Cultural Oddities Tourists Just Can't Understand

All over the world, slight cultural differences like common gestures or etiquette can cause major misunderstandings for unsuspecting visitors. So, before you go jetting off across the globe on your next long awaited holiday, let's delve into some common cultural oddities that can really confuse tourists!

Different Driving

Driving in any foreign country can give even the calmest of drivers an episode of road rage! From remembering what side of the road to use, to whacky driving laws, and using super strange road layouts. And there’s no country better at showing off those differences than the UK!

For a start, they drive on the left side of the road something only 31% of the world’s countries do. And to add to the confusion, drivers will often flash their lights at one another, or give a confusingly brief wave over their steering wheel.

It may seem like some sort of secret driving code, but it’s actually an unofficial language! A flash can give another driver permission to turn out of a junction before them, and a wave of the hand can be a brief "thank you".

But, without a doubt, the oddest thing about British roads is the abundance of aptly named "roundabouts". Those circular intersections work by allowing traffic to move clockwise around an island. While they’re fairly common throughout the world, the UK boasts a staggering 25,000 of them, that’s the most in the world in proportion to the country’s road space!

See How an Insane 7-Circle Roundabout Actually Works | WIRED by WIRED

And as if they didn’t look like they were designed by Satan himself already, the British town of Swindon is also home to a monstrosity nicknamed "the magic roundabout", it’s a roundabout made up of 5 smaller roundabouts. So, if you’re a tourist wanting to avoid driving round in circles, you’d best steer clear of Swindon!

While that less than magical roundabout looks a little chaotic, true road chaos can be found in Lagos, Nigeria! In that city of 14.4 million people, with few public transport options, the roads are in a near constant state of gridlock. It can get so bad that it’s not uncommon to see bus and taxi passengers jump out in the middle of the highway and begin walking to their destination instead!

Business Incorporated: The Massive Cost Of Lagos Traffic Congestion 21/12/15 Pt.3 by Channels Television

So, a visit to Lagos might not be the most sensible holiday destination for people who enjoy life in the fast lane. But as bad as that may sound, it’s nothing compared to the highway hijinks of Kolkata, India. With congestion levels at a staggering 69%, the streets are utterly chaotic!

Lanes there are very much a suggestion, the roads are poorly maintained, and safety laws are lax at best! Not to mention cows randomly use the road as and when it suits them. The bizarre bovines are considered sacred animals, and it’s illegal to touch or interfere with them in any way. But that means they cause absolute havoc when they wander onto the highways!

Apologies Around The World

As simple as the three little words “I am sorry” sound, sometimes they can be a bit harder to translate. That’s because, around the world, an apology can look different, sound different, and have many different meanings!

For example, in the US, an apology is usually used to assume guilt or, at the very least, is linked to blame. A lot of people choose not to make a big deal out of it but a bunch of flowers or a small gift can go a long way to achieving forgiveness!

However, in the UK, “sorry” is one of the most over used words in the dictionary! A recent survey of more than 1,000 UK citizens found that the average blushing Brit says “sorry” around 8 times a day. They can be sorry for an accident, sorry for asking for something, and sorry for the weather. Even their buses can apologize for not being in service! So, it’s more of a nationwide tic than a gesture of heartfelt regret.

But over the other side of the world in Japan, apologies aren’t delivered so lightly! There, an apology is usually coupled with a bow. And the deeper the bow, the sorrier they are. Like Japan’s star basketball team demonstrated back in 2018.

After they were caught engaging in some bad behavior on a trip to Jakarta, they were paraded out embarrassingly in front of the media. Following a sincere verbal apology for bringing disgrace upon the Japanese people, they were photographed bowing deeply for an incredibly long time.

Cagers: We bring disgrace to Japan by The Star

So, if you ever mess up really bad while in Japan, you better limber up those back muscles, because you could be stuck at 90 degrees for quite a while. Although sometimes, not even that lowly level of contrition is enough to convince someone to forgive and forget! Back in 2013, Japanese pop star Minami Minegishi of the popular girl group AKB48 shockingly shaved off all her hair in a tearful apology video to the public!

J-pop Idol's Teary Apology for Dating by The Young Turks

Despite what it looked like, she wasn’t having a Britney style breakdown. She’d actually been caught breaking the cardinal girl group rule of "no dating". Though both that crime and its punishment are equally bizarre, there’s something of an old tradition behind the shameful shave!

Hair in Japan has always held a significant meaning, from the immaculate coiffures of its iconic geishas, to the chonmage top knot of the samurai. So, cutting it off in any regard is associated to a significant life change, like a new start, or in extreme cases like what Minegishi did, dedication to achieving forgiveness.

Even the former prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, once shaved his head as a form of public apology for the bad organization of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee! And children at Japanese schools can be obliged to shave or cut their hair when they lose team games! So, if you decide to play a little sport on your Japanese travels, be sure to pick an opponent with a shaved head, it seems to be the sign of some easy competition!

Different Working Hours

As Dolly Parton famously sang, “Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living”. But anyone visiting Eastern Asia might be surprised to learn that work there doesn’t always stop or even start with the clock!

For many offices in Japan for example, it’s completely normal to work a staggering 60 hours a week. That exhausting sounding practice came about after World War 2, when Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida encouraged the nation to work long hours in order to reboot their economy.

But despite Japan’s reviving economic boom, the long hours and extensive overtime never really went back to normal. In 2016, a government survey revealed that almost a quarter of Japanese companies require their employees to work more than 80 hours of overtime a month!

And the worst part is that it’s often voluntary. Chronically overworked and underpaid, those exhausted office workers often pass out in the street and can be spotted sleeping in all manner of weird and wonderful positions!

And it’s not just Japan’s economy that’s thrived under that "culture of endurance". South Korea boasts the longest hours worked of any developed nation, with its workers putting in a shocking 200 hours a year more than the average American! That’s 5 additional standard work weeks!

Those inhumane hours rose off the back of the country’s industrial boom back in the 80’s and 90’s, but it never really settled back down. Spending more time at their desks than anywhere else, a strange office seating decoration trend called "deskterior" has swept the nation. So, anyone new to a South Korean office might find themselves doing a double take at the big, bright displays scattered around them!

But in Europe, that couldn’t be any more different. Anyone visiting Germany, for example, will see that Germans take their R&R very seriously! So much so that in 2018, many of its workers won the right to a shockingly short 28 hour working week. That’s just over 5 ½ hours a day!

Not only that, but on Sundays the entire country becomes eerily quiet. Strict shop opening laws forbid most shops from opening on the final day of the week. Some areas, such as Hamburg, also have mid day quiet hours between 1-3pm.

Even if you don't make much noise, you can still get in trouble with your neighbors or the law. For example, it’s illegal to wash a car in anything other than an approved facility, and some people have been taken to court for having a barbeque or even smoking!

But even with a short working week, they still have the largest national economy of Europe! And that’s because German culture focuses famously on efficiency, meaning they get much more done in much less time.

Standing In Line: The Culture Of Queuing

Plenty of tourists like to mock English speaking countries that are partial to a good queue; the British and Canadians most notably. But while waiting in line might be second nature to some, it’s not a globally followed ideal.

In China, which has suffered horrendous food shortages from communist regimes in the past, getting to the front of the queue for food and necessities was once a survival method. But today, even with far fewer shortages, queue jumping, cutting line and even queue crushing like in this clip below is a commonplace activity!

Chinese 'queue' Beijing Train Station by cgauth

It got so bad that in 2007 the government launched an entire campaign for "polite queuing", complete with some weirdly unnerving mascots. But just one country over in Russia, queuing is akin to an artform! Similar to China, it’s historic queuing systems were broken down to a first come first served basis under communist regimes.

But thousands upon thousands of desperate citizens would line up for hours on end for simple things like bread and meat. Over the decades, Russian citizens have become accustomed to queueing for hours for just about everything even for things like McDonalds!

Russian customers queue as rebranded McDonald’s chain reopens by The Sun

But they’ve also come up with ways around it. Queuing comrades will save each other spaces in line and announce definitively where their place is in the queue. That tactic can be used to save multiple spaces in line across many different queues, giving a single person the best chance of reaching the front as quickly as possible. So, should you ever visit Russia, be sure to check who the last in line is before you join a queue. It might look short, but you never know how many people could be in front of you!

Eating Etiquette

If you are from the west, then you’re probably used to putting a lot of food on your plate! But those belly-busting, western portion sizes aren’t found all over the world. Take Japan for instance, whose typically tiny portion sizes are so comparatively small, they consume an average of 1,000 calories less per day than their American counterparts!

Their teeny tiny dietary patterns come from the country’s history of food shortages, so their traditional diets have adapted to food scarcity. It’s become so ingrained in their culture that, today even Japanese branches of the fast food giant McDonalds have adapted their cup sizes to fit the smaller Japanese standard! That means their American large is actually 1.5 times bigger than a Japanese large! I guess everything really is bigger in America.

Japan vs USA | How different are fast food menus? by Rachel and Jun

Although if you’re looking to try foods that are a little more traditional, like the famous Japanese staple of noodles, don’t be afraid to slurp loudly! Contrary to the rest of the world, where noisy eaters really get a mouthful Japan purposefully slurp their noodles to bring out the flavor!

While they’re loudly devouring the delicious delicacy, they’re constantly sniffing to take in air, enhancing all the fragrances of the meal! It also allows them to enjoy the hot noodles much quicker, making their meal as fast as it is delicious!

ASMR Slurping Japanese Noodles つゆ素麺 by foodjimmy

But over in Europe and far from a fast affair, a dinner in Italy is definitely not something to be rushed! In the land of fine wine and perfect pasta, a traditional evening meal contains around 8 gut-busting courses! And in between all the conversation, food, and wine, one meal can last a phenomenal 4 hours or more! So, if you ever decide to go wining and dining in Italy, remember don’t fill up on the breadsticks.

And on the topic of filling up, if you’re ever invited to dine at someone’s house in China, when you’re finished be sure to leave some food on your plate. It may seem impolite, but it’s actually the opposite! In that country, leaving food is a sign that you’re satisfied, and that the host didn’t skimp on the portion size.

But on the other side of the table, Indian eating etiquette encourages diners to finish as much of the food on their plate as possible. Obviously, if you’ve eaten a lot, you might be forgiven for leaving a few crumbs, but leftover food is a big no no!

And not just that, but you should also be mindful of how quickly you’re eating. As delicious as it may be, inhaling what’s on your plate can come across as impolite, but eating at a snail’s-pace can imply that you don’t like the food!

And should you be asked to take more food, even if you’re ready to burst, don’t decline! Saying ‘take more food’ is an Indian way of showing love and respect. So, unless you want your host to start seasoning the food with their tears, take what you’re offered!

Drinking Culture

Hooch, Booze, Firewater, Giggle Juice, Liquid Courage; it’s not just alcohol’s nicknames that differ around the world, but also the way it’s consumed. If you’re visiting Britain, you’ll experience the coveted culture of ‘pre-drinking’. That is where people will enjoy drinks at home before going out for a night of drinking.

It’s something akin to a frat party, except that party is only the beginning of the night. With the sole purpose of saving money and getting wasted, UK drinkers get drunk more than any other country in the world. That means, on average, they get “totally trousered” or “off their face” more than a phenomenal 50 times a year!

Opposite to the British binge culture, the French are famously more considerate drinkers. That’s because, unlike a lot of the west, they’re not drinking to get drunk! They tend to drink slower and in much smaller units than other countries, allowing them to savor all the flavors of the beverage.

It’s also why children as young as 16 are allowed a tipple, but only if they’re in the company of adults. By learning to savor wine at younger ages, the French tend to avoid falling into the binge drinking trap! That’s certainly something to raise a glass to.

On the other end of both those spectrums is India, which actually upholds an official prohibition on alcohol in several states. But even though it’s banned in much of the country, India is also confusingly the 9th largest consumer of alcohol in the world. While certain states clearly have a love-hate relationship with the spicy water, the entire country unites on specific "dry days" where the sale of alcohol is totally forbidden.

Important dates like their Independence Day, religious holidays, and elections see the country go cold turkey for 24 hours. So, even though tourists may be tempted to celebrate with a drink on those days, they’ll need to stock up beforehand!

Entertainment Around The World

How do you unwind at the end of a long, hard week? Do you go see a movie, or maybe hang out with your friends? If you’re in Japan, there’s a really good chance you’ll spend your evening in a karaoke center!

The country has over 10,000 karaoke establishments where you can sing your heart out 24/7. Its popularity stems from a culture where group singing from a young age is the norm, making karaoke get-togethers a logical step up!

But as you wonder through the Japanese city streets, you might also notice the abundance of strangely named “host bars”. There, you can pay money to socialize with professional, beautiful strangers.

On the surface, that may sound something like Hooters! But the hosts there spend the night entertaining the customers with conversation and karaoke, all while encouraging them to spend big on the booze and tips! Though it sounds fun, it’s not always glamorous.

Confessions of a Host by TUJFilms

For many hosts, their very meagre basic wage is supplemented by commissions of up to 50% of the drinks their customers buy. That turns it into something of a massive popularity contest, with hosts often encouraging customers to spend thousands of dollars on services in just one night!

If that sounds a little too odd to you, why not try something like a “Rui-Katsu” event? That is where you pay to get together with a bunch of adults, put on a tear-jerking movie, and bawl your eyes out. Naturally, there’s nothing more stress relieving than having a good cry.

But a room full of strangers all doing the same thing sounds a little unsettling. Although according to the event attendees, most of which are male, it’s a great way to stop the stress of the week from becoming too much! But if that’s a bit too heavy for you, you can head over to Germany where you can strip all your burdens away, literally.

Nudism is traditionally popular in the Germanic state. So much so, that it even has its own word "Freikoerperkultur" or Free Body Culture if you’re not too hot on the old German! So, if you’d prefer to keep your innocence intact, avoid the saunas, swimming pools, beaches, and parks. Or better yet, invest in some really, really good sunglasses!

Travel Trouble

Wanderlust can take you to some pretty incredible places, but sometimes just getting there can be a bumpy ride.

In Italy for example, it’s rarely explained that some train tickets are only considered valid if you have “endorsed” or validated them at machines separate from the payment kiosks. If you’re caught riding the trains with a non-endorsed ticket, transport police will levy you with a hefty fine, even though you technically have a ticket!

How To Buy and Validate a Train Ticket in Italy - Venice Mestre Station by Maximilian

But public transport aside, to get across countries like Iceland, where all the beautiful and brilliant cities are connected by road, you really need a car. Although, Icelandic gas stations can pose peculiar problems of their own. For a start, they’re not all the same.

Some are full-service, and some are self-service. While full-service stations accept all manner of payment, the automated self-service stations only accept credit cards with a pin! That rules out most American credit cards. So, if you don’t want to end up stranded in the snow, make sure to travel around with a card that’s pin prepared!

Although, if you visit a large Vietnamese city, there’s one method of transport where paying could pose even more problems! The backwards looking bicycles rolling through the streets are called "cyclos", where the driver pedals from the back with the passengers sitting in the front.

Cyclo City Tour and Water Puppet Show in Hanoi, Vietnam by Viator

They appeared in the country back in the French colonial period after the country failed to take to the world renowned rickshaw. But when it comes to paying for a ride, obvious tourists often face astronomical prices compared to the locals. So, before you hop on board, remember to haggle the price down, or you might end up paying way more than a fair fare!

All those rules around travel are enough to make you want to walk everywhere! But in Thailand, using your feet for anything but walking is incredibly impolite. There, feet are considered the lowest and dirtiest part of the human body, so having your feet facing temples, images of Buddha, and monks is a huge taboo. Even when you’re sitting, it’s best to tuck your feet behind you and never rest them on something like a table or chair, or you’ll certainly get chastised.

Dress Codes Around The World

Have you ever gone on holiday and felt like you missed the fashion memo? Depending on where you’re travelling, what you’re wearing could be the difference between a day at the beach and a day in a prison cell.

In many Muslim majority countries, like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Oman strict dress codes are in place that prevent women in particular from wearing revealing clothing outdoors. And, in some cases, even showing their hair in public!

Like in Iran, where it’s compulsory for women to wear a Hijab or headscarf outdoors. As you can imagine, it’s a pretty controversial law! And considering the country can have summer highs that reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit, the idea of wrapping a scarf around your noggin in that heat sounds utterly sweltering.

But as hot as that may make many female tourists, they shouldn’t take it off. Removing a head scarf in public can see women arrested for “violating public prudency”, a charge that carries up to a 2 month prison sentence, or 74 lashes!

But they’re not the only countries where you can get a fine for inappropriate clothing! In Spain, driving while wearing sandals or flip flops is generally frowned upon. It’s viewed as dangerous because the sandal could become stuck under the pedal, causing you to lose control of the car.

It sounds funny, but the authorities take it very seriously! And because it’s up to their discretion, you could face a fine of up to €200! That’s one way to put your foot in it.

Although, when it comes to choosing comfort over style, China really goes above and beyond. Citizens have been known for finding their pajamas so comfortable that locals go out and about with them on! Many people will head to the shops clad head to toe in a plush robe and cozy pants, and some even go to work like that!

China's Pajama Fashions - May 23, 2010 by TPFThePeoplesForum

The comfy conundrum got so bad that early in 2020, the government began naming and shaming public pajama wearers, calling their dress sense “Uncivilized behavior”. But the backlash the initiative received for invading the privacy of those citizens resulted in the government apologizing profusely!

And today, pajamas are still a staple of Chinese streetwear or, more accurately, sleepwear. So, if you ever take a trip to China, don’t be afraid to pack your bunny slippers. But if you’re traveling to the Caribbean, remember to leave all your camouflage at home. It’s illegal in Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados, and Grenada to have or wear camouflage clothing if you’re a civilian. And that includes shirts, shorts, wallets, purses, and hats!

Historically, uprisings across those islands saw waves of camouflage wearing assailants attempting to impersonate the military. But even though it’s technically camouflage, gaudy leopard print doesn’t count, so your mother in law should be just fine.

If you were amazed at these cultural oddities, you might want to read about things you should never do in other countries. Thanks for reading!