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163 sats \ 8 replies \ @optimism 11 May \ on: Why DIDN'T Travel Bring the World Together? (Financial Times, Janan Ganesh) AskSN
I think that the average vacation doesn't instill any respect for local culture even if you're taking the "cultural" approach: vacation is selfish time. Just because you can sit in a foreign resort of the Marriott or Hyatt kind, that has great steak and cocktails - if you're unlucky you even meet a local taxi driver while you're on your way there from the airport - does not expose you to said foreign culture at all.
Your full service corporate apartment while you dine out every night doesn't either. It takes years to get a true feel for culture in places that are different from what you know, and then there's a great chance that you don't like it anyway. I personally didn't like 3 out of 5 foreign cultures I lived in for over 2 years.
Tolerance is a mindset. It may help you, if you're 13th century Spain so you can figure out navigation with the help of foreigners, 16th century Holland so you can improve capitalism and fractional ownership, 20th century America so you can define excellence to new heights. The point being that there is a common target.
I think that there is a significant portion of Bitcoiners that are actually tolerant towards different cultures. Because we have a common goal too.
So I'd argue: bitcoin, not vacay.
Totally agree, travel is overrated as a metric or measure to build worldview or cultural tolerance.
I am an expatriate living in Hong Kong, and cannot stand it. Most locals are loud, uncouth, can barely speak any English at all, and I do not find anything worth exploring in terms of culture. But I like the low tax, my decent paycheque and relative economic freedom (to stack satoshis without capital gains taxes or KYC).
Travel is not what it is touted to be in most of western media.
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Do you like working in HK? I only was there (lived @ Jordan, worked @ Kowloon Bay) for less than 8 months in total, so I never really integrated into local society. However I did like the work culture, but that could've been 100% luck and credit to awesome colleagues.
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As a Singaporean, I’m curious to know how you would describe the working culture in Hong Kong (and see if it bears similarities and differences to Singapore’s)
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I'm not confident that my single org, short stint, as an outside contractor, long ago would be representative. Also I think I'd mostly describe my experience relative to North America and Europe as that's where I've worked most my life. So I'm not the right person to ask.
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I see!
Did you enjoy the dim sum and goose meat then?
Work is stressful occasionally but I can take it. I mean, it pays the bill and I didn't expect it to be not stressful. Think it depends more on the company culture than HK. It's an American company, so quite a diverse workforce.
I don't really like living here as such, the language barrier is a part of it, and people in general seem quite shallow. Cannot really hold a conversation, and refuse much interaction without local language. But I an new here as well (6 ish months) so maybe it will change. Also, the food does not really agree with my bud.
Kowloon bay is an interesting area, have not explored though. Happy to know you moved out, hope you are happy wherever you are.
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vacation is selfish time. Just because you can sit in a foreign resort of the Marriott or Hyatt kind, that has great steak and cocktails - if you're unlucky you even meet a local taxi driver while you're on your way there from the airport - does not expose you to said foreign culture at all.
This, exactly.
Also love your bitcoin, not vacay.
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