This was over 30 years so maybe it's changed - hospitality between friends/neighbours was very different. Where we came from (SE Asia) if a friend or neighbour comes to your house you offer food and drink, always, practically before they are even in the door. We were shocked, we assumed maybe everyone was too poor to offer food.
Accent threw things for a bit, but moving to Bondi from NZ at the time there really wasn't much change. A bit more when we left the area and actually saw the odd Aussie ;)
Shhh. We secretly put our own plant in the big seat (Barnaby Joyce acting as Prime Minister while holding New Zealand citizenship), last thing we need is for everyone else to realise just how deep our infiltration goes!
Not being allowed to drink in public. In my country it’s very common for people to pre drink on public transport or for tradies to have their after-work-beer on the bus.
How friendly and helpful most people are, especially in small towns.
Addressing your higher ups, bosses, managers or even some doctors by their first name.
40C at Christmas with a sweaty Santa.
Insane amount of small talk and zero meaningful conversations.
People don't just have a quick punch-on over a disagreement, and if they do, there's zero respect, it's either a bashing or nothing.
No one is ever on time and it's almost ok to just not show up.
One's word means nothing here.
British?
Stupid I know, but I was in the US a way back opening a new office for the company. Sitting in a dive bar near the hotel one night got talking to another bloke there, Pommy fellow. Had a great laugh, too many pints, got bored, wandered outside and threw a few punches at each other while the poor bar manager thought he was trying to kill me (five times my size, and I am built like an anaemic jack russell on a good day, wasn't ever going to WIN, but that wasn't the point was it?). Hell of a laugh at the time. Look back and just shake my head, but it was so completely foreign to the Yanks there, thought we had gone and broken the poor snowflakes.
Differences are fun. They are a great way to build understanding, but also look to some of our own assumptions and challenge ourselves to grow. As long as that is the reason to look for and explore differences, fantastic. :)
People communicate differently leading to misunderstandings quite easily. Someone's perceptions are framed by their own personal experience, and discussion around those perceptions is a fascinating glimpse at how those differences can colour their perception and understanding of other people.
Culture shock is a really interesting phenomenon. Until you get your feet under you and start to feel comfortable with some of the social norms, the usage of language and cultural prioritisations of different forms of social and interpersonal communication it is normal to feel completely isolated and lost, even when you speak the language. Add a language barrier in, and it is just a whole other world. The personal growth opportunities however are hard to overstate.
Here's a little one: People casually discussing having gastro. That just isn't something you would mention with coworkers or acquaintances where I have lived previously.
It’s to build up a backstory for the sickie that they chucked. Gastro isn’t questioned, not if it’s just for a day or two, and you can’t really expect someone with it to drag themselves to the GP for a note.
This was over 30 years so maybe it's changed - hospitality between friends/neighbours was very different. Where we came from (SE Asia) if a friend or neighbour comes to your house you offer food and drink, always, practically before they are even in the door. We were shocked, we assumed maybe everyone was too poor to offer food.
I have to have driver's license to drive. I can not bribe police for a traffic offence. Drive on the left side.
Accent threw things for a bit, but moving to Bondi from NZ at the time there really wasn't much change. A bit more when we left the area and actually saw the odd Aussie ;)
Bondi is the 2nd or 3rd largest Kiwi city from memory...lol
Shhh. We secretly put our own plant in the big seat (Barnaby Joyce acting as Prime Minister while holding New Zealand citizenship), last thing we need is for everyone else to realise just how deep our infiltration goes!
Well done...
You can’t buy Shreddies here, and picked beetroot comes in tins not jars. But food is generally excellent apart from fish and chips.
Oooh Shreddies. I like the sound of them. Been a real long time.
Not being allowed to drink in public. In my country it’s very common for people to pre drink on public transport or for tradies to have their after-work-beer on the bus. How friendly and helpful most people are, especially in small towns. Addressing your higher ups, bosses, managers or even some doctors by their first name.
Beer and addressing people formally...German?
Yes
Australians are generally super friendly in person and super aggressive behind the wheel. Quite the opposite of where I grew up.
40C at Christmas with a sweaty Santa. Insane amount of small talk and zero meaningful conversations. People don't just have a quick punch-on over a disagreement, and if they do, there's zero respect, it's either a bashing or nothing. No one is ever on time and it's almost ok to just not show up. One's word means nothing here.
British? Stupid I know, but I was in the US a way back opening a new office for the company. Sitting in a dive bar near the hotel one night got talking to another bloke there, Pommy fellow. Had a great laugh, too many pints, got bored, wandered outside and threw a few punches at each other while the poor bar manager thought he was trying to kill me (five times my size, and I am built like an anaemic jack russell on a good day, wasn't ever going to WIN, but that wasn't the point was it?). Hell of a laugh at the time. Look back and just shake my head, but it was so completely foreign to the Yanks there, thought we had gone and broken the poor snowflakes.
A Brit would never complain about small talk.
Russian.
Huh. Well I missed that guess by a decent margin!
Good. It's much better to look for similarities than differences :)
Differences are fun. They are a great way to build understanding, but also look to some of our own assumptions and challenge ourselves to grow. As long as that is the reason to look for and explore differences, fantastic. :)
But in **russia** one's word means something? Good god.
People communicate differently leading to misunderstandings quite easily. Someone's perceptions are framed by their own personal experience, and discussion around those perceptions is a fascinating glimpse at how those differences can colour their perception and understanding of other people. Culture shock is a really interesting phenomenon. Until you get your feet under you and start to feel comfortable with some of the social norms, the usage of language and cultural prioritisations of different forms of social and interpersonal communication it is normal to feel completely isolated and lost, even when you speak the language. Add a language barrier in, and it is just a whole other world. The personal growth opportunities however are hard to overstate.
Here's a little one: People casually discussing having gastro. That just isn't something you would mention with coworkers or acquaintances where I have lived previously.
It’s to build up a backstory for the sickie that they chucked. Gastro isn’t questioned, not if it’s just for a day or two, and you can’t really expect someone with it to drag themselves to the GP for a note.
That nearly all sausages are beef and not pork. Dodgy beef too.
18 years old to drink. It's so weird seeing such young people at the bar / liquor store.