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Hi Georgios,
You have lived in many places and have had the great privilege of experiencing the differences of culture in locations other than just your own home.
To me, one of the great advantages of an online community is the opportunity to experience the thoughts, opinions, and mannerisms of people from cultures that are unfamiliar to us. One of the major difficulties that many have in understanding the things going on in other countries is the inability to think outside of the culture they are familiar with. In order to understand the things that are happening in a foreign country, we need to understand how the people in that country think, what they believe, and how the express themselves.
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The temperament, culture, lifestyles are different form country to country and from continent to continent. When coomunicating medditteranean people use the overflow system to express themselves. You can see it in Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, South Americans. They scream, chat. They are high sounded, they use hand and the body to communicate. Central and Nothern Europeans, Americans use the so called underflow. They are more "cold", psychologically "calm", few words, clever words that make the other more nervouse in a discussion especcially in a quarrel.
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This is a VERY good point. I have had the privilege of living in a remote port town here in British Columbia, where people from all over the world come to live. It is what many would call a "melting pot," where many cultures live together in peace, eventually becoming and adding to the rich and unique culture that has been created there.
Yes, some cultures tend to be very animated and expressive in their communications, including yelling, even screaming, and using strong body language IN COMMUNICATING WITH FRIENDS! It is not offensive or the cause of offense; rather it is the passionate expression of thought and ideas to others.
However, the same kind of communication in other areas of the world would be considered offensive and could cause hurt and humiliation in a culture that is unused to this kind of expression. (what a shame)
My hope is that here in this community, people will realize that what may, at times, seem offensive to them as seen through the eyes of their own culture, may well, in fact, be being delivered in the truest spirit of friendship and love, with no idea of offense, by someone from a very different culture.
God bless,
Dave
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