Author: Matt Gilligan / Source: did you know?
People in different countries do a lot of things…well, differently than we do here in the USA. That’s why it’s important to be respectful and observe before you act when you’re in a foreign nation. And by the way, I’m sure people who come here think we do a lot of things that are odd as well.
AskReddit users shared the social mores they’ve seen in other countries that made them think twice.
1. Hungarian weddings
“At Hungarian weddings, around midnight (of an all-night party) the bride and groom will disappear, and then reappear some time later with the bride having changed from her white dress into a red one. Then the wedding emcee will basically announce that there is one less girl in the world and one more woman, and essentially now that she’s no longer a girl she can dance with anyone for money.
Then the wedding guests basically put money in a hat to have a brief time to dance with the bride, and if you put a lot of money in you can even request the song. (At traditional, huge weddings this would even go on so long that groomsmen would show up wearing drag to ‘pretend’ to be the bride and give the poor woman a break!)
I can’t say I have ever heard of other modern cultures celebrating the consummation of the wedding short of nomadic tribes or something similar.”
2. Another wedding ritual
“There’s a tradition at Orthodox Jewish weddings where directly after the ceremony (like between the ceremony and the reception), the bride and groom go into a special room for ‘Yichud’ (togetherness behind closed doors between a man and a woman alone, which is forbidden unless you’re married).
The assumption is that they bang (which, traditionally and among practicing Orthodox people, would be the first time that happens), and then they just come out and dance with their friends/family, with everyone holding the knowledge that ostensibly they just made love.”
3. I don’t think this would fly here
“In the United Kingdom, if a waitress or waiter drops a plate, or smashes a glass in a restaurant, at least one person (and often many people) in the restaurant will shout ‘WHEEEYYYYYYYYY.’ In effect, deliberately highlighting their mistake with a loud, sarcastic jeer.
It’s not all that clear why this happens, but it just does, and I don’t think it would be acceptable in most other countries.”
4. Not young anymore
“I am Korean (Canadian), and it is poor taste to not appropriately address someone by a title like ‘big sister (Noona)’ or ‘auntie (Ajumma).’ While auntie has more respect than big sister, calling someone auntie instead of big sister is not great either. When I was in my mid-20s, I had Korean neighbors down the hall from me in my apartment complex; a young couple with a cute little boy.
He would get restless and want to walk up and down the halls with his mom at least once a day.
One day, I said hello to his mom, and she told her son to say hi. He bowed a little and said, ‘Hi Auntie.’ Our jaws dropped and his mom immediately started correcting him to say ‘Big Sister.’ He looked at me and continued to call me auntie, while his mom was apologizing to me for not calling me ‘Big Sister.’
That was the day when I realized I wasn’t young anymore and to accept the fact that I will be called ‘Ajumma’ instead of ‘Noona’ or ‘Unni (big…
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