For about 10 days I moved from the dorm to a flat. I like it a lot, has bosphorus view and it is moder and big. I almost lost count of the nationalities of people I shared for a longer period the same room or flat: Romanian, Greek, Serbian, Columbian, Chinese, Canadian, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Slovak, German, Tunisian, Nigerian, Hungarian and now I am living with Turkish and Argentinian. That makes me pretty international eh? and actually few things surprise me, even if it different I take it as normal.
For example: Turkish flatmate doesnt drink alcohol :) and he prays 5 times a day. The Columbian was taking shower with his underwear on. The Greek was sleeping so much :P. The Serbian was oftenly singing hip-hop songs. The Slovak was a cleaning freak, washing all the dishes. The German was ironing his shirts very often. The Nigerian was very willing to share food ;). The Tunisian was oftenly smoking shisha and smoking in the toilet. The Chinese were drinking warm/hot water instead of "normal" cold water. And so on, and so son ...
At work I interact with very diverse people from all over Middle East and Africa and again I can notice some traits. The Africans (except North Africa) are always busy. The Israelians are very demanding and they argue a lot. The Arabs are quite demanding and action oriented. The Turks ... oooh! the Turks!! no comment! :D
I am not trying to put people in boxes, I am past that phase but I am enjoying all these differences.
Now I cannot see myself living in a place where there is just one type of people, that speak only one language and do things in a similar manner. Then I would feel I am in a box. Diversity is something I embrace and am becoming dependent on it.
Generally I think people should get out of their box and be open towards others, learn to accept them, not judge them, be willing to change, think how they are perceived by others, make more compromises, be sensitive to the things which are important to others etc etc. I think globalization is something affecting everyone's life and there is no way to avoid and I don't think we should. Opposing it will not bring anything good. Of course going to extreme is not good also, adopting all American life-style is not the way forward, values, behaviors, traditions must be kept as well. It is the people who have to become more open-minded.
On Sunday I had Easter and even though I am not into religion I miss the traditions from Romania. It is already the second Easter I spend in a different way, away from home. But I went to a restaurant and ate lamb and then boiled eggs and break them hehe! Though I was not in the same place with my family and friends, we spoke, over the internent and phone :)
All these experiences havent made me less Romanian. They made me more global citizen :P and I love it! And they dont conflict :)
Check this nice picture, expressing diversity. It is toothpaste from Turkey, Ukraine and China. Cool huh?
