First Impressions

Today was our first official day in China as we lost one on the way. As a person who has not traveled very much it did not take long before I had noticed my first cultural difference...through our guides. I was very interested in the way that our guides introduced themselves to us. Lily was the first that we met and she was so open. She told us that lately she had not been very happy because of things in life and most importantly because of the earthquake. As Americans we are not likely to share our feelings so openly...most certainly with people whom we have only just met. Now I wasn't sure if it was just Lily who was willing to be so open or if it was really a cultural thing and sure enough my suspicions were confrimed when our international guide Adam introduced himself. In fact I think that we may have even been in more shock after hearing what Adam had to say because some people were even talking about it later. It was not anything bad just something that we were not used to is all. I was later talking with Karine, my wonderful roomate, about the fact that the people were so open and she made a great point, considering that she is from France and has first hand experience, that Americans are really the only ones who have some kind of fear of showing who they really are. Maybe we just need to lighten up a little.