Etiquette in Suriname

Video Transcript

That's what they do. You go visit each other. People will drop by, and just talk, and just chat. It's nothing formal, people just talk all the time. I always make the joke that if you're getting ready to, if you wanna go, leave a situation, you have to announce it. Because you're not gonna leave for thirty, forty-five minutes after that. 'Cause people will then get up 'OK, I'm gonna leave now,' and then the conversation continues onto something else. There's just a lot of talk.

So I think you just have to be patient. And I think, especially coming from the [United] States, we tend to be impatient. The whole 'bottom-line, get to the point.' There's none of that. At least not in my experience. It's all about sitting down with people, talking, listening.

If you go visit, if you go to three homes, all three homes will offer you food and drink, and you better sit down and eat and drink with them. I don't care how full you are, just sit down and let them serve you, 'cause that's what is done. So it's all about that aspect. So I think if you allow that, everything will just come easily to you.

In this video, a native Surinamese gives advice on etiquette.