i'm currently doing a project on how being exposed to different cultures and traveling have shaped you as a person and what affect they've had on people's lives. i'm particularly looking at what oppertunities it has given people and if perhaps they're more open to diversity or how overall it's influenced them. if you have any commentary/personal experiance on this i'd appriciate it! thank you!

well I have been all around the world. The first place I lived is the Phillipines where I was born. I saw poverty, crime, and some terrorism.
My culture is very family and manner oriented. In the Phillipines you live with your family until you get married, at least they let you do that. There are many diffrences I noticed when I moved away from there and moved to America.
People are on there own here at 18. A hospital will perform surgery on you first then figure out a payment plan. In the Phillipines its money first then the operation.
It's shaped my life in a way that I feel very fortunate to live here and not back over there.

what I have to say is:

Exposure (to anything) most certainly has some impact on you
could be your personality formation;
your being receptive to new ideas and broadening of horizons overall;
or, your becoming further rigid about your faiths/beliefs

can have multiple impacts
(DOES have Some impact_even if to the slightest degree)
and is different from person to person.

With many of my cousins/aunts/uncles living abroad,
plus,
my having travelled each and every region of my country

I HAVE realised that
though ppl everywhere (their phsyche, general issues etc.) are the same,
there do tend to be some 'traits' aswell.

Impact on Me:
I think my being so open can be attributed to (not my travelling, really; but the vast exposure I've been Blessed to have gotten) this.
Learning about more and more cultures, societies etcetera can only help make you more open minded
and extends your perspectives.

Pin~Jinx / anarchist

In a sentence, travelling has taught me this:
Media, particularly the Press, give an impression of countries and cultures about which they speak which is so far removed from the truth as to be worthless at best and highly dangerous at worst.

Ever hear the expression, "You must not believe everything which you read in the papers,"? Well, when it comes to foreign countries my travels tell me you should believe nothing written in the press. From Australia, Lebanon and the Middle East to Belfast my take has been so utterly at odds with all media hype as to render it worthless. Travel and explore with an open but sympathetic mind and see how lovely 98% of the people whom you meet will turn out to be...

Absolutely Ritz, if we believed everything the media says, we wouldn't go anywhere.

When I went to Egypt last August, it was two weeks after the Sharm El Sheik bombings. In the press that week, it advised passengers travelling to anywhere in Egypt to cancel and go elsewhere. We went as planned. The area we went to was 1300 miles from the affected areas. There was no trouble whatsoever and we had a fabulous holiday. However we found out that our original party should have consisted of 57 passengers. There was 18 of us on the holiday, the other 39 cancelled at the last minute.

More ya travel, more ya know, more possibilities ya believe in.....not trustin the media blindly....the net gives much more valid information compared to the media (print/t.v).....get the information frm the net....n jus pack ur bags n go....