26 People Share Their First Thoughts When They Visited A Foreign Country
image – Flickr / oisa
1. Why can’t our dogs do that?
“Oh my sweet Lord, a dog is driving that car!”
Anyone who has spent a little time in Britain can attest to having this fleeting thought at least once. You’re just so used to seeing the driver on a certain side that a car will at some point zip by you and throw you into total confusion.
2. And it was glorious
In Jamaica, I started a timer from the point I cleared customs until someone offered to sell me marijuana. 11 Minutes.
3. Nice one
Got off the plane in Nairobi, Kenya. Thought, “Man. There’s a LOT of black people here…”
image – Flickr / kokorowashinjin
4. Well, what happened next?
When I went to Munich I was walking down the street and wondering why there are 2 lanes on the sidewalk. Then a bike hit me.
5. Oh boy
Got off the plane and my first thought was “man….theres a lot of foreigners around here.”
6. Really, really gay
I’m from Guam and the very first time I came to San Francisco, unbeknownst to me, it was the day of the gay pride parade. I thought to myself, wow this place is really really gay.
7. Well…damn
“Can they tell I’m American?” was my first thought.
Spoiler Alert:
They can.
8. Wait, that doesn’t say, “Fuck the police”
“Wow, none of the graffiti in France has curse words!”
Turns out, the curse words were in French.
9. Let’s move here mom, everything is so cheap!
My first visit to Canada from the US, noted how cheap gas prices were. Until we drove by a sign that mentioned the price was per liter, not per gallon.
10. Then do they just scream out the window?
When I was 10 I moved from India to the US. On the car ride from the airport I thought cars here didn’t have horns because I hadn’t heard a single honk in the 30 minutes we’d been driving.
A few days later, I went to K-Mart for the first time. There was a sign outside that said Drug Free Zone, and I literally thought that K-Mart was giving away drugs for free in that parking lot.
image – Flickr / Adam Kahtava
11. Okasan! Kore wa nani desu ka?
I grew up in Japan and expected the U.S. To be like the suburbs I would see on T.V. where there would always be nice, white kids around my age. In my little mind, Seattle had floating buildings.
I moved to the ghetto part of Alabama.
12. Damn, this place is HUGE
Driving through Germany I thought Ausfahrt was a giant city because there were signs for it everywhere.
It means exit.
13. I took German in college
“Wow, how did that little girl learn to speak German so well? It took me years to…. oh, never mind.”
14. Ugh, mother, what is this travesty?
When I was a kid, my family drove south of the border for an afternoon and visited the Mexico side of Nogales. I remember watching kids my age and younger wander around, selling chiclet gum to tourists. I got really mad and whined at my parents, “Why don’t kids in Mexico have to go to school? This is SO unfair. I wish I could just never go to school again and sell gum instead.”
I was a stupid, spoiled child.
15. WAIT, YOU CAN DO WHAT WHERE?
When I was in high school a family moved to my town from Kosovo and a few of the boys played soccer with me. The older one told us that when he first got to the U.S. he saw Car Washes everywhere and in Albanian Car means penis. He thought America was amazing because you could go get your junk washed on every corner.
16. Just WHERE am I????????
All the cabs are Mercedes?
17. Hehe I graduated college and I still find fart jokes funny
When I went to Austria before my freshman year of high school, I couldn’t stop laughing at all the signs that said ‘einfahrt’.
18. I cannot believe my eyes, that the world is full of white people and asian guys
On a school trip to China, one of my first thoughts was, “These people all look the same!”
On the bus ride from the airport to the hotel, our guide/interpreter told us over the intercom, “All you westerners look the same to us.”
19. Yo, did you let one loose? Damn!
First time I went to Malaysia I thought the entire country smelled like shit. Turns out it was durian season.
20. 5/5 would go again
In Italy, I initially had the impression that it was like other western European countries; Developed, and if not safe, then fairly well controlled by the government. Then I went to Naples. Here’s a few “unorthodox” things about that place:
The police didn’t seem to venture outside of the train station. The Camorra (mafia) are in control
There are not traffic signs of any kind, and lanes on the road are mostly ignored. You just go. Garbage just piles up until someone lights it on fire Street vendors will try to sell 12 year olds counterfeit porno dvds.
Also, I got peed on. I don’t know how it happened, someone must have been peeing out their window.
21. W-w-what’s going on here…?
“Good god there are a lot of Asians here!”
Visited the Canadian side of Niagara falls for the day.
22. Can you for the love of Christ, speak English? We’re in England. Hello?
American here. I remember getting into my first conversation with an Englishman at a pub in North London. I remember subsequently thinking “I thought they spoke English here.”
image – Flickr / mikebslone
23. Look at all of these fat Americans. I will just sip on my tiny cup and look down at you from my nose.
When I went to America I was under the impression that they were mostly overweight people who eat lots of disgusting cheese filled and instant style food.
Then I heard someone at a Target ask their friend “You ever tried microwaved pork rinds!?” With the southernish accent.
24. E-e-ro costume? UUUWWAAHHHH
When was in Japan I had no clue that virtually all students had to wear a uniform. The thing is with the uniform for girls are that the skirts are incredibly short by default. Like sailor moon short. So when I was walking around Tokyo I saw shops that sold them. I really thought they were erotic costumes at first but it turned out they were legit.
25. Okay lady, you can stop pulling my leg now
Two Things: 1. The first time I saw cows in Sweden, I thought, “COWS? they have cows here?!” 2. First time I heard a lady talk to her dog in Swedish, I thought, “No way that dog understands Swedish, dogs only understand English.”
image – Flickr / autonome
26. These guys aren’t serious are they?
Canadian bacon?
