Case Analysis

(An American English teacher living in Thailand was glad to see her former student, who had just returned from a year in the United States.)

Teacher: Oh, Mr. Sittipunt, welcome back. How was your trip to the United States?

Mr. Sittipunt: Well, I'm glad to be home. In the United States, I saw old people trying to look young, and young people trying to look old. I found you Americans say yes" when we would sometimes say "no. People said, How are you? and then they didn't even wait for an answer they just continued on their way. I met unmarried couples living together, and married couples who were not living together. American women are just as aggressive as the men. I'm really glad to be home. I just don't understand your American way of life. I had heard about the American dream, but take my word for it it's no dream, it's nightmare.

要求英文作答，至少100词。

案例来源：庄恩平主编；庄恩平，庄恩忠，姚海芳，赵明编.跨文化商务沟通教程 阅读与案例[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社.2014.

Sample answer

当我们来到陌生的国度，首先吸引我们注意的是与自己生活环境不同的地方，所以西铁彭特先生提到的“美国人的生活方式”可能并不是典型美国社会的特点，也不能算是对美国社会一个客观的评价，只是一些令他感到不适应和困惑的地方，以及给他印象深刻的生活方式而巳。

比如，他在美国注意到“老人尽量让自己看起来更年轻”，这说明在泰国老人不是这样的;当他发现未婚男女住在一起时，很可能想到这种行为在泰国是不道德的。当 我们听到任何一个外国游客评论其所游览的国家时，他们正在向我们暗示着他们的文化是另外一个样子。但是不同并不代表着“不妥”， 或“低级”，不同文化背景下的人们以他们认为合理和习惯的方式快乐地生活着，这种“合理和习惯”不是所有民族的“合理和习惯”，认识到这一点，才有助于我们摘下有色眼镜，摆脱基于本族的文化而建立的判断标准，用积极而宽容的态度看待差异和相似，而不是诧异和敌视。

资料来源：

庄恩平主编；庄恩平，庄恩忠，姚海芳，赵明编.跨文化商务沟通教程 阅读与案例[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社.2014.