If you watch IPTV, you have
undoubtedly seen adverts for river cruises on the Rhine, Seine, etc. In one, the owner of the cruise line waxes
eloquent about the benefits of “travel” and schmoozes the listener, “And...best of all, you share yourself.” Barf. Barf. I’m afraid real contact with core of a culture on
cushy cruises is, at best, superficial.
Of course,
not everybody, especially those with kids can afford to live in a foreign
culture, but it does make you question your own culture and value it
differently.
For
example, sitting with German teachers discussing, “Whole Language,” a well-intentioned
effort to get kids writing without undermining their self-confidence. The Germans
asked me, as if I agreed with the concept just because I was carrying an
American passport, “Was macht euch? Was kreigt euch davon? Unausgebiltet UND arrogant
Schuler?”
Loosely: What are you (Americans) doing? What will you get from this (policy)?
Uneducated and arrogant kids?
I answered out
of what I learned traveling and living in Israel. Truly, I believe I came to
understand how/why the Jews are such a successful race. The women,
especially, rave/ooh and ah about every young person’s every undertaking. It results
in immensely confident individuals.
That put a stop to the discussion then, but I am afraid, it did
not to the validity of the German assertion.
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