Borat Sagdiyev, the misguided character from the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan can teach us all about what should and should not be done as a traveler to a foreign country.
While his hyperbolic mistakes are almost always extremely offensive, and you may not be quite so blatantly ignorant of or completely oblivious to local norms, cultural bumbles are about to happen. You can prevent many errors by abiding by these lessons learned from Borat's mistakes.
1) You might sound hilarious . . . or offensive . . . even when you don’t mean to.
Borat innocently tries to imitate American jokes, and fails miserably, sounding absurd instead. If you don’t have a great handle on the language, avoid trying to sound sophisticated and stick to the basics. In addition, keep in mind that your sense of humor and that of the locals may vary so much that you’ll just end up embarrassing yourself.
2) Listen when locals try to tell you about their culture.
More than once, Borat blanks out, disregards, or misunderstands when (possibly) well-meaning Americans attempt to school him on American ways, perceptions, and beliefs. If the locals try to give you advice, take it both into consideration and with a grain of salt. And if you don't get it, be as polite as you can.
3) Don’t draw unnecessary attention to yourself.
Borat, whether through singing a false Kazakh national anthem to a "patriotic" rodeo audience, or by running naked through the halls of a hotel, draws unnecessary, negative attention to himself. Invariably, it ends in disaster. Wherever you travel, be discreet. You are less likely to be arrested if you don’t stand out from a crowd.
Read more.
No comments:
Post a Comment