Social and Cultural

Living in a foreign country provides us with a lot of experiences - meeting new consumers, visiting exotic locations, tasting various foods, and communicating in a new language. Nonetheless, the most beneficial experience, I think, is gaining to know your self greater when away from every little thing familiar. From little on we have absorbed and assimilated numerous experiences, and have come to be predominantly familiar with our personal cultural group. In a foreign setting, we are challenged by extra frequent differences, and by way of these will find out what is distinctive about us. We will acquire out how we are several from and also similar to other individuals in the new culture and our personal culture by becoming aware of our personal likes and dislikes.

It is only natural that we look at the globe by means of our personal cultural glasses, tinted by our upbringing, and our background. By living in a foreign nation we have the unique opportunity to widen our view. We can compare and contrast our individual worldview with a distinct way of life, distinctive values and beliefs. The new culture becomes a mirror that challenges us to view the component of ourselves and of our personal culture that has previously been hidden from our conscious view.

The anthropologist Edward T. Hall says:
"[The] superb gift that the members of the human race have for each other is not exotic experiences but an opportunity to obtain awareness of the structure of their personal method, which can be accomplished only by interacting with other people who do not share that method" (Beyond Culture, pg. 44).

To this I would like to add, that in addition to achieving awareness of the structure of our own culture, we also obtain insight into our own personal structure considering the fact that we all are exclusive in a quite personal way. We'll obtain out what is genuinely valuable to us by experiencing its absence. We'll turn out to be conscious of our preferred or habitual way of communicating by being exposed to a new style of communication. We could possibly comprehend that the idea of time, or punctuality, is not viewed the similar everywhere, and what our preferred way is, and so on.

So, living in a foreign nation will not only give us insight into the new culture, but extra importantly, will give us deeper understanding of our own familiar cultural and personal make-up. Reflection on these insights in return will help us to completely honor and appreciate our cross-cultural expertise and enable us to integrate this encounter into our core getting. I believe, this will make us a great deal more tolerant and much less judgmental and let us to really feel our interconnectedness to the rest of the globe.
Copyright © 2009 lisavel.com. All Rights Reserved.