An acquaintance in your home.

So how is it with the MG members from different countries.
In India the home is always open. Simply put, any household rich or poor, a guest is always welcomed - and a room is available, FOREVER - for a relative stranger.
I ask this, because people from the west, have often told me that, while they would entertain, Vine & Dine and blah blah - the open home/invitation(FOR THE NIGHT) is not a norm.
Cheers.......

 

Ok, ladies, I suss, the home is not privy to an Alien. :-D
How do the guys feel.

 

Short and simple. Come over, have a great time, eat drink... Then get the heck out! :-D Unless you are a good looking female with low morals!

I have lived alone for so long it is strange to have people around for an extended time.

 

I like hospitality, both giving and receiving. In fact, I just had a pleasant evening and dinner today, (and they were Indian too, as it happens). But, to be honest, unless I was helping someone out for a while, staying (semi)permanently,....ermmm No!

I know, in a lot of mid-east and African places, the hospitality to strangers custom partly stems from a survival thing. (e.g. If one is travelling in the mid-east and needs food, drink and shelter, you offer it without question, because it may me YOU, or your family one day.) The west tends to be a lot more insular these days.

 

Hey, I may be lonely, but I got standards! :-D

 

I've had family members stay for months when in need, a close friend from childhood has been an extended guest for months a few times. Don't like it but you do what you got to do... don't have the heart to say no but give them the door after given a chance to get on their feet again. Out of town friends for a week at most but goes both ways and enjoy their visit. Stranger - no way, just not safe here, is that safe in India?

Edit: maybe I should clarify stranger... Kes would not be a stranger, she would be welcome if visiting even though I do not know her in person, I know her.

 

Grabs the gun an locks and loads... :-D Don't know whose house Tim is heading to... :-D

 

Well, we know it's not yours. He might be able to convincingly fake the female part, but the beard just wouldn't be good looking at that point... :-D

 

Yeah, so you say Mimsy. That eyeball avatar is just creepy. I am just being prepared. :-D

 

I thought it was the eye of Sauron? :confused

 

Yeah, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauron I feel so much better now! :-D

 

I googled for the link. Read all the books several times Laura! :-D

 

dont come by my home timmy heeee heeee ! I gots a big stick a poke in the eye with a big stick!!!heeee stop nappping i cant see your eye!! come open them , hey !!!!wake up!!!:-D

 

I live in the USA, and I rent from my sister, so it wouldn't really be my decision. My sister has 3 children under the age of 8, so having a complete stranger in the house is not really an option. Friends and family members are another issue.

 

Sounds about right - spare room=my dumping ground

 

Interesting thread Sikvik, thanks for starting it.

I've lived in several different cultural places as well as countries and lifestyles, and each has had a different flavor.

When I was a student in England I was in the minority in a highly asian community. The area was very welcoming and the neighbors and their girls all taught me and shared indian cuisine with me. It's how I learned the art of cooking genuine curries :drool

I've also lived in a narrowboat in England - while within the narrowboat community everyone was very "what I have is yours if you have a need" that was not the view of middle class society, who frowned on the lifestyle (even if you were gainfully employed).

In southern/southwestern UK the lifestyle I found to be very "I'm alright Jack". Having been in the biker culture for most of my life, this attitude was very foreign to me, though I understand being cautious as life is not so predictable anymore, and neither are people. The further north I traveled the more diluted that became, until you hit Scotland. The Scots just rock - what an awesome bunch of people who open the hearts and hearths to all.

In the US everyone seems to have time to give you a smile and a kind word. I've had eastcoasters offer me the keys to their home as they head out for the week so I don't have to stay at a hotel, even though I've never met them before but I know their buddy down the street! Over here on the west coast as many of you know we've had neighbors turn up to help us out the blue with remodeling projects and they bring in their electrical and plumbing buddies with them who we don't know, who do their part at no cost to us. In fact it is hard to get them to take money to go buy dinner afterwards.

When living in the UK I used to visit a 40+ chatroom and got to know many cool people there all over the world. We set up meetings all over the world and I traveled from the UK to Canada to USA to Mexico and back, having people open their doors and pantries to me all over the world. It was an amazing experience.

An acquaintance in my home? Sure! Recently had to do this for a young lady I didn't really know (my husband did) who was very sick and would have died. Several people here I have given open invite to come and stay. You'll get waited on the first night, but after that you know where the kitchen is - help yourself Also lent a daughter's friend our car when she hit bad times with agreement she pay it in installments over a year - she stole it and we never saw her or the car after about month 4. C'est la vie.

Getting to know people is fun - the internet alone doesn't do any of us justice as it leaves the door wide open to assumptions, pre-conceptions and judgments based on an array of words that bear little or no intonation.

 

Wow Lev, quite the diverse past you have had!