Taylor Holzfaster Participation Paper #4

Taylor Holzfaster

Intercultural Communications

2/9/15

Participation Paper #4

            When thinking about what I wanted to write my participation paper about, there were many things that came to mind, but the video that we watched in class is what stood out to me the most. One thing that I really enjoyed about the video is that it followed the daily lifestyle of people experiencing new things that were out of their original culture.

            The way that intercultural communications is such a large part of our world today is amazing. After watching that video in class, it reminded me of a personal intercultural experience that I had when visiting Mexico with my family. Being in an environment that is so different from what I’m used to was not only scary at times, but made me more cautious about the things I did and the way I went about them. When my family and I visited Mexico on vacation, there were many things that were interesting and surprising to me.

            For example, we stayed at a resort while we were there and whenever we wanted to go out into the city and eat dinner, shop, etc., we had to be very cautious as to what personal things we brought with us. We were encouraged to not wear much jewelry and to preferably not bring a purse with us, as it would draw attention to us when on the streets. At the time, I was younger so when my mom tried to explain the reasoning for doing all that I didn’t seem to fully understand.

            The place in Mexico where we visited was well known for a lot of stealing and shooting incidents and there were constant cops roaming the streets making sure that people were safe.

            Watching the video in class, reminded me of how it feels to not fit in somewhere and to feel out of place in a cultural that your not personally use to. It’s amazing how different cultures can be and the way that they can affect the actions and decisions people make.