Culture
What happens when you don't learn about any other culture but your own? You're looking at it, man. Bigotry, xenophobia, and racism are the results of never traveling outside of your little bubble. And that is just sad. People miss out on so much when they don't break out of a small world. Have a taste of freedom. Travel in person if you can, and try new things whenever you can. Live a little. Better yet, live a lot. You only have something like 80 years on this planet. Why spend them all doing the same thing over and over? Even if you're a grizzled traveler already there's still no reason to limit yourself.
The old paradigm of so-called cosmopolitan experience was to take a privileged person, have them spend a lot of money at tourist traps and directed tours, learn five words in a native language and read a book about a place written by someone who didn't live there, and then to culturally appropriate everything they picked up from that. That isn't worth your time. Learn the language of where you're going. Devour everything you can about the culture. Speak to people who live there. Chill out, hang out, wander. Make small talk, perhaps you'll make friends. Do what the locals do. Learn the local religion, try the authentic local food esp. if it's street food. You'll never be the same. In fact, if your world isn't permanently changed in every way then you can't really say you've traveled.
Consider joining the Peace Corps. They'll pay your way for travel and living expenses to another country, you'll get work experience, and you can be an ambassador for the country.
Online Resources
- Reposted from Social Studies section for convenience: Guide to cheap travel abroad Nomadic Matt Migrationology and The Broke Backpacker
- Google Maps and CIA World Factbook Maps For learning geography. Seriously, this is important. If you don't know where anything is, don't blame me if you get lost.
- U.S. Department of State Website 8/31/23 Apparently they started adding various information about United States efforts worldwide.
- Reddit If you have any questions about another country, state, or region, there are a whole bunch of subreddits devoted to them. Find the r/insertcountrynamehere you're interested in and see if you can ask questions there.
- Wikipedia and CIA World Factbook For looking up the general info of various places (countries, states, cities, etc.), such as the flag, official anthem, population, and so on
- Atlas Obscura For touristy information about just about anywhere. Take it all with a grain of salt.
- To look up the lyrics to any song Google them, obviously. This is important because the hidden messages, beliefs, virtues and history of a culture is often embedded in its music, and that song you might think is "romantic" or "catchy" does not mean what you think it does. Case in point, Every Breath You Take by the Police is not a romantic serenade, it's a song about a guy stalking his ex. Also, Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen is not a patriotic song lyrics. Not listening to the lyrics of your favorite songs is a bad habit, one I'm guilty of, so if you want to know what you're headbanging to then look them up.
- Folk songs lyrics Mudcat
Books
- The Lonely Planet series isn't bad, but isn't that helpful either. It's a decent introduction to most places.
- The Handy Geography Answer Book isn't bad, but don't take it as 'oh yeah this is definitely true.'
Here's the link for Foreign Languages
VARIOUS GOODIES FROM VARIOUS PLACES
Keep in mind I'm just one person. I assembled these music artists and other experiences after a lot of time trying stuff but that doesn't mean my picks are any better or worse than anyone else's. And obviously this is a really small sampling.
People from various countries sound off about their country's version of a superhero representing them reddit thread
What country would you never visit again? thread reddit thread
Canada: America's Hat - COMING SOON
America: The Meth Lab in Canada's Basement - ????? COMING SOON I GUESS
Mexico: America's Mermaid Tail Under The Meth Lab That Is America - COMING SOON
Egypt
Israel
- If you think this website is rude, do not go to Israel. This is mild comparatively speaking, kind of like comparing 90's kids TV to the Pink Guy album. I'm serious, if what I write makes you uncomfortable, you might handle Israel for like two weeks and no more.
- Bunch of honey badgers on crack. This is where my family is from. One interesting tidbit is that in Israeli culture, blind obedience to authority figures is even less tolerated than it is in the United States, be that to Prime Ministers, parents, or even to a certain small extent one's commander in the Army. This probably stems partially from the Holocaust, because back in the day, Jews all over the place did not believe such a thing could actually happen; it was "unthinkable." Then of course it did and Jews from all over the world came to Israel so they wouldn't die. So eventually within the Israeli Army itself they would have round table discussions where if the whole table came to a unanimous decision, one person was encouraged to argue with the rest and play devil's advocate, just to ensure they would not overlook the "unthinkable." Also, the Holocaust and Israel's constant wars put a big emphasis on truth, because it is the only thing that will keep you alive on a constant battlefield, which is precisely what Israel is - it is on the front lines. Therefore lying to someone is considered the height of rudeness and a tactic usually reserved for one's mortal enemy, and telling the truth no matter how rude is seen as respect. Even to the extent that insulting someone is considered a compliment and a sign of friendship. This culturally does not mesh very well with a lot of other cultures, where deception and covering up the truth is considered a great idea.
- The cats are a serious problem. They need to start spaying and neutering.
- I've heard a lot about Israel's policies regarding the Palestinians and I don't know the story of the whole country on that front. But I know this much about my entire family, which consists basically 99% of veterans of the IDF, and about our family friends in Israel or from Israel: the whole notion of shooting some Palestinian kid in the face, committing a war crime, or otherwise killing off some innocent person in cold blood would make any one of the people I know have perpetual nervous breakdowns and then kill themselves. I am not exaggerating. They wouldn't be able to handle it. And if you think you know these guys better than I do, you've never met them so... hmm. Also, fun fact: all but two of these guys lack a single funny story or anything good to say about serving in the IDF, they hated every minute of it. The other two? Mo'al. (Hebrew IDF slang for too indoctrinated; it literally means "poisoned") The Israeli Army is not like ours, it essentially looks at its soldiers and goes "ha, morale, what's that?"
- To someone like myself with an Israeli family of farmers, the notion that a nation with extremely large land mass needs to invade another one for its farmland is a. hilarious, and b. tells me that said nation really sucks at farming
- My experience in Israel was that the average person tended to be abnormally kind and generous despite the usual rudeness. I met a lot of people from many different backgrounds there and this was the constant. With a major exception for ultra-Orthodox Jews who avoided me like the plague because... unknown reasons?
- It is supreme irony that the quotes of Fyodor Dostoevsky are a very realistic mirror of Israeli culture given that he was apparently anti-Semitic
Russia
Hong Kong
China
- Lady and Pups An angry cooking blog that provides glimpses of what it's like to actually live in China, Beijing to be precise
- The Woks of Life Limited articles about travel experience in China
Japan
South Korea
United States
What culture has the best hospitality? You hear a lot of pride taken in it, for instance in the Southern US, or in Balkan countries. I'll be honest, I have an opinion on this that's not scientific at all. I think the people who provide the best, world-class hospitality in the whole world are Jordanian or Bedouins.
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