Understanding other cultures

Last Thursday, I had the study abroad group speak to my class. We believe that this world is very small, and to get a good education, it is necessary to learn about the global economy and other cultures. Many of my students have never been outside of Oklahoma. Many consider Texas to be a foreign country. I understand that and agree with it. The only way to understand another culture is to go to that country. Throughout my career, I traveled to a number of countries. I spent time in India, south and central America, Canada, and Europe. I learned that in many cultures, people will not say that they do not know the answer to a question. In France, when asked a question that the person does not know the answer to, the answer will be answered with ‘perhaps’ or ‘maybe’. I also learned that Engineer is not a profession in France. It is a title. The things that we would expect a professional engineer to know or understand a French engineer may not know. The French also seem to think they are invulnerable. I was traveling in India with a French colleague. He ate unpasteurized yogurt in India and said that nothing could bother him. We got him to a hospital before he died of dehydration from the effects of that yogurt.

My first-time trip to India, we were met at the airport and taken to our hotel in Delhi. When we pulled up in front of the hotel, my first instinct was to open the door and get out. My Indian colleague stopped me. He told me that opening the door is the responsibility of the hotel doorman. If I were to open the door, I would be taking his job from him and demeaning his worth. I never thought about it like that. We had drivers everywhere we went. Even my Indian colleagues were not allowed to drive. It was the driver’s job to drive the car. In the hotel restaurant, American style beef steak was on the menu. I asked the waiter if the steak was from a cow. He was horrified and assured me that it was not. I wondered if it could be water buffalo. The answer was perhaps. I asked if it could be a camel steak. Again, that answer was perhaps. I asked if the steak could be from a Monkee. Again the waiter was horrified and answered that was impossible. I assume you know that cows are sacred in India. We waited for almost an hour for four cows to get up and leave an intersection. I asked why someone didn’t get out and make them move. I was told that it would never happen. When our Indian colleagues came to Texas, they were horrified that we fenced cows in a pasture.

Last summer we spent three weeks in Costa Rica. It is advertised as a great place to retire. Maybe it is for some, but not for me. Every country has it’s own problems. One of Costa Rica’s most significant issues is immigration. People are going to Costa Rica from Venezuela and from Nicaragua. Their immigration problems make the Estados Unidos problems insignificant by comparison. The only way to understand a country is to go there, and not just to the tourist areas.