One of the things I find most interesting is when I meet people from cultures very different from my own. It's so easy to just imagine that everyone likes the same things or eats the same things, that similar things are important at work or that the same things are appropriate on a date.
I love when I find out that that isn't true at all. I love talking to people from other countries and finding out what they think is weird about my culture. I love learning about those differences. I love getting a glimmer of the larger world.
Even online things tend to be divided up at least by language if not by geography. It's very easy to find websites in my country, not very easy to find results from other countries. And even if I did, I probably couldn't read them.
That's one thing that I really enjoy about SG. There are so many people on this site from all over the world. I love reading about what they're up to, what people are interested in, what their vacations and friendships are like. I also really enjoy reading how language is used. A fair number of people on this site speak more than one language, a surprising number (surprising to me) speak something other than English as their first language.
Noting the differences in word choice, conjugation, grammar, rhythm is fascinating to me. It's often largely informed or based on the person's mother tongue.
That's not what I expected when I joined this site, but I love it!
