So effing rude!

[clooz]

But OMG, following the thread most of you became so aggresive! ...
Even the taxi drivers who generally are very rude with everybody are much nicer with foreigns.

I agree that a lot of what shows up here seems intense. Some of it is willfully aggressive. Most of what seems aggressive is however is the intense expression of a stress reaction that we call culture shock. Culture shock - you can read about it on the web - doesn't seem to be well understood. It seems to be mostly an anxiety response to feeling disempowered in another culture. This is not to excuse it, but it helps to have some perspective on how people come to this. For the most part people when in culture shock just blame things on the other culture, rather than look to the culture they came from as the source of their adjustment issues. Culture shock typically last years - not months. It diminishes in some and not in others. You'd think it would be a function of cultural distance but it doesn't seem to be, that I can see. It helps overall to see culture-shock as an equal opportunity condition or impairment of judgement. Everyone is susceptible.

 

[Celia]

I find it strange that there are so many Argentinians on an expat site, taking offence. If I was on Londonexpats I couldn't see myself slagging off a Pole who didn't like the English food, the weather, or found some Brits rude.....but here it's like the secret police, who do you guys really work for?

 

[perry]

People treat you as you treat them in the main . If your attitude is defensive, agressive or condescending you will get a negative response.

In general Argentinians are friendly and love to talk . I do not see this xenofobia against english people actually I see the opposite many times with many anglophiles in awe of the english empire.

Celia says that the Anglosaxons are accepting to foreigners but in my own experience they are the ones who tend to cling on to their culture more than any other race and form ghettos in many countries. In Cyprus where I come from this is the case and it can be said this is the same in Asia and Europe.

 

[jp]

Don't believe me? You can get a rude awakening into the true perspective of your average Brit by doing the same thing I do every time an article on Immigration is published -- read the comments section

The comments section of online newspapers are possibly the worst source of information on the "true perspective of the average brit" that I can think of.

 

[perry]

The comments section of online newspapers are possibly the worst source of information on the "true perspective of the average brit" that I can think of.

Good point . Because of political correctness people in countries like the USA, Australia and the UK do not express their opinions in general company but behind a computer where their real feelings are known they harbour xenophobic attitudes that would even make an Argentinian blush!!!

 

[nikad]

Well my son still only has one name out of three (wow, one was on the list!). Will see if they accept my dad's name now I have the document signed by the british consul. What a runaround...it's all luck, with my other son, they accepted a family name but not this time.

When people emigrate to a foreign country they have to accept the country´s laws. The name list thing has been brought up on this forum, and other expats forums many times, so I do not understand why you think you should be treated any different? As far as I know the only ones that have certain privileges are diplomats and some embassy personnel. It is not that you arrived a week ago and this all caught you by surprise. If you wanted to name your son whatever you wanted you should have planned giving birth somewhere else. I honestly do not get the constant complaining abut this, I do not mean to sound nasty, but I really don´t get it.

 

[perry]

When people emigrate to a foreign country they have to accept the country´s laws. The name list thing has been brought up on this forum, and other expats forums many times, so I do not understand why you think you should be treated any different? As far as I know the only ones that have certain privileges are diplomats and some embassy personnel. It is not that you arrived a week ago and this all caught you by surprise. If you wanted to name your son whatever you wanted you should have planned giving birth somewhere else. I honestly do not get the constant complaining abut this, I do not mean to sound nasty, but I really don´t get it.

Good points Nikad . I remember the same thing happenened to my mother in Australia who was refused that my given name be registered on my birth certificate as it was too wog sounding.

Argentina is like most countries with many archaic laws you have to learn to live with them!!

 

[starlucia]

Celia, out of genuine curiosity and concern, may I ask why you stay in BA? If I disliked it as much you seem to, I would have been gone many moons ago (especially if you're not tied here due to dating a local.) I've always thought that the big perk of being an expat is that, if the host country ever becomes "not worth it", we can just go home, back to where there are more job opportunities, stronger currencies, and less crime. So I guess I'm just wondering: what is it about Argentina that, despite all of your bad experiences, keeps you around? There must be SOMETHING that you really love -- you're still here!

 

[Celia]

Nikad, the rules keep changing...my first son was allowed his other grandfather's name, but now the second one isn't.....this is because the jefe was in a bad mood the day I went, the woman under her had said yes but 10 minutes later it was suddenly no. My poor father who is nearly 90 and has been through chemotherapy has been told I am giving my son his name & they have changed the rules & my family are anxious for me to get out of the country after the gun attack...

 

[Celia]

Our pediatrician was supposed to have his grandfather's name but it wasn't allowed. He looked quite upset even 60 years later...the name he was to have is now allowed so things can change.