Preparing For the Culture Shock

[syncategorematic]

The EASTERN vs. the WESTERN
The following represents a suggested list of attitudes and value differences between the East and the West. It has been provided by Tran Binh Trong, Richmond, VA.

EASTERN	WESTERN
We live in time	We live in space
We're always at rest	We're always on the move
We're passive	We're aggressive
We like to contemplate	We like to act
We accept the world as it is	We try to change it according to your blueprint
We live in peace with nature; religion is our first love	We try to impose our will on her; science is our passion
We delight to think about the meaning of life	We delight to think about the physics of life
We believe in the freedom of silence	We believe in the freedom of speech
We lapse into meditation	We strive for articulation
We marry first, THEN we love	We love first, THEN marry
Our marriage is the BEGINNING of a love affair; it is an indissoluble bond	Our marriage is the happy END of a romance; it is a contract
Our love is mute	Our love is vocal
We try to conceal our love from the world	We delight in showing it to others
Self-abegnation is the secret of survival	Self-assertiveness is the key of our success
We're taught from the cradle to want less and less	We are urged every day to want more and more
The love of life is our ideal	Conquest is our goal
We glorify austerity and renunciation	We emphasize gracious living and enjoyment
Poverty is to us a badge of elevation	Poverty is to us a sign of degradation
In the sunset years of life, we renounce the world and prepare ourselves for the hereafter	We retire to enjoy the fruits of our labor

We read this poem of sorts in TESOL Course; it sounds cool in alternating voices. However, I wonder how much of it is P vs. J functions, more than Eastern vs. Western cultures per se; more cultural pressures as to which ones they value.

Notes on TESOL course Day 1:

1) I am as usual a hyper-avid pain in the butt (I try, but seriously, you pose a quiz of sorts on the origins of words borrowed into English, to a quiz player, who loves historical linguistics more than the light of day --- what do you expect?!!) Somehow, I appear to have made no enemies yet, and some people seem to like me. Strange, strange, very strange.

2) The darned truest thing Castaneda wrote was about those four enemies in a sorcerer's path, fear, clarity, power and old age. I think I have conquered fear; I am now facing the enemy clarity.

3) Others seem to have pull factors to take up TESOL; looking at myself, I have way more, and truer, push factors. They are harder to justify; some of them I am not going to justify vocally or in writing to anyone at this time. "Mother dear, stop crying there, as for me, I really do not care where, where will they send me." Just get me out of Canada, please, with one ocean or another between me and what I am leaving behind.

4) The idea of the lessons, though, makes my rational abstract love miss theoretical linguistics discussions with an aching longing unto actual knotting up in my throat. Oh, how will I miss linguistics and math. I resolve that I have to take with me Nicholson's Abstract Algebra; used it for three courses, and my brother did for another three; both the most useful textbook I've ever purchased in my undergrad career, and very likely the best. I shall need to have it in the evenings, to give the part of my brain longing for abstract systems comfort and succour, or else I shall go insane. By the standards of the majority, that thought will already be considered insane, but I am only amused by this.

5) Example of what they didn't name but I know as Engrish: "On the door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it."

Damn straight. Damn straight.

6) When I came out, I found my bike's front brake system was jammed by the bike rack; the front wheel does not move. I contemplated lugging the bike home at ten-thirty at night, then spat, and chained it back up again, vowing to hike out here in the morning with a monkey wrench, screwdriver, and pair of rubber gloves, and disassemble the brake system completely if necessary (I've done it before, if on a different bike.) One thing I am certain of, for one bike in my life, one night in my life: No one will steal it. The gods have mercy on the person who tries, for the almighty force of friction won't.

There's more, but, bright ladies, I was awake at 5:30 AM today after patchy sleep most of the night, and it is now 11:45 PM. I have spent longer periods without sleep, but only involving transatlantic flights or really weird Polish cocoa. Good night to all and I wish you joy.