Have you ever found yourself in an awkward situation in another culture?
My older brother once told me that in your twenties you should always try to seek out new life experiences, as you will regret that you didn’t by the time you hit thirty. So, naturally I took this advice to heart. As a 22-year-old who likes to travel, I have come across quite a few peculiar situations in other cultures.
The video below is a piece of advice to remember, because it is what it really is: surprising. You had no intention of offending the people in the first place, but you end up as a victim of your lack of understanding of that particular culture. The defining factor for a group of people seems to depend, to a large extent, on their culture, therefore adapting to a specific set of morals and values might be imperative when visiting another country.
The one thing that stands out the most of devoting your time to travel is the fact that the more you do it, the more you start to grow as a person. The more mistakes you make, as noted in this video, the more you learn. You find ways to adapt yourself to seemingly alien cultures, which after some time starts to feel just like home. I think that is the most thrilling thing about travelling: the art of making an unfamiliar place and culture your new ‘home’.
By Oscar Larsson
Student at University of Glasgow, School of Social & Political Sciences
Communication Trainee at TermCoord