The world is big but with internet, airplanes and tv it gets smaller and smaller. We’re constantly exposed to other cultures and sometimes it leads to a big collision, raised eyebrows or as I like to believe, many good things aswell. In this big world full of different people and cultures there are a couple of things I find very odd.
1. A breakfast consisting of bacon and eggs. How can anyone want bacon for breakfast? In Sweden we only eat “light” food for breakfast so I find that very, very odd.
2. Pancaces for breakfast. Once again, for breakfast? Pancaces is dinner food.
3. Peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. Ok I’ve never actually tasted this so perhaps I shouldn’t be so judgemental but the very thought of it is gross. Peanut butter is almost sickenly sweet and that alone on a sandwhich sounds disguisting but then to add jelly aswell? Eeeew!
4. Not taking off your shoes when you enter your own or someone else’s home. Doesn’t your home get very dirty when it’s muddy and wet outside? And the rest of the time aswell for that matter? In Sweden walking into someones home with your shoes on is conscidered rude.
5. Not saying goodbye when you finish a phone call. They never do that in american movies but perhaps that’s just in the movies, or? I’ve wondered about this for years so please do inform me about this matter! Is that a common way of ending a phone call?
6. Cheek kissing. Most swedes are reserved when it comes to introductions to new people so I think most of us find cheek kissings pretty uncomfortable. We even get uncomfortable if someone we’re talking to is standing a bit too close. That’s a thing many swedes going to southern Europe notice. I found myself backing away from people I was talking to in Spain because they were standing so damn close!
I know a lot more cultural differences like this but just because I’m trying to write about them of course I can’t remember any more than these, except the more obvious ones but they’re not quite as funny.
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well for the food part, i didn’t know you concidered pancakes to be dinner food. we do eat them for breakfast here, as well as bacon and eggs. however i myself hate peanut butter so pb&j sandwiches are ew…
i personally take my shoes off when entering someone’s home, but that’s my own thing most people i’m around don’t and look at me weird.
i always say goodbye on the phone so that might just be a movie thing. it’s always goodbye or i love you (if talking to a loved one)
the cheek kissing thing is a european thing i think.. we don’t do that here in america. most of the time people don’t even greet you at all lol
i will eat pancakes for breakfast or dinner.i love peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches.though they are very fattening lol.bacon is great and so is eggs but i dont eat much of either.
I have always wondered the same things you just listed above. (“Whoa!” moment there. *lol*) I’m not American so I do wonder about the PB & J sandwich thing; it doesn’t sound too appealing to me, either. *lol* But pancakes? I can have them any time of the day! =D
Yeah, the not saying good bye bit. In my country (Philippines) we almost always say good bye before ending a phone conversation. We consider it rude if we just hang up with proper closure.
With all the stuff you’ve listed, I learned a thing or two about YOUR culture. Interesting. Especially the cheek kissing part. I somewhow (blindly) assumed that it’s common all throughout Europe. Heh. =)
I lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all through grade school. I don’t think I could have survived without them. My favorite was raspberry. You should try it though, if you never have before. I didn’t realize it was an American thing.
I always say goodbye, and it’s been a joke with my boyfriend and me to point out all the times in the movies and on tv when people just hang up. I consider that rude when people do that to me.
I never thought of pancakes and bacon as anything but breakfast really. I’ve eaten them for dinner, but only because I was craving breakfast food.
I never thought about the minor culture differences before. It’s pretty interesting.
Well for the food. Americans have twisted all the foods. Not only do we make all foods in huge portions we mix the order in which they are eaten. For example, Italians eat salad last, Americans eat it first. I can see if you don’t like peanut butter how you would think that a P&J would be nasty. But I LOVE peanut butter and like jelly, so I love to eat P&Js. Everyone I know says “bye”, talk to ya later”, or “i love you” to end a phone conversation. I personally don’t kiss people I don’t know on the check and have my own space requirement upon getting to know someone. I think that kind of stuff has to be based upon person. I think the differences in cultures is what makes people fascinating.
you dont eat pancakes or eggs for breakfast?!
that’s really odd to me. but i guess that’s just because that’s how i was brought up and it would seem odd any otherway.
PB&J sandwhiches aren’t all that bad actually, you should try it!
and not saying goodbye at the end of the phone call is just in the movies, i’ve always wondered why they dont say bye in movies, but i can be very annoying haha.
Most people take off their shoes when they get home, and sometimes people make guests take off their shoes upon entering a house. It just depends on who it is. America has many many cultures that just kinda mixes into one. Everyone has their own style and customs, and you also have to put into consideration that maybe your customs might seem a little weird to us.
dang, i think that’s the longest comment to a blog i’ve ever written haha.
It seems odd that pancakes would be dinner food lol. Sometimes I have breakfast for dinner a lot more in my original country of origin but we still think of it as breakfast.
The not saying goodbye thing in movies is really weird I always wonder I guess they all just know it’s time for the conversation to be over lol.
Some people like you to take of your shoes when you entire their home, I wish I could instill that at my home but my boyfriend will never do it lol.
I do still want to be you affy! I love reading your blog even though I’ve been kind of absent lately.
<3 Voni
Mmmm, bacon.
However, I can’t stomach it in the morning. Too heavy. I’d be sick. Peanut butter and jelly=gross. I think the shoe thing is all a matter of who the person it. It’s not an American custom to remove your shoes, but a lot of us do because we want to protect our carpets. I know that I take my shoes off as soon as I walk in. The goodbye thing is just a movie thing. Americans do generally say goodbye before we hang up the phone.
Americans are all about our personal space for the most part, so the cheek kissing thing would not go over well here.