Did you ever have to or choose to read one of Thomas Freedman’s works? Best know for his commentaries on the globalization and “flattening” or the world, it’s economies, and its cultures his works, and others like them, are often discussed in relation to studying abroad. (Wiki summary here) While I imagine the sharp contrasts between the arguments made in Freedman’s book and what is often the reality is would be sharply visible in third world countries it surprises me what I can see even here.
Living in the protected bubble that is the USA I imagined myself a global citizen. I imagined I would come here, to Europe an informed citizen, and I am, but only in comparison to other Americans. I have learned a great deal about the Europe and it’s politics since arriving, though it only emphasizes how much I don’t know.
My story (however brief) is not unique. I know I have friends here who feel the same way as me, but what do you, the world wide web, think. Wait, don’t tell me yet. Watch the video, it is not very long. What was your reaction? Whatever it is, whether you tell me or not, I bet it will leave you thinking.
Until next time.
~H
One Woman Seeking Palma 
What’s this… the opposite might be true? …Well maybe there is a single word for “one lumpy planet” in a different language.
I think everyone is aware people are different everywhere and have different conventions, but that doesn’t make them any more likely to be happy to have change them. I would hope that I am clever enough to pick up different conventions even if they seem backwards to me, but I don’t know all of the ways I might be challenged overseas. Sometimes is seems that you have experienced questions you didn’t even think could be asked of you.
On the same note you often read arguments about who or where does things best. Metric vs Imperial units, date format, or even street numbering is when you boil it down quite trivial, one could easily learn both, but we are ingrained to prefer one. Maybe instead of arguing about what is better we should think about why that system is in place.
What could we learn about Japanese people from the fact that they number houses by when they were built? That they place great respect on age and seniority? That it was easier to do that in rural areas? Why don’t we do it in the US? Because we are more forward thinking and not tied to the past as much? Because we value consistency more? I am not sure, but I am sure this would make a more interesting discussion than an argument!
This post is invalid because it says “word: and then follows with 3 words.
Only because you wrote such a thoughtful response above are you not a complete twat. 🙂