10 weird traditions and facts from around the world

Where should you not give socks as a gift and where to watch out for a tomato war on the streets?

We love and embrace the different cultures of the world and generally it depends on the person, what is considered weird or strange in various cultures.

Here's our collection of 10 weird habits, customs and traditions in a random order from Europe through Latin America and all the way to Asia:

1. In England there's a traditional Cheese rolling competition in Gloucesterhire the Southern England. This is an annual event on Cooper's Hill: you try to run faster than the rolling cheese from the top of a relatively steep hill. And be aware that injuries do and will happen! According to the warning sign placed on the spot: "Cheese rolling is a dangerous activity for both participants and spectators".

Photo by: Adam Wood /cheese-rolling.co.uk

2. The Dutch tend to congratulate the whole family for birthdays. For example, imagine your brother would throw a birthday party and in addition to him, the guests will be congratulating you too even if it's not your birthday. During the birthday celebrations, the Dutch also prefer to traditionally sit in a circle and drink tea.

3. The New Years Eve is yet something even more special in the South of Italy. For example in Naples, people tend throw stuff out of the window at midnight.

4. Going on with Southern Europe, let's talk about Spain! They have the world famous La Tomatina festival in a Valencian town called Buñol. This traditional festival screams for war, since the main aim of the participants is to throw each other with masses of tomatoes - just for the pure fun of it!

5. In Latvia you should avoid giving shoes or socks for present. And why is that so? Generally it's believed the person to whom you give them would walk out of your life. Since we prefer to keep our friends and beloved ones close to us, it might be a better idea to choose something else for a gift to your Latvian pal.

6. Finland happens to be the home for numerous strange competitions. Have you heard about the Wife Carrying World Championship, where husbands throw the wifes on their shoulders upside down and start running through obstacles as fast as they can? Or Swamp Soccer World Cup in the Kainuu region, where you are trying to kick football while you're all over in the wet, brown swamp until your knees and thighs? Other traditional alternatives are mobile phone or boot throwing competitions.

Photo by: news.com.au

7. In Chile, there are small earthquakes around the country every single week, and nobody is really worried until it gets above 6 on the Richter scale. During these little earthquakes, the Chilean maybe prevent their glasses from falling down, but wouldn't stop watching the TV.

8. The Argentinians instead love to drink mate, a sort of a traditional and popular tea beverage. What's weird about this is that several traffic accidents occur when people are driving a car with a special mate pot on their hands! The local government has even tried to set a law forbidding people to drink mate while driving.

Photo by: argentinaindependent.com

9. The Nepalese follow a lunar calendar and celebrate generally New Year in April. Currently the ongoing year is 2072. However, different castes still have their own New Years, for example Sonam Lhosar for Tamang community, Tamu Lhosar for Gurung community and Gyalpo Lhosar for Tibetan community. When you still there the Chinese New Year as well as the Western one, it looks like the whole calendar year in Nepal is full of festivities!

10. India is a large country with enormous cultural diversity and thus holds several types of interesting traditions and customs. Have you heard for example about smashing coconuts on the head at Aadi Festival in Tamil Naju? Priests can smash coconuts on the devotees heads to bring good luck and health.

Photo by: scoopwhoop.com

Do you know other weird traditions or habits from the world? Feel free to share them on the comment box below!