DukeJanTheGrey wrote:
Nope, I don't really relate to any culture really. The art, music, literature and what not that I appropriate come literally from all over the shop. As for customs and social ritual go, I don't care for that much, I can't stand formality and regardless of the situation I like to push the boundaries to a place I am comfortable with. On a human level though I tend to relate with the underdog or outsider regardless of there background as we will always have much in common. I don't care for race, It's a silly concept.
I agree with all of this.
I think there is a way that it can seem slightly easier dealing with other cultures, as long as the contact is superficial, that stems from the degree of alienation that you feel in the culture of your family of origin. It is strange that you are an outsider in your own culture, but when you are meeting people from a foreign culture the degree to which you are an outsider because of autistic traits is masked by the degree to which you are outsider because your are not from the same culture. Being a foreigner can mask the "wrong planet" feeling.
But if you immerse yourself in another culture and begin to learn its ways in depth, you will soon find that you are still on the wrong planet after all.
And the people you deal with will gradually stop making excuses for your miscommunications based on your foreigner status and start realizing that there is a strangeness that is intrinsic to you.