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1. 

   Daniela Branet on 15/04/2009 at 11:27 pm

   An english man s house is his castle.Not far from the truth Andrew.Being an au pair for 3 years i used to feelso frustrated about the lack of relationships in UK.For 3 years,the only people who visited that house were the grandparents of the children.
   It might be a matter of cold weather who keeps people more to themselves and less interdependent on neighbours.In my culture there is more” living of the land” and so latin culture is more relationship based more.
   One of the fruits of my culture is Inclusion, which means that no one is left out , no one is lonely.You ve mentioned about being warm hearted, but it is know that english people are usually cold.So many times people looked at me strange just because i hugged them, kiss them or being ” touchy”.And , so i ve learned to adapt to a culture where warm heartness or hospitality does not happen that often, but in my opinion it is nothing wrong with it.
   The cultural differences should be taken into account and, so i ve learnt to listen with my heart, to see beyound the moodyness or grumpyness of people.
   You ve mentioned about being gracious and smiling more , but can you force people to do it if they do not feel like it?
   We need to look beyond that and this will involve a faithful hearing of the feelings that people express and also a deeper listening beneath what we can see with our eyes.
   In my opinion, i like to believe that if somone smiles at me is real rather than playing a role.
   If i am being genuine, me and maybe i am not the only one, i am seeking a consistency of word and action, not playing insincere.
   For us, as christians will be much easier to develop the gift of grace or to become more warm hearted people because we have got Jesus to transform us every day.But i also, believe that we do not need to be so harsh on ourselves because we all start out selfish, living in this prison of ME ME ME, so it is a process of transformation that only Jesus can unfold for us to become like Him.
   Anyway, to be isolated in UK is normal for most of the british people i have come in contact, so i am learning to accept the cultural differences that exist and take them as they are, knowing that if people are happy living this way without too much interaction, then to adapt it is the best way
   I t is not always easy, but i am interacting with foreigners so i can have something from 2 different cultures.
   I think , i need to look at the positives of each culture and not being to critical on what are they lacking or have.
   Hope i have not offended anybody by being truthful about english culure in general, but this is a comment on your preaching ( talking about Lydia s grace and warmth).Anyway, most of the christians i ve come in contact are reallyyyyyy lovelyyyyy,so i do not want to generalise at all.

   PS On 22 of april i ve got the second interview for the Magistrates Court. Please, pray for me that they get some sense out of me Andrew.Thank you very much

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