Friday Fun: What's your last (cultural) slip-up or misunderstanding?

[#1]

Hey everyone!

I'm a little late to the party today, but it's only early afternoon here in the Atlassian office in Mountain View, California. 😄

So I hope everyone has had a great Friday so far!

So what is the inspiration for today? My slip-up of forgetting that today is my Friday Fun Day. 😄

But what do we make of it? We turn it into a story and share time. 😄 A little context as to how this could have happened to me in the first place. I'm based in Munich, Germany, but at the moment, I'm on a business trip for two weeks, working together with Atlassian on one a topic they recently announced, and I simply forgot. 😅 It's not my first time in the US and not the first time in California but, of course, I still quite the tourist here.

When I think about the last two weeks of working here in Mountain View and exploring the San Francisco area, I remember many little occasions or interactions where communication or actions didn't go how they were meant to. I am not even talking about the big topic, like when and how much is given as a tip. 😉 By now, I am confident in navigating through this topic.

I want to talk about  your (cultural) slip-up or misunderstanding you would like to share.

What I mean is more like this:

The slightly embarrassed wave when you may have just cut someone their right of way because you forgot again how it works here...

The constant uncertainty as to whether you have separated the garbage correctly, because it is different from the German system... And then realize after a few days that you did something wrong the past few days. 😄

Or the confused "Why is this not working" moment when you explore the food waste chopper in the kitchen in the Airbnb and immediately chop so hard that the pipes underneath separate and the kitchen gets a little wet. Better to rinse properly with water!

Whether it's from a private trip abroad, a different business etiquette at work that you encountered on the business trip, or a phrase that doesn't go over well in the neighboring town. Please share a fun, entertaining or interesting experience. 😄

By the way, I feel significantly safer on the streets here than at home in Munich. Kudos, Californians! 🤘🏻

Thank you for sharing, and have a great weekend, everyone! :)

Best, Max

[Jimmy Seddon]

Great topic @Max Foerster - K15t!

I don't get out much into the world.  In fact, as I was getting my luggage out to get ready to go to Team '23, I still had the tag attached from when I returned from Team '22.

So while this isn't a personal one, I'm going to share a humorous story from when @Fun Man Andy visited Canada.

I was very lucky to spend a bunch of time with him before we headed to Team '23, and we even went out for lunch together.  He had ordered a plate of nachos and was preparing to order something else from the menu, when I warned him that the nacho portion he ordered would likely be more than enough for him.

The look on his face when they were delivered was priceless and he was only able to eat about half of what was served at lunch and took the rest in a to go container.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[Craig Nodwell]

Lost in translation.
I once ordered cheese sticks and received cheese cake.
I once ordered water and received beer.
I once ordered turn down service and received a second carafe of coffee.

I love travelling to Quebec.

[Andy Gladstone]

Oddly this one touches on my industry but before I was in it. 

I went to Europe for business in January 2015. It was my first time in Europe, and it was before the EMV shift occurred in the US. That meant that in the US we were still used to swiping our credit cards, not dipping them in the terminals yet. While in Amsterdam I kept trying to figure out how to swipe my credit card in the restaurant's machine - there was no swipe track. I fiddled with the machine, tuned it over and around and still couldn't figure it out. Finally the purveyor came over and showed me where to insert the card - except mine didn't have an EMV chip yet!

I had to explain in English, to a Dutchman (who I assume knew English bit was just making me sweat it out) that I had to abandon the 200 Euro bill and go find an ATM so I could pay in cash. Eventually he let me go - by leaving my credit card behind for collateral - to find an ATM. Luckily there was one in the grocery across the road and I was back in less than 5 minutes - after I figured out the European version of the ATM!

[Summer Hogan]

Interesting topic @Max Foerster - K15t and sorry I'm late to post! I don't have a lot of these situations to talk about since I have not been out of the United States for many years, but I do have a story from way back when I was in High School in Okinawa, Japan. I learned how to ask "what is the time" in Japanese so I could test out the very little of the language I had learned so far. I came across an old man while walking outside of the Air Force Base and asked him "what is the time" in Japanese. I had no idea he was going to strike up a conversation with me and when he did I did not understand a word he was saying and I was extremely embarrassed and rudely just walked away. OOPS! 

[Max Foerster - K15t]

@Jimmy Seddon , your story made me laugh because it also happened to me. 😂  "Appetizers" and "Starters" are not used correctly on menus in the US, in my opinion. Another misconception I ran into the first time I visited the US was ordering a pizza with "pepperoni" on top. Little did I know that this is spicy sausage and not the vegetable. Bad choice for a vegetarian. 😅

@Andy Gladstone, I was not aware that the shift only happened recently in the US. I can empathize that the situation made you sweat. I have also had to (or been allowed to) get cash only with a deposit like my ID 1-2 times. 😄

@Summer Hogan, Sounds like the old man's friendliness and chattiness got right to you. 

😄

[Randy O'Neal]

I traveled to India on business in early 2001.  Being a Christian, and fascinated with the country, I asked our driver to take me to church early Sunday morning and to return me to the hotel following the service.  I thoroughly enjoyed the service, came out and took my ride back to the hotel... at which time I tipped our driver, thinking I was generously thanking them (he and a co-worker) for taking me to church.  Only after I made it back to the hotel and discussed with my co-worker did I realize I had effectively tipped the driver and his co-worker approximatedly $0.50.  My understanding of the conversion rate from US dollars to Indian rupees was so far off that I'm guessing this unintended insult still pops up in this poor guy's memory.  Sheesh...