One of the best things that could have happened to me was that I ended up staying in a student dorm (the living conditions were horrible there, but that's another story ;)). The other students living there basically came from everywhere: England, USA, Mexico, Japan, India, Italy, Denmark, France, Australia, etc. We got to know each other very well and regularly cooked together, made trips or went out at night. Spending so much time together also makes you realize how different cultures can be from each other. It's not only the way you express yourself or what you eat, it's also what you consider to be polite, how you approach other people and how much personal space you need (I now know that some people get scared when you want to hug them to say goodbye!).
I think learning this and also learning to accept it and how to deal with it makes you much more open-minded and just broadens your horizon. And all the cultural differences put aside - in the end we are pretty similar, aren't we?
(Source of picture: http://www.bz-berlin.de/ratgeber/urlaub-reisen/moderne-metropole-liverpools-facelifting)
No comments:
Post a Comment