Most of what I post here is anthropology/travel guide type stuff -- run-ins with local customs, how people live, etc.
However, there have been more than a few "big thoughts" bouncing around in my head since coming over, some of which I have answers to and some of which I'm still mulling over. A few:
-Someone joked that I'm now an African-American. Does having more African experience than most of the U.S. "African-American" population make me deserving of the title? Am I am American-African?
-What is it that needs to change for someone to "go native"? Is it just a matter of time, or is it an actual conscious mindset shift?
-What are the pros/cons of an "asset-lite" life? What are the downsides of being able to move abroad as easily as I was? (A friend recently forwarded an article I had read a few years ago called Tribal Workers that, judging from it's #1 position in a Google search for the same name, made waves.)
-The pros/cons of South Africa's approach to race, namely the open labeling of people by both other people and by government and the very active affirmative action programs.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Good thoughts, David! Regarding "going native", I think it is a mindset and lifestyle choice. I think of movies where you see conspicuously English people living in exotic locales. They know their way around the areas, they've made adjustments to how they live for the years they are there, but they are as English as they can possibly be in that place (tea!) and would be able to go back to England in a moment. They prefer the mode of being who they are in a place that is different, but they aren't considered "going native". My thought. Will follow on the others when possible.
Post a Comment