SECOND culture shock?

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violet
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Re: SECOND culture shock?

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Self edited.
Last edited by violet on Tue Jun 26, 2018 6:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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that genius
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Re: SECOND culture shock?

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StroppyChops wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 8:22 pmKolkata is the only city on earth that as I've arrived, I've deeply regretted it and wanted to leave immediately. Turned out to not be a bad intuition - dangerous place.
I had a similar feeling at the Poipet border, but a friend had told me that not all of Cambodia was like that.
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Re: SECOND culture shock?

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While there is doubtlessly some truth in this "second culture shock" I can't help but feel the hand is being overplayed. After having lived six years in Berlin there were indeed concepts, customs and food that I missed., but mostly it was the ego trip of speaking fluent Berlinerish. I noticed Germans in the US used to call their kinsmen a "hundert prozenter" who had lost or denied their German roots. Even when I was at the zenith of mastering my new language or engaging in new cultural habits, I always knew that I was American. Upon my return, I certainly missed some things, most notably marvelous food and bakeries.

Here in rural Cambodia where I live in a small village, I am still more in contact with my culture than theirs. Quite simply both sides are happier that way. In fact after I moved here as their first foreigner the xenophobic locals experienced more culture shock than I did. I guess in spite of my efforts at the language I'm just not a SE Asian kind of guy any more than a "god bless America" kind of guy. Enough rant! I could go on and on about the fact little by little this culture is imitating and adopting American values that I have always fled from. But as a famous base baller once said, "Don't look back, they might be catching up."
As my old Cajun bait seller used to say, "I opes you luck.
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phuketrichard
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Re: SECOND culture shock?

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StroppyChops wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 8:22 pm
cannabistourist wrote: Mon Jun 25, 2018 8:01 pm I agree with you, but in India sometimes it's kind of culture shock...
Kolkata is the only city on earth that as I've arrived, I've deeply regretted it and wanted to leave immediately. Turned out to not be a bad intuition - dangerous place.
I love Calcutta, the Howrah bridge, the planetarium, Sutter street...have spent weeks there

I lived in Delhi back in the 70's for a bit, was robbed, no $$, no passport, us embassy said i was not a us citizen. yea shit happens.
got a gh to allow me to stay for free if i got people to stay there, so each day would get guest's at the RR station or airport.
it ran about 50% that had been in India a day and HAD to get out
India is NOT for everyone.

as another stated,i cant say i have experienced culture shock that it hit me, like the heat that hits u when u open a hot oven,
Everywhere is just different
The ONLY place i felt any kind of unease was Varanasi, arrived at 4 am, went out for a walk and after 2 hours headed back to the room, packed my bags and left.
The city oozed evilness to me
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: SECOND culture shock?

Post by k*rm*geddon »

^^^ Ha. I went to Varanasi in 1981 and it occurred to me at the time that to ever totally freak someone out would be to blindfold them, put them on a plane to India, get to the middle of a Varanasi street and then remove that blindfold.
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Re: SECOND culture shock?

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Self edited.
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taabarang
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Re: SECOND culture shock?

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Nothing to see Here. Move on.
.
As my old Cajun bait seller used to say, "I opes you luck.
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