Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Volume Control

Call it a cultural difference between the Gagauz and American cultures.  To put it simply, they talk really loudly over here.  I'm not quite sure why locals feel compelled to shout when we're standing right next to each other.  I used to think it was because my language skills weren't all that great, and they (erroneously) thought that every time I said, "Please, speak more slowly" what I really meant was "I'm almost deaf and can only understand when you speak both louder and faster."

But now that my language and cultural skills are better, I see that it's not just me who's getting my eardrums torn.  It's just part of the system here to speak really loudly and emotionally.  It's a miracle that not more people have developed nodes on their vocal chords, though come to think of it there are several people I know with very raspy voices...

As American, this can sometimes grate on my psyche.  In the US - or at least the parts I frequented - we rarely raise our voices during the workday or even in debates unless we're really angry.  So being around people who daily "put it up to 11," requires that I constantly remind myself (a) they're not actually angry at me, (b) I don't need to cow-tow when someone "yells," and (c) it's OK to yell back.  Actually, that last part feels pretty good on the rare occasions when I do it.  WATCH OUT!  IT'S MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

while other cultures may seem loud, i will disagree and say that americans are louder. if you're just walking down the street and see loud people far off, 9/10 they're americans. sad part is, they don't even realize it. but yes, it does feel good to yell back sometimes. see you.