Differences in Manners
TESOL103 W07
Differences in Manners
20 February 2019
This makes me smile because My husband, Len and I were
invited to go to the Maldives on holiday and our children stayed with their
grandparents. Their grandmother died many years before and their grandfather
had gotten remarried. She was not the most loving grandmother. When we got home
the children, we so happy to see us because what Callie did was put plates
under their arms. It had a twofold purpose – firstly so that they would not fly
and secondly, they would not put the elbows on the table. It was something that
did not bother me though.
Listening to Bro Ives in the video he mentioned about
blowing your nose. Well all the missionaries that served around us told us that
it was bad manners to blow your nose for example while you are sitting in the sacrament,
but it was okay to sniff it down to your stomach. One day my daughter just could
not take it anymore and offered them a tissue and that is how we found out what
they thought were good manners or not.
A couple of years ago my daughter Candice and I were invited
to visit friends in Hawaii. Well, the first morning we were there our host
wanted to cook breakfast for us. Of course, rice was on the menu with Spam but
then they cooked an egg where the white over the yolk was not cooked. It was
served then on the rice which you then cut up and it looked like mayonnaise. At
the time we were not told how to eat the egg but when they came to visit us, we
learned how it was eaten. When were given
the egg that to us was not cooked properly, we could have offended them?
I believe that when we are offended it is because we have
not taken the time to get to know how people live in that country. There will
always be small misunderstandings. Let us be the bigger person and not get
offended by what others do.
When I teach children of a different culture, I must make
sure that when they do something which I feel is bad manners, I need to first
go and study up on it and then decide on how to handle the situation. Sometimes
it will not be necessary to do anything but change my ways.
Yes, I liked what you said about being the bigger person and not getting offended by what others do. Those are funny stories you shared. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love your comment about the sniffing vs. blowing ones nose. It is definitely a Polynesian thing (as well as other parts of the world I am sure) to sniff rather that blow, and I mean snort it as loud as possible then spit. IT DRIVES ME NUTS! :D I would much rather have someone blow their nose in front of me than that! I supposed it is to do with the lifestyle in the islands, no tissues?
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