US vs. Middle East

Today I would like to focus on the blog that I have been reading for quite some time now. It’s about the American girl, Ruth, who is living and studying in Syria. First she spent four months in Amman, Jordan before moving on to Aleppo, Syria. In both places she stayed with a native host family in order to get the full cultural experience. Her blog is awesome, I really do love it! She describes her experiences so accurately and she writes with so much devotion about her life in Syria that it really makes me want to go there myself. If you’re not interested in the Middle East it might not be the right blog for you, but to anyone else, and not only those studying Arabic, I can only recommend this blog.

Unlike other expats, Ruth writes in a very positive way about her new home and you can tell that she is really fond of Syria and especially the people living there who seem to filled with great hospitality and kindness. Of course she also points out what goes wrong in this country and that there are things she can’t get used to and things she can’t accept or put up with. But she is not like many other expats who are quite intolerant and criticise certain customs or habits only because they are ‘different’. Some expats compare the two countries and when they come across any differences they usually prefer or even only accept the way it is handled in their home country. I know of experience that it takes some time to tolerate certain cultural difference and not to consider them as better or worse but simply as different, and also to actually understand why they are different. But I have the feeling that some people never get this far…

Reading Ruth’s blog you can learn a LOT about Arabic culture, customs, traditions, people etc. If you want to get a taste of her blog and a little insight into Syrian culture check out these entries:

Welcome to Syria (Ruth gives tips and advice for anyone who wants to visit Syria)

Orientation (at the beginning of her stay, Ruth is told about culture shock, security and everyday living)

Bus (we are told how to behave on the bus)

About the boys…and more I suppose (Ruth describes what it’s like to be a foreigner in Jordan and how to deal with Arabic men)

(mis)perceptions (Ruth talks about American and Arabic views, misperceptions and prejudices)

At first glance (we hear about the habit of male Arabs holding hands)

More writing (Ruth lets us know what it’s like to get back home)

Ruth’s year has just come to end and she’s gone back to the States. I’m not sure whether she’ll continue her blog, but I do hope that she’s going to write something on culture shock or how she feels having just returned to a completely different world.

UK vs. US

This weekend I spent quite some time checking out various expat blogs, particularly looking for someone who has moved to an English-speaking country. Actually, there are not a lot of good blogs out there, but I found one that might be worth mentioning. It is called ‘An American woman in London’ and as you can tell from the title, the writer is an American woman who moved to London. She grew up in Southern California (I guess it’s L.A.) and got a job offer when she was 20 which made her move to England. The blogger, unfortunately she doesn’t reveal her name, and her husband (I suppose he is also American) have already been living in London for three years now.

Not all of her entries are that interesting to me (she’s very much into theater..) and she also doesn’t write very frequently, maybe two or three entries a month. But the reason why I still want to present her blog is that she’s got one category, namely US vs. UK, which I thought worth reading. In these entries she compares different aspects of British life with the American way of life. She also writes about the language and provides the reader with a glossary of ‘BritSpeak’. Here are some of the funniest or most interesting excerpts of this entry:

Brit to US:

Take Away = To Go

When you order your food, you'll be asked if you want "take away." Some London Starbucks baristas will ask if you want your coffee to go, but then the Starbucks chain prides itself on worldwide consistency. Don't even start to confuse your food server by asking for "carry out."

Fairy lights = Christmas lights

Fairy cakes = cupcakes

The British seem very fond of fairies with gossamer wings and flower wands. Whereas little American girls dress up as princesses (usually of the Disney variety), here fairy costumes seem more prevalent. Unfortunately, I can't see these names ever catching on in the US...

knackered = tired

minibreak = weekend holiday or long weekend

dangling bits = male "private parts"

bank holiday = national holiday

The British seem to have a lot of different terms for clothes and food. To name just a few:

pants = underwear (pants is also another way to say crappy - "It's pants.")
cossie (short for costume) = outfit
Vest = tank top
polo neck = turtleneck

salad (on a sandwich) = lettuce, tomato and cucumber

granary loaf = whole wheat bread

tuna mayonnaise = tuna salad

They also prefer the French words aubergine and courgette to eggplant and zucchini.

Another very interesting entry of hers was called ‘You know you’ve been out of the US too long when…’
In this entry she writes about her visit to US where she realized that she had become British in some ways. She points out the main cultural differences between US and UK. These are only a few of them:

You know you’ve been out of the States far too long when…

… you automatically eat with a fork in your left hand and a knife in your right, and you never put down either utensil.

… cold beer - that's just WRONG.

…you don't even realize you just asked "Where's the loo?" until your parents give you a strange look.

… you giggle at how cheap petrol- I mean, gas, is.

… you grumble at having to tip.

… you constantly come up short at the cash register, because you forget sales tax isn't already included in the price.

One of the main cultural differences she points out is that in Britain “you don’t speak unless spoken to” whereas in the States it’s perfectly fine to talk to strangers and even start a conversation with someone sitting next to you on the bus. The blogger mentions one particular incidence in the US: She was shopping at Macy’s when a random woman came up to her holding up a blouse and saying “This would be cute on you”. Never ever would a thing like that happen in Britain and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t anywhere in Europe, let alone Austria.

expat-blog

In case you are looking for expat blogs: go to www.expat-blog.com.

It's a great web site that links you to various blogs written by expats from all over the world. It has a 'worldwide expatriate blog directory' where you'll find blogs from people living in all sorts of countries, including Haiti, Rwanda and Fiji. Almost every country is represented, so you can pick just whichever tickles your fancy. You'll also find blogs about people living in Austria (including Pam Mandel by the way). I've just started browsing through this web site and I can only say: there are lots and lots and lots of blogs to explore!!

Life in the Middle East

A couple of weeks ago I started reading an interesting blog about a twenty year old American girl living and studying in the Middle East. First she stayed in Jordan for four months and now, since January 07, she's been living in Aleppo, Syria. Ruth, that's her name, keeps writing regularly about her experiences living in a Syrian hostfamily and studying Arabic at university. I can only recommend her blog, as she gives you a very good insight into Syrian culture and what it's like being a foreigner (especially an American) in the Middle East.

Her blog: http://inthemiddleoftheeast.blogspot.com/