"I feel like 100 bucks!" In the USA, staring is something of a taboo. Take for instance a mother talking to her child in grocery store, "don't stare, it's not nice." The child has no idea that it is "wrong" to stare at someone, most the time (as of late) I would chalk a child's stare up to curiosity. But you think nothing of staring, until you get stared at by a multitude of people. Here in Brasil everyone from the program has been stared at in some fashion or not. Whether it be clothes we are wearing, our physical appearance or any number of other things, be stared at is something of normalcy for us here in Brasil.
At first, the staring really got to me.
But, now that I've been here for a while, I think of the idea of the child scenario from above. People are just curious, and in the end they aren't doing anything harmful by staring. It has also made me think of myself, and how much I probably stare at people in the States. Of course, when you see something that seems out-of-place to you, you can't help but stare.
It's also fun to think of narratives for the people staring at us.
For instance, every time somewhere starts staring at me or the group I'm with I make up a story in my head. "They are probably staring at us because we are the famous band 'YOLO' from Canada, on tour for two months." These self-helping narratives help get me through some days where the staring gets to me. There's also the fact that at times people aren't staring at me, but are staring at others from the group. This almost upsets me more than when people stare at me. I get defensive, in my mind of course, because I think "what if I was staring at you, just for the way you looked? Would you like it?"
Of course they wouldn't.
It is getting better though (as fun. says).
Smiling doesn't work, most of the time. Anytime someone does stare at me (and makes eye contact), I try to smile. At the university, most everyone smiles back. While not being at the university, the smile tactic does not work all the time. Which begs for the question, is it a cultural difference, or not?
To tie in the "I feel like 100 bucks!" quote from above, this is my new outlook on staring. Every time someone stares at me, or anyone else in the group, I'm just going to assume we all look like 100 dollar bills, and that everyone wants us; hence the staring.
Remember, this is not to be bitter; very much so a learning experience just living in a different part of the world. Which, in the end, is ultimately better for a person like. It helps me become more conscientious about those around me, which, in my opinion, people from the USA are not...
...at all.
-a hero within
At first, the staring really got to me.
But, now that I've been here for a while, I think of the idea of the child scenario from above. People are just curious, and in the end they aren't doing anything harmful by staring. It has also made me think of myself, and how much I probably stare at people in the States. Of course, when you see something that seems out-of-place to you, you can't help but stare.
It's also fun to think of narratives for the people staring at us.
For instance, every time somewhere starts staring at me or the group I'm with I make up a story in my head. "They are probably staring at us because we are the famous band 'YOLO' from Canada, on tour for two months." These self-helping narratives help get me through some days where the staring gets to me. There's also the fact that at times people aren't staring at me, but are staring at others from the group. This almost upsets me more than when people stare at me. I get defensive, in my mind of course, because I think "what if I was staring at you, just for the way you looked? Would you like it?"
Of course they wouldn't.
It is getting better though (as fun. says).
Smiling doesn't work, most of the time. Anytime someone does stare at me (and makes eye contact), I try to smile. At the university, most everyone smiles back. While not being at the university, the smile tactic does not work all the time. Which begs for the question, is it a cultural difference, or not?
To tie in the "I feel like 100 bucks!" quote from above, this is my new outlook on staring. Every time someone stares at me, or anyone else in the group, I'm just going to assume we all look like 100 dollar bills, and that everyone wants us; hence the staring.
Remember, this is not to be bitter; very much so a learning experience just living in a different part of the world. Which, in the end, is ultimately better for a person like. It helps me become more conscientious about those around me, which, in my opinion, people from the USA are not...
...at all.
-a hero within
No comments:
Post a Comment