Cultural differences between countries

Again, I'm certifiably socially awkward, but still think it's fake to start talking in first name basis with random strangers. I was always coached in my first job here in retail selling tvs and home theater products to always ask the name first and start using it over and over again to breed familiarity. I felt so damn fake when doing it. And then as I started to make one or two friends here and went out more in the regular world I see people exchanging names immediately and starting using them like that very moment. Sometimes it makes me feel all social interactions are buyer-customer ones. 

Dean wrote: The taxi ride into the city was something you'd pay good money for at an amusement park.

Another US-specific (I think, please correct me if wrong) thing I don't really love as compared to where I come from: the tendency to immediately talk to somebody else using names. No "Mr X" or anything like that, no middle of the road between you and nothing (no formal second person like in Spanish where we have "usted"), Americans immediately jump to talk in first names and, again, and it may be my social awkwardness here, I feel people are trying to sell me something.  

Dean wrote: Guldbamsen wrote: chopper wrote: ClemofNazareth wrote: And the honking is incessant, especially in China.  I've been driving for almost 40 years in the U.S. and have probably only honked my car horn 2-3 times.     I spent a couple of weeks in Bangalore a few years ago, the honking is incessant there as well. There is no real concept of lanes or letting people out, everyone just piles in and hits the horn like crazy. The noise gets on your nerves pretty quickly but strangely we only saw one minor accident the whole time we were there. In Italy it's a separate language.  Italy is without doubt the maddest place I've ever driven, whether in a large city or driving around narrow mountain roads at break-neck speed the technique for changing lanes or overtaking seemed to be "horn, manoeuvre, mirror, obscene-gesture and then horn again". In the end I just eased off the gas and let them get on with it. Until it started to rain, then they turned into the most cautious drivers you could imagine - leaving the roads clear for us Brits (and the Dutch for some reason) to show them how it should be done.

what was the joke again? ah, yes.

a tourist gets into a taxi cab at the central station in Rome and wants to be driven to his hotel. the taxi driver starts off like mad, turning corners at full speed with screeching tires. what it especially notable is that he crosses each red traffic light. suddenly they reach a green traffic light, and he stops. asks the tourist: "why do you stop here"? replies the taxi driver: "ah signore, now my colleagues will come"

I still don't have a driver's license (at 34!!! I know I know but I am quite comfortable on my bike), but if I had, I would absolutely dread a drive in downtown Rome. Even pedestrians need to watch out - especially when crossing the street. The traffic signals are only there as a guide, but no one seems to take them seriously. I quickly found out the best way to go about crossing traffic was to follow women (preferably hot). The cars would break instantly and often the drivers would say nice things out the window that I, of course, pretended was directed at me.

chopper wrote: ClemofNazareth wrote: And the honking is incessant, especially in China.  I've been driving for almost 40 years in the U.S. and have probably only honked my car horn 2-3 times.     I spent a couple of weeks in Bangalore a few years ago, the honking is incessant there as well. There is no real concept of lanes or letting people out, everyone just piles in and hits the horn like crazy. The noise gets on your nerves pretty quickly but strangely we only saw one minor accident the whole time we were there.

Dean wrote: Guldbamsen wrote: We tend to meet inebriated Swedes all through the summer much due to the same reason. They absolutely adore our alcoholic ways. Before my visit I asked if I should bring anything with me (meaning to do my job, such as specialist tools, back-up discs, instruction manuals etc.) - the reply I received was: "1 litre bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label".

Sounds about right.
I'm not sure the alcohol laws of Sweden work the way they're supposed to. Keeping people, who basically stem from the Vikings, away from the drink makes the occasional party even crazier. Man I've seen some absurd cases at the Roskilde Festival - folks who clearly have been waiting months to go absolutely berserk. They may just have saved what tiny bit of pride left - if they'd had the same opportunity in their home country. Oh well I really can't complain. Some of these instances were absolutely hilarious and something I'll never forget. 50% of any festival is watching other people anyway.

Guldbamsen wrote: We tend to meet inebriated Swedes all through the summer much due to the same reason. They absolutely adore our alcoholic ways.

ClemofNazareth wrote: silverpot wrote: Don't ever try to begin a conversation with the Swedes on trains and busses. People will suspect that you're drunk.   I think there are unwritten rules, even for Americans. And like anything else there are generational differences.  I grew up in the rural and suburban Western states in the 60s and 70s where it was considered pretty rude to not acknowledge a visitor to the area if you ran into them at a supermarket or community event or even walking down the street.  It's still that way in many of those places today.  Same goes for waving at people in passing cars.  I really never understood that one, but I recall as a child that my parents would cuff my in the head if someone drove by and I didn't wave to them. We don't really have passenger trains in most of the West, but striking up a conversation with a total stranger on a bus kind of crosses a line.  There's a good chance the person doing that is a bit wanting in the mental stability department.  And I'm really not a fan of people who feel the need to chat when queued up at checkout lines or waiting to get into a concert or the security line at the airport.  A lot of people do that here but I'm usually already annoyed to be standing in line and don't feel like expending the energy to try and be polite to someone I'll probably never see again. Another thing I've found different around the world is people's manners while driving a car.  Everywhere I've been in Europe (except Germany), people tend to be completely self-absorbed and drive like they don't give a crap about anyone else around them.  Same goes for China, Korea and Singapore.  And the honking is incessant, especially in China.  I've been driving for almost 40 years in the U.S. and have probably only honked my car horn 2-3 times.  I've had my current car for six years and don't even know what the horn sounds like (actually I don't even know if it works ).

Edited by Dean - June 21 2016 at 06:58

Guldbamsen wrote: silverpot wrote: Don't ever try to begin a conversation with the Swedes on trains and busses. People will suspect that you're drunk.   The same goes for Denmark. We fear other humans when packed together in small places - especially if the pæace is moving.

Edited by Dean - June 21 2016 at 05:26