I decided some time ago while I was in high school that I would not be superficial. No meaningless smiles, compliments, invites, or bragging about myself. I’ve carried this behavior with me through the years with surprising ease. With this view on friendship, I don’t have a huge social network, but I feel like I have real friends. Interestingly, when I spent some time in Europe I found that my behavior completely confused the Europeans. They didn’t know how to react to me because I was obviously American (only knowing one language and all), but there I was not being “American”.
For example, a friend here hooked me up with a German family there. During our first get-together they must have realized that I was not a self-boisterous personality, and they immediately took the conversation into subjects of music, arts, geography, and history. But I couldn’t match their knowledge or wit. I left from their home feeling completely upset, but without a good grasp of whether there was something wrong with me, or them. After returning to their home a few more times they began to open-up (i.e., talk about the negative things in their lives). I’m still not completely sure about our interactions, so I really appreciate this blog entry and the other comment.

The platitudes shared by Europeans are different, but they are still platitudes. For example, the British discuss the weather with a fervor that makes you think weather is a recent arrival to the British isles.

😛