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double agent
Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 152 Location: In the wild wild west
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2003 9:01 am Post subject: not so deep |
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I did not have to dig deep at all. The culture came to me so to speak.
Perhaps because I am an open educated person. Sure a lot of teachers
even speak the local language, but I do not. But I have
slept in locals homes, been treated like one of the family.
Been shown things literally none of the other teachers have ever seen
or been invited to.
It all depends on who you are. If you are intellectually keen on a culture
and study the behavoirs and language but treat it like an observer, then
you too will be kept at arms length.
I never hang out with the Brit teachers they drink and I dont. They are
worse than the Americans in my view. They come to watch the East Enders if they can on satelite somewhere. Of course there is the
occasional good brit, but far and few between. |
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 5:57 am Post subject: Re: not so deep |
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double agent wrote: |
I did not have to dig deep at all. The culture came to me so to speak.
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So if I were interested in the culture of whatever country you came from (which I assume is neither the US nor the UK since you seem to despise people from those places so much), and came and stayed at your house for a night, then the culture would have come to me, too?
The thing that astonished me most about China was that once I was back everyone had THE ANSWER TO CHINA for me. Because they'd been so deeply accepted and loved and let into all the secret areas. And had been there for two months longer than I had.
The truth is that it takes a generation of living to get into the culture you're surrounded by -- most Americans don't even have an idea of what America "is" no matter what their age. The truth is also that a people's culture IS to some extent their culture's "intellectual" treasures, as it is only the intellectual treasures that survive the years -- the corporeal can't hold up.
If you ask someone to name a country with a lot of culture you'll probalby get Italy or China -- not Angola or Bangledesh. Despite whatever culutre they may have in Angola or Bangledesh, Italians and Chinese are deeply proud of their intellectual past and so it is a part of the people as much as the jokes they tell or the food they eat. |
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double agent
Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 152 Location: In the wild wild west
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 6:00 pm Post subject: what are you talking about |
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Excuse my vaguenss. What I really ment is that
the locals befriended me rather easily. It wasnt from sleeping
with them haha..or at their house that i became saturated.
What i mean is that you dont necessarily have to dig
so deep to experience and catch a glimpse into
another culture. I feel I understand it more.
An expert. No I am not that, not even close.
I wouldnt claim to know how long it takes, but you can learn
if you are keen. That is what is so wonderful about our jobs. |
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