Americans have this weird thing called personal space

We recently received a handbook to give to our host families at our permanent site, which gives the families information (in the native language and English) about the Peace Corps, Americans, and what to do in situations like medical emergencies. The way that some of the explanations are worded regarding Americans and their characteristics is quite humorous and/or interesting, to us Americans at least, and give a good idea of the cultural differences present between South Africa and the United States. I have included some of the best excerpts below typed exactly as they appear in the handbook with my comments afterward. Whenever I refer to “South Africans”, this is based on my experience which has been almost exclusively with black South Africans. From my limited contact with and understanding of white South Africans, it seems their culture is more closely aligned to that of America.

HANDBOOK: Many people think that Americans are white people only, but that is not true. There are people from various racial descents, white people, black people, coloured* people, Indians, Chinese, Jews, Hispanic and many other races. Americans do not refer to each other according to colour or race. We, as South Africans, know that we refer to one another as whites, blacks, coloureds, Indians, Chinese, etcetera, but they just refer to one another as people. In other words, they do not use a person’s race to classify them.

ME: Most South Africans are aware that there are black Americans because of the celebrities such as Beyonce and Jay Z that they see on TV. In my experience, though, they are not aware of just how much of the American population is non-white. Speaking of race, I am sure some Americans reading the handbook statement above might object to the statement that we don’t refer to each other “according to colour or race.” Compared to South Africans, however, we really don’t. South Africans use terms such as “the blacks”, “the whites”, “the Asians”, or “the coloureds” much more unreservedly and casually than Americans. Also, just to avoid any confusion, people who were born to parents of different races such as a black woman and a white man are referred to in South African English as “coloured”. The term is not considered offensive like it is in the United States.

HANDBOOK: Americans have what they call personal space. This includes being afforded time to be on their own, either to write letters or to meditate or simply to rest. When we see one of them locking themselves up to be on their own, we think they are sick or have a problem, but it is acceptable in the culture of the Americans to frequently have time by themselves.

ME: South Africa is a very social society and people many times find it incomprehensible that someone would want or need to have some time on their own. I’m sure many readers can understand that this lack of alone time or the negative response received when one retreats to be by themselves can be quite maddening for some volunteers.

HANDBOOK: South Africans have different kinds of domestic animals. Some of this (sic) animals are used for labour/transport while cats are kept to control the spread of mice and other unwanted bugs. South Africans keep dogs for security purpose (sic). Americans keep different kinds of animals as pets. They commonly keep dogs and cats as pets, but may also keep birds and many other different animals. They love their animals a lot, put a lot of effort into caring for them and alos (sic) spent (sic) a lot of money.

ME: As mentioned above, I have typed these statements, aside from the “(sic)” additions, exactly as they appear in the handbook. “(sic)” shows that the error is attributable to the original document, not my own mistyping. I personally would have preferred that the final draft have undergone a bit more proofreading, but there is a saying here that anyone who has seen the movie “Blood Diamonds” will be familiar with: TIA i.e. This Is Africa. Typographical and grammar mistakes aside, there really is a large divide between how Americans and South Africans view domestic animals. Most South Africans do not view their animals as pets to be loved, adored, and played with. I have yet to see a South African domestic animal that is allowed in the house. This helps explain why the author of the handbook was so intent on communicating that Americans do “a lot” with their pets.

There are several other comments I think are worthy of sharing, but this is a blog post and not a magazine article, so I will save them for later. To all my readers out there, sala sentle (stay well).