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What do you find * about other cultures?


Illusion of Terra

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So yeah, is there something you find weird/great/fascinating/strange/and-what-have-you about other cultures? What is it?

Keep in mind that these will most probably include generalizations and stereotypes which might only be true for a small part of people of that culture. So let's keep this civilized and take everything with a grain of salt and most importantly with a lot of humor!

 

One thing about the US I find weird is the shoe thing. It's just weird that you guys wear shoes inside the house 😂 What I find fascinating on the other hand is the customer service being so accommodating (although it might be demanding for the workers themselves).

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10 minutes ago, Illusion of Terra said:

One thing about the US I find weird is the shoe thing. It's just weird that you guys wear shoes inside the house 😂<span>

This one really depends on the person and reason. There are a few people that go barefoot inside, and some people that are completely barefoot all the time.

However, the thing that bothers me is our obsession with cleanliness and sanitation. Both are good, but not always for the right reasons, or because of things people grow to believe.

As for the topic at hand, the thing I find weird is that Australia is almost as obsessed with coffee as, or maybe more than, the US. A lot of the nations that had been colonized by Britain tend to be really similar in a lot of ways today, but my brother and SIL, who visited Australia, said Australia is even more similar to the UK than the US, but they drink coffee more than tea.

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2 minutes ago, brycec said:

 and some people that are completely barefoot all the time.

You mean, outside the house too? Wouldn't that be kinda dangerous, stepping on broken glass etc?

Also the sanitation thing never struck me as a US thing, more of a stereotypical Japan thing?

Never heard about Australia and coffee before 😂

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1 minute ago, Illusion of Terra said:

You mean, outside the house too? Wouldn't that be kinda dangerous, stepping on broken glass etc?

Yeah, outside the house too. Supposedly, it is better because you have better traction when you are completely bare foot, plus you get more data, thanks to the sense, in addition to being easier to learn to walk.

There could be dangers like that, but generally, we do not trust our bodies enough anyway, at least over here, so it would be iffy.

6 minutes ago, Illusion of Terra said:

Also the sanitation thing never struck me as a US thing, more of a stereotypical Japan thing?

We probably are not the heaviest into it (if anything we are way too obsessed with body odor to the point where we unknowingly negatively affect the immune system), but we have been so obsessed with covering our feet that people find it disgusting to go into the streets without shoes, regardless of whether you have socks or not (my own mother would not let me walk in the parking lot without footwear for sanitation reasons and possible wear and tear of sock, even though the footwear I had at the time would not stay on and I was frustrated at the time).

13 minutes ago, Illusion of Terra said:

Never heard about Australia and coffee before 😂<span><span>

Never knew it either, until my brother went there, but we might need an Aussie to confirm it, seeing how my BIL said that soda tastes differently in the UK from the US, but one of the people from the UK I have contact with made it seem like the taste is going to be similar for some sodas, due to the sugar tax.

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@brycec I wouldn't mind walking barefoot on grass etc, but on asphalt/streets it just seems a bit inconvenient for me, especially if it's scourging or freezing outside. I honestly have never given it too much thought if streets are "dirty" or not. I mean, if your soles are black after that, it would be kinda strange to mess up the carpet in your house I guess. But other than that, there's not a whole lot I do with the soles of my feet 😂

Oh I can confirm about things like soda tasting different. Nutella for example can be vastly different just in neighboring countries withing Europe, apparently, so I've heard, because people in different European countries prefer different kinds of bread and therefore Nutella has a different consistency and taste. There are quite a few things (such as sugar taxes etc) that play a role there. Sizes are also quite different (compare Japanese MacDonalds with an American one).

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I’m not sure why most people in the US tend to wear shoes in the house. It is very unsanitary. I think maybe laziness? It’s hard to enforce the no shoe rule with visitors in my home because not all will comply. Since it’s not a cultural thing here, it’s harder to make it work for everyone who comes into the house 😓

I love the Japanese culture, pretty much every Asian culture that I’ve experienced really.

I grew up with Korean friends, and I have a Korean friend who likes to cook right now, getting to spend time with her is always a blessing due to how sweet and courteous she is. She’s always the best host too. I try not to take advantage of her kindness though, she is asked to do a lot because of her kind nature.

Anyway.. back to the topic at hand. I love the way Asians slurp their soup and noodles and it’s considered polite! I love food. So I’ll go to town on some noodles and be noisy and enjoy my food. Over here in the US, it’s looked at as sloppy - but if I was Asian people would be like (you want some more?) hahaha. It’s just so different!

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12 minutes ago, Illusion of Terra said:

I wouldn't mind walking barefoot on grass etc, but on asphalt/streets it just seems a bit inconvenient for me, especially if it's scourging or freezing outside. I honestly have never given it too much thought if streets are "dirty" or not. I mean, if your soles are black after that, it would be kinda strange to mess up the carpet in your house I guess. But other than that, there's not a whole lot I do with the soles of my feet 😂<span>

I would agree on scorching and freezing days would be a bit inconvenient. I tried getting the mail completely bare foot during the summer once and that was uncomfortable, but I would not care to much in general about going on the street or asphalt.

Heck, I had to go barefoot once for a while because my toe was bothering me whenever I put socks and footwear on, though at the time I was iffy on it, due to a perception of barefoot in establishments was not allowed.

3 minutes ago, Seshi said:

I’m not sure why most people in the US tend to wear shoes in the house. It is very unsanitary. I think maybe laziness? It’s hard to enforce the no shoe rule with visitors in my home because not all will comply. Since it’s not a cultural thing here, it’s harder to make it work for everyone who comes into the house 😓

For me, it is just easier, as there is not always a place to sit when entering establishments. Because of my disability, I have troubles balancing on one of my feet, which makes it hard to put on or take off footwear.

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Oh yeah, since we are on the topic of sanitary and Japan. What I find absolutely fascinating are the modern Japanese toilets! They aren't necessary, more of a luxury (what a weird spelling by the way), but still, if I ever have the money and build a house I want one of those, mostly because they have the bidet function included 😂 

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4 minutes ago, Seshi said:

@brycec you get a free pass 😉

But I will say using slip on shoes is how I manage.. it’s way easier to deal with 

Thanks.

Mine current footwear are somewhat slip on like, but needs some pushing or pulling, so that it will not fall off while walking.

3 minutes ago, Illusion of Terra said:

Oh yeah, since we are on the topic of sanitary and Japan. What I find absolutely fascinating are the modern Japanese toilets! They aren't necessary, more of a luxury (what a weird spelling by the way), but still, if I ever have the money and build a house I want one of those, mostly because they have the bidet function included 😂 

We, in the US, do not even have a bidet, so very few of us would even know their purpose or how to use them.

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6 minutes ago, Seshi said:

Crocs have comfy slip ons. The crocs I have for water shoes are sooo comfy. But they make all kinds of comfy slip ons.

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Thanks for the suggestion.

Might look into them sometime.

These are the ones I currently use, as my family wants my footwear to have soles and traction.

Unfortunately, the traction seems to be too good to be able to do quick evading, though it could just be that I have not adjusted to the level of traction the have.

20190515_120152.thumb.jpg.ac3de95f61b788423c11cfbe692a2c51.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Illusion of Terra said:

@brycec can't put my finger on why exactly, but those look great! Maybe because they remind me of shoes from RPGs?

Yeah, they do. They reminded me a bit of a boot-like style in the form of shoes and cost about $100 USD.

5 minutes ago, Seshi said:

Those remind me of ninja shoes 🤣 

This makes me laugh a bit because some people told me I had ninja-like stealth.

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9 hours ago, Seshi said:

I’m not sure why most people in the US tend to wear shoes in the house. It is very unsanitary. I think maybe laziness? It’s hard to enforce the no shoe rule with visitors in my home because not all will comply.

I would.  The first thing I do when I get in the house is take off my shoes and put on slippers anyway.  :)

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38 minutes ago, Wedgy said:

I have never encountered this shoes in the house nonsense. People always take their shoes off around here no questions asked. It's expected. It could be because we get obnoxious amounts of snow and mud. Idk. 

It probably differs depending on the region, since it seems to get colder the further east you go, as well as going further north.

Here, in the west, it seems more common to leave them on.

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I'm sure that shoes inside the house is a thing in the US. I'm not saying everywhere, but there are quite a few places where people do wear shoes inside their house.

Generally it will be impossible to find something that all Americans have in common but no Non-American has, apart from things that are true by definition (such as every American has the American citizenship). Honestly I would be surprised if someone can come up with something. Still there are some things that quite a few of Americans share (such as watching American Football) but are not shared by a lot of Non-Americans (same with other cultures).

Something I really dislike about Europeans in general (as compared to Americans in general) is the idea that you cannot be from that country unless you have an ancestry in it. Like saying you cannot be French if you don't have French ancestors. Apart from that definition being logically speaking absurd, it creates quite strong divisions. In the US, I get the impression that it is quite normal to say that someone is American but has a rich ancestry from somewhere else (given that the ancestors of most of today's Americans migrated there in the last few hundred years). Like saying you are Irish-American, African-American etc. With a few exceptions that is really rare in Europe. I have rarely encounter someone who would say they are Irish-French or Irish-German or African-Spanish etc. Often people say you are either one or the other. Could be that's because of the whole "we have been here for thousands of years" idea compared to the "land of immigrants" image.

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1 hour ago, Illusion of Terra said:

Could be that's because of the whole "we have been here for thousands of years" idea compared to the "land of immigrants" image.

I was going to pretty much say that is likely the case. Plus, things do not necessarily go together well, aside from French Canadian, though people would assume you are a resident of the French side of Canada, as opposed to being a French immigrant.

Plus, we tend to celebrate our heritages here, which makes sense, because the US is a melting pot.

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