During my stay at the University of Michigan, one of the senior professors asked me to join a seminar on culture and emotion. In a general1 of self-introductions, I introduced myself in a(n)2 Dutch way as one of those who are"interested in culture and emotion". The professor supplemented(补充) my self-introduction to3 American standards, saying I was one of the world's experts on the4 .In response, I looked down in 5 ,and thought that "expert" was a big word.
When I lived in North Carolina, my new friends came over to 6 . Conversations were full of interest and energy, and there was a lot of 7 .At the end of the evening, when my guests left, they thanked me for the dinner. My heart 8 , because I was born and raised in the Netherlands, where"thanking for dinner"means the relationship is 9 .Emotions are different enough to feel out of 10 when you move from one culture to another. The professor at the University of Michigan meant to make me feel 11 , but instead made me uncomfortable. My friends meant to show 12 , but they made me think they were distancing themselves from me.
We think about emotions as feelings deep inside us, but in 13 , our emotions happen in interactions with others. In my own culture, it was hard to observe the 14 emotions of others, but I was able to see them when I moved to the US—a different 15 from where I was raised.
