What is the most exotic location you've ever traveled to, and what about it did you find to be the biggest cultural shock?

I went to Texas and we went across the border into Mexico. Where we went and walked through to the shops there were hundreds of people begging and trying to sell you stuff on the street. What was confusing was that it was like in the 90s and they were wearing their wool cloak things.

Greece, I guess. I was young, though.

Get back to me in 10 years when I get around to doing some decent travelling. I have Ethiopia as number one place on my itinerary.

Crete. I know, not that exotic. There wasn't really a culture shock.

Bali - how the locals lived (very poor, but also layered with Hindu rituals)

Nothing exotic.

But the biggest culture shock would have to be backwoods North Carolina.... or Toronto.. In NC, they were all religious fanatics.... in Toronto, the only nice people I met were street kids and one Italian immigrant who ran a bed and breakfast..... everyone else was a cock towards me.

Sshh....

bad for Toronto's tourism..

Although I have to laugh at myself at using Toronto and tourism in the same sentence.

I was thinking the same thing..... I don't really have a desire to go back.... even though there are a million things there I'd still like to see.... someone should tell the residents of Toronto that they scare people off.

What else would you like to see?

I dunno, Toronto is not really a touristy destination. Only proper tourists we ever get here are Americans. Everyone else is people coming here to visit friends/family (since you know, Toronto is like 70% immigrants). Only time we get people in is for the Carribana.

I've never traveled anywhere exotic. Come to think of it, the only place I've ever traveled to was Thunder Bay (Ontario, Canada).

Nothing specific.... just the town itself.

The last time I went, we went to the Tourist-y places... Casa Loma, CN Tower, etc.... The city is so interesting.... all the shops and things... I would like to spend a week just roaming it....

Alaska. God, that state is beautiful.

The biggest shock was the sun; it never set! You had to have a watch to figure out the time!

Never really had a cultural shock. I grew up in Europe so America is kinda low key.

I've never been to Casa Loma. Is it nice?

It was worth a visit.... if you like castles... or old houses even.

I DO!!!

It's just that it's there... so there's no point visitng. I mean, I probably would've never visited CN Tower on my own innitiative.

Rwanda. The biggest shock was how little Africans are bothered by the clock on the wall. Delays upon delays, days and weeks go by before milestones are met, yet no on really gets pissed off or upset; it just is what it is. I heard a saying while I was there: "Europeans have watches, but Africans have the time." I found that attitude quite refreshing, to be honest. I think Africans still know how to live. That's something we seem to have forgotten on our way to accumulating indecent material wealth.

> Sshh....
>
> bad for Toronto's tourism..
>
> Although I have to laugh at myself at using Toronto and tourism in
> the same sentence.


How about using Toronto and autism in the same sentence?

That's a good way to describe it.

I visited Israel once on a business trip. I didn't really stay long enough or visit enough places to encounter cultural shock, but I thought it was interesting that they had unwrapped animal entrails hanging for public purchase in the open-air market.

Ewww...to use for what?

Bali. And, it's almost on the other side of the earth from where I live (well it's off a ways, but it seems like it).

It's so beautiful there... but the plants are different. The people are different. The food is different. The architecture is different. It's the most not-Western place I've been.

What kind of food do they eat there?

Why were you in Rwanda?

I was called by the UN to go to Rwanda in January 1995 (about 6 months after the genocide), to create communications products to inform Internally Displaced Persons (Rwandan refugees forced out of their communities into temporary UN camps in the Rwandan countryside) that the situation had changed and that it was now safe to return to their communities.

A major shock, in that Africa is totally different from Canada, and that I was going into a country whose population was still trying to grasp the extent of the horror that had occurred. Rwandans are very resilient. I don't think that North Americans would have bounced back as quickly as the Rwandans have.

I live in jamaica, .... I really had no cultural shock, I grew up in a Jamaican household

I think that's becaus North Americans haven't had a proper war for over a century. And sending your troops doesn't count. It's one thing when you have your son shipped far away to fight, and totally different thing when you have your city bombed or cannot sleep because of the gunshots. I feel horrible for saying this, but I cannot think of a better way to express it - but Africans are more used to war than people in N.A. are.

Anyway, how'd you like Rwanda? Did you stay in Kigali? Do they speak English or French (or Dutch, because I recall they were Belgian colony after being a German cology)?

I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions. For a while I've been thinking of how it would be possible for me to work for the UN on the development.

I've been to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and Nepal. I'm not sure which would be considered "most exotic".

I suppose the "biggest cultural shock" was discovering which foods I began to miss after a while. In Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, it was pretty difficult to get potatoes or milk in any quantity. I developed a pretty serious craving after a while.

I stayed in Kigali the time I was there, and choppered to a couple of communities and IDP camps. Once a week, I would fly to Nairobi to get supplies and services that weren't available in Kigali.

Rwanda is a gorgeous country. Lush green hills, nice tempered climate (outside of monsoon season). If I were to point at one place on earth to prove that god exists, I would point to Rwanda; it is that beautiful. The main language in kinirwanda, but they also speak French, the language of the Belgian colonizers.

I encourage you to go on UN missions. It is an exceptionally rewarding experience. That said, I should mention that UN lifers are, for the most part, cracked.

Do you have any pictures of it?

How's Nairobi? I'm reading the Constant Gardener right now (as you may have noticed my avatar), and large part of it takes place in Nairobi.

Is Thai food in Thailand different than here?

Paris, France. It was ok I guess, but not as wonderful and romantic as the movies makes it out to be. The people were in a rush to get somewhere, they were not very nice and the roads smelled like sewage. The sites were beautiful, but I will take the little village of Luzerne ( have no idea if that is spelled right), Switzerland over Paris any day.

I wouldn't say so. The main difference is probably the fact that there are a lot more varieties of dishes to choose from. I suppose that goes without saying. Thai beer tastes better in Thailand; it's fresher. I ate the biggest prawns I've ever seen in Thailand. They were the size of wieners! Not the best prawns I've ever had, but by far the biggest! Two differences between Thai restaurants in Thailand versus Thai restaurants in Vancouver are that the ones in Thailand tend to have a lot more tropical cocktails to choose from and they very frequently include live entertainment; traditional Thai musicians with dancing girls...Oh yeah, and in Thailand restaurants (as well as nightclubs) very often don't have walls. Just a roof on poles.

> Do you have any pictures of it?
>
> How's Nairobi? I'm reading the Constant Gardener right now (as you
> may have noticed my avatar), and large part of it takes place in Nairobi.
>


I do have some shots, but nothing scanned.

To me, physically, Nairobi looked a bit like Cairo is portrayed in the movies. Basically a poor country's attempt at creating a cosmopolitan city. For the most part, I would stay downtown, so I didn't get to see much else of Nairobi, so my experience is rather limited. I did go to one of the outdoor markets (super tight, cramped kiosks, and the whole market was nothing more than a firetrap waiting for a match), and made it to Safari Park, a decommissioned British military base that was converted into a resort. Safari Park was kind of kitschy, but it felt safe.

Nairobi, when I was there, was a pretty dangerous place (probably still is). You did not want to go out at night, because ruthless gangs roamed the streets. I did go out once with a couple of buddies to the Florida 2000 club, which was a bit of a dive. Only three white guys in a club packed with over 200 people. The local girls swarmed us, and the local guys were pissed because we became the temporary object of these rather unabashed women's affection. A very weird, tense experience. After about an hour of over-the-top, outrageous advances, we walked back to our hotel, just the three of us, all the while looking over our shoulders, just in case. As it happens, we were followed until just a couple of blocks from the Hilton, which was in a well-lit area. Sleep did not come easily that night.

Presumably to take home, cook, and eat. I'm so overcivilized I can't imagine purchasing and consuming meat that has been neither wrapped nor refrigerated.

I've been most everywhere in the U.S. but wouldn't call any location "exotic".

I think exotic is something the media cooked up to promote tourist attractions. I've been to Tahiti and they have a down town, ghetto section like everywhere else in the world.

Hawaii, and the Japanese people. I really enjoyed that.

Amsterdam, hash bars, red light district

Tenerife I guess.. they actually have spaces between buildings and bits of land which haven't been built on

I've never traveled anywhere that's considered exotic.

I don't think I've ever been anywhere too exotic. Most places I've been to are European or Western

I don't travel

I travel very little and haven't been anywhere even remotely exotic.

I went to Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. There were very few white people there, and not many people who spoke English. The biggest cultural shock was being unable to communicate verbally with most people that I encountered (beyond the few words of Tamil that I was able to pick up) and also the way that people would wave to me and my team as we drove by, or approach us and want to shake our hands and say hello everywhere that we went. People were very friendly and inquisitive and everybody stared at us everywhere we went, which I am told just isn't seen as rude there.

Okinawa and was most shocked by "Sperm Valley" there

France and liver.

Nothing exotic.

I have been to Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Italy, Sicily, Spain, Morocco, and Portugal... I've been on a 2 week cruise to Alaska, too.

I guess the most "exotic" was Morocco but my biggest cultural shock, and a very positive one, was how totally wonderful the country and people of Spain were.

We loved Spain so much that my parents spent 7 months of the year there. They did this for 4 years, until health issues forced them to stop. They rented an apartment (across the Paseo from the Mediterranean) in Fuengirola, a small town just west of Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol. I spent a whole month of January with them.

I want to revisit Spain really bad especially the caves at Nerja.