Ideasabound

I didn't drink coffee till I moves to Japan. I think it was 1) the trauma of spilling scalding McDonalds coffee on myself as child and 2) lack of flavor. Upon arriving in Japan, I was given coffee which was fragrant without extra exotic flavors like vanilla or mocha. It was simple yet wondrous. I couldn't reject it as I was a guest so I drank it and was pleasantly surprised. Since then I became a two cup a day coffee drinker. No sugar but I do add milk and I'm not a fan of flavors nor creamer. Of course in Japan you can get "American coffee". This is coffee with just a little more water than coffee. It's not heavy nor strong but just slightly weakened. While living abroad I had forgotten what real "American coffee" was like. That was until I got back home for the holidays. I was given a cup of coffee but all I tasted was hot watered down milk with an extremely distant flavor of something resembling coffee. Again not wanting to be rude I slowl...

Cultural Immersion comes in 10 types.  We tend to think of cultural immersion as one big leap into another cultural. But in reality there are possibly 10 different levels of cultural immersion. Each one is regulated by our own desires to step outside of our comfort zones and try new things. 1) Superficial Going out to a Chinese restaurant 2) Partially Simulated Foreign language class or local cultural festival, Foreign language radio and television, via Internet download / streaming, shortwave radio, or FTA satellite. 3) Simulated Example:  Concordia Language Villages 4) Limited Taking a trip abroad 5) Semi-Limited Backpacking abroad 6) Semi-Intensive University Study Abroad 7) Limited Intensive Living abroad in an urban location 8) Intensive High School Exchange Program 9) Semi-Extreme Living abroad in a rural location and have limited outside contact 10) Extreme Living or studying abroad in a rural location completely off the technology grid The lines b...