-
Content count
1890 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Single Status Update
-
Damn it...
It's now gotten to the stage where I can't even go down to the village grocery store to get milk without being terrified at the prospect of being asked something in a language I don't understand.
I'm living in Spain. Or, at least, I am currently residing in Spain. But unlike most other only-English speaking people in the community in which I live, I don't intend on staying here for very much longer. Months at the most, maybe. Yet there are people who have lived here for years - decades even - and haven't bothered to pick up an ounce of Spanish. They... no, we stick to our own private corners building walls around ourselves, unsupportive of local interests or traditions; completely un-associative with local life, then have the gall to pride ourselves in belonging to a different style of living and of having left our old trends behind us. I mean, I realized the British were an overtly defensive and occasionally abusive people with a mild identity crisis, but I didn't think we could scale to such heights of disrespect as this. I just feel like an impostor, and I'm surprised the local Spanish don't boot me down the mountainside every time I walk into their shop to buy their locally grown goods, sporting my public schoolboy smile and nodding every time someone begrudgingly acknowledges my presence.
It's simple. I've got to get more involved. The preservation of village culture depends on it. If we've made the decision to move to another country with an entirely different perspective on life (we're talking inland mountain communities here), why can't we learn to adapt to and respect our surroundings instead of dragging the sordid habitualities of our old one behind us?
Also, hi! First blog!- Show previous comments 43 more
-
myk said:
You may have tried to be funny there, but you'll notice that's not an image that can mock or parody what I said. You could even translate what I had said to "don't stop just because you aren't a superhero."
I think he was just taking a stab at your figurative and somewhat literal messianic high horse.
-
POTGIESSER said:
I think he was just taking a stab at your figurative and somewhat literal messianic high horse.He sure missed the irony.
I mean, high-horsing about toning down one's ideals and immediate expectations and working little by little with one's own means? Get real. That's why I clarified the principle I referred to in response. So yeah, kudos to his meme-flinging clownery for prompting me to add details. It at least served me to consider the topic further.