This is a topic I think is really interesting, because its just cool to see how the world works. I've been talking about this with my friends and roommates so I thought it might make an interesting post as well. One of the many things I've noticed while I'm here is that different cultures go about things differently.
Well duh, Paige, of course they do. What I mean is that we have different mannerisms and my American mannerisms don't always match European's. Now each European country is different, of course, but in general I've seen a few main things. The biggest point is that Europeans prefer to get right to the point. They prefer to be up front and slightly more blunt, not in a bad way of course, I'll explain.
I never really noticed it before, but since coming here I've noticed that Americans like to work around things. For example, when my roommate offers me something I don't like, I don't say I don't like it. Instead I say something like "I don't care for it" or "it's not my favorite". That's my way of saying no, trying to say it gently and politely. But it tends to drive people crazy here, they would rather just hear no than listening to you beat around the bush. And when nature calls, Americans will say "I need to use the restroom" or "I need to go to the bathroom". This way we stay light, don't tell you what's going on, its our way. Here, you'll often here "I need to use the toilet" now that's not considered rude in the U.S. but it would shock someone if you said it to them. To an American, toilet is just associated with all the mess that takes place there, so we just prefer to clean it up with a nicer word. It's beating around the bush again, but 'restroom' just sounds more glamorous than 'toilet'...But it's not like restrooms are meant for glamorous things anyways. I remember asking my mom when I was younger why it was called a 'restroom' because it's not like you're actually resting in there. But with this idea that we like to keep things clean and pristine, I think I understand.
One more observation I've seen along these lines is fashion. When you walk into stores here in Luxembourg, and I'm sure around Europe as trends seem to travel, you'll find a lot of clothes that say "I don't care" or "F*ck Off". For me that was super shocking! You would rarely see someone in the U.S. walking around wearing this stuff because I think the majority of us try to avoid offending others. I'm not sure if this counts as being straight forward, or maybe it's just the thrill of young people wearing edgy English clothes, but this isn't really a style I could see myself getting into any time soon.
Americans also seem to have a code of social cues that hasn't yet made it to Europe. For example, Americans really don't like to tell people no, instead we will come up with some kind of hint to let you down gently. Like if someone asks to attend a party they know you will be at, an American might say something to the effect of "it's just a small get together". That means, it's just my friends and I getting together, I'm sorry you're not invited. But we are so used to these cues that we have learned to decode each other all the time. One topic I talked about with Rita (aka An American in Bonn (http://brenemaninbonn.blogspot.de/) check her out!) is that the dating world in the U.S. is very casual. Before you are officially dating it can be a bit confusing because we don't come outright and say it. We will offer to hang out, or say something about a party on the weekend, but we won't really come out and tell you "hey, let's go on a date".
Thinking of this topic just seems really funny to me, it seems that Americans love to make things complicated to avoid hurting feelings or avoid going to far whereas Europeans like to keep things simple and clear. Cheers!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
#11: Paige in Istanbul
Hey, guys! It's been a while! Well, those of you who are friends with me on Facebook may know that I spent the last week in Istanbul. & although this blog is dedicated to my adventures here in Luxembourg, I'll make an exception here because I have a few fun stories (and it's my blog..I suppose I don't really need permission.)
So I left on Sunday the 13th to spend my Easter holiday in Istanbul. I was picked up at my apartment at 4 am by a Night Rider bus, taken to the airport, and then I proceeded to fall asleep waiting for my plane. I then flew to Munich, and a few hours later I was taking off for Istanbul.
If I thought Luxembourg was different from home, this place was a totally different world. For starters, Istanbul is about the size of 5 cities jammed together, there are people everywhere! It was absolutely packed, and to say I stood out in the crowd was an understatement. I was lucky enough to have a best friend who is Turkish, and she met me at the crowded airport. She then proceeded to laugh as everyone turned to stare at the red head on the public transport.
That alone is one aspect that is so different from back home. In the U.S. the guys at least try to hide that they are starring at you. Here, nope they stare freely until you make it known that they need to leave you alone. Needless to say, I got a lot of attention where ever I went, which gave my Turkish friend multiple heart attacks. "You're bringing too much attention to yourself!" seemed to become her catch phrase of the week. I just looked so foreign, and it doesn't exactly help that I have a booming laugh. But, when you don't speak the language, it makes the comments people make really easy to ignore, so at least I had that going for me.
Don't let that scare you too much, the city was absolutely stunning! I got to see so many beautiful places, walked along the shoreline, toured mosques (and heard the calls the prayer, so cool), saw dolphins, got stuffed with delicious food, met new people, and spent time with 2 of my closest friends. I also went to a Galatasaray football (soccer) match. The game was only open for women and children due to a penalty, and it was a free game...so to say it was insanity would be an understatement. My group of friends formed a chain by linking hands, and ran through the subways, pushed through mobs of people, and after what felt like forever of being mashed and pushed into people, we finally got in. The team ended up losing, but it was one of the craziest experiences ever that I hope I'll never forget.
Going back to the food, I was absolutely spoiled by my Turkish second mom, she's an excellent cook and was always filling up plates with food. If I didn't gain 5 lbs this week, I'll be absolutely amazed. In general, I had an amazing trip and I would love to go back as soon as possible to visit. I am now back at my apartment in Luxembourg, and I feel like I could sleep for days!...But it was the best vacation I've ever taken.
To anyone thinking about going to Istanbul: I had a fantastic trip, but I will admit that it's not the safest place to wander around alone. I was lucky enough to know a local, so I was safe. But if you are thinking about going to Istanbul, go in groups. I'm all about being a strong, independent woman, but take my word when I say having a guy with you, or at least someone who knows the area, will really help. I loved the city, but we still have to be safe!
So I left on Sunday the 13th to spend my Easter holiday in Istanbul. I was picked up at my apartment at 4 am by a Night Rider bus, taken to the airport, and then I proceeded to fall asleep waiting for my plane. I then flew to Munich, and a few hours later I was taking off for Istanbul.
If I thought Luxembourg was different from home, this place was a totally different world. For starters, Istanbul is about the size of 5 cities jammed together, there are people everywhere! It was absolutely packed, and to say I stood out in the crowd was an understatement. I was lucky enough to have a best friend who is Turkish, and she met me at the crowded airport. She then proceeded to laugh as everyone turned to stare at the red head on the public transport.
That alone is one aspect that is so different from back home. In the U.S. the guys at least try to hide that they are starring at you. Here, nope they stare freely until you make it known that they need to leave you alone. Needless to say, I got a lot of attention where ever I went, which gave my Turkish friend multiple heart attacks. "You're bringing too much attention to yourself!" seemed to become her catch phrase of the week. I just looked so foreign, and it doesn't exactly help that I have a booming laugh. But, when you don't speak the language, it makes the comments people make really easy to ignore, so at least I had that going for me.
Don't let that scare you too much, the city was absolutely stunning! I got to see so many beautiful places, walked along the shoreline, toured mosques (and heard the calls the prayer, so cool), saw dolphins, got stuffed with delicious food, met new people, and spent time with 2 of my closest friends. I also went to a Galatasaray football (soccer) match. The game was only open for women and children due to a penalty, and it was a free game...so to say it was insanity would be an understatement. My group of friends formed a chain by linking hands, and ran through the subways, pushed through mobs of people, and after what felt like forever of being mashed and pushed into people, we finally got in. The team ended up losing, but it was one of the craziest experiences ever that I hope I'll never forget.
Going back to the food, I was absolutely spoiled by my Turkish second mom, she's an excellent cook and was always filling up plates with food. If I didn't gain 5 lbs this week, I'll be absolutely amazed. In general, I had an amazing trip and I would love to go back as soon as possible to visit. I am now back at my apartment in Luxembourg, and I feel like I could sleep for days!...But it was the best vacation I've ever taken.
To anyone thinking about going to Istanbul: I had a fantastic trip, but I will admit that it's not the safest place to wander around alone. I was lucky enough to know a local, so I was safe. But if you are thinking about going to Istanbul, go in groups. I'm all about being a strong, independent woman, but take my word when I say having a guy with you, or at least someone who knows the area, will really help. I loved the city, but we still have to be safe!
Saturday, April 5, 2014
#10: Hiking to my death
My roommates have been talking about wanting to go hiking for a while now, and yesterday we decided to execute that plan. They planned a day trip to this place called Little Switzerland which is near a town called Echternach in Luxembourg. We left in the late morning, bought some food, and headed out. When we got to the starting point, the map we looked at estimated about a 5 hour hike on the trail they had picked. The trail was also described as "heavy". Now, for any inexperienced hikers like myself...this is an awful combination, but you will make it through.
See that dark red/brown route? That's the path we took. It's crazy long, right? What was I thinking when I said yes to this...
The route we start was estimated to be about 20 km. That's really really long for all my American readers...anyways we started our hike into Little Switzerland. It was absolutely beautiful! Everything was so green and there was limestone everywhere. There were little caves we could walk through, and we even found little caves in cracks in the limestone and had some fun exploring them. At one point we even found a staircase in a crack in the limestone, it started as stairs and eventually turned into climbing a ladder at a near 90 degree angle . It was the craziest thing ever, but so much fun!
The first section of the hike was the most beautiful, the next section was the most difficult. Hiking in Europe involves a lot of stairs and going up and up until you think you can't possibly go any higher, then surprise surprise there are more stairs to climb. Eventually we even crossed the border of Luxembourg and were hiking through Germany for a few hours...that part was the most difficult. Me being totally out of shape required many pit stops while my roommates tried their best to cheer me on, and my legs tried their hardest to convince me that falling over was the best option. But it was too late, going back would have taken just as long as finishing.
After much huffing and puffing, sweating, and swearing that I was dying, we made it to the end of the most difficult section. That's right, we're only about halfway done at this point! We must carry on. We kept moving and ended up walking on flat paths for a while which was so great because I had a chance to breath again. Germany's forests reminded me a lot of Wisconsin, plus it was so quiet. It was a nice escape from the city life.
Eventually we got back to lime stone and it was nice because I was roasting at this point and the rocks were like an all natural air conditioning. Besides that fact that they were so beautiful. Everything on the trail was so beautiful to be exact. After a few hours we crossed the border back into Luxembourg. It was like the trail-makers didn't want us to think that Germany was the most difficult part, because guess what, STAIRS! Stairs, stairs, stairs, every step I take feels like fire, stairs...At this point my roommates started lying to me about how much longer we had to walk, it went from 4 km to 8 more km. Don't worry we're almost there, oh well actually we still have a few hours of walking to do...When we finally made it back to the car, my body couldn't have been happier to sit..because I hadn't allowed myself to sit the whole hike for fear that I wouldn't get back up...
We then went driving around and visited a few castles, they were closed so we only got to see the outsides of them, but they were still lovely and were nice little warm-downs from the hiking intensive day...I'm writing this the morning after and my hips hurt so much...not my muscles, but my joints...I feel like an old person. Everything hurts and I'm dying...And we're planning another trip today...wish me luck...
It was so beautiful though that I made a little video montage of the day. Feel free to watch it and enjoy the hike from the comfort of your home, or chair, or anything that doesn't involve 5 hours of hiking!
http://youtu.be/H_XStFhpW8o
The route we start was estimated to be about 20 km. That's really really long for all my American readers...anyways we started our hike into Little Switzerland. It was absolutely beautiful! Everything was so green and there was limestone everywhere. There were little caves we could walk through, and we even found little caves in cracks in the limestone and had some fun exploring them. At one point we even found a staircase in a crack in the limestone, it started as stairs and eventually turned into climbing a ladder at a near 90 degree angle . It was the craziest thing ever, but so much fun!
The first section of the hike was the most beautiful, the next section was the most difficult. Hiking in Europe involves a lot of stairs and going up and up until you think you can't possibly go any higher, then surprise surprise there are more stairs to climb. Eventually we even crossed the border of Luxembourg and were hiking through Germany for a few hours...that part was the most difficult. Me being totally out of shape required many pit stops while my roommates tried their best to cheer me on, and my legs tried their hardest to convince me that falling over was the best option. But it was too late, going back would have taken just as long as finishing.
After much huffing and puffing, sweating, and swearing that I was dying, we made it to the end of the most difficult section. That's right, we're only about halfway done at this point! We must carry on. We kept moving and ended up walking on flat paths for a while which was so great because I had a chance to breath again. Germany's forests reminded me a lot of Wisconsin, plus it was so quiet. It was a nice escape from the city life.
Eventually we got back to lime stone and it was nice because I was roasting at this point and the rocks were like an all natural air conditioning. Besides that fact that they were so beautiful. Everything on the trail was so beautiful to be exact. After a few hours we crossed the border back into Luxembourg. It was like the trail-makers didn't want us to think that Germany was the most difficult part, because guess what, STAIRS! Stairs, stairs, stairs, every step I take feels like fire, stairs...At this point my roommates started lying to me about how much longer we had to walk, it went from 4 km to 8 more km. Don't worry we're almost there, oh well actually we still have a few hours of walking to do...When we finally made it back to the car, my body couldn't have been happier to sit..because I hadn't allowed myself to sit the whole hike for fear that I wouldn't get back up...
We then went driving around and visited a few castles, they were closed so we only got to see the outsides of them, but they were still lovely and were nice little warm-downs from the hiking intensive day...I'm writing this the morning after and my hips hurt so much...not my muscles, but my joints...I feel like an old person. Everything hurts and I'm dying...And we're planning another trip today...wish me luck...
It was so beautiful though that I made a little video montage of the day. Feel free to watch it and enjoy the hike from the comfort of your home, or chair, or anything that doesn't involve 5 hours of hiking!
http://youtu.be/H_XStFhpW8o
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)