CULTURE

This culture isn’t completely new to me, but I have so much to learn or get accustom to. Especially important are some of the relational things like greeting others. In Canada when I arrive at a gathering, I will greet everyone as a group “hello everyone!” or greet the first person I see & greet others as I see them or wave from across the room or maybe just slip in quietly. Here when someone arrives they greet everyone in the room personally with a handshake & a hug or pat on the arm or kiss on the cheek. While I like this custom,this Canadian tends to feel like I’m disrupting conversations & drawing attention to myself by doing this, especially in groups that I’m new to. One solution I've discovered is to arrive first, which isn’t usually too difficult! And I'm hoping it comes easier when I know more people & can speak the language better.

Spanish has formal & informal words for addressing others. “You” & all the verbs that go with it can be formal or informal (twice as much to learn!) My thought is that the formal is stuffy & impersonal, whereas informal is more personal & friendly. Here the formal speech shows respect & informal can be more personal & is used amongst friends, but it can also be viewed as talking down to someone. The last thing I want to communicate is a lack of respect & an air of superiority so formal speech is more important than I thought.