this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
17 points (100.0% liked)

Ask The World

947 readers
1 users here now

A general community for asking and answering questions about other countries and cultures.

Please state which country you're answering for when you answer a post.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 17 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This might not be exactly the kind of thing you're asking, but -- as an English speaker (and American) -- it always surprises me just how universal the word "okay" is.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

That surprises me as well. Also "taxi." And there are very few languages where the word for "tea" isn't etymologically related to either "te," "cha," or "chai."

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As an American, I was pretty surprised to learn that Civil War reenactments are a thing in Britain, too. Different Civil War, of course.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That sounds even cooler than an American Civil War re-enactment. I'm guessing it would be much older so, knights and swords instead of muskets and cannons? Best we got to that in America is LARPing, Renaissance faires, and, to a smaller degree, the Medieval Times restaurant.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

indiana, usa

the almost cultish consumption of coca cola. in northern indiana we have a fair amount of "authentic" and "american" mexican restaurants. almost all of them serve coca cola in a glass bottle from mexico. it tastes so much better than the plastic bottle/can american coca cola

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mexican coke is the best coke.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It's because they use real cane sugar and not HFCS. Doesn't have that corny goodness.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I thought taking shower every day was a comum thing. Moving to Germany I learned that was not the case.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Where did you live before you moved to Germany?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Brazil, which is quite hotter than Germany. So taking shower everyday (or more often even) is the norm.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Makes sense. :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I guess it's the classic: a dish drying cupboard over the sink. It's universal in Finland and apparently not too common anywhere else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am from California, USA and I've been to Mexico, Germany, Ireland, England, and Canada. The most surprising thing to me was just how not different the rest of the world I've seen was from my home. There's little things here and there. The taste of certain foods for example. Or what side of the road is being driven on. But all and all, everything seemed the same. I never really felt like a fish out of water except a couple times in Germany when I encountered someone who didn't speak English (for the most part, they spoke both so not hard to get along).

Completely changed my worldview. Shown all this shit growing up how we are different and it's all just superficial bullshit. People are people. Doesn't matter where they come from. At the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing; the difference is all in how they go about getting there. And even then, they're not so vastly different that war or violence on someone for who they are or where they come from makes does not make any fucking sense to me under any circumstance.

load more comments
view more: next ›