continuation of the tragedy

So another day has passed and I find myself contemplating how similar AND different this culture deals with tragedy when compared to the United States. I first noticed the somber mood of everybody and the traditions that arise during times of nation wide sorrow, but on an individual basis I am seeing how awkward the subject is to talk about. The stampede that took place was without a doubt a horrible thing that people are clearly disturbed from, but certain reactions elicited are starting to surprise me.

When conversing with another Khmer about the stampede they will many times start smiling or laughing at certain things one should not laugh at. When I was discussing 9/11 with my tutor he would giggle when describing planes crashing into buildings and thousands of people dying. Yesterday when my family was discussing the stampede they were taunting ans laughing at me when I was acting so serious. They kept on asking me if I wanted to go see it and would always start snickering. The gravity of such a major event is completely sucked out of the room and they seem to either be oblivious to the enormity of it or simply laugh it off cause they don't know how to express deep sorrow and sadness. Throughout my time here... I am leaning towards the latter.

When people talk about anything serious they will talk with a sense of humor and immaturely giggle. It doesn't feel like they are doing this to make the situation lighter, but it truly seems they don't know how to properly express that human emotion. It is almost awkward because it is almost always something I would never laugh at and there way of bridging our differences in reactions. When I ask them something they don't know, they almost always will giggle like a child instead of expressing their true emotions and thoughts. Giggling and ignoring the serious of a situation is how this culture copes with stress and turmoil, and it is something I definitely cannot comprehend. The people of Cambodia know something horrific happened and they are doing things similar to America when it comes to donating money to disaster relief funds, holding ceremonies to honor the dead, and even changing their facebook profile pics to some honorable image the day they will seemingly never forget. But in essence they are very different on a person to person basis when it comes to personal conversation about the stampede. I guess this is just another difference I will write off as a cultural "thing".