Same here in Georgia. A good 90% of the people I know from Europe and NA are stingy, whereas here, I haven't met one person who hasn't insisted on paying.
Small rant/story: there was this one guy I knew who migrated here from Europe, and I paid for his lunches for the past year, refusing to let him pay for it himself. I'd use the fact that he doesn't know the language to speak up to the cashier, and tell them in the native language that I'd be paying (worked without fail, lol). The second that I asked him to buy me some KFC and a Coffee because I didn't have enough money that day, his friends from home insisted that he start a debt list. They also tell him to refuse the gifts I give because he would then "have to make it up to me by buying gifts in return". I guess it's just more transactional culture in the west, dunno.
Same here in Georgia. A good 90% of the people I know from Europe and NA are stingy, whereas here, I haven't met one person who hasn't insisted on paying.
Small rant/story: there was this one guy I knew who migrated here from Europe, and I paid for his lunches for the past year, refusing to let him pay for it himself. I'd use the fact that he doesn't know the language to speak up to the cashier, and tell them in the native language that I'd be paying (worked without fail, lol). The second that I asked him to buy me some KFC and a Coffee because I didn't have enough money that day, his friends from home insisted that he start a debt list. They also tell him to refuse the gifts I give because he would then "have to make it up to me by buying gifts in return". I guess it's just more transactional culture in the west, dunno.
there's a linguistic link between the words "author", person who writes for a living, and "authority", an entrenched structure of power.
I think, in the beginning, the difference is knowing when to stop writing. Keeping friendly acts on a ledger is very much far far past that point.