Culture Shock and Stereotypes

Hey look, we're talking about traveling again. Goodness. I suppose it's not necessarily about travel, but culture shock.

Quick: What stereotypes do you think of when you think of the United States of America? Now, how about England? Japan? Russia? Since you've thought about those, think about how untrue you know many of the stereotypes of your homeland are untrue. Whenever I think of the good ol' U.S.A. stereotypes, I think of fast food and being overly patriotic. I know that these are not true. Heck, I know a ton of people who live with completely opposite ideas than that. So why is it when we think of other countries, we expect them to be just how we imagine their stereotypes? Like, people from Japan only eating sushi. Or something. Maybe we just need to be taught more about other countries and how they live.

Back to the culture shock. I always find it so curious (yeah) the way some people in other countries live. Think about this: In the U.S., we have skim milk, whole milk, 1%, 2%... you know. In India, they only have milk. Normal pasterized milk. That a guy delivers to their houses and has to be boiled before consumption. See, that just seems so odd to me! Like I said, culture shock.

The only reason I know about the whole milk thing is because two of my coworkers are Indian and have family in India. I don't even know how we ended up getting on that subject anyways... Huh.

It's late, and I must go to bed. Night!

What has shocked you about a different culture?