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nomadder
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
Posts: 709
Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere
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 Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:40 pm Post subject: �How Do You Do It? |
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To those of you living in the less developed lands I wonder how do you handle day to day living. I know there�s a difference between travelling and working in a place but still I don�t think I could handle too long in many countries.
Things like excessive heat(usually in many places), dirtiness, unclean food, noise, crowded sidewalks with holes etc, being singled out by beggars, always buying water, lack of products, weird toilets(often), only 2 seasons(often), corrupt police, bad healthcare, sadness of seeing so much poverty, uncomfortable cement houses, tropical diseases, terrible transportation, low salaries and more crime worries generally,etc..
How do you become used to a more difficult lifestyle and what are the things on the plus side?
Signed
Weary Traveller
Last edited by nomadder on Fri Apr 23, 2004 11:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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khmerhit
Joined: 31 May 2003
Posts: 1874
Location: Reverse Culture Shock Unit
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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Hmmm. There is that.
You might want to turn the question around-- I would anyway..
To people living in so-called developed lands: How do you handle the
rat-race
commuting
celebrity bs culture
boring suburbs
boring people
boring newspapers
trivial media crises
joggers
Scot47?
Er, maybe I should stop-not vvery helpful. |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:26 am Post subject: |
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Glad you turned it round before I did khmerhit... I wouldn't have been so nice...  |
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Aramas
Joined: 13 Feb 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Slightly left of Centre
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:47 am Post subject: |
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| A chap by the name of L Francis Herreshoff once said "If you need all the comforts of home then stay there." |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 2:43 pm Post subject: Re: �How Do You Do It? |
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| nomadder wrote: |
Things like excessive heat(usually in many places), dirtiness, unclean food, noise, crowded sidewalks with holes etc, being singled out by beggars, always buying water, lack of products, weird toilets(often), only 2 seasons(often), corrupt police, bad healthcare, sadness of seeing so much poverty, uncomfortable cement houses, tropical diseases, terrible transportation, low salaries and more crime worries generally,etc..
How do you become used to a more difficult lifestyle and what are the things on the plus side?
Signed
Weary Traveller |
I think you need to stay in more  |
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khmerhit
Joined: 31 May 2003
Posts: 1874
Location: Reverse Culture Shock Unit
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, you need to see more of the cellar stairs. |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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excessive heat(usually in many places) --- There's no such thing!
dirtiness ------ water -- dirtiness has little to do with poverty Sri Lankan and Indian peasants have better personal hygiene than many Europeans or North Americans.
unclean food Don't eat in fast food restaurants like Macdonalds. They have to cut up so many carcasses in the meat prodessing plants in the States that the faeces from the cows intestines regularly gets mixed up with the rest of the meat. Your hamburgers are literally s h i t. If you just eat fish and vegetables the quality of food is much better in developing countries than in much of Europe or the US.
noise---- Earplugs :) (actually the trick is to find somewhere so poor they don't have a the money to buy a cassette player)
crowded sidewalks with holes etc----- Long time since I've been to London.
being singled out by beggars ---- Actually you're not. You'll find beggars are attracted to the locals as well. You can give them your loose change like the locals do, or pointedly ignore them. Neither way is much hassle.
always buying water Personally I never touch the stuff, but tap water is safe in all major cities except perhaps those like Mogadishu where the ifnrastructure has completely collapsed.
lack of products ------- You can always get drunk
weird toilets(often) ------ the worst are in the arab world and they're not weird, just disgusting. At least in India you can crap in the street like a pukka brahmin.
only 2 seasons(often) ---- One's enough for me, as long as it's summer.
corrupt police ----- Now that's a killer.
bad healthcare ---- depends where you are; I'm alive because of the excellent quality of the government hospital in Sri Lanka.
sadness of seeing so much poverty ----- don't make me sad.
uncomfortable cement houses ---go with
low salaries ---- best avoided
tropical diseases ----- You're not that likely to catch any.
terrible transportation --- Ah but it's cheap :) Either have enough money for a car and driver, risk a motor-bike, stay at home or flinch and bear it.
more crime worries ----- Nothing to do with poverty. Latin America may have much crime but the Middle East is almost crime free, and crime rates are much lower in India for examole than in Western Europe. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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| I can't stand the Third World, but then I am lucky. I do not have to visit London very often. |
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James_T_Kirk
Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 357
Location: Ten Forward
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 8:50 pm Post subject: How do I do it? |
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| Quote: |
To people living in so-called developed lands: How do you handle the
rat-race
commuting
celebrity bs culture
boring suburbs
boring people
boring newspapers
trivial media crises
joggers |
Beer...copious amounts of beer |
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Guest
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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I have been in a "small" City in China now for 8 months and I took to it like a "duck to water" despite being advised by several readers of Daves to 'STAY HOME".
I will now take their advice as Home is China and I am staying here. I am returning to Australia for the last time in July and August this year to say goodbye to my family and friends. Some of them think I have LOST THE PLOT but I know this is where I belong. |
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Belmont
Joined: 12 Jul 2003
Posts: 125
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2004 4:20 am Post subject: "lost the plot" |
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Hi Rhonda. I like that expression: Lost the Plot
You have to admit, what you're doing is not the normal thing that most of us middle aged people do, but it's something that is going to make you very happy I'm sure, as well as bring a little happiness and comfort to some poeple who need it. Please keep us all posted as to what happens. Great luck! Jim |
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Numpty Honnis
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 5
Location: This side of the burnt stump
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| Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2004 6:12 am Post subject: |
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Volunteering in India last year I experienced many of the delights living in a less developed country has to offer. You quickly realise you are faced with a decision; 1. Get frustrated and annoyed with the extra hassles, or 2. Go with the flow. Choose 1. and you will soon be on a plane back to the comforts *yawn* of the West. Choose 2. and you open yourself up to a whole new way of living, and in the end, thinking. People talk about the 'culture shock' of India - supposedly the litmus test for travellers. Interestingly, I found the 'reverse culture shock' I experienced on return to the West far worse. Many of the things mentioned in this post by Khmerhit and Aramas (in other posts) sent me into a depressed plunge. So I have decided to flag the corporate bulls**t and am going back again to India next month (and after that hopefully the world of ESL). Woopee!
That said, I did 'crack' towards the end of my stay. On a brief trip into the Himalayas I found myself jumping up and down at 16,000 feet at 6am screaming at incompetent Indian clerk/hotelier/bureaucrat #23461. But I maintain this embarrassing  display was due to a lack of oxygen rather than the release of 6 months-worth of pent up frustrations (no smart comments)... |
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Capergirl
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 1232
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2004 10:31 am Post subject: |
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Does this mean you'll be coming back to Canada for a rest from your travels? Drop me a line...we'll 'do coffee'.  |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2004 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Numpty Honnis wrote: |
Volunteering in India last year I experienced many of the delights living in a less developed country has to offer. You quickly realise you are faced with a decision; 1. Get frustrated and annoyed with the extra hassles, or 2. Go with the flow. Choose 1. and you will soon be on a plane back to the comforts *yawn* of the West. Choose 2. and you open yourself up to a whole new way of living, and in the end, thinking. People talk about the 'culture shock' of India - supposedly the litmus test for travellers. Interestingly, I found the 'reverse culture shock' I experienced on return to the West far worse. Many of the things mentioned in this post by Khmerhit and Aramas (in other posts) sent me into a depressed plunge. So I have decided to flag the corporate bulls**t and am going back again to India next month (and after that hopefully the world of ESL). Woopee!
That said, I did 'crack' towards the end of my stay. On a brief trip into the Himalayas I found myself jumping up and down at 16,000 feet at 6am screaming at incompetent Indian clerk/hotelier/bureaucrat #23461. But I maintain this embarrassing display was due to a lack of oxygen rather than the release of 6 months-worth of pent up frustrations (no smart comments)... |
India is like an anvil - you beat yourself into shape on it. It is never, despite our hardest attempts, the reverse!
You gotta love it... |
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Dr.J
Joined: 09 May 2003
Posts: 304
Location: usually Japan
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:29 am Post subject: |
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| The short answer is, just ignore, ignore, ignore. Most of all ignore yourself, the source of all your troubles. |
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