magical romance depends on different cultures.

[zac]

Since the internet widely used, any people around the world can access to the internet, and we have the opportunities to communicate with different people such as western people and eastern people, so they may produce lots of magical romance stories according to their own cultures, thereofore, some others may not understand the different romance, or that could be a misunderstanding of that romance, all in all, cultural diversity is the clue.

 

Does anyone have suffered this kinds of cultural shock? Let's talk about it.

[the_tiger_striped_cat]

Two words: arranged marriages

[atigdng]

Well my girlfriend is Chinese and I am American and she doesn't speak a bit of english so yah it is hard. but I wouldn't have it any other way.

[idontgetit]

my ex is from a pseudo arab culture and i'm "western" talk about culture shock... but i think romance is romance. the same things make us smile, the same things make us cry.. now adapting culturally is a different matter... families, expectations, manner of communication...that's where it gets tricky.

[mahlina]

Thought provoking question.

they may produce lots of magical romance stories according to their own cultures, thereofore, some others may not understand the different romance, or that could be a misunderstanding of that romance, all in all, cultural diversity is the clue.

Yes that's true. People come from all different walks in life. Who's to say that one's culture's view on romance is twisted, and the other one is not, right? (Except, I don't understand the concept of polygamy. How's that considered as love, right? But I can't be the judge of that either).

 

I understand the some of the meaning behind the folkloric romance, but my biggest culture shock is the fact that I feel guilty for not truly understanding my own cultural rituals. For instance, how am I supposed to act around relatives, when I see them at weddings, new years, and funerals? I don't want to neglect the elders, by them misinterpreting my actions and thinking like I'm too good, or don't try respect them and treat them the way that they should be treated. There are certain ways to act, and certain things that we're supposed to say to adults, during different occasions. Sometimes I feel so rude when I don't know what to say or act around them. Like at weddings or new years, we have to say certain things as offerings to the elders. When I'm receiving my red envelope, I don't know what the heck to say to them, except, "Happy new years. Thanks for the red envelope. I wish you 100 years of life and good health." I feel guilty, because it sounds so generic that it makes me look like a complete moron. In reality, no one's ever taught me how to say those certain customary things for those occasions. I can speak my language fluently, but my understanding of customary rituals is not up to par.

 

It's even more tough, when you're supposed to write to relatives in a in their language, because there are customary things that you say, and questions to ask. You just don't talk to them like any other strangers. It's a whole different style of interpersonal communication, in which I'm still learning.

[lostNheartbroken]

It's so much different. Last summer I moved here to the beach, prior to that I'd only dated American girls. Here at the beach I've had quite the diversity in relationships. I dated 2 russian bi-sexual/lesbian girls for 6 months (shared queen bed I went with 1 on a 16,000 mile road trip accross the country even though she was illegal, I've made friends with tons of foreigners as friends as well. I love the openness of the friendships in their culture. My closest friends are from Latvia and Belarus.

 

My real love, the best relationship I've ever had, is from Belarus. She's the most down to earth person, hard working, with a bangin personality. She's so innocent, she's been in 1 relationship before for 6 years...It's so much different coming from two different cultures with different languages. She speaks great English (unlike the lesbians), and I pick up some russian words here and there. The thing in common I've had with all foreigners is we love to travel. I was exposed to different cultures when I was 10, going on road trips through central america for months at a time with my scientist uncle.

 

So when we bring in their culture and our culture it keeps things so interesting and fascinating. No matter how much you talk with each other, you just keep wanting to know more.