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

Some things are universal while other things differ from country to country. For example, many of us drink hot chocolate all around the world but some Colombians add a slice of salted cheese to it. These types of individual choices are highly influenced by the culture, climate, surroundings, and people's beliefs in a particular country. Some things might seem weird to some people but are considered extremely common in a few countries. There are two interesting Reddit threads that shed a light on these things. Scroll below to see some answers shared in these threads. More info: Reddit | Reddit

#1

Image source: lewisws, flickr "United Kingdom. I don't believe any other countries have the annual 'chasing cheese down a hill' competitions."

#2

Image source: newkiwiguy "In New Zealand it is normal to be barefoot in public. In the mall, the supermarket, fast food places etc. It's even normal for kids to go to primary school barefoot. It's recognised this is unusual and has become a point of national pride for some people. Don't get me wrong, it's not like everyone is doing this, but it's a noticeable minority and would be seen on a daily basis, even in winter."

#3

Image source: christeebs "South Africa. Calling traffic lights 'robots'. Caught myself doing this with foreign friends and being treated like an idiot."

#4

Image source: MealieMeal, pexels "South Africa. Scheduled blackouts to reduce pressure on the electrical grid."

#5

Image source: Damagingking7, unsplash "In Colombia, hot chocolate is served with slices of salted cheese in it."

#6

Image source: CharlyVazquez, pexels "In Mexico we experience paranormal stuff very close. Even people like me, who doesn't believe in it, have parents, siblings, children or grandparents who have experienced ghosts or other entities very close. Not in the "friend of my friend" kind of way. It is really really common to be in the same room, and someone just says: "I saw my great-grandfather coming out from the well" or stuff like that. And nobody makes a fuss about it. We just process it and move on. But really, I don't know anybody who hasn't experienced a close encounter with something paranormal in one way or another. And again, I'm an atheist and a skeptic. I haven't experienced something at first hand. And that makes me an exception. Not the average."

#7

Image source: KVXV, flickr "Iceland here. We have a music festival held inside a glacier and deep inside a volcano. We also charge $1,000,000 for a ticket too Bonus fact: This was the same festival where last year Bam Margera was knocked out."

#8

Image source: FantasyDuellist "A week-long nationwide water fight in Thailand."

#9

Image source: Forrestal, piqsels "Have farms larger than Connecticut (14,357km2) Australia has 4 of them. The largest is larger than Israel, 44 of them are larger than Delaware, and this is still more than three times the size of the largest Ranch in the US, the Waggoner Ranch in Texas."

#10

Image source: espinetus, pexels "People count out loud the number of fouettés in the theater at the live performance of Swan Lake. In Cuba, due to reasons too long to explain but definitely having to do with communism, classical ballet is a popular art form in the sense of "not bourgeois". So the social composition of the crowd that comes to the theater for the classical ballet is not what you would expect in any other country. Mix that with natural latin irreverence and what happens is that people have ended up cheering the ballet dancers as if it was a sport. In particular, in the classical choreography of Swan Lake, there is a point where the black swan does about 30 fouettés or so and the crowd (that has seen the choreography before) goes like "ONE! TWO! .... SIXTEEN! SEVENTEEN! ... THIRTY!!""

#11

Image source: tomhouse_ "Wales. Place names like this llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"

#12

Image source: mylbp2ps3, wikimedia "Faroe Islands. More sheep than people in my country."

#13

Image source: viktor72, pexels "I live in Belgium and I doubt there are many other countries where two people who are both lifelong citizens of the same country cannot speak to each other. This happened to my friend, a Walloon, who met an old Flemish lady. She didn't speak English or French, he didn't speak Dutch. They legit could not speak to each other, but they were both Belgians through and through."

#14

Image source: prepelde, pexels "Such cheap olive oil. And eating incredibly late. Lunch is more or less at 1-3 pm, and dinner at 9-10 pm. That is why in Spain we have snacks between foods."

#15

Image source: MrLuxarina, pexels "Luxembourg. People who speak 4-5 languages fluently."

#16

Image source: Under_the_Red_Cloud, pexels "Finland. Saunas in most apartments or at least apartment buildings, haven’t lived in a building that doesn’t have one. A lot of great well known (and underground) metal bands. And a nuclear power plant that is at this point 11 years behind schedule and according to Wikipedia the 3rd most expensive building in the world."

#17

Image source: Mitoria, pexels "USA. The imperial measurement system."

#18

Image source: reginadak "National Crate day! In NZ we have Crate day to celebrate the first day summer which is basically celebrated with a crate of local beer, a bbq and sports, usually at a mates flat or the beach."

#19

Image source: LUN4RECLIPSE, wikimedia "Milk dispensers at school cafeterias (or restaurants but it's not as common). I live in Sweden where food and drinks such as water and milk is provided free for students. Whenever i tell someone outside of Scandinavia that we have milk dispensers they're always very surprised."

#20

Image source: Mangosta007 "United Kingdom. Pantomimes at Christmas. Real ale. Separate hot and cold taps. Mint sauce. Brown sauce. Thanking the bus driver (with a 'Cheers, drive' in my neck of the woods). Apologising when someone else steps on your foot."