On Friday, while trying to clean up my computer, my external hard drive, which has all my movies and TV shows, stopped working. I tried fixing it on my own, which didn’t work. So I turned to the internet to find my answer. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the answer, so I asked for help in a couple of forums. Waiting for a reply was awful, so I distracted myself by keeping myself busy in my room away from my computer for the next couple of hours. Once I finally started to get some replies, it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to fix it. It was very frustrating.
So I made a conscious decision to spend all day Saturday not working on trying to fix my hard drive. I needed to step away from the problem. Once I stopped thinking about my hard drive, I had a rather pleasant day, and I realized how much I had been watching my movies over the last year. It was what I would automatically do when I was bored.
TV and movies have never been a big part of my life. When I was in school, we had the rule “no TV on weeknights”, so I clearly had other things I would do instead of watching TV when I was growing up. But once I was in college, I started watching TV and movies more and more. And I guess it has started to get to the point that this is what I automatically do when I get bored. It’s been particularly bad since I’ve joined the Peace Corps.
So I came up with list of things to do when bored. I wanted to think of better ways to spend my free time. And I needed to be realistic to the fact I might not be able to watch movies as frequently if I can’t fix my hard drive.
Luckily on Sunday, I found a way to fix it. It was quite a relief. Even though I have my movies and TV shows back, I want to remember all the other ways I can spend my free time. Hopefully, I’ll remember how much I enjoyed my free day without watching movies and therefore turn to more engaging actives to fill my free time.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Manners And Courtesy
When living in another country, it is very easy to notice the manners that are expected in America that are not practiced here. For example, there is no recognition to waiting in lines. I can’t tell you how many times I will be waiting for to speak with sales representative in a shop and another customer comes in and pushes him/herself in front of me without recognizing that I had been there first.
Along those lines, there seems to be little awareness of those around you in general. In addition to not noticing if someone was waiting before you, I have noticed people often stopping in the middle of traffic to do something personal, such as chat with a friend, and it clearly interrupts the flow.
And there is a general lacks customer service. Most of the time, I am helped without any kind of pleasantries. It is not expected to give waiters and waitresses tips, and you can see the difference in how they interact with the customers. Most of the time, you only seen the waiter/waitress three times: when they bring the menu, when they take your order, and when they bring your food.
Cell phones are a priority. No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, if you receive a call on your cell phone, you answer it. My partner teachers often answer their phones in the middle of class, no mater what we are doing. And when people answer their phones, they don’t leave the room. They just have the conversation there. When one doesn’t answer his or her phone, it is thought that something is wrong.
After a while, I have started to notice some different manners that are practiced here that are not always practiced in America. When celebrating or honoring someone at a party, everyone must give a toast to that person sometime throughout the night. And when you give a toast, you should clink your glass with everyone (for the much larger celebrations, clink your glass with everyone within reach). And when you clink glasses with someone, you should look them in the eye.
Also, you should be much more formal with those of authority. You should address your superior with the formal “you” and just generally addressing them very professional as opposed to casually. Students must show respect to teachers; teachers must show respect to the directors; directors must show respect to members of the Ministry of Education.
The hardest thing for me with understanding the manners that are and are not practiced in Moldova is that they are simply different. Moldovans are not rude for answering their cell phones in the middle of class if it is what is practiced here. It has been very difficult for me to not view these practices or lack of practices as rude. And while I still get annoyed sometimes, I am working hard to look at these situations from the view point of Moldovans. I’m also trying to understand these practices or lack of practices as simple different, not necessarily right and wrong or rude and polite. It’s just simply different. And it makes me wonder what I’m doing or not doing that is viewed as rude.
Along those lines, there seems to be little awareness of those around you in general. In addition to not noticing if someone was waiting before you, I have noticed people often stopping in the middle of traffic to do something personal, such as chat with a friend, and it clearly interrupts the flow.
And there is a general lacks customer service. Most of the time, I am helped without any kind of pleasantries. It is not expected to give waiters and waitresses tips, and you can see the difference in how they interact with the customers. Most of the time, you only seen the waiter/waitress three times: when they bring the menu, when they take your order, and when they bring your food.
Cell phones are a priority. No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, if you receive a call on your cell phone, you answer it. My partner teachers often answer their phones in the middle of class, no mater what we are doing. And when people answer their phones, they don’t leave the room. They just have the conversation there. When one doesn’t answer his or her phone, it is thought that something is wrong.
After a while, I have started to notice some different manners that are practiced here that are not always practiced in America. When celebrating or honoring someone at a party, everyone must give a toast to that person sometime throughout the night. And when you give a toast, you should clink your glass with everyone (for the much larger celebrations, clink your glass with everyone within reach). And when you clink glasses with someone, you should look them in the eye.
Also, you should be much more formal with those of authority. You should address your superior with the formal “you” and just generally addressing them very professional as opposed to casually. Students must show respect to teachers; teachers must show respect to the directors; directors must show respect to members of the Ministry of Education.
The hardest thing for me with understanding the manners that are and are not practiced in Moldova is that they are simply different. Moldovans are not rude for answering their cell phones in the middle of class if it is what is practiced here. It has been very difficult for me to not view these practices or lack of practices as rude. And while I still get annoyed sometimes, I am working hard to look at these situations from the view point of Moldovans. I’m also trying to understand these practices or lack of practices as simple different, not necessarily right and wrong or rude and polite. It’s just simply different. And it makes me wonder what I’m doing or not doing that is viewed as rude.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Moldova in a Nutshell
While visiting American this summer, I had to explain a lot about Moldova and how different or similar it is to America. So once I was back here, I really reflected on how I would describe Moldova in a nutshell.
The best way to describe Moldova is that it’s like the 80s with internet. Many of their practices and beliefs are similar those of the USA in the 80s, but you can see everyone with mostly current technology. The people are not particularly outgoingly friendly; however, once you have befriended them, they are very loyal to you and proud of you. Also, beauty and appearance is stressed, often to the expense of quality. And this is probably due to the fact that they don’t have the money to spend on quality items, so they make everything look as good as possible.
The best way to describe Moldova is that it’s like the 80s with internet. Many of their practices and beliefs are similar those of the USA in the 80s, but you can see everyone with mostly current technology. The people are not particularly outgoingly friendly; however, once you have befriended them, they are very loyal to you and proud of you. Also, beauty and appearance is stressed, often to the expense of quality. And this is probably due to the fact that they don’t have the money to spend on quality items, so they make everything look as good as possible.
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