Talk about stereotyped ideas that people may have about the way of life in other countries.

Every country tends to accept its own way of life as being normal one and to praise or criticize others as they are similar to or different from it. And unfortunately, our picture of the people and the way of life of other countries is often a distorted one.

Here is a great argument in favor of foreign travel. It is only by traveling in, or living in, a country and getting to know its inhabitants and their language, that one can find out what a country and its people are really like. And how different the knowledge one gains this way frequently turns out to be from the second-hand information gathered from other sources! How often we find that the foreigners whom we thought to be such different people from ourselves are not so very different after all!

Yes, travel does broaden the mind. And learning the language and culture of another nation does liberalize one’s outlook. But when people travel they should be open to new experiences.

Though sometimes, people are convinced, that their ideas about a country and its people are accurate, so having some stereotypes, they don’t want to leave them. Nobody wants to be average, so generalizations about nations aren’t usually welcomed. The danger may go even deeper when someone tries to generalize from his own limited experience.

The Americans, for instance, are the nation about which numerous stereotyped ideas exist. They are created as a rule by the people who have never been to the USA but nevertheless they are apt to assure others categorically that the country isn’t worth visiting.

You may hear that the whole pace of life, a perpetual strain over there is dreadful. And the strains of commuting seems absolutely appalling, because they are very committed to the idea of living in town. And slipping away at weekends to their little place in the country which they suppose is something the Americans don’t have at all, since it’s entirely occupied by all those immense suburban housing developments. And they should hate find themselves stuck in a suburban ranch-type house surrounded by nothing but shiny domestic gadgets, and housewives committing adultery and going mad from boredom and frustration. I cast my mind back desperately, trying to focus it on the Pace of American. Life and dreadful rat-race over there. So if you go there you will meet the wrong lot of housewives and go to the wrong lot of houses. Moreover it will turned out that you’ll meet the wrong lot of American children, too. All the ones you’ll meet will be delightful, which just goes to show the danger of generalization from one’s own limited experience, because many people are able to assure you categorically that American children are in fact unbearable.

Coming to the USA you get surprised. American life isn’t a dreadful rat-race at all, although it has certain peculiarities one should be ready to adopt oneself to. I have a conviction that the Americans give a good example of hard work and optimistic life style.

So it goes without saying, that it is only by traveling in, or living in, a country and getting to know its inhabitants and their language, that one can find out what a country and its people are really like.

5. Talk about Madame Tussaud’s as one of London’s famous museums.

It often comes as a shock to Londoners that Madame Tussaud’s is one of the capital’s top attractions. Many find this museum gruesome and frightening. Others maintain that its collection of wax statues has no artistic merit. Some even point put that the waxworks are simply an invention, transported to London by the establishment’s founder, Madame Tussaud. Yes, despite these criticisms, Madame Tussaud’s has become a world famous “institution”. Millions of visitors from overseas and from other parts of Britain wouldn’t consider their trip to the capital worthwhile without a stop at the usual waxwork exhibition.

It is. of course, true that Madame Tussaud’s was French in origin. Madame Tussaud was indeed born in Paris and was herself a modeler of waxworks in her uncle’s waxwork museum in the French capital. It is said she perfected her skills by modeling the royal family. Despite her monarchist sentiments, she managed to survive the French Revolution and the reign of terror that followed it, making death masks of many of its famous victims. In 1802, she brought the collection, which she had by then inherited from her uncle, and her children to England. There she traveled the country for 33 years before settling in London.

The exhibition consists of a series of halls. In the first hall, famous for its historical tableaux, there is the “Sleeping Beauty” figure, which has been cast from one of the oldest models with a mechanism that stimulates breathing.

The second hall is known as The Conservatory, where visitors can view full-size wax models of sport, film.

Next to “Super Star” is the Grand Hall. This room is peopled by historical, political, military and royal figures.

The next hall is undoubtedly the most famous of the waxwork rooms – the Chamber of Horrows. Nowhere are the visitors quieter than in this eerie place. Terrifying scenes follows terrifying scenes: there are models illustrating methods of execution, the most infamous prisoners who were sentenced to life imprisonment for their vile crimes.

It is easy to understand why some people criticize Madame Tussaud’s for its horror and sensationalism. It is even easier to understand why some people go there to be entertained.