...
Post A Reply
my profile
|
directory
login
|
register
|
search
|
faq
|
forum home
»
EgyptSearch Forums
»
Living in Egypt
»
Do they really like us?
» Post A Reply
Post A Reply
Login Name:
Password:
Message Icon:
Message:
HTML is not enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.
UBB Code™ Images not permitted.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Shanta Gdeeda: [QB] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Mo Ning Min E: [qb] What I was trying to say, [here we go, having to simplify] is that there is a lot going on under the surface with Egyptians, a lot that is culturally instinctive, and quite different from what you or I are used to. And I wondered if somewhere along the line I was allowing myself to be misled regarding relationships with Egyptian friends. Whether what I would want to view as a close friendship or a vague acquaintanceship, is actually viewed quite differently by the other party. I certainly see people greeting friends here effusively, then moaning about them when they leave.And so much of Egyptian life is involved with manners, the right form of address, courtesies and so on, and how much is real? How much is just formalities? [/qb][/QUOTE]Well was also discussing this a couple of days ago with a female 'foreigner' friend. We were talking about how if you meet a new Egyptian female friend, even if she is married with children, she will seem to want to take over your whole life, be your only friend want to see you or phone you every day, and smother you with 'I miss you' and 'I love you'. It is then entirely normal for her to make an arrangement with you, drop you like a hot potato because something came up and not call you to say she's not coming and then not contact you for 2 weeks or so to even apologize or explain! I do also recall a few years ago misunderstanding a male's intentions when he kept saying "I miss you" and a discreet word with a friend of his revealed that it just does NOT mean the same as it does in normal British English where a guy telling a gal he misses her implies a level of romantic interest. His friend explained that in Egypt it is something they are taught to say as it is considered a politeness (which was a relief to me!) So anyway, you have to kind of dilute the slush quite a lot to reach the true intention. The problem IS, the kind of gushy sentimentalness that is just a normal average everyday level here can make a Brit feel very guilty about having to say 'I'm sorry I can't meet you I'm busy' or whatever because of what is interpreted as depth as feeling from the choice of words. I don't know how it comes across to Americans though because on the whole Americans seem to be a lot more sentimental than Brits - like when all American tv series have that slushy 'I love you mom, I love you son' bit in them - we Northern Europeans are a hard lot LOL [/QB][/QUOTE]
Instant Graemlins
Instant UBB Code™
What is UBB Code™?
Options
Disable Graemlins in this post.
*** Click here to review this topic. ***
Contact Us
|
EgyptSearch!
(c) 2015 EgyptSearch.com
Powered by UBB.classic™ 6.7.3