After a few days in New York, a few things stand out, other than the change in weather:
Informal Interactions: people are informal and friendly in Cambodia, and informal contact is constant. People on the street or on elevators don't expect contact with strangers, and such contact isn't necessarily welcomed.
Speed: Things move fast here, and the expectation is that service will be immediate. In Cambodia, "fast" food takes 10-15 minutes, and things move at a slower pace.
Focus on the world: New York is a bubble. Even working-class Cambodians (urban Cambodians) know what is going on with the American presidential primary. New Yorkers seems less concerned with what's going in Tibet than what they're having for lunch.
Subtlety. Enough said.
Mood: Taking the train to the brooklyn, I marveled at how unhappy everyone seemed. The weather must play a large role in this disparity, but culture is also important.
Loisaida is a term derived from the Latino (and especially Puerto Rican) pronunciation of "Lower East Side", a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. Loisaida Avenue is now an alternate name for Avenue C in the Alphabet City neighborhood of New York City, whose population has largely been Hispanic (mainly Puerto Rican) since the late 1960s.
2 comments:
Well, NYC is a special case. You don't need to come from Cambodia to experience culture shock in NYC!
Unhappy?? But we are the greatest civilization on Earth, there's nothing to be unhappy about...
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