Yo, I went to South Korea once¹
¹been at airport waiting for a transfer flight to the US
But okay for real, I’ve been to China.¹ I’m a legit international traveller! 😏
¹Was born there lol. Does immigration technically count as “travelling”?
Comment on What common American habits do people find quietly annoying?
CombatWombatEsq@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Pretending they’re well travelled by bragging about how many states they’ve visited.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
Nasan@sopuli.xyz 3 days ago
If you made it out of the airport, I’d say that counts. I’ve connected in South Korea and Taiwan several times since i was a kid, but never long enough of a layover to make it out of the airport.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
No we just waited in the building for like idk 10 hours it felt like.
It must’ve been so boring since I don’t remember much if it.
But I do remember being at a store in the airport and saw something cost like 10,000 and kid-me was like: “omg why is it so expensive? is every foreign country this rich?” (keep in mind, I think I was literally the only one in my entire school and out of everyone I know, that was emigrating, at least to my knowledge, so it felt like a sort of “privilage” to kid-me)
Then my dad was like: “That Korean money, its like [$5-$10 USD]” that’s the moment I learned of the existence of other currencies, mind… blown… not everyone uses the same money.
Lol, naïve young me was so funny.
Idk why but I think I felt a bit anxious.
My mom told me to not share the fact that I was about to immigrating to the US to any of my peers, to keep it a secret because “people might get jealous”.
So in my mind I immediately thought like some “bad guy” is gonna assassinate my family if it got leaked. (I was like 7, my thoughts went wild okay lol)
I’m not sure how long I keep it in me, I think I might’ve told classmates like the last month or so… right before we left… don’t remember
So yea…
I always dwell on the past and think of alt-timelines… like what if that never happened and I was still in China… would I have found out about the internet outside of the wall?
Would I have made more friends? (since I would’ve never got the language barrier issue that damaged my self-esteem)
Would there be no bullying? I mean no racial differences… so might’ve been less conflicts…
But then again, this current timeline… this unique experience allowed me to understand multiculturalism and be more accepting of people of different national origins and different skin colors, and I understand LGBT stuff more.
So yea… this is an interesting timeline, my story has been kinda interesting… hopefully the future and ending is just as interesting if not more interesting.
Nasan@sopuli.xyz 3 days ago
Then my dad was like: “That Korean money, its like [$5-$10 USD]” that’s the moment I learned of the existence of other currencies, mind… blown… not everyone uses the same money.
I remember my experience with that. Doing the math in my head and realizing how much more expensive things were at the airport in Tokyo-Narita than the electronics shops around Bangkok.
Would I have made more friends? (since I would’ve never got the language barrier issue that damaged my self-esteem)
Do you mean learning English later than your peers? If so, I had a similar experience. I didn’t learn English until kindergarten and it made it harder to make friends. Though there were other factors (big one being my dad was paranoid about me being kidnapped by the parents of other students, so I never got to hang out with any of them outside of school), I think they outcome is largely the same. Especially if the other kids were the type to let that be a dealbreaker for engaging with you. I found it easier to get to know other students to whom English was a second language.
Would there be no bullying? I mean no racial differences… so might’ve been less conflicts…
Somehow in my case, I saw more white kids getting bullied by other white kids than I ever experienced of myself or other people of color I went to school with. Though I suppose I was one of the few in my graduating class. Also somehow I managed to gain a reputation for being one of “the least Asian” kids at the school. Of which there were maybe 10 during any given school year.
14th_cylon@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
that is not exclusively american thing
expr@programming.dev 3 days ago
I certainly wouldn’t call that “well-traveled” and bragging is kinda dumb in general, but it is worth pointing out that the US does have a huge diversity of different cultures, demographics, and environs in different states (so much so that they can often feel like different countries), so it’s perhaps not as quaint as it sounds. It’s not like traveling within a European country. Much closer to traveling within the EU.
Still would never call that being “well-traveled”, though.