Shrug

The title of this post is not a reference to that blot on the face of late-90s fashion. It's the only response available sometimes when someone from another culture says something that you disagree with on such a basic level that you know there is absolutely no sense in arguing. It's not even usually something offensive; it's usually something that erases all possible witticisms, commentary, facial expressions, etc from your mind. You could laugh, but then you'd have to explain yourself. You could get angry, but then you'd be angry for the rest of the day with no one to take it out on but your site mate. It's best to shrug, and then to detail it in your blog that no one reads.

- From a neighbor: "I've had chicken in Moscow. It was completely without taste. But Samtredia-- Samtredia has the best chickens IN THE WORLD! You cannot find a better chicken in any town in the world."

- From a host relative: "You've stopped eating bread? Then what will you eat?"

- From a teacher: "You can't give extra credit to students who help you after school. That's punishing the rest of the students."

- From a neighbor: "Why are you putting on your seat belt? Are you afraid? Don't worry, you're in the back seat; if we crash, you won't get hurt."

- From a host family friend: "To lose weight, don't eat anything before 12 o'clock. Then, have one kilo of matsoni with honey and coffee mixed in. Then don't eat anything until six o'clock. Then have another kilo of matsoni and a cucumber. Then don't eat anything for the rest of the night."

- From a villager: "It's terrible that the president is suggesting people get degrees abroad. Then what happens if the next president says foreign degrees are worthless?"

- From TV: "It's not safe to drink water with meals. The water turns the food to porridge in your stomach and makes it difficult to digest."

- From a medic: "It's possible that she fainted because it's cold outside and then she came inside where it's warm."

- From a host relative: "You're a slave, and I am free. I don't run around looking at my watch all the time. I do what I want, I don't work if I don't want to, I get places late, and I am free."

- From a taxi driver: "You can't wait that long to get married. Once you're 25 or 30, it becomes very difficult to conceive."

- From a parent: "Why haven't you assigned my son any long texts to memorize? He should be memorizing long texts every day."

- From a teacher: "Our country has lots of factories and manufacturing. The government should be able to pay for us to have cars and central heating like the Soviets did."

- From a teacher: "The weather forecaster said that it's going to reach 60 degrees (140 degrees Farenheit) this summer."

Then again...

- From an American: "Of course you didn't get need-based scholarships; your family's been in America for 400 years. You had your chance."

- From an American: "No, I don't eat breakfast; I'm fat enough!"

- From an American: "It's good that someone like you came to study in the city. There's no real point in me going to the country, what could I learn there?"