After living here for some time, I’ve realized that there are some things that Georgians just simply find odd about Americans. Of course, I’m talking in broad brush strokes here. I’m writing in generalizations (on both respects- Americans and Georgians); however, there is truth to this pattern.
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That we want to live alone
When I first told my supervisor at work that I wanted to move out and I would appreciate if he kept an eye out for apartments, his first response was, “I know another great host family for you.” I said, “Oh, I don’t want another host family. My host family now is really great. I just want my own apartment with Justin.” He then was a bit worried about how I and Justin would manage to handle things on our own (see number 2 below). He did not understand why we needed our own space. Last week, I showed my English club this video. The National Geographic video highlights a man, Billy Burr, living alone in the Colorado woods. The point of the video was more along the lines of climate change. We were supposed to discuss climate change. When the video concluded, want to venture a guess what we ended talking about for twice the length of the video? “Why did he live alone?” “What happened to him that he is living alone?” So after explaining how living alone in America is not weird, I laughed and said, “It is funny how my take away is climate change and yours is him living alone. This is how you can tell we come from different cultures.” We both laughed and moved on to the lesson at hand.
My old neighborhood of my first apartment where we lived independently Georgians have an amazing sense of community and for the most part, they enjoy living together. Once, I delivered a training about “Identifying your Assets” to increase awareness of internal and external resources and talents that they could use to improve their employability chances. One of my students listed her neighbors as external assets. This is something I would have never thought of writing down. Coming from very large metropolitan and overcrowded cities in the United States, I sometimes had no idea who even lived next door to me. I’m sure that rural America has a stronger sense of local community than Los Angeles or San Francisco, but I wouldn’t know since I’ve never lived in rural America. Even in cities in Georgia have a strong sense of local community. Thus, that would be my guess why they cannot conceptualize why we would choose to live alone.
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That we know how to cook and fend for ourselves
This one is reserved mainly for the older generation. When I lived with my PST host family, the host mom joked that I will take her back with me so she can be my maid. I told her that my apartment was about 700 square feet and so I won’t need a maid. Apparently, all the American movies that she must have seen included only rich Americans with maids. She was thought I was pulling her leg when I told her that I do all the cleaning in my apartment. Correction- Justin and I do all the cleaning. I made sure to add Justin to break stereotypes when I talk to Georgians and also give credit where credit is due. My older colleagues at my office now were pleasantly surprised when I would bring leftovers that I cooked for lunch the next day. I seriously have no idea where this stereotype about Americans originated? Maybe because in TV shows and movies we tend to be eating at restaurants? Other Peace Corps Volunteers have also experienced the same thing from their colleagues or members of the community.
Prepping for Thanksgiving 2018 One of my Georgian friends, Ana, even confirmed this stereotype last week when we went out for some tea. I was telling her some weird conversations that I have had with other Georgians and she even confirmed this one with me. Honestly, I never know how to respond. I simply say, “yes, I love to cook and I enjoy doing it.” It is possible that my host families made these comments as an indirect way for wanting to continue to host us. My host families were in charge of providing meals for us on a daily basis. Maybe when I indicated that I wanted to cook in their homes, they felt that I no longer wanted them to host me? This is pure speculation- but I do know after 3 years living here at Georgians take pride in being great hosts to their guests.
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We exercise by choice and run for fun
I’ll just point out very quickly that I have yet to run recreationally in Georgia. Right before our Peace Corps departure date, I was training for a half-marathon for months. However, it is very odd to see someone running here for “fun” or “exercise.” I already stand out and I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with more ogling stares. It is a lazy excuse, I know. But nonetheless, it is the excuse that I’m sticking with. Other, more motivated, Peace Corps friends of mine have continued their running regime. They do get questioned why they are doing it and they do get stares during their runs.
There is a local central park in my town; however, I can’t recall seeing anyone run for recreational purposes I’ll also say that is odder for women to exercise than it is more fun. Georgian men participate in sports such as Rugby, heavy lifting, and boxing. I have male PCV friends that would go to their local gym and have a friendly boxing match with their local Georgian male friends. With the exception of large cities in Georgia, I do not believe that female sightings at gyms are very common. I live in a large city and I’ve been to an all-female gym in town. However, I do not think that participating in an active lifestyle is on the mind of an average Georgian outside of Tbilisi.
Somehow, Justin and I managed to pack our lives in 2 suitcases and 2 carry-on items per person. Basically, if my suitcases were human, they would not have room to eat one more bite on Thanksgiving dinner or their zippers would break open. Of course, Justin’s laptop bag decided to do just that. At the security line before our first flight, as Justin was putting back his laptop in the bag, the seam of one of the pockets wouldn’t close properly!