Why Small Countries Are Ahead Of The Giant Ones

Some countries are big and some are not. What I mean, is that some countries are constantly in the center of attention, they have influenced the world population and they can't stay out of your sight. But there are also countries that many people don't even have an idea about. For example, Georgia is a small country, it covers a territory of 69700 square kilometers and its population is about 3.7 million. Well, we are famous for our culture and food, as well as for our bitter problems, like occupation. But still, when I asked my online friend from Japan about my country, he said he had never heard of it.

The terms 'big' and 'small' may not sound right in every occasion, but it can be used for easy reference.

The one big reason behind this "problem" is the globalization. People are interested in trends and celebrity news which come from those "big" countries, like USA, UK, Japan, Germany and so on. People from those countries are already in the centre of attention, they do not really need to get interested in developing, weaker or smaller countries' culture, history and overally, in their condition. While on the other hand, people from those smaller countries know both, their culture and the culture of the rest of the world. They have to know, if they want to be considered as developed and modern people. Eventually, it appears that they know much more about the world than the others. Now, who is in the bigger advantage?

The bitter point is when people from those "big" countries expect you to know everything about their country, which is not quite pleasant, is it? For instance, personally, I felt very down when my American friend would point out all my mistakes in speaking or writing, and also in everyday matters which are familiar for her but maybe not for me. She would say -"why don't you know that? It's how we do it."

Some people just don't get that the world is inclusive and diversity should be welcome. All nationalities have different cultures and habits. We can't know everything about each other.. BUT , there's a big but!

The big but is to stay open-minded. Yes, we all have different interests, culture, history... But we should be willing to learn more from each other. Not to change into someone else, not to forget our own traditions, but to develop as we truly are, as ourselves. We should be a little bit more curious, little bit more brave and by changing our attitude towards the world, we can change the big stereotype that only the developed countries are worth of attention.

We can learn from each other in various ways:

• The first thing that comes to our minds is to read the foreign literature. Nowadays, almost every book is translated in at least one language, which is English, as it might be expected. Of course, every language has its own distinctive characteristics and translated version may not bring the same emotion and feelings, but reading them is still worth considering.
• The most enjoyable method of learning about another country's culture is by travelling there. As my Art teacher said, nothing gives you more knowledge and understanding of a different culture rather than travelling. However, wending one's way to another country is not always convenient, especially if the country of interest is far away and it's expensive to cover travel costs. That brings us to another way to acquire a knowledge of a foreign country-
• Online friends! Making friends online and asking questions is amazingly helpful. The best thing about it is that the conversation is not one-sided. You and your partner exchange information, ideas and you gradually become familiar with each other's way of living.

Haven't you never heard someone saying - " Oh, the country I travelled to was not very different from the rest of the world, but still, everything felt so rare and extraordinary that it was breathtaking." The thing is that people tend to value everything distinctive much more magnificent than it may be, because we like to see brand new things, which give us aesthetic pleasure. Our ancestors realized it long time ago, for example, a Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli wrote a poem Vepkhistkaosani (lit. The Knight in the Panther's Skin). In this poem, the word 'strange' can be meaning not only something strange and unknown, but also something beautiful, unique, pleasant. All in all, we perceive different, but beautiful things much attractive. That's why people enjoy travelling and introducing themselves to different cultures.