Ok expanding on the previous question
Dec. 13th, 2004 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sparkindarknessRick is from San Francisco. His parents are from Texas. He currently resides in NYC and has done for a couple of years. Beyond the fact that he will attempt to hibernate every winter, what biggies should I know which this English writer doesn't?
On the same thread, Darren is English (or British if you prefer, since many Americans don't seem to differentiate - though I did have great fun watching an American call a Scotsman 'English' once) and is noticeably so (he has a very strong, very educated, British accent and make no attempts to hide it. This is of the good, despite being a capable linguist he is just BAD at speaking his mother tongue in a different accent) in NYC and has been for a year - anything I should know?
Thankfully, all my other muses are firmly at home in the British Isles. Or not on this planet at all.
On the same thread, Darren is English (or British if you prefer, since many Americans don't seem to differentiate - though I did have great fun watching an American call a Scotsman 'English' once) and is noticeably so (he has a very strong, very educated, British accent and make no attempts to hide it. This is of the good, despite being a capable linguist he is just BAD at speaking his mother tongue in a different accent) in NYC and has been for a year - anything I should know?
Thankfully, all my other muses are firmly at home in the British Isles. Or not on this planet at all.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-13 02:54 pm (UTC)...it's surprisingly difficult to come up with the big differences when you either a] take it all for granted, or b] have little basis for comparison.
though I did have great fun watching an American call a Scotsman 'English' once
*face/palm* being married into a family of scots, i can only imagine what the reaction was.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-13 03:56 pm (UTC)Hee, I've met Americans who do that to me. :)
being married into a family of scots, i can only imagine what the reaction was.
We never did find all the pieces.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-13 11:50 pm (UTC)Texans don't move to SF real often, I would imagine. They'd find it wayyyy too funky and not right in the head. So you gotta define what sort of people they were and why they went. It'd take some work for Rick to come out really So Cal with Texan parents, in SF. In NY, I'm guessing there's probably no -serious- rivalry to worry about, nothing truly hostile, just a general lack of respect.
A side note-- people on the West Coast do not have accents. We speak the most common, vanilla flavor of american english there is. (although EVERYONE who is not from Oregon pronounces it wrong) The South has a very definite drawl that comes in a few varieties. There's also a bit of something going on in the northern Midwest, like in Minnesota, sounds sorta Canadian or something but that's pretty obscure. And New Yorkers have a very definite accent of their own. New York and its respective sections is a very tightly knit place, and I'd imagine that's only gotten stronger recently. Which would probably explain why they're so darn grouchy about everywhere else.
As for Darren... well, yes. Us American girls, with VERY few exceptions, just lose it around guys with posh british accents. The only thing that could be worse would be a French accent. It's shameful, really. But then, our men communicate mostly by brutish grunting, so can you blame us? And the girls would be constantly squeeing over him wanting to know what conditioner he uses. And with as short as he is, he'd be constantly getting mistaken for a woman till he talked. And there'd be heaps of jerks on the street assuming he's gay and wanting to kick his ass, and anything he said would just make it worse till he had to set them on fire to get them to leave him alone. Matter of fact he should probably just not go out in public by himself, ANYWHERE.
Most of this is pretty redundant, but I was in the mood to ramble. Go rent the series Tales of the City, if you can find it, it's insanely good and captures a lot of things in the spirit of SF.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 07:42 am (UTC)It has a laid-back, artistic energy, with a big FAT share of wacky people.
Perfect! And thankee for the Cali run down, that'll help me get some handle on Rick's past.
Texans don't move to SF real often, I would imagine
His dad's in business - and he came to Cali to push for more off-shore drilling and to manage his co's slice of the action and operations. His mum (who'se technically not Texan but has spent enough time there to nearly count). They don't live in San Fran (Rick moved FAAAR away). They, and Rick's siblings, are straight laced, conservative, traditional, boring, repressed and unpleasant. They do not like their neighbours, except for the small enclave of similarly close minded people that have managed to gather together in the face of all the rampant californianism around them. They are obsessed with maintaining the proper facade for fear that someone may mistake them for a native,.
Rick was rebellious from the word go (his parents blamed the crowds he hung out with). He had no problem coming out really as he saw it as another opportunity to scandalise and infuriate them (the shamanism was another bonus). In fact he went on to FLAUNT it as much as possible.
He doesn't get on with his 'rents.
A side note-- people on the West Coast do not have accents
I've noticed that, I wondered if it were just my foreign ears.
And New Yorkers have a very definite accent of their own. New York and its respective sections is a very tightly knit place, and I'd imagine that's only gotten stronger recently
I can tell moderately on American accents... just. There doesn't seem to be nearly the strong differences in accent as you'll find in Britain (course, could just be my English centred ears). Something my co-worker agrees on. She thinks it's evolution of the area over time and a more transient population.
Grouchy? *notes*
Us American girls, with VERY few exceptions, just lose it around guys with posh british accents
*grins* I hope it works on the guys as well. He's not what I would consider uber-posh (not Prince Charles posh) but he is Etonian or Cambridge posh. Very close to BBC, but a little classier.
But then, our men communicate mostly by brutish grunting,
LOL. I have suddenly veyr bad thoughts about the reasons for grunting. Don't mind me. Communication not a strong skill then.
And the girls would be constantly squeeing over him wanting to know what conditioner he uses.
LOL, yes, with his hair? Definitely.
And with as short as he is, he'd be constantly getting mistaken for a woman till he talked
He's pretty androgenous... depends on whether you look to to determine gender. From the back he'll definitely look female. From the front his face, while not manly man, is masculine enough to tell. Just.
And there'd be heaps of jerks on the street assuming he's gay and wanting to kick his ass, and anything he said would just make it worse till he had to set them on fire to get them to leave him alone. Matter of fact he should probably just not go out in public by himself, ANYWHERE.
Yikes, that didn't occur to me. So, Darren chaperoned or unleashing carnage...
but I was in the mood to ramble.
rambling good.
Tales of the City
I'll have me a looksie.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 09:40 am (UTC)I will agree on the Tropical part of Gnarly's post with the exception that it is a DRY heat and that is a Blessing compared to the possible humidity at that tempurature. Since living on the mediterainian side of spain Right smack dab on the coast for 4 years and 3 summers, I damn wel know the difference and I will GLADLY take the So cal 100 Degrees Farenheight in the shade heat of Cali over the Muggy, Cloudy some days for no reason, swealtering, drown-in-your-own-sweat heat of a humid summer Any Fucking Day.
Oh and Rick would be the very smmart one in the hibernation attempts during NY winters. *nods sagely*
Gnarly said: The Castro district is still quite something else (you should see it on Halloween, whoooboy).
heh yes, believe us on this one Sparky. we were both there. WHOOOBOY indeed. Sure Rick and Daren would actualy love it. Gayngels everywhere. (random world that got created to name the gay angel couples that were in abundance) [/injoke]
Gnarly said: LA has Hollywood and the exhibitionistic rich people, on down to the disgruntled masses. And masses. And masses. It's a completely different animal from the other cities on the west coast-- I think the largest city in the US aside from New York, which is probably the main pivot of any friction between the coasts. I can't say I know it well, but from what I know I'd generalize it as a driven, hostile place.
Now here I dissagree just a little bit. But might be because I'm a native and visited LA quite a bit. I do agree its a hostile driven place with disgruntled masses. But I'm sure NY is like that too. The difference being I just know how to stay out of trouble in LA. It's tame if you just know your surroundings ad know Not to go wandering down dark side streets in the middle of the night getting lost and on FOOT. The City itself is tiny really. Nothing at all to compare to a NY Skyline. just a small cluster of skyscrapers. The District and suburban and urban sprawl is the large part. Lived 11 years in the LA district and was still an hour's drive from the actual city. But the presence of being in LA is prevelent in that whole district anyways.
During the day Hollywood does have it's grimey side but concidering all the tourism, all the people just coming Through there for decades working on movies, the international awards shows, it is getting worn out without much chance of a complete face lift. (that's taxes for you) But, true to movie magic, it spiffs up quite well at night. I should dig up our pics of a universal studios visit. the boulavard looks nice and sparkly.
Gnarly said: A side note-- people on the West Coast do not have accents.
On this I'd agree (and for some reason this now reminds me of the gameshow hollywood squares) except for the So Cal residents. I have been through airports and to new mexico and Arizona and no one else besides me has had 'Dude' in thier vocabulary. least not to the extent of my ussage, which to me is normal. Plus the mode of descriptive speech that uses, with pause, the word 'like' so much. No joke. it's not Air headed valleygirl 'like ohmygawd!' its just 'like.... you know... whatever.'
The reason I mention is because while I'd like to think I don't have an accent, other people in places I've visited or passed through have mentioned I have one. So I can't quite deny anymore that as a Californian I don't have an accent. People in airports and ticket lines are all too swift to notice it and ask where I'm from. ;-P
Gnarly said: As for Darren... well, yes. Us American girls, with VERY few exceptions, just lose it around guys with posh british accents. The only thing that could be worse would be a French accent.
Spanish and Aussie accents being close contenders. *pokes
Gnarly said:Matter of fact he should probably just not go out in public by himself, ANYWHERE.
Sparky said: Yikes, that didn't occur to me. So, Darren chaperoned or unleashing carnage...
Sage wisdom *nods much*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 11:01 am (UTC)Glad it was helpful! It sounds like Rick's parents must've HATED SF... and it probably hated them back, heheh.
Sparky said:He's pretty androgenous... depends on whether you look to to determine gender. From the back he'll definitely look female. From the front his face, while not manly man, is masculine enough to tell. Just.
A lot of people, especially younger guys out on the street, staring him right in the face at close range would NOT be able to tell he wasn't a woman. There is nothing in his manner or bearing that would define him as 'male' to the general populace here. Men are expected to puff out their chests, tip a lot from side to side when they walk, grunt... hell, they basically behave like chimps. American masculinity is all about being big and ugly. He's lucky he didn't grow up here, the other kids in school would have tortured him.
Jaer said: For only visiting Cali what? 3 times? you've sure done your research.
Heynow-- I've been there more than 3 times. When I was 14 I went to SF for a week to visit my cousin who went to college there. Then we spent another week driving up the coast from Monterey to Point Reyes to the California Redwoods, then back home. I went to Sacramento twice for a few days each to visit family. I've been through Sacramento for a couple days one more time on the way to San Diego, where I spent about a week... I hung out with you for a few days on the way back up, and went through the middle of LA briefly, then Sacramento again, though that time nly for an hour... and this last summer I flew to LA and was there for over a week. So... that's... 5 trips that add up to about a month total.
Jaer said: I will agree on the Tropical part of Gnarly's post with the exception that it is a DRY heat
Also very true-- southern California is a big fat DESERT. LA is a sad scrubby wasteland in between the buildings, whereas the bay area is downright lush, and gets plenty of rain. It snows periodically in SF, though not often, so Rick probably wouldn't scream like a little girl when he saw the stuff... but yeah in general Californians do get traumatized by the cold.
Jaer said: Spanish and Aussie accents being close contenders. *pokes [info]gnarlycranium*
Gah! No poking! Okay so the New Zealand ones are cool too-- but that's pretty damn close to British!
The British Isles have very POWERFUL accents. The US doesn't have anything that comes close. Some of the stuff you guys have over there are dialects in their own right, and totally incomprehensible to our ears. It'd be about impossible for us to not notice a difference between a posh type accent and, say, something like Cockney, it's huge. I can only distinguish a couple of the more subtle ones. We've got a total of MAYBE half a dozen accents over our whole huge area, and you guys have enough to be able to tell what city someone is from in some cases. Ours also do not indicate class background at all, only very general regions. Your friend is probably quite right, this would be due to the fact we've only been here 200 years to develop different distinct ways of speaking, while you guys have had who even knows how long. In fact most European countries have a whole lot of very specific dialects in different cities, just because they've been there so long.
I say 'dude' myself and so do quite a few other people around here, I think it's a west coast thing, though Californians would use it a bit more. There are a few other very subtle differences in vocabulary... us Oregonians call it 'pop', not 'soda'. I can't think of any other examples offhand.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 11:25 am (UTC)I know there's a difference there somewhere but yeah, I can't remember any examples other than the use of the term 'Yanks'.
Ok one example of total californian talk is Jer. I really pour it on then and its a mix of lots of surfer slang and cheer and I give people 80's flashbacks when 'cowabunga' was popular. quite a few Californians can and will talk like that and they don't even have to be hippies or beach bums. Seriously. my collage was rife with all sorts of accents, but no matter the backround, the natives that were born here be them asian, black, mexican, you may not admit it, but there is probably still the urge to say 'totally' on occassion. Even the people wiith thick accents of thier native country will pick it up. though someone of asian decent saying 'totally' is oft a funny thing to hear.
With the exception of ghetto. Cali doesn't have any strong accents. If you don't know how different Ghetto sounds like, go play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PS2 and you get Lots of it. Thats Nothing resembling california talk. And what's funny is I used to know quite a few people talking like that too. never thought about it till now actually. hmmm.
And it's usually soda, or coke, or cola... pop is what balloons and tires do. :-P Think pop generally refers to candy for us. push POPS, blow POPS, POPsicles, or anything with Gum in it uses the word pop in some form. Lolly pops or Suckers etc. I think advertising also has to do with it. if the adverts for top brands don't call it pop, then no one's gonna refer to it as Pop and stick with soda or cola. so it's all in the presentation. i notice a lot of northern states call it pop too. Can't imagine why. Is it just cuz there's bubbles and fizz?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 01:37 pm (UTC)If SF isn't THAT hot then Rick won't be suffering as badly as I thought he would... Actually Darren will probably suffer as bad or more since British people aren't used to weather extremes. Problem with this? We don't take ANY precautions for them. At all. We'll march out into the Sahara without a sun shade or spare water and through Antarctica without choosing our wardrobe carefully. Hence the phrase 'mad dogs and Englishmen out in the midday sun'. We NEVER make allowances for the weather here and don't see why we should change our behaviour just because of some foreign climate.
Sure Rick and Daren would actualy love it. Gayngels everywhere.
Lol, Rick would love it, and even play dress up. Darren would hate it, he's not that extroverted. Usually. And when he is, you don't want to be wandering around dressed as celestials.
I do agree its a hostile driven place with disgruntled masses. But I'm sure NY is like that too.
So Rick won't really notice that much difference? Darren will, but then for his first few months in the US he assumed everyone he met carried a gun. Except Texans, he assumed they carried two.
It's tame if you just know your surroundings ad know Not to go wandering down dark side streets in the middle of the night getting lost and on FOOT.
A brief aside here. This is alien to me. there is no city anywhere in the UK where I would be afriad of walking any street after dark. Maybe, in the very roughest areas, I may be nervous - but that fear would be more paranoia than actual fact based. Maybe if I were a young woman I would feel different, but I've never felt the need for a self-imposed curfew.
me has had 'Dude' in thier vocabulary
VALLEY BOY/GIRL! That's like so totally annoying!
it's not Air headed valleygirl
LOL, I actually typed the above before reading that. You do know you've now aquired a label, right?
other people in places I've visited or passed through have mentioned I have one.
No-one hears their own accent. My pold friends accused me of losing my Hull accent when I went to uni, but I have only just begun to realise the differences in the way I speak to the way they do (though, being from a town outside the city, my accent was never that rough. Dear gods, I hope it never was, anyway.) Do these people recognise you as having a Cali accent OR as having an American accent? Because you can usually hear an American accent a mile away (sadly, often literally).
Aussie accents being close contenders
You've got to be kidding me? Aussie accents are considered attractive? *blink*
Sage wisdom *nods much*
Uh-huh, I'm short with black hair below my waist and a university English accent (HE IS NOT A MARY SUE). *adds another reason not to visit America to the list* This is another culture shock thing, He/I wouldn't be accosted over here, nor would anyone looking weird, people MAY say something (if drunk, the only time they'll start something too) but they're far more likely to look down their noses and bitch behind my back.
Of course, prejudiced violence just tends to be done more underwraps - never anything as pleasant as being confronted face to face in public.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 01:38 pm (UTC)Sparky said: Yikes, that didn't occur to me. So, Darren chaperoned or unleashing carnage...
Sage wisdom *nods much
Wait, this applies in most of Cali too? And I thought it was the land of the arseless chaps *sighs*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 02:04 pm (UTC)'Twas very much so. It's hard to get a good handle on America because of the size of it and the prevalence of stereotypes.
It sounds like Rick's parents must've HATED SF... and it probably hated them back, heheh.
They despised it and didn't stay long - which is why Rick moved there while they fled away from the city. And yes, most of the neighbours were so not thrilled when they moved in.
Men are expected to puff out their chests, tip a lot from side to side when they walk, grunt... hell, they basically behave like chimps
LOL have you just had a bad break up? :)
Sounds fun for an hour or two, but very boring for a day. Darren would not fit in... and may just kill them at random. y'know, because.
He's lucky he didn't grow up here, the other kids in school would have tortured him.
Only VERY briefly.
Oh dear, are men so very insecure in their masculinity?
Okay so the New Zealand ones are cool too-- but that's pretty damn close to British!
Not to British ears... though it is closer than most.
Some of the stuff you guys have over there are dialects in their own right, and totally incomprehensible to our ears.
I can't understand someone from Glasgow. And the people from Driffield (small town near me) have managed to miss 400 years of lingual evolution. As far as I'm concerned they sound the same now as they must have done 400 years ago.
and you guys have enough to be able to tell what city someone is from in some cases
Of course! It's taken for granted the minuet you open your mouth most people will know where you're from. I can tell you what PART of London people are from. Geordies (people from Newcastle) are universally recognised, same with Scousers (Liverpudlians), Mancunians (Manchester), Leeds, Glaswegians etc. I can tell someone from Hull a mile off, and regions are just easy. That's why there's BBC English - accentless English that everyone in the country can understand without difficulty or ancient hostility.
while you guys have had who even knows how long
England as a nation is officially recognised as having been founded by Alfred the Great in the 10th century. Though before that there were various kingdoms Such as Wessex (Alfie's place), Trent, Mercia (mine), Northumbria etc from which we developed many of our traditions (such as the 1,500 year role of Lord Chancelor. There was an outrage when Blair proposed scrapping it).
I think it is age - gives more time for different regions to develop their own tongue - especially in the days before mass media and easy transport. Our differing slang or just common words are surprising at times as well (someone down south would never use the word 'dale' or 'wold' when referring to terrain).
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 04:52 pm (UTC)Well, no not recently-- but it's annoying enough to just LIVE around apes day in day out.
Oh dear, are men so very insecure in their masculinity?
Yes.
Wait, this applies in most of Cali too? And I thought it was the land of the arseless chaps *sighs*
Yes, the whoooole country has the problem. In certain regions it's not quite so bad and it's easier to find spots where the norm isn't followed, but it's still that... the norm. Gay marriage is still outlawed in California. As of February last year San Francisco has been issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.... but the city has tons of people trying to sue it to stop and to nullify the ones it's already given, and the mayor may yet get in trouble for breaking the law. Hell, m/m 'sodomy' was illegal in Texas until last year (though it's not as if they could ENFORCE a thing like that). And I'm pretty sure it's not legal to wear assless chaps in public anywhere cept maybe inside a strip club.
The American man is not supposed to express emotions. He is trained to keep everything hidden, and to take every opportunity to mock any show of weakness in others. Emotions are 'gay', appreciation of beauty or any extra attention to personal hygeine or appearance is too. The only satisfaction these people get in life is putting other people down. The result is a very bitter, competitive, emotionally castrated and internally terrified creature, difficult to deal with even when they DON'T have masses of religious programming on top of that giving them even more justification and rules for dominating others. This is a rather extreme generalization I'm making, I know, and the phenomenon is slowly dying out I think, but it's a significant influence, a pressure and an expectation felt everywhere even if only in small ways.
A friend of mine has waist-length brown hair, dressed fairly often in black, with a long coat, though nothing extreme... he got attacked by 2 people at 7-11, walking home from work he's been approached late at night and asked if he's a male prostitute, at least once a month someone passing in a car would throw things like full beer cans at him from passing cars, people mistake him for a woman on a fairly regular basis even though he's not effeminate, other guys make cracks about his hair pretty regularly... it goes on. And he's not even particularly strange looking, only a little. Granted our town is unusually conservative for the area, but there you go.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-14 04:58 pm (UTC)Fascinating-- so BBC English isn't actually used anywhere except on TV? Was it invented for that purpose or did it just naturally evolve? Educate me!
For further reference--
SF summers barely get above 70 (20 C). Both times I've been through Sacramento in the summer it was 109. I got lucky on my trip to LA, with it only being in the 80s-- a few weeks before it had been 112. The summers in SF are pretty sunny, with hardly any rain from May to September. The yearly total precipitation is around 20 inches-- it drizzles 10 days out of the month all winter. Winters are between 45 and 60 degrees. The ocean water temperature off the coast of SF is 55 degrees. Down in LA it's 60. Here in Oregon it's 50, which ain't no good for swimming unless you really enjoy hypothermia. In NY it may be even colder.
California has a population of 29 million. The LA metropolitan area alone has 15 million (3 million bigger than London). San Francisco has 7 million.
All of Oregon has only 3 million, and Washington has 5. So nobody notices us much.
The New York metropolitan area is the second largest city in the world, with 20 million.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-15 02:57 am (UTC)And foreigners trying to put on a British accent :) It's not a regional accent in any way, i've only ever heard BBC English on TV and radio.
Was it invented for that purpose or did it just naturally evolve? Educate me!
To be honest, I'm not at all sure, it happened long before I was born. I imagine it was a bit of both. Originally the TV and radio was seens as a means of education and informing, as such the presenters had educated voices (the better to educate the masses), besides which it was rare for the common man to be on TV and radio. I imagine those with strong regional accents would have been dropped from TV for fear of not being understood or giving the wrong impression (Auntie was a terrible snob). In fact, as little as 20-30 years ago, it was nearly impossible to get a job on television with a ragional accent - you had to visit a voice therapist to train yourself to speak English 'properly'. It just seems to have become the norm - as a presenter or news reader your job requires you to speak correctly, that is most of the job, so Auntie demanded they be able to speak well - ending up with us getting Trevor McDonald with his perfect BBC English, despite being from the West Indies.
It had the added bonus of making sure TV wasn't seen to be attatched to any one region. Given the existence of some regional hositlities (less now than there was), that's probabally a good thing.
I work in celsius, but SF's climate seems pretty close to here, except we're wetter. And less foggy. Oregan's cold. And it rains more, it is known. :)
Lots of people packed in, makes them grouchy methinks.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-15 03:22 am (UTC)that's quite sad.
but the city has tons of people trying to sue it to stop and to nullify the ones it's already given, and the mayor may yet get in trouble for breaking the law
My opinion is that he is merely recognising there is a conflict in the law (the Constitution calling for equality while the law is discriminatory. Therefore, given the hierarchy, he must follow the constitution).
Still, I was surprised by how many rose up to challenge it. i expected it form the organised 'pro family' *gag* groups, but I didn't think there would be as much general challenge.
, m/m 'sodomy' was illegal in Texas until last year
I knew that, but that was Texas. I expect them to be freaks (it's almost depressing but the only reason why this was overturned was because Texas police DID try to enforce it).
And I'm pretty sure it's not legal to wear assless chaps in public anywhere cept maybe inside a strip club.
Damn. Over here it's dubious but people aren't that sure where buttocks fall in the obscenity laws. usually it depends on context - a parade or queue outside a rocky horror picture show is fine. Dancing otuside an old people's home isn't - but even that isn't really prosecuted.
The American man is not supposed to express emotions
Same over here, if anything Americans are more emotional than we are (especially when it comes to expressing positive emotions or anger). But we've also got a strong 'keep your nose out' culture - basically it doesn't matter whether the person sat next to you is a flaming queen - it's none of your business. I think it's one of the reasons why evangelism is dying here - bothering other people is just Not Done. Then you go home and make snarky comments about it with your friends.
Oh, and religious programming for hate? = Bad.
any extra attention to personal hygeine or appearance is too
Err, yuck? All right, faffing around with face creams etc is waaay OTT for my tastes (for reasons of effort and expense if nothing else), but running a brush through your hair, daily showers and dressing well isn't too much to ask.
A friend of mine has waist-length brown hair, dressed fairly often in black, with a long coat,
LOL, make the hair shoulder length or a little longer and you'll find at least 1 in 10 of every college or uni campus males appear much the same over here. It's not that unusual. Even my waist length hair is generally ignored.
approached late at night and asked if he's a male prostitute
Could be someone looking for services I suppose... but the rest is just really weird, not just the random violence but assumption of being female based on hair alone.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-15 11:28 am (UTC)In my experience it really depends on which side of the continent youre on. Portugal is on the other side of spain. the weather might be more off coast than the humidity being brought in from the sea. If you think that fog was nasty, imagine that steaming hot rolling in to spend the whole day.
Maybe if I were a young woman I would feel different, but I've never felt the need for a self-imposed curfew.
heh, here I don't think it would matter man or woman, it's just a matter of survival. Just like you wouldn't go wandering around strange woods in the dark where wild animals are known to savor the taste of human flesh. Just common sense.
VALLEY BOY/GIRL! That's like so totally annoying!
it's not Air headed valleygirl
LOL, I actually typed the above before reading that. You do know you've now aquired a label, right?
Dude you so Suck! Course if you call me a Valley IT I'll just chalk up another reason to come visit you and kick your ass... right after I get your computer fixed.
Do these people recognise you as having a Cali accent OR as having an American accent? Because you can usually hear an American accent a mile away (sadly, often literally).
One one of my connecting flights from the US to Spain, I was going through JFK in NY when someone in line asked if I was from Cali. On another trip I was going through Amstrerdam for my connecting flight and two people whose accents sounded sort of sweedish to me, asked me the time, (which makes your watch useless when you're traveling and crossing time zones) after "sorry I don't know. they just nodded then some conversation in another language. then I get tapped on the shoulder and asked by one if I was american. I say yeah. Then the second one asks me if I was californian. and i say yeah. And then some bills are passed from one to the other.
You've got to be kidding me? Aussie accents are considered attractive? *blink*
heh, ask Gnarly. ;-P
Uh-huh, I'm short with black hair below my waist and a university English accent (HE IS NOT A MARY SUE).
heh riiiiiiiiiight. after the valley boy/girl crack, you think im gonna let that slide. heh you so funny. ^_^
Of course, prejudiced violence just tends to be done more underwraps - never anything as pleasant as being confronted face to face in public. I think gnarly might be painting some things to the extreme, and I might not be helping with my visuals of a dangerous place, but to me it boils down to basic respect. No one's likely to start shit unless youre either A) being snobby and asking for someone to put you in your place. or B) just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that kind of circumstannce can happen anywhere for whatever reason. Only here you have the right to defend yourself with a fist to the eyeball or preferably martial arts where you can make your point not to be picked on Darren style with the least ammount of effort on your part and the most about of pain for your attacker infringing on your rights to look or be however you want. ehhh sorry ehhe ^_^; maybe that's my San Soo training coming into play.
Ok lemme break it down. I'm short, chunky, and I dress strange. i stand out in a crowd of 'normal people' by my quirky habits and Geekness aura. Should make me a natural target for bullies right? maybe so in highschool, but I've never been accosted by anyone, anywhere in a prejudiced manner over the way i look or act. At least not in any way that was more forceful than a few dirty words. I don't see why you would be a victim anymore than I would. Nothing can be said about who you are that would deserve violent action against you. if someone does, well you know that's one ignorant bastard. Every place has that bad appple. you can let it scare you off from going somewhere or just accept it as something thats unavoidable wherever you go. Then it won't be such a culture shock.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-16 02:21 pm (UTC)Actually that's a good analogy for me, allow me to expand it. It is common sense, but here in Britain we don't really have any areas frequented by large animals that will eat us (both literally and in terms of the metaphor) so we don't really worry about where we walk. We do have some areas were certain people are vulnerable (such as young women) but this is more like moving through bee hives with an allergy than a dark and dangerous wood.
Course if you call me a Valley IT I'll just chalk up another reason to come visit you and kick your ass... right after I get your computer fixed.
Hmmm... I think it might be worth it.
after the valley boy/girl crack, you think im gonna let that slide.
Well, I can always hope.
but to me it boils down to basic respect
Ah, this sounds more like what we have over here. People may not like you, but most can't be bothered to give you grief about it or don't care enough to give you grief. They may not like that someone has long hair/is gay/whatever but it's not a major enough issue to actually DO anything and go against the instinct to leave others alone.
just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I will say that, while there are certainly wrong places at the wrong time over here (just look at some recent events in London) most of the time you're pretty alright.
Only here you have the right to defend yourself
You can defend yourself here with 'reasonable' force.