Psyched for Psychology (to be over)

I just finished my last chapter in Experiencing Psychology!!  I'll study over the weekend and hopefully be able to take the final exam on Monday.  It feels like such a relief to not feel as if I must constantly have my nose in my textbook for fear of getting behind.  Anyway, as you might guess, the sections in which the roles of culture play a part in people's reactions, behaviours, and attitudes are my favourite.  Ever wonder why certain cultures value conformity, while others value individuality?  Apparently scientist have found that pathogens might help answer that question.  Granted, there are more factors involved than just germs:

 "Unique cooking traditions are often used to distinguish among cultures. In particular, some cultures are known for their fiery cuisine, while others feature blander foods...Thus, Damian Murray and Mark Schaller (2010) proposed that cultures favoring spicier foods would also be those that emerged in places with relatively more pathogens, a prediction they supported in a large-scale cross-cultural examination. Consider, too, that surviving in a world in which infectious agents are an ever-present threat might also mean curtailing those social behaviors through which diseases are more likely to spread. Interestingly, extraversion—a trait associated with outgoing sociable behavior—is lower in nations in which pathogen prevalence is high."  Experiencing Psychology, 3rd edition

Pretty neat, huh? 

I've also been thinking, after my last post with the Milo canister, about other ways I know I'm not still in the U.S.  Beside the accents, a lot of names are different here.  Nigel, Bryn, Declan, Bronwyn, Valda and some others I will not even attempt to spell.  Also, they say "tea" instead of dinner/supper.  I'm quite sure they got this from the Brits.  It can be a bit confusing when someone invites you over for "tea", but they actually mean an entire evening meal, not just a drink.  If they were inviting you over for just a drink they'd say "Would like to come over for a cuppa?"  Also, even the way people use cutlery here is different from Americans.  The Aussies and the Kiwis, unsurprisingly, take after the Brits in this regard as well.  While we are taught as children that you eat with your fork, and when necessary pick up your knife to cut your food and then replace the knife on your plate; here they eat with both utensils simultaneously.  While not as hard as learning to use chopsticks, I still find it difficult to emulate. 
Although it's now technically the middle of winter, it's been in the 50's for the last couple of weeks and the flowers are starting to come out.  I've been watching the daffodils grow in the park, where Sam gets his exercise; well, technically, we both get our exercise because he's not very good at returning the ball to me.  I'd still prefer a proper summer, but I certainly shouldn't complain about the winter I'm experiencing.

King Edward Park, Hawera

This past Sunday was "Bible Sunday" here in New Zealand, and Pastor Paul gave a neat little message on the importance of reading the Bible for all it's worth.  He compared our reading of the Bible to two of the 20th century's cooking inventions of which we're all quite familiar: microwaves and crock-pots.  We often want to microwave the scriptures.  Turn to a verse, read it and we're good for the day.  Or perhaps we just cherry-pick to find one quick verse which backs us up in our position on a topic.  In reality we should be treating our reading as a crock-pot, we should simmer in the Word and meditate on it (Ps. 1:2 and 119:97).