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guslPillow Fight Club in Pittsburgh. What to expect.
This is the kind of thing that is just not done outside of America: too personal too fast. Europeans, for instance, are a lot less forward when it comes to expressing their craziness. Many of them do it by simply saying hello to strangers on the street... it doesn't work on Americans, though, who interpret it as mere friendliness. (I should post sometime on the Nash equilibrium that keeps Northern Europeans reluctant to be friendly to strangers).
Of course, it is possible to meet people spontaneously there too, but you should have some common ground, or a natural topic to begin with (late trains are a great of meeting new people in Holland!). Unlike in the USA, one should develop a little acquaintance & see positive responses (smiles, etc) before asking someone's name. I guess Europeans are a lot more privacy-minded this way.
So how do Europeans express their craziness? Well, some Dutch play Urban Golf.
This is the kind of thing that is just not done outside of America: too personal too fast. Europeans, for instance, are a lot less forward when it comes to expressing their craziness. Many of them do it by simply saying hello to strangers on the street... it doesn't work on Americans, though, who interpret it as mere friendliness. (I should post sometime on the Nash equilibrium that keeps Northern Europeans reluctant to be friendly to strangers).
Of course, it is possible to meet people spontaneously there too, but you should have some common ground, or a natural topic to begin with (late trains are a great of meeting new people in Holland!). Unlike in the USA, one should develop a little acquaintance & see positive responses (smiles, etc) before asking someone's name. I guess Europeans are a lot more privacy-minded this way.
So how do Europeans express their craziness? Well, some Dutch play Urban Golf.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-27 07:51 pm (UTC)Interesting topic - can you elaborate?
You imply the social interaction to be... are you saying it is bordeline inappropriate to approach a total stranger in Europe and say hello? Or...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-27 11:21 pm (UTC)Well, everything depends on setting. Even in the USA, it would probably be inappropriate to say hello to strangers sitting in outside a hospital's ICU. The social atmosphere is what really matters. I guess the USA tends to have a more open atmosphere in comparable situations.
One thing that makes it more natural to approach someone is having something obviously in common with them, especially if the other people in that place don't have that. Age is a big one for most people, but I think clothing/style is pretty important too (I started bonding with long haired guys more after I grew my hair out). It is unfortunate that the things that really matter (attitudes, areas of interest, conversational style) are usually not readily apparent... although some people use their clothing/style as a code for this, but it's a very coarse & noisy code for my purposes. I have to meet such people by hearing them speak (IRL), which usually requires us to belong to a group in common (class, work, etc), or by reading what they write (Internet).
or what?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-27 11:35 pm (UTC)