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Celebrate New Year’s Eve on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro with fireworks and a midnight swim in the sea for good luck. 2 million people descend on this beach for New Year’s all dressed in white and ready to party the night away. Part of the fun is the tradition of jumping over 7 waves while making 7 wishes for the new year.

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Every Spring Bank Holiday near Gloucester sees the annual Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake take place. Participants line up in groups of about twenty to chase after a substantial wheel of cheese as it descends perilously down a steep incline. This “world-famous event” often results in injuries to onlookers, a great lump of cheese is quite a hazard when rolled down a hill at speed!

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Finger-pulling is no laughing matter in the Alps. Finger wrestling was once used to settle disputes but is now a competition that is taken quite seriously by the contenders. The winner is the person who manages to pull the other contestant across the table, using only his or her finger! Contenders pick their digit carefully and subject it to rigorous training regimes involving crushing tennis balls and doing one finger pull-ups!

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New Year is celebrated in Bali with a 24 hour period of silence and meditation known as “Nyepi”. No fires may be lit, minimal talking is allowed and no travel, work or leisure activities are permitted. The only people you’ll find outside the home are the Pecalang, the traditional security men checking to see the prohibitions are being followed. On this day the usually bustling island comes to a standstill with no flights in or out of Denpasar airport. The day following Nyepi is known as New Year’s day and is filled with socialising and celebrations.

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If you are looking for a job in IRELAND, the UK or the US, remember not to add personal data in you CV (date of birth, sex, marital status or even a profile picture!). Equal opportunity legislation in these countries requires employers to recruit based on merit alone, and emitting these data enables organisations to choose candidates fairly!

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In some ASIAN COUNTRIES such as China, Korea or Japan, a sign of approval and appreciation of someone’s cooking is to slurp the soup loudly - what is considered rude in most western countries. However, in JAPAN don’t blow your nose loudly! It is considered very rude. So if you need to clean your nose while you are in the Land of the Rising Sun, do it in privately or turn your back to your companions before doing it. And remember, do it quietly if you want to avoid offending anyone.

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Now a little further afield, in RUSSIA you will discover that you receive a light stamp if you accidentally step on someone’s foot. Why? The first thought that will come to your mind is that it’s due to revenge. Far from this, Russians do that to avoid future conflict with this person.
In India is usually to see two men walking holding hands. This doesn’t mean that they are in a romantic relationship. This is just a sign of friendship. On the other hand, you will never see a couple expressing their love in public in India.

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Italians are very superstitious and for them, nuns and ambulances are associated with death. So if you plan to spend your holidays in ITALY and you bump into one of them, don’t hesitate and bless yourself with the sign of the Cross… Just in case!

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Do you like cheese? If so, when you stay with a French host family make sure to spare some space in your stomach for the dessert. In FRANCE people tend to enjoy a cheese tasting plate accompanied by a good red wine after meals. Oh! And remember: if you are drinking a red wine and want to change to white wine, please don’t pour it in the same glass without cleaning it beforehand, if you don’t want to be the laughingstock of the party.

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Have you never noticed how people introduce themselves in SPAIN? Spaniards are well-known for being loud and friendly. If you happen to visit Spain, don’t be surprised if a girl kisses you twice - once on one cheek and once on the other cheek- to introduce herself. It’s the Spanish way of saying “Hello!”

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In a country like GERMANY, you will see people knocking on their table rather than clapping to applaud at the end of a master class or a really good meeting. In Beer-land clapping is reserved for theater and concerts! And talking about beer, if you want to respect German customs, don’t forget to clink glasses and say Prost! every single time you start a new beverage. And make eye contact to your fellow toasters, otherwise it is said that you will suffer bad sex relations for the next 7 years! Germans are quite organized people but there are times when the reality really doesn’t match the expectation. Join a queue in a German supermarket and see what happens when a new checkout opens. They rush to the new queue! If you are not fast enough maybe you can spend more time than expected waiting in line

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According to Wikipedia,

"Culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies. Culture is considered a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted through social learning in human societies. Cultural universals are found in all human societies; these include expressive forms like art, music, dance, ritual, religion, and technologies like tool usage, cooking, shelter, and clothing."