What are the best ways to become familiar with another culture?

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

some people find visiting a certain place to allow to know better
but, are there better ways?

i feel like i didn't let you know israel well enough in my messages here

i wonder how to do a better job at letting you know it better

 

[blissful]

Take your camera with you, go to the different kinds of markets you have near you. Show how your grocery shopping is and the kinds of things they sell. Maybe some of the items are different than we have in our own countries. Items, prices, haggling or no haggling, weekly grocery haul items.

 

[dragnlaw]

Good idea bliss. This is a cooking forum, as bliss says, we'd be likely more interested in different produce, prices, items, weekly purchases. Just your own! you do not need to go hassle your neighbours.

 

[Badjak]

I've been in Israel, so I have at least an idea what the country is like.
I think focus on "your" Israel. Everyday life, markets, going out, dinner, street food.
And if you know how your country is seen across the border you can show/tell us the other side

If it's any help: I live in Southern/Central Africa
It seems like a lot of people think everyone is starving here, riddled with aids and other diseases. Warlords abound, nothing grows.
I think this comes from the media. It is only news if something bad happens.
Plus the whole continent is seen as a single country.
Something you might appreciate: when the Arab spring happened, I got Northern Europeans (Dutch/German) asking if I wasn't scared. If they would have looked at the map, they would have seen that I was twice as far away as they were

 

[dragnlaw]

As long as we don't get political, we should be fine. Just saying...

 

[Badjak]

For sure...

 

[Marlingardener]

I'd love to see photos and descriptions of everyday life in Israel. STB, please post some. Telling us a bit about the people you encounter would be interesting, too.
I understand trying to help people "see" your country, your area. We moved from a small town in upstate New York to Texas. It seemed all Texans thought New York was covered in skyscrapers, and we lived in a metropolis! Now our friends back north think we ride horses, wear cowboy hats, and herd cattle. Ah, preconceived perceptions!