The other side of silence

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taabarang
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The other side of silence

Post by taabarang »

In my last post "The goal of Cambodian conversation" I discussed the role that silence can play in social bonding. Here, from the same source, is the flip side.

"By himself, the Cambodian is however afraid of solitude: he loves noise, music, crowds, that's what makes him extremely happy. The important thing is to live together. Celebrations of which he is extremely fond gather people together and allows for exchange." Trans. from French

Amen to that. In our village even the wats place speakers by the road at a distance of almost one kilometer from the temple. And as for weddings and wakes, I think all foreigners are aware that there is a decibel level sufficient to stun a water buffalo. And when there is an accident there is always a crowd doing nothing but looking, looking and surmising the extent of damage and the owner's wealth of the vehicle that was totaled.
As my old Cajun bait seller used to say, "I opes you luck.
Anchor Moy
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Re: The other side of silence

Post by Anchor Moy »

Good stuff Taabarang.
Samouth says he doesn't mind doing things alone - even traveling. But I think Little salary said that she wouldn't feel at ease. In my experience most Cambodians prefer to be in a group to enjoy themselves.
If I invite a Khmer friend to a restaurant, I know he will bring a friend with him. (It used to be 5 friends LOL, but now I ask beforehand which friend (singular) is coming along.) Or I just chill out and we make it a group thing, but sometimes there are things I want to discuss, but not with a heap of people that I don't know.
Samouth
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Re: The other side of silence

Post by Samouth »

Anchor Moy wrote:Good stuff Taabarang.
Samouth says he doesn't mind doing things alone - even traveling. But I think Little salary said that she wouldn't feel at ease. In my experience most Cambodians prefer to be in a group to enjoy themselves.
If I invite a Khmer friend to a restaurant, I know he will bring a friend with him. (It used to be 5 friends LOL, but now I ask beforehand which friend (singular) is coming along.) Or I just chill out and we make it a group thing, but sometimes there are things I want to discuss, but not with a heap of people that I don't know.
i think i was influenced more from western culture. i read more article about solo travelling also have talked with a few world solo traveler and heard a lot of amazing stories from them. I guess you will always meet people everywhere. I hang out more with barang than khmer.
បើសិនធ្វើចេះ ចេះឲ្យគេកោត បើសិនធ្វើឆោត ឆោតឲ្យគេអាណិត។

If you know a lot, know enough to make them respect you, if you are stupid, be stupid enough so they can pity you.
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