Different cultures are an interesting blend of rights and wrongs and acceptance. I had an interesting moment of cross culture life this morning. Our group was running up a long hill, with an incline of 10%. The long hill was actually about a mile long from the base of the steep portion, so it will definitely push your limits as you climb. AS I climbed, I slowed tremendously so that I may see how far I could climb up. I made it about halfway before walking. Luckily, the hill began to flatten out a small amount and I was able to begin running again. I was happy to know that I wasn’t that far behind because I caught up quick.
As I was walking it off at the top while waiting for the others, I looked over the corner of my eye to see one of our Korean Soldiers looking at a wild rabbit. The young Soldier had definitely run faster than I had and was waiting for me at the top and was fully rested. I watched him kneel down to try to pet the rabbit. My body cringed at the site anyone reaching down to pet a wild animal. While I do not recommend touching wild life, I found myself admiring the differences of the two cultures. So say that his actions can generalized to mean all Koreans would be a drastic overstatement. And I could see people in America doing the same thing. What struck me was my reaction to the encounter versus his.
His reaction was to walk up and try to pet the rabbit. The rabbit’s reaction was to run away, but so was mine. Sometimes, in America, we get so bogged down with rules and social mores that we sometimes miss the beauty and the adventure of the life around us. While I won’t be petting any wild animals, but I will appreciate the nature that is around me a little more.
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Photo from Unsplash.com