# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/21 "2013-02-23T18:57:21Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > My stupid question: those Mexicans who can afford live-in domestic help (the “cha-cha”), is it almost automatic they will hire an “india”? Do those women talk like the character "[la india María"](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_India_Mar%C3%ADa)? Or is this a stereotype/prejudice? > > I know I have more ignorant questions, but I can’t think of any right now. _Chachas_ (no dash) aren’t necessarily “indians”, but there are locations in which economic stratification and racial stratification are pretty parallel\*; servants are from the lower economic classes, so if the local lower class is “browner” than the local rich folk, the servants will most likely be on the browner side. - Note that the parallel isn’t necessarily what an outsider might expect. In Costa Rica black folks were mostly imported from Jamaica by the train company which eventually gave birth to the Chiquita fruit company, to work as foremen - their situation is completely different from that of places where they used to be slaves. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/22 "2013-02-23T19:20:38Z")
I have never quite understood why people would name their kids Jesus or Muhammad. I mean, isn’t that almost blasphemous? Wouldn’t it be weird to scream, “Dammit, Jesus, clean up your room!” or “Muhammad, get your lazy ass off the couch and help your mother!” ---
**Author:** ![grama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@grama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grama)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/23 "2013-02-23T19:34:33Z")
Drinking age, Chile here. We don’t have a drinking age actually. It’s illegal to sell alcohol to minors (except discotheques, which last time I checked could sell alcohol to kids 16+), but it’s not illegal for a minor to drink. I started drinking when I was 14 (occasional beer with my dad, maybe 1 or 2 at a party, didn’t get drunk until I was 18 ). A parent can buy a drink for his kid in a restaurant for example, and I have never seen a party with kids 15+ without at least beer. Pisco, rum and vodka are quite popular too. Also, most proms have an open bar. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/24 "2013-02-23T19:38:02Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I have never quite understood why people would name their kids Jesus or Muhammad. > I mean, isn’t that almost blasphemous? Wouldn’t it be weird to scream, “Dammit, Jesus, clean up your room!” or “Muhammad, get your lazy ass off the couch and help your mother!” We’ve talked about it before in these same boards, in Hispanic countries your patron saint (the person you’re named after) is/was\* supposed to be both a specific example for you and a specific protector; my brothers find it hilarious that while my own name was chosen for a different reason, I ended up working in a field related to my patron saint (cultural in-jokes ftw). What better protector than the Big Boss? And it’s not as if the name Muhammad didn’t exist before _The_ Muhammad, who btw is a prophet, not God: naming a kid Muhammad is exactly the same as naming him Elijah. You guys think of it as blasphemy when someone exclaims “Jesus”, we think of it as prayer. - depending on who you ask ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/25 "2013-02-23T19:46:58Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I have never heard of anyone doing this to tourists. It something an older brother or older cousin would do, to a credulous family member, usually a younger child. I can’t imagine anyone ever trying such a thing with a stranger. Location: NYC. And **Shagnasty** ’s post doesn’t contradict this. In a Cub Scout troop all the boys know each other and the kids are under 11. I’ve never heard of anyone doing this to tourists , although in some specific situations kids might do it to “sort of” strangers - to use the Cub Scout example, an older group of boys might do it to a separate, younger group in an adjacent campsite. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/26 "2013-02-23T20:04:23Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > Ok, I’ll go into the fire again… > > Not a single country, but: Do people ACTUALLY fool stupid tourists by sending them them to hunt for Wild Haggis, Snipe, Jackalopes or any other mythical critter? Or do they tell funny stories about fooling tourists, but no-one ever actually does it? Yes indeed. Ireland is full of practical jokers (as is the US). A friend went to get on a bus in Galway that was waiting about 15 feet behind a bus stop. She was told by the driver that a bus would pick her up over at the bus stop in 10 minutes. 10 minutes later, the same bus pulled up to the stop and she got on. A childhood friend of mine in MN would frequently be stopped when walking along the rural highway where she lived. Vacationers were always asking for directions a certain sculpture. She would tell them all to look for the large A&W billboard and turn left at the next road. She could do this with a straight face. There was no A&W billboard, but if the driver just stayed on the highway, s/he would eventually find the sculpture anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/27 "2013-02-23T22:28:51Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Yes indeed. Ireland is full of practical jokers (as is the US). A friend went to get on a bus in Galway that was waiting about 15 feet behind a bus stop. She was told by the driver that a bus would pick her up over at the bus stop in 10 minutes. 10 minutes later, the same bus pulled up to the stop and she got on. Er… this probably wasn’t a zany practical joke. The driver was probably just on a break. Normally the driver doesn’t let anyone one till he’s officially working, since anyone on the bus is his responsibility, and he’s also not supposed to block the bus stop for other buses that come by. Buses sit with their doors closed like this all the time in NYC. When they’re ready to go, they pull up to the bus stop and open their doors. I assure you this is not done to cheese off tourists, but rather, so the driver can go pee, eat or do things of that nature. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/28 "2013-02-23T22:44:27Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > Not a single country, but: Do people ACTUALLY fool stupid tourists by sending them them to hunt for Wild Haggis, Not to actually go and hunt for haggis, but a tourist in a pub might get one or more of the locals trying to convince them that a haggis is a real beastie. There’s a few familiar details about this mythical creature, notably that the legs on one side are longer than the other, as the haggis runs round the hillsides in one direction only. It’s just a bit of gentle joshing. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/29 "2013-02-24T01:55:52Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Well, it used to be that if you knew the area where someone lived, you could look them up in a telephone book. Of course, they’d have to have a phone registered to them, but often enough people would pay for extra listings if they weren’t the primary phone subscriber. Also, often enough, people would pay extra for an unlisted number… so you couldn’t find those people. I seem to recall that the police could get around that, though. > > Nowadays, a lot of people don’t have land lines, so that method doesn’t work. So yeah, you’re kind of right - it’s hard to find where people live. I gather that the police have ways of looking it up, though. But the average person? Nope. The average person can try [http://www.whitepages.com/](http://www.whitepages.com/) I have a land line with a listed number, although I am in the local phone book under only my first initial and last name. However, if I search my last name in my town on [WhitePages.com](http://WhitePages.com) then the first result is me, full first name and middle initial, with my correct home address, home phone number, and age range. I just tried a coworker who I know doesn’t have a land line, and she came up too but without a phone number and the listed address is actually her old address from more than a year ago. I have a sister in another state who AFAIK doesn’t have a land line either and came up with nothing at all for her, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/30 "2013-02-24T02:13:19Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > Ok, I’ll go into the fire again… > > Not a single country, but: Do people ACTUALLY fool stupid tourists by sending them them to hunt for Wild Haggis, Snipe, Jackalopes or any other mythical critter? Or do they tell funny stories about fooling tourists, but no-one ever actually does it? Jackalopes are an Americana type thing. You don’t send people out to hunt for them. They only exist as taxidermy exhibits in tourist locations or sometimes as part as a private business or home for eccentric collectors. They usually have a story attached next to them about where that particular specimen was found but they are so incredibly rare that nobody reasonably expects to find one on their own. It is the same thing with small mermaid skeletons found at some beach locations. On a related note, I have heard that some Scandinavians countries, especially Iceland, take the concept of elves dead seriously. Most people know that they live in the hills and can cause all kinds of mischief. Is that belief really as widespread as I have heard? ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/31 "2013-02-24T02:36:44Z")
I can confirm that there are a couple of roadworks on the Faroe Islands that ground to a halt because the workers refused to dynamite some elf-stones. It’s _not_ a common thing, and most people just laugh…and then leave the stones alone anyway. If you catch my drift. I’ve also heard that Icelanders are _really_ hardcore about the whole elf thing, but I’ve never dared ask an actual icelander, even when I’ve had one handy to ask. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/32 "2013-02-24T02:38:12Z")
True or false? British are more careless about their dental care than other first world industrialized countries - European women do not shave their armpits or use deodorant - A Mercedes in Germany is not a big deal status symbol. It’s a mid market car - Israelis have a reputation for being the most obnoxious international tourists Sexual relations between grown men and adolescent boys is an accepted social practice in Afghanistan and other parts of the Arab world It’s common practice and socially accepted in much of Africa for a married man to have a mistress and many out of wedlock children ---
**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:** [February 24, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/33 "2013-02-24T03:13:12Z")
> [@astro](#): > > True or false? > > British are more careless about their dental care than other first world industrialized countries - > > European women do not shave their armpits or use deodorant - The British aren’t really more careless. It’s that dentists were and still are hard to come by and the National Health didn’t (still doesn’t?) have much emphasis on good dental care. So people skipped it. On the whole, not maintaining your teeth doesn’t seem like a big deal when everyone around you also has teeth that are crap. My ex (a Brit) is missing several. A Scot coworker of mine had all hers pulled and implants put in because she was so embarrassed to have such crap teeth compared to everyone else here in the US. Regarding European women and shaving: some do, some don’t. Western Europe tends to have more shavers in the bunch. Marketing, doncha know. I can’t reply with any authority on the other questions. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/34 "2013-02-24T03:17:01Z")
[QUOTE=] European women do not shave their armpits or use deodorant [/QUOTE] False - some do, some don’t. > [@](#): > > Israelis have a reputation for being the most obnoxious international tourists True - they have that reputation No idea on the others. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/35 "2013-02-24T05:00:13Z")
Spanish women in my experience tend to epilate rather than shave. For that reason, they let their arm and leg hair grown out longer than is socially acceptable in the U.S. (Hair needs to be a certain length before the epilator can grab it.) But certainly nobody goes totally hairy. All young people in my experience wore deodorant, but traveling on public transportation with the general populace is quite a bit stinkier than it is in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/36 "2013-02-24T05:10:39Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > I can confirm that there are a couple of roadworks on the Faroe Islands that ground to a halt because the workers refused to dynamite some elf-stones. It’s _not_ a common thing, and most people just laugh…and then leave the stones alone anyway. If you catch my drift. > > I’ve also heard that Icelanders are _really_ hardcore about the whole elf thing, but I’ve never dared ask an actual icelander, even when I’ve had one handy to ask. Sorry. Well, as they say in Galicia and parts nearby when something happens that seems completely illogical, _eu non creo nas meigas pero habellas hallas…_ “I don’t believe in magic/witches/elves, but exist, they do”. > [@astro](#): > > True or false? > > British are more careless about their dental care than other first world industrialized countries - The British tend to have narrow teeth, which to an American will look bad even if they’re regular and natural-white (as opposed to glow-in-the-dark white). And irregular teeth are not as socially stratified in the UK as in the US, where braces are a social obligation for anybody who can afford them. Note also that in many countries, irregular teeth are not considered bad per se if the bite is good; in the US, aesthetics trumps performance. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/37 "2013-02-24T05:57:59Z")
Where’s the line between where you can or can’t drink the water. I know you can in Rekjavik but not in Odessa, so I assume there’s a line dividing northwest and southeast Europe. But where it it? Do the Germans drink as much beer and French drink as much wine as the stereotypes? Are the French as rude to tourists as the stereotype? I can read French a bit but I certainly aren’t close to being fluent despite 4 years trying in high school. Is it hard to find American style fast food and hotels in Europe? Is only knowing English a problem in Prague? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/38 "2013-02-24T06:09:56Z")
in order: it’s not a hard line, but in general if the place looks ok and the water isn’t trustworthy you’ll be warned. Can’t tell. No, in all the time I’ve spent in France I’ve met only one Frenchman who was a complete asshole on account of me being a foreigner and I’ve met mental relatives of his from other countries too. There’s MickeyDs and Subways everywhere, as well as Sheratons and Hiltons. And if you’ll allow me the remark, I’ve had much worse experiences in those hotels than in the big European chains. The guy who revolutionized the concept of “good hotel” a couple of decades ago, so deeply that people can barely remember what it was like before, is from Spain (Alberto Catalán, founder of NH and currently owner of AC). Nope, we got by just fine in English. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/39 "2013-02-24T06:16:33Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > Are the French as rude to tourists as the stereotype? I can read French a bit but I certainly aren’t close to being fluent despite 4 years trying in high school. > > Is it hard to find American style fast food and hotels in Europe? > > Is only knowing English a problem in Prague? I am American but I have traveled around a lot especially in Europe and I only speak English fluently. French people are kind of standoffish but I never had a problem with them at all even while walking around Paris for days at a time by myself. French people outside of Paris are very nice (and also tend to be quite attractive). Almost all younger people can speak English to some degree and are happy to do so as far as I can tell. I can’t speak French so I never tried but it didn’t seem to be much of a problem as long as I let them make the decision to start speaking in English rather than demanding it myself. That applies to most of Western Europe. Fast food is not hard to come by at all in the major cities and by that I mean genuine American chains let alone their home-grown versions. Milan, Italy for example has more McDonalds locations per square mile than I ever thought possible. There is one every few blocks which is good if you need an easy way to use the bathroom. Paris has plenty of them too. I wouldn’t recommend going to Italy or France to eat at American style fast chains like McDonalds, Burger King, or KFC but they are certainly there along with lots of other international and homegrown competition. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/40 "2013-02-24T09:12:43Z")
> [@astro](#): > > True or false? > > British are more careless about their dental care than other first world industrialized countries - Has been answered, but I want to emphasise that here it’s mostly “if it aint broke don’t fix it”. Why get braces if your teeth are fine? And bleaching is a no-no, most dentists are vehemently opposed. So their teeth might look bad to an American, but nowadays they are probably fine teeth that are just natural. > [@](#): > > European women do not shave their armpits or use deodorant - Only hippies don’t shave or use deodorant. _Everyone_ else does. It is absolutely the norm. [QUOTE=Mdcastle] Where’s the line between where you can or can’t drink the water. I know you can in Rekjavik but not in Odessa, so I assume there’s a line dividing northwest and southeast Europe. But where it it? [/QUOTE] Sorry, there is no line. It’s true it gets more dodgy as you go east, but in the Alps you can usually drink the water, even from the many outside springs (“Pitna Voda” or some variation, indicates drinking water). > [@](#): > > Is it hard to find American style fast food and hotels in Europe? MacDonalds is everywhere. So is Subway. I don’t really know what you mean by “American style hotels”? Do they have special features? There are plenty of Hiltons around in all the big cities, if that is what you mean. The local hotels will be the same though, if you look for similar types and star ratings. The star ratings are official (though obv different per country), and depend on what the hotel offers: swimming pool, room service, AC, quality of breakfast etc. If something looks like a chain and has 5\* it will be bland but good, like the Hilton. The star rating only tells you about the facilities though, not the atmosphere. Read the comments on [Booking.com](http://Booking.com) to give you a good idea on what it’s actually like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161.md?page=3)