16 Nov Dealing with Individualism

As opposed to US, Mexico is a very collective society. We like to include each other in everything. When we make friends, we like to spend as much time as possible with our friends. We hug and kiss each other and basically demonstrate our love in a very physical way.

I have had a hard time regarding that in the US. I find people to be sometimes really awakard when trying to interact, in the amount of physical interaction is minimal! It’s weird for me to see people in the streets holding hands, or hugging or greeting each other with any other gesture aside from a wave and a hand shake.

At first I thought it was just because I didn’t know people. But still, even my closest American friends are still very awkward in any physical interaction.

Also, In Mexico, it is really normal to talk to everyone even if we don’t know them. We usully never use both headphones because we want to be open to a new interaction and make people know they can still talk to us.

In the US, this is very different. People don’t regularly talk to you if they don’t know you. If they do, they are probable older people or young adults. And people use both of their headphones everywhere! Even when they are talking to people. I found this very complicated to understan at first. Because for me, the use of both headphones is a sign of not wanting to talk to people. So looking at people with headphones and talking to each other made me understand that they didn’t want to talk to each other, but maybe they did!

Also, americans expect that if you are using a big table nobody else can sit down. Because obvisouly, they are using it… That is crazy for me to think! Also, in clases, if people don’t know each other, they will try to sit with a distance of at least a chair/desk.In Mexico, this is very different. You can sit besides anybody even though you don’t know them, it is completely normal and it gives you the chance to make a new friend.

Individualism has been a great cultural shock for me, specially because they are the complete opposite of what I would normally do.