Writing 101: Title

University of Maryland University College
Insert Title Here Throughout my life I have traveled to many countries on four different continents. My occupation is centered around interactions with other human beings, despite their background, culture, language, values, or beliefs. My success hinges on my ability to relate to other people and earn their trust. This in and of itself can be an overwhelming task when dealing with other Americans. Pile on top the stresses of a hostile environment where your country is viewed as an occupier, morally and religiously at odds with the host nation, and the fact neither of you speak the other’s language. This, to some extent or another, has been a large part of my life for the past eight years in the Marine Corps. Other than making me really, really good at party games like Pictionary where you have to communicate without words, I have picked up some similarities through my experiences between the cultures I have interacted with that are shared despite geographic separation, cultural exclusivity from lack of outside influence or exchange, and prior indoctrination of biases through propaganda or limited experiences. In the following pages, I intend to discuss these similarities to assist the traveler when she or he finds themselves in a similar position. While each interaction with an individual in a foreign country may seem trivial to the average American, that may be the only American that foreigner ever comes across, thus shaping perceptions for generations in the village. An example which we will discuss later is Greg Mortensen, author of “Three Cups of Tea”, who forever changed remote villages in Pakistan. We will primarily compare the Muslim cultures in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Asian cultures of Japan of the Republic of Korea. Some of the items we will discuss will be the theme of respect in social interactions, with a particular emphasis on age; attitudes towards Westerners, specifically in regards to hospitality; the roles of shame and honor; and non-verbal communication. Through my personal experiences, professional reading and training, and anecdotes from colleagues, I intend to demonstrate how the traveler should take each of these four into consideration when interacting with one of the selected cultural groups, or at the very least, become the most sought after partner in their local Pictionary club. First, to prevent any confusion, there are many differences between the four cultures being discussed in the following pages, especially within the two subsets. By grouping two distinctly different Muslim and Asian cultures, I do not intend to offend or imply they are the same, but instead to demonstrate places in a metaphorical Venn diagram where they intersect. We will not focus on fundamental idealogical or religious differences, but on the human factors that make all human and allow our fifth and equally distinct Western culture to communicate universally among them. The first and most readily memorable similarity between the two Muslim cultures and the two Asian cultures is the theme of respect and instrumental position it holds in most all interactions. I remember my first time meeting a local Shayikh (or Sheik) in Iraq the spectacle that unfolded before me. TEXT TEXT TEXT (revising/shortening this portion as it seems to me like too much narrative for a research paper) The second similarity is the propensity to treat visitors with extreme hospitality. In the two Muslim cultures, hospitality is at the center their values and the family’s generosity and treatment of guests often impacts how they are viewed by the rest of the tribe or group. In his book “Three Cups of Tea” Greg Mortenson (Cite) tells the tale of how he becomes stranded in a small Pakistani village while attempting to climb K2 in the Kakaram range between Pakistan and China. Near the verge of exhaustion, Greg stumbles across the villager, who take him in and provide him with what little they have. In the book “Lone Survivor”, Marcus Lattrell (Cite) tells of a similar situation where a handful of U.S. Navy SEALs are compromised in Afghanistan and taken in by a local Afghan village, who after having made the tough choice to protect the Americans, must now risk their lives for the safety of their guests. While these are extreme examples of the role of hospitality, my wife and I were exposed to a similar form our first night in Japan. This was her first time outside the country and my wife was already frazzled from prospect of being geographically separated from friends and family for three years and the 16 total hours we spent on various aircraft to get us to Haneda International Airport. Now, thanks to the U.S. Government and their never-ending quest to save a dollar at the expense of quality and efficiency, we had to gather our six checked bags, our three carry-on bags, our sleeping two year old, and our wits to figure how to 1) Get Japanese Yen or convert our American Dollars, 2) Purchase train tickets to Narita airport for the final leg of our trip into Okinawa 3) Transport all the aforementioned cargo to the train and get on the right one, 4) Make it in time for our connecting flight, and 5) Perform all those tasks without knowing a word of Japanese. Thankfully for us a group of four flight attendants from All Nippon Airways noticed the three of us looking tired, desolate, and confused standing in the center of the aisle impeding the flow of other customers. They immediately sprung into action and began attempting with all their best charades skills to solve our problem. After they realized I was making train noises and not messing with them, two quickly pushed our luggage, a third took our son by the hand and walked beside the first two, and the final attendant escorted me to the ATM and showed me how to withdrawal Yen. They walked us all the way to our train and saw us board. We encountered similar help at the next airport where they expedited all the way from the check-in counter to the terminal gate as we has arrived with only about 45 minutes to spare. In all three cases, the cultures emphasis on hospitality saved the life of another; Greg Mortenson from the elements, the Navy SEALs from the Taliban, and me from my wife whom I just drug 3,000 across the world. SHAME VS HONOR TEXT TEXT TEXT placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder NON-VERBAL placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder placeholder

References
Mortenson, G., & Relin, D. O. (2006). Three cups of tea, one man's mission to fight terrorism and build nations-- one school at a time. Viking Pr. Greg Mortenson tells the story of his experiences with a remote village, the treatment he received, and how those experiences changed his life.
Lutrell, M., & Robinson, P. (2008). Lone survivor. New York: Little, Brown and Company. Story of a U.S. Navy SEAL team compromised in Afghanistan and taken in by a local village whose cultural values require them to protect the Americans from the Taliban.
Mackenzie, L., & Wallace, M. (2011). The Communication of Respect as a Significant Dimension of Cross-Cultural Communication Competence. Cross-Cultural Communication, 7(3), 10-18. doi:10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020110703.175 The authors look at cross-cultural communication across a variety of cultures to include Middle Eastern Muslims and Koreans.
Gladwell, M. (2010). Outliers, the story of success. New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company. Gladwell writes a chapter about how respect and deference in Korean culture results in an uncharacteristically high number of airplane crashes involving Korean pilots.
Personal photographs x2 Photos from Iraq and Afghanistan, possibly Japan as they relate to the topics.
Interview with co-worker On personal experiences in Korea.