Hi!
I am doing an college English essay, which I need to show how
different culture cause the differences in peoples throughout the
world. I need to show that it is our culture that makes us different
rather then our biological potentialities(i.e. sex, age and physical
strenth), so I need example such as, How does some American culture
makes people in certain countries(perfer Taiwan or China) feel weird?
or How many cultures from other countries is unacceptable to many
people who born in American. The more strange the culture to the
American citizen the better!(like people eat snake in Arizona, which
is a sick idea for American).

If it helps, I am writting an essay in response to a short essay
called "Mirror For Man" by Clyde Kluckhohn.
The essay topic is "According to Kluckhohn, what accounts for the
differences in peoples throughout the world? Do you accept his
explanation? provide examples

Thank you so much for your help!!!

hmm interesting very interesting, it's late and I'm tired but I may
come back to this tomorrow.

Right off the top of my head would be 'personal space' orientals seem
to need very little of it, they are confortable talking to you being
less than 8 inches away, that is way to close for me, way too close, I
need at least 1.5 feet of personal space. I understand that in China
eating some kind of bird's nest is considered a delicacy, as far as
I'm concerned this nest was not made out of leaves and twigs but from
a dried out excretion and well not up my alley of deli foods. Lets go
elsewhere in the globe, Italians why not, they need to consistently
gesture with their hands when they talk, we are not quite so loud and
a lot more stoic. Latin people have very romantic ideals and tend to
put their women on a pedestals we think of them more as equals or
partners. Inuit women used to chew on a mans boots to soften the
leather before the male put on his footwear in the morning....  no
girlfriend I've ever had would've done that... lol

I just remembered this article that although is not 'cultural' I
thought interesting...

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18725144.600.html


Chinese and American people literally see the world differently - one
groups focuses on primary features while the other takes in context

CHINESE and American people literally see the world differently. While
Americans focus on central objects in images, the Chinese pay more
attention to the background.

"There was plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that Western and
East Asian people have contrasting world views," explains Richard
Nisbett at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who carried out
the study. "We wanted to devise an experiment to see if that
translated to a literal difference in what they actually see."

In many parts of Asia (including China) it is inappropriate to stroke
a child's head, I believe because it is considered the seat of its
soul.
In Peter Freuchen's autobiography, "Vagrant Viking", he explained that
Inuit women (1st half 20th c) saved their urine to wash their hair.  I
don't know about their chewing on their men's boots each morning, but
they did chew on the the leather and sinews used for sewing to soften
them.
An Australian medical missionary in India told me 35 years ago that
the peasant mothers in his area cleaned their undiapered infants with
their tongue (sorry, folks).
Men holding hands in public in Islamic countries.
Eating dog flesh in China (they really do).
The idea of eating raw fish and meat used to be abhorant to many
Americans, but sushi and carpaccio (sp?) have become accepted, but
many would still be put off by a plate of small whole squid, a
delicacy around the Mediterranean.
Fresh monkey brain:  don't open the link if you don't want to read
about the details:  http://www.maxent.org/ch/monkey_brains.html
Slugs and insects, eaten by the Aborigines in Australia and in SE Asia.

Hey Myoarin! long time no see... you must've been on vacation somewhere.

I heard that about the Inuits a very long time ago, I have done no
research on it so I wont stand by my words... ;-)

I can't stomach the raw fish thing, just not for me, but I have no
problem with squid actually I think the little suckers are delicious,
deep fried... ok gonna make myself hungry here.

That monkey thing, you know... I haven't opened that link (not in the
mood for that today) but I know people in Africa eat primates, that is
just not right. If it were up to me I would make that a crime
punishable in the same manner as killing another human. If you look
into a gorilla's eyes you can see that there is intelligence there, it
is not like looking at a cow. Although cows are concious I doubt that
they are self aware, there is no doubt in my mind that primates are
self aware, almost human.

Hey good to see you around again Myoarin, 

Elí