Hi everyone. I'm still in Bangladesh! Obviously, I haven't been in school lately, nor have I had a chance to read my independent reading book from the school library, so I thought I would write about something different today.
What I have written below might seem a bit long, but it is very short compared to my actual thoughts. This is a short version, so if you feel that one should delve deeper for a topic like this, just remember that it's not full. The full version is in my head, and it might stay there.
So, I am in Bangladesh. Some of you may have heard of it, and some of you haven't. If you have, you probably think it's a country with a lot of poverty, floods sweeping the place constantly, or something like that. Well, it's not just that! It's the 8th most populated country in the world, and some of the most brilliant people in the world are from here. Almost EVERYTHING about this country is different from America. The cities, towns, roads, culture, language, lifestyle and routine... none of it is like the U.S. Every time I come to Bangladesh, I feel like I am entering another world with another life. I always still remember my home in America, but when I am in Bangladesh, I am another person. I do things differently.
Their language is called Bangla. I can't speak it fluently because, well, it's hard to learn a language when you're surrounded by English and Spanish speakers. The only reason I know a little Bangla is because my parents taught me some, along with English. They fully speak both languages. I may speak little Bangla, but I understand most of it. When someone speaks, I can pick up many words and put them together to form the main idea of what they're saying, but I can't answer back most of the time. It's REALLY annoying and hard not knowing how to talk with my own family. I want to talk with them SO badly but I can't! Luckily, they know a lot of English, so we can still communicate together. We just can't easily speak Bangla with each other.
You would think that if we can speak English together, then there's no problem having fun with each other. That is true, but to a certain extent. There's something about Bangla that is just so amazing. Speaking Bangla adds a whole level of effect when you talk. It's so funny! Honestly, I have laughed more in Bangladesh than I ever have in all my years in school. When someone speaks Bangla, it's done in such an attitude that you can't help but laugh, or at least smile. It doesn't even have to be Bangla! Even when they speak English, they're hilarious. Their attitude and personality ties it all together. Everyone's sense of humor is COMPLETELY superior compared to everyone back in America.
You probably know this, or you know it but you've never actually realized it: American humor is mostly just sarcasm. Every "joke" I hear at school is just some sad attempt at sarcasm. They all try to sound like a loser on purpose and ALWAYS say the opposite of what is really going on (sarcasm). Come on, how many times have you heard someone say "Wow... that's - that's great. Just great." Or maybe replace the word "great" with "sad" or something similar. Add a fake, dry, sarcastic laugh or chuckle at the end, and you have yourself a typical American sentence. That particular example is not a joke, but the jokes are just as bad. No one is actually funny here. Everyone is so fake, so dry, wrapping their minds on the internet and copying whatever nonsense they see on there.
In Bangladesh, it's completely different in every way. Everyone here is so real, so genuine, and so lively! I really can't explain it in words on a platform like this. It's hard to make up examples here because their personalities are just that real. Everyone has this common sense of unity. I really wish I knew how to explain this better, but I don't know how. As I said, I can't speak their language. I may understand a lot, but it's not complete. Despite this, I still laugh whenever my cousins mess around while speaking Bangla. Even if I didn't understand a word, their attitude made me laugh. Even when they speak in English, they're the funniest people ever! The way their community and lifestyles are have shaped their incredible personalities. It doesn't even have to be a joke - just a normal conversation can sound funny, or at least lively. Everyone in Bangladesh is like this. It's amazing.
Do people in Bangladesh use phones a lot? Oh yeah, they do. They have social media and all that. People of all ages use phones to watch videos, play games, etc. But they aren't as heavy on them as Americans are. In Bangladesh, we actually talk and play with each other. There's a sense of togetherness here. We don't pull out our phones every 2 minutes to press "Like" on something that we'll forget soon enough just to make ourselves look busy. Everyone here is considerate.
Why am I saying all this? I just wanted to make a point. I'm not saying America isn't cool. I love America. It's my home. America is wonderful, it really is. But there are other countries out there that are also wonderful, and some of these countries have better features than America. Not a lot of people know this. They think America is the best in everything. America is the best in a lot of things, but not everything. Different cultures can do the same things in a much better way sometimes, and in this particular example, it's their personality. It doesn't stop there, though. There are SO many forms of architecture and sight-seeing spots around the world that are unlike anything I've ever seen in America. America is amazing, but so is the rest of the world.
