That Means WHAT To You?!

This past week, as we played a game of cards in class (or should i say 5 games of cards), I realized TRULEY for the first time how different cultures can get extremley confused with eachother when in a new situation in different places. How, you ask? Well, after we each played our games, we rotated between groups - mixing different "cultures." After a game with mixed players, we all started to argue (silently, of course) about the different ways we were playing. After watching this happen for a little, Sal noticed we were as confused as could be and told us the secret of how all of us had different directions, and were therefore playing what we thought was the same game, all different ways. It made me realize for the first time just how different cultures really are. And, when things are different in different cultures, the citizens of these cultures tend to argue and ONLY want to do things their way - the way they know how to do it. This can make for arguments, fighting, and even war in the long run. For example, some cultures think of things much differently than others, and it can easily cause problems. In America, we stick our pinky finger up to "pinky promise", but in China, that could be a really offensive act. This game really opened my eyes to thinking about other cultures and I realize that I must be careful when interacting because you never know what other people might make of your gestures.