19 People Revealed Things That Are Familiar to Locals, but Look Like a Freak to Outsiders

Every country has its own special way of living, with unique traditions and rules that might seem strange to people from other places. But that’s what makes the world interesting and cool — it’s not the same everywhere.

• Germany. Throwing porcelain, ceramic pots, and other things in front of the bride-to-be’s house a day or 2 before the wedding in order to break them into shards. It is said that these shards bring luck. Anything that breaks can be thrown, except for mirrors, since breaking a mirror brings 7 years of bad luck according to superstition. © TheBassMeister / Reddit
• In China, a lot of bathrooms don’t have toilet paper because they don’t want people to steal it. You have to bring your own. © _day-z / Reddit
• We scream when we cut the birthday cake in Venezuela. It is expected to be a blood-curdling scream, and people laugh at you and ridicule you if it wasn’t loud or scary enough. Also, our birthday song is like 2 minutes long. © Sadlycoris / Reddit

• Kissing cheeks as a way to say hello between men in Italy. It’s pretty common here, but when I’ve done it in America while visiting a friend of mine, some people were confused. © ImmondoVianello / Reddit
• In France, the number of kisses and which cheek you begin with all depend on which part of the country you are living in. It’s so awkward when you meet someone and you don’t do it the same... © forestotterqueen / Reddit
• I found out that brushing my teeth in a public bathroom was strange outside of Brazil. © sormatador / Reddit
• Wearing socks with sandals. You guessed it, I’m Czech. © Spirit_Ghoststar / Reddit

• In Denmark, if you haven’t gotten married before the age of 25, you’ll get tied to a streetlight and get showered with cinnamon. It’s common to see big orange spots on the ground around streetlights. It’s a very old tradition and we don’t actually expect people to get married before 25, but the tradition still goes on. © Unknown author / Reddit
• In Philippines ketchup made out of bananas. It’s red in color and taste similar to a tomato ketchup. © Unknown author / Reddit
• There are tea ladies on all the streets in Sudan. This is a literal translation, and I guess the best interpretation in English would be a tea saleswoman? Wherever you go, wherever you turn, whatever time of day it is, there’s a woman selling tea (and other hot drinks) nearby. © tinysnark / Reddit
• I live in the UK and I find it so weird that 80% of the houses have carpet on their bathroom floors. © MageLocusta / Reddit

• In Turkey me and my “adopted brother” (best friends brother-in-law) were walking, talking, and he put his arm around me like we were a couple. Wierded me out, and he explained the culture around it. I experienced the same in Ghana a few years later and finally in Papua New Guinea. All around a similar concept of indicating that you are either with someone close to you and don’t want to be disturbed, that you want to speak honestly and earnestly with another, or you are having a serious private conversation. I imagine plenty more places do it too. I have picked it up a little myself. © damgood81/ Reddit
• Indian Edition: Arriving unannounced at someone’s place and staying for like a month. © EmotionSenior9999 / Reddit
• In Canada being in shorts in the middle of winter. © Raider-Warrior-08 / Reddit
• In Bulgaria we shake our head for “yes” and nod for “no”. © filipchito / Reddit

• I live in Great Britain. Recently a woman from New Zealand started to work with our company. Everyone is horrified because she walks into the office without shoes, barefoot, which is considered normal in her motherland. © PmMeLowCarbRecipes / Reddit
• In Australia, we give spiders cute names when they move into our house and regularly thank them for eating all the bugs. © LikeASpectre / Reddit
• I live in Italy. After completing a driver’s license exam and receiving a license, you are classified as a novice driver and limited to driving only small cars for the first year. Even if you have had other national driver’s licenses and have been driving large cars for years. My wife recently took the Italian exams as her prior license (U.S.) was not transferable and now we have to sell our car as she is no longer qualified to drive it. © tomorrow509 / Reddit
• South Koreans are always older than you. We grow one year older when the year passes. And we also consider a baby 1-year-old when they are born. © Erica_Plays_Roblox / Reddit

Even though these culture differences might be confusing at first, they’re what make our world so colorful and interesting. Instead of finding it weird, it’s awesome that there’s so much variety. It’s like having a big, global family with lots of unique members, and that’s what makes our world so special.