What was your biggest culture shock while traveling?
你旅行时感受到最大的文化冲击

 

来自@Christine De Benedetto的回答：

Some of my family lives in Poland. I was visiting my aunt there and out shopping at Tesco. We went to the checkout line and I smiled widely at the cashier.
我家有些人住在波兰。当时我去拜访我的姨妈，然后一起去乐购买东西。当我们走到收银台的时候，我对着收银员露出了灿烂的微笑。

She gave me a dirty look and then started yelling at me. My Polish language skills aren't the best and I looked at my aunt in confusion.
她轻蔑地看了我一眼，然后开始对我嚷嚷。我的波兰语不是很好，所以我就一脸疑惑地看着我姨妈。

She responded to the cashier, “Relax, she is just an American. They are a lot less miserable than us Poles.”
她对那个收银员说：“放轻松，她是个美国人。她们的日子没我们这么惨。”

The cashier was not used to smiles and pleasantries and just assumed that my smile was because I was making fun of her.
那个收银员并不习惯微笑和幽默，她以为我对她笑是在取笑她。

 

来自@Chris Northcutt的回答：

I'm American, and used to work in SE Asia for a company headquartered in London.
我是个美国人，以前在一家总部位于伦敦的公司工作，工作地点是东南亚。

On one summer trip to the London HQ I was staying in a nice hotel that included a traditional British breakfast. One morning I was seated near an American family, and thought my goodness they are so loud! I noticed others sometimes glancing at them.
有一年夏天，我出差去伦敦的总部，当时住在一家很不错的酒店里，酒店附送传统的英式早餐。一天早上，我坐在了一个美国家庭的旁边，当时觉得“我的天啊，他们真够吵的！”

The children were all very well behaved but obviously very excited anticipating their first full day exploring London (I eavesdropped a little).
孩子们都挺有礼貌，不过显然对他们第一天的伦敦探险感到非常兴奋。（这是我不小心听到的）

I realized if this had been a restaurant in the USA their speech volume would have been quite normal and acceptable , and I wouldn't have noticed. As I had not been around Americans for several months, I had become used to a lower decibel level while dining without realizing it. This was kind of a re-entry culture shock.
我当时发现，如果这是一家美国餐厅，他们讲话的音量其实挺正常的，完全可以接受，而我也应该不会注意到他们。但由于我已经几个月没有在美国呆过了，我已经习惯了分贝更低的就餐环境，而我自己还没意识到。

I made it a point to introduce myself, that it was refreshing to hear other Americans after so long away, and with a bit of a twinkle said it was very nice to clearly hear how excited they are about the day ahead. The parents picked right up on it, and I later heard them nicely and quietly telling their children they could still hear them even if they spoke more softly..
我试图去介绍了我自己，说很高兴在离开了这么久之后能再次听到其他美国人讲话，然后带着点暗示对他们说“能清楚地听到他们对这一天有多兴奋，真是太好了。”家长们马上就会过意了，后来我听到他们和蔼地对自家孩子说：即使他们小声说话，爸爸妈妈也是听得到的。

 

来自@Odin Training的回答：

I wasn’t traveling but had moved to the UK from Canada.
我并不是在旅行，不过我从加拿大搬到英国来了。

I was standing at the bus stop with a few other people.
我当时正和其他一些人一起站在一个公交站。

When the bus pulled up, it stopped right in front of me.
当巴士停下来的时候，正好停在了我面前。

The doors opened and I go to step on the bus, then I feel a thud on my shoulder.
门打开之后，我马上就上去了，结果感到有什么东西戳了我的肩膀一下。

I turn around and an elderly lady was hitting me with her umbrella.
我转过身来发现一位老太太正在用她的雨伞戳我。

When I looked at her she said something about not pushing in line.
当我看着她的时候，她告诉我不要插队。

I apologized and explained that I had just moved from Canada and there we just get on the bus from where it stopped.
我道歉了，然后解释说我刚刚从加拿大搬过来，而我们那都是巴士停在哪就在哪上。

She replied, “In England we respect the queue!” I didn’t even know what the word queue meant, but I soon learned that they do indeed line up for everything and they board the bus in the order they arrived at the bus stop.
她回答道：“我们英国有排队的规矩！”我当时还不知道“队”是个什么意思，后来才知道，他们基本真的干什么都排队，而且他们上巴士的时候，是按到达车站的顺序来排的。

 

（翻译：能猫）