A Westerner was ranting about rude Asians pushing and cutting in lines and eating dogs. Then an American born and raised Asian explained, "We're not all like that." The show ended with the conclusion that we shouldn't judge others by their appearances. But this got me thinking, 'How about those Asians that do push and cut-in. Is it OK to resent them then?'
The truth is, all cultures have different definition of what is considered to be rude. In Korea it's totally fine to make slurping noises while you eat soup, but extremely rude to blow your nose when you are eating. In China, pushing and shoving is not a problem, whereas thanking them for compliments is considered to be arrogant (you should say, 'not at all' when people compliment you, not 'thank you.'). In Japan it's OK to lift the bowl while you're eating but very rude to drink sake (rice wine) facing someone higher in authority than you. So is it fair to resent someone for their ignorance?
Of course it is advisable that immigrants and travellers learn the culture of the country they are in, but it's not like someone sits down with them and explains to them one by one the etiquettes of that country. Especially if your English is limited, you meet very few locals, making it even harder to learn the culture of the country.
My wish is that people can embrace the differences in various cultures and not insist that they are the ones that are 'proper'. If you befriend someone from a different culture and that person does something that isn't appropriate in Australian culture, by all means let them know so they can correct it. But if you see someone from a different culture that does something that seems vulgar to you, like clipping their nails in public, instead of looking at them with disgust, try to understand that they aren't trying to be rude or inconsiderate, but just don't know any better.
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| Right now Hazzy hears 'Good boy!' when he burps, but later he will hear 'Hazzy, that's rude!'. |
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