card game

The card game that we played last week in class really opened my eyes to the struggles and experiences that occur when different cultures collide. I was amazed and impressed at how much insight it provided me and the whole class. At the beginning it seemed like just a simple card game...but as it went on there were things that emerged that made the experience more frustrating and awkward. The groups that we started out with became our "comfort zone", we had gotten to know these people through talking with them and discussing the rules of the game in which we were presented with. Once we began not being able to talk to them it was still easy to communicate our thoughts because we had the same ideas about the card game. In retrospect, this is how it is in one's own culture. People are comfortable within their own culture and society (at least for the most part). They have become accustomed to the rules and norms and are able to conduct themselves adequately. I was one of the first people from my group to move to another, but my unease about moving to a group in which I was not originally apart of was lessened by the fact that I "travelled" with another group member. Once we started playing the game, there was almost immediate confusion, the rules and norms were different and it was frustrating for them not to understand and go along with what we had learned. It turned out that I started just giving in to their rules and norms because they were the majority. As I began thinking about this I realized that this is how things often work in the real world; when a small amount of people travel to another culture (the majority) those people begin taking on the other cultures' rules and norms. Although there is initial frustration and confusion, there is almost nothing else to do but to give in and adapt. Overall I found this card amazing, I enjoyed the abstract way in which we learned the lessons of the day. I feel like I learned more from that then I would have from a class lecture because I was really able to experience what was being taught and work hands-on.