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[Dr.J]

I find 'culturally sensitive' Japanese to be a little unsettling. Often we end up reversing traditional culture roles to try and accomodate each other - very bizarre.

[Capergirl]

[khmerhit]

[Just a guy]

I�ll often let the students question me about �Anything� in the first class or two & I don�t mind any question they have the nerve to voice.

Many times the Chinese teachers who are present will tell the students;
�you can�t ask a foreigner that�.
When I get asked me age or if I�m married.
It happened in the very small town in Hunan &now in this kinda large city in Guangxi.

Personally, I like to know the age of people I associate with, it lets me know a little more about where their coming from & their life experiences & have no problem saying my age.

I even use it as part of a lessen, explaining how in the US, we use the actual DoB as our year marker, explaining DoB & how it is different than how China uses the year born, in China, I�m a year older than in the US for 8 months of the year.

Many of the students I�ve had will get close to me in out of class / lessen situations, I�ll even let them touch me & my hair if they want, to a certain extent. In the small town in Hunan, I was the first white person they ever saw in real life.
In class or during lessons, they give me space as Roger talks about.

On the busses, I�ll often be the last one with an empty seat next to me, unless a college student takes it as a chance to talk.

The up close Loud talking is more bothersome to me than being close physically.

[Atlas]

capergirl,

with all love,

maybe it's your toothpaste

[Capergirl]

My toothpaste...hadn't thought of that.

[Lynn]

[saudade]

Lots of kissing and hugging in Brazil. I never know when to hug, when to kiss, when to do the whole shoulder clasp hand shake, when to send a hug on the phone (versus a kiss), etc. Even in class, I always feel kind of stiff, because I'm not sure how to negotiate the boundaries (maybe I need a dias ). Blessedly, people are very warm and genuine, so mistakes are usually innocuous. But I know that Brazilians going to North America, especially women, can inadvertently send the wrong signals by doing things that are innocuous in Brazil - standing a little too close (by North American standards), making lots of eye contact, touching, even the traditional goodbye cheek kiss. I've never been to Africa, but perhaps they were overcompensating - I definitely think it's sweet that they gave you a whole one seat buffer zone, though

And I was also cracking up about "Personal Space McNally". I think he should be turned into a superhero or something....

[Capergirl]

Last night, I waited for my students to sit down (at the other end of the table, far from where I usually sit) and then I went and sat right in the middle of them. Boy, did that ever mess them up. They were like, "What are you doing?" I told them that I could hear them better when I was sitting closer to them. Then the truth came out..."But teacher, we are very tired and we make lots of mistakes...if you sit over there, you can't hear all our mistakes." Ahhhhhhh.....

[khmerhit]

It's a bird!!!its a plane!!!ITSPersonal space MCNALLY!!!!

[Capergirl]