Getting to Know Locals - Advice For the Backpacker
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.
- James Michener General There are many online communities where you can meet people from the country you will visit such as Orkut, Virtual Tourist, Hospitality Club, My Language Exchange (a great place for learning another language).
These sites all have different focus but they bring together people from all over the world.
Make contact with locals over the Internet and then meet up in real life for a tour of the city, a cup of coffee or a drink.
You can also meet people on regular web communities such as Facebook or MySpace.
Check the local newspaper to see which activities are going on.
If you have a hobby back home, perhaps there are some similar local activities you could join? You can also read up on local news which is a great way to get into conversations with the locals.
Find the local newspaper online and read up on what happens locally.
In many tourist places there are students who want to meet foreigners to practice their English.
This can be a fun way to meet the locals and they usually have some information on the site where you meet them.
Unfortunately there are sometimes people claiming to be students just to be able to sell you something later on.
If you want to find out about different cultures of the world you may want to look at the research being done by Geert Hofstede which describes different cultures according to five different dimensions.
Children Children can be a lot of fun.
They are usually very curious and will run after you screaming Helloooooooooooo! and wave.
Unfortunately some tourists have taught them that tourists = gifts, and they start begging for money, pens, candy or whatever.
If you really want to make a difference, give money to a charity organization in the country you visit or buy material (e.
g.
pens/stationary) and give to the local school.
You can play the same games with the children abroad as you do at home e.
g.
peek-a-boo or make funny faces.
If they follow you turn around, make a monstrous face and start chasing them.
Put your sunglasses on upside down.
Use your imagination.
If you want to amaze the children you can learn some simple magic tricks like coin vanish.
A good DVD with simple to learn tricks which do not require elaborate setup is Jay Sankeys DVD - amazing tricks with everyday objects.
You can also learn to make some figures with hand shadows to entertain children.
Losing face Losing face is a very serious issue in some parts of the world.
If you lose face you lose the respect of others who will look down on you.
This may mean that people will tell you a lie when they do not know the answer (but should know) in order not to lose face.
If you ask for directions and they do not know they may point in a direction instead of admitting that they do not know.
- James Michener General There are many online communities where you can meet people from the country you will visit such as Orkut, Virtual Tourist, Hospitality Club, My Language Exchange (a great place for learning another language).
These sites all have different focus but they bring together people from all over the world.
Make contact with locals over the Internet and then meet up in real life for a tour of the city, a cup of coffee or a drink.
You can also meet people on regular web communities such as Facebook or MySpace.
Check the local newspaper to see which activities are going on.
If you have a hobby back home, perhaps there are some similar local activities you could join? You can also read up on local news which is a great way to get into conversations with the locals.
Find the local newspaper online and read up on what happens locally.
In many tourist places there are students who want to meet foreigners to practice their English.
This can be a fun way to meet the locals and they usually have some information on the site where you meet them.
Unfortunately there are sometimes people claiming to be students just to be able to sell you something later on.
If you want to find out about different cultures of the world you may want to look at the research being done by Geert Hofstede which describes different cultures according to five different dimensions.
Children Children can be a lot of fun.
They are usually very curious and will run after you screaming Helloooooooooooo! and wave.
Unfortunately some tourists have taught them that tourists = gifts, and they start begging for money, pens, candy or whatever.
If you really want to make a difference, give money to a charity organization in the country you visit or buy material (e.
g.
pens/stationary) and give to the local school.
You can play the same games with the children abroad as you do at home e.
g.
peek-a-boo or make funny faces.
If they follow you turn around, make a monstrous face and start chasing them.
Put your sunglasses on upside down.
Use your imagination.
If you want to amaze the children you can learn some simple magic tricks like coin vanish.
A good DVD with simple to learn tricks which do not require elaborate setup is Jay Sankeys DVD - amazing tricks with everyday objects.
You can also learn to make some figures with hand shadows to entertain children.
Losing face Losing face is a very serious issue in some parts of the world.
If you lose face you lose the respect of others who will look down on you.
This may mean that people will tell you a lie when they do not know the answer (but should know) in order not to lose face.
If you ask for directions and they do not know they may point in a direction instead of admitting that they do not know.