Some Cultural Perspective

Cultural Perspective Scene 1
I visited with our African neighbor this afternoon. The visit, while much appreciated and needed, is not an easy task as her first language is Arabic, her second is Turkish, and her third is English. We speak "Turklish" together. Earlier in the week (actually Christmas Eve to be exact) she saw me leaving our American neighbors' house with opened presents that I had received in our gift exchange. So today, when I first arrived at her house she said, "Happy Birthday."
Her: I think it was your birthday earlier in the week.
Me: Oh, no, my birthday is not until July. This week we were celebrating Christmas.
Her: Oh, so it's not your birthday?
Me: No. This week was Christmas. Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birthday.
Her: (Still slightly confused) Oh, okay, iyi bayramlar (wishing me a good celebration in Turkish).

We said a few more things about it and then we switched to another topic. It wasn't until about one hour after the visit that a thought struck me, "I can completely understand why she was confused. I was carrying opened presents that I had received. Why would I get presents on someone else's birthday?" Now please don't take offense at my next statement, as I truly enjoy giving and receiving gifts. But today's scenario leads me to wonder if the whole "we give presents as a reminder of what God has given to us in his son" thing isn't a bit of a stretch.

Cultural Perspective scene 2
We spent this evening with a classmate (and family) from our language class. They are a mixed family; he is Dutch, she is Turkish. The topic of different cultures/hospitality/"unannounced guests" came up. Now, I know that there are exceptions to this, but in general, it is considered rude in the U.S. to show up at someone's house unannounced. The "host" may have things to do, or places to go, or may just be sitting around in their underwear with messy hair. Am I right? Anyway, in many cultures "unannounced" guests are completely fine and even welcomed. We learned tonight that an "unannounced" guest in Turkey is called a "guest from God." Hmm...something to chew on.