Yesterday I talked about how Americans tend to express everything in extremes and of course we had to compare a little bit with Europe and with India. If you think about Europe, people are more careful about overpraising something. You can hear it in a way like ‘Oh yes, it was quite nice.’ Or ‘We had a good evening together.’ But you would not hear that often: ‘Oh my god, it was so awesome, such a shame that you have not been there, you missed so much fun!’ People might be very happy in Europe, too, but they would not say it in such an extreme way.
As I said yesterday, it is just a very different situation and when you know it, it is good. It is great that people here in the US get that enthusiastic because you can quickly get some nice energy built up. In Germany and Europe it can take a bit longer until people ‘get warm’. But they will probably remain on that level longer, it is more stable.
It is very interesting to see the way how people express themselves and I will write about this more in the next days.
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How to fight Feelings of Loneliness – 12 Nov 14
The difficult Situation of elderly People in the West – 25 Sep 14
Joint Families are great – but not every old Person is made for this Lifestyle! – 24 Sep 14
The Culture of asking ‘How are you?’ without really wanting to know – 18 Jul 13
‘Wrong Number, Honey!’ – When American and German Cultures clash – 17 Jul 13
Has your bad Mood become your Habit? – 17 Sep 12
I am an American who lived in the UK for awhile and they always laughed at me when I said that things were “awesome” or “amazing.”It’s just how we talk! We love to be excited.
I thought Europeans were so cold! I couldn’t understand why they hid their emotions so much and felt a little awkward when I said how I was feeling. Just a different way to see life.
Karen I’m sorry you had this impression of Europeans. We are also caring, loving, and excited people. But we have different standards on how to show our feelings. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there. And I love Americans, though they seem a bit odd at times to me, I confess.