Zoe CP IE #2

It's round 2 of Ramin's class, and I'm super excited to be back here! This class has such a lovely vibe to it, and I adore the blend of cultures and opinions. This is one of the big reasons why I came to FSU--where else am I going to be able to be a part of such a diverse and delicious cultural smoothie? For today's session, we were placed into groups to discuss the "cultural iceberg," which is the idea that one can only initially see just the tip of what a culture is really about, while the vast majority of a culture is "under the water," not able to be seen unless you dive into it. My group consisted of a girl from Puerto Rico, a lady from Saudi Arabia, and myself. Both were married with children--I felt so young! What I found the most interesting was that, with the exception of religion, we all had fairly similar views on just about everything else. However, since religion is one of those "under the surface" parts of the iceberg, it was pretty fun to think about how it affects practically every other aspect of a society, eventually influencing the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg analogy was a great way to view other cultures!