What in your country/area is totally normal but visitors get excited for?
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My parents' neighborhood is ALL black squirrels. I thought they were rare until they moved (only 30 minutes from where I group up) so I was quite surprised to see dozens in their yard
Itβs funny what people notice. I have a friend who grew up in the American Southwest, and her wildlife culture shock when she moved away from there came from wild rabbits.
The Southwest is populated by jackrabbits, so after they encountered an eastern cottontail, they were genuinely concerned some malady had befallen it to cause it to have such small ears. She thought maybe someone was torturing the local wildlife and cutting off its ears. -
When I visited the US I was excited to see squirrels running around. We don't have squirrels where I'm from. We took pictures.
It must have looked like we were excited to witness a cloud in the sky.
Mirroring what others have said - at a nearby university that has (had? sigh) a large foreign student population, some folks actively feed the squirrels. For several weeks at the beginning of the school year, you could very easily spot new students by who was out taking photos and getting mobbed by these squirrels that are way, way too comfortable getting close to humans.
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
Not my country, but something that fascinated me in Greece. Greece is a land of honey...and marble rock. Beautiful, swirling, sparkly rock in all different shades. It is so terribly abundant that they use marble in place of concrete.
To the Greeks, it is normal to use marble literally everywhere. They disrespect the beautiful stone, turning it into a curb on the street & slathering it in yellow paint. I saw a yellow curb that was cracked open - exposing the glittering marble rock inside. I found it so funny & sad that I took a picture. We love marble, we think it's so decadent & fancy, it's flooring in the finest hotels, businesses, and homes. These people just use marble everywhere; it's just a rock to them.
It really puts things into perspective.
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Norwegian fjords. I live here, and to me it's mundane landscape.
Must be nice taking that beautiful scenery in for granted
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
wrote last edited by [email protected]-Gem show
-Rodeo week
I personally couldnβt be bothered for either, but itβs cool that people like them.
Yes I understand the irony that βHorseyβ doesnβt like rodeos, lol. Eventing in the horse world is just too damn expensive for me to want to compete.
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Penguins, the biggest desert on the planet, snow blindness
Whatcha doing in Antarctica?
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In Southern California it's got to be the palm trees. Nope, not the ocean, the beaches, the Hollywood sign, iconic neighborhoods and buildings. It's the palm trees. Out of state relatives and coworkers always gawk at and comment on the palm tree lined streets.
Dude, they're frickin' tall. Those Southern California trees are something else.
I was also fascinated by your beach-squirrels. I've lived near the ocean most of my life and I never saw beach-squirrels til I went to Ventura.
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Not my country, but something that fascinated me in Greece. Greece is a land of honey...and marble rock. Beautiful, swirling, sparkly rock in all different shades. It is so terribly abundant that they use marble in place of concrete.
To the Greeks, it is normal to use marble literally everywhere. They disrespect the beautiful stone, turning it into a curb on the street & slathering it in yellow paint. I saw a yellow curb that was cracked open - exposing the glittering marble rock inside. I found it so funny & sad that I took a picture. We love marble, we think it's so decadent & fancy, it's flooring in the finest hotels, businesses, and homes. These people just use marble everywhere; it's just a rock to them.
It really puts things into perspective.
Marble is expensive in places where there isn't already a lot of it simply because it's HEAVY.
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
Squirrels
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For some reason, Japanese tourists go nuts for PEI. Now I've nothing against PEI, it's a nice enough province in the beautiful maritimes. Good potatoes.
But I don't think it deserves THAT much hype.
I've heard that! Anne of Green Gables is big there too for a weird reason. There's an anime airing right now, even.
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The sea. Fr I grew up here and it's a'ight, but like... People freak out. I feel sad for people who live inland.
Also if you want to see an actual nice beach then get to know some locals and find out where they go. Tourist beaches are always ruined by tourists and tourism businesses.
My answer to this post is the same as yours.
I definitely take the sea for granted. When a friend from Ontario came down and saw the ocean for the first time, it blew his mind. I mean, it's definitely awesome, how it's immense and connected all around the world and everything.
But at the same time, I was born in a hospital that was on a beach. I can't imagine what it must be like to see it for the first time.
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For some reason, Japanese tourists go nuts for PEI. Now I've nothing against PEI, it's a nice enough province in the beautiful maritimes. Good potatoes.
But I don't think it deserves THAT much hype.
It's an island of farms. The economic and demographic statistics are predictably dire given that, too.
You get to vote 3 times, though.
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To answer OP's question, I'm American but spent a few years in the UK. Things that fascinated me included:
- How green it is (being from Texas this was the first thing that stood out to me)
- The shear amount of history that is just everywhere (I remember eat lunch at a park and reading a sign about how it was the site of a huge battle during the war of the roses)
- Pubs (man I miss going to my local. We really don't have 3rd places in the US anymore)
Yes, the amount of ancient history anywhere across the pond is fascinating. You're walking in the same place as people from books and movies. I guess that we're writing somewhere near the beginning of the local historical record is interesting in it's own way, but there's just not as much to say about it.
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In Southern California it's got to be the palm trees. Nope, not the ocean, the beaches, the Hollywood sign, iconic neighborhoods and buildings. It's the palm trees. Out of state relatives and coworkers always gawk at and comment on the palm tree lined streets.
They're the most worthless trees and they're about to die, too. I hope we replace them with native trees in all but the most iconic places.
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Climate stuff comes to mind. Big storms, it being sunny almost all the time, and -30C. There's other climates that are similar, of course, but I guess most people don't live in them, because visitors remark on it. Europeans tend to be gobsmacked by the amount of empty space there is between human structures, too.
A lot of pests people think are everywhere are just nowhere to be seen because of the cold. That's more something that's missing, though.
Free healthcare and French labeling, for the Americans. I'm not sure if they think the money is cool or just stupid.
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And it's another example of "if you don't want me to do it, don't make it look so fun".
Cheeky little guy, he can't even keep his ear and trunk behind the red line. That elephant truly does not care for our silly human rules.
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Penguins, the biggest desert on the planet, snow blindness
Hmm, is Antarctica bigger than the Sahara?
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These fellas
On the flipside, when I was in Japan some old guy mocked me for taking a photo of a no littering sign.
Someone Japanese said you were taking too many pictures? Haha, that's ironic given what they're like abroad.
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When I visited the US I was excited to see squirrels running around. We don't have squirrels where I'm from. We took pictures.
It must have looked like we were excited to witness a cloud in the sky.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I'd guess people from monkey countries feel the same way about them impressing us. They're in similar niches and everything.
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A statue of a dog pissing into a girl's mouth. It's a fountain. Not kidding either.
Northern Europe and bizarre statues, name a more iconic duo.
