So, is it just me, or am I now the only one in Indiana who things that global warming might, perhaps, not completely sure, but maybe could have something to do with what humans have been doing with pollution for the past 150 years? I mean, I could be wrong, but I just have a hard time ignoring the possibility when most people who hold PhDs in the world think that we could have something to do with it. I guess I feel a little dumb when I try and agree with Garison in the Morning when he uses the "volcano-pumps-as-much-green-house-gas-as-all-our-cars-combined-argument," for the nth time.
Listening to conservative talk radio has been a breath of fresh air, no pun intended...when they talk about pro-life issues. But on most other topics, the radio personalities just don't have a whole lot to say...unless you call creating straw man arguments, label them as "Obamametrics" and then proceed to knock 'em down with with a bunch of hot air.
It's not culture shock, at least I hope not. It's just that when you try to use those "arguments" across the pond people don't really respond to you, they just roll their eyes. I'm not saying I want to be a Euro-liberal, I just want to hear real arguments, a real line of reasoning that I could use if I wanted to actually have an intelligent conversation with someone who might think a little differently. Maybe I just want the Excellence in Broadcasting network to be a little more, well...excellent. Is it a bad thing that I prefer NPR to conservative talk radio?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Being the Foreigner...
So, I'm exactly two weeks away from departure, and I'm regretting the fact that it's been a whole 4 months since I posted last. I hope I kept a good journal...oh wait, I didn't. oh well. Most great writers draft their memoires when they're about 70, so I got some time...to become a great writer that is. Anyway...
Foreign cultures are always more complicated than you think. We talk about the food, the sterotypes, and the different ways of dressing- and even when you actually live there, you feel like you could boil everything down to about 10 pages of do's and dont's. That's true for about the first 4 months.
After Christimas, when my French skills finally started kicking in, things started changing little by little. You pick up more during dinner conversations. While you're waiting in line for lunch, you overhear more bits and pieces of conversations. When you are sitting on the tram, you can understand a conversation between a mother and her child. And when you wake up to the radio every morning, you can actually understand what the weather is going to be like that day. The language adds a lot, but I think there's a lot more.
...
I was with my mom in Paris a month ago and I was suprised at how I acted when I was with her in public. Of course my mom wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. If I had seen her in the street, I wouldn't have necessarily thought that anything was abnormal. But for some reason I felt that way. I had no problems translating stuff and ordering food at the restaurants. But there was something different. I was seeing how people were treating her. Don't worry, we didn't get robbed, and everyone helped us get what we wanted... but I could hear it in the tone of their voice.
I apoligized to her for being so up-tight and fearful of other people. But I also learned a little more than just the fact that I was too prideful for my own good.
...
Understanding how people in other cultures view foreigners is as essential to understanding who they are as understanding how they view themselves. Of course most of us say, duh, because we all know how French people view Americains: naive, manichean, shoot-first-ask-questions-later, anti-environment, and obeise. That's the first layer- basic stereotypes. We have our own for the French, don't worry. Then you spend a couple months in France and forget about how they see you because you learn how to evade those basic stereotypes. You spend all your time trying to figure out who they are, and then one day you come full circle. I think that experience with my mom was just that. Instead of seeing how the French view Americans according to my preconcieved stereotypes, I saw it in real time. When someone takes a tone with your mom, it get's a little more personal, what can I say.
It started making me think about how I treat the foreigners I see at home. With 15 million Mexicans, among millions of other emigrants, it's kinda hard to evade the question. Although I'm ashamed to say it's not a question I've really asked myself before. I see them in the grocery store, on the side of the street pushing lawn mowers, and right next to me as I'm washing windows each summer. Cultural immersion isn't that hard if you only have to do it for 8 months, especially when you have a nice host mom who gives you cheese every day. I can't imagine leaving my family for 5 years at a time- much less doing it without signing up for some English courses- mainly because I can't afford them. How many times has my situation with my mom been the reverse while standing in the grocery store back home? How many mexicains have I upset because I simply didn't take the time to understand that they want to fit in just as much as I do? What does that say about who I am?
Foreign cultures are always more complicated than you think. We talk about the food, the sterotypes, and the different ways of dressing- and even when you actually live there, you feel like you could boil everything down to about 10 pages of do's and dont's. That's true for about the first 4 months.
After Christimas, when my French skills finally started kicking in, things started changing little by little. You pick up more during dinner conversations. While you're waiting in line for lunch, you overhear more bits and pieces of conversations. When you are sitting on the tram, you can understand a conversation between a mother and her child. And when you wake up to the radio every morning, you can actually understand what the weather is going to be like that day. The language adds a lot, but I think there's a lot more.
...
I was with my mom in Paris a month ago and I was suprised at how I acted when I was with her in public. Of course my mom wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. If I had seen her in the street, I wouldn't have necessarily thought that anything was abnormal. But for some reason I felt that way. I had no problems translating stuff and ordering food at the restaurants. But there was something different. I was seeing how people were treating her. Don't worry, we didn't get robbed, and everyone helped us get what we wanted... but I could hear it in the tone of their voice.
I apoligized to her for being so up-tight and fearful of other people. But I also learned a little more than just the fact that I was too prideful for my own good.
...
Understanding how people in other cultures view foreigners is as essential to understanding who they are as understanding how they view themselves. Of course most of us say, duh, because we all know how French people view Americains: naive, manichean, shoot-first-ask-questions-later, anti-environment, and obeise. That's the first layer- basic stereotypes. We have our own for the French, don't worry. Then you spend a couple months in France and forget about how they see you because you learn how to evade those basic stereotypes. You spend all your time trying to figure out who they are, and then one day you come full circle. I think that experience with my mom was just that. Instead of seeing how the French view Americans according to my preconcieved stereotypes, I saw it in real time. When someone takes a tone with your mom, it get's a little more personal, what can I say.
It started making me think about how I treat the foreigners I see at home. With 15 million Mexicans, among millions of other emigrants, it's kinda hard to evade the question. Although I'm ashamed to say it's not a question I've really asked myself before. I see them in the grocery store, on the side of the street pushing lawn mowers, and right next to me as I'm washing windows each summer. Cultural immersion isn't that hard if you only have to do it for 8 months, especially when you have a nice host mom who gives you cheese every day. I can't imagine leaving my family for 5 years at a time- much less doing it without signing up for some English courses- mainly because I can't afford them. How many times has my situation with my mom been the reverse while standing in the grocery store back home? How many mexicains have I upset because I simply didn't take the time to understand that they want to fit in just as much as I do? What does that say about who I am?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
jroetranger
Posts
All Comments