Expat Life: how weird are the locals?

beks101 wrote: »

Just back after three years in Canada: the lack of eye contact is the first thing I've noticed.

People are curious about other people in Canada. They'll hold your gaze as you walk down the street, through the subway tunnel, or when you're sat on a streetcar - not creepily, sometimes you'll get a nod or a smile, but they won't avert their gaze before you even catch them looking like an Irish person will.

Saying that, the banter is less. It's rare that someone will randomly strike up a conversation on the street or at a bus stop about the weather or whatever, you're likely to be looked at as one of the crazies if you attempt it.

I've noticed that in the US too...no-one breaks gaze with you. I've had to learn to nod or say "howdy" to strangers much more .

osarusan wrote: »

In Tokyo...nothing too weird. Reserved but polite (have to be in such crowded places), good sense of humour when you get to know them. 24 hour places, great trains and clean streets...easy to live here.

To veer into generalisations, they are quite a conservative people, and the fact that they are self-sufficient in many ways means that they aren't always that up to speed on the rest of the world.

Korea is very conservative too, even more so than Japan as far as I can tell. Koreans tend to hate the Japanese with a passion. It's a colonial thing.

The group mentality is strong with this one...

- everyone wears the same style/colour clothing, it's about fitting in rather than standing out.

- all cars are either silver, white or black. Rare to see anything else.

- middle aged women all have the exact same hair-style. Little variation in dress/fashion in their age group.

-it's considered rude to talk on the metro/bus... so it's always nice and quiet:)

-K-POP stars announce the Metro stops in multiple languages on some lines. Japanese always appears last on signs, even after English.

-due to a lack of pronouns, it is acceptable to point at people while you talk about them even if they're strangers.

-Many restaurants only serve group meals. Singles eat at home.

-plastic surgery is very common and is not judged. People talk casually about their new nose as if it was a new top.

-synchronized dancing is big, even in nightclubs. Everyone knows all the moves:pac:

-expect to date someone for 3months or more if you want sex. Westerners are popular here because we're "easy"...:p

-bus drivers are docked pay if their running late (regardless of traffic) so they drive like crazy and may run red lights

-it's considered safe for women to walk alone at night in many areas as crime is very low (rape is possibly under-reported though)

-many people have a high standard of English and are eager to practice. Koreans are not shy about starting conversations and are always willing to help you out if they see you looking at a map. You rarely have to ask, the English speakers will be over to you before you need too.

-Older Koreans have little or no English but that doesn't stop them trying to converse with you. I've had strangers pour drinks into paper cups and offer it to me (usually rice wine) in the local parks if I pass by a picnic.

-if a Westerner commits a crime it's literally all over the news, even if it's just a speeding ticket. Crimes are always worse when your a foreigner (so just like here really:rolleyes:)

-South East Asians are their equivalent of Eastern Europeans here, they are sadly looked down upon (taking jobs, women etc...)

This place is weird. The culture is entirely different and the people, when you actually end up dealing with a Saudi instead of an Indian or Filipino, can be extremely, rude especially to the infidel. Getting used to their operating hours can be a bit of a struggle as well, most things seem to happen only in the evening, around here things certainly only seem to open at night bar the larger shopping centres.

MadsL wrote: »

I find this hard to believe. You've gone native.

The weirdos are weird, but the locals are normal, I suppose.

One thing I will say now is that the total lack of random violence means people can walk around wearing clothes that would result in them getting dog's abuse/the total sh!t kicked out of them in Ireland.

But I think that makes us the weird ones.