I read people say online that Americans are loud. What does this mean, exactly? Is it literal volume or is it our personality/presentation? Something else?
I may be moving to Australia because of my wife’s job, and I want to better understand this. I want to assimilate and I don’t want to be annoying. I’m personally pretty low key and listen more than speak, but this is my perception of myself.
It’s very hard to explain. I’m not American but I’ve migrated to Australia. What you will find is a culture that is probably much more polite and considerate of others than American culture, and also, the culture here doesn’t appreciate individuality much. I’m painting this with broad generalizations so of course this will differ from person to person, but generally, this is my assessment.
Individuality isn’t overtly shunned, people will tell you to be you, but subconsciously you will find the real attitude is that people who stand out are also set apart, semi ostracized. It takes loads of charisma to stand out in a positive light here. This is the land of the tall poppy syndrome. Difficult to put in words, I would bet money you won’t notice upon your arrival, you’d be like “nah man that mothra dude on lemmy was talking shit, people here are super friendly” and then after a year or two you’ll see the pattern. It’s very subtle but very much there.
That makes total sense to me. Look at the culture, it’s about doing good for all (environmentally friendly, better healthcare for all, etc). I think you’re probably spot on.
Thank you for your answer. I’ll have to pay close attention to that if we end up moving there. Also, as a Godzilla fan I love your name!