20 ‘Weird’ Things That Are Common In Some Countries, As Shared By Locals

Since the world has become a global village now, we all know what happens outside of our country even without ever going there. Sometimes, we also realize that something that is considered normal in our country can be perceived as extremely weird in other places.

A Reddit user recently asked, "What is normal where you live but would be considered crazy anywhere else?" In this Reddit thread, people are sharing the things that might prepare you for the culture shocks in other countries. Scroll below to read some of the answers.

More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: definetly_not_a_duck, oe-news "In the Eifel, germany, on the night to 1st of may, people paint a long line from one house to another. The line means that someone in these households is having an affair. Every year several relationships break up because of this. I love it."

#2

Image source: R-E-D-D-l-T, Christina @ wocintechchat.com "My city is EXTREMELY bilingual, everyone speaks both English and French. You’ll hear people speak both languages in conversations quite often, sometimes in the same sentence. In stores, most of the time, people greet you with both languages and you reply in one of them, which tells them which language you prefer to talk in. They go "Bonjour, Hi!" And you say Bonjour back if you want to continue in French or Hi if you rather speak English. It’s kinda crazy. I’m from Montréal, Canada."

#3

Image source: TheReal_KindStranger, Kyle Taylor "Israel. Where I live, it is normal.for about 15% of the population not to work and get paid by the government since they are praying to God and that's important too. Off course, the rest of the ppl pay for them. f**k them and their god."

#4

Image source: labadiena8, Pierre André Leclercq "Welp, in Lithuania we have hill of crosses with over 200 k. crosses, we have a hotel where you live in a jail cell and ex KGB agents shout at you and dogs bark at you all the time."

#5

Image source: industrialslave, John Blyberg "Sweden: The government has monopoly on any alcohol above 3.5% and can only be bought at one store dedicated to it."

#6

Image source: NecroPaCo, frodinc "Putting a block of cheese in your hot chocolate. Colombia."

#7

Image source: anon, danny_joyce84 "I live in Dublin and when we tell people who live in America that we put crisps in sandwiches they laugh at us. Just try it mate. It’s so good."

#8

Image source: Designer_Towel, Leslea J. Hlusko "I live next to a game reserve in South Africa. It's not that surprising to hear baboons in your back yard, or spot a rhino 10 meters from your fence. One time a whole troop of baboons ran over our roof. It's only corrugated iron and we all shat our pants."

#9

Image source: SugoiBakaMatt, abcnews "Alligators. Just...everywhere. I live in a swampy area of Florida, and it's pretty normal to come across alligators in small ponds, ditches, around pools, or just chilling in a parking lot. I've nearly tripped on alligators more times than i'd like to admit. Thankfully they're pretty chill and won't really bother you unless you mess with them or go near a nest. The police are even trained to deal with rogue alligator calls."

#10

Image source: Rapperdonut, pixabay "Free Sundays (germany) Everything, literally everything is closed on Sundays which is amazing cuz everyone (except from the most essential like doctors, firefighters and the police) have a free day which is awesome!!"

#11

Image source: Captain_Coco_Koala, evokelivinghomes "In Australian rural towns we all had our back doors unlocked; and friends are allowed to go through the back door and make themselves a cup of tea/coffee while they wait for you to get back from whatever you were doing."

#12

Image source: Motuarsde, Saveoursmile "Madagascar. Every now and then we dig up corpses of our loved ones, bring 'em through the village where they lived for a visit, change the tissues they where covered in (several layers) with new ones and put them back in the grave and all that while partying."

#13

Image source: orceingiemsa, Tatters ✾ "Experiencing 4 seasons every day. Jacket on, jacket off, it's sunny but it's raining, freezing and windy, then it's hot again... I like to wear shorts and puffer jacket combos for both extremes. Tasmania."

#14

Image source: joey_r00, Piccinng "I live in NJ and it’s illegal here for you to pump your own gas/fuel. All stations are full service by law. I believe Oregon is the only other state in the USA that has this law."

#15

Image source: Katherine9009, Jean Beaufort "In Norway it's normal to release two million sheep (read: ***two*** ***million*** ***sheep***) into the *wild*, mostly unsupervised, where an estimated *100.000* of them die to either injuries, illness or predators, with the farmers crying and complaining (usually only to that last one), and then repeat the same process again the next year, and every year after that. Does Norway kind of have a f****d up and moronic sheep farming practice? Yes, yes we do."

#16

Image source: tasankovasara, HUUM "Starting college, meeting your class on week 1 and then having introductory sauna the next week, boys and girls all drunk & nekkid. Finland :3"

#17

Image source: computerfan0, northernirelandworld "People who are 12-14 driving tractors on the roads in rural Ireland. The legal minimum age is 16, but most farmers don't really care. EDIT: I didn't realise that this is a rural thing. Still comes as a shock to urban people though."

#18

Image source: vad2004, geograph "Driving over the mountains and shouting "mint sauce" out the window to the sheep.... Wales ( And fellow welshys... Don't lie..you know you've done it)"

#19

Image source: myrjxm, ELEVATE "Drinking alcohol for the first time when you're around 14 y/o. In Germany, it is legal to buy beer and wine when you're 16. So the majority of parents don't see it as a problem when the first drunk experience happens a few years earlier. Actually it is hard to find a teenager here that never tried alcohol before."

#20

Image source: GrumpySupport, Wilfredor "Brazil: Apparently being in a restaurant for hours and hours and only eating in 1% of the time. We talk for hours before and after eating here, so we don't leave right after eating. Everyone I knew from other country found it strange."