Learning about other cultures

One of the great things about Skypeland is that one has the unprecedented chance to learn directly about other cultures. People get impressions of what other countries are cultures are like from reading books and the media, and talking to their friends, but there is nothing like talking to people directly from China, or Iran, or Iraq.

Yesterday I heard an interesting interview with a translator from Iraq who had worked for the New York Times, and just moved to Detroit to avoid being killed for collaborating with the US (listen to the interview with Sahar Gabriel here). I thought the observations of this translator were quite interesting, and similar to those I often gleen from my conversations in Skypeland. I discussed some of these in Skypeland with others. Here are a few of the points the the Iraqi translator made that I thought were most interesting:

*The translator was surprised when it started to rain in Detroit. I guess that living in a desert, she was not quite prepared for the amount of rain that falls in a temperate region.

*This young Iraqi was shocked that the roads were so poor in Detroit.

*This young lady was pleased with the mix of cultures in the US.

*The translator was told by all her Iraqi friends that Americans would call her a terrorist and attack her for being Arab. She was surprised that no one attacked her or accused her of being a terrorist or bothered her.

*This young Iraqi was surprised at how pleasant Americans were to each other, even strangers; people started conversations and talked with each other in ways that were completely strange to her, coming from Itaq. She felt that such interactions would be completely impossible in an Arab country.

*Crossing streets in the US is very different than crossing streets in Iraq according to this translator. She was shocked to see that cars would stop for those in crosswalks and let them cross the street before driving on. She expected that drivers would aim their cars at pedestrians and curse at them and threaten them, as is common in Iraq and other Arab countries.

All of these observations tell a lot about the Arab and Iraqi mindset. I had the impression that none of this had changed much with the US invasion. The translator was just describing what life is like in Iraq, and what she was familiar with. Is it any wonder that when we encounter Arabs and Muslims in Skypeland that there are conflicts and misunderstandings that arise?