Philologos wrote:
It always puzzled me. You are supposed to feel so out of it in a foreign culture, totally handicapped from not knowing the language well or even at all, not knowing cultural expectations, how to wave goodbye, missing the point of all the jokes.
I have spent serious time in about 7 countries and dealt extensively with people from some others. Never experienced culture shock as you are supposed to. It was the opposite.
At home, I missed the jokes, did not know the rules, misinterpreted the language, talked funny. And everyone thought there was something wrong with me, seriously rejected me or more. And I felt alone, WRONG.
In Ruritania, I missed stuff and talked funny, but hey - he is just an American. Nobody singled me out, people explained stuff to me and helped me communicate. And some of the local ways made more sense than the ones here.
Not really surprising it's that way. In your "own" culture, people will tend to expect you to obey the cultural norms, which an Aspie can't easily do. The nastiest little groups I've had to be involved with in my working life have been all-English.....they're always very quick to judge and cold-shoulder anybody who happens to be a bit different. But when there's a mixture of people from very different backgrounds, there are fewer social norms to worry about. I don't do particularly well in "pure" cultures that are different to my own though. It's hard to find one that's as quiet and reserved as the English one, and I have big problems coping with noisy people.
16 Mar 2010, 10:55 am
