Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Road to Diversity: A Road Trip Through Different Cultures

You don't need to fly all over the world to experience different cultures, some of them can be just a couple hours away or even right in your back yard. Have you ever wondered what a family dinner is like at your neighbor's house down the street? How about 20 minutes away in the heart of the big city near you? Diversity isn't just about celebrating the differences in skin color all around the world, it's also about celebrating the differences between us and our neighbors. The differences between how we prepare our food, clean our houses, and even teach our children to count.

We can learn a lot about diversity by befriending our neighbors or taking a short road trip. So how can you experience culture without having to travel all over the world? Well the first way is through food. Ask your neighbors to do a dinner swap! One day at your house, and one at theirs. You can even swap recipes at the end to cook their favorite dishes. Or during the summertime you can go to a local food festival. There are a lot of festivals celebrating the culture from their city through food.

Another way you can explore different local cultures is by volunteering. You may not realize it, but people's culture and home life is directly affected by their money status. You can experience these differences by volunteering at your local homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Exploring the different parts of your city/town that you're not accustomed to can really broaden your mind and open your heart to diversity.

Another fun way to explore culture is by taking a road trip. Every town has a different culture, so going on a road trip to explore a few different towns helps you understand a different culture. While you're visiting those towns you can visit the local hot spots, boutiques, or learn about things the town is famous for. This may not seem like it'll broaden your mind as much as say, going on a mission trip to Africa, but by exploring the differences of the towns around you, you are learning more about diversity and culture every day.

It's just as important to understand the people that are around you every day as it is to understand the ones a whole ocean away from you. So take a day or two to go out and explore the culture around you. You might find that you'll learn something new and interesting.

I am a student interested in marketing and public relations and currently have an internship with http://www.diversitypromotions.com/. diversitypromotions.com is a company dedicated to promoting positive messages about diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism through its Embrace Diversity product line (t-shirts, temporary tattoos, tote bags, volunteer or committee gifts, or custom products with your own message), educational endeavors (trainings, presentations, seminars, books, and articles), and special events such as establishing National Diversity Day. We have also written and published the book "Understanding Cultural Diversity in Today's Complex World" in its' fifth printing.


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