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How are you different today because of your past travel experiences? Did it change the way you think, speak, dress, eat, etc.?
How would you be different today if you had not done much traveling?
Do you think that traveling broadens your horizons and changes you as a person?
Yes, but I believe in order for someone to truly change as a person (hopefully for the good because it can go the opposite way), they would have to visit somewhere that is totally different from what they are used to. I find too many people in the U.S. going abroad to countries like England and France and then want to say they experienced another culture. Really? I don't think so. I have a lot more to say about this and it's more complex but it's bed time. Good night everyone.
The visit to Japan made me believe diversity in demographics is actually a very bad thing. If diversity were suddenly introduced to Japan, it would collapse.
They would have you believe that diversity is a bad thing. A lot of people are saying that they will eventually have to diversify in order to survive. How many times do we hear of how the population there is ageing and they don't have enough young people to support the system. Japan will collapse without diversity.
All this talk about spending time with locals when traveling, it always forgets to include one important thing: language barrier. When you and the locals can only talk with tarzan language (me tarzan, you jane), how meaningful do you expect that conversation to get anyway? And to claim such conversation can lead to mind changing and life altering experience is utter BS and pure snobbery.
That's assuming you're monolingual, your traveling companions are monolingual, and the people in the the place you're visiting are monolingual. English is the most commonly learned second language worldwide. If you speak English and even just one or two of the other widespread world languages it's very common to find people you have some shared language with in all but the remotest places. French and Spanish are common second languages for Anglophones, and that opens a huge chunk of the world right there, since now you can talk to everyone who also has those as a first or second language...pretty much a hemisphere and a half, lol.
My most surprising example of this was in Vietnam. I was traveling in the countryside and stopped in a village where no one spoke English (English is fairly common in urban areas and on the "beaten path," but not in villages). My Vietnamese was not very strong at that point, so my communication wasn't very effective, and I needed directions or something. I jokingly asked whether anyone spoke Russian or Spanish (my most fluent other languages), and to my surprise this elderly couple busted out in rusty but understandable russkiy yazik. I about died. They'd worked with Soviets during the Cold War. We ended up having a memorable visit.
Anyway, my point is, not everyone's language skills are so limited. And anyway, if you speak a language of empire it's not like you're hurting for options for places to travel where people also speak your language.
Perhaps you were a tourist and not a traveler — there to see sights and leave, not to immerse yourself in another culture without value judgments about how others live.
I hate to give vague and somewhat uppity answers like this, but it's really the only way to sum up my response. I would liken it to people having an 'eye' for something. i.e. I can walk through art museums up and down, and I won't really 'see' something moving/inspirational/what have you.
Some people travel and just...travel, others travel and rip open and rebuild their souls every step of the way. A little dramatic, yes, but I was never the same anywhere I've been. Sometimes you learn about a place, sometimes yourself, and sometimes what you learn about the place makes you learn something about yourself. There is always something.
To each his own in regard to travel. Sometimes the infrequent traveler has his eyes more open to all of the differences presented by life out on the road.
Personally because of expenses and job and family responsibilities, I don't travel a ton. But sometimes you get the itch and just need to get out on the road or on an airplane and just get out of town.
That's assuming you're monolingual, your traveling companions are monolingual, and the people in the the place you're visiting are monolingual. English is the most commonly learned second language worldwide. If you speak English and even just one or two of the other widespread world languages it's very common to find people you have some shared language with in all but the remotest places. French and Spanish are common second languages for Anglophones, and that opens a huge chunk of the world right there, since now you can talk to everyone who also has those as a first or second language...pretty much a hemisphere and a half, lol.
My most surprising example of this was in Vietnam. I was traveling in the countryside and stopped in a village where no one spoke English (English is fairly common in urban areas and on the "beaten path," but not in villages). My Vietnamese was not very strong at that point, so my communication wasn't very effective, and I needed directions or something. I jokingly asked whether anyone spoke Russian or Spanish (my most fluent other languages), and to my surprise this elderly couple busted out in rusty but understandable russkiy yazik. I about died. They'd worked with Soviets during the Cold War. We ended up having a memorable visit.
Anyway, my point is, not everyone's language skills are so limited. And anyway, if you speak a language of empire it's not like you're hurting for options for places to travel where people also speak your language.
If you want to talk to people from the rest of the world, Internet is good enough. Even on C-D, there are people from all over the world, at least, major countries are well represented.
They would have you believe that diversity is a bad thing. A lot of people are saying that they will eventually have to diversify in order to survive. How many times do we hear of how the population there is ageing and they don't have enough young people to support the system. Japan will collapse without diversity.
Japan needs more young people, not diversity. My theory is our medical science is too advanced. There's no aging problem 1000 years ago because the vast majority of the population died before they hit the retirement age. The ultimate solution is to lower the life expectancy from 80 something to 60.
Actually, it's very easy to immigrate to Japan, I mean, way easier than any other developed country. There are quiet a few ethically Korean and Chinese people living in Japan. Racism does exist in Japan, just like crime exists in Japan, but it's nowhere close to North America and Europe.
If you speak English and even just one or two of the other widespread world languages it's very common to find people you have some shared language with in all but the remotest places.
In my experience, it's not quite so simple. If you don't speak the local language of the particular country you're traveling in, some people will always roll their eyes and make fun of you for that. That's just the way humans are almost everywhere. Just try traveling in any country where you don't know the language that well.
Personally, I don't think it's that big of a deal though. You will still get by.
if you want to talk to people from the rest of the world, internet is good enough. even on c-d, there are people from all over the world, at least, major countries are well represented.
ha!
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