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April 2005
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By globalistgirl, on April 9th, 2005

Beginners and Taking Advice

It was recently suggested to me that a large part of my annoyance with a recent power struggle stems not only from the situation per se but also from the fact that the other persons involved are at a very beginning level of understanding cross-cultural life, despite extensive experience. I’ve realized that’s absolutely right.

I’m sick of people talking about multiculturalism and multi-kulti and tolerance and all that, when only an extremely small minority actually has really thought about it. It’s starting to seem like most immigrants and other migrants lack even the most basic intercultural skills, even after decades away from “home.” It never occurs to them that maybe they don’t get it, so they never will, because they won’t try to learn because they think they’ve got it. And I’m sick of being understanding because they’re so incompetent. Why is it my responsibility to always be the one understanding? Why isn’t it in part their responsibility to learn?

In part I’m probably bitter because I became oppressively marginalized and these people just keep doing what they’ve always been doing like they have blinders on. How the hell is that possible? How the hell do you avoid noticing what’s being shoved in your face every day? And how the hell can you be so damn sure that you get it? I worry about that almost every day! How can I know? I can’t. And so the observation never ends.

Sometimes I just feel like smacking people when they just refuse to notice that their cultural norms and behaviors from somewhere else really don’t work. And there just doesn’t seem to be anywhere where people generally get it! Americans may be clueless in many ways but no one else seems any wiser when it comes to negotiating difference in their personal lives. Others may have more perspective on themselves as a country, but as members of a culture, not so much. Everyone thinks they do, but I’m lacking evidence that they do, while I have heaps saying they don’t. People can spend the majority of their lives in a host country and never get that they don’t get it. Some are always worse than others, though, and it would be interesting to see a study of which cultures have the most trouble learning a new one.

I just wish I could talk to someone who sees this too. The European Far Right has nothing to worry about – people can’t change even when they want to. The immigrants can’t change Europe asnymore than they can change themselves at a core level. The first step to recovery is admitting there’s a problem, and everyone is agreeing that there is none.

April 9th, 2005 | Tags: | Category: Cultural Marginalization | 492 comments

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