Different Ways To Experience Foreign Culture

No foreign trips are alike, nor the purpose of embarking on one.  Many people travel to merely see a new place. Many others travel to feel and imbibe the culture and experiences.  Here are some exciting options to experience foreign culture.

Do a volunteer project

One of the best ways to get to experience foreign culture and its people is to lend your time and expertise towards a volunteer project.  This will bring you close to the locals in a manner nothing else can. After all, you are helping to build or create something that is relevant to them. Normally these types of interactions necessarily involve local dialects, which necessitate learning them in the first place.  By Working at close quarters on projects, you can enhance awareness of local culture and traditions. A number of volunteering projects are available such as organizing Special Olympics, raising money for Red Cross, sponsoring a drug-free event, and so on.

Home stays in Europe

When you opt for home stay, you are sharing domestic space with the home owners.  You are no longer in a hotel where the atmosphere is impersonal.  This is somebody’s home, you are sleeping in their bed, lounging on their couch, cooking in their kitchen with local and possibly unfamiliar ingredients, and interacting with the owners.  There can be no better way of assimilating the European traditions and culture than this.

Stay in a villa in Crete

This again is an idea that will enrich your experience of the local culture.  Staying for extended periods in a foreign country entails interaction with locals on a scale that is not possible for travellers merely passing through a country and Crete boasts a number of stunning villas that allow you to do just this.  Not only does one get to savour local Grecian cuisine, but also learn of the various intricacies of culture.  Opting to sign up for walks, cooking tours, and handicraft tours, as well as trying to pick up the local language not only broadens the horizons of the mind but also helps one to deepen understanding of local sensibilities.

Trekking in amazing mountains

For avid mountaineers, their ambition takes them to conquer peaks in foreign lands.  They necessarily need to interact with the locals to help them summit. This includes taking them along, eating their food, understanding a smattering of their language, etc.  Given the very nature of trekking, this could sometimes involve situations where they all might be thrown into the deep end as well. Coming out of these will only strengthen bonds and enrich this experience. Some of the best treks in the world are Pays Dogon in Mali, Routeburn Track in New Zealand, W Circuit in Chile, and Mount Roirama in Veezuela, amongst many others.

Getting a job in the Middle East

This could be a completely new experience for even the most adventurous of traveler. The Middle Eastern countries are a completely different ballgame and socio-culturally far removed from commonly practiced norms.  For someone choosing to work in the Middle East, for the sake of experiencing culture, it is sure to be an education into their social architecture and culture.  How people behave, how they dress, what they eat, what they do and don’t, can be understood by working and interacting at close quarters.

These will become trips to cherish forever and to share with friends and family for years to come. You will come away with a fresh outlook on life and with a new appreciation for life itself by experience foreign culture.