Culture Facts

It was once against the law to slam your car door in a city in Switzerland!

In parts of Albania and Bulgaria, particularly among older generations, a side-to-side head shake means 'yes' while an upward head tilt means 'no' — the opposite of most countries.

There is no tipping at restaurants in Japan.

The superstitious symbolism of a black cat crossing one's path is dependent upon culture: some cultures consider this a sign of impending bad luck, while some cultures consider this a sign of impending good luck.

There are 53 Lego bricks manufactured for each person in the world.

Japanese schools do not have proms.

In Japan, condoms are commonly sold 'door to door'!

In Tibet it is considered good manners to stick out your tongue at someone.

There are coffee houses in Russia where food and drink are free, but you pay for time.

Most Japanese schools don't have dedicated janitors. Instead, children do the daily cleaning, which originated from the Buddhist traditions that associate cleaning with morality.

In Japan, ‘yaeba’ (or crooked teeth) in girls is considered cute and attractive. Girls actually undergo procedures to un-straighten their teeth.

In Japan, there's a bar for people thinking of quitting their jobs. The drinks are free.

In November 2017, the Tsukuba Express line in Japan issued a formal public apology after a train departed Minami-Nagareyama station 20 seconds ahead of schedule. Not 20 minutes. Twenty seconds. The statement read: "We sincerely apologize for the great inconvenience." Not a single passenger had complained.

The village of Piplantri in Rajasthan, India plants 111 trees every time a girl is born. In a region where daughters were once seen as a burden, the birth of a girl now triggers a celebration — the entire community comes together to plant. They also start a savings fund for each girl's education that she collects at 20. Piplantri now has over 350,000 trees. What was once semi-arid land is now a forest. Every tree is named after a girl.