Second Sunday! My first Sunday in London was shared with my sister, Ashael and I venturing off on our own to the Hyde Park singles ward. More than half were gone to YSA conference, and they were hard to talk to. Except for the random 4'11'' guys that would talk to Ash and I. One encounter which has a very funny story… “Americans are so much cuter, but you know, I’m just sweet talking” :) Other than that, we were ignored for the most part, even with my brash American loud “HELLO I'M BRITTANY!! I'M HERE FOR STUDY ABROAD!!!” : )
Second Sunday, we went to the Hyde Park family ward and received our church assignments. Ashael and I are in the same ward with two other girls, the Brother giving our assignments told everyone how many people were in the wards, information about the bishops and how far we had to travel; but for our assignment, he said (right before this, he was talking about how much he LOVES other cultures) "THIS ward is my favorite. They are generally all from Ghana."
We travel about an hour to an hour and a half, general guess though. HAHAHA OH MAN!!! All the girls are split into two stakes. One of the Stake Presidents gave some great counsel and told us a few helpful things. He said, "...most are converts. So new that you know more than most of the bishops." (In my head I was like yeah, maybe the other BYU girls...) "...and just to love the people." One of the Bishops from that same stake came and spoke (COMEDIAN!! TOTALLY HILARIOUS!!) And told us more about the social and cultural etiquette. He put it this way... in America we brag about BIG! Like the empire state building, the statue of liberty, space needle, golden gate bridge, etc etc. HERE they (understandably so) brag about old, for instance the pub you are casually at, around every corner is at least 400+ years old and doesn’t even have a commemorative plaque. There is a tree stump in the park that is around 500 years old, and for heaven’s sake the BYU London center has seen Brigham Young and Queen Victoria. All the architecture is original, hand carved wood works, etc etc. so..... when talking, there is social etiquette in addition to the bigger vs. older theory.... part of being in a city with a large population (put nicely by the man this morning) is to create more personal space in other ways (because the apartments and buildings are so very condensed). That is one reason why people don’t make eye contact, when on the tube they look everywhere but, at you, etc. We experience this. Ashael and I went to the Gap to buy jeans before school started and thought everyone was so strange, but couldn’t figure out why! The man on the sales floor didn’t acknowledge our presence. I was so confused. I was expecting crazy”Jill” to come out and say with a bubbly, in-your-face voice, "HEY!!! Let me know when you need a changing room!! Is there anything you are looking for today???? What size are you? We have a sale on Blab bla blaaaaa , I’m your new bff”.... but they ignored us and I was so disappointed. Now I can put my finger on why!!
This is a fun, personal experience that helps me connect with your experience. It sounds very exciting. I have always been intrigued with the impact of culture and the influence culture has in how we socialize and in how we act. Your fun story about walking into a retail clothing store in the U.S. with the forward, “I’m you new best friend” approach is integrated into the “culture” of the represented company. My profession is in training and development. Teaching culture is often sought for, but very difficult to do. So, companies focus on “process.” “This is how we do things.” “This is how successful sales people respond to customers…” The retail training for retail sales representatives in the United States, is sometimes offensive to the rest of the world. I am excited to follow your blog and learn more about your cultural experiences. The people of Ghana are a humble and open people, whom are easy to love, but they are different. I hope we may all learn from your sensitivity to culture and how you personally grow and perhaps help others as a result.
ReplyDelete