samedi 7 février 2009

Si proches mais si différents! / Maybe close but different though!

Il se trouve que j'ai de la famille en Autriche, bien que la France et l'Autriche fassent partie de l'Europe, ces 2 pays sont si proches mais si différents.
En Autriche, les gens sont disciplinés, à l'heure, très famille et se levent tot. En France, nous sommes en retard, nous aimons contourner les règles, nous sommes assez individualistes et assez brouillons.
En Autriche, ils aiment la viande et encore la viande en passant par les saucissons. En France nous sommes très légumes et salades avec pain, fromages et sauces.
On parle souvent de choc culturel, la différence Europe-Asie fascine, mais les couples de pays même voisins vous diront que beaucoup de choses tant sur le plan culturel, émotionnel, religieux etc les diffèrent.
Chaque couple doit faire des concessions et des compromis mais je reste admirative devant les couples mixtes qui tiennent la route.



I happen to have some relatives in Austria, and even though France and Austria are part of Europe, those 2 countries are maybe close but still different.
In Austria people are disciplined, always on time, wake up early and family is important. In France, we tend to be always late, we like to bend the rules, we are individualists and we are disorganised.
In Austria, they like eating meat and meat again without forgetting the sausages. In France we like vegetables and salads with bread, cheese and sauces.
Often you hear about culture shock. The difference between Europe and Asia fascinates but couples of countries nearby would be able to tell you that a lot of things, emotionally, culturally, religiously and so on do differ them a lot too.
Any couple has to compromise but I admire the multicultural couples who stay strong together.

3 commentaires:

Sal a dit…

It is always interesting to ponder the trends of a culture and people different from your home country. Those of us married internationally get a first-hand look at those differences every single day.

Your summation of the culinary opposites found in Austria and France reminds me of the opposites in the US and Japan, on some level. We are the fortunate ones; getting the opportunity to eat the best of both countries represented in our marriages!!!

I agree with you that multicultural couples are wonderful. There is an enormous amount of effort, compromise, tolerance and patience involved in such unions, but the variety that two cultures brings is the spice in our lives! Would you agree? ;-)

Anonyme a dit…

There are some days where having such cultural differences are stressful and adds some unwelcomed strain to the couple.
But having a partner from a different culture forces you to be more open, more tolerant and learn so much about others and yourself, that yes, I agree. It does bring spice.
Being French, I cannot see myself being with a French man, it would be too boring and just not me ;-)

Marie Carré a dit…

I definetely like the cultural differencies... I mean not only in a couple, but when thinking about the friends I've made since I left France, I must say that the new French ones I can count them on the fingers of my hand! It makes things so much more interesting to have contacts with other cultures and/or religions.

And in a couple, it can make it more stressful and more spicy as well. But for the stressful moments, I usually think that so many couples issued from a same culture don't go smoother in many cases, too. Help me not to think too much : 'it's because we are from a different culture!' and use it as an excuse.
In my opinion this excuse is dangerous because it may give the impression to the person talking and the one listening to it, that the difference can't be understood by the other culture...