Reverse Culture Shock

[Mac98]

2 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

It was for a short time after 9-11 attacks. Airports also. I heard from military guys who were active pilots in various Guard units they were unloaded. Personally I think guns in the US should be mostly nbanned except for hunting rifles and shotguns  but I like the idea of Soldiers and Policemen with automatic weapons patrolling airports.

 

I had a culture shock incident at Suwannaphumi Airport. An old old lady in some kind of African or middle eastern costume was afraid to get on the escalator. Her group had already boarded she was left behind, they were shouting something.  I offered my hand to stabilize her maybe I touched her forearm. She actually struck me. I have done similar before but in her country I probably could have been killed for touching an unrelated woman.

A woman arrived and departed my hotel in full Muslim dress. I later learned she was Iranian on one-week holiday with her brother and government minder as she has an administrative job at a helicopter factory run by the military.

   While there she would wade in the pool in what looked like full undergarments plus two bathing suits. One day she got in over her head and panicked. The two fully dressed men with her just watched helplessly. I dove in and pulled her back to shallow water using a cross-chest carry I learned as a young lad. I half expected the knives to come out. They didn't and the young lady talked with me for hours. The two men just glowered. That's how I got her story. We have been in contact via email for years now. I much later learned that drowning is one of the few times an unrelated man my touch a Muslim woman. You never know.

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, UbonThani said:

Fake ones dont count

You're trying too hard, troll.

[Maybole]

I notice two things whenever I return to Scotland. 

How many grotesquely obese women (especially young ones) there are.

The strength of the winds which drive the cold, horizontal rain.

[RuamRudy]

In the UK, computer games like Candy Crush advertised on TV - it seems that half the adverts on TV now are for intangible things that, when I last lived here, were geeky niche things. 

 

That and unashamedly frank adverts for constipation, diarrhea and even last night, an advert for tampons where the featured women explained that if you can feel it, you haven't pushed it in far enough. 

[Kadilo]

On 5/14/2020 at 7:53 AM, Pilotman said:

I am a Thai based expat and although I know it's on a temporary stay basis, year on year, this is my home, not the UK.  I never felt much of a connection with the UK in past years,  even thought I was in the Military. Thailand has its frustrations, but so does the UK, much more than Thailand in my view.  The UK people are not as friendly, it's a selfish 'me first' society, the infrastructure is old, expensive and unreliable and the weather is truly appalling most of the time.  if it were not for my kids living there, I would be quite happy never to set foot in the country again.  

Ditto, the Country is ok, the people in general are not. 

[tonray]

21 hours ago, bodga said:

Mine  kept  asking  where  all  the  food   was, in  the UK.

You should have bought her some Jamie Oliver videos....ha ha ha

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/15/2020 at 11:48 AM, Lacessit said:

There is pleasant culture shock as well as adverse culture shock.

I was on the Ginza, the red light district of Tokyo, at 2 am. Felt perfectly safe, a Japanese assaulting a foreigner would be a national shaming.

On the other hand, went to a toilet at Osaka railway station, waiting for the shinkazen to Tokyo. Men's toilet, a woman attendant came in and started cleaning the urinal next to me. Maybe she wanted to see how Westerners compared, but my bladder froze up completely.

First time I came to LOS I was taken aback when the female cleaner came into the men's toilet in the airport while men were using the urinals. All part of the wonderful world of LOS.

Never got used to toilet attendants in gogos trying to give me a neck massage while doing the biz though.

[brianthainess]

On 5/15/2020 at 6:55 AM, NE1 said:

The thing I can never understand , though guilty of it myself when younger , walking into peoples houses with shoes on .

When I see it on a movie it looks terrible , bringing in the street dirt to somebody's house. 

Being brought up in England, my Father (a Londoner) would never allow us in the house with shoes on, his theory was " it wears the carpet out" 

[brianthainess]

On 5/15/2020 at 7:56 AM, tonray said:

I guess you've never used the restroom in a mall in Thailand ? or Malaysia ?

I have never seen a male cleaner in a Thai toilet ever.

[dukeandduke]

53 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

First time I came to LOS I was taken aback when the female cleaner came into the men's toilet in the airport while men were using the urinals. All part of the wonderful world of LOS.

Never got used to toilet attendants in gogos trying to give me a neck massage while doing the biz though.

The women shocked me, too, but I can live with them there. Those guys, though...they do that in some nightclubs, too. However, they learn quickly that they don't with me.

[Lacessit]

9 hours ago, Maybole said:

I notice two things whenever I return to Scotland. 

How many grotesquely obese women (especially young ones) there are.

The strength of the winds which drive the cold, horizontal rain.

I played in the Scottish Senior Amateur Championship back in 2003. First two days, beautiful weather. Didn't make the cut, caddied for one of my fellow Australians that did. Wind and driving horizontal rain. We both had waterproofs from Australia, both soaked to the skin after four holes.

I remember it was a pretty strong field, and only one player on that final day broke 90 to win.

[brianthainess]

Haven't been back for years but in OZ and UK i would not dare to say hi or even make eye contact with kids playing in the street, their paranoia about pedos is beyond belief, Here kids say hello to me, local kids wia me. No i'm no pedo or would in anyway codon it, even worked in OZ schools with police clearance. I am just trying to point out the culture difference.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

Haven't been back for years but in OZ and UK i would not dare to say hi or even make eye contact with kids playing in the street, their paranoia about pedos is beyond belief, Here kids say hello to me, local kids wia me. No i'm no pedo or would in anyway codon it, even worked in OZ schools with police clearance. I am just trying to point out the culture difference.

I went to Scotland in 2016 with my daughter, who was 13 at the time. At one hotel in Oban, we decided to eat dinner in the bar, after a trip to see my ancestral home in Mull.

A Glaswegian drunken woman started talking to us and when she found out we were from Thailand, she accused me of being a pedo and told my daughter, who was totally shocked by the happenings, to go away with her! I've never hit a woman in my life but this situation was very close. The two men with her restrained her. If she hadn't been drunk, I don't know what I would have done. I was shocked by the whole thing and had forgotten what some drunks are like in Scotland.

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I played in the Scottish Senior Amateur Championship back in 2003. First two days, beautiful weather. Didn't make the cut, caddied for one of my fellow Australians that did. Wind and driving horizontal rain. We both had waterproofs from Australia, both soaked to the skin after four holes.

I remember it was a pretty strong field, and only one player on that final day broke 90 to win.

it never rains on the golf course!

[gamini]

I used to go abroad quite regularly and always suffered from reverse culture shock. So much so that I haven't left Thailand for the last 12 years. Last time I went to the UK I got lost in London and couldn't find anybody who spoke English for quite a while. I found British food rather bland and ate some good Indian food but the two times I did so I got a bad stomach the restaurant didn't look very clean. I went to the doctor and he wanted me to see stomach specialist but I couldn't get an appointment for two weeks.  I tried to buy some medicine from the chemist but was told I had to get a doctors prescription. It was available everywhere in Thailand.
I didn't good service anywhere, the checkout girls in the supermarket didn't even look up and smile. I rented a car and when I went to fill it up at a gas station there was no one there I didn't know how to work the self-service metres and had to call out someone from the office to help me. Another time I visited my brother in the London clinic, reputedly England's finest and famous hospital. It wasn't a patch on Bumrungrad and four times the price. My brother complained about the poor service of the nurses.

And as usual the weather was atrocious. After living 15 years in Thailand we emigrated to Australia. The people were very friendly but my car was broken into three times, my house twice and my wife's trolley full of food and items were stolen at Woolworths. I leased a house and a small boat on the beach. I left the boat anchored in the water as I usually did in Thailand and a lot of people came and warned me not to do so because it would be stolen. Food was very bland and not very tasty. We started missing Thailand and came back here for good. The thing I love about this country is the friendly people, their smiles and  always very helpful and we have a lot of Thai friends. The only problem is the government and the officials that run the country. They all think they're gods!

 

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Haven't been back for years but in OZ and UK i would not dare to say hi or even make eye contact with kids playing in the street, their paranoia about pedos is beyond belief, Here kids say hello to me, local kids wia me. No i'm no pedo or would in anyway codon it, even worked in OZ schools with police clearance. I am just trying to point out the culture difference.

The UK has gone barking. If a large child attacks someone and one goes to help the victim one is likely to be arrested for some make believe crime against a child. I never complimented any woman or was in a room with one and the door closed for fear I'd be accused of something nasty. I was once verbally attacked by a female for merely looking at a brochure for women's swim suits in the work tea room.

It's no wonder British men look for a wife in LOS rather than at home.

[Cryingdick]

On 5/14/2020 at 12:48 AM, cmarshall said:

In the last ten years during my occasional visits back to the US I have been shocked by how much physical fear Americans feel.  Train stations didn't used to have constant messages on the loudspeaker to be on the alert for danger of various kinds.  Nor were national guardsnmen in camos with rifles a common sight.  

 

I found the fake American warmth required in some social situations to be quite offensive, such as a waiter introducing himself by name and gushing with forced friendliness.  I never liked that behavior, but I am now no longer acclimatized to it.

 

The risk for long-term expats is that eventually we feel homeless wherever we are.  

 

Let me guess you prefer the Thai smiles? 555

[Cryingdick]

On 5/14/2020 at 2:55 AM, Captain Monday said:

People in America expect small talk other they think you are rude. One teenager at a fast food restaurant actually called me on it. Reverse Culture shock, very unusual in Asian countries to discuss the weather or ask 7-11 staff "How are you"?

 

Then the kid did not charge me for the guac I ordered on my burrito. 5 minutes later one of his weed-stinking skatepunk Bros came in and the same kid gave the dude free food. Saw the bag handed over no money exchanged. That what I call sticking it to the man!

 

In Thailand the small talk is questions about how much money you make.

[Cryingdick]

On 5/14/2020 at 7:40 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

I think it's enough to observe many western tourists here (not so many at the moment). Strange creatures with strange behavior. And obviously they think they know everything because they saw some YouTube video or they follow some Instagram-idiot.

There are of course a few exceptions - a few.

 

As opposed to the genuine expat who sits around judging what tourists do and truly does know everything.

When I know somebody like you is watching I will wai when it is inappropriate. "Did you say that idiotic tourist? He just gave a way to the 711 cashier and some kids and a bar girl."

 

I even make sure my wai is more formal than it should be. Because it takes years and years of living in Thailand to be tuned into Thai culture.

[OneMoreFarang]

7 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

As opposed to the genuine expat who sits around judging what tourists do and truly does know everything.

When I know somebody like you is watching I will wai when it is inappropriate. "Did you say that idiotic tourist? He just gave a way to the 711 cashier and some kids and a bar girl."

 

I even make sure my wai is more formal than it should be. Because it takes years and years of living in Thailand to be tuned into Thai culture.

How would you recognize someone like me?

The way you write here there is no need for to you change your behavior deliberately.

I guess MAGA and all that must be hard. Take care.

[Cryingdick]

18 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How would you recognize someone like me?

The way you write here there is no need for to you change your behavior deliberately.

I guess MAGA and all that must be hard. Take care.

 

They are all like you. Except for me. I was also just joking because you came off as a bit of a dick. Now that has been confirmed. Lighten up Francis. I don't really wai formally to hookers. Get your sarcasm meter fixed. 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Cryingdick

[OneMoreFarang]

4 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

They are all like you. Except for me. I was also just joking because you came off as a bit of a dick. Now that has been confirmed. Lighten up Francis. I don't really wai formally to hookers. Get your sarcasm meter fixed. 

Francis?

Sorry, I have difficulties with American sarcasm. Injecting bleach and all that.

[Captain Monday]

10 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

In Thailand the small talk is questions about how much money you make.

"Not much", "I work with computers". 

[Captain Monday]

23 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I went to Scotland in 2016 with my daughter, who was 13 at the time. At one hotel in Oban, we decided to eat dinner in the bar, after a trip to see my ancestral home in Mull.

A Glaswegian drunken woman started talking to us and when she found out we were from Thailand, she accused me of being a pedo and told my daughter, who was totally shocked by the happenings, to go away with her! I've never hit a woman in my life but this situation was very close. The two men with her restrained her. If she hadn't been drunk, I don't know what I would have done. I was shocked by the whole thing and had forgotten what some drunks are like in Scotland.

I heard a story long time ago in Samui or Phuket that a western tourist hag tried to "rescue" a farang's own daughter from him in a restaurant!

[UbonThani]

39 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

I heard a story long time ago in Samui or Phuket that a western tourist hag tried to "rescue" a farang's own daughter from him in a restaurant!

Western hags

Yes millions of them

[Oztruckie]

On 5/15/2020 at 5:42 AM, Lacessit said:

I get that too. My response is to stare back with a big smile on my face.

Reverse culture shock was when I took my Thai GF to outback Australia, western New South Wales. I wanted her to see the real Australia. Drove from Cobar to Broken Hill, she kept asking where all the villages and houses were.

No doubt she was happy to see all the jing joes out there lol,there aint too much else to see out that way.

[UbonThani]

7 minutes ago, Oztruckie said:

No doubt she was happy to see all the jing joes out there lol,there aint too much else to see out that way.

Nothing but dirt. Waste of a trip. Do a trip around Tasi or SA vineyards.

[simon43]

I was once verbally attacked by a female for merely looking at a brochure for women's swim suits in the work tea room.

 

Terrible!  You should have told your wife not to get so jealous... ????

[Neeranam]

3 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

I heard a story long time ago in Samui or Phuket that a western tourist hag tried to "rescue" a farang's own daughter from him in a restaurant!

Wow, I believe it if she was Thai looking. 

[Neeranam]

19 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I was once verbally attacked by a female for merely looking at a brochure for women's swim suits in the work tea room.

I was once caught by my mother looking at the bra section of a Kaye's  catalogue  

 

This wasn't on a return trip from Thailand.