Cultural differences

a reply to: Orionx2

Vote Hillary!

a reply to: tikbalang

Well, thank you for listening, we may be a left leaning country here but there is still obviously a cultural difference even between Canada and Scandinavia as per to the beliefs or comments you made. Either way, here's a tongue in cheek Canadian version of your original story for a bit of humour:

An American was on a visit to Canada, he works for a Chinese Multi-Corp in Toronto and they had a briefing about future housing investments in British Columbia. On arrival you could easily point out the American, un-polite as it may seem. A few higher alcohol content Canadian beers later and well, his "Merica Ya!" truly became visible.

He brazenly opposed our Canadian system and tried to imply the ways of the States were the only right way. Metric system ???? That was just something for people that can't do math. He starting talking about freedoms and guns rights that he enjoys in the States, and proclaimed" America is the best !....We protected you Canucks against Russia for years !!!"


A Canadian at the next table over, noticed how everyone else was uncomfortable with the situation. He casually sat down next to the American, introduced himself, and asked where in the States he was from. The Canadian made a couple self depreciating jokes about his own country, offered to buy the American a beer, and then struck up quite a good conversation with the American.


And.....end of story....no police needed.

originally posted by: tikbalang
a reply to: Orionx2

Vote Hillary!

Already voted Trump. But thanks for exposing your agenda,

a reply to: Falenor

Friendly culture, probably why so many Swedes move there.. Without building themselves a fort like in most other countries were Swedes move to..

We dont interact like you do, i envy some of your cultural ways, and would wish that some of them actually found a way towards here, but its wishful thinking..

I believe, Canadians are probably they way they are, cause of their immature brother downwards..

a reply to: Orionx2

Could you explain to me that isnt an american why you voted for Trump, using real world problems..?

originally posted by: tikbalang
a reply to: Orionx2

Could you explain to me that isnt an american why you voted for Trump, using real world problems..?

Trump is much less dangerous than Hillary. Hillary has 30 years of paid bribes that she needs to pay back. She also has 30 years of dirt on all the politicians to use as blackmail.

a reply to: Orionx2

So if you wrote a script, it would be like;" Hillary ! 30 Years of walking the Halls of politics, finally emerging as a POT.. Will her haunted past come to life, or will she ...

The human mind is like a computer.

Garbage in, garbage out.

The USA, a nation awash with guns and violence. Flooding the world with weapons and military hardware. Spreading their own brand of peace and democracy at the point of a gun. An empire that has so brainwashed it's people that socialism has become a nasty word. The once proud vanguard of freedom and justice has been exposed for what it is. The internet has been it's undoing. Once upon a time the lie could travel down the years until a generation or two later, not so much now.
One only has to look at the current election to see it for what it is. It wouldn't be so bad if America left the rest of the world alone and sorted out it's own mess at home.

originally posted by: tikbalang
a reply to: Falenor

Friendly culture, probably why so many Swedes move there.. Without building themselves a fort like in most other countries were Swedes move to..

We dont interact like you do, i envy some of your cultural ways, and would wish that some of them actually found a way towards here, but its wishful thinking..

I believe, Canadians are probably they way they are, cause of their immature brother downwards..

Maybe if so many Swedes move away from Sweden and Sweden is as up tight about things as your story suggests, it shines a bit of a mirror on Sweden? After all, a good many Americans that you so deplore have a more than a little Swedish blood. Heck, there was a town just north of where I grew up called Lindsborg. It's heretage was primarily Swedish.

I don't get the OP really.

Sounds like a person was being rude, from the natives point of view.

But the whole notion of being rude, or how a "normal" human being should act is completely relative and different no matter where you go.

In some countries, it is normal civic behavior to speak very quietly- to whisper in public places. I know here in France, Americans are commonly considered monkeys because we talk so loud. Because in our culture, if you are whispering in a room full of people, there must be a reason- you are saying something bad about someone present. Being too quiet is suspicious behavior. Talking without trying to hide is showing your good will.

But in any case, judging foreigners based upon behaviors that seem strange to you often leads to faulty assumptions.

-And if anyone wants to claim that Americans are the only ones with a tendency towards ethnocentrism, I have news for them......

a reply to: Bluesma

Exactly, and there are different accepted behaviors for Americans even in our own country. For example, poorer Americans, no matter your ethnicity, tend to be louder, even for "loud" Americans.

Some countries have different notions of personal space too. In the US, it's not a thing to get touchy feely with strangers, but in some cultures, even fairly modern and developed ones, you still have personal contact with people who are complete strangers.

I think the long and short of this is that just because someone has a different culture than you do doesn't necessarily make more or less "normal." It means they live differently, and while their cultural preferences might shape what sorts of governmental systems they prefer, it doesn't necessarily make one system or another any more or less "normal" for the human condition, either.

One wonders what the OP would say if some person living in a Middle Eastern country or a country with a very restrictive dictatorial system of central governance had come on here and written this about the rude Swede who had brashly criticized his or her native way of doing things and then lectured people like the OP for not being normal?

I understand what you are trying to say, being polite should be the norm, but you went about trying to get your point across the wrong way.

I get it too, but then again, what is considered polite does vary widely across the world and from place to place.

Yes, one should try to be polite, but what is polite?

In some cultures, you are supposed to finish off all your food. In some places, that is rude as it implies you were not fed enough by your hosts. Sometimes, you are encouraged to make noises at the table like burping to show appreciation, but in others that is bad form. Sometimes, you should not eat with your left or right hand for one reason or another.

For people living within that culture, each of those rules has a logical reason to them and explanation, and it seems like the normal thing to do and everyone does it, but for the outsider, this is terribly odd.

The best way to learn to live with one another when it comes to cultural foibles such as these is to cultivate a sense of understanding rather than one of rigid adherence to one's own way of being as the "norm" and all else as belonging to the uncouth and barbarian "outside" and "other" tribe. Yes, you should make an effort to understand and appreciate the culture of where you are at and go with the flow, but they should likewise understand that you were not raised the same way they were and give you some latitude. Not every cultural rule is easily absorbed.

originally posted by: ketsuko
I get it too, but then again, what is considered polite does vary widely across the world and from place to place.

Yes, one should try to be polite, but what is polite?

In some cultures, you are supposed to finish off all your food. In some places, that is rude as it implies you were not fed enough by your hosts. Sometimes, you are encouraged to make noises at the table like burping to show appreciation, but in others that is bad form. Sometimes, you should not eat with your left or right hand for one reason or another.

For people living within that culture, each of those rules has a logical reason to them and explanation, and it seems like the normal thing to do and everyone does it, but for the outsider, this is terribly odd.

The best way to learn to live with one another when it comes to cultural foibles such as these is to cultivate a sense of understanding rather than one of rigid adherence to one's own way of being as the "norm" and all else as belonging to the uncouth and barbarian "outside" and "other" tribe. Yes, you should make an effort to understand and appreciate the culture of where you are at and go with the flow, but they should likewise understand that you were not raised the same way they were and give you some latitude. Not every cultural rule is easily absorbed.

In this instance, " tried to imply the ways of the west was the only right one", would this ever be considered polite in any culture?
No. Live and let live. Sadly, this is how a good portion of the world views Americans as a whole rather than take this persons attitude for what it is, an uneducated, impolite person trying to push their beliefs on someone else.

a reply to: superman2012

See my original post on the rant.

There is no context for how and why this occurred. I don't know too many people who would roll into a place and just go all



... unless, of course, they are Parker and Stone marionettes.

There is no real context for why the conversation took the turn it did.

a reply to: ketsuko

That's true, there is no context. I have seen many bloated, over patriotic people in my travels, and not all of them were Americans. Us Canadians can get quite defensive of our country as well even though we have major problems too.

a reply to: ketsuko

An American student traveled to North Korea, acted like an American and was sentenced to 15 years in prison/labor..
Otto Frederick Warmbier

Guess which cultural nation had to come to assistance ?

If you only knew how often a Scandinavian, have to understand, but when you are on the soil.. boy oh boy.. Do your work, attend your meeting and leave..

a reply to: ketsuko

You mean the one you edited so it would come out right??

originally posted by: tikbalang
a reply to: ketsuko

An American student traveled to North Korea, acted like an American and was sentenced to 15 years in prison/labor..
Otto Frederick Warmbier

Guess which cultural nation had to come to assistance ?

If you only knew how often a Scandinavian, have to understand, but when you are on the soil.. boy oh boy.. Do your work, attend your meeting and leave..

Yeah... well, one of the neat things about the US is that you don't get thrown in jail for talking a bit too loud, or for not believing the local dictator is a God.

Maybe Scandinavians need to spend more time traveling within other countries, spending time with natives outside of work, in order to develop some cultural tolerance and class? Class is the ability to be sensitive to and adapt to various other cultures, subcultures and social classes. Not everyone has it.

I am sure there are some Scandinavians that have it, just as there are some Americans that do. The ones that don't really only upset other ones that don't.