Belem, Amazonia, Brazil
I was reading an article a
friend posted on Facebook. It says :
“10 things to know before
visiting Brazil”.
Written by an American for
CNN.
No idea how much he personally
knows Brazil; and this isn’t my point.
This journalist talks about
Brazil, for the foreigners to know more what to expect when they land there.
Have you noticed that any
foreigner that talks about our country is giving an image we can feel is an addition
of preconceived ideas ?
In the article,
9/10 comments are from angry Brazilians.
Knowing a culture doesn’t mean
a lot to me.
You have so many depths in that kind of knowledge! I do believe
that even after decades of living in a country, there will always be points
that we can’t get.
Let’s stay humble ! Things come as well from all what is
unsaid, unexpressed, from parents, grand parents ... not only from books.
It actually shows stronger if
you have children with someone of a different culture: that’s the beginning of
the fun ;o)
I remember how an American friend
of mine was laughing (really out loud for me
;o) telling me he knew that most foreigners thought all Americans were
obese, noisy, with no trace of cultural background and using guns without
thinking (it was a European talking apparently . . .).
My friend had the best
attitude ever !
First, he was laughing and I love laughing people ! !
And even
though he knew it was not true, this never affected his own thoughts about his American
buddies; without denying that yes, you find the above description in America as
well.
It is always very interesting
to listens to what foreigners catch of our own culture. It is an outside view
that can teach us a lot about our background. We do not always have the distance,
the bias being our love or hate for where / who we come from.
This is what I call
Our ‘cultural
Ego’
I personally love for example
reading articles about France, written by foreigners.
It gives me a totally
different perspective from mine. Rich !
Point of this post:
We all have a cultural Ego and
it is there to protect our beliefs and so ourselves.
When we lower our Ego we acquire
more distance, open to new values and let go of fears. And it does not mean
renouncing our own beliefs. No. On the contrary !
When we feel strongly settled
in our culture, we can open our doors to others without losing it; we ar enriching
ourselves.
We can loosen our cultural Ego.
Feeling strong and free (it
goes together) is not a permanent state.
Life brings us challenges and we
constantly have to adapt.
So if you feel you are not strong at the moment, that
is fine; it does not mean you are not strong; it is the ‘at the moment’ part
which is the most important.
And in the context of an
expatriation, we cannot avoid that cultural confrontation.
We can choose to
open or close our doors. Our following years will depend on our choice.
What do you think ?
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