when have you gotten culture shock? (1 Viewer)

[anyu]

recently I had a big culture shock misunderstanding.

i'm Jewish. in Jewish culture, its customary to name your kids after deceased family members, to keep their name alive (especially by giving them the same Hebrew name as the deceased family member- maybe swapping the gender of the name if need be). some family members of mine are not Jewish and they live in the Netherlands.

their son's middle name is my dad's first name. when I heard this, I was shocked and angry. I thought that they were close, but to name a child after a family member before they die is like asking them to die. so I was super offended that they wished death on my dad.

it turns out, in dutch culture, you can name a kid after anyone, alive or not, to show respect. I was pretty embarrassed when I realized I was angry over nothing

what culture shocks have you guys had?

 

[Ahsoka]

That’s kind of interesting because I’m named after my living grandmother (mothers side), but my moms side of the family is Jewish too But they’re not religious, so maybe that’s the reason? They’re Jewish through ancestry, though my grandfather especially has knowledge of Judaism as a religion through his upbringing. Also it may be a difference in regards to Jewish culture in different regions. My grandmother did actually oppose me being named after her, but that was because she didn’t like her name that much.

 

[eclipsoul]

whenever americans casually mention the tipping culture. isn't the employer meant to provide a living wage instead of the customer?

 

[ChiaraStar169]

when we moved here from Charlotte, NC, there was like two feet of snow on the ground, and it was sunny and warm back south. Needless to say, we were NOT prepared. lol we were also moving from a big metropolis to a smaller suburb with some 40000 people, so that in and of itself was quite shocking, too.

 

[uran]

Going to a bazaar in turkey was scary.
They grab you and follow you trying to get you buy something and they do it very loudly. In finland in stores we just smile politely and say good morning/evening and thank you when we pay and thats it!
so it was definetly out of my comfort zone.