Cross-Cultural-ness

So the title of my blog refers to a certain 'cross-cultural' person, namely - myself. I thought that since I have had this blog for a year or two, some explanation is probably in order...
On first glance, I look western - white, with a hard-to-place middle class American accent. For the most part, I would say that I am western. However, once in a while I run into things that reveal my non-western-ness, particularly my value structure.
In the US, people place value on appearances - on how people dress, for example - because this tells them certain things about the person and allows them to be categorized properly. This is true in Ghana, where I was raised, as well, but there the way people dress is different and means slightly different things. In Ghana, for example, you dress not to show who you are, but to show respect to the people you are visiting. People are focusing on others, not themselves, and this translates into every aspect of their lives.
I think it's easy to lose that sense of respect for others. I often tend to focus on myself at the expense of others. I'm hoping this upcoming tour will allow me to try to put into practice more the values I learned in Ghana - to care for others, even if it may sometimes be at my own expense.
I'm looking forward to traveling - to finding out about life in other locations around the US and sharing them with everyone on here. I just bought a flip video, so I think I'll be able to catalog events, as long as I remember to use it! =)