Insight into a Foreignland!
Devendra Parekh
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Indian Americans: What is the biggest culture shock for Indians, when they arrive in the Europe/North America and other first world countries?
Jai Aenugu, wantrepreneur, IT guywantrepreneur, IT guy
2.8k upvotes by Quora User,
Rama Chandran, (more)Loading...
I am from India and moved to UK in 2007. Here are some of the shocks I received.
· When you see this for the first time you will definitely give it few more glances before you move on. haha!
· If a girl says 'I love you Jai' it doesn't mean she is proposing to me in most cases. You can ask any girl for a date and she won't hit you or curse you or her brother wont chase you. She may say Sorry or you may get lucky.
· People follow rules. Simple as that. You will figure this out quickly.
· Super clean roads and disciplined driving. You will almost never realize how peaceful it is without 'Blow your horn'
· Now, this is a daily newspaper but you will think it's a porn magazine.
· Yes it is French style everywhere
· You will quickly realize that the paper roll next to the toilet is not to jot down notes.
· A statement 'I don't drink' or 'I don't eat non-veg' almost always provokes a question 'Why?'. If you say 'I don't eat chicken on Saturday' you will spend a good few minutes explaining why.
· My wife recently moved to UK. Whenever someone smiles at me (walking down the street) my wife asks 'Do you know him/her?'. It's a norm.
· You (men) will get few weird looks if you put your hands on shoulders of your male Dost (friend). No touchy touchy!
· I still see some of my juniors start conversations (with British) with 'are you married?'
· The density of the pubs/bars is same as density of Kirana store (Grocery shop) in India.
· Bank/GP/employer/etc.. asks 'are you married?' you say NO then they ask you 'do you have any kids?' well..
· I was perceived as a rude guy many times when I moved to UK. I wasn't used to say 'please'
· There is a British way of saying NO. We generally don't get it for a while. Almost all the time people are very polite.
· You will get an holiday for this
· When you're a newly married Indian guy, you will spend your next few months explaining how arranged marriages work at almost every gathering. You will talk little about your own wedding.
· People say 'I have a funeral next week' and you think 'how does she know someone's dying next week?' (FYI - When a person dies the funeral/burial usually happens after few days to a week whereas in my home town it's usually before next sundown.)
· Do you drive? doesn't mean 'can you drive?' it means 'Do you have a car which you drive it yourself?'
· You can get rental car with no driver. India is now catching up with this.
· A female barber! hmmm.. I should get my hair cut here instead! Yes, you see them a lot.
· You will be pleased to know you can have tea almost anywhere you go but it's not same tea as in India.
· When some one makes you a coffee (not in coffee shop) you won't like it for the first time but you will get used to it.
· You ask for a whisky with coke (Jack Daniels is an exception) and waiter asks you again. Whisky lovers don't take it with coke/soda.
· You'll see every other person chewing a gum.
· You will witness a boy friend and girl friend walk into shop, buy stuff and each pay for their own stuff.
· You'll find disabled access in almost all places.
· You'll realize that not half of the people go to church regularly like Hindus go to temple.
· Potato is a big part of the diet here.
· People call almost anybody and everybody by their names. Like you call your professor or CEO at your workplace by his/her name.
· Dinner is not always supper it could be lunch too. Tea is not always Tea it could be supper. I used to work in a super market where I had to cook and sell whole chickens when I was at Univ. Sometimes customers buy chicken and says 'I will have this for my tea'. I used to think 'How the hell she eats chicken while sipping tea? that's weird.' Later I realized they meant it supper (in this context). For tea, they say tea biscuit or cup of tea.
· People have their dinner early. Usually before 7pm.
· You will hardly find anyone eating with their bare hands.
· Most of times you'll realize business here try to follow 'customer is god' and 'customer is always right'.
· Pubs are crowded on weekends. People take holidays regularly. People eat out quite a lot.
I will keep updating them as I got many shocks but can't recollect them all now.