Also, you will generally have the feeling that people around you are being very friendly and care taking.
But that day things went a little different.
While my mom and I were crossing a bridge we had to pass a group of girls. They were walking next to each other and as they were five my mom went as much to the side of the sidewalk as possible. This would allow the group to continue except for the one girl in the side where my mom also walked.
My mom expected the girl to change lanes before the meeting. But as she didn’t they bumped into each other. The girl looked at my mom as if she was saying “what kind of rude lady are you? ” and at the same time looked very surprised. So did my mom.
The two ladies had had physical contact as well as cultural.
In Spain the people will wait until the very last minute to change their direction. It means that they don’t mind if people are walking in front of them or obstructing their way. They solve the potential collision just before it happens.
This is very different in Denmark and my mom who would expect another person to pay attention to her and her choice of way, and who already had made way for the largest part of the group of girls on the bridge, did not find the Spanish girl very polite.
In the Spanish girl’s mind my mom should have stopped. In my mom’s mind the Spanish girl should have given way enabling both to pass each other with no collision.
I later explained the cultural difference to my mom and she didn’t think that the Spanish girl was impolite anymore. A small cultural difference but an interesting experience.