only until recently did i understand the difference between a tornado watch and warning. this issue may be a source of confusion to a multitude of people,that confusion then translating into the topic of casual conversation and the smallest of talk.
but for us foreigners, we know the cultural areas to focus on and fight to acquire, in order to prove, mainly to ourselves, that we are not FOBs (fresh off the boat) . A few years after hitting shore, after the initial self-deluded FOB-denial phase has passed, and we acknowledge our initial condition, we vow to be born again and strive to slowly shed our persistent FOBiness as we grow in visa years.
tornadoes and the weather are not covered by the doctrine of fitting in.
Acceptable initial steps after cross-cultural baptism:
acquiring an acceptable accent that makes the overworked and minimally tipped lady at starbucks understand you need waaaate' instead of the phonetically correct wo-ter, taught to you devotedly in school,
acknowledging college sports as the gods of ever-changing and ever-returning seasons even if not endorsing them,
learning that no one will invite you twice for coffee, or offer you M&Ms more than once because you politely refused the first time, thinking you were visiting your mom's second cousin's great-uncle's widow (as the tradition is for the pope to refuse the conclave's decision twice before solemnly wearing - in my opinion that which would have made Simon-Peter cut the designer's both ears, and more than likely, delicate hands)
what a liberating realization. yes please, no thank you, how very few occasions to clearly express you desires and be on your way
this is a young country, and to catch up with the millennia of brother continents, has had to abandon, the triurne negation tradition. There are many facets of freedom. That was one of mine, gained after years of claustrophobic mathematics of convention.
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