Cultural differences!

[miss soul fire]

I've started a thread like this a few years ago and I felt like starting another one again.

This is mostly a comparison between your culture and another one, especially the American one since it's the most known culture out there, at least more than other cultures.

I'll name some

1) We don't have labels in high school, like the nerd group, the popular group. We have the nerdy, dorky kids and the popular ones, but some of them actually hang out. It's not a sin to hang out with a totally different person than you. Also, if you are beautiful it doesn't mean to which group you belong, you are beautiful and that makes you a king/queen. Also, most of people at school are invited to any kind of parties. I mean at my time, 10 years ago. I don't know now. Hehe.

2) We introduce ourselves only telling the person our first name. If the person knows the rest of your name it means they know you pretty well. Also in school, we never say "Mr. shulaleebooby", we say his first name or the name he chosed to be called, sometimes it can be his last name, just because he chosed to be called this way though. Sometimes we even make up nicknames for them when they are cool about it.

3) We usually don't leave our home when we go to college, only if it's in another state, but most people I know lived with their parents until they got married. Not that they don't pay their bills or anything. Some people appreciate living with their family. I don't like that much though.

4) We don't call people "loosers". We see that a lot on American movies and even when the term is translated it sounds quite weird. At least for me.

5) There are some jokes referring to Americans as people with the worst taste to name their places, just because of 2 of them. Boston which sounds a bit like "bosta" which means shit and also Chicago, "cago" means "I poo".

More to come...:D

[enree erzweglle]

3) We usually don't leave our home when we go to college, only if it's in another state, but most people I know lived with their parents until they got married. Not that they don't pay their bills or anything. Some people appreciate living with their family. I don't like that much though.


Yes, my friends in Australia didn't quite understand
my angst as my son was preparing to leave for university.
Once I explained that, I saw their realization of it and
then we all got it. But yeah, they all went to
university but they lived at home while they did so.

[DroppinScience]

3) We usually don't leave our home when we go to college, only if it's in another state, but most people I know lived with their parents until they got married. Not that they don't pay their bills or anything. Some people appreciate living with their family. I don't like that much though.


So you're saying 100% of American families have their kids move out of their homes when they go to college? :confused:

My experience (speaking for my lil' corner of Canada) is it's pretty much 50/50. Some people choose to move to an apartment close to campus OR live the dorm experience, while others will just stay at home while they're attending college (something I'm doing), assuming the college and parents' home are located in the same city, as you're saying. Perhaps things err a little bit more towards people moving out, but I've never heard of anyone looking down on other for choosing to stay home. In fact, some people wouldn't mind staying with their parents (it's cheaper that way ;) ).

Someone fill me in about a culture that's similar (yet different) to mine. :p

[enree erzweglle]

So you're saying 100% of American families have their kids move out of their homes when they go to college? :confused:Well, it's not that the families have the kids move oot, it's more that the kids
are chomping at the bit to do it and do it in a dorm. Away from the family.
A bit of independence. And bad food.

[DroppinScience]

Well, it's not that the families have the kids move oot, it's more that the kids
are chomping at the bit to do it and do it in a dorm. Away from the family.
A bit of independence. And bad food.

Ok, but is it 100% or is this just an exaggeration of MSF's part?

[enree erzweglle]

Ok, but is it 100% or is this just an exaggeration of MSF's part?
I don't think it's an exaggeration for kids who are in U.S. universities full-time.

I think the ones that go part-time probably hold down jobs and maybe live
at home. Most of the full-time kids that I've known have dormed. In fact,
none of my son's friends are living at home. They're all in dorms.

It's also an economic thing. The dorm/food fees are very high.

Case in point: my son was accepted at two local schools: Pitt/med and CMU/writing.
I always promised him that wherever he went, he could stay
in the dorms. If he went to Pitt, I'd get a discount on tuition because I
work at CMU. If he went to CMU, tutition would be free (I'd only have to
pay dorm and food costs).

He chose to go to Pitt, so I'm paying reduced tuition and dorm/food costs,
which, combined, nearly equals what I would have paid for him to dorm and
eat at CMU. Crazy, huh? It's expensive. Maybe that's why it's mostly only a
U.S. thing.

[ScarySquirrel]

5) There are some jokes referring to Americans as people with the worst taste to name their places, just because of 2 of them. Boston which sounds a bit like "bosta" which means shit and also Chicago, "cago" means "I poo".
Ha, so now we're supposed to make sure that the names of our cities don't have any possible "bad" meanings in all foreign languages?

No, I know that's not what you're saying but this is kind of silly on Brazil's behalf, I think. In other news, there's a down in Austria called Fucking.

[miss soul fire]

Hey guys, i'm just saying what I've seen in movies, I can't tell what really happens, but as most movies I've seen all my life should show at least a bit of reality, then I can consider it a bit, can't I?

I know 100% of the college kids don't leave their homes, but aren't some of those considered loosers for not having their place?

Here we have dorms, but most of them are pretty nasty.

I agree with the whole independent thing. That's one thing I've always wanted for my life. The one thing I would like to have just like you guys have in your country.

Unfortunately renting a place here is way too expensive for me to pay with only a part-time job or any kind og job-before-getting-a-degree-type, you know?! It's a different environment. Totally different. I'm not criticizing cultures here, I love them all and that's why I like to compare them.:)

[miss soul fire]

Ha, so now we're supposed to make sure that the names of our cities don't have any possible "bad" meanings in all foreign languages?

No, I know that's not what you're saying but this is kind of silly on Brazil's behalf, I think. In other news, there's a down in Austria called Fucking.
Hahaha! "Fucking" what the hell!! I wonder what's the meaning of that word there. Where's Randy to help us when we need her?:(

[paul jones]

I've started a thread like this a few years ago and I felt like starting another one again.

This is mostly a comparison between your culture and another one, especially the American one since it's the most known culture out there, at least more than other cultures.

I'll name some

1) We don't have labels in high school, like the nerd group, the popular group. We have the nerdy, dorky kids and the popular ones, but some of them actually hang out. It's not a sin to hang out with a totally different person than you. Also, if you are beautiful it doesn't mean to which group you belong, you are beautiful and that makes you a king/queen. Also, most of people at school are invited to any kind of parties. I mean at my time, 10 years ago. I don't know now. Hehe.

2) We introduce ourselves only telling the person our first name. If the person knows the rest of your name it means they know you pretty well. Also in school, we never say "Mr. shulaleebooby", we say his first name or the name he chosed to be called, sometimes it can be his last name, just because he chosed to be called this way though. Sometimes we even make up nicknames for them when they are cool about it.

3) We usually don't leave our home when we go to college, only if it's in another state, but most people I know lived with their parents until they got married. Not that they don't pay their bills or anything. Some people appreciate living with their family. I don't like that much though.

4) We don't call people "loosers". We see that a lot on American movies and even when the term is translated it sounds quite weird. At least for me.

5) There are some jokes referring to Americans as people with the worst taste to name their places, just because of 2 of them. Boston which sounds a bit like "bosta" which means shit and also Chicago, "cago" means "I poo".

More to come...:D


interesting stuff roby! (y) :D

[miss soul fire]

Our parents also don't pay for our college since we are were born. We have the ones that we pay for when we get in and the ones that are public. The public ones are considered much better and much harder to get in. I wish we paid or the government actually invested money in them.

Our college system is totally different. Not that I know much about yours. There are 2 systems here. In my time, right after finishing high school we would do exams for any universities we wanted and although all subjectives are the same (Math, Portuguese, Foreign Language, Biology, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Composition) there are major differencies in the characteristics of the exams. They are quite peculiar. And you choose your major right in the subscription. If you apply for Medicine (which is considered a hard to get in, especially in a good school) and they have a limit for about 30 people to get in, only the first 30 people will get in, it doesn't matter you got a great grade at those exams, only the best best graders will get in. The competition is intense. The other system, since 1996, is that we do these kind of exams each year since our first year in high school and we keep a score. It's much better because it's not all you studied your whole life, you know?! at least not in the first year.

It took me 3 years to get in college after finishing high school. First, because the public school I went was really really bad and I didn't hava access to all subjectives inside the subjectives, you know? I had them all, but not all of them were complete. The teachers slacked about it. So in the first year after finishing it I just didn't care about anything. I don't know why. I've never been so irresponsible, but the next 2 years all I could do was going to my preparatory courses and study, a lot. Just to think about it, it creeps me out. I've been doing the same thing to get a job right now. It's kinda crazy. This last week, I should have studied more though. Crazy times!!!

[DroppinScience]

I know 100% of the college kids don't leave their homes, but aren't some of those considered loosers for not having their place?

At one point, perhaps. But in this day and age, it's becoming increasingly more common for college kids to stay with their parents, sometimes into their late 20s. It's more out of financial concerns than anything else. And many don't seem to exhibit the "loser" traits. The New York Times did an interesting article a year or two back highlighting this trend.

And Roby, I love you and everything, but it's spelled "losers." I know English isn't your first language, but PLEASE, don't take English lessons from 13-year-olds who chat on AOL all day. :)

[miss soul fire]

At one point, perhaps. But in this day and age, it's becoming increasingly more common for college kids to stay with their parents, sometimes into their late 20s. It's more out of financial concerns than anything else. And many don't seem to exhibit the "loser" traits. The New York Times did an interesting article a year or two back highlighting this trend.

And Roby, I love you and everything, but it's spelled "losers." I know English isn't your first language, but PLEASE, don't take English lessons from 13-year-olds who chat on AOL all day. :)
Hehe, I know that, I just mispelled it. I don't care much about my English when I write on the Internet. I know it's wrong, but I'm so anxious to write and submit it. Especially now with my computer "sickness". English it's not my first language, but I majored in Translation, I should take care of it. Haha. yeah yeah. I'm not following my career anyway.:p

[DroppinScience]

Hehe, I know that, I just mispelled it. I don't care much about my English when I write on the Internet. I know it's wrong, but I'm so anxious to write and submit it. Especially now with my computer "sickness". English it's not my first language, but I majored in Translation, I should take care of it. Haha. yeah yeah. I'm not following my career anyway.:p

It's okay, but you managed to mispell the word at least twice in this thread. I was starting to get worried that you had a horrible English teacher. :o

[miss soul fire]

It's okay, but you managed to mispell the word at least twice in this thread. I was starting to get worried that you had a horrible English teacher. :o
In junior high I used to hate English with all my guts, although it was easy at the time. I've studied French for years, but then I started enjoying English too. I don't even know how to speak in Portuguese, you can imagine other languages!!

I remember once one of my English teachers said that I was just a bad student. Hihi.:D

[Pres Zount]

I was trying to think of some wacky cultural differences between australia and the US, but they are exactly the same in every way.

[Documad]

MSF, I think you're fabulous. It's so strange when you think how much people from other countries know about the US and how little most US citizens know about other countries.

My perspective: While a huge percentage of kids can't afford to leave home right out of high school, you are a loser if you don't want to. If you go to college after high school, most kids live at home if they go to a big public university but most live on campus at smaller private schools. My parents didn't contribute to my college costs, so I had to live at home for a while. If I had a kid, I would move heaven and earth to get my kid to move away and go out of state to college. You miss a whole lot of the college experience if you live at home.


One thing I've noticed is that when you meet adult Americans, they ask what you do for a job within the first 5 minutes. That doesn't seem to be the case in other countries. In America, you ARE your job.

I've also noticed that in most groups within America, there is shame if you don't have a job or need government assistance (yes, there's a group for whom that is not true). My older relatives have a story they tell of how one man in the family once collected an unemployment benefit for one month.

[Documad]

In Australia, there is usually no tipping and people are healthier. That's all I've got.

[enree erzweglle]

In Australia, there is usually no tipping and people are healthier. That's all I've got.
Yes, and they BEG you not to tip because they're worried
that it'll start a trend! I had friends take me out to a very
nice meal and it was HORRIBLE not to have left a tip.
Or rather, it felt horrible.

And I think people there are healthier too. I mean at
night on the broadcast stations, they had health quizzes
on for God's sake! And fast food: hard to find. People
still cook their own food and they're thinner and just
more spritely. A lot of that, in my opinion, is due to the
weather being cooperative all year long. Although many
Australians complain about their "cold" winters (where
cold=60 degrees F) they can still GET OUT and do things
throughout...their exercise patterns don't really have
to be re-thought every 4 months. That makes a difference.

[zorra_chiflada]

I was trying to think of some wacky cultural differences between australia and the US, but they are exactly the same in every way.

ooh ooh, i thought of one. college/university is only a fraction of the cost, and you don't have to pay it up front.
actually, you don't have to pay back your university fees unless you end up earning a lot of money from your degree. if you don't get a good job from your degree, you don't have to pay it back! :)

actually, that's not a cultural difference at all, is it?

ok, well, i suppose excessive drinking is a lot more socially acceptable here.

[buddylee]

ok, well, i suppose excessive drinking is a lot more socially acceptable here.

Drinking is the only thinged not looked down here. yet I dont drink that offten

[enree erzweglle]

ooh ooh, i thought of one. college/university is only a fraction of the cost, and you don't have to pay it up front.
actually, you don't have to pay back your university fees unless you end up earning a lot of money from your degree. if you don't get a good job from your degree, you don't have to pay it back! :)

actually, that's not a cultural difference at all, is it?
That is a cultural difference. My friends went to great universities for free.
I think they said that that's changed slightly now, but it's still mostly free.
Here, you can go on scholarships and reduced-fee loans, but there's still
usually a flat ayment involved in the latter and the former can be hard to
get if your parents make a decent living. (Which I never quite felt was fair.)

[enree erzweglle]

My friend who lives and works in Qatar (he's American) had to take courses
to learn about the differences between life there and life here. He scoffed
at that requirement at first, but then came to appreciate it because he had
idea about things like having to step out of an elevator or a room if you are
a lone man and an unescorted woman enters. Things like that.

And when I was travelling earlier in the month, I was talking with a Swiss
college-aged student who said that one of the nastiest things to do
to a Swiss someone is to set up a meeting with them (socially or not) and
be late for it. I knew that about tendencies like that in people from that
region--it was just interesting to hear it from one of their own.

[hitmonlee]

no jocks/cheerleaders

[Gareth]

i've never found fast food particularly hard to find in australia.

[buddylee]

we've stop using slaves here ....if kinda still going on with farmers in Brazil ?? R.S.

[enree erzweglle]

i've never found fast food particularly hard to find in australia.
Relative to finding it here (in the U.S.) it was hard.
And wherein hard meant that you had to drive to get to something.
And the drive was usually longer than 5 minutes.
And there was only one McD's in that vicinity, one Burger King.
(What do you people DO if one of those McD's or the one BK is crowded?!) :eek:
:D

[miss soul fire]

we've stop using slaves here ....if kinda still going on with farmers in Brazil ?? R.S.
That's quite sad. Pretty fucked up. I know.:(But you said it like it's my fault or something. That's not a cultural thing. At all. (n)

Thanks, Documad.:o

We've got no jocks or cheerleaders either.

We've got waaaay too many fast foods and people are very fat here too. I forgot the statistics, but it's one of the fatest countries. Especially among the poor people. Kind of like a contrast. Some people dying of hunger at the same time too. Weird as hell. The rich ones have personal trainers.:pLight food is much more expensive, but not that much. In short, it's a fat country too.:/

[miss soul fire]

Yes, and they BEG you not to tip because they're worried
that it'll start a trend! I had friends take me out to a very
nice meal and it was HORRIBLE not to have left a tip.
Or rather, it felt horrible.

And I think people there are healthier too. I mean at
night on the broadcast stations, they had health quizzes
on for God's sake! And fast food: hard to find. People
still cook their own food and they're thinner and just
more spritely. A lot of that, in my opinion, is due to the
weather being cooperative all year long. Although many
Australians complain about their "cold" winters (where
cold=60 degrees F) they can still GET OUT and do things
throughout...their exercise patterns don't really have
to be re-thought every 4 months. That makes a difference.
Here we have a 10% tip that's practically mandatory, but it's included in the bill (is it bill??). I've never seen people not giving the "almost mandatory" tip though.

[roosta]

yeah, in ireland theres not really cliques of people with similar backgrounds/traits. theres dorks, and goths, and jocks and farmers but people mix alot.

also, in ireland, we worship mary, mother of jesus.

[Documad]

Apparently there are marxists iin Australia. I don't think I've ever met an American marxist.

We used to have a goofball old communist party guy whose name was on our ballots when I was a kid, but my dad was sure he just liked the attention.

[miss soul fire]

We do our landry at home. You do landry in a laundry "store"(?) only if the clothes are expensive or you have way too many clothes...but most of us have a washing machine and that's it.:p

[Documad]

We do our landry at home. You do landry in a laundry "store"(?) only if the clothes are expensive or you have way too many clothes...but most of us have a washing machine and that's it.:p
Most people with houses do their laundry at home where I live. A lot of cheaper and smaller apartments don't have washing machines though. Before I bought my house, I usually picked apartments that had a washing machine in the basement, but when I didn't, I would bring my clothes to the laundromat. Sometimes I brought my clothes to my mom's house and did them there. I still go to the laundromat to use the big machines when I wash my comforter. It's a sad place, with all the little kids hanging out waiting with their parents. The poorest people have to spend the most money to wash their clothes. :(

Some guys I know bring all their dress shirts (the kind you wear under a business suit) to a dry cleaner because they don't want to iron.

[miss soul fire]

Most people with houses do their laundry at home where I live. A lot of cheaper and smaller apartments don't have washing machines though. Before I bought my house, I usually picked apartments that had a washing machine in the basement, but when I didn't, I would bring my clothes to the laundromat. Sometimes I brought my clothes to my mom's house and did them there. I still go to the laundromat to use the big machines when I wash my comforter. It's a sad place, with all the little kids hanging out waiting with their parents. The poorest people have to spend the most money to wash their clothes. :(

Some guys I know bring all their dress shirts (the kind you wear under a business suit) to a dry cleaner because they don't want to iron.
Ahhh, interesting!

We don't have washing machine in the basement of the buildings though. At least I've never been to one of those, but I've seen them in American movies and they always do the scary scenes on those places! Are they really scary??:D

We have the regular washing machine too, in apartments.

[Documad]

Ahhh, interesting!

We don't have washing machine in the basement of the buildings though. At least I've never been to one of those, but I've seen them in American movies and they always do the scary scenes on those places! Are they really scary??:D

We have the regular washing machine too, in apartments.
In my first apartment it was kind of scary because there were no other rooms near the laundry room and there was no security door so that anyone could walk off the street and hang out in the basement.

I have a habit of forgetting to do my laundry until late the night before I want to wear something or I'm out of socks. In my first apartment, the washing machine was below someone's apartment so we weren't supposed to do laundry after 10 p.m. When you share with strangers it's awkward. Sometimes they leave their clothes in the dryer and forget about them. If the clothes are still warm, you walk away and hope that the person will come back soon. But if the clothes are cool and have been there a while, you have to take them out and put them in their laundry basket. I hated doing that. And I'd never want to have them see me doing it, so after I put their clothes in the basket, I'd get my clothes in the dryer and then run back to my apartment before they saw me. Stupid, I know. :rolleyes:

[zorra_chiflada]

Apparently there are marxists iin Australia. I don't think I've ever met an American marxist.

We used to have a goofball old communist party guy whose name was on our ballots when I was a kid, but my dad was sure he just liked the attention.

yeah, joe's one.
however, the australian communist party is full of crazy stalinists, so everyone in their right mind stays well clear of them.
he's in the socialist alliance. unfortunately, the party is overrun by dirty, jobless hippies so no-one takes them seriously. they need more professional, well educated people.

[Documad]

yeah, joe's one.
however, the australian communist party is full of crazy stalinists, so everyone in their right mind stays well clear of them.
he's in the socialist alliance. unfortunately, the party is overrun by dirty, jobless hippies so no-one takes them seriously. they need more professional, well educated people.
Did you ever see the Judy Davis movie where she has a crush on Stalin? Australians would make a movie like that. (I think it was Australian.) Your remark about crazy Stalinists made me think of that movie.

If you said you were a communist or even a socialist here, people would think you were mad. If you even say that everyone should have medical care, people will call you a socialist and you won't be taken seriously. Socialism doesn't have that stigma in other countries.