31 May 2010 League City, United States of America
Category: Western culture
I wrote yesterday already about the cooking workshop that we had with so many people. It was really lots of fun. We had a smaller group for cooking and then many more who come only for food. So when all the dishes were prepared, everybody filled his plate and we spread in the dining room and the living room as well as at the kitchen table until everybody had found a place.
And then somehow it was a little bit funny for the three of us to see, some people were done and got up and left the house. They said goodbye to one or two people and left. We had to laugh about this and decided that this might be a cultural difference. For us it seems very impolite to leave while others are still eating but nobody else seemed to mind. Several people left, others stayed and we had a nice talk after the food before we officially said good-bye to people.
I guess this is cultural difference. If you compare this with Germany, we believe this would not happen and has never happened in any workshop yet that people left the house while the house owner was still eating. Some said good-bye to Joanne while she had the plate full of food and the spoon in the hand. In Germany it is custom to wait with anything until everybody has finished eating.
In India it is again a little bit different. You cannot even think of disturbing anybody who is eating. You would not talk to that person because eating is so important. We joked and said that Indians would then rather sit around in your house for another five hours before leaving. However they would not mind if you went into your room and to bed either. These are cultural differences. We decided that as travellers you need to have an open mind and heart. You always keep seeing differences and then adopt the best parts of each culture.
Tags:: Cooking, Food, Indian culture, Mind, Western culture, Fun, Culture, German, Goodbye, Heart
3 Comments
Posted By Swami Balendu
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This was an interesting read. I am in the U.S. A. I had the opportunity to participate in a You are invited to Thanksgiving Dinner charity event. The dinner was provided and served by committee members (my sister and her daughters are members) who also partook of the meal. Some of the diners ate and left...others stayed and fellowshipped, ... See Morerealized that they were part of a family gathering. It truly is all about love being out poured and all of us realizing when we are being embraced by love. It is then that we participate in the oneness that is our creation. One world, One people, The children of GOD.
Reply By Renetta A Hunter Land on July 20, 2010 05:14
Different indeed. In America we've grown up with the idea that around the dinner table is the time to catch up on what everyone did that day. For some of us it is the ONLY time we get to talk.
Reply By Scott Farber on July 20, 2010 05:12
My challenge would be more to be silent during eating. ;-) But I've learned from you visit to our house to concentrate more on the meal itself again!
Reply By Hans-Christian Vom Kolke on July 20, 2010 05:07
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True friends stay when your philosophy and belief change.
SourceLove is the only supernatural power that exists and we all have access to it. You just need to open your heart and let it flow.
SourceSpirituality is something very personal and individual. You don’t need to connect with a sect or join a group for living your spirituality. You need deeply felt spirituality and not show-off spirituality. Be natural about your spirituality.
SourceIf you generously spend money for your happiness, donate something for the happiness of others, too! Don’t only give your blessings but actually make a difference! Wealth requires Sensitivity!
SourceReligion makes women inauspicious and depicts them as usable objects, as second-grade citizens who belong to men and should obey.
SourceNobody is perfect. But in the eyes of someone who loves you, you are. You don’t stop loving someone because of his faults.
SourceNot rarely you can see that yoga or meditation gurus mix two common practices and call it their own, put a patent on it and then sell it.
SourceMany sportspeople make themselves dependent on a psychological illusion. It is the right seat in the bus due to which they win, not their talent. It is the lucky glove which had them catch the ball, not their good eyes and training to stand at the right spot!
SourceWe don't need all these complicated philosophies. We just need to learn four letters: love. It is that simple. Live in love, believe in love and share love.
SourceIs God trustworthy? Should you really have faith in someone you never met?
SourcePeople are not very sensitive towards their own feelings and the feelings of others anymore. It is the biggest loss of today’s time: the loss of sensitivity.
SourceIf you want to follow a Guru, a master, a sect leader or any kind of belief, don’t have your children affected, too! Give your children the possibility to decide themselves. Show them the normal world, let them develop properly with the full capacity of their mind to be critical, to think about everything themselves and with full emotional abilities, too! Give your child the freedom and the possibility of a healthy, normal lifestyle.
SourceIn India you can learn about love in between family members, about supporting each other and living together in peace and freedom.
SourceAtheists have done something that is not very different from what Buddha has done – they formed just another group with a different belief, the belief that there is no god.
SourceDon't hide the changes of your life! Your past is a part of you!
SourceIf you forgive yourself a mistake, why don’t you forgive others for the same? Forgiveness will give you satisfaction and peace.
SourceStay true to yourself, even if your ideas and those of your elders clash. Those who love you will realize that your love is more important than old tradition and ridiculous superstition. Time has changed and knowledge and science has progressed.
SourceHuman worship in any religion and culture is always wrong.
SourceRespect your food. Your stomach is not a garbage box. You are doing something important when you are eating.
SourceStop running behind achievements and appreciation from outside. Appreciate yourself, love yourself and take time for yourself.
Source
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