"Although there are 4x more people... it is VERY quiet. Nobody is screaming, cars aren't honking, people aren't even talking."Visiting a new part of the world can sometimes feel like walking into an entirely new planet. Often, our worldview gets challenged, our knowledge expands, and naturally, we compare the experience to what we know.I'm an American, but I've been splitting time in Canada, where my partner lives, for the past three years.
In 2009 I was on holiday in Congo. My brother and I bought drinks from a small local shop. We paid and walked out. The shop owner ran after us - turns out we were supposed to drink and leave the glass bottles behind because they keep them. We had no idea. As a 10 year old having just landed in Canada the first time I saw those pedestrian button thingies that made all traffic stop and a crossing guard would accompany the kids to the other side all I could think was “wow they care about kids here”
In DC passing the people who looked like me, Black with locs, cleaning the subway in blue jumpsuits. As soon as I left the subway, I stopped seeing people who looked like me in the fancy buildings.While in school in Nigeria, rivalries were open and you knew your enemies. In the UK, guys you just had lunch with will deliberately try to fail you with hard questions and snide remarks in a class presentation that is 40% of the exam. Then they try switch to be pals after class.