Featured Article – First Impressions
by
I recently travelled to
a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit several different
countries of various cultures in one trip.
In high school, I wasn’t fond of history and elected to study
geography instead. So I had some idea where the countries were
located but not much about their history.
In my adult years I’ve become more interested in world history
and especially biblical history. In these days you can learn
so much about a country by watching the news on CNN or BBC.
Even so, you still formulate in your mind an impression or
opinion of what the country looks like, or how the people live.
Sometimes first impressions can be a true impression but many
times they are not.
It’s funny how our minds that are capable of brilliance can
be so finite. By this I mean, we tend to judge a place by
looking at its exterior or a person by their appearance.
In Bermuda where I live, we are closest to the
of
to
and larger cars and trucks. In most cases it seems to be a
status symbol and a way of life. The bigger the vehicle,
the more expensive the vehicle the better. It doesn’t matter
who the person is behind the steering wheel, the first
impression is the exterior of the vehicle.
Then there’s the lavish homes that are springing up all over
the place and even in
with the first impression. You’re considered important if you
have a big home or nice home. Doesn’t matter what type of
person lives in it.
So needless to say, when I arrived in the ports of
big cars and limos. To my surprise I did not see many. I
saw mostly small to midsize cars and lots of scooters and
mopeds. I felt at home as they were similar to the size
cars we have in
like many that I saw is not good. Having a shiny clean car
is a status symbol in
the person driving the vehicle is.
Sometimes our first impressions tell us that we don’t like
something or someone even before we’ve said one single
word to them. I feel this is a basis for some of the strife
between the nations today. Suppose the first time you met me
I was wearing a colour you didn’t particularly like. You’re
first impression could be that you don’t like me. We each
need to check ourselves because this is a real problem.
In
impression of the crowded city of high rise apartments with
clothes hanging outside of windows was not very favourable.
I’m so thankful that I took a tour and had a Turkish guide
who spoke English. There was so much history to be said about
was then able to understand why the city was so crowded and
was glad to learn a little about their culture.
In Kusadasi again we had a Turkish guide who spoke English.
One place we visited was the ancient city of
had the most awesome experience standing in the Great Theatre
where
knowledgeable and again my perspective changed from my first
impression of Kusadasi. At the end of the tour the guide told
us that he was muslim but respected Christianity. He reminded
us that there is one God. Just because we don’t have the same
beliefs in Jesus Christ, doesn’t mean that we cannot communicate
with one another.
Kusadasi was one of the best places I visited on the trip. Now
if I hadn’t taken the tour with an English speaking guide, I
probably would have said I didn’t like
first impression.
I could go on and give you several other first impression
examples of my trip but I only want to make a point. First
impressions can sometimes give us unintentional false
impressions about a person or place. It can cause division,
disharmony and many prejudices. So it’s important to
get to know more about a person or place you are visiting. As
the popular saying goes, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’.
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