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LIVING ABROAD
Please Refrain From Saying, “Well, In My Country. . .”
If as a traveler, you want to thrive and be appreciated
It’s tough. It’s automatic. It’s instinctual. It’s human. It’s a normal reaction.
The response, “Well, in my country,” is typical when encountering one of ten thousand challenges when living, or traveling, in a country outside our native one.
Embarrassingly, I know I’ve uttered the dreaded words.
I’ve not spoken them intentionally to be critical of a different situation or handling of a matter, but merely as an observation or comment.
In thinking, however, how my host country’s local residents must “hear” it, surely it is as a criticism or an insult.
My country’s norms, culture, lifestyle, and customs are just that. They are my country’s. But they bloody sure aren’t superior to yours, dear Balinese, Indians, Thai, Nepalese, or Mexicans. Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget that, especially if frustrated or exhausted when traveling.
Turning the table, how would I feel, even though not replying audibly to the speaker, if a visitor in my native USA uttered similar words?
