xandreu wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:35 pm When I first moved here, as is the same for most of us, it was a bit of a culture shock to find that many of the things I was always bought up to think of as important, seemed to just get shrugged off here. Things such as being on time, showing a bit of etiquette on the roads, having a basic knowledge of world affairs, (or even domestic affairs to be fair), intervening in matters which aren't directly related to you but you do so in order to somehow 'put something right', etc...

On the surface, matters such as this can make Khmers seem a bit ignorant, selfish or just uneducated, but, and perhaps I've been here too long, I've slowly found myself coming around to their way of thinking in many aspects. Many of things that I used to think 'mattered', when viewed through the lens of a Khmer, don't actually matter as much as us westerners are raised to think.

You can't deny that in general, Khmers some of the most laid back, relaxed, easy-going people on the planet, and I think it's largely down to the fact that they generally only care about things that really matter, and don't waste a second of their lives to things that don't. Us westerners do have a habit of fretting over things we have no control over anyway. I think Khmers are much better at realising when something isn't worth bothering with.

When I first came here, I was pretty shocked at some of their culture, but now I often find myself wondering if actually, they're the one's with the right mindset - not always, mind you.

Fridaywithmateo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:02 am My Khmer wife's brain literally short circuits when I step into the kitchen and take command.

IraHayes wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:27 pm

Alex wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:16 pm

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 5:40 pm One guy said he learned to keep conversations with his girl restricted to basic family, local community, and day to day stuff because going beyond these subjects into topics of the larger world would sometimes elicit a response along the lines of “You think you know everything.”

Isn't the reason in that case mostly a discrepancy in education levels between those partners? As many Westerners essentially date farm girls, that doesn't really come as a major surprise.

And 4 college students in the US couldn't answer a simple maths question. I could see those westerners here that "essentially date farm girls" having the same problems when trying to converse with them.