www.rahoi.com/2006/12/gwailophobia.php
One of the strangest phenomena I've ever experienced myself has got to be Gwailophobia(TM) I define it as the intense aversion to fellow expats while overseas. There is a moment when you're walking in a foreign country when you see someone from back home or thereabouts and you think, "Oh shit."
If you're speaking the local language, you don't lapse into English or German to ask, "American or Canadian? You stay on your side of the street, you pull your "girlfriend" a bit closer and you cast a furtive glare at the pale lanky redhead smiling and having a good old time in your country.
There are many explanations, but whatever the reason, it's an awkward situation, because it's usually felt on both sides. There is a tense moment where both sides wait for the other to make a move, and if neither does, and you pass like ships in the night, you're both conflicted for the rest of the day.
Gwailophobia has its roots in: 1 The Superman Effect - I bet when Zod, Ursa, and Non showed up, Superman was pissed, and not just cause they were psychos - he had to share hero status. You're a novelty here - you look different, you talk different, you're from a faraway place. You're relatively wealthy now - even living off your student loan or cashed-in savings bonds, your money has superpowers under this yellow sun. Everyone wants to talk to you - to learn English, to find out what life is like back home, or to get in your pants.
"I won't tell you how to ask for two women at once - sorry. The locals were just starting to accept you and you come back to the hut reeking of cheese and Drakkar Noir.
Broke, skinny, bookish, pale, fat, chafed by life, they come for the 5x bump in sexiness, the strong coin, and the instant Gwailebrity(TM) What kind of person leaves a great life back home to help some yokels finally get running water?
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