My Favorite Cross-Culture Movies

Because I love crossing cultures and I make fun of myself for all the messes I find myself in doing so...it is nice to laugh at someone else from time to time.

Here are my top 5 movies that will give you the giggles about crossing cultures:

5. New In Town (2009)

A high-powered consultant in love with her upscale Miami lifestyle is sent to a middle of nowhere town in Minnesota to oversee the restructuring of a blue collar manufacturing plant. After enduring a frosty reception from the locals, icy roads and freezing weather, she warms up to the small town's charm, and eventually finds herself being accepted by the community.

4. Dances with Wolves (1990)

Lt. John Dunbar is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not alone, but meets a wolf he dubs "Two-socks" and a curious Indian tribe. Dunbar quickly makes friends with the tribe, and discovers a white woman who was raised by the Indians. He gradually earns the respect of these native people, and sheds his white-man's ways.

3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Toula Portokalos is 30, Greek, and works in her family's restaurant, Dancing Zorba's, in Chicago. All her father Gus wants is for her to get married to a nice Greek boy. But Toula is looking for more in life. She meets Ian Miller, a high school English teacher, they date secretly for a while before her family finds out. Her father is livid over her dating a non-Greek. He has to learn to accept Ian; Ian has to learn to accept Toula's huge family, and Toula has to learn to accept herself.

2. Outsourced (2006)

When the call center he manages in Seattle is outsourced to India, Todd travels there to train his replacement. Housed in a new building that looks like an above-ground bunker, the call center is staffed by willing novices whom Todd trains to sound American. One star on the staff is Asha, who teaches Todd that he should learn about India, and proceeds to do just that.

1. West Bank Story (2005)

A musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel stands on the West Bank. David, an Israeli soldier, falls in love with Fatima, a beautiful Palestinian cashier, despite the animosity between their families' dueling restaurants. Can the couple's love withstand a 58-year-old conflict and their families' desire to control the future of the chick pea in the Middle East?

Check them out.

Accidental Bridesmaid: The Wedding

Today is the day. The wedding is at 3 pm.

We had a lot going on that day, we briefly considered not going to the wedding. But decided to go, there should be at least a few sitting in the audience. We grabbed our two small kids and hopped in a taxi.

Side note: It was over 100 degrees that day.

We arrived.

Hot. Stinky. Sweaty. Wrinkled. Hungry (the baby).

It was past three by the time we arrived. Our plan was to just sneak in the back to show our support.

As we walked into an office to ask where the wedding was, I heard the secretary say:

"Oh the best man and maid of honor are here."

I looked behind me, no one was standing there. Strange.

There was some commotion. I ducked into a small kitchen area to feed the baby. That just made me more...Hot. Stinky. Sweaty. Wrinkled.

A few moments later, the aforementioned secretary lady came running in.

"Hurry! The wedding is just waiting on you!"

"No, don't wait for me" I say "Just go ahead, I'll be right there."

A puzzled look crossed her face.

"But you are the maid of honor!"

A puzzled look crossed my face.

I pulled my hot, stinky, sweaty, wrinkly self together and headed into the room where I was about to be the maid of honor in a wedding.

The wedding began. The bride was beautiful. I stood next to her. I passed her the ring. I signed the marriage certificate. Photos were taken.

All the while I was in khaki carpi pants and a hot, stinky, sweaty, wrinkly white shirt. (Everyone knows you should not wear white to a wedding! What was I thinking?)

To Be Continued...Oprah got involved!

Accidental Bridesmaid

Since I recently wrote on the topic of marriage, I think it is time to share a classic story from the archives. Sit back, grab a warm drink, this is doozie.

March 2004
We arrived in the Middle East.

June 2004
We settled in our apartment and found a nice church to attend. One day (the day that will live in infamy) that seemed like a normal Sunday to us, we made our way to services.

I always sat in the back because my baby girl was, well, a baby. It was a small room, and anytime she decided to make her presence know, I slipped out the back door. The service was in Arabic, so I tried my hardest to pick out the hand full of words that I knew. Otherwise, I people watched.

Confession: I do a lot of people watching. Even in church. Don't judge me.

This particular day, I noticed a tall, young, nice looking American guy sitting with an Arab family. I was curious. I did what any other curious person would do. After the service ended, I walked up to him and said. "Are you an American?"

This started the adventure.

He explained he had just arrived from the States. He was a serviceman, was stationed in Iraq, fell in love with an Iraqi gal there, went back to the States, finished his duties, came back to get her out of Iraq, marry her and take her home.

A normal conversation you would have in the 'meet and greet' after church? See? People watching is FUN!

I thought he seemed a little flustered, lonely, etc, so I did what any nice motherly person would do and asked them if they wanted to have lunch with us.

He said he needed to talk to the pastor about their wedding arrangements, then would join us for lunch.

July 2004
We saw them quite a bit after that. They (and her father) were staying in an extended stay hotel right around the corner from our house. We had them over often, helped them when we could and just offered encouragement as they were wading through the paperwork of trying to get married so she could get her permission to move to the States.

They were really very sweet and cute. He could communicate a bit in Arabic, she a bit in English. You could see they loved each other deeply and had big hopes and dreams together.

August 2004
We received a phone call from them that everything was set. They were getting married that week and would love for us to come. He called a few days later and said:

Today is the day. The wedding is at 3 pm.

To Be Continued...