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PlayadelSoul · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 346 Location: Playa del Carmen

[quote="Ben Round de Bloc
My advice: Instead of letting yourself become jaded from people criticizing your culture, try to educate them to the idea that cultures are different, and that being different doesn't make one culture better or worse than another one.[/quote]

I think when one tries to educate another on any issue outside of their expertise, they feed into the stereotype that Americans are always trying to push their ideas down the throats of others. We teach English, not tolerance and acceptance.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

hlamb · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Posts: 431 Location: Canada

Part of teaching English is teaching about the culture, since it's an integral part of the language. My students are full of questions about why Canadians do certain things and I try my best to explain the differences to them while mentioning that no one culture is better than another. Most seem to get it and the few who don't are probably intolerant or unaccepting of differences in other parts of their lives too.

M@tt · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 473 Location: here and there

why can't one culture be better than another?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Because there isn't an objective tool to measure them by.

PlayadelSoul · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 346 Location: Playa del Carmen

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Then I must have a big ego, because I've always thought I'm worthy of looking up to.

PlayadelSoul · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 346 Location: Playa del Carmen

Do you consider yourself a role model or are is that you are in a position that requires a certain amount of responsibility? I always thought that those looking up to a person were the ones who got to bestow the title "role model" on someone. I don't know, maybe its just me.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

M@tt · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 473 Location: here and there

i think you're both arguing for the same thing. which is the team i'm not on, since i think there are some universal values to measure cultures by. common sense bears that out. superior culture: nazi germany or present-day norway?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

It will always depend on who you ask. The Nazis also had ideas about universal values.

ontoit · Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 99

A good party requires that everyone present do their best to appreciate everyone else's good points and politely ignore their shortcomings.

The tough part for any ex-pat is to be asked to choose which is better or to be told that this, that or the other thing about the culture he was raised in is somehow less acceptable.

It's hard to not let it get to you, but I guess if we put our combined ex-pat experience together, we could come up with a principle or "zen and the art of ex-pating" to classify and master the experience.

I, for one, believe that those who snipe at your culture from the back of the classroom have problems that have nothing to do with you or yours, akin, perhaps, to kicking the dog after a hard day at the office. I also feel that if you love where you come from as much as where you are, then these sharpshooters can never really draw a bead on you.

Again, though, it's hard not to react to someone you sense is taking pot shots.

Opinions?