Exposing yourself to different cultures
It’s hard to imagine, personally, how different day to day life is for people in other countries. Sure, we visit their tourist meccas and we get their stamps in our passport, but rarely do we take the time to immerse ourselves in and embrace the cultural differences of other countries.
Recently, the company I work for brought two of the contractors we work closely with over from India. They’ll be staying for two months, so we opted to get them a month to month apartment, rather than a hotel room. What that means is that they get to ‘have a little home’ in the home they are staying in while their here. What that means for me is that I get to learn new things, become exposed to new ideas and explore things that I find strange, yet intriguing. For example, foods and dietary differences. Religion and faith differences and most notably, familial differences.
I learned, just yesterday, that one of the guys here visiting just had a child just a few weeks before coming. I questioned the sanity of leaving his wife, who had just given birth, at home alone with a newborn baby - and he was quick to point out the custom in India of a pregnant wife moving home to live with her parents while still pregnant, then staying with her parents for at least two months post-delivery. He went on to explain that they wait several months to name the babe, which I also thought was interesting, but pretty logical.
Over all, this has been an interesting learning experience. From scaring the hell out of them while driving a (rather tame) 60 MPH on the freeway to ordering special meal items to accommodate their vegetarian lifestyle, which is an important discipline in their Hindu faith.
I have a lot of respect for the work these guys do for us and a lot of respect for them personally, simply because they seem to find so much joy in their lives, even in light of all the difficulties they face, living in a country where the pay is low, the employment turn over is high and the available space to live, laugh and love is sparse, to say the least.
I have also really enjoyed working with people who seem to have a very dedicated and strong work ethic and the attitude that the day doesn’t end until the job is done and if it isn’t done, the day isn’t over. It’s such an absent mentality in the U.S. these days.
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Meet Brandy
Adoptee, Mom, First Mother and Wife, living, loving and writing about life as I see it.
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I’m not sure I knew that new mothers go home to be with their family. Gosh. That would have been nice in some ways and insane in others.