A speaker of American English, talking about the different levels in a building, might say that there’s a conference room on the first floor and two on the second floor.

A speaker of British English, would say that there’s one conference room on the ground floor and two on the first floor.

The British call the floor of a building at street level the ground floor (the floor in contact with the ground), whereas the Americans usually call it the first floor.

That can cause a little confusion! 😉

The Cultural Atlas aims to inform and educate the public in cross-cultural attitudes, practices, norms, behaviours, communications and business skills.

If you’d like to explore the culture of a specific country, look here.

I found some some interesting information on British Culture, like etiquette, do’s and don’ts and communication and so on.

You might like to take a look a “Dates of Significance” in Germany and see what they’re called in English!

There’s also a useful glossary of words describing cultural values, behavious and concepts.

Are you interested in learning about other cultures?

We all know that trying something new can be scary.

It’s so easy to continue to do things we’re familiar with and have experienced, isn’t it?

But what a rewarding feeling we have when we manage to step out of our comfort zone and do things we’ve never done before!

As the proverb goes, ““Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Or, in German, “Wer nicht wagt, der nicht gewinnt”.

(Meaning: If we don’t engage in new experiences, we don’t gain new perspectives.)

Of course, we all know this.

But do you know that ‘Action for Happiness’* publishes a monthly calendar—with suggested actions that people can take each day to improve their happiness? And that this month we are encouraged to try out something new each day?

You might already been doing some of the things on the calendar. And, of course, you might not manage to follow all the ideas. But this calendar might well inspire you to try out something completely new.

I’m going to jump to day 22 and find a new way to tell someone I appreciate them.

And you? What are you going to do?

*’Action for Happiness’ is a movement of people committed to building a happier and more caring society.

We’ve already spoken about some personality types. Let’s look at a few more.

A lone wolf is a person who prefers his/her own company and hates socialising.
A chatterbox is someone who talks a lot.
A nosy parker is someone who meddles in the affairs of others!
A bright spark is an intelligent person.
A busybody is interested in things that do not involve them.

Do you know any of these personality types? 😉

“There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading in the same direction, so it doesn’t matter which path you take. The only one wasting time is the one who runs around and around the mountain, telling everyone that his or her path is wrong.”
A Hindu proverb (on the many ways to win)

What is at the top of your mountain? And why do you want to go up? Are you on one of those paths or are you walking around in circles?

A little food for thought?