By Justin Lafeen

"Señor!" yells Pedro, a student from Equador, upon my arrival into our 20-man fraternity house. A look to the left reveals a shorter Japanese student mopping the floor, and as I glance to the right, there is Ricardo, as Brazilian as they come, with an easy-going, happy-go-lucky attitude written all over his tanned scruffy face.

What are the advantages to multi-cultural social living schemes?

Definitely a different view on the world than just your average sheltered Utah life. Traveling to the great white north or the steamy tropics will definitely assist in broadening your horizons, but here at home one can culturally experience much more and at a much more affordable price. It just takes courage.

It's true that there are often challenges when meeting and mingling with such diverse groups. Traditions and customs are much different in the land of rich Uncle Sam to those more economically challenged parts of the planet.

We learn in public relations the fascinating phenomenon of "personal space".

One noticeable truth is that an American's personal space ranges from a cold 2 to 3 feet while a European is more likely to chisel away the inches until a warm 12 inches – but don't try this in Utah, as you may be charged with some form of assault!

Why do Americans behave this way? Is it so we can protect ourselves? Is it because there is so much evil in the world that we are afraid of personal contact? Perhaps SARS and other airborne diseases have created a new friend-making-phobia.

In Brazil it is normal for members of the opposite sex, and I suppose women in general, to greet each other with a friendly kiss on the cheek. In addition Russian males generally kiss on the lips as a formal greeting (this I think may be going a little too far…), yet just a few hundred miles away the general Eastern culture puts an enormous 3 to 5 feet of intimidation when traditionally meeting others for the first time.

What I don't understand is why the world is becoming so close by way of technological advances in air travel, cell phones, and the internet, and yet we physically distance ourselves from each other. Could it be that we are putting up an emotional shield to guard ourselves against any foreign terrorist attack on our values? Or are we afraid of an unauthorized invasion into our comfort zones?

It's true, Europe in general has been around longer, and maybe Europeans have figured out that what really matters are people skills. How long are Americans going to continually allow our fabricated telecommunication devices to separate us when we could just as easily take a leisurely walk and use our divinely given means of social interaction?

The fact is it's easier to distance ourselves and create barriers, than to learn good social skills and interact with people of other cultures and belief systems. We feel fine the way things are, and in a very shallow humanistic way, we fear change. Many times we imagine that the only change that could come to opening our social borders would be bad, which is not true!

It really is "a small world after all," and if we are to succeed in the increasingly mechanized world, we will have to add the human touch. Many times we are afraid of the uncertainties that result from allowing imperfect people (who never seem to be ourselves) enter into our "perfect world." Our greatest challenge is overcoming ourselves, and as Andre Gide appropriately said, "So long as we live among men, let us cherish humanity."