John wrote:
> At 06:00 PM 5/29/01 +0200 J. van Baardwijk wrote:
> >producing way to many decibels in conversations.
>
> This has nothing to do with arrogance, and everything to do with cultural
> differences. Uneasiness with the different levels of appropriate vocal
> levels in other areas is no different than Americans being uncomfortable
> with the Germans' or the Japaneese's comfortability with a much smaller
> level of personal space than is standard in America, or an American being
> uneasy with Europeans who are perfectly comfortable with not showering
> every day, as is standard in America.
Absolutely. I've run into this cultural problem dealing with other citizens
of the US. I'm from Georgia, and down there, it's a lot more common for
people to touch someone on the arm or make physical contact during
conversation than it is in other regions, specifically, from my experience,
the Northeast. The stereotype of Northerners in the Southern US is that
they're generally cold and unfriendly, as evidenced by the fact that they're
"standoffish" and "pushy". Does that mean that Yankees are arrogant jerks?
Not really - just that they've got a different frame of social reference.
I think that at least some of what Jeroen and Sonja are describing is just
that - different conversational mores, rather than arrogance or rudeness.
There is also the tendency of many people, when in unfamiliar territory, to
stick with the familiar. When I went to London my junior year of college, I
had to really fight my inclination to stay with my friends at all times. It
was easier to do that than to really submerge myself in as much of the
locale as possible. Eventually I did, and had a richer experience for doing
so, but not everyone *wants* to let go of the familiar that much. I know
I've seen tourists in the states cluster together and speak loudly, too.
Some of them were European, and I'll bet there was at least one Netherlander
[Dutchman? Help me here...] in one of the groups I saw.
Adam C. Lipscomb
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
