Post: #1

Well I seem to be really into these girls based on my track record. I simply love women from Eastern Europe.

Has anyone noticed a kind of sadness to them, like they cannot be truly happy? A kind of seriousness like something happened to them in the past.!

Your thoughts?

Post: #2

Once I talked to a Ukrainian girl and she acted like she survived the Chernobyl incident... So yes, I have noticed that.

Post: #3

oh definitely

even with the ones who have been living in the west for a while

even the nice & friendly ones tend to have a 0.0 sense of humour

Post: #4

(12-06-2010 09:56 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  Has anyone noticed a kind of sadness to them, like they cannot be truly happy? A kind of seriousness like something happened to them in the past.!

It is not sadness, it is self-restraint. Internally they're as happy as you (or even more), they just do not show it up because our culture taught us that we need to hide our feelings from strangers.

(12-06-2010 10:29 AM)zanetti Wrote:  even the nice & friendly ones tend to have a 0.0 sense of American humour

(corrected by me)
Humor is something which is defined by the culture, and defined differently in every culture. If you think American humor is something universal, which is widespread and accepted everywhere, this is a big mistake. For an expat this is usually the most difficult part of the culture to grasp, and a lot of people never could make it, no matter how long they lived in the country and proficient their language is.

First, there are things which are acceptable to laugh on and things which are not. For example, fart jokes are acceptable in USA but offensive in Russia. Racist jokes are acceptable in Russia - you can do one on a company meeting - but generally offensive in USA. When you're dealing with friends it is a little different, them being more tolerant to your jokes, but when you're dealing with strangers, an offensive joke may be enough to write you off. This is something one cannot get through no matter how long you loved in the country - I'm pretty sure I will never laugh on a fart joke.

Second, there are things which are based on known local traditions, celebrities, games and so on. Baseball joke? She has no idea what even the rules are, not to mention team names or players. Even after living five years in US I still keep a mile-high distance between me and anything related to baseball, and I'm sure it won't change until I die. Political joke? On Fri night the karaoke host made a joke about someone Glen Beks, who is some politician or whatever; I have no idea so it wasn't funny. Cartoons, movies, music - this all is part of culture, and all the jokes you make using those references may not be understandable to her at all.

One of a good examples of such a clever joke is Roosh's "car insurance" he uses in Bang. First time I've read it I thought something like "this is just lame, why would anyone actually laugh on that?" So I showed it to my American friends, and they all laughed and said it's quite interesting and funny. Of course their attempts to explain it to me failed.

Foreign humor is harder to learn than foreign language.

Post: #5

Oldnemesis - I take it you are russian!

Post: #6

Yeah every culture has its own unique ins and outs as far as jokes go. Old nemesis is correct that some things just never will transcend that cultural barrier.

In my experiences I found plenty in Common to laugh about in Central and South America. There were a few differences with the women culturaly, but the guys are good for a laugh about women, politics, race whatever. Same for Irish and English dudes, they def. have a different sense of humor but I could def. catch on after a bit. My extended family in Slovakia were a little different of course, we still found plenty in common, but the jokes were def different and needed a little work.

The most UN FUNNY people I have ever met were the Germans. I def liked Germany after a few weeks, but they def. have a weird and extremely dry sense of humor.

Post: #7

I myself don't understand Russian humor at all, even know I'm fluent. My American humor is dry but it is funny nonetheless.

Post: #8

+10 on Slavic chicks. They accept natural human tendencies more, therefore don't hate you because you want to do them, which is a bizarre aspect of USA women.

If USA chicks think they're too hot for you, they act like it's an insult for you to notice them. In contrast, Slavic/EE chicks somehow make it much more palatable when they blow you off, like at least they're genuinely happy you're into them.