There are many things in life which I took for granted. I always thought living anywhere would be pretty much the same until I actually experienced it. Travelling really allows one to see how different people in different countries lead lives that are similar yet different. Even among people of the same country, everyone still lead a different life. And we would not have realized how much impact our mother have on our lives until we're away from home. Everything we know tends to reflect how we are brought up at home and how our mother does things. Most of the time we do not step into the kitchen at all back home much less learn how to cook properly but here you will soon realize the way you cook is exactly the way your mother cook. You learn sub-consciously by takinga glance or two when you happen to be in the kitchen when the mother is cooking.

Now let me do a comparison on the differences I've experieced so far....

Weather
It is now the summer season for Norway, France and Italy. But Italy is pretty warm like Singapore but Norway and France are cold. Forget about going out in shorts / tank-top unless you are very strong or you intend to freeze.

Train Stations
In Singapore we have station masters and also barrier to ensure that people buy their train tickets.
In Norway, very few stations have people manning the counter. There are no barriers so anyone can just walk through. But so far I see that everyone bought their ticket, it is pretty much an integrity issue. They trust the people will pay for their transport.
In France, there are people at every stations, different stations have different types of barriers but often they have 2 layer of barriers at each station. And the barriers are rather high. Even these did not deter people from cheating. I have personally witness a guy jumping over the the first layer then wriggle his way past the second layer of barrier. One kind of barrier is those auto gate kind and it closes pretty fast. My luggage got caught in it and no matter how I pull I cannot get the luggage out. It was worst for my friend. She herself got caught in between the barriers and the barrier doesn't open!

Trains & Bus
The doors of the trains in European countries doesn't open automatically. There is either a button for you to press or you have to turn a knob. Try standing there forever and the driver will never open the door for you. The gap between the platform and trains are rather wide too, so the prams and strollers here tend to have huge wheels.

Diet
The kind of things you find in the supermarket are so different. Even the vegetables looks different here. The people here only take 1 hot meal per day and that is usally dinner. It is sandwiches / baguette for lunch. Their eggs have white shells instead of the familiar brown shell.

Language
Though it is said that people in Norway can speak English but very often we find people can't really understand us, especially in the shops. And they are not very tourist friendly in terms of signages and brochures. Imagine trying to decipher the route that are all in Norwegian language. And try to decipher what is on the menu is worst.

Attitude
If Singaporeans are kan-chiong spiders then people here would be 3-legged spiders. They do things slowly and to them it is the norm. Sometimes looking at them work would make you want to faint. And forget about complaining to the boss or whatsoever. Complaining is only an Asian culture if not a purely Singapore culture. Offices closes at 4pm and if you walk in 10 minutes before closing they would reject to help you. Talk about service. Shops closes early and doesn't open on Sundays. I really wonder what the people here does after 6pm on weekdays and during weekends. I'm sure they doesn't watch tv.