I think that one of the most positive aspects of immigration is that we get the chance to meet people from different cultures, with different perspectives on life, with different mother tongues, different habits and perceptions on human behavior. Those are the people that challenge us the most, and the ones that can help us expand our knowledge, of course, if one is interested in doing so.
The more time I spend with people from other cultures it makes me realize how many things I have to understand and learn in order to be able to say: “I do have a clue about humans”. It is so interesting how family, environment, friends, city, country, continent, planet (this goes to my ET friends) influence a person: eating timetables, life priorities, wedding ceremonies, working system, creativity and attitude and so on.
I can say I have met people from about half of the countries in the world, at least one specimen from each. I was always curious about their opinions on the cultural differences between their provenience country and the one we were located in at that time. That was just the intro before long conversations related to differences, and not only, because I mostly notice that every subject I approach opens my mind and makes me see points of view I would have never thought of. That is why I think friends with different backgrounds from ours are one of life’s musts.
Finally, I want to say how important is language in communication and especially with people that speak different languages than you do. There is the will of a person to open or not open himself/herself with a stranger. There is no language barrier; there are only people that do not want to understand us.
Killing Oblivion 