Like a lover ' s voice fires the mountainside . <| sep |> I don ' t think there ' s any way any native person can understand their own country until they ' ve lived in another . People need to get out of their own echo chambers and comfort zones and experience life in another country , and not just a visit , but go and actually live there and do something there like normal people there do , like work , have relationships , get an education , etc , to really appreciate where they come fromonly when you experience first hand how people in another culture really live their day to day lives and go through major milestones in life can you understand what is special about the way your own culture does things . I daresay I understood more about western culture after living in China for 12 years than I had in the 21 years I lived in Canada before hand , and I believe I also learned far more about China than any Chinese person who has never lived abroad as well .