What's the biggest culture shock you've ever experienced?

 My biggest culture shock was moving from America to Japan. Let me give you a few examples of things that really shook me.

• Trains are very quiet inside the train. Aside from occasional quiet conversations, people are either using their cell phones or something similar. It's a stark contrast to the New York subway, where people are always talking loudly, on their cell phones, or playing musical instruments, just like Americans. Now that I've been in Japan for a few months, I can even tell if someone has just arrived by how loud they speak on the train.

• The children go to school alone. Every day I see a four-year-old child taking the train to school and crossing the street with their hand raised high so that the drivers can see them. If you let a four-year-old child wander around the streets of Los Angeles for even five minutes, people would call you crazy.

• I pay my electricity, phone, and water bills at 7-Eleven. It feels really strange because in America I used to do all of that online.

• I travel by bicycle and on foot. The transportation system here is very efficient, so I hardly ever drive. I own a small car, but in the six months since I came here, I've only had to fill up on gas twice.

• Orderly lines everywhere: bus stops, train stations, convenience stores, concerts, etc. Japanese people are adept at forming orderly lines. In America, even if there are markers indicating where people should stand to form a line when waiting for a bus, people will stand all over the place. You might be the first one at the bus stop to secure a good seat, only to have people standing outside the designated area block your way.

• Masks?! People wear masks when they're sick to prevent others from getting sick, or to protect themselves if someone else is sick. In America, when people get sick, they walk around coughing at everyone (not intentionally, of course).

The world has much to learn from Japan.

What is the biggest culture shock you have ever experienced?

 The biggest culture shock was moving from the US to Japan. Let me give you a few examples that have touched my heart.

• Train It's very quiet on the train. Except for occasional quiet conversations, you’re using your cell phone or something. It’s a far cry from someone in the New York subway who speaks loudly, speaks on a cell phone, plays an instrument, and so on, like an American. Now, a few months after arriving in Japan, you can tell who has just arrived by the loudness of their voices on the train.

• The children go to school alone. Every day I see a four-year-old taking a train to school, crossing the street with his hands held high so that those driving him can see him. If you let a four-year-old go on the streets of Los Angelis for even five minutes, people will say you’re crazy.

• I pay for my electricity, phone, and water at 7-Eleven. It feels very strange that in the US they did everything online.

• Bicycle and walking. The transportation system is so efficient here that I rarely drive. I have a small car, but I've only been here twice to get gas in six months.

• All in an orderly line. Bus stops, train stations, convenience stores, concerts, etc. Japanese people are good at forming orderly lines. In the US, people stand here and there even if there are landmarks where people should stand and line up while waiting for a bus. Even though you were the first to get a good seat on the bus at a bus stop, someone standing somewhere other than the landmark still blocks you.

• Mask!? When people are sick, they wear masks on their faces to prevent others from getting sick, and to protect themselves when others get sick. In the US, when you get sick, you walk around coughing at everyone (though of course not by design)

There is much the world can learn from Japan.

Edit Dear friends of India, thank you for your comments and insight. I didn't expect to receive so many comments from India in my response.