Culture Club

Whilst I do love some Karma Chameleon, you will find none here...

In this post I will be commenting on the following questions:


When do I notice culture? How often do I think about it?How would I characterize encounters that I have had with people of different cultures? Have they been positive experiences? Negative? Neutral?How does my value system relate to my culture? What values do I hold dear? Have I had experiences where my values were in conflict with another person’s values? How did I resolve these differences?

I notice culture most obviously by the way a person looks or dresses. I know that is probably a very ethnocentric way to look at things, but usually I can tell a person is from a different culture by their appearance. I don't think about it often; usually I don't think about it at all unless it's brought up by someone else. To me, the area in which I live is quite saturated with many different ethnicities, religions, and socio-economic statuses and quite honestly, once you've encountered it over and over again, it becomes second nature and you don't notice it as much as you used to.

The most positive experiences I have had with other cultures has come from my students. I have been lucky enough to teach children who either came from or are descendants of Egypt, Laos, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and even other parts of the United States. I truly enjoy learning about my students, their families, and the ways they celebrate their traditional holidays.

I have also had negative experiences as well. I think we've all encountered the stereotypical phone call to a customer service line only to be routed to someone in India who you can't understand, no matter how much you try! Just the other day, my friend and I were trying to order pizzas for our classes and the woman on the other end had a very thick, foreign accent. Not only was she difficult to understand, but she seemed rude to me. However, without knowing exactly what her culture was I had no idea how she might react to that kind of situation. I know that many of the Hispanic children I teach will not look at me when I am disciplining them because they have not made a good choice. At first, I would demand they look me in they eyes until someone brought to my attention that in their culture, they learn to focus their eyes downward when being corrected by an adult. Since then, I've not pressed the issue. I understand now and don't want to impose my beliefs onto them; I don't like to make people feel uncomfortable.

I'm not really sure how my value system relates to my culture. I think each and every one of us has a different culture as well as sets of values, so to relate the two doesn't make much sense to me. I just know that I try to be a good person. I believe everything happens for a reason and Karma is a bitch. I think you should treat people the way you want to be treated and help others out when you see that they need it.

There have been many times when my values haven't jived well with others. I'm a very opinionated person and am not afraid to share my thoughts with others. However, I am not one to try to persuade or impose my feelings or beliefs on others because I don't like it when they do that to me - especially in areas like religion and politics. Usually when a negative situation arises I try to agree to disagree. I have learned that people have deeply ingrained values and beliefs and no matter how much you try to convince them the sky is blue, they will always say it is purple. In cases such as those, I move on to a different topic because obviously nothing will be resolved.

I am an only child and was raised in an all white community, but I think I'm pretty well rounded. I believe my parents raised me well and instilled the value of tolerance in me at a young age. I'm glad they allowed me to make my own decisions and learn from my mistakes because that made me who I am today - a ROCK star!

Lovin' would be easy if your colors were like my dreams - red, gold, and green...