What is your most memorable cultural shock?
你印象最深的文化沖擊是什么?
獲得516好評的答案@Balraj Rathod
In summer of 2015, I was in Helsinki, Finland for an internship. Although, I had read that Finnish people are reserved and like tostay within their space, I had not expected it to be this:
2015年夏天,我在芬蘭首都赫爾辛基實習(xí)。雖然我之前聽說過芬蘭人比較冷淡而且不喜歡別人闖入自己的空間,但是我沒想到會是這樣:
At a bus stop: You are alone in the shade of the stop and that is your space. No one will come to bother you.
在公交車站:你一個人站在站牌陰影下,而這就是你的空間,沒人會來打擾你。
Inside a bus: You enter a bus and see that all the window seats are occupied. You don't have a seat and have to stand. Respect that space! (This is rather extreme, but you definitely get anxious as to where should you sit.)
在公交車內(nèi):你上了一輛公交車,然后看到所有靠窗的位子都有人了。雖然旁邊還有位子,但是你就沒位子了,必須得站著。因為要尊重個人空間!(這很極端,但說到坐哪里,你一定會感到很焦慮。)
You are scared to shout to the driver to stop the bus: I was running to catch the bus and signaled the driver by my hands to stop the bus. I entered the bus and saw all eyes were turned to me. I have never felt so guilty of anything.
你不敢朝司機大喊讓他停車:我跑過去攔公交車還揮手示意司機停車,當我上車之后看到所有人都轉(zhuǎn)過來看著我。我從來沒有這么內(nèi)疚過。
I caught my Finnish neighbor sneaking into his room and pretending that he didn't see me in the hallway:
我當場看到我的芬蘭鄰居偷偷進他自己的房間還假裝沒在玄關(guān)看到我:
There was seemingly no traffic and I decided to cross the road while the light was still red. I looked back and saw a man shaking head in discontent. I waited for it to turn green next time onward.
路上看起來沒有車輛,所以我決定在紅燈的時候過馬路。我回過頭看到一個男人在很不滿地搖頭。所以我等到綠燈了才往前走。
Finns don't like small talk. You ask general questions and a long, detailed answer follows.
芬蘭人不喜歡閑聊。你問普通的問題會得到一串又長又詳細的回答。
獲得16k好評的答案@Mostafa Noah
In Japan, during my first week here, I had to go through a medical check-up in the university clinic, a normal procedure for the new students and old ones as well.
到日本的第一周,我在校醫(yī)務(wù)室要參加一次體檢,這是新老學(xué)生都要經(jīng)歷的常規(guī)步驟。
I didn't know where the clinic building was, so I asked another student about it. She told me that she was on her way to the clinic too, and that she could show me the place. While we were on our way, she began asking me where I was coming from and so on; as I was replying to her, I noticed that she was wearing a face-mask, one exactly like this:
我不知道醫(yī)務(wù)室在哪里,所以我問了另一個學(xué)生。她告訴我他也要去醫(yī)務(wù)室,她還可以帶我去那里。我們走在路上的時候,她開始問我來自哪里等問題,我在回答她的時候注意到她戴了個口罩,就像這樣:
I thought that perhaps it was a must to wear a face-mask before going to the clinic, as a kind of protection against some prospective infections.
我以為這也許是因為去醫(yī)務(wù)室之前必須要戴口罩,是一種預(yù)防潛在感染的手段。
I asked her: "Is it necessary to wear a face-mask before going to the clinic?"
我問她:“去醫(yī)務(wù)室之前一定要戴口罩嗎?”
She replied: "No, no… I just didn't do my makeup today."
她回答:“不,不是的······我只是今天沒有化妝罷了。”
獲得86好評的答案@Michael Akintunde
Squat Toilets.
蹲式廁所。
Found to be the most common type of public toilet in China, I genuinely thought that I would eventually be able to learn how to use these things and become at one with the culture during my two-month stay in Beijing last summer.
我發(fā)現(xiàn)這是在中國最常見的公共廁所,我曾經(jīng)真的以為我總能學(xué)會怎么用這種廁所,并且能夠在去年夏天呆在北京的兩個月里成功融入這種文化。
I never managed to learn how to use them in my entire two months spent in Beijing.
然而我在北京呆了整整兩個月還是沒學(xué)會。