I got a kind of culture shock moving from France to Denmark. It's fair to say "kind of" bc I mean come on it's occidental country, and it's Europe (never too far from home right ?) !.....But obviously the language barrier was huge : I never even heard what danish sounded like before and I couldn't place that country clearly on a map......keep in mind I moved there without knowing ANYTHING about the country !!
when I got -sort of- over that language barrier, then the whole "correct social behaviour" is different :
- Time schedule : French get to work at 9, coffee break at 11, lunch at 1pm, coffee break at 4, and leave work around 6 pm. Dinner 8 pm
Danes get to work at 8, no break until lunch time 11.30 (first time I was "what the hell are they doin with their lunch at that time ??"lol) and leave at 4 pm no matter what. Dinner 6 pm
- being on time : this one is funny !! when you get invited for a dinner party in a french family for 8 pm....the rule is that you show up at 8.30. and then you'll start with a drink etc...won't actually start eating before 9.30 !! In Denmark you are invited for 7 you MUST be on time, because the dinner is ready to be served at that time ! Which caused a few accidents....me being late and unconsciensly rude, and the Danes showing up at my place while I was not even dressed !
- being polite :while in France we are always saying "excuse me, sorry..." as soon as we accidentally bump into someone or want to walk pass, in DK its normal to just pass by , or even give you a push, without saying anything which I found sooo rude !! and it's not.
- I had to adjust and learn the way the social system and taxes work (fill in your papers and forms when you don't understand a bit of it !!), and in cuisine (huge !!), the Danes being open but cold, being calm and not stressed, (confident) women having so much power over (shy )men , the religion is different, etc......
But I found the key is to be patient and open minded- Moving was my choice, I wanted it so bad so I appreciated every bit of it.
When you grew up somewhere you can't help but compare with your country as a reference thinking that is the norm so.....