I like to ask people who travel questions about the culture in the place they visited.
I think often times, as Americans, we become the “fat, dumb and happy” kind. Our culture is so ingrained in our minds that we forget that there are billions of people outside the US that live in a completely different environment.
There are different cultures within America too. Heck, there are different cultures within every city.
However, the culture difference between America and some other countries dwarfs these in comparison. Because even if there are different cultures within a city, it’s still somehow all an American kind of culture. Even looking at language, people speak differently all over the US but it’s all still English (well, except you Louisiana and your weird Creole).
I think it’s really important for American’s to get outside the American bubble and understand what other cultures are like. That you can survive without the normal everyday items we take for granted here in America.
I say this hypocritically as I have never been outside the country, let alone over the ocean. I have thankfully though experienced life in places with many people who have given many years to living in other cultures. The stories and things they learned from being there is wild.
I often use the fact that I lived in a cabin with no electricity for a year as a conversation starter because so many people think it’s really crazy and far out but when I think about it, there are literally billions of people who wouldn’t even blink at that.
I don’t think we should go back to living without lightbulbs but I think we should all take some time to understand what each culture does better than the other.
No culture is perfect, but they all have things we can learn from.