Reading about a German mans experiances of different American values was interesting. The two culture are extremely different from each other. One of the experiances this German man had in America was going to a grocery store. There he saw tons of condtradictions and really saw what Americans were all about. There he saw a large assortment of Candys and fatty sweet foods, while he also saw tons of other products labeled fat free. This is the American value of constantly wanting to be in control of what they eat or do. Unlike in other cultures people do what ever fate might tell them to do. One of the other criticism from the man was that he could go shopping in the middle of the night for his groceies. He also gave examples of when German stores close and the fine you'd have to pay if you stayed open on a certain day. As Americans we value convienance and practicality. Having a store open all night or pre-packaged food it cobsidered convient for us.
When I took a trip to Belarus, I noticed differently values that my family members believed in, than I was used to. There everyone spent more time together. For example we would always have breakfast and dinner together everyday. Just this little thing Rolf eating together set them apart from my values. When we were at home no one had time to spend with you. It was a nice change in pace to go somewhere and respect and enjoy their culture no matter how different it from my own.
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