WA - An intercultural experience

byHeyItsMeLori

400 followers

Updated 9 years ago

I don't post on a regular basis (shame!). Mostly because I have very limited time, and I spend my time here on WA interacting with other members. Perhaps that's not the best use of my time from a business-building perspective, but I feel that when we can, we should be available to join in conversations, exchanges of thought/ideas, and to validate others, so they don't feel like they are in an echo chamber, unheard....you know, to care. I think the WA community does an amazing job at that!

Lately, it seems, many are talking about how great it is that so many countries are represented here. Indeed, the internet has made the world a smaller place. We have opportunities right now that were never dreamed of by our parents (OK if, like me, you are in your 50's. - Our parents never dreamed of it).

In my life, I've lived in two countries other than my own, been to several others, and experienced the richness of the human race. The place that has effected me most profoundly is Vienna, Austria, in the heart of which stands the United Nations building. Inside its walls, and inside the city itself is a confluence of commerce and culture that I feel privileged to have experienced.

Life in another country, when you have children, is HARD. Really hard. But if there is one thing I wish every child could have the opportunity to do, it is living (even for 6 months as a college student) in another country. Nothing will broaden your world view and open your eyes to your own ethnocentrism better than that. Nothing will enrich your life more than that.

The point is, that the world and attitudes toward other cultures and people are not changed by the politicians, but by individuals communicating, experiencing life and its struggles together (even if done thousands of miles apart), helping each other -thereby opening the door for greater understanding. What a time we live in!

Before I left Vienna to move back to the states, I last counted that we had acquaintances from 43 different countries. Wow! That was amazing to me. -Me. A plain, Midwestern-raised-turned-Southern-girl, with just a little more than a pot to pee in.

By the grace of God, we had some pretty cool experiences. A few worth mentioning are that my son once went to a birthday party at the home of the Namibian Ambassador. My daughters best friends were Egyptian-Sudanese and Mexican, and her boyfriend was from S. Korea. One November, I met up with Costa Rica's Director of Commerce at the U.N. to pick up a Butterball turkey for Thanksgiving. Who does that??!! How lucky am I?

How richly blessed I have been to know such wonderful people from all over the world. I am so thankful that I am able to do that again here in the WA community! We are all international business people. Think of that! :)