are called Kevin
I saw a British guy on Instagram recently get excited about brown paper grocery bags
Our National Parks (United States).
They are massive, gorgeous, and super accessible.
Live ww2 bombs being found during construction projects, which then need to be defused.
How many prescription ads are in America I guess
A friend of mine came to visit the States from Europe and when she saw a yellow school bus she freaked out. She thought that was just something in the movies.
My mom went to Paris once and she said that in a subway nobody asks people if they’re coming off the train on the next station. People just elbow each ither out of the way.
Where I live (Moscow) it is a common interaction. Crowded train, with some people between you and the door, and your station is next. You tap person ahead of you and ask if they’re coming off the train on the next station. If they don’t you squeeze right past them and they let you through.
Sauna. I have a sauna in my apartment, my parents have a sauna in their house, everybody basically has a sauna here. But for anyone visiting here, it’s apparently exotic.
I remember seeing someone utterly amazed by the existence of fireflies. Made me realize how much we take them for granted. It also makes me really sad seeing their decline over the last 10-15 years.
Drinkable tap water.
[Salt lakes!](https://imgur.com/a/FeaP9V6) I wish I could find my even more alien looking photos. I fly over Western Australia almost every day, and take these sites for granted.
One day a lady with an accent called me my over (I’m a flight attendant) to ask what these fascinating circles were, and seemed to think I was joking when I told her they were salt lakes.
Cobra chickens. Don’t piss them off.
Temples!! Hindu temples!!
Eating guinea pigs
Yellow school busses and mail boxes with the red metal flag.
Icebergs. Tourists love those icebergs
I’m in Japan currently so using that as “my country” for this post. The amazing warm seated, bum and lady garden washing toilets.
Apparently the Red Solo cups really blow minds
Lake Victoria. I’m from Uganda, and lots of foreigners are so fascinated by the fact that it’s the source of the Nile that is the longest river in the world. I myself just don’t really care about all that.
Pouring maple syrup on everything: pancakes, bacon, your car, your front porch, your romantic partner…
I love the trains in Japan, they make getting around so easy and it’s fun to get to see so much scenery without any effort. My Japanese friends are constantly amused by it.
Snow. There’s an exchange student in my dorm building from Egypt and he is *thrilled* about the existence of snow here. The rest of us can be complaining about it and he’s out there in the courtyard making a snowman, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt, eyes glittering with visible joy. He was so happy to find out he could go sledding for free and you didn’t need a license or to go somewhere special for it like skiing that he crushed me in an intense hug and told me I was a beautiful man before running off to go buy a sled immediately.
Kangaroos out the back. On the grass around my university. Hopping along streets. (Regional town). I had Japanese exchange students who were amazed by them, and by kookaburras. They thought the kookaburra song was made up for movies!
According to the Australians I was on a photography tour with…..squirrels.
Fireflies need tall grasses to signal their potential mates, trees to deposit their eggs, moisture and rotting wood to attract prey, and darkness to put on a great show. wetting down bags of leaves, letting them compost for six months to a year allows eggs to grow. As the wet leaves break down, they attract things firefly larvae love to eat. After a few years, you may see generations of fireflies making your garden their home.