Cultural Experience Analysis

I have always been interested in other cultures, despite growing up in a small midwestern town. As a young child, I was fascinated with flags and maps of countries and dreamed of traveling to other parts of the world. Although my parents were not wealthy we had done a fair bit of traveling within the United States. My first recollection of people outside the United States were refugees sponsored by the church my parents belonged to. The refugees were from the country of Laos escaping the conflicts in Southeast Asia in the 1970s. Seeing the interactions of my parents with them brought a much better understanding of how to interact with people from other countries. My parents were very patient and kind to them, inviting the Laotians into our home. Their general approach to people from other countries had an impact on me. To this day, I try to be patient and understand that communicating in a second language is not easy.
When I was in junior high school, the high school in my town would have exchange students from various countries. It was captivating to learn about other parts of the world firsthand. My sister went to the country of Finland for a year as an exchange student and brought home interesting stories. I had decided after hearing about her adventures that I would go overseas in high school as well. I …show more content…
The transportation system was very poor so the trip was long and the road was very rough. It took about nine hours to travel the distance of 280 kilometers in the dry season and twelve hours in the rainy season. The transport van would stop occasionally for Muslim prayer times or if the driver wanted to buy meat from the market. I would gain a lot of cultural insight into observing people in the van and in the little villages where we would stop. This experience has influenced my teaching as I am patient and, I try to be prepared for any situation that comes