# Weird (for you) customs in foreign countries **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 28, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910 "2004-12-28T08:23:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/1 "2004-12-28T08:23:30Z")
I just learned yesterday that in New Zealand, invitees to a wedding feast are expected to pay for their own meal. And that they’re sent a copy of the restaurant’s/caterer’s menu, so they can judge how costly the meal will be and thereafter buy an appropriate gift. I somewhat doubt the second bit, but the source is impeccable. Could someone please confirm that for me?! When in Germany, at every restaurant I ate with, the waited always asked whether the bill was to be presented individually or one for the whole table. Why not just have one person pay the money and everyone can square up later?! So what customs have you noticed in foreign countries that just freaked you out. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/2 "2004-12-28T08:25:41Z")
They put _beets_ on hamburgers in Australia. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/3 "2004-12-28T08:40:00Z")
> [@gouda](#): > > I just learned yesterday that in New Zealand, invitees to a wedding feast are expected to pay for their own meal. And that they’re sent a copy of the restaurant’s/caterer’s menu, so they can judge how costly the meal will be and thereafter buy an appropriate gift. > > I somewhat doubt the second bit, but the source is impeccable. Could someone please confirm that for me?! I have never heard of this and would think it very rude to receive such an invitation. ---
**Author:** ![altiod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@altiod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/altiod)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/4 "2004-12-28T11:49:32Z")
I moved to Thailand a few months ago so I have a few: It can be considered bad luck to call a small child cute. The Thais believe in spirits so they don’t want the spirits to want the child and take him/her. Also dealing with spirits: all buildings have a [sprit house](http://www.fortunecity.com/oasis/tuscany/893/spirit.html) or some sort of offering to the spirits. Even the new airport that is under construction has one already. People comment on others’ bodies, often. My landlady has told me to go on a diet. Asking for a size over an American six will have a sales person direct you to the fat people’s clothes department. It’s considered normal here. The local news coverage of the earthquake also shows how Thais smile a lot. Some of the victims of the disaster smile when interviewed. There are seven (?) different smiles many of them don’t mean that a person is happy. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/5 "2004-12-28T12:13:08Z")
> [@gouda](#): > > I just learned yesterday that in New Zealand, invitees to a wedding feast are expected to pay for their own meal. And that they’re sent a copy of the restaurant’s/caterer’s menu, so they can judge how costly the meal will be and thereafter buy an appropriate gift. I’ve never heard of this happening. I’d be surprised if I ever recieved an invitation that requested that, and would find it a bit off. > [@](#): > > When in Germany, at every restaurant I ate with, the waited always asked whether the bill was to be presented individually or one for the whole table. Why not just have one person pay the money and everyone can square up later?! In NZ I’ve never had that offered to me, but unless it specifically says ‘one account per table’, me and my friends will request it split. Often this is just because no one has that much money in their account. I am, however, twenty-one, as are most of my friends. My parents wouldn’t split a bill, they’d square it up with the group after the meal. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/6 "2004-12-28T13:15:26Z")
In the US it’s common enough to ask to receive separate bills, but it’s usually when someone would have trouble paying otherwise, like they don’t have enough cash on hand so want to pay with plastic. In France and Mexico it’s common to kiss people on each cheek upon seeing them, something I find strange, but delightful. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/7 "2004-12-28T13:34:40Z")
> [@altiod](#): > > I moved to Thailand a few months ago so I have a few: > It can be considered bad luck to call a small child cute. The Thais believe in spirits so they don’t want the spirits to want the child and take him/her. I think this is also true in other Asian cultures (maybe it comes from the Chinese). It’s only true when the child is newborn or a small baby. AFAIK it’s fine to refer to an older child as _na rak_ (cute). > [@](#): > > Also dealing with spirits: all buildings have a [sprit house](http://www.fortunecity.com/oasis/tuscany/893/spirit.html) or some sort of offering to the spirits. Even the new airport that is under construction has one already. This is quite true. The huge multinational I worked for there put two spirit houses up because they added a wing. One was for the local spirits and one was for the gods, if I understood correctly. These were in addition to the large one they had at the plant entrance. Pretty much every place has a spirit house and/or shrine to deceased ancestors somewhere. Often they also have a shrine to King Chulalongkorn (a very revered king) or one of the more famous Thai monks. In addition to these you’ll see other little things, usually among the less educated. Good luck amulets and symbols on taxis, for example. They’ll also sometimes be “prescribed” amulets for different things by “fortune tellers”. I liken these to homeopathy. > [@](#): > > People comment on others’ bodies, often. My landlady has told me to go on a diet. Asking for a size over an American six will have a sales person direct you to the fat people’s clothes department. It’s considered normal here. But there’s also a lot of (probably insincere) but well meaning flattery there to make up for it. > [@](#): > > The local news coverage of the earthquake also shows how Thais smile a lot. Some of the victims of the disaster smile when interviewed. There are seven (?) different smiles many of them don’t mean that a person is happy. Sometimes they smile when they are angry. Have you heard them saying _jai yen yen_ when they are angry? That’s a Thai person telling himself to stay cool. I’ve not heard of a specific number of smiles. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/8 "2004-12-28T16:39:16Z")
Seperate bills are common here. It’s a pain to try and split the bill among yourselves, and this is complicated by the massive use of Interac and credit cards–a lot of people won’t have enough cash, or even any cash, to repay the person with. Or the opposite problem, say they’re only carrying twenties, and they owe $5. Frankly, it’s just easier on those paying, in any circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/9 "2004-12-28T17:31:19Z")
It’s not uncommon in France to have the toilet be in a totally separate room than the rest of the bathroom. It’s not 100%, but it’s not uncommon either. I’ve seen it at probably around half the places I’ve stayed in France. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/10 "2004-12-28T17:50:21Z")
> [@gouda](#): > > When in Germany, at every restaurant I ate with, the waited always asked whether the bill was to be presented individually or one for the whole table. Why not just have one person pay the money and everyone can square up later?! Well, in the States, we pay seperately because some people are assholes who don’t want to pay their share. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/11 "2004-12-28T17:55:30Z")
Not to double-post, but in India: You get the whole goddamn bathroom wet when you want to take a bath. The toilet & sink are separate, so the whole room is a bath, and you splash walls and everything. To call a girl beautiful is also taboo in India. Often, when a girl is all dressed up, they’ll put a small black smudge on her face so evil spirits will apparently be completely fooled and not take her. We say “Nazar naa lag jaye”. The damn animals in the streets when you try to drive/walk/bike. Pigs, dogs, cows, more pigs, all in the streets. Why can’t we move them? And this is in New Delhi. I wonder what the Muslims think, who think that pigs are dirty animals. The driving! No rules, apparently, except for the red light. When you come to a four-way intersection that has no lights, there are no stop signs or yield signs. How do you notify the other person, especially when it’s dark? You honk as you roll through the intersection at 40 kph. Kitty parties, which women partake in. I suppose they could do it here, but as I have never attended one here, it was weird. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/12 "2004-12-28T19:17:54Z")
In France: Just try to get more than one or two ice cubes in your drink. Just try. Everything’s closed all the time. I’m not kidding. I know we Americans are fatter than the French - do they have to emphasize this by having their bathtubs fit only a size 4 butt? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/13 "2004-12-28T20:06:44Z")
Oh yeah. Fish and _chips_? You Brits are handsome, but there’s no way those two things go together. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/14 "2004-12-28T20:22:05Z")
> [@pugluvr](#): > > Everything’s closed all the time. I’m not kidding. Oh my god. That’s everywhere, I swear. Figuring out what time Israeli banks are open was an absolute nightmare. We Americans are so lucky to live in a country where everything is open all the time. A couple years ago I took an airport shuttle from the Detroit airport to Ann Arbor, where I was living at the time and chatted a little with a German guy who was in town for a conference. He asked me if I thought there would be any cafes or bookshops open (it was about 4 pm on a Sunday). I told him sure, puzzled as to why he would even ask. “Even though it’s Sunday?” he asked, amazed. “Yeah, of course,” I said. Him, with a happy sigh: “I love America.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/15 "2004-12-28T20:25:16Z")
Austrian restaurants have no real concept of cholesterol, or they’ve decided to slowly kill everyone off and hand the country over to the Swiss. They serve steaks stuffed with fried eggs, for crying out loud, and breakfast usually consists of greasy cold cuts, cheese, and kaiser rolls. I suppose the general makeup of this board makes an Anglophone American and Commonwealth perspective largely inevitable. I do hope, however, people from other regions weigh in about what they find odd about the US/UK/Canada/Australia/New Zealand/etc. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/16 "2004-12-28T20:26:34Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh yeah. Fish and _chips_? > > You Brits are handsome, but there’s no way those two things go together. What’s wrong with fish and chips? After a couple of beers the choice is simple, a curry or some fish and chips wrapped up in newspaper. You can’t beat it. Now, pumpkin pie, _that’s_ weird ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/17 "2004-12-28T20:30:36Z")
Well I’m glad to say I don’t like pumpkin pie either. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/18 "2004-12-28T20:31:23Z")
> [@Vetch](#): > > Now, pumpkin pie, _that’s_ weird (Oh, glee. A cooking flamewar. ;)) Pumpkin pie is great. Mincemeat pie is weird but still great. (I’m worthless in a foodfight because I love pretty much everything. I liked to eat raw ants off the ground as a kid. The formic acid and biting mandibles were tangy to my undeveloped mind.) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/19 "2004-12-28T20:33:05Z")
Mincemeat pies are the same as meat pies, right? Cause those are _yummy_. I’ve made meat pies at home. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/20 "2004-12-28T20:40:48Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Mincemeat pies are the same as meat pies, right? Cause those are _yummy_. I’ve made meat pies at home. [Maybe I misspoke, but I meant definition 1:](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=Mince-meat) > [@](#): > > A mixture, as of finely chopped apples, raisins, spices, meat, and sometimes rum or brandy, used especially as a pie filling. A mincemeat pie is a pie filled with that kind of mincemeat. I’ve only had it once. My local library had a ‘Christmas in Australia’ theme and it gave away some free food, including a mincemeat pie that obviously contained no meat. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910.md?page=2)