The folks from America's heartland may find themselves feeling out of place in Miami this weekend. If you live in Indianapolis, you are almost 3X as likely to run into someone with a BA as you are to run into someone who is bilingual. When in Miami, though, those numbers more than reverse: you are 4X more likely to run into someone who is bilingual than you are someone with a BA. The difference lies less in rates of education (27% vs. 20%) than in the percentage who are bilingual (79% vs. 10%).I think that the term is cultural shock. The talk of those who watched the game back home on TV will be about Peyton Manning's performance. The talk of those who went to the game will be about how they felt as though they were in another country.
And the fans from Chicago? I suspect that they'll come home talking about the weather.
[Graph from swivel.com, http://swivel.com/graphs/show/5409843 ]
2 comments:
I lived in Miami from '80 to '87. It is not a place for the insular. I do miss sitting in a restaurant with conversations in four or five languages going on at tables around me. Given the high here in Atlanta today, 38, compared to the high in Miami, 76, there are worse places to be.
Dave,
There are only a few big cities in the US that I have yet to visit - Miami is, sadly, on that list. Sounds fascinating.
Post a Comment