Cultural Lens

Cultural lenses are ways that we view our own culture as well as other cultures. We view our culture in America as strong, busy, and wonderful whereas we may view the culture of the man who made the magic teapot as poor and unsatisfactory. We go through our daily lives with our minds already made up of how we view things and we rarely change our views without much persuasion and explanation. In the second article, the write spoke of how our post 9/11 generation is terrified of other countries because we have all been told that basically f you leave America, something terrible and unforgettable will happen. And because of all the incidents that have happened in the recent years that have come to pass, most of us take heed to that warning and only travel and venture into the "safe unknown" that is usually just a few more steps past our own boring backyards. The man who made the teapot showed humility and gratitude just for that tourist's appreciation of his demonstration of a part of his culture. I understand that some scary events have happened post 9/11 but that doesn't mean we should deny ourselves the wonderful chance to explore new cultures and expand our cultural perspectives by traveling the word and experiencing news cultures for ourselves. I think traveling is beneficial in so many ways. When you experience new things you bring back those memories and then have the chance to incorporate new things into your daily life that you never would have without that new cultural experience. I can't wait to see what new cultural perspectives I bring back with me from our trip!!