53 Unusual Cultural Practices from around the World
From not touching someone’s head to not arriving on time, keep these distinctions in mind when exploring the world
Unique and diverse cultural practices are as interesting to me as the Victorian-nobility-derived collective nouns for different animals, such as a parliament of owls or a sleuth of bears. To satisfy this curiosity, I’ve brainstormed from personal experiences, asked around, and done a bit of research to compile a list of unusual customs from Tokyo to Texas, Israel to Italy.
I realize that most of these customs and practices aren’t unusual to a person that grew up inside that culture, and by calling them unusual, I’m not judging them. I find them fascinating. A last disclaimer in this age of many disclaimers: Germany, Spain, and the U.S. are overrepresented on this list because these are the places I have lived recently and feel like I know the best. Okay, on with the show…
1. The “A-okay” hand gesture that many Americans use so often to signal “all is well” means something totally different in Brazil — something like “up your ass” — while in Japan it’s a gesture for “money” and in the South of France, it means “zero” or “worthless.”
2. In Tokyo, most people don’t lock their bikes up, and if you lose something on a public bus, someone will pin it up on a small clothes line type thing strung at a stop. I once saw 1o,000 yen (about $100) and a credit card hung up with a clothespin waiting for its owner to find.
3. Eastern Europeans tend to carry bouquets of flowers upside down by their sides, while Americans tend to carry them upright. This was one of the niche methods the CIA used to identify spies during the Cold War.
4. The Hasidim of Israel won’t run because it’s seen to draw attention to one’s self and is frowned upon, so when late or in a hurry, they will walk very fast with their heads down, averting their gaze from anyone who may notice them shlepping.
5. While American kids get a reward (often cash) from the tooth fairy after losing a tooth, Spanish kids get a gift from a mouse named Perez.
6. In Andalusia and Malta, you will notice large bottles of yellow tinted water sitting alongside apartments and houses on the street. This is meant to deter dogs and stray cats from peeing on the side of your house or in your garden. Many people add a small amount of sulfur to the water, which gives it its bright yellow hue. Whether this works or not is a matter of much discussion. Some say the cats won’t pollute clean water, while others say the animals are afraid of the bottles.
7. In most of Southern Europe, houses have no built in heating systems even though almost everywhere gets cold for a least a couple months.
8. In Nicaragua and Colombia, many people point with their lips, not with their fingers or hands. They purse their lips and point with their pucker. I read Filipinos also do this.
9. In some parts of France, it is customary to kiss a person you have just met up to five times, going back and forth between cheeks. This practice is known as “La Bise.” In other regions, this number varies from two to four times, depending on closeness and relationship.
10. At U.S. restaurants, tipping of 20% is practically required because waiters often only make $2.13 per hour, the federal minimum wage for tipped workers. The customers pay the servers, not the restaurant owners.
11. In Japan, it’s considered normal to ask someone’s age when you first meet them, while in many Western countries, this is classified as rude behavior, especially with women. “Hi, I’m Blair. How old are you?”
12. It’s considered very rude to touch someone’s head in Malaysia. Don’t do it or risk offending them, unless you’re cutting their hair I suppose.
13. In Europe, eggs are not refrigerated. In Germany, you often have to put your eggs into the carton yourself, with cartons of six and ten spots available for free. In Spain, eggs are sold in one-sided cartons, with a plastic lid, in six, twelve, and 24 egg counts. In the US, eggs are in the fridge, and usually only sold by the dozen in cardboard or plastic cartons. *5 May 2021: It seems I’m wrong about eggs counts in the U.S. Readers have reminded me that you can buy them in 6, 12, 18, 24 in shops there.
14. In Japan and Korea, when you hand people things — money, a credit card, a business card, or a gift — you must use both hands. To do so with one hand is considered rude. And the receiver of whatever you’re handing must acknowledge the object by looking at it quite thoroughly.
15. Resumes (CVs) in Europe often include your date of birth and a recent photo, while this is considered taboo in the US, the UK and in Ireland, where we prefer to remain ageless and faceless.
16. Male friends hold hands in India. They see nothing weird about it and you shouldn’t either. I’ve also noticed that male teenage friends in Spain often walk arm and arm.
17. Italians are incredibly superstitious, both concerning death (cross yourself if you see a nun or a hearse drives past) and with their health. A simple breeze could cause a sore esophagus or circulatory collapse, whatever that is. No one can explain.
18. Americans tend to get uncomfortable in small restaurants, cafes, and shops, so they favor larger open spaces in which to dine and shop. If you don’t believe me, go to Texas.
19. Germans and most other Northern Europeans expect you to take your shoes off when you walk inside their house, while in France, Spain, the UK, and the US (with the exception of Hawaii), it’s considered strange to take off your shoes. Russians also expect no shoes as well as Japan, where you are often provided house slippers.
20. Russia has instituted 12 September as the Day of Conception, a public holiday during which you are supposed to have sex with your your partner in order to fight the declining birth rate in the country.
21. Slurping is considered rude when eating almost everywhere, except in Japan, where it is viewed as a compliment to the chef, especially when eating ramen or udon.
22. In Brazil, house guests are often asked first thing if they want to have a shower, and Brazilians take a lot of showers, with nearly 100% of people taking at least one shower a day, compared to just over 50% in the UK.
23. In Italy, there’s a phenomenon called the squillo. This involves calling someone and hanging up before they answer. This is done when the content of the call is mutually understood to be obvious, such as “I’ll be ten minutes late for lunch” or “I’m waiting outside for you” and can also be used to let someone know you’re thinking of them.
24. In Vietnam and many other Asian cities, to cross the street, you just walk slowly into the flow of traffic. Ideally the motorcycle and car drivers will just weave around you like water around a fish. It takes a lot of confidence to get started, and you should be advised not to make any sudden unpredictable moves with this method.
25. In Latin America, you are generally expected to give each and every person at a party or dinner their own personal time when saying goodbye, spending a moment of one-on-one time with each person. To do otherwise could be seen as insulting.
26. North Americans and Northern Europeans have very large personal bubbles. This can be witnessed by someone getting annoyed if the person behind them in a line is too close, or by a person stepping back for more personal space when their conversation partner gets closer as they’re speaking.
27. In Spain and many other Spanish speaking countries, you don’t tell waiters what you’d like (although you can of course), you tell them what to do. “Me pones/traes una cerveza cuando puedes.” [Put me/bring me a beer when you can.]
28. In Bulgaria, the head movement gestures for yes and no are reversed, which is rather confusing unless you’re Bulgarian.
29. In India, the “go straight ahead” gesture is a hand curving back and fourth like how many people imitate a swimming fish. This gesture seems to allow for more happenstance when going straight.
30. Italians screw their index finger into their cheek to indicate something is delicious. I’ve heard they also use this gesture when they see a beautiful woman because PC culture hasn’t caught on with old Italian men.
31. When Chinese people count on their fingers, six is represented by the telephone shape, with pinkie and thumb held out, rather than moving to the second hand. This same hand gesture is called “shaka” in Hawaiian and means something like “take it easy” and can also be used for “Hey, what’s up?” as a greeting, especially if you’re a surfer.
32. Many Asians and Southern Europeans applaud when an airplane lands successfully. This feels quite joyful to me and I’m usually thinking “thank god” anyway when I have managed to avoid another air disaster.
33. North Americans make more plans than they’ll ever consider keeping. Inviting someone to lunch or to the movie isn’t a social contract. You can just make up an excuse to get out of the plan and chances are, the person you’re cancelling on won’t really care. They might even be relieved.
34. Hawaiians (and haoles — or non-native Hawaiians — living in the US state of Hawaii), use the mountain (mauka) and the ocean (makai) as directions, instead of east, west, north, south. They also tend to use landmarks for direction giving, such as Diamond Head.
35. In the Indian state of Maharashtra, newborn babies are dropped from a 50 foot (15 meters) tower and caught by relatives below in a large net. This is done to endow the baby with good luck and fortune.
36. In Finland, it’s considered totally normal to go to a bar with your friend and not talk. At all.
37. Qataris ask “why?” or “what?” by holding their hand outward, palm down, and then twisting it quickly around so the palm faces up.
38. In Thailand, it is considered rude to step on a threshold when entering someone’s house because the threshold spirit may be angered, which could bring bad luck to the residents of the house.
39. In Germany, stores are required by law to be closed on Sundays (except for a few supermarkets at major train stations).
40. The French often drink coffee from bowls when at home, even if mugs are available.
41. In China, Japan, Korea and other chopstick using cultures, it is forbidden to stick chopsticks into food, such as rice or ramen, because it conjures the image of incense sticks stuck into the ground at a funeral. I once did this in Tokyo and the woman I was eating with went pale and quickly pulled them from my bowl.
42. In Australia, it is customary to chat with your taxi driver, and to remain silent will be viewed as rude or snobbish. It’s also normal to sit in the front seat with your taxi driver, especially if you’re traveling solo.
43. Germans aren’t comfortable with a breeze on the back of their necks if indoors, and they will close a window even in stiflingly hot weather to avoid it. They associate the breeze with catching a cold or other ailment.
44. Icelandic people are not at all prudish about sex, and they will fall into bed on a first date like it’s no big deal. Likewise, friends don’t judge friends for having sex with as many people as they desire.
45. Spaniards, Italians and Greeks tend to live at home with their parents until at least age 30, and often much later, especially if they’re not married. Even married couples sometimes live at home, and this isn’t generally looked down upon.
46. In Spain, the diner, not the chef, is responsible for removing the bones and shells from seafood, and the prawns have eyes. You also have to provide the birthday cake if it’s your birthday.
47. Italians tend to use their term for dick as their general go-to swear word, using “cazzo” in all manners and forms. They also often pull out “vaffanculo,” or “go fuck ass” as a general purpose swear word that can be used in virtually every area of conversation.
48. Germans don’t tend to wear high heels. If you crave the impractical glamor of impossibly high stilettos, you have to take a train or plane to London or Paris. *This observation doesn’t apply to drag queens.
49. When Danes have a baby, it has to be named one of the names from the Book of Approved Names, which is a list of acceptable names mutually decided upon by two government ministries, the local church, and a department at the University of Copenhagen.
50. Turkish people honk their car horns to celebrate, and often drive around town in large processions after a wedding, honking their horns and generally celebrating while driving.
51. Germany has shelf toilets, which means the shit falls on a dry part of the toilet bowel and not into water, so you often have to use a toilet brush after you flush. This no one seems to understand why this toilet exists, except for one hypothesis that Germans of old got a lot of trichinosis from eating pork, sometimes raw in the form of a hedgehog.
52. In South America, it’s considered rude to point at a human being. Pointing is reserved for animals, so you should gesture with your thumb or by pursing your lips, like they do in Nicaragua.
53. In Mali, it is considered rude to arrive on time for dinner. A minimum ten minute cushion is adhered to, lest your prompt arrival be seen as disrespectful.
Please let me know what I got horribly wrong, scarily right, or somewhere in between. Also, please tell me more. Follow me on Instagram if you want.