Past studies have raised caution over educational transfer in mathematics education. The idea that an instructional approach to teaching and learning of mathematics can truly be universal and implemented across all cultures was challenged, as some aspects of the approach might be too closely bound up with the specific context where it was developed. As an illustration to this phenomenon, this study compares some classrooms that intended to utilize realistic mathematics education (RME) in its country of origin and in the place where it has been adopted for more than a decade. Some classrooms in Utrecht, the Netherlands and in Jakarta, Indonesia were observed and analyzed. The finding shows that the implementation of RME in the two places look similar on the surface but actually differ in many ways. This study suggests that the role of culture in the adoption of RME in Indonesia deserves due attention.