People Share What’s Normal For Their Country And Bizarre To The Rest Of The World

When you turn 25, you get tied to a pole, and cinnamon is thrown on you. If you aren’t married by the time you are 30, they might throw pepper on you. That seems like a lot of pressure because who would want to get showered with cinnamon? It sounds very uncomfortable.

However, the babies are not cold during the winter because parents pack the stroller with blankets and the children wear many layers. When the children go to kindergarten, during naptime, you will see them sleeping in strollers outside. That probably wouldn’t work in America with all those stories about kidnappers on the loose. 

For centuries, saunas have been used as a place for purification rituals before marriage, and it was considered the holiest room in a Finnish home. They even call it the “poor man’s pharmacy.” They believe the sauna can cure anything, and we wish we had a sauna in our home. 

Some people name the fish, and when they have to take showers, they put the fish in a bucket. Imagine going to someone’s home in Slovakia for the first time and walking in on a giant carp swimming around the bathtub. That would definitely be the shock of a lifetime. 

The person’s mom will reply, “Ah, go on, you will.” Then, you will respond with, “Ah, no, honestly.” That will go on a few times even though you might be starving. Don’t worry; you will eventually get food, even though it isn’t the most time-efficient process. 

For example, one Reddit user said her dad couldn’t find his thongs, so he squeezed into his wife’s shoes just to go into the backyard to grab the laundry. We can imagine that there were plenty of other shoes by the door, but he had to have the thongs. 

In the Czech Republic, Easter is celebrated by whipping women gently with sticks. And in Hungary, they are splashed with water. All of these traditions were once used to symbolically ensure unmarried women stayed fertile.

In other cultures, this might seem like a strange thing to see if you are not used to it, but it is very normal to them. We wonder how they adjusted this greeting during the past year with everything going on in the world. It is interesting to see how people do something as simple as saying ‘hello’ around the world. 

They drench you from head to toe as a celebration after you let everyone know when your final exam is, and only if you pass. In the past few years, it has changed from food and paints to foam and confetti as not to waste food. It seems like a strange way to congratulate someone, but who are we to judge?

For 24 hours during Yom Kippur, the whole country basically shuts down. For first-timers, it’s an odd and almost eerie scene to be in the middle of a major city and see that no stores are open and no cars are driving on the road. Israelis take advantage of this fact by hopping on bicycles and riding around their normally crowded streets. It’s every child’s dream come true!

Bears playing trumpets and riding in the sidecar of a motorcycle might be a regular occurrence there, but in most other countries, people would be running for their lives in fear of the bear. Maybe they have a better understanding of the animal than the rest of us. 

We don’t know anyone who needs 40 ounces of soda but to each their own. If we drank this, our sugar levels would be through the roof, and we would be making trips to the bathroom every few minutes. Maybe they should only offer that size for water. 

The second passport is for international use, but not every Russian has one because they are not cheap. You have to pay between $60-$70 to get one, and this is also where all your visas are stored. We like that our IDs are wallet-sized, unlike Russia. 

People will put broken glass bottles on the walls around their homes so burglars can’t jump them and rob them. In other places, there aren’t even fences around people’s homes. It’s a much cheaper option than what the people in South Africa do to keep their homes safe. 

That seems like a violation of privacy, but the Swedes must not have stalker issues. We would feel very uncomfortable with strangers being able to access our financial information because that is too personal. Why would anyone want people looking up all their information in the first place? 

There are two ways that people chew the betel nut. You can crack it open and chew the flesh, or you can dip the sake, which is the green stem, into the kambang, a white powder to produce the red paste in your mouth. It is basically a stimulant like coffee, which gives you bursts of energy. As a result, people chew it in the morning. 

Brazilians also eat their pizza with a fork and knife because it is less messy. Not only do they have fresh breath and good hygiene, but they also eat in a polite manner, so props to Brazil for becoming a superior country in those aspects. 

The legend says that a jealous sharp-toothed demon hid inside the nether regions of a young woman whom the demon fell in love with and bit off the penises of two young men on their wedding night. After that, the woman sought help from a blacksmith, who fashioned an iron phallus to break the demon’s teeth. 

The citizens get to decide on policy initiatives, and they are directly involved in the decision-making process. In most places, people are a few steps removed from actual decisions after someone elects someone else, and it feels like your voice isn’t heard. 

If you have a nation-wide business in Switzerland, the website needs to be translated into four languages, including brochures, instructions, and product boxes. When large companies do presentations, they will actually do it in multiple languages, or people get headphones with live translation. In some places, even cinemas have four sets of subtitles. 

If you feel like you need a little extra cleaning power, you can use the bidet sprayer. Some people refer to it as the bum gun, but we will call it a bidet. They have become more and more common in other countries throughout South East Asia as well. 

We say it is the land of the free and home of the brave, but this is pretty forced, and there are students who would prefer not to do this. It gave us a sense of routine, but now that we look back on it, it is pretty strange, and we don’t blame people for the judgment. 

If you are just getting an aspirin, a hospital will charge upwards of $25, and newborn diapers are over $100. Even when you have good insurance, it costs you an arm and a leg to get the treatments needed. The health care industry will take every penny you have. 

Also, the weather forecast is in Celcius, but the wind speed is in miles per hour. It seems like they can’t make up their minds about which system to use. The people must be very confused when they go anywhere else in Europe because most places just have one set way of measuring everything. 

We didn’t know tea could solve all of our problems, but if we knew it was that easy, we would have been drinking much more tea. It’s like it has magical powers that only people from the UK understand. They would probably laugh at southern sweet tea. 

Taken aback by this question, she replied, “Why? Do use your feet?” She then went on to win the crown, and people stopped questioning why they eat food differently. Who are we to judge how a country eats its meals?

Next time there is a massive snowstorm and your fridge is too full or stops working, use the snow as a fridge because it does that same job. You can even mold the snow to look like a fake refrigerator. These people are clearly looking to have a boozy snowstorm. 

If you are trying to figure out how much something is, you have to whip out your calculator and start adding everything up to be prepared before you get to the register. There are a few states though that don’t have sales tax, so it isn’t like this in 100% of the US.

In places like Hong Kong, even if you are slightly sick, you wear a mask. Japanese women wear them when they don’t have time to put on makeup, and people also wear them for environmental reasons. Most people grew up knowing that as a society, they need to protect each other. 

Some people go as far as having infra-red sensors linked to armed response with a reaction time of under three to four minutes. It seems like a terrifying place to live if they have to take such drastic measures just to feel safe at home. It sounds more similar to a prison than a house. 

In the past, we have seen celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan have successful careers in politics. However, we don’t know if this is such a great idea moving forward. Maybe politicians should stay in politics, and celebrities should stay in Hollywood. 

Not everyone is into holding hands for personal reasons, but this is a nice way to show your friendship. Maybe it is an easier way to hide their sexuality since that is so frowned upon there. We wish more people would walk around holding hands. 

When you visit the Netherlands, be prepared to ride a bike everywhere you go in the cities. This is not to say that cars are nonexistent because families still need a way to get around together, and sometimes biking isn’t an option. 

If someone says, “what’s up,” you can tell them exactly how you are feeling. You don’t have to hide your emotions just to make it seem like you are doing well. Maybe we could all be a little more open and honest, and people would seem less fake. 

We understand that it is a small country next to Australia, but that doesn’t mean it should be left off the world map. People probably don’t even know where New Zealand is because it is always the forgotten country. 

When a waiter or waitress drops a glass or plate, the whole restaurant cheers, “Wheyyyyy.” Some cultures scream other words, but it is a nice testament to the fact that people can make mistakes, and they are trying hard. 

It doesn’t matter if you are feeling sad, have the flu, or missing limbs; someone will ask you if you are taking your vitamin D. Make sure to go outside once a day when it is sunny to keep your vitamin D levels stable. 

This is a great idea to get people to recycle rather than people littering. However, it’s not just for plastic bottles; it is for glass as well. It should be implemented in every country, so people actually want to recycle. Let’s save the planet together. 

Even if they don’t have a man in their life, women also get chocolates for their male co-workers. A month later, on March 14, the men reciprocate with chocolate, jewelry, nice clothes, or time. The money he spends correlates to the amount of chocolate he received. 

While we may think some country’s food delicacies are bizarre, it is delicious to them, and no one should judge that. Maybe we would like these things if we traveled there and tried them. You’ll never know until you taste something, whether you like it or not. 

People are also always confused that we call them “public” restrooms when they are actually in private businesses that sometimes make you purchase something just to use it. If there were genuinely public bathrooms, the streets would smell a lot less like pee and other things. 

In England, people politely line up and wait their turn wherever they go. In times where social distancing was required, they followed the marked placers on the ground and have no trouble staying far away from each other. That is a foreign concept where we live.

These must be effective, but imagine how scary it would be to see one of these things at night. You would be in for the scare of your life and have nightmares for a while. They might look funny in the daylight, but once the sun goes down, that’s when the terror begins.