Culture Shock....if there was one thing about...

[Late Roman Empire]

The strict adherence to bureaucratic protocol at the Imperial Court and in the administration. Getting around it is virtually impossible. And will be even harder now that the Emperor is cracking down on bribery, simony, and other forms of graft and corruption.

[Californiication]

....your country that would probably lead to surprise, uncertainly, confusion, or misunderstanding, due to being different from the mainstream of a majority of nations, what would that be?

In Californiication, that would be the absolute power of life and death wielded by street Judges in everyday life here over regular citizens.

OOC: Judge Dredd?

IC: Everyone has at least a knife close to the person.

OOC: It's based on a post-apocalyptic California, so, naturally, the leaders aren't embarrassed at borrowing ideas for government from a movie script. Chief Justice David Rosen is convinced that democracy is finished, dying out, and only a benevolent dictatorship can save the state. So he looks to what seems the most practical solution: a police state with meritocratic principles.

[Holy Marsh]

Two things.

First and foremost, the extremely public, personal, and overall in-your-face nature of the Church's message and activities in daily life. You literallt cannot walk down a city street without being bombarded by it.

And lots of crossdressing.

[Californiication]

Two things.

First and foremost, the extremely public, personal, and overall in-your-face nature of the Church's message and activities in daily life. You literallt cannot walk down a city street without being bombarded by it.

And lots of crossdressing.

Those two sound very contradictory, assuming that your Church is Christian. Not the Judges would care. Most are fairly secular, except for Chief Justice David Rosen, an observant Jew.

[Holy Marsh]

Two things.

First and foremost, the extremely public, personal, and overall in-your-face nature of the Church's message and activities in daily life. You literallt cannot walk down a city street without being bombarded by it.

And lots of crossdressing.

Those two sound very contradictory, assuming that your Church is Christian. Not the Judges would care. Most are fairly secular, except for Chief Justice David Rosen, an observant Jew.

Marshism, The Church of the Holy Marsh, while respectful of other faiths, has no alignment with any other religion that you would know of(and is older than more than a few at around 5,000 years old).

[Judea Libera]

The highly pious and religious nature of our society, with the occasional stoning and the infamous "bleeding Pharisees", ultra-religious rabbis who sometimes avert their eyes so much to avoid ogling women that they bump into columns and walls. The extreme modesty of our women, and reverence of children for their elders.

Another shock is the overwhelming dominance of Jewish culture, as this is a Jewish state. Karaite and Rabbinical Jews alike are fiercely nationalistic and committed to the Jewish ideals and morals, including social justice, as indicated in the Torah (and in the case of the Rabbinical tradition, the Talmud as well).

The complete absence of any non-kosher food, the trilingualism of the people (Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew, of course), the synagogues everywhere, the silence and inactivity of the Sabbath, and the scenes of poor folk gleaning wheat from farmlands....the fact that no farmer stops them, because the poor have a Mosaic right to glean wheat and the rich are not permitted to pick up anything left behind on the first reaping.

The number of small farms still in the hands of their ancestral owners, as it is forbidden to sell one's inheritance. The agribusinesses have given up on this place. The Law of Moses rules absolutely here.

Also, due to the efforts of the priests and scribes, nearly universal literacy.

Despite certain Mosaic restrictions on certain economic activities, the degree of average prosperity is staggering. The ordinary Judean is a fairly middle-class, not rich, but hardly impoverished fellow.

The scarcity of bachelors is also notable, as men and women are expected to marry young...and often. Polygamy is quite legal here.

[YellowApple]

YellowApple's practice of "involuntary servitude" is regularly misinterpreted by foreigners. Most fail to see that being an involuntary servant in YellowApple nearly guarantees eventual freedom, and is the most honorable method of redemption for crimes committed either by the servant or a family member of the servant (or both). Ownership by a YellowApplan is often regarded as a blessing by such servants, especially in comparison to the treatment of slaves in many nations. Involuntary servants, when privately owned, often become a part of the family (in the event of adoption by or marriage to the owner, this may be taken literally) and live relatively care-free and painless lives, provided they are obedient to their owners.

Marriage laws are also vastly different from the mainstream. Polygamy is legal. Divorce is impossible and not recognized by YellowApplan law. Marriage, by YellowApplan legal definition, makes sexual consent automatic, and therefore an individual is unable to accuse his/her spouse of any sexual offense in YellowApplan court. Marriage may be legally performed at any age (those under 16 require parental consent).

Bisexuality is commonplace throughout YellowApple, especially in polygamous marriages, as YellowApplan legal definitions result in "transitive marriages", in which by marrying one person, one marries his/her existing spouses as well, thus creating a web of polygamous marriages. Most women range between 2 and 5 in the Kinsey scale, while most men remain between 1 and 3.

Nearly all YellowApplan citizens are armed, as gun laws are nearly non-existent. This, combined with an already massive and highly pervasive police force, reduces crime significantly, but also tends to intimidate foreigners.

[The Batorys]

The highly pious and religious nature of our society, with the occasional stoning and the infamous "bleeding Pharisees", ultra-religious rabbis who sometimes avert their eyes so much to avoid ogling women that they bump into columns and walls. The extreme modesty of our women, and reverence of children for their elders.

Another shock is the overwhelming dominance of Jewish culture, as this is a Jewish state. Karaite and Rabbinical Jews alike are fiercely nationalistic and committed to the Jewish ideals and morals, including social justice, as indicated in the Torah (and in the case of the Rabbinical tradition, the Talmud as well).

The complete absence of any non-kosher food, the trilingualism of the people (Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew, of course), the synagogues everywhere, the silence and inactivity of the Sabbath, and the scenes of poor folk gleaning wheat from farmlands....the fact that no farmer stops them, because the poor have a Mosaic right to glean wheat and the rich are not permitted to pick up anything left behind on the first reaping.

The number of small farms still in the hands of their ancestral owners, as it is forbidden to sell one's inheritance. The agribusinesses have given up on this place. The Law of Moses rules absolutely here.

Also, due to the efforts of the priests and scribes, nearly universal literacy.

Despite certain Mosaic restrictions on certain economic activities, the degree of average prosperity is staggering. The ordinary Judean is a fairly middle-class, not rich, but hardly impoverished fellow.

The scarcity of bachelors is also notable, as men and women are expected to marry young...and often. Polygamy is quite legal here.

If it is common for men to have several wives... unless a lot more women than men are born, that doesn't seem as if it would cause a scarcity of bachelors.

[Dystara]

Assuming that Dystara has opened its borders and cast off its current policy of isolationism, then visitors and people trying to learn about the country would probably be shocked at how stupid the populace are to let the government screw them in return for a false promise. But they wouldn't make a noise about it, or if they did it'd only be for a while.

[Sremski okrug]

Nothing I can think of really. The citizens of Sremski have a strange continued devotion to the nation's former leader Josip Tito who founded the countries political movement, they are very offended if you offend his image and will defend his honour if needed.

[The Catepanate]

The fact that we're Orthodox Christians,but we allow some neopagan bums to sacrifice on TV firstborn kids.
Oh,and our ultra-nationalistic militaristic ideas.

[Ruskarkand]

Well, the most probable cultural ideal is that we are a nation full of Western-Based Dragons.
Adding onto that, the margins for other species is rather small, the smallest being the human race.

[Votroviad]

Just one thing, really. Firstly, you shouldn't visit Votroviad if you believe in God. All religious activities, in any form, though not punishable, is highly frowned upon. We're also all of the INTP/INFP/INTJ/INFJ type. Just saying. All in all, we're a fun loving, secular, liberal nation. Do visit if you're like one of us!

[Strong-Badia the FREE]

Strong Badia's copious amounts of awesomeness and video games may make the heads of some visitors LITERALLY EXPLODE!

[The Kangaroo Republic]

Strong Badia's copious amounts of awesomeness and video games may make the heads of some visitors LITERALLY EXPLODE!

Mine wouldn't.

[Sakhnin]

All of the women wear chadors, yet at the same time gay marriage is legal. (Everyone likes a bit of hypocrisy though, right?)

[Strong-Badia the FREE]

Strong Badia's copious amounts of awesomeness and video games may make the heads of some visitors LITERALLY EXPLODE!

Mine wouldn't.

Pshhh. We eat kangaroos for breakfast. That would be if we had any kangaroos, but we don't. Because we aren't Australia.

[Atalissa]

Because we aren't Australia.

No need to apologize.

We're conservative. Really. For some reason, that seems to shock a lot of foreigners when they visit here.

[Maraque]

When you meet somebody for the first time, it's polite to ask them if they'd like a piggyback ride. It's impolite to say no.

[Atalissa]

When you meet somebody for the first time, it's polite to ask them if they'd like a piggyback ride. It's impolite to say no.

Is there any sort of cultural allowance for meeting a really fat person?

[Casta Nal]

That we are post-scarctiy, militantly isolationist, highly advanced nation concerned on, exploration, scientific discovery, and defense of the homeland. Also we think all humans are pets to us and all other sentient intelligence life not in our Dweller worlds deserves to be purged or abducted for our purposes.

[Maraque]

When you meet somebody for the first time, it's polite to ask them if they'd like a piggyback ride. It's impolite to say no.

Is there any sort of cultural allowance for meeting a really fat person?

A generously weighted person can alternatively ask to do the tango with the other person instead.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

Mine wouldn't.

Pshhh. We eat kangaroos for breakfast. That would be if we had any kangaroos, but we don't. Because we aren't Australia.

See, you guys don't have kangaroos. Therefore, there is not enough awesomeness for my head to explode.

[Churchilland]

Well, in Churchilland, things may be considered wierd are:

We take tea very seriously

Nudity is acceptable

It's bad luck to shout the word 'destiny'

[Hresejnen]

The religion and its apparent pervasion in everything from parties to politics. Also the often offensive openness (and open offensiveness) of our people that's either infuriating or endearing, with nothing in between. Oh, and the universal ownership of a variety of weapons. Wherever you're from, at least one of those three's got to be confusing.