Things you learn during travel
1. People are the same everywhere.
I went to a party in Indonesia and met the same types of people I know back home.
People who are too loud, people who are too quiet, people who like to argue, people who like to gossip, etc. So it's not really "cultural" but just human behavior no matter where you go.
I also find that everyone has something to teach me if I listen carefully enough. It's amazing how many skills and talents I see in people all over the world. And it's always interesting when someone from one culture tries to learn a skill from someone in another culture (like when an American tries to learn juggling from a Russian). For instance, I was trying to juggle for the first time yesterday with a Russian guy and he taught me some basic things but...it didn't work out well for me at all! He was very good at teaching me but my brain just can't do it. It's frustrating because it seems so easy for him but not for me (and this is true of most things).
Also, there is more kindness than you think out there. When I am walking around with little money in my pocket (which is always) there are still many people willing to help me out or give me food or show me places or let me sleep on their couch even though they barely know me and they don't really have much money themselves either (I've been living like this since March). So yes, we're all the same but we're also all unique in our own way even if we're all trying hard to fit into society's boxes by wearing similar clothes and having similar jobs and getting married and buying houses and having kids and etc. There is always something unique about each person if you look closely enough (maybe that comes from being an artist?).
2. Even though we're all the same
This is why conflict happens between countries/cultures/etc
You see someone doing something totally differently than you would do it yourself so you assume they must be stupid or evil or whatever because your way works so well for you that you can't understand why anyone would do anything differently than what you would do yourself
That's why wars happen
even though deep down we're all the same, we think others must be wrong because their actions seem so foreign compared to our actions which seem right to us because they worked for us so well in our lives up until now (and usually they haven't really worked very well at all)
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