Being sensitive to cultural differences

Kimia

I had a previous thread in Travel about this but I think it was the wrong place. I live in Canada and I work with a few people who are shall we say, clueless about the world beyond. They can be quite insensitive about certain things and sometimes I find myself getting very irritated with them. Then I second guess myself and wonder am I being too sensitive!

For example, Remembrance Day. One of the girls in the office thought it was a disgrace that Ireland doesn't have a 2 minute silence, poppy wearing, the whole shebang. I didn't really know what to say to her only that there are different connotations associated with that at home.

Another time was when the Canadian national anthem was being played and another girl couldn't understand how I didn't know it. She then wanted to know about the Irish one so I said a few lines and she laughed and said it sounds like it was made up by children. (different language I suppose).

I also get the whole 'Do you have this in Ireland' about loads of stuff - stupid stuff. One girl asked me had I ever heard of the sitcom 'Friends'. :eek:

I find myself getting annoyed because they are so insensitive and ignorant to the world beyond Canada. I also am baffled as to how they really have no clue about other cultures. And it REALLY annoys me when they say 'Oh Ireland - that's in the UK' and then when I say it's not at all, they say 'Same thing!'. :mad:

Any advice on how to deal with this or is it something that you just have to put up with when living as an immigrant?

MrJoeSoap

Kimia wrote: »

I had a previous thread in Travel about this but I think it was the wrong place. I live in Canada and I work with a few people who are shall we say, clueless about the world beyond. They can be quite insensitive about certain things and sometimes I find myself getting very irritated with them. Then I second guess myself and wonder am I being too sensitive!

For example, Remembrance Day. One of the girls in the office thought it was a disgrace that Ireland doesn't have a 2 minute silence, poppy wearing, the whole shebang. I didn't really know what to say to her only that there are different connotations associated with that at home.

Another time was when the Canadian national anthem was being played and another girl couldn't understand how I didn't know it. She then wanted to know about the Irish one so I said a few lines and she laughed and said it sounds like it was made up by children. (different language I suppose).

I also get the whole 'Do you have this in Ireland' about loads of stuff - stupid stuff. One girl asked me had I ever heard of the sitcom 'Friends'. :eek:

I find myself getting annoyed because they are so insensitive and ignorant to the world beyond Canada. I also am baffled as to how they really have no clue about other cultures. And it REALLY annoys me when they say 'Oh Ireland - that's in the UK' and then when I say it's not at all, they say 'Same thing!'. :mad:

Any advice on how to deal with this or is it something that you just have to put up with when living as an immigrant?

Get them all an Irish history book for Christmas! Or tell them that their beloved ice-hockey is a descendant of our vastly superior "hurling", and that they're part of the United States. It can work both ways!

Seriously though, don't let it get to you, we're a small nation and it's not their fault they know nothing about us. They sound highly annoying though.

Firetrap

Short of telling them that they're a bunch of inward looking morons, I don't know what you can say to them really. You've got to accept that some people choose to live their lives in complete ignorance of the world outside. I personally don't understand it but these people exist. The ones who barely know what the name of the next town is, who never watch the news, read a newspaper or watch TV more demanding than X-Factor. Just accept that these people are small-minded illiterates and don't waste your breath trying to explain things. They don't sound like they'd care much about your explanations anyway. There is also a chance that they're getting a kick out of getting you all steamed up over this too. Just shrug it off and try not to let them get to you.

Contessa Raven

If it was me, I'd say and ask similar things to them.
Stuff like that would really annoy me too and I understand that we're small in comparison but there's a difference between not knowing and being completely dismissive. ("Same thing." :rolleyes:)

John Mason

unfortunately, that is just the way people are. you need to just let it go.

i lived in england for years and heard many crazy things about ireland like Belfast was in the south and dublin was in the north. or people who didnt believe we had our own government and currency but the most common was people asking how i could live somewhere with bombs going off all the time.


or when i was in austalia and people didnt believe that ireland was a seperate country and not an area in england.


just let wash over you, you are not going to change anyone

WindSock

I don't think you should be letting it get to you so easily. Not everyone has the same care to know about other countries, especially when they are not a small outrospective nation like ourselves. But I guess they do care a little if they are asking you questions. Do your best to educate them without being arrogant about it (not that I was inferring you were...)
You never know, they might be more inspired then to visit and see for themselves.

PK2008

Refer to Canada as 'America Junior'

Mighty_Mouse

American culture is globally pervasive so we know more about them than they do us. How much do you know about Asian or Africa? I'm sure if you were to live there the shoe would be on the other foot.

Ireland doesn't have a 2 minute silence, poppy wearing,

We're not in the commonwealth.

Canadian national anthem was being played and another girl couldn't understand how I didn't know it.

How long have you lived there?

One girl asked me had I ever heard of the sitcom 'Friends'.

Had she heard of Fair City?

I also am baffled as to how they really have no clue about other cultures.

It's tedious, but you really will have to learn to relax a little.
Be careful to guard against appearing snobbish about the fact you know a little more about the outside world.

implausible

A bit of perspective and education should fix it.

We are a small country on the edge of Europe, how much do you expect them to know? How much do you know about Uzbekhistan for example? I know plenty of Irish people who refer to Africa as being one country and who couldn't find China on a map. Don't take their ignorance as an insult, rather an opportunity to educate...

which brings me to my second tactic - "you do know that we have tv in Ireland, right?", "saying that Ireland is part of the UK is like saying you are American". Comments like this, if said directly enough, should make the other person feel embarrassed, not you.

MrJoeSoap

implausible wrote: »

A bit of perspective and education should fix it.

We are a small country on the edge of Europe, how much do you expect them to know? How much do you know about Uzbekhistan for example? I know plenty of Irish people who refer to Africa as being one country and who couldn't find China on a map. Don't take their ignorance as an insult, rather an opportunity to educate...

which brings me to my second tactic - "you do know that we have tv in Ireland, right?", "saying that Ireland is part of the UK is like saying you are American". Comments like this, if said directly enough, should make the other person feel embarrassed, not you.

It is as much how they are saying it, rather than what they are saying that is the main issue for the OP.

gubbie

I think you're being unfair. Ireland is a small country of 4 million people who just happens to have a big head because of this old America-Ireland thing. I don't know who the President/Prime Minister of Canada is nor do I know if they know who Westlife are.

I've been in that case many a time. Initially I too acted with annoyance, especially when it came from British people. But then I realised that there is loads I don't know about other cultures so I started to let things go and just laugh about it (Like who hasn't got the "Your English is so good"?! I took the compliment and laughed about it later)

Firetrap wrote: »

... some people choose to live their lives in complete ignorance of the world outside. I personally don't understand it but these people exist... Just accept that these people are small-minded illiterates and don't waste your breath trying to explain things.

That's so over the top. "Someone doesn't know anything about Ireland so therefore they're stupid and ignorant". Where as all Irish people could name a Soviet country other then Russia :rolleyes:

MrJoeSoap

gubbie wrote: »

That's so over the top. "Someone doesn't know anything about Ireland so therefore they're stupid and ignorant". Where as all Irish people could name a Soviet country other then Russia :rolleyes:

It isn't the fact that they don't know about Ireland, it's that when the OP informed them that Ireland wasn't in the UK they merely stated "Same thing". That is crossing the line from a lack of knowledge into ignorance, in my opinion.

shinikins

Try using humour as a weapon.

When I was travelling I got everything from "How's the war" to "How long did it take you to learn English" At first I was confused, then offended, but I realised it was coming from a total ingnorance of any other country but their own. When I was asked about the war I'd say something like "oh its shocking living with atomic bombs dropping on your head morning noon and night", about my command of English I'd tell them that a group of Missionaries took pity on me as a young child and took me in and immersed me in the language. They key is to deliver it in a totally deadpan tone but say the most outrageous things, they stop and think and realise what they've just said. The same thing with telling them that Canada is part of the US, or telling them that we had a donkey out the back treading a wheel to generate enough electricity to run a black and white tv.

Susie_Q

I'm living in India and when I tell people I'm from Ireland they often say things like "Oh that's in the UK" or "That's the same as England". It used to annoy me but now I come back with somethin like "Oh yes, Ireland and England are the same, just like India and Pakistan are the same". Indians HATE Pakistanis so this quickly gets the point across! Try to be creative about your responses and also try to ignore a lot of the rubbish these people come out with.

Animord

I hate to tell you this OP but I live and work in a small town in Ireland and I could have written your post pretty much word for word (different subjects obviously).

I have lived all over the world and I find it strange how little some of the people I work with know about the rest of the world and how little interest some of them have.

I also spent a year or so in New Zealand and when you met people there it was really obvious the ones who hadn't done their "overseas experience" as they called it because they were insular and had bizzare views about the rest of the world.

"do you have electricity in Ireland?", "what's it like living in a famine?" "It must be hard learning at school when you have no books" were just some of the things I was asked or heard.

It's just a lack of education and as a few people have said Ireland is small place so why should the rest of the world know all about us. Educate them and deal with it with humour, its the only way.

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

It is as much how they are saying it, rather than what they are saying that is the main issue for the OP.

One of the downsides of travelling is that you learn that some people are nice, some are ignorant, some are stupid and some are just a pain in the ass - same as everywhere really!

Firetrap

gubbie wrote: »

That's so over the top. "Someone doesn't know anything about Ireland so therefore they're stupid and ignorant". Where as all Irish people could name a Soviet country other then Russia :rolleyes:

Just to say you're taking me out of context here but I'm not going to drag this thread off topic to argue it.

mojesius

Hi OP, as a few posters have mentioned, use humour as a response to ignorance. I had great fun with some people when I was in the states. One thought the Queen was our political leader Hours of fun right there!

Wompa1

I'm part American and constantly have Irish people dumping over all things American to me because they hear my accent. I just let it go.

Maybe it's just that those people don't like you or are jealous if you for some reason. I'd let it go anyway

Ickle Magoo

Same everywhere, I'm afraid - many people don't know anything that goes on outside their own backyard....you should hear some of the comments I've had in Ireland! Just use it as a good gauge of individual ignorance/idiocy to filter those who are best avoided would be my advice.

Rebelheart

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Get them all an Irish history book for Christmas!

If I could add, 'and beat them around the head with it', that sentence would be perfect. :P They're Canucks for God's sake, not polyglot cosmopolitan Parisians who appreciate the finer points of Rubinstein's 1932 interpretation of Chopin.

I would absolutely love to be there to sort these undereducated plebeian upstarts out, particularly about that poppy warmongering imperialist nonsense. You have so many opportunities to tell these glorified Yanks (hint, hint) in so many colourful ways to go fuck themselves. All the best, and remember the spirit of Mac Diarmada, Mac Suibhne, Brugha and all the rest is right there behind you.

PS: We should have a "Dial an Irish person" or "Send obnoxious gobshíte to Irish forum where ten shades of shíte will be hammered out of them" support network to help our compatriots abroad.

Taltos

Rebelheart - we expect responses to stay civil, less of the profanities if you please.

Taltos

LegacyUser

OP, I once read this really smart anthropological study about how when people go somewhere new, at first the love it, then they loath it, and eventually they come to make peace with the place and develop a balanced view.
Is it possible that you're just at that phase when things about your new country and people are just really getting on your nerves?
The reality is that this level of ignorance is everywhere - including Ireland. But perhaps if you were in Ireland you would just accept that the people who's ignorance is annoying you just aren't your kind of people? You would move job or focus on your actual friends?
I lived abroad for fifteen years and my partner is American. You'd be amazed how many times my partner has had to listen to tirades from Irish people about how backward and rightwing america is - yes that side to America exists but there's also HUGE swaths of the country where people are as socialist leaning as here - and far more liberal. And the Irish people with these opinions are often the ones who've barely set foot in America! - just an example.
From my own experience living in the US, Europe and an Asian country, I can relate to how people annoy you. But seek out your type wherever you are - there are great people in every culture - and don't waste energy getting worked up about the rest. They probably don't mean any harm anyway.

LegacyUser

I wouldn't get too annoyed. Labelling Ireland as part of the UK is nowhere near as bad as a lot of Irish people who seem to call every Eastern European as Polish or every African as Nigerian. Cultural ignroance happens everywhere and calling Ireland apart of the UK is not exactly a silly mistake at all if you were from outside of the UK and Ireland.

I think its a bit ridiculous to expect foreign people to know about Irish history, were a tiny country of 4 million and despite what we think, were not that important at all. Turkmenistan has a bigger population than Ireland, do you know anything about that country?

Rebelheart

anotherperspective wrote: »

OP, I once read this really smart anthropological study about how when people go somewhere new, at first the love it, then they loath it, and eventually they come to make peace with the place and develop a balanced view.

Culture Shock?

Bog Butter

A bit of humility wouldn't go astray. How about using such opportunities to inform people about Ireland, giving them an insight into Irish culture. The only reason why we know so much about North America is because we are saturated in their culture through media drenching. They don't have such exposure to Irish culture and this is where you can come in.

Ireland may be a small country but we have had a big influence in North America and in other British colonies.

since Kennedy took office in 1961 every President bar one, Gerald Ford, has had some Irish blood.

Newfoundland was populated with people from the SE of Ireland. Have you ever heard the their accent? It sounds a bit Irish.

The word term "dig it" comes from "An thuigin tu"

Halloween, commercialised in the States but conceived in Ireland.

Bob Dyan and Van Morrison have done some nice duets.

Jim Morrison was influenced by Van Morrison

And so on.

Eve_Dublin

Humour is your only man. I teach English here in Spain and all my students believe/d Ireland is part of the UK and I just say, "Now I understand how you guys feel in the USA when people think Spain is in Mexico", give them a wink and a smile and leave it. If they want to find out for themselves what I meant, they can and if they want to remain ignorant, well it's their loss.

krudler

I'd just laugh at it, I wouldnt say someone is uneducated just because they dont know everything about a tiny country. there's countries in Africa with 10 times our population that most people would know absolutely nothing about or find on a map. I've been to the states a few times and a couple of people were amazed I not only knew what HBO was but watched most of its shows, the biggest blunder an American asked me was if we celebrated St Patricks day here, errrr. yes? where do you think it came from?

gazzer

I remember an australian friend of mine back in the 90's went to a US school on a scholorship.

He couldnt believe how the majority of people he met perceived Austraila to be (no electricity, everybody lives in tents etc) so in the end he just played along with it

e.g

He went to a shopping centre with a group of American students and pretended to be amazed at the moving stairs that bring you from floor to floor.

Told some students that the sydney harbour bridge was closed to traffic from 7am to 8am every morning to allow all the sheep cross

analucija

It doesn't bother me but after a while explaining to people in Ireland where is Slovenia (no not Slovakia) got a bit too boring so I just started saying its part of Siberia. Most people believed me.

I think Irish are not great in geography or in general in international affairs outside UK or USA. Maybe people in Canada are better informed about France (guessing), as I would be about goings on in Italy, Austria or Germany etc. On the other hand I know a lot less about UK or USA than my Irish partner does. It's one of those things and you shouldn't be too sensitive about it. And don't be insulted, it's much better to make fun out of people for not knowing something than being offended by it.

joannaman

I'd advise just laughing privately at their ignorance and have some fun with it. I worked with some nutters in Toronto who asked me were leprechauns real and I convinced them that yes they were, and unfortunately they were dying out and we were trying to conserve them. Obviously the pot of gold thing would have been taking it too far so I said no, that part is bull. A couple of the Canucks knew i was taking the piss and used to just give me knowing smiles!

pickarooney

There's a difference between not knowing something about a culture and being openly insulting about it. While I would have no problems with someone not knowing the first thing about Ireland, but when someone politely corrects you and laugh them off that's just being a prick.

seachto7

Well, how many of you could point out Kansas, or Nebraska on a map, or would know where Wisconsin is? I couldn't. I don't really know anything about these states either. These states are the equivalent of countries in reality.
I met someone in Singapore who didn't know where Ireland was in the world. He asked me what continent it was, and what country it was near to get a vague idea. Why should he know? Maybe he works as a chippie, and doesn't need to know, nor could give 2 flying f**ks where Ireland is......
When you actually look at the size of Ireland on a world map, you realise why so many Americans, Aussies, Asians, don't know where it is or know nothing about it..
Then you also realise how much we punch above our weight on the international stage, deservedly so too......

Honey-ec

h5ih wrote: »

Labelling Ireland as part of the UK is nowhere near as bad as a lot of Irish people who seem to call every Eastern European as Polish or every African as Nigerian.

How'd you come to that conclusion, then? I'd say they're pretty much the exact same thing.

Eric Cartman

OP - this is Ireland , we have our culture here and we celebrate our events , its not your job or anybody else Irish in Ireland to celebrate other customs from outside our nation , im not saying mock them or ignore them , but if some people want to celebrate thanksgiving or remembrance day or whatever leave them to it , they have no right to be offended or surprised that you have know knowledge or want no involvement in something that has no presence in Irish culture

fitz0

I'm not long home from Canada and I found the same thing. Some Canadians are absolutely clueless about anywhere thats not their city let alone their country. It didn't bother me in the slightest though, it amused me to no end. IMO its all part of the fun in travelling and living in other parts of the world.

They have little to no obligation to learn all about Ireland to avoid being insensitive to you. How many Irish people bothered to learn about eastern European, Roma, Chinese or Middle Eastern cultures when immigration really began in Ireland? Very very few. So why should we expect other countries peoples to be extra sensitive to us?

I don't mean to be rude or anything but you're taking this way too much to heart.