It's difficult to divorce myself from my cultural baggage. That is, all the parts of my culture that lend me identify, psychological safety, and tell me who I am and why that is "right". Clinging to cultural identify is natural. But the exciting part of living abroad is learning to evolve beyond that.

With that in mind, I've been trying to shut up more lately. The inability to be quiet is a parcel of the cultural baggage I tote. American conversations, especially amongst young people, are often one-sided. By way of example, here is a paraphrase from one of my favorite books on intercultural issues (nevermind it's retarded title):

A-san:I just got back from a trip to Los Angeles, the weather was beautiful.
B-san:Oh really? I have relatives in LA, never been there but two years ago we went on a family vacation in San Francsico. Funny thing about San Francisco is...

And so on. Where's the evolution of topic? Where's the empathy and interest in the other person?

I see this kind of conversation a lot in discussion threads about Iraq. Even people who promote peace often merely assert their opinions without struggling to understand the other sides motivation, beliefs, or fears.

I am party to this guilt, and I am struggling to improve. For my part, I'm trying to cultivate within myself a passion for caring about how people think and a curiosity as to why they think it. Even if I don't agree with the content of what I'm hearing, the context can teach me a lot if I just ask the right questions.

Has anyone noticed this in themselves? Have you done anything about it?
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