Our World, Our Culture

I had a lot of cultural shock. Here are a few examples:

Europe: Been to France, Spain, England, etc. And most of these countries are so open about sex. Advertisements have a lot of half naked men/women. Even basic channels show sex talk. My mom and I watched a show that showed the different positions for sex. They even used a couple wearing skin colored spandex to demonstrate. My mom and I just CRACKED UP.

Africa: Went to Kenya with a group, and our guide was from Kenya himself. He has 7 wives and is not sure how many kids he has ("20 or 21 I think" he says!). Women are not as "careful" with their babies as we are. Not that they are rough, but it makes US look like we are too overprotective. For example, I saw a mother bent over, put her baby on her back, and while the baby is resting on her back WITHOUT BEING HELD ON, the mother pulls out a large cloth and puts it over her and the baby and ties it to make a sort of a sling to carry the baby on her back. Also, the guide we had asked us to not take pictures of the locals unless we ask and they say yes, because they feel that we think of them as "animals" since we pass by on a bus snapping random pictures of them just as we do in a safari. I thought this was very interesting. Also saw a lot of locals bathing in rivers/lakes, which was a bit sad because I went during a dry season, so they had a hard time finding viable water.
 
S.O.B. said:
Yeah, it was an area in Alberta Canada where we were travelling through, decided to take in the views of a horse ranch. Talk about distressed horses! Turns out it was a slaughterhouse that exports horsemeat the world over! :shock:
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Awwww. I love horses. I hate horse slaughter big time.
 
Cheri said:
When I visited Kusadasi, Turkey, if you use the WC (restroom) you have to pay a small amount to use the WC. :shock:

I'm not kidding either.
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Ah, What was the WC like in Turkey?
 
Jolie77 said:
Ah, What was the WC like in Turkey?
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Two of the WC in Turkey I went into had American/European style toilets. ;)

Sunshinelady--why must we pay to use the toilet? Is there a reason for it? :shrug: The reason I asked because in America, pubic restrooms are free of charge to use.
 
Cheri, why we must play it?.. I am support, because of clean bathroom. If not, it would be mess up *eeek* :)

But, we went to NYC. of course, there have to pay for Bathroom, too. If we aren't guest at restaurant. It calls "not public bathroom, please".
 
Ive never been outside the US but we did have a Swedish exchange student live with us for a year. Biggest cultural shock - they dont wash their clothes, they 'air' them out. The only time they wash if there is a stain on it. they also use a fork and knife at every mea, regardless of whether or not you could pick it up and eat it with your hands just as well, IE they eat pizza with a knife and fork.

They also don't have chocolate in Sweden, well they do, but not like chocolate candy bars or chocolate kisses, and so forth. They also don't have marshmellows there either.

They also are surprised that here in America especially in this part of the country that chicken is a part of almost every meal and that we use the entire chicken (OK everything except the guts, head and feet). they were surprised that there were chicken tenders behind the breast meat and that I fed chicken necks as a treat to my dogs, and that we also ate the chicken backs. (Im telling you very little of the chicken goes to waste around this house), and that my grandparents will eat chicken livers like candy.

Another is that our technology is behind compared to theirs. They had mp3 players over their in early 2000 late 1999.

Also the educational system is different. The kids don't start school until 7 or 8, by our standards we think that is too late. For them they see that as just right because by then most children have matured enough to sit down and follow a lesson. They also start teaching them English at school right from the start and by the time they finish high school they are fluent in English as well as Swedish. This comes in handy as many youth go to English speaking countries for internships and foreign exchange studies.
 
Dixie said:
Ive never been outside the US but we did have a Swedish exchange student live with us for a year. Biggest cultural shock - they dont wash their clothes, they 'air' them out. The only time they wash if there is a stain on it. they also use a fork and knife at every mea, regardless of whether or not you could pick it up and eat it with your hands just as well, IE they eat pizza with a knife and fork.

They also don't have chocolate in Sweden, well they do, but not like chocolate candy bars or chocolate kisses, and so forth. They also don't have marshmellows there either.

They also are surprised that here in America especially in this part of the country that chicken is a part of almost every meal and that we use the entire chicken (OK everything except the guts, head and feet). they were surprised that there were chicken tenders behind the breast meat and that I fed chicken necks as a treat to my dogs, and that we also ate the chicken backs. (Im telling you very little of the chicken goes to waste around this house), and that my grandparents will eat chicken livers like candy.

Another is that our technology is behind compared to theirs. They had mp3 players over their in early 2000 late 1999.

Also the educational system is different. The kids don't start school until 7 or 8, by our standards we think that is too late. For them they see that as just right because by then most children have matured enough to sit down and follow a lesson. They also start teaching them English at school right from the start and by the time they finish high school they are fluent in English as well as Swedish. This comes in handy as many youth go to English speaking countries for internships and foreign exchange studies.
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I can kinda undy that point of view cuz I have taught first grade and to get them to sit down for a 90 min lesson is ridiculous but that's the policy set forth by the US Dept of Ed. That's why it is important for teachers of younger children to imcorporate more hands on activities in their lessons than just direct teaching.
 
I recall in out first grade class we would rotate to each subject twice throughout the day. Rather than spending an entire hour on math just once a day, she divided it up into shorter 30 minute halves twice a day. We would have a morning lesson then an afternoon lesson. I think 30 minutes is about the max you are going to get out of a 5 or 6 year old to keep their attention on any given subject.

Besides it wasn't always just book work and work sheets, we also did fun projects relating to the subject. Like during thanksgiving, everything would revolve around thanksgiving, including our math and science lessons.

Of course me being a title I child, I was always being pulled out from lessons to have one-on-one tutoring with an itinerant.
 
Dixie said:
I recall in out first grade class we would rotate to each subject twice throughout the day. Rather than spending an entire hour on math just once a day, she divided it up into shorter 30 minute halves twice a day. We would have a morning lesson then an afternoon lesson. I think 30 minutes is about the max you are going to get out of a 5 or 6 year old to keep their attention on any given subject.

Besides it wasn't always just book work and work sheets, we also did fun projects relating to the subject. Like during thanksgiving, everything would revolve around thanksgiving, including our math and science lessons.

Of course me being a title I child, I was always being pulled out from lessons to have one-on-one tutoring with an itinerant.
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Before NCLB, things were different and probably far more productive in meeting each child's learning style. Now, with NLCB, all of the core subjects and put into time blocks of 90 minutues each leaving the teacher little flexibility with their lessons. That's why I break down my 90 minute classes into little subclasses of the same subject cuz my 4th graders would get restless if I taught the same thing for 90 mins straight. Unfortuntely, many teachers lack the creativiness and follow the block times religiously.
 
Sunshinelady said:
Cheri, why we must play it?.. I am support, because of clean bathroom. If not, it would be mess up *eeek* :)
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But in America bathrooms are clean too, I don't see them asking for money for cleanliness. :lol:

But, we went to NYC. of course, there have to pay for Bathroom, too. If we aren't guest at restaurant. It calls "not public bathroom, please".
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It doesn't mean you'll have to pay to use the toilet, some local restaurants do not like it when people come in and use the bathroom, they prefer paying customers who would order food from them in order to use their public restrooms. ;)
 
shel90 said:
Before NCLB, things were different and probably far more productive in meeting each child's learning style. Now, with NLCB, all of the core subjects and put into time blocks of 90 minutues each leaving the teacher little flexibility with their lessons. That's why I break down my 90 minute classes into little subclasses of the same subject cuz my 4th graders would get restless if I taught the same thing for 90 mins straight. Unfortuntely, many teachers lack the creativiness and follow the block times religiously.
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Better hold that thought Shel, one of my questions related to the research paper Im working on pertains to NCLB.
 
Jiro said:
My experience of cultural shock -

When I visited European countries such as Paris and Rome... I was shocked at the way they drive and how they ignored the traffic signals. I was especially puzzled with European size. Everything in Europe was too small for me. Small elevators, small food portion, small cars, small drinks, small everything! The elevators in Italy, Germany, and France are TOO SMALL. It's so small that only 4 people can fit in elevator.... and that's without our luggage!!

What I like about Europe is the way they practice with strong environmental conservation. They even park their cars bumper-to-bumper! Makes me wonder how are they going to get out. Oh yes - Europe is VERY motorcycle/scooter-friendly!! I would love to have that in America.

The toilets have 2 buttons on the wall and I was very puzzled. The person explained to me that it was to save water. 1 button is for flushing #2 (poo poo/kaka/doo doo/etc.) meaning more water is used to flush it and other button was for peeing (it used up less water). I thought it was very interesting and I think America should have that!
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We have a couple of those toilets in our house. They each have one button or handle but depending on how you push it, will do a light flush or heavy flush. :P

When Hubby was in Okinawa he was surprised about the short shower heads. Hubby wasn't tall (about 5' 10") but the Japanese shower head sprayed him on the chest instead of above his head. He had to bend over to shampoo his hair. :lol:

He said the drivers in Italy and Spain were kind of wild.

In Ukraine, people drove their cars at night without lights on except in areas that had no street lighting. It was hard to get replacement bulbs so they "saved" their lights. Also, when they parked in public places, they took their windshield wipers off so no one would steal them. Kinda sad. :(
 
Cheri said:
Two of the WC in Turkey I went into had American/European style toilets. ;)
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Ah, I was curious to see if there was any difference of these WC in Turkey and in America.

What was the most thing that you found very fascinating when you were in Turkey?
 
Jolie77 said:
Ah, I was curious to see if there was any difference of these WC in Turkey and in America.

What was the most thing that you found very fascinating when you were in Turkey?
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Their outdoor water fountain was pretty fascinating I've seen people washed their hands, their eye glasses and even their feet, I even took a picture of it. :giggle:

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You know in America, we throw coins into a water fountain and make a wish, but in Turkey they do it differently, they tie a tissue to the tree and make a wish. I took a picture of it because I thought it was so cute. :lol:

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