Wow Jemila, you took the words right out of my mouth - er - fingers?

>In Northern Nigeria it is rude to open your
>hand and show your palm (like you would when
>you want to say five) because it's an insult,
>it's called Wanka (or Waka) meaning you are
>the sun of the fifth wife (by which you are
>saying a prostitute) that took quite abit of
>training

Another one in Nigeria was not giving anyone anything with your left hand, since that is what one uses to clean up after going to the toilet. (I think Asian countries do this too?) And when giving with the right hand, one has to support that hand with one's left hand, and do this little quarter-bow. I think that habit took a while to die when I left.

And finally, when coming to Australia, realising that one doesn't always shake hands on greeting people - only when meeting people in a formal, or business, setting. Though this would probably depend on the sub-culture one was in. When I first landed in Australia, I solemnly shook hands with everyone who had come to meet me, and then was pulled aside and told that I'd acted too formally!!! Lol!

Wow Jemila, you took the words right out of my mouth - er - fingers?

>In Northern Nigeria it is rude to open your
>hand and show your palm (like you would when
>you want to say five) because it's an insult,
>it's called Wanka (or Waka) meaning you are
>the sun of the fifth wife (by which you are
>saying a prostitute) that took quite abit of
>training

Another one in Nigeria was not giving anyone anything with your left hand, since that is what one uses to clean up after going to the toilet. (I think Asian countries do this too?) And when giving with the right hand, one has to support that hand with one's left hand, and do this little quarter-bow. I think that habit took a while to die when I left.

And finally, when coming to Australia, realising that one doesn't always shake hands on greeting people - mainly when meeting people in a formal, or business, setting. Though this would probably depend on the sub-culture one was in. When I first landed in Australia, I solemnly shook hands with everyone who had come to meet me, and then was pulled aside and told that I'd acted too formally!!! Lol!

Ok in West Africa men who are good friends often hold hands or fingers, yet you dont see very often, men and women holding hands. Coming to England its the opposite and if a man is seen holding hands with another man, its still not seen as the thing to do and you are presumed to be gay.

I sometimes will hold hands with african men but not in public here in England. Doesnt bother me much but it sort of freaks people out here.

Handshakes differ too, in West Africa some people shake hands and then use each others fingers to make a clicking sound as they pull their hands away. Sometimes you shake hands and hold hands for longer while you greet and talk about family, work etc.

when i move to the US from India. I kept standing up every time the teacher adressed me, or someone older walked in the room, or everytime i was answering a question. I didn't even notice. it was so habitual. it took aout two weeks before someone told me i didn't have to stand up everytime one of those things happened. hehe.

For me it was a little different.... In Eritrea when we greet someone we give them three kisses on the cheeks. When I moved to Mozambique I didn't do that because I just thought they would think it was out of the ordinary. So I shook everyones hands upon meeting them. Everyone was looking at me as if I was being rude, or unsocial. A friend told me later they just thought I was being stiff, and that I should've greeted with two kisses... I was suprised. "You guys do that here?"

I've had similar experiences... were I find some cultures have similar traditions or practices. I found it odd at first, but then I began to like it. Gives me a sense that we aren't so different afterall...

oh and of course...hugging your friend or give them kiss on the cheek. IN china they are immediately like "OMG that has to be your boyfriend."
ergh...

hahaha in canada it's the 5 second rule!
As sad as this sounds...the fact that I love gay people is very very abnormal in my home country.
that makes me sad.
Wanted to go to the gay pride parade yesterday in Toronto, but my mom saw it and she was like OMFG THOSE LUNATICS RUN!

ERGH.

I had just moved to the Netherlands and I absent-mindedly crossed a busy, wide road lane by lane...luckily the traffic lights went red and the other half was clear:)
Drivers here are not used to that kind of behaviour.

Yeah, that's not limited to England. I've seen it in the US too, though usually only among younger (20ish and below) people.

The thing I don't understand in England is 'the 3 second rule'. Basically if youve dropped a peice of food on the floor and its stayed there for three seconds its 'dirty' and u can't eat it. What a waste. Like today I was eating a sandwich and some of the lettuce fell on the floor but I picked it up and ate it and everyone went ewwwwww!
????

In Malaysia, it's respectful to call your elders aunty or uncle, especially when you're a little kid. When you get older, it does get slightly more confusing who to call aunty and uncle though.
When I left Malaysia, I called all my dad's colleagues 'aunty and uncle' and in the Philippines, and in Africa, and they all gave me this really confused look. A lot of the parents in Africa and Australia all want me to call them by their first names, but for me, that's so direspectful, I just try to avoid saying their names altogether!

There are lots of things, some things I had to learn from observation others I had to be told.
Greetings:
Generally in Zambia it's a handshake. You can hug your friends though.
In my father's tribe to greet someone, you must get on your knees, clap your hands twice, shake hands, then clap your hands twice and finally get up. My dad got so angry with me once for only shaking hands without doing everything else but then he apologised to me for not teaching me my culture.

I learnt that Czech's like a handshake for introduction. Anyway, the mistake I made wasn't during introduction it was during goodbye. I went out with my Czech family friends during winter time. When saying goodbye I was told that I had to take off my gloves to give the handshake.

The kiss on the cheek- well I have a friend from Peru and the first day I was introduced to him, he greeted me with kisses on the cheeks. I was in shock. I didn't understand why he had to kiss me. It was my friend from Honduras who explained that it's normal for them.

Food:
There is a very thick corn/cassava meal dough dish that is common to almost all sub-Saharan African countries. In West Africa they call if fufu, in South Africa pap, in Zambia nsima, Zimbabwe sadza, in Kenya ugali etc. You can eat it with your hands or with cutlery with some chicken, vegetables, fish etc.

So I was with my Kenyan friend and we decided to make some nsima. We made more than enough and decided to eat the rest with milk. I took a plate, cut up the nsima, put some sugar, put some milk, took a spoon and started to eat. My friend from Kenya was amazed. She wondered what I was doing. She said that in Kenya only small children would eat it that way. She said that in Kenya, you have you take a bite of the nsima then a sip of milk. I told her that that is ridiculous. We laughed about it all night long.

Mind you Language:
There are words that are normal for one language but in another that same word is the ultimate insult. There were a few times when someone would say something and then everyone else would get uneasy because what that person said was taboo for the people around. I have learnt that there are some things I should never say in Ethiopia, Kenya or Arabic states.

Addressing people:
In Zambia all my elders are aunt and uncle. Cousins are just as well as my brothers and sisters. My mother's sisters are my mommy etc.

In Czech Rep, a woman if you don't know if she is single or married you call her 'Mrs' to be polite. In some other counties they may call her 'Miss". I hate being called 'Mrs' because I'm not married but in Czech it's respectful.

Eye Contact:
Czech's love to keep eye contact when you talk to them and that makes me uncomfortable. I got to get used to that one.

^^Same with the breakfast. When I tell them that they wonder if I'm eating enough. Apparently cereal for breakfast is only for little children or a snack.xD

I walked into my grandmother's house with my shoes on. ..lol

haha I can relate to that, cadpig. i also found that Koreans cover their mouth when they laugh too--i still wonder where this practice came from >_<

Here's another one that a lot of Asians are familiar with. When I came to the US, I had to get used to looking at older people (e.g. teachers and faculty members) straight into their eyes when I speak. It was weird at first because looking straight in the eyes is considered rude in many East Asian countries.

^ haha, I had to get used to that when I went to Japan (been there 3 times now, and the funniest thing is that I do it automatically when I go there!!! LOL).

The weirdest one I get is when I am in the Philippines, people are kinda flabbergasted when they find out that I don't it rice for breakfast...it might not be an action, but they found it weird as well.

Also, in the beginning, when I was introduced to someone knew, I did the "bise" (the two kisses on the cheek, French style) and they kinda stepped back a bit. Apparently, they don't do it that much (Filipinos, from what I gather, are a little bit more reserved in this respect) and all I got was a simple "hi" wave or a handshake...which I find kinda weird.

Here in the Philippines I get weird looks cause I have this tendency to cover my mouth when I laugh and use Japanese expressions. Then comes the bowing (I lived in Japan practically my whole life)that people find really funny. Took me such a long time to stop doing that.

In Northern Nigeria it is rude to open your hand and show your palm (like you would when you want to say five) because it's an insult, it's called Wanka (or Waka) meaning you are the sun of the fifth wife (by which you are saying a prostitute) that took quite abit of training :D

Also remembering in Lebanon not to shake hands with the men you encounter, because some won't and it is nearly impossible to tell which will and which won't so you have to wait for them to make the move!

People sometimes think I gesticulate too much, I suppose it's the little Italian devil in me :D

I have also been told that it shows how "unargentinean" I am because I am polite and say too many "Good Mornings", "Thank yous" and "Please" :( My mom was also complimented on numerous occasion because of how "well" we were brought up!

We were also told that you can tell we are not Argentinean because we have a wide vocabulary?!

Tony I can so relate :D I never know how many kisses...I do one (Argentine style) or three (lebanese style) I hate it here in Argentina though, you are supposed to kiss everybody SIS!

It was such a cultural shock for my hubby, coming from stern Anglo/Dutch south Africa coming to Argentina, meeting men that wanted to greet him with a kiss on the cheeks :D His horrified Stiffens :D

Everyone I meant sorry

SO TRUE Baboucarr! In nigeria too, everydy is either your uncle and your Auntie, if not your brother and sister :D I always found it amusing when I had to explain that my sister and I are sister, same mother same father :D

I remember getting a taken aback look from a Korean lady who complimented my father. At that time, I responded with my-dad-isn't-so-great type of answer which is supposed to be considered humble in the Japanese context but it implied that i disagreed with her the Korean cultural context (which i didn't intend to mean). boo..

I get confused about the kissing and hugging too...especially since I don't kiss or hug my own family. I have to admit it does feel strange to not hug my own mother and sister and HAVE to hug & kiss strangers...though one gets used to it.

I usually observe what other people are doing first then make my adjustments.

It was a bit confusing when a friend visited from the UK recently. I couldn't remember what kind of greetings they had there.

I dont realy kiss people on the cheeks, but i am used to hugging people goodbye. and le me tell you it gets realy awkard after that with some people, but my gay friends seem to enjoy it! lol

Lol same thing here. Even though im american i was raised perdomintly around indian, pakistani and arab communities. I still call all my moms close friends aunite, even though thier british or american!

Ah - I've had the reverse experience of using my index finger to indicate to someone to come over to me in the Philippines until I was called aside by a Filipina lady who explained it was an obscene gesture there! How embarrassing!!

I never know exactly how many times to kiss on the cheek. I always watch the other person, but often I lean in too many times, or I'm not ready for the last one.

So far as I've known it:

2 times in southern France
3 in Switzerland
4 in... other places.

Pointing with the middle finger isn't uncommon in Asia. I think it might even be borderline proper, because in some cases pointing with the index finger might be considered rude.

It catches Westerners off guard though, haha. It's true.

Kissing people I've just met on the cheek.

As a whole, most of the world is more physical in their greetings and with their friends/acquaintances then western society and specifically North America. I always have difficulty adjusting to that no matter where I am, I never know how to greet people anymore no matter where in the world I am.

Well, it wasn't me, but this Japanese girl was writing on the white board at a global company meeting with perfectly manicured nails and she was looking well-groomed and innocuous - but when she pointed at words on the board she was making that sign that means 'F-CK' (in America anyway :P) and I think the Americans in the conference room found it to be so distracting I don't think they remembered anything she said.

Yess, I have a habit of calling ALL elders i meet Auntie or uncle! and everytime i do in England and States, i just get certain looks and i'm thinking wow, whats with the looks i'm being respectful here, but a while back since i've cut down the uncle and auntie for family members and friends parents, now it's jus Sir and Maam/Miss.

I did the Muslim prayer call in a lecture hall.

Nahh, I kid. I can't think of anything specific, actually. It occurs to me that I must have, at some point, but nothing actually comes to mind.

It has happened a few times although I cannot clearly recall what they are now LOL