the way we eat. In many countries, meals are one dish with side dishes; here it’s one dish then another, you only get sides in some restaurant (and it’s a foreign influence). This is normal for other Latino and Mediterranean countries but I’ve had to explain both systems. Then there’s the times, and eating at different times if it’s in or out, and at different times in the summer and in winter.
Latin Americans often complain that we’re too much in a hurry, too much about work; “anglos” often complain about “come back mañana” and have problems understanding notions like “you do not talk about work at meals”. I think it depends a lot on the specific region and people they’ve had to deal with.
The multiple languages can be extremely confusing, specially to people who find themselves in Catalonia or Galicia wondering how come they don’t understand what people say, without having bothered to find out that those two regions have two Romance languages (Basque is actually less of a problem, as everybody realizes very fast “that ain’t Spanish!”).
Well, that, and one important difference that I think Germans are not aware of is the different meaning of a smile: It is imy impression that smiling in the US means politeness, while in Germany it means affection - so smiling at random strangers would definitely be phony.
One thing that I have heard referred to from foreigners wrt Germany is shops being closed on Sundays and, particularly, them ascribing that prohibition to church influence - even sometimes, specifically, to the Catholic church. That’s a misunderstanding IMO - both churches do support the ban but that’s by way of being incidental. Much more importantly, the reason the vast majority of us working stiffs, religious or godless, are OK with the constitutional protection of the Sunday is a lifestyle issue - doing away with the protection of the Sunday would be the thin end of the wedge towards our employers demanding a still more hectic week of us. BTW one related thing that many foreigners probably don’t much understand is the warm, fuzzy feeling the word Feierabend evokes in a German’s soul…
On a related note, and I realize it’s not my country, one thing foreigners find strange about the US is the usage of “how are you?” to mean “hello.” In many other countries, people don’t ask “how are you?” or “how was your weekend?” unless they’re willing to hear everything about your chilblains, your children or the movie you went to.
How about US Football? The ball only occationally is kicked with the feet. What the rest of the world thinks of as football is soccer.
And that soccer in the US is mainly played by children. Yes, I know we have Pro Soccer teams, but I can go all year without ever seeing a soccer game on TV or hearing of it in the news. Unless it is an Olympics year soccer in the US stays off the radar compared to football.
Ice fishing.
Try explaining to someone from Africa that we build these little huts, drag them out onto frozen lakes, plow roads, haul out generators, and spend our weekends sitting in these huts drinking beer, playing cards and watching football, occasionally broken up by catching a fish through a whole in the floor.
Usually I lose them after the “we drive out on top of the lake”.
Turkey:
– Aggressive pedestrians. You almost have to march out into the road and dare someone to hit you to cross the street.
– Every product having ‘-turk’ in the name, from Cola Turka to cell phones to McDonalds meals (the Greek McDonalds also had McGreeks or something like that).
– Men kissing one another on the cheek and walking hand-in-hand in public. My Serbian friend asked me “are all these guys gay?”
– Restaurants with separate sections for families and single women.
– Little kids diving and swimming in the harbor.
Mississippi:
– Lack of big cities.
– Strange slang terms like ‘buggy’ (shopping cart), ‘chifferobe’ (dresser), ‘lightning bug’ (firefly), etc.
– Sweet tea. I’m reasonably sure if you examined my blood sample under a microscope, it would be 75% sweet tea.
– Pouring peanuts in Coke.
– Almost everyone being a generation or two away from sharecropping or the Klan.
– People pulling over to the side of the road and turning on their headlights while a funeral procession drives past.
– Crawfish boils.
I’ll add a few more that I’ve thought of. I live in the U.S.
Tipping - It’s weird. It helps to realize that their salaries are adjusted ton include it.
Credit Cards - Again, I have never carried debt and accrued interest, but some people do. I have no idea why.
Patriotism - I know most people are patriotic, at least a little, but I think that America’s high level of patriotism might seem weird. I know not everyone is super patriotic, but I think it’s a higher level here than in China, where I spent two years.
