Laughably deep and meaningful for Friday

[cimorene]

The culture barrier is like a wall of glass that gradually gets dirtier the longer you look through it; it's not transparent at all anymore, even though I hardly knew what it looked like at first.

I never know if I have the social register right over here, regardless of whether I speak English or Swedish. (I'm homesick for Alabama even though I only have to think about it for five minutes to remember all my loathing for it. I don't want to go back for very long. Maybe just a month or so.)

I have gotten up early three days this week to make an appointment with a shrink only to be thwarted by the stupid health centre all three times. Bastards. ("Oh," says the mental health division secretary, "you want to see a psychiatrist? Well, there's a problem, in that unfortunately none of our psychiatrists have any time. At all. So we're recommending that you see a general practitioner. They know a lot about psychiatry too!" wtf? I'm a unique snowflake, damn you!)

Comments

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Thank you! When I think about it, you're right, it's true of individual other people as well, although I like to think that seeing the barriers to communication with one particular other person eventually leads to successful new communication strategies, if you know them well enough.

I've been morose about the culture barrier all week as I struggled to compose emails to a professor. Because it's so brief, email really shows up the divide. I have no idea how to achieve the tone I want: I don't know the right degree of intimacy and formality, how much to gush, etc, so I don't know how what I've said will come across. Which is true, I think, to a greater or lesser extent, in face-to-face interaction as well.

[norah.livejournal.com]

I like to think that seeing the barriers to communication with one particular other person eventually leads to successful new communication strategies, if you know them well enough.

Yes and no, the more you know the more you know but the less you know, too, eh? I know my husband both better than anyone and less than I ever did these days.

Damn language and culture and subjectivity! Damn them all, I say!