Culture

I think one of the main thing about cultural differences is values. In one country, being someone to be proud of is valuable whereas in other place, what is valuable is your happiness. I never understand why people like to compare one to the other or brag about their or their relatives' achievements. Probably, because I never have been a fan of being in the spotlight. I prefer people ask me about whether I like something or whether I want to do it or not. And probably, that's also the reason why I felt lost when my Oma passed away. She was one of the persons that never forced me to do anything. We just loved accompanying each other.

The interesting part of moving from one country to another is that apart from facing different cultures, you also find a mixed culture where people re-create a new identity based on the mixture of different people. And since nothing can be taken for granted, we communicate. I think one of the thing about assuming that if you belong to one place, you expect people to be similar to you, all of you are assumed to follow the same values, but in reality, people have personalities that may not be what you think of them. With differences, people are aware that things need to be communicated since no one knows what are the norms.

Probably, that's also the reason why talking to him is interesting. He is like Scheherazade from the Arabian night where he captivated me with his stories and voice.

PS: I took the picture when I went to Fort Canning Park. They have this wall with names of people who passed away during a certain period. They came from various countries, UK, US, Indonesia and others.