[pitt]

They say that you are the product of your environment. The longer you spend time in a specific country and with the people from that specific country, the more you are likely to pick up their habits (be it good or bad).

I really like the country where i am currently staying (DR) and its people, however there are some habits that i just don't want to pick up. A good way to avoid picking up local habits is to avoid mixing with local people for long periods, however my social nature always pushes me to go meet new people. I also believe the whole point of being in a new country is to mix with the local people.

Let me break down some of the habits that i am trying to avoid to pick up:

This past Christmas when i went back to London, i noticed that i was carrying new habits. I went to my local shop and i ignored whoever was on the queue waiting to be served and i asked the shopkeeper what i wanted, the shopkeeper told me: ''hey,there is a queue here, you have to wait''. I quickly remembered that i picked up this habit from DR. In DR, it's not who gets there first, its who asks first and shouts louder that gets served first, i remember when i got here (DR) that shit used to annoy me, funny enough, few months after, i was doing that same shit.

Another habit that i don't want to pick up is that they give a fuck a lot about what other people think of them. I think one of my secrets of becoming truly happy was that i never gave fuck about what people think about me,i always did what i wanted to do, i truly believe that once you stop giving a fuck, you start owing your life and you become freer and happier. Maybe that not giving up mentality was easier to attain because in the UK people are more concerned with their own lives and nobody gives a fuck about nobody. I notice that here everybody wants to know about your life. Hanging out with the locals for a long time will probably make me gain that mindset, but i seriously don't want to be poisoned by that mentality.

I had a similar experience when i was working in Africa, i almost had no contact with the local guys after a while because i didn't want to pick up their habits. However i enjoy more the dominican way of living and i don't mind spending lots of time with them. Talking about this, i need to give them credit for their humbleness. They are probably the most humble people i have ever met. This is something from their culture that i am enjoying picking up.

Any tips on avoiding picking up bad habits from abroad? Any stories on how living abroad has made you change your habits or picking up new culture habits?

[Greek kamaki]

Being now in Germany I noticed how Germans never let the other part take the upper hand without reason.They are also way more direct than Greeks and problem solvers.They also do not give a shit to break their organisational model and help you.
I picked up some bad habits here in Germany and I see myself more looking at end result and not with much desire to bullshit women.I also can see very clearly when slavic women lie to me from German point of view.

[Moma]

Habits I wish to avoid in South Florida:

I find that they are very pretentious in South Florida and unashamedly full of shyt. The level of intelligence takes a serious hit here.

I don't hang with locals too tough because when they want to go into a philosophical debate, it's rubbish.

Habits worth picking up:

Your armour becomes tested here due to the high flake level and you can run through a lot of different approaches here. You can use this skill to develop your hardiness regarding whether you want to pick up jobs, develop business contacts or so forth.

[el mechanico]

One habit I would like to pick up from the DR. The ability to wear out my customers by being so slow and them not caring if I overcharge them as long as they can leave.

[Moma]

(05-24-2013 03:46 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

One habit I would like to pick up from the DR. The ability to wear out my customers by being so slow and them not caring if I overcharge them as long as they can leave.

LOL, is that a good thing?!! How does business move from there?

[el mechanico]

The first time I went to Greece as an adult i was all like..


Smoke, drink coffee and get drunk all day with no regards to work? It's normal?

I held on to some of that.

[FretDancer]

I sure as hell hope I don't start spitting green ones every five minutes like Chinese guys.

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

(05-24-2013 01:11 PM)Moma Wrote:  

Habits I wish to avoid in South Florida:

Add this to the list:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/09/he-j...ut-attack/

Quote:

I sure as hell hope I don't start spitting green ones every five minutes like Chinese guys.

Guys here in Croatia do that all the time, it's really disgusting.

[Cyclone]

Lol, you'd think you'd WANT to pick up local habits from whenever you live abroad. I absorb myself completely in the local culture (at least, after that 1st semester of partying w/ exchange students and getting over that) for better or for worse. Overall it develops you into a better person.

HK for 1 year - made me more materialistic, cared what others think, stayed w/ my own social circle and wouldn't expect to make new friends
Hanoi for 1 year - made me a completely arrogant, aggressive individual (which is a GOOD thing) but it also made me "use" friends/people for things quite blatantly

If you ever go to Vietnam, stick to the south. About to live in Singapore and definitely don't want locals rubbing off on me there
.

[ChrisGambi]

Cyclone - interesting comment re vietnam, why do you recommend the south ?

[lurker]

I stopped carrying cash in my wallet after about a day in SE Asia and haven't since, even in the US. Just a folded wad in my pocket, or often smaller bills in one wad and bigger bills in a separate wad somewhere else. So much easier to deal with.

[Cyclone]

(05-27-2013 01:57 AM)ChrisGambi Wrote:  

Cyclone - interesting comment re vietnam, why do you recommend the south ?

It's all about the people.. even Southern VNese testify to this.. they hate the North. All the Northern people do is use you, then once they're done w/ whatever they want from you they dispose of you. There is rarely authentic friendship. People lie to you constantly and you can see right through them. Even relationships with girls are very mechanical and done only for status purposes - "just to have someone" and pretend to be happy. Hella lame.

Shame for me to say this considering I spent the whole year in a satellite city of Hanoi - so obviously i'm attached to the region.

But, you don't necessarily have to stay in Saigon - there are plenty of other cool cities in the south to set up base in (just look at a population density map) - Cyclone
.

[WanderingSoul]

I say proper. Like "I want a proper turkey sandwich." Never said that before coming to Thailand.

I also sometimes say "slag" and "prozzy" or "prossy", however you spell it.

All British terms maybe?

[DVY]

Heavy paranoia w/shopping and dining- checking, double-checking receipts (i've noticed that i've been "accidentally" overcharged occasionally).

Bargaining fever- I get a bout of this after coming back from Asia (Beijing and Thailand esp)

No regard for lines- This was really bad after I got back from Beijing in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Littering indiscriminately- SEA gives you bad habits, because there are no trashcans anywhere.

Minimal wallet- No bulge, so no target for pickpockets.

Careful judging of streets, streetlights, people and bouncers- Traveling around the world and in semi-shady areas.