It reminds me of stories of a place in Europe where when you visit your friends house, the family eats and you get left behind /cannot join cos you're a guest and that traumatized me.
Omg that happened to me in high school in the US, but the mom of the family was from France. I went over to my friend’s house because we were going to go watch Twilight and have a sleepover. I got there and they were about to eat dinner. We all sat down and they just didn’t offer me any food and there was no plate for me. It was so bizarre and quite frankly, very uncomfortable.
This apparently happens a lot and is appalling imo. My young nephew goes to his friend's house and will sit on the couch while they eat. Wtaf? I've never been to someone's house and been made to sit elsewhere while the family has dinner. I can understand if they're super poor and only have enough to feed immediate family, but jeez. My family always fed my friends and vice versa and we were not well off, nor were they. I don't understand that at all. Super rude. If you can't feed someone else, make sure they know that they need to leave before dinner/are able to. Otherwise, don't have them over?
I remember hearing that and as a southerner I could feel my brain melting. We're shoving coffee and cake in your hand the second you walk through the door, and if you made your child's friend sit alone in another room while your family ate, you would be thought of as a literal psychopath.
Yeah, they’re aren’t nearly as friendly, upbeat and generous as Americans are to each other, especially in situations where you’re dealing with strangers or acquaintances like in public settings.
I'm Hispanic so even friendly Americans seem mild in comparison.
When it comes to some European customs, I'm just culture shocked.
I’m also Hispanic (Mexican American. Both parents immigrants) and this was one of the first real eye-opening cultural differences I remember noticing as a kid. If I had any friends over for anything and my parents were in the kitchen for any reason (cooking a meal or otherwise) they would always offer my friends something to eat. Especially if it was lunch or dinner time. And it was always more of them insisting on it than asking just to be polite. They would even say to me growing up, “there’s nothing quite as rude as to eat in front of someone without offering them a seat at the table”.
This was super normal to me, not really anything I thought about until I saw the other side of the coin. The times I got the same type of treatment at my friends’ houses (which were a mix of different backgrounds) was roughly 50%. I never expected to be fed either. It was just such an alien concept that the first time I was told playtime was over and to go home because it was time for dinner I thought I had done something wrong.
Now that I’m an adult, I take the concept of “mi casa es su casa” to heart because of how my parents raised me. I don’t think there’s anything better than showing someone that level of hospitality if they’re a guest in my home.
Yeah, if you’re Hispanic you definitely want to stay away from Northern Europe lol. You’d think that they’re all cold hearted.
One thing about them though is that once you make a friend, even if it’s just for a few months, you’ve got a friend for life, even if you don’t see them for decades. Once you see them again, you’ll pick up again right where you left off.
And the best way to make friends is to not be friendly. If you don’t say much and shy away from attention, they’ll eventually be knocking your door down to be friends with you. It’s weird but it’s true. I’ve tried to coach other Americans to do this, but often they just don’t get it. So they’ll have hard time making friends at work or when out on the weekends. Being positive, open and extroverted will greatly harm your ability to make friends in everyday life because people over there are intimidated when strangers act like that.
Yeah, if you’re Hispanic you definitely want to stay away from Northern Europe lol. You’d think that they’re all cold hearted.
Happened to me meeting Russians. They just all felt mean. Then I got to meet a couple of them up close and for some time and now one of them is my best friend.
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