In Secret Places

Being from Utah, and spending the vast majority of my life here, I have not thought of myself as part of a global society very frequently. Simple things that many have experienced, I have not. For instance, until tonight I have never written on a blog. This is a tool that many across the world use to communicate to friends and family long distances away. However, as I begin to think back across those things I have encountered I realize that I have had more exposure to the world than I have previously believed.
I have had the opportunity to be linked to the world by the Church, what McInelly would surely call a global discourse community. I have found that I have learned many things about the world through the teachings of our inspired leaders in meetings such as General Conference. Listening and reading stories of far away places have helped me relate to people all around the world. People in Argentina, Malaysia, and Ukraine are facing similar difficulties to me. I know this because the prophets address these people in the same conference as they address me--and there are no talks meant for one specific group over another. This has made me realize that there is a common ground. An enormous common ground upon which everyone stands upon.
However, there are also differences among the different cultures. But these differences are not so vast as to make communication between nations impossible. For instance, I have a roommate who spent his high school years in Japan. His mother is Japanese, so he has grown up with that culture in his life. I have discovered that this culture has made an imprint on who he is. I believe that the culture from Japan has given him certain characteristics that he may, or may not have otherwise have had. (Oh, and he doesn't know that I'm writing this about him, so let's not discuss this post in front of him. ;) ) For instance, he enjoys particular anime shows, speaks Japanese fluently, and loves noodles (or ramen as he calls it). While yes, many people outside of the mainstream Japanese culture may adopt these characteristics, they are a definite minority.
Moving past the roommate, I haven't had huge chances for exposure to the world outside my culture. I haven't served a mission, visited a country for extended periods of time, learned a language, etc. But I believe that being here at BYU will change much of that. I've already learned how to use a blog...