Living abroad, you come to learn that many concepts and attributes you'd always assumed were universal among all humans are anything but. As an American, I've learned that not all people around the world crave personal glory. Many cultures don't see humor in people's shortcomings. It is only in certain cultures where people aren't compelled to assert their opinions.
But after 12 years of living abroad, I'm convinced that geeks are geeks, universally.
I'll cite examples from my experience in Japan, the most different of any culture. If you think of any from others, let me know.
Japanese are very guarded and private. They have no inclination to spontaneously share their personal details with anyone. The exception is geekdomn. I've been coaching one man with outstanding English skills for years. It's not until years into our relationship that he reveals a passion for marathon running, high fluency in Viet Namese, and a first-name relationship with former president Jimmy Carter. But when I mention I saw the latest Spiderman movie, he doesn't hesitate to divulge his lifelong fascination with the X-Men and how he used to be a manga artist.
Japanese are loath to show-off, but on mention of my five text blogs, my neighbor whose name I still don't know tells me all about her 11 media blogs and here monthly stats.
Japanese staff NEVER make idle conversation with customers, or talk about their own personal lives. At PC Depot, buying a keyboard and checking that it's XP compliant, I quip that I'm not ready to switch to Vista and the clerk ringing me up laughs that he uses XP, too and goes on about why.
In Japan, such behavior would be unusual out side the geek-verse, but within our private coven we're all the same in more ways you'd ever imagine.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Falling for Hockey
Falling for Hockey
Okay, I’ve been playing parent’s hockey for a month, now. It’s my first experience with ice hockey. This is a little side-thing that the rink offers most Saturdays for parents of kids doing hockey on the other half of the ice. It’s great exercise, some of the best I’ve ever had. But of course the skating takes some time to learn. I realized from the start that I was going to have to fall down a few times before I could start making progress. With all the pads, it wouldn’t really hurt all that much. Only problem is: I don’t fall down that much. I spent countless years with modern dance, ballet and ballroom. I’ve also over done seven years aikido, judo, kick boxing. That and five years of roller-blading, I just don’t go down that easily. I’ve tumbled down stairs and landed on my feet. So here is where good balance works against me. No fall—no progress. But on the sixth session, I finally went down, and it felt great. I fell twice, and by the end, I could feel the skills unlocking in me. But the best fall was at the end. I tried to swing my legs back over the rail, the way the big boys do. First swing, but my leg didn’t go high enough. Second—turns out my legs were too tight after practice so when I threw one up, the other followed close behind. People on the other side of the wall just saw my legs go up and my head go back in high vaudeville style. It was the funniest thing they’d seen in ages. I can only imagine. I’m just glad someone saw it.
Okay, I’ve been playing parent’s hockey for a month, now. It’s my first experience with ice hockey. This is a little side-thing that the rink offers most Saturdays for parents of kids doing hockey on the other half of the ice. It’s great exercise, some of the best I’ve ever had. But of course the skating takes some time to learn. I realized from the start that I was going to have to fall down a few times before I could start making progress. With all the pads, it wouldn’t really hurt all that much. Only problem is: I don’t fall down that much. I spent countless years with modern dance, ballet and ballroom. I’ve also over done seven years aikido, judo, kick boxing. That and five years of roller-blading, I just don’t go down that easily. I’ve tumbled down stairs and landed on my feet. So here is where good balance works against me. No fall—no progress. But on the sixth session, I finally went down, and it felt great. I fell twice, and by the end, I could feel the skills unlocking in me. But the best fall was at the end. I tried to swing my legs back over the rail, the way the big boys do. First swing, but my leg didn’t go high enough. Second—turns out my legs were too tight after practice so when I threw one up, the other followed close behind. People on the other side of the wall just saw my legs go up and my head go back in high vaudeville style. It was the funniest thing they’d seen in ages. I can only imagine. I’m just glad someone saw it.
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