Enjoying the Chaos

I've been studying culture lately and learning about how it affects how we act, speak, and even subconsciously behave. But is it more than that... Does where we live or the culture we are raised in affect how we feel about ourselves? Our self-esteem? In the western world, there are cultural expectations of how someone should look. I found an article on eating disorders. Apparently, until the 1990s there were relatively low cases outside of the western developed world. Since then thanks to the Internet, media, and the increase of social media it is spreading. In this  article  from the Borgen Magazine, it says; " In Pakistan, one study found that girls in Pakistan who had a larger exposure to Western media and television were at greater risk of developing an eating disorder. While many of the women admitted to being  dissatisfied with their bodies , only 20% were actually above the normal weight. Many of these women said that their body dissatisfaction was inspired by the bodie

Have you ever traveled to another country and been surprised by what is or isn't polite. One thing that has surprised me is language. There are a few words in the UK that are considered not polite that are common in the US and the other way around. I remember when my family had just come back from the US to live in England again. My sister said something and an older lady was offended and went to tell my mom. My mom then obviously sat us down and had a conversation about how different things are acceptable in different countries. Obviously, my sister didn't use that word again...and I'm not even going to tell you what it was ☺ The article  13 examples of Good and Bad manners around the world  lists some examples that you may not have heard of; Is belching (burping) always considered rude? Could it be considered rude to shake someone's hand? What about making the peace sign...or the same sign the opposite way round? Check out the article to find the answers to those ques

We live in a society where we come across people from different cultures every day. I think more people move to live in other countries than ever before.  People moving to different countries means cross-cultural experiences in the classroom for students and teachers. When I was eight my parents moved to the United States. My dad was in the RAF (Royal Air Force) and had been advised to send my older sister and me to boarding school. The thought behind it was that moving to the States and the difference in education would affect our long-term education. My parents didn't agree, they thought that moving to another country as a family and having new experiences together would be better for us. So as a nine-year-old I started school on a military base in the middle of Nebraska. I had a great experience and it was my first experience being in a different culture. Although English and Americans speak the same language (debatable sometimes) I was definitely experiencing a different style

We all make judgments all the time. It is a part of our human nature and how we protect ourselves to some extent. If someone doesn't feel safe we stay away from them etc... What is attribution - from what I've read it can be explained like this, Attribution is how we explain or try to explain why something happened or why someone behaves the way they do.  The funny thing about attribution is that they are made up of our own biases and experiences. When we decide from what we see happen why someone did something we are making judgments. The funny thing about this is that we tend to judge ourselves and others differently. From what I've read we are more likely to judge like this; If someone else is successful it's because of something outside of their control. They have great parents, went to a good school, lived in the best neighborhood. If someone does something bad it's because of a personal choice they made or they are just a bad person. When judging ourselves we

This week I have been researching personal space. It's such an interesting topic to me as it affects each one of us differently. Not only does culture affect what we view as personal space but even the type of community we live inside that culture can affect how we feel. I was watching my dog earlier and I noticed something interesting. When a person or animal comes towards the house her body goes on high alert. They don't even have to ring the doorbell to get her attention. It's like she has a built-in sensor for someone crossing a certain line at the end of the driveway, this line circles the front and back of our house. She will protect her area by barking to warn all who trespass that a wild ferocious albeit small dog lives here. When you are inside, however, if she likes you it's all belly rubs and attention. If she doesn't like you she won't come within ten feet of you if she can help it. Believe me, it's that black and white and there is no rhyme or r

When I was young I lived in England. Most secondary schools in England have school uniforms and my school was stricter than most - we even had to wear the same color socks and the same style of shoe. I remember going to the school outfitters with my Mom and Dad and feeling like I was going to die of fashion shock. I refused point-blank to wear the summer dress and matching hat - that was going WAY too far in my opinion.  I recently checked out my old school online and they still wear uniforms but they are A LOT better than the one I had to wear. Plus the school is now CO-Ed!  Looking back I can see the benefit of wearing a school uniform. For one it made getting dressed every morning easy. You knew exactly what skirt, shirt, sweater, blazer, socks, and shoes you were going to wear, and if there was any choice it was which grey skirt or which blue sweater it was. Oh and before I forget we also had to wear a tie! My sons never had to worry about just asking their dad for help! Secondly,