scared and underprepared

america is a lousy teacher of love.  what it has taught me is to be guarded and gamey.  be subtle, but not too subtle.  show interest, but play hard to get.  make them chase you, but only so far.  use smoke-screens and thick innuendos.  this is how we do it in the grand old US of A.

it is not how they do it elsewhere, however.

i spend much of my time with boys from elsewhere.  and i am baffled, flummoxed, bewildered, bemused, stumped, fazed, and mystified by how they date.  because it is ALL up front.  you think your teacher is pretty?  tell her.  every day.  no deceit.  no propriety.  just the truth.  you meet a stranger outside of your school and think she's beautiful?  get her number and text her about it 5 minutes later.  just say it.  send pictures of yourself.  call repeatedly leaving messages every time.  but nevermind that, as an american, she has no clue what to do with your outright advances.

this is a text conversation i had today:

him, "hei katie i hope i see you soon at some party..."
me, "i hope i see you too."
him, "someone told me you're a really good dancer, right?
me, "haha, i don't know.  i think that you are probably much better."
him, "let see.  i'd like to dance with you someday"
me, "let's see..."

here i am sounding hopelessly, coldly, protectedly american.  he says he wants to dance.  i say "let's see", which isn't an answer nor is it grammatically correct.  i responded like a parrot, using his own words, unwilling, perhaps unable? to tell him i'd like to dance with him someday too and that i've been using my roommate's brazilian butt work out for weeks for just such an event.

now, in my defense, this particular conversation is a little bit more complicated because he is the best friend of my original ELC international crush.  my flirting capabilities with these boys are already at half-mast, but add stepping on best friends' toes and i am a fish completely out of water, flopping around, gulping for H2O saturated air.

but do they care?

or do they just share?