What is the most surprising thing you have seen or experienced with a foreign person or culture. Did you learn anything from it?
PS, not meant to be a racist question, I've lived overseas for 10 years.
2006-08-31 20:10:39 · 14 answers · asked by KSR 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
thank you for your early answer stingray, but I wasn't really looking for ignorant, small-minded answers.
2006-08-31 20:14:04 · update #1
In Bulgaria they nod when they mean no, and shake their head when they mean yes. Pretty confusing.
2006-08-31 20:13:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It had to be in India. I was on the train in a sleeper which I must say was not the most comfortable bed I'd ever been in. I woke early in the morning and looked out the window to see lots of Indian men squatting on the railway lines with a bottle of water doing what we do in a toilet. I was shocked but after a while I got used to it and very rarely looked. On that same train I saw two Indian transvestites begging.
I have seen them drink from the Mother Ganges, now this water is putrid with dead bodies, people wash their clothes in it , they go to the toilet in it, the cows go into it etc etc. They must be very special people because if I did that I would surely die.
I have learnt that I am a weakling when it comes to water and food from over there. I did try my best but got really sick on the first day in Chenni.
2006-09-01 00:36:25 · answer #2 · answered by slipper 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Last summer I worked at an ice-cream factory in a tourist trap town. Many of the employees were Eastern European -- mainly Maldovan, Polish, Ukranian, and especially Romanian. (There was also a Turkish girl.)
The Romanians were AWESOME -- they spoke better English than the American workers, and were a lot better at mental math. They were really fun to hang out with, too. And funny!
The Maldovans...not so awesome. They had a rough time with everything. After two months of being babied (we had to walk them through EVERY LITTLE THING every single day) they STILL couldn't do even the simplest tasks on their own. And they were TERRIBLE with money -- counting change (coins) was a difficult task. They were nice, but not so competent...
2006-08-31 20:16:12 · answer #3 · answered by rabidbaby 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I learned that if you participate in the Andean drinking ritual of passing one glass around a circle with a bunch of locals, you (and everyone else) will end up with a bronchial infection and a 102 degree fever for a week.
What is true in the US as well (although is not as obvious, given the country's prosperity) is that those who give the most usually have the least to spare.
No matter how sick you know you will be by morning, when someone who has hardly any offers you food or drink, you accept it with all your gratitude, rather than embarass them with your refusal, because you see that they are making a sacrifice to share it with you.
2006-08-31 20:34:15 · answer #4 · answered by M L 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Meeting people from other countries and cultures is a wonderful experience. You can learn so much from talking with others. To travel and see how others live and do things is truly enlightning. Everyone should have the opportunity to travel. When you visit and make friends in another country it fosters world peace. It's hard to hate a people if you know them. Young people have no idea how others live and think everyone lives like we do. Most people in the world do not have electricity, running water, flush toilets, automobiles and the like. It is good to see how fortunate we are here in the US to live so well.
2006-08-31 20:16:32 · answer #5 · answered by EMAILSKIP 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Several years ago I was in Holland (I'm from the US) and I met a French woman who lived in Canada at the time. I tended to stereotype French people as rude and stuck-up. Well, this woman was so nice and friendly. It was a very pleasant surprise...and quite a multi-cultural experience.
2006-08-31 20:15:26 · answer #6 · answered by just me 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Surprising but nevertheless acceptable. Here in Montenegro there is the kissing of two men (cheek to cheek) for three times, in the Philippines it is not uncommon to hear a "psssssttttttt" instead of them calling your name or they point with their lips protruding, the Chinese marry their own relatives to contain wealth within their ancestry, etc. There are many things that are taboo for other cultures but accepted in some. As long as its not illegal or immoral I think we have to live with that- diversity of the world. Makes life more exciting- yunesa@yahoo.com
2006-08-31 20:16:51 · answer #7 · answered by yunesa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pakistani people are more friendly and they love forigners very very much.I liked there family system and the why there raise there kids in the joint family system and convay there heritage generation to generation.Pakistani food is also very delicious and one would love to eat pakistani dishes.
Pakistani's friendly and intelligent nature makes them so different then others.
2006-08-31 21:06:36 · answer #8 · answered by Dino 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First time I came to this country stranger ( guy that i supposed to work for) kissed me on my cheeks, I almost freaked out, now I know that is common in lots of countries, in my country we usually just shake hands.
I learned that I dint really like it, but I do it just to be polite
2006-08-31 21:51:40 · answer #9 · answered by Callisto 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Recently, I delivered a small talk on spirituality to a group of Canadians. they liked Indian spiritual life very much.
2006-08-31 20:25:35 · answer #10 · answered by sk 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was briefly married to a foreigner, from Kathmandu, Nepal.
I picked up his Hindu religious beliefs, and his food preferences.
2006-08-31 20:12:50 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋