DOs and DON'Ts in your countries

[Javier]

Thanks,

I have a kind of "universal look"

people have thought I am malaysian, indonesian , filipino, from an arabic country, egyptian, turkish, thai!

in Nigeria they thought I was indian or even japanese, but this is understandable, because I simply look so diferent there.

and of course, latino <- if the guess that, prize !

apart from white, black and asian people I can disguise easily...

[allemaalmeezinge]

If you say your party starts at 20h00, there are people that will start preparing themselves at 20h00, which mean they will arrive after 21h00

I think it is stupid to come exactly on point. Especially for parties, I'd never come within the first hour. Except of course, I'd help organising it.

One thing I liked about that thread was talking about just "dropping by" at friends'. I think this is also a matter of age here. I do that often at my friends, and counterwise. But when people get older and have an own family and stuff they tend to stop doing that and only visit themselves by schedules. At least this is my observation, although I know some exceptions, hähähä.

I also think eating while going is stupid. I must say nearly everybody does it, but I hate it. When you do something you should concentrate on it. So eat, and when you're int he city or somewhere away from home, search for a nice place, sit down and eat. But don't run through the city doing 3456346 things at the same time (with the cellphone in the other hand, hähähä).

About appointments: It is like that for me. When I'm about to meet with just one person, I'll come (mostly) on time, because it sucks for someone waiting alone. But when I meet with more friends I hate coming exactly on time, I think that's stiff.
Well not exactly "hate", but what I want to say is, that there is no sense in hurrying. You just know you'll meet them and go relaxed.

I've only read this thread upto page 4, I don't know if you've talked about red lights crossing. That was actually why I found this thread, I wanted to talk about that.
Would you cross a street at red lights? (on foot)
I cross small streets when there is no car near and no, or only grown up persons around. (Although I had to doubt if it wouldn't be better just to cross the street if it would be very small and no cars at all in sight, but an children near.)
But I wouldn't cross main streets in the city, even when the street is currently empty, because there are always people already waiting, and crossing before them would be very rude, and there are always kids.

[allemaalmeezinge]

-Allllllways say Please and thank you. We see all the other countries as quite..impolite if they dont say their p's and q's for every little thing. I read that some countries don't think for trivial things..but we do!! Thank us

I find it really rude when people don't
I value these small words very high!

-One last thing..if you ask a brit "how are you" s/he will invariable say "fine" even if their entire world is falling apart. British people will not burden you with their problems unless you're unfortunate enough to be a good friend Something to do with our stiff upper lip be careful if you do open a brit's pandora's box though..spare at least 2 weeks for it :)

Another reason as to why this question is so stupid. Everyone asks, but even if the asking person cared to know, the asked one wouldn't tell

[Gormur]

One thing here is that punctuality isn't highly regarded, so don't be shocked if you wait 10, 15, sometimes even 20 minutes for the bus to arrive after the scheduled time. Also note that the bus may not even show up all the time as they routinely skip certain stops. When going into class, profs will usually be coming in at the same time as the students or a few minutes late of schedule with no apologies - since it's normal here. Everyone is laid-back in that regard. Also, don't get upset when a Manitoban says "let's meet at X around 4pm" because around 4pm leaves a space of time of about 10-15 minutes on average. I know it really drove me nuts when I first came here, tho now I'm used to it...patience is a virtue I guess.
Patience is something you really need if you live in the Prairies, trust me.

[ego]

If you say your party starts at 20h00, there are people that will start preparing themselves at 20h00, which mean they will arrive after 21h00

Who told you?

I guess only Saaropean will be there at 20:00:00

[Hoogstwaarschijnlijk]

If you say your party starts at 20h00, there are people that will start preparing themselves at 20h00, which mean they will arrive after 21h00

Who told you?

I guess only Saaropean will be there at 20:00:00

I would be there around 19.45, I am always early

[ego]

Back to the original question:

Sandals are considered very very bad dressing in Greece. Especially for men. Greeks don't wear sandals even at the beach. I am not saying you have no chance to make friends if you wear sandals , it's just the common view. We often make fun of tourists for that reason

[allemaalmeezinge]

Greeks don't wear sandals even at the beach.

And their feet stink!

[Hoogstwaarschijnlijk]

Back to the original question:

Sandals are considered very very bad dressing in Greece. Especially for men. Greeks don't wear sandals even at the beach. I am not saying you have no chance to make friends if you wear sandals , it's just the common view. We often make fun of tourists for that reason

Here too, especially when you have socks in it, white sportsocks in sandals and you are doomed.

I like sandals though

[ego]

And their feet stink!

What an elegant humour you have, yabbito baby .

So your feet don't smell at summertime only?

[MiOB]

oh lance, that's exactly how it is where I live!

I still remember my friend from Germany, how her world fell apart when she visited me some months ago She just couldn't BARE the unpunctuality! Buses came late, so did the trains, and due to that, we were late as well She was S-O pissed off, while I was laughing on her being pissed off!

Same thing happend when I visited her in Germany. It seems like I never seemed to care for the buses and trains' schedule. I tranquilly walked around while she running from train to train, and I remember how one time she got into the train while I was WAY behind her, and I made it right at the last second, and the door was literally closing on me! Then, she gave me the pissed off face for being so tranquil in such a punctual country!

achh, cultural differences can be very amusing at times...

[kibo]

Back to the original question:

Sandals are considered very very bad dressing in Greece. Especially for men. Greeks don't wear sandals even at the beach. I am not saying you have no chance to make friends if you wear sandals , it's just the common view. We often make fun of tourists for that reason

I wonder what Ancient Greeks wore on their feet.

[MiOB]

Sandals are considered very very bad dressing in Greece. Especially for men.

and I've just bought my new pair of sandlas

How the heck can sandals be considered a very bad dressing in a country with a hot summer? This is quite... weird! I only wore sneakers for last summer, and it was just... pure disgust! The heat and humidity! While with sandals, the feet stay clean and fresh!

[ego]

Bugi: I don't really appreciate ancient Greek fashion

MiOB: I asked my Hebrew teacher about that and he told me "unfortunately sandals are very popular in Israel too". Things are not so disgusting when you wear socks too.

Anyway it's just a matter of taste. You will hardly see any Greek wearing sandals if you come here

[Dimakos]

I think what ego's trying to point out is that sandals are very popular among tourists, Greeks simply don't favour them. There are many workshops owners, mostly in downtown Athens that made a fortune selling leather "ancient Greek type" sandals to tourists. Of cource, when it's really hot, Greeks probably have to wear them too, (I personally like to wear sandals when I'm at the beach)

[MiOB]

MiOB:

Please, omri if you can.

I asked my Hebrew teacher about that and he told me "unfortunately sandals are very popular in Israel too". Things are not so disgusting when you wear socks too.

Oh indeed! The kibbutzniks have started the whole "sandals-fashion", you know, that whole "Simple-Hard-Working-Israeli-Farm-Man-Look". There are people, who actually wear sandals to actually "suggest" a simple look, a non-cool look, even if they hate it!

What do you actually mean by saying that things aren't so disgutsting while wearing socks? as in, inside the shoes? well, yeah, it's even better, otherwise the skin would be terribly scraped by the inner-shoe and those painful cysts would pop up!

But I did want to ask, what don't you personally like it?

if you come here

Oh, now I'd have to wait till I had money for buying sneakers Those NB are so expesive!

[Gormur]

I find it strange Greeks don't wear sandals, but I think it's also true that I see more sandals, shorts, and sleevless shorts here than I ever did in California. I guess it's because there's so little time to wear them during the year so you'll see half the people in shorts once it rises above 0C.

[culúrien]

For my area of the US (ohio) here are some rules:

-all males do that weird thing kirk described quite nicely. I've never understood it though

-the to take or not to take off your shoes thing depends on the individual here. there's no rule to follow

-don't use sir or madam too much, it's considered overly formal

[Canard]

Here if you wear socks with sandals, people stare at your feet. Aside from that, Portland is very, very informal about dress, so you can even go topless as a woman and people don't care too much since we have Dykes on Bikes in the parades, all topless.

A major caveat about living here is how overly politically correct everyone is. I'll call "African-Americans" Black (not all come from Africa) and I'll call "Hispanic-Americans" either Mexican or Latino if I can tell by their Spanish accent that they're not from Mexico.

Here it's all right for people of any sex to be close in public, friends, lovers or otherwise.

There's also an overwhelming sense of politeness except among certain "down with the system" teenagers. People hold open doors for you, thank the bus drivers, chat with complete strangers on the street, and have the annoying habit of letting a million people go before them in a door, which is bad news for you if you're stuck behind them!

Also, you can and often are expected to jay-walk any time and anywhere so long as traffic is at least 20 feet away. If you wait at a corner for the light to change, a crowd of 30 people including five old ladies will jaywalk right past you.

[icx]

My advice for gay people who come in Romania: DO NOT reveal your sexual orientation