Okay, so I meant to write something like this for a long time already. Seriously, Taiwan culture and US culture = so different! "No way!" you say? Allow me to explain.
One of the "strange" things Taiwanese like to do is to speak about or for you to another person while you're sitting right there. Apparently, this is rude in American culture. And yes, I know. I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of this on occasion. It's habit and it's hard to break. Now you must think it's weird why we do this. I mean, you're sitting right there! Why not direct the question to the actual person and let them speak for themselves? I think that is because we were taught from a young age that it is bad manners to brag. Then it was probably taken to the extreme where we'd think it's bad to even state the facts like "I graduated from UCI" or "I have a GPA of 4.0 (No, I don't)" when people ask you, even if we said it in a tiny squeaky voice to prevent people from thinking we're proud of this achievement. We just feel oh-so-guilty. So, how can we share our joy in (and sneakily talk/brag? about) our achievements, especially the ones they don't ask about? Well, you get the next person to say it for you, of course! If someone else says it, you cannot be charged with being arrogant! Tadaaa... I am awesome because she said so.
I only spoke for you because I loved you so much that I wanted others to know how great you are.
No comments:
Post a Comment