# Your stupid questions about other countries and cultures **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161 "2013-02-23T13:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/181 "2013-02-28T17:10:48Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > You see everything. There have been a lot of immigrants from other continents in the last decades (in some places it started earlier than in others), but it’s not as if the “Euros” up and died. I would also add that it depends where you are. The main cities in former communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe tend to still be quite homogenous. It’s slowly changing as the cities become more and more cosmopolitan. The cities mentioned that I’ve been to (London, Paris, Amsterdam) are a _lot_ more diverse. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/182 "2013-02-28T17:12:21Z")
> [@Springtime for Spacers](#): > > So what do people do when they’ve broken themselves, had a knee replacement or whatever? Well, for starters they rarely get as fat as some of the people I’ve seen using a scooter in the US, although in Spain we’re doing our very best to reach American sizes: that means less mobility problems just by its lonesome, without even looking at the complications caused by being that size. And yes, if someone needs a knee or hip replacement, they get one. It’s called “UHC”. Agreed, **pulykamell** , but I was answering for the ones in the question. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/183 "2013-02-28T17:18:22Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > One question I have: > > How often does someone have to bribe public officials in Central America/Eastern Europe/Asia/etc.? When my wife’s mother died in China, my wife had to bribe someone in order to get a copy of the coroner’s report. Outrageous! (Well, it was to me.) When I worked for a Japanese company and had to do a lot of international travel, there was a box on the expense report form called “Bribes and Ransoms (where local custom dictates)”. I never had to use it myself but I asked the finance lady about it. She said in her experience it was mainly used by people travelling through south east Asia where airport workers would “lose” your luggage or police/military would forget they walked off with your passport. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/184 "2013-02-28T18:06:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Also, instead of a hike I took a hot air balloon ride over the desert. Definitely some advantages to that mode of sight-seeing. Now that sounds like an absolute blast. I could see doing that! > [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > **Harmonicamoon** , where do you live? I’d like to know where it is I have to bring my own toiletries with me just to use the restroom! I get travel goodies at minimus.biz - they have [tiny bog rolls](http://www.minimus.biz/Public-Restroom-Survival-Kit-K01-0159921-1100.aspx), flake hand soap, all sorts of travel goodies ranging from [condiments](http://www.minimus.biz/Tabasco-Brand-Pepper-Sauce-bottle-F03-3704400-3100.aspx) to [beauty products](http://www.minimus.biz/Carry-On-Caddy-Organic-Citrus-K01-0159911-5101.aspx) to [tiny laundry needs](http://www.minimus.biz/aMINIties-Premium-Laundry-Detergent-D01-0132501-8200.aspx). I just rummaged my carry on, I have these great [lemon towelettes](http://www.minimus.biz/Moist-Cotton-Towel-Lemon-J01-0761702-9100.aspx) that are cloth, a tiny thing that has [soap leave](http://www.dirtkingoutfitters.com/product/coleman-soap-sheets-149554-1.htm?gclid=CN2wwaHK2bUCFYWo4Aod_S0AfA)s that came with a coleman lantern, a tiny [bog roll](http://www.minimus.biz/Cotton-Buds-Toilet-Tissue-To-Go-J01-0255502-8200.aspx), a [sewing kit](http://www.minimus.biz/Sewing-Kit-J01-0459902-8400.aspx), and a tube of dehydrated compressed [towels](http://www.ecrater.com/p/15207582/coleman-travel-hiking-camping-compressed?gps=1). Last time we went on a cruise [Royal Caribbean] I also added in some condiments and ‘snacks’ for in the cabin. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/185 "2013-02-28T19:09:28Z")
> [@Charley](#): > > Nope and nope. Or at least I don’t recognise either of these points. On the second particularly, never underestimate the ubiquity of US culture - I’d bet good money that most of the rest of us get our primary impressions from pop culture rather than from tourists and backpackers anyway. > > And **Red Wiggler** I have never seen a game of basketball in my life and I wouldn’t know where to find one on the TV if I wanted to. Although now I’m curious to look! Take it easy Charley! You’re blowing your bi-annual allocation of posts all in one thread! ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/186 "2013-02-28T19:26:53Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > **Harmonicamoon** , where do you live? I’d like to know where it is I have to bring my own toiletries with me just to use the restroom! I live in Mexico. I learned early on to check for water before putting on the soap I brought. Sometimes there is no water. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/187 "2013-02-28T19:28:25Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Now that sounds like an absolute blast. I could see doing that! Got me confused there for a second–I don’t remember any hot air balloon rides over the desert. Your quote should be attributed to **Broomstick**. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/188 "2013-02-28T20:18:45Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m guessing the same thing people in the US do when going to a mall or supermarket that doesn’t have them - they bring their own scooter or more likely wheelchair. I can’t think of anyplace I’ve seen these courtesy carts except the warehouse club and amusement parks.Ordinary supermarkets and Targets may have a couple tucked away somewhere , but there aren’t loads of them in the front of the store in my area. Now this is something I’ve learned from this thread. I’ve seen pictures of people rolling round Wal-Mart or wherever in these mobility scooters, but it never occurred to me that the store provided them. I always assumed that the occupants went in them to the store. Here in the UK you do see the occasional old person trundling along the pavement to the shops in a scooter, but most shops aren’t big enough to allow them inside, so they tend to park up outside and then hobble in on foot. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/189 "2013-02-28T20:47:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And some more info [about Poland](http://features.pewforum.org/global-christianity/total-population-percentage.php?sort=percentageCatholics). > > Poland, according to a 2010 Pew survey, is 92.2% Catholic. The only countries with a higher percentage of Catholics are Portugal (with 92.3%), St. Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, Malta, Timor-Leste, and Vatican City. I wasn’t aware that St. Pierre and Miquelon had declared independence. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/190 "2013-02-28T20:48:08Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Now this is something I’ve learned from this thread. I’ve seen pictures of people rolling round Wal-Mart or wherever in these mobility scooters, but it never occurred to me that the store provided them. I’m American, and I didn’t know that either, for what it’s worth. I know I’ve seen a reference to it on South Park (I think), but I can’t remember ever actually seeing it in real life. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/191 "2013-02-28T20:49:35Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I wasn’t aware that St. Pierre and Miquelon had declared independence. I’m going by the Pew Research chart. I don’t even know what the hell St. Pierre and Miquelon are. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/192 "2013-02-28T20:55:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m going by the Pew Research chart. I don’t even know what the hell St. Pierre and Miquelon are. It’s a [bit of France](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon) just off the coast of Newfoundland. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/193 "2013-02-28T21:02:37Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > It’s a [bit of France](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon) just off the coast of Newfoundland. I should also correct the Pew Research survey by mentioning that Wallis and Futuna are not a country, either, and seem to be in the same category as St. Pierre and Miquelon. ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/194 "2013-02-28T21:28:51Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Take it easy Charley! You’re blowing your bi-annual allocation of posts all in one thread! 😛 Feast or famine, that’s me. I reckon it’s a biorhythm thing. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/195 "2013-02-28T21:34:48Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > When I worked for a Japanese company and had to do a lot of international travel, there was a box on the expense report form called “Bribes and Ransoms (where local custom dictates)”. I never had to use it myself but I asked the finance lady about it. She said in her experience it was mainly used by people travelling through south east Asia where airport workers would “lose” your luggage or police/military would forget they walked off with your passport. I would like to see more answers to hogarth’s bribery question (thanks to xizor for providing one interesting observation) as I’ve often wondered how much petty corruption retards a country’s progress – if at all. If I were subtly asked for a little baksheesh, I suspect I would be completely oblivious to the suggestion. I’m not exactly an Ugly American, more of an Unaware one. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/196 "2013-03-01T01:37:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Poland, according to a 2010 Pew survey, is 92.2% Catholic. The only countries with a higher percentage of Catholics are Portugal (with 92.3%), St. Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, Malta, Timor-Leste, and Vatican City. Is there anyone in Vatican City who _isn’t_ Catholic? (Other than a tourist or head of state type visitor) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/197 "2013-03-01T01:42:31Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Here in the UK you do see the occasional old person trundling along the pavement to the shops in a scooter, but most shops aren’t big enough to allow them inside, so they tend to park up outside and then hobble in on foot. That must really suck for people who need to use a wheelchair full time. What do that do, sit outside the store and holler out their order, then wait for someone to bring it out to them? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/198 "2013-03-01T01:46:15Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > That must really suck for people who need to use a wheelchair full time. What do that do, sit outside the store and holler out their order, then wait for someone to bring it out to them? Wheelchairs aren’t typically as big as those motorised scooters are they? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/199 "2013-03-01T03:01:51Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I find it weird in the US the way lots of people don’t twig I’m Irish. I love in Germany that most people don’t twig I’m a tourist. In the U.K. and in the southern U.S. I am constantly asked if I am Canadian. Evidently, I don’t speak 'Merricun. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/200 "2013-03-01T03:16:19Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > In the U.K. and in the southern U.S. I am constantly asked if I am Canadian. Evidently, I don’t speak 'Merricun. You just fall into the generic white “foreign” bucket. That just means Canadian in their mind because how else would you get there? Don’t take offense. English, Irish, Australian, New Zealander. It is all the same thing - Canadian. They love you because of that and you could probably get anyone to do anything you wanted just based on that. Southerners are friendly especially to white Canadians like yourself 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161.md?page=11)