My Experience with Intercultural Space Interaction
Photo by Bethany Schmall
When I lived in Austria this past summer, I noticed that space was something I was conscious of because it was different from my culture in the United States and our concept of space. In Austria I met a lot of different friends who lived and went to school in Vienna. From both observing myself and talking to people about this, I noticed that in Austria, people do not invite just anyone into their homes. People meet in public many times until their friendship is strong and stable enough to invite them into their home. When people describe their home in most cultures they will use words like warm, comfortable, safe, secure, happy, and peaceful. In the Austrian culture, inviting someone into a place you consider a sanctuary could be very invasive if you don’t know the person. That is why you have to fully trust people before you invite them into your home. I talked to my host mom, Lilo about this and she agreed that it is a trust thing. She gave me an example by asking me, “you wouldn't tell your darkest secret to someone you just met, would you?” In response I answered no, and she continued to say that your home is yours and something you own, something that is so special to you and a place that you should always feel safe and comfortable at. You would never want anyone to harm that comfort.
Being from the United Sates, I saw a large cultural difference in this. I don’t invite random people off the street into my home, but there have been countless times when friends have brought friends I have never met over. Even sometimes when I am hanging out with someone for the first time, I would invite them over to my house even after barely knowing them. My home is still very special to me, but it has never been a place that I felt uncomfortable sharing with anyone.
Being from the United Sates, I saw a large cultural difference in this. I don’t invite random people off the street into my home, but there have been countless times when friends have brought friends I have never met over. Even sometimes when I am hanging out with someone for the first time, I would invite them over to my house even after barely knowing them. My home is still very special to me, but it has never been a place that I felt uncomfortable sharing with anyone.