Travelling opens up you up to so many new cultures, and those who are travelers get to recognise the vastness and diversity of the world. All these different cultures have some very interesting customs, we’ll discuss some of the most interesting ones below!
1. Switzerland – Honesty Shopping
In the Swiss Alps, there are these tiny shops where most of the day, no one watches these shops. You can just do your shopping and leave your money in a little basket as you’re leaving. Most of these shops are owned by farmers who are busy taking care of their animals, and so they put their trust in their customers! It is so lovely, and creates a community of loyalty and honesty!
2. Germany – Crossing the street
Most people know about how efficient Germany is. Whether it is public transportation and how they run perfectly on schedule or how every citizen is so timely. But one of the best habits that Germans have adopted is pedestrians waiting for streetlights. If all the countries in the world adopted the habits of the pedestrians of Germany, the world would be a safer place!
3. Russia – Offering vodka
In Russia, new friends are welcomed with some vodka shots – this is even expected from older generations! Could you imagine a better way to break the ice than this unique Russian tradition? Seems like a quick way to form friendships and get to know them even faster! That’s something we can all toast to, or “Na zdorovye” as they say in Russia!
4. Colombia – “Tranquilo”
Tranquilo is the Columbian lifestyle, “don’t worry”. Your flights might be cancelled, or the bus doesn’t run on a schedule … “don’t worry about it, it’s not important” is the prevailing attitude in Columbia when it comes to these kinds of things. But it works because everything does workout in the end! Especially with the amazing kindness of every Columbian who will help you to find a solution if you missed your bus.
5. Colombia – Tinto time
Tinto is a small cup of dark coffee sweetened with panela which is a sweeter relative of sugar. And they drink this all the time. There are hundreds of carts being wheeled around to enjoy the sweet coffee and catch up on some of the gossip of the area!
6. Iceland – Christmas Eve books giving
The Christmas Eve tradition in Iceland is to offer their loved ones a book! No more stress about what to get the other person as a gift, just a nice book. After everyone has opened their gifts, they spend the evening reading their books together. What a great way to preserve the culture of books!
7. China – Noodle slurping
After walking into a ramen restaurant in China, you’ll be hit with the sounds of everyone slurping their noodles! The slurping makes the food enjoyable and gives the message to your host that you loved the dish!
8. Japan – Pushers on the subway
Japanese subways are extremely quiet and perfectly clean – keep this in mind next time you’re visiting Japan. But, during rush hour things change when the subway gets extremely crowded. To solve the issue of trying to cram as many people into a subway as possible, they have “pushers”. These people’s job is to push people onto the trains during rush hour. Did you think there wasn’t enough space for you? You’re wrong, they’ll squeeze you in there! Say goodbye to personal space when you’re taking the subway in Japan during rush hour.
