# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/61 "2004-12-30T04:30:31Z")
I remember that retail clerks in Britain would say, “Thank you” when I handed my money to them. Whereas clerks in America would offer their thanks when handing me my change and/or receipt in completion of the transaction. Not weird, just different. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/62 "2004-12-30T04:32:01Z")
> [@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?! Huh?? It’s the same thing here, and the answer is: it’s way, way easier. What if no one person has enough money to pay for the entire party? What if nobody has cash (fairly common these days – I rarely have enough cash to cover a restaurant bill, and pay with Interac or credit card instead)? > [@](#): > > In France and Mexico it’s common to kiss people on each cheek upon seeing them, something I find strange, but delightful. In this city, too. > [@](#): > > Then this small car came to a screeching halt and this huge man sorta “Unfolded” himself out of the car and said to my friend “Hey! What did you do that for?” To which my friend in a very nervous voice replied with a slight stammer “I was only trying to hitch a ride.” “Bloody Hell! You’re an american aren’t ya?” and then proceeded to teach my friend that the thumbs up gesture can be taken as a rude gesture in Australia. It could be worse. I’m told that in Turkey, the thumbing-a-ride gesture is used if you want to pick up another guy for sex. Supposedly a number of Americans have been sexually assaulted while trying to hitchhike. Hm. Weird stuff… The siesta period in Spain drove me nuts; in some places it’s three or four hours. I tried to ‘do as the Romans do’ but I can’t sleep that early in the day, nor for that long. I usually ended up walking halfway across town to hang out in the one Internet cafe that seemed to be open at that hour. It also freaked me out how completely casual people were about smoking all over the damn place: the first impression I got of the country was being stunned to be jammed between two smokestacks in the freaking _airport terminal_ at Barajas. Everyone smokes in the metro too, although it’s forbidden. Everyone, but everyone, has a cellphone, too. That startled me somewhat. Don’t even get me started about the pay phones. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/63 "2004-12-30T04:35:25Z")
I should have mentioned that the default settign around here is usually separate cheques, which is a good thing because of the social implications: if you get separate cheques, you can pay separately, or one person can look very generous by grabbing the other person’s cheque. If the cheque comes together as the default, then if you didn’t want to pay for the other person, you have to sound really stingy by asking for separate cheques. It’s also easier for one person to grab two or more separate cheques than for the server to have to go back and re-compute everything into two or more cheques. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/64 "2004-12-30T06:15:00Z")
Breakfast in Costa Rica was always rice and beans. I like rice and beans a lot but I never quite got over seeing them next to my scrambled eggs each morning. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/65 "2004-12-30T08:27:32Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Huh?? It’s the same thing here, and the answer is: it’s way, way easier. What if no one person has enough money to pay for the entire party? What if nobody has cash (fairly common these days – I rarely have enough cash to cover a restaurant bill, and pay with Interac or credit card instead)? We’ve got two common systems: The cheque is presented, and the figure is divided up equally between the diners. Individuals pay their share immediately, and the money is collected as one. This is how it happens with the younger crowd. Or, and this is more common, one individual will pay the full amount and the rest will square up with him or her. The individual will either pay by card or cash, but still collect all that is due before leaving the table. By and large, we’re a cash carrying society, so the above works well for us… More than that, the idea of separate cheques feels sorta impersonal, after you’ve just broken bread with the person. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![mza662](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f4b2a3/32.png) [@mza662](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mza662)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/66 "2004-12-30T08:45:47Z")
> [@Bendarr](#): > > I remember a friend telling me about the time that he was hitchhiking in Australia several years ago. He was standing alongside the road with his thumb out and several cars passed him by. Then this small car came to a screeching halt and this **huge** man sorta “Unfolded” himself out of the car and said to my friend “Hey! What did you do that for?” To which my friend in a very nervous voice replied with a slight stammer “I was only trying to hitch a ride.” “Bloody Hell! You’re an american aren’t ya?” and then proceeded to teach my friend that the thumbs up gesture can be taken as a rude gesture in Australia. My friend was taught non violently I might add. Yes he did get a ride. > :smack: im from australia and ive never heard of a thumbs up being a rude gesture, middle finger up maybe 🙂 but a thumbs up is a good gesture for everyone i know 😛 and a lot of restaurants i go to refuse separate billing for a table, which isn’t good when people don’t want to pay their fair share, for instance if one person has a lot more drinks then wants to split the total bill evenly amongst everyone. not good. but thats really a custom i dislike in my own country, but as im yet to travel to another country thats all i can complain about 🙂 ohh and beets (beetroot as its more commonly named in oz) are disgusting 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/67 "2004-12-30T09:08:59Z")
I’ve never come across a wedding in NZ where you were sent a menu and expected to pay in addition to buying a gift. Never. It’s just not standard etiquette. I’m also puzzled by the thumbs up gesture. To me it’s a standard hitchhiking gesture and not rude at all. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/68 "2004-12-30T11:22:33Z")
Most of the toilets I encountered in Germany were “normal”. But I did see a couple like the ones I heard tell of…that had a little platform so you can examine your shit before you flush. Fortunatly I didn’t have cause to make use of this feature 😃 . In England all the light switches are upside down. Luckily, trial and error will usually sort this out 🙂 . And the wall outlets have on and off switchs, which I admit threw me a couple times. One thing that threw me a lot was the tendency for people in the UK to greet me with “Hello, are you alright?”. In a tone that to me suggested I was bleeding from the ears or something. It worried me till I realized it was just the equavilent of “How are you?” ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/69 "2004-12-30T11:52:40Z")
> [@gouda](#): > > We’ve got two common systems: The cheque is presented, and the figure is divided up equally between the diners. Individuals pay their share immediately, and the money is collected as one. This is how it happens with the younger crowd. > > Or, and this is more common, one individual will pay the full amount and the rest will square up with him or her. The individual will either pay by card or cash, but still collect all that is due before leaving the table. To clarify: Alcohol is billed separately in India because it attracts additional taxes, so non-drinkers by default do not end up paying for drinks. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/70 "2004-12-30T12:14:17Z")
In South Africa you either bring your own bags to the grocery store or you pay a few cents extra for bags at checkout. As I understand, this is pretty recent and intended to make people waste less/recycle more. I’d bet they do it in other countries too. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/71 "2004-12-30T12:14:34Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > My most recent travel was to Scotland and I only noticed a few things that stood out: > […snip…] > Rainy-day walking. Everyone seemed to just go about their business whether it was pouring or not. Baby carriage? Just cover it in plastic and head out to the shops. I’ve lived in some rainy places and generally it seemed to me that people try to keep out of it more in the U.S. Maybe it’s just because we are in our cars all the time. If you stay indoors just because of a bit of rain in Scotland (or anywhere else in the British Isles, for that matter) you’re not going to get out much. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/72 "2004-12-30T12:37:44Z")
> [@Bendarr](#): > > I remember a friend telling me about the time that he was hitchhiking in Australia several years ago. He was standing alongside the road with his thumb out and several cars passed him by. Then this small car came to a screeching halt and this **huge** man sorta “Unfolded” himself out of the car and said to my friend “Hey! What did you do that for?” To which my friend in a very nervous voice replied with a slight stammer “I was only trying to hitch a ride.” “Bloody Hell! You’re an american aren’t ya?” and then proceeded to teach my friend that the thumbs up gesture can be taken as a rude gesture in Australia. My friend was taught non violently I might add. Yes he did get a ride. > :smack: Sounds like someone was indulging in the Great Australian Pasttime of “Messing With Tourists Heads” (aka “Taking The Piss Out Of The Yanks”). Australians do the thumbs up when they’re hitchhiking too, it’s not a foreign concept here. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/73 "2004-12-30T13:00:18Z")
> [@](#): > > (I have been told that cold drinks absorb faster – true?) Not true. Body-temperature liquids absorb best, ice cold causes your body to push them right through (don’t know the medical terms) to avoid shocking the system. Note that first aid treatment for heat shock/stroke is to give lukewarm liquids, so that they can be absorbed efficiently and help the body to start sweating again (nature’s own air conditioner). ---
**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 30, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/74 "2004-12-30T13:32:41Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > It’s also easier for one person to grab two or more separate cheques than for the server to have to go back and re-compute everything into two or more cheques. I’ve never been to a restaurant where the waitress didn’t ask if the checks were together or seperate before taking orders. If one person was paying for someone else, those people would be billed together. The only time we would get a single check if one person wasn’t paying for everyone is if it wasn’t possible–say ordering delivery, or getting pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/75 "2004-12-30T13:50:20Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > … I went to the Lockspot Cafe where they had “famous” fish and chips, BLECH! I think they used halibut or cod or something! Nasty! Hm, here in The Land of the Bean and the Cod, I’d be surprised if the fish in my fish & chips was anything other than cod. I think the restaurant would need to notify us if they were trying to slip us something other than cod. There oughta be a law! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/76 "2004-12-30T14:26:53Z")
> [@gouda](#): > > In Holland, people greet each other with 3 kisses (maybe the same in Belgium?). It’s bigger neighbours, France and Germany, kiss twice. Where were you in Holland? Because the south of Holland kiss three times and the north twice. We don’t have fish and chips in Holland but I find nothing wrong with the combination. However, I will never ever get used to the idea of vinegar on chips. Bleegh. Nor do I like vinegar flavoured crisps (probably the most popular kind after Cheese and Onion here in Ireland. ) Vinegar is for salad, people, and should stay away from potato related foodstuffs. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/77 "2004-12-30T14:47:12Z")
I find it amusing how most of the world thinks peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are nasty. I loves me some PB&J. Mmmmm! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/78 "2004-12-30T15:12:00Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > …One thing that threw me a lot was the tendency for people in the UK to greet me with “Hello, are you alright?”. In a tone that to me suggested I was bleeding from the ears or something. It worried me till I realized it was just the equivalent of “How are you?” Hmm, yes, some people say that and, yes, it is a _bit_ odd. It seems equivalent, though, to how I felt when I would 'phone up a friend simply for a chat (she was having a pretty bad patch at that time) and she, (USA person living in UK) would say “Hi, What’s up?”. To me “what’s up?” somehow carries a suggestion of “what’s wrong?”, so for the first moment I’d be thinking “nothing wrong you silly person, in fact I’m phoning to cheer _you_ up - HUH!” 🙂 I recall the same woman, in fact, bemoaning the fact that she had gone to buy pasta but could only find “elbows”. That was odd for a minute. Re, Smoking in Scotland and the rest of U.K. - big complete smoking ban to include all restaurants, pubs (bars), nightclubs etc to come into force in 2006 in Scotland, and a _slightly_ less stringent on in other bits of UK will be, I _think_ about a year later - not too sure. Ooh I don’t at all like that kissing-as-greeting thing. Never noticed that in Bavaria, but in France, yes. Fierce ladies in continental European toilets - OK restrooms - who were there as sort of guardian/cleaners and who had a little saucer for tips - if one forgot, (not being used to that) they were never slow to remind! The formal/informal tu/vous or Du/Sie stuff was amusing - yes I knew to use the right one, but it was funny to note that I could be dressed in tidy enough jeans one day and be addressed as “Du” by shopkeepers" but another day in a pretty skirt, I somehow became “Sie”. Of course, US people can confuse me that way too - either by calling me a “guy” or (this from a polite lad on my telling him to keep the biro pen I had just lent him, “Ma’am”. When aged about 19 or so, “Ma’am” is a bit scary! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/79 "2004-12-30T15:28:01Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > I find it amusing how most of the world thinks peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are nasty. I loves me some PB&J. Mmmmm! 😃 YES 😃 ! I brought this up at some point with my English SO, as an example of the ordinary… as normal as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, goes together like peanut butter and jelly, something like that. And it totally squicked him out. He was horrified. The man who was feeding me haggis and marmite (peanut butter and marmite in fact) and steak and kidney pie was grossed out by peanut butter and jelly. I said if I ate the haggis he had to try a PB&J (no, he didn’t take to it). ---
**Author:** ![Vreemdeling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Vreemdeling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vreemdeling)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910/80 "2004-12-30T16:20:39Z")
When I moved to the States 15 years ago, I was grossed out by PB&J as well. I grew up on peanutbutter and sambal - an Indonesian hot sauce. I will still eat peanutbutter and hot sauce sandwiches once in a while and sometimes I can get hold of sambal. Delicious. Over the last 15 years I have lived in the Mid West, Israel, East Coast and near Manchester England. A short sampling of customs brought up by this thread: Hitchhiking in Israel. Nonchalantly point to the place where you want the car to stop with your index finger. The raised thumb means “sit on this” in several middle eastern cultures. Not a great way to get a ride. If you want someone to wait a second, bring your hand in front of your face, palm up, bring fingers together and say “tehh, tehh”. Raised middle finger is inverted: you stretch out yor hand with palm to the ground and point your middle finger down while holding rest of the hand outstretched, or bring your fore arm up while hitting your biceps with opposing hand. Both mean ‘f\*ck you’. Kissing as a form of greeting in Holland. I think that we were the first generation where males started kissing each other as frequently as females. I am from the South, so it is indeed three times. Just over the border in Flanders I have seen people go at it 4 times. Now that is strange. Tips in restaurants are at your discretion. A euro can be a handsome tip. What struck me as strange in the US? Supermarkets, there is just too much choice: why do you need so many different kinds of toilet paper for example? When I left the Netherlands 15 years ago, there were essentially two kinds: the rough, cheap stuff that would make you bleed after prolonged use and the expensive soft stuff that never cleaned you completely. Why would anyone ever need anything else? I was also baffled by people asking me “How are you?” and then continuing to walk, without stopping to listen to my answer. Really friendly people who tell you everything about themselves who do not remember you the next time you meet. England: I told someone that they did a good job on a presentation. They came to me afterwards and politely asked why I did not like their work. I told them I did. I should have said: “Not bad”, that is way better than: “Good job!”. I am sure more will come to mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-for-you-customs-in-foreign-countries/281910.md?page=5)