Traveling and seeing the world may cause a bit of culture shock. If you’re used to the bustling streets of New York City, it may take some time for you to adapt to the laid-back life on a remote island in the Philippines. 

Sometimes, these experiences may not be too pleasant, either. These Mumsnet readers would know, as they share the biggest culture shock they’ve gone through in a recent thread. Some were brought to tears while witnessing India’s poverty firsthand, while others weren’t big fans of the cattle on the roads of Nepal. 

But, of course, there are some good ones on this list, too, like how easygoing Brazil’s locals are. Enjoy scrolling through these responses, and feel free to share your own culture shock moments in the comments!

#1

The constant presence of Christian evangelism in the Bible Belt states of the USA.

Image credits: ItGhoul

#2

I moved from a busy city in Ukraine to a small UK village 20 years ago.
The day after the night of arrival, I went for walk to find the high street and not seen a single person on the street until I got to the high street. I thought the world has ended and I didn’t get the memo.

Image credits: SparklyNewMe

#3

In France, not being able to go for a walk on my own, sit on a park bench and read a book, without some bloke following me/sitting next to me and chatting me up. Never happened in the UK!

Image credits: EVHead

#4

Marrakesh. I’ve travelled a lot and never experienced anything like it. I was followed and harassed incessantly. I had to punch some bloke as he wouldn’t let go off my arm.

Image credits: username299

#5

Being grabbed and stared at in turkey, even when not wearing particularly revealing clothes

Image credits: Newsenmum

#6

Realising that it was totally fine for me to go to the shop in a bikini and flip flops in Brazil. Everyone else was wandering around in various degrees of clothing, including wearing pretty much nothing at all. It was completely normal and no one had the slightest interest in anyone else’s wobbly bits.

It was a shock, but a really nice one. SO relaxing.

Image credits: PeopleLikeColdplay

#7

Oh and being told “ You’re so big and fat” in Hong Kong! By someone trying to sell me clothes!

Image credits: Sidebeforeself

#8

The sheer number of cars in America. Mind blowing, and the lack of public transport outside of the big city areas. Seeing people drive 100 yards to drop the kids off at the school bus stop. There’s no such thing as walking to the shop or the park, as exercise is otherwise planned and timed.

Image credits: VonHally

#9

Newcastle – it was snowing and all the gals only had a slip dress on and no coats at all

Image credits: Maighnuad

#10

For me it was definitely the bike culture in Amsterdam – and I loved it.

But also, the over enthusiasm of shop workers in America, the silence in the streets in Japan, and the way Australians are so outdoorsy but can’t handle the rain

Image credits: Sacredhandbag

#11

Visiting Nepal and India 25 years ago. Cows on the road that the taxi drivers would dodge. Vibrant colours everywhere. People sleeping on the pavement at night, hundreds of them with nowhere else to go. Disabled people with no limbs begging lying on the floor. The kindness of strangers and simplicity of the lives people led. It brought me up short and made me appreciate my life back in the U.K. so much more. Not that I preferred it, but the contrast was strong.

Image credits: PlopSofa

#12

Not necessarily the biggest one, but the most surprising one for me was the drinking culture in the UK. Not just how alcohol forms such a huge and destructive part of so many people’s lives, but the casual acceptance of the prevalence of alcohol and the frequent excuses for drunk people – “Well, he was drunk, you know…” I always want to say, “Well, he chose to get drunk, so it’s still his responsibility!”

Image credits: Zimunya

#13

When we first moved to Copenhagen back in 2020 ( we are back in uk now) – and for virtually all winter the Xmas lights were left out along with braziers and furry throws and outdoor seating – and everywhere inside was toasty warm – to the point of sometimes being too warm!

It seemed incredibly cheery compared to most of UK in winter

Image credits: Crikeyalmighty

#14

So much Jesus in small town America! You go to a diner and there’s a little store in the back just like any tat shop here but with extra Jesus on everything. Where in England it’s like, a little dog? In the US it’s Jesus. Sparkly Jesus on a cushion, on a calendar, on a fridge magnet, tea towel (they don’t call them tea towels though).

They’re not even bothered about Mary it’s just 100% Jesus all the time.

Image credits: Miq

#15

Being grabbed by an Egyptian who tried selling me for 6 camels.
My ex thought it was funny and said “all yours mate” with a thumbs up.
The Egyptian thought it was a done deal.
I’m blonde and blue-eyed and was 23 at the time.
Another Egyptian at a coffee shop licked his lips at me in the airport when I asked for a latte.

Image credits: xRobin

#16

I guess seeing the poverty in Cambodia. And the fact nobody was over the age of about 40. Lots of people with no limbs. Lots of very young kids living on the streets. This was about 20 years ago.

Image credits: BobbyBiscuits

#17

In Japan. Left my phone on my desk at uni, sleepless night, rushed there the next morning to find it sitting exactly where I left it. Left my purse in the student canteen and someone returned it to my desk. My Japanese flatmate rode her bicycle in a pouring rain to meet me on campus and give me an umbrella because she was worried about me getting home (I did not know she was doing it, we bumped into each other on the way). Three year old kids on their little bikes unsupervised on the street and being able to cross the road safely and independently.
Best year of my life. Unfortunately, I became quite scatty with my possessions for a while after returning to the UK. I just got used to the fact that valuables will remain exactly where you left them or will magically make their way back to you.

Image credits: Catza

#18

Texas was a huge culture shock to me – mainly because of the guns. We went to church with my family there, and every man in there was carrying a gun. My 5-year-old was wide-eyed at the notion of someone shooting someone at Mass!

Image credits: KvotheTheBloodless

#19

The rule following in Munich. An empty road on a Sunday morning, but people were still waiting for the pedestrian lights to change.

Image credits: turkeyboots

#20

I was pulled over by the cops in a Texan city for walking.

Everyone drives everywhere in Texas, so someone reported me to the cops for walking, not Jaywalking I might add, from one huge mall to another huge shop. They thought I had a mental illness. When I told them I was British and used to walking everywhere the cops eventually let me go.

Image credits: 12FreeRangeEggs

#21

New York. The woman next to me in a clothes shop did a very loud fart, she casually said ‘excuse me’ and carried on shopping.

No attempt to pretend it wasn’t her. Now that’s a real culture shock.

Image credits: stampin

#22

I remember starting work in London. I was raised in the Midlands just outside of Birmingham in an ethnically Indian family who had come from Malaysia. In those days the Midlands was industrial and I had seen men running out of work at the end of a shift. The bit that surprised me in London was that men and women in suits were running up the escalators in the tube to get to work- not to bet out of work, but running to get there. Then one day there am I doing the same thing without really realising it! Also the way people would cram themselves into an already crowded tube.

Image credits: Cyclebabble

#23

In NY one December. Had a stinking cold. Apparently it’s not the done thing to sneeze or blow your nose in public. Twice I was told I was disgusting!

Image credits: Sidebeforeself

#24

Japan had a lot. Going into supermarkets and genuinely having no idea what something was. Children wearing school uniform even on weekends to advertise their school. The quietness and uniformity. People just obeying the rules. Things like the inability to understand how someone could lose a bus ticket and instead of just saying “no you have to buy a new one” being sent through ten different people all expressing surprise I could lose it. They couldn’t just say no!

Oh and the shop workers having incredibly high pitched voices, acting like children and following you around.

Image credits: Newsenmum

#25

Two spring immediately to mind that really threw me off kilter.

Arriving in India, first time I’d been out of Europe, and seeing the poverty and dirt and destitution everywhere. Cried my eyes out as it was all so raw.

Bangkok after a few months bumming around beaches, standing on a bridge looking down at several lanes of frankly mental traffic in the city centre, then waking down the steps and being hit with an array of sounds, smells, colour and chaos. Cried my eyes out as all my senses were so overwhelmed (but grew to love it!)

Image credits: MoonKiss

#26

As a 20 year old, being able to buy beer in McDonald’s or from a street vending machine in Belgium. Blew my mind

Image credits: Knickerbockergrolia

#27

Brought up in England. Big shock to go to Ireland for a funeral, with an open coffin wake, which is the norm in Ireland. Also that funerals are happening a day or too after death, not weeks

Image credits: Mumsgirls

#28

Public toilets in the UAE being a hole in the floor. It was well built with a plastic seat style spaces for your feet. But nowhere to sit.

Image credits: OneRingToRuleThemAll

#29

South Korea 25 years ago. I was 20, my brother 18. Both tall and blonde. My Dad was tall, fat and ginger. We got pointed and laughed at everywhere we went!

Image credits: mnahmnah

#30

Shanghai, China. People spitting EVERYWHERE. People would just hock and spit massive phlegm balls out, even inside shops and hotels. It was GRIM.

Image credits: AnnaL94

#31

Ireland, the swearing, in a nice country pub or a restaurant and other couples. They get the F word into every sentence. There is no escape!

Image credits: Mabelmable

#32

I felt really out of place in Kiev as a female solo tourist. The younger generations were good but the older people were really rude and dismissive.
Of course I’ve had people being rude to me in my life but this was pretty much full on once they realised I was English. I had learned a few words and phrases to get by but some people just shooed me away with their hand and turned their back on me, even the police did this.

Image credits: notacooldad

#33

In Beijing, the men carrying their wives handbags and people dancing In parks and in squares. It was so joyful!

#34

Rural town in Kenya, piles off rubbish along the street that were just set on fire as there was no bin/rubbish service. Really strange looking down the street and just seeing multiple fires alight all day

#35

Cigarette vending machines in isolated spots in Germany.

#36

India. Coming from rural / small town Scotland, it was an absolute mind blower.

More recently, public smacking of children in France. It’s really commonplace, unlike in the UK. There’s no stigma that I can see.

#37

Sri Lanka or Egypt. Non stop hassle. Exhausting.

#38

Speaking to an Egyptian waiter and they have to have chaperones on every date until they get engaged.He also couldnt get his head around that women were allowed to swear in the uk.Its a different world.

#39

Children’s birthday parties in Dubai.

#40

Nothing resembling a “village pub” culture in Canada. It is one of the things I miss most about the UK.

#41

This is going to sound awful – but mine was when I was 17 and I was invited to stay overnight with a friend from college. She was the only female in a house with her father and several brothers and she was expected to come home from college and make the evening meal (tea) for everyone. That was the first shock. The second was that they drank tea with the meal. I hadn’t come across that before.
My mum did everything at home (with help from us when she asked) and we only ever had water to drink with our meals. And our evening meal was called supper not tea. I had quite a sheltered upbringing.

Now I know, of course, that we all do things in different ways and although I like things done my way in my house I really don’t care much what other people choose to do in theirs. But it was a shock to me that although my friend was technically still a child she was expected to do all the cooking, laundry and housework just because she was female. This was 1978.

#42

TV viewing in the US. It seemed so haphazard to me. Ad breaks mid-sentence of mainstream tv shows. The multiple religious channels. The whole set up lacked coherence to me.

#43

New Orleans and walking into bars with signs that said “All guns should be holstered”. So bizarre that people can just walk about freely with guns. Blew my mind.

#44

I’m from Ireland but lived in the UK for a long time. When we moved back I was struck by 2 things, which I’d never noticed to a huge extent before:

Smoking in the street – you literally couldn’t avoid it. I used to hate walking up the Main Street in our city because it was everywhere.
Swearing loudly in the street – again, it was everywhere and you couldn’t avoid it.

#45

The poverty in America. I was at a petrol station and a man was going through the bins for cans to recycle for a few cents. People were giving him cans from their very large fancy cars like it was a great act of charity.

#46

Mine would have to be the first time I went to the Algarve. The cleanliness of the streets. Not one piece of litter, street cleaners around all the time, picking up the tiniest bit of anything. It showed their pride. And if a piece of block paving was uneven, it was sorted within an hour!
The worst; the French people in St.Malo, rude as hell, all of them. And the same in Caernarvon.

#47

Leeds, adult men drinking pints of milk as a take away drink.

#48

Went to Norway last year and I couldn’t understand why whenever we got on public transport everyone around us stood up and walked to a different seat.

I think culturally it’s the thing to sit in silence but as excited tourists we just chatted away.

#49

In Florida. I could see a supermarket across the road from the hotel, but there was no way to actually walk to said supermarket, no where to cross the road, no pavements, i had a buggy aged child, it just wasnt possible to safely get there unless we drove across a street. Insane.

#50

The way men treat women in other countries.
Not saying it’s great here btw.
Argentina – you literally get followed down the road like a dog in heat. It’s absolutely feral. And they talk to you and expect you to actually go to one of those hotels where they rent by the hour. I absolutely don’t look the type (whatever that is).
Also the way you are treated in places like Egypt.
I was offered a job in the Middle East on about an eighth of my UK salary “because you are married and your husband will look after you”. No thanks.

#51

I remember in the middle east my husband and I wanted to get on a bus, but women had to get on the bus first and sit at the front, then the men who sat at the back!

#52

In China – being stared at openly at length with obvious curiosity as I was not Chinese. Those we met who could speak a smattering of English called us “Big Nose”. Not meant as an insult I don’t think, just their way of noticing our facial features were not in any way like those of the Chinese people.

#53

The first time I landed in London on my own, (14) and made my way out of the airport and onto the underground, no one stared at me and I wasn’t groped or touched once. It was amazing.
I remember looking out the window of the train and goggling at how green and lush the countryside was, how fat the animals were in the fields, at the abundance of fruit and berries in the hedges and nobody taking any notice. I fell in love then and there and have loved it ever since.

#54

Probably, in Egypt, seeing women sitting by swimming pools at very expensive hotels , completely covered in black clothing, with total face coverings and gloves. Their husbands openly letched at our 14 year old daughters in the pool

#55

in Tokyo, in department stores, being addressed and bowed at by every single assistant.

#56

Moving from a workplace in a very very famous institution to a local authority office.

Everything felt tinny and unsubstantial.

#57

Americans don’t really use knives.

We do use knives to eat, but not in the same way as in the UK

#58

I lived in Dubai for a while and used cabs a lot. Without fail i’d be asked if i was going somewhere or “working”, just because I was blonde so automatically assumed to be a p*****tute and grabbed/groped accordingly.
Total s**thole of a place beyond the glitter.

#59

In typical yokel style I was in the red light district in Amsterdam and didn’t know 🙄
I just said they need to shut their curtains cos you can see them in their underwear 🙈
I got laughed at unsurprisingly 😂

#60

My first time in San Diego. I couldn’t believe the amount of homeless people. There were hundreds of little tents on the banks of the railway line.

#61

Rural China – toddlers not wearing nappies just bottomless trousers and doing their business.
This was about 15 years ago so it has probably changed.

#62

How it’s “classy” for women to have a glass of wine. In France, outside a meal, only alcoholics do that.

#63

Switzerland- so clean! Puts the UK to shame!

#64

In South Korea I went for a walk with a black man. I hadn’t realised that would make us attraction no.1, an African and a European together!

#65

The expectation of politeness in France. If you walk into any establishment and start to order or buy something without a big “Bonjour” you are considered rude

#66

New York. The lack of facilities for disabled people was awful. The attitudes towards disabled people was also terrible. I always thought the U.K. was poor at that until we went to New York.

#67

Miami – people mostly men, on huge motorbikes on 8 lane freeways without crash helmets. It terrified me.

#68

Oh some of the southern US states. Obesity was absolutely shocking,
majority of people can’t walk. Sadly it’s becoming more common all over now.

#69

Italy – The hole in the ground toilets. The fab food and the amazing wine for next to nothing

#70

Israel – the way men greet each other and kiss each other

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