Culture

According to Webster, "culture" is is a combination of "the ideas, customs, skills, arts, etc. of a people or group, that are transferred, communicated, or passed along, as in or to succeeding genrations." Keep this in mind.
Last week, I attended a culture teaching institute at Juniata College where I learned a great deal. I not only learned new and different techniques to take into the classroom, but I also learned a lot about myself and my "culture." Each of us has our own. Did you realize that? Your hometown has a culture, your family has a culture, and you have a culture that is specific to you. Michael Agar says this: "Culture is something those people 'have,' but it's more than that. It's also something that happens to you when you encounter them. When you deal with them, cultural turns personal. Culture is no longer just what some group has; it's what happens to you when you encounter differences, become aware of something in yourself, and work to figure out why the differences appeared. Culture is an awareness, a consciousness, one that reveals the hidden self and opens paths to other ways of being."
This doesn't mean that you have to leave the country in order to experience new cultures. Just as I mentioned before, each person has their own. Open your mind to the possibility that not everyone is like you, nor should they be. Therefore, in order to find a new culture, all you have to do is look at the person right next to you, someone at work or school, your neighbor, a random person on the street. Let's just think about the person right next to you. This could be your significant other, your mom, your son, or your friend. Just because they live in the same place, have the same relatives, and celebrate the same holidays as you does not mean that their culture is exactly the same as yours.
Let us look back to the definition of culture..."passed along in or to succeeding generations." Does this mean that part of who I am came from my ancestors? Where did my ancestors come from? Oh, wait a minute...they came from North America, Italy, Germany, Ireland, and who knows where else. The vast majority IMMIGRATED to the United States. Hmmm.... Not only does one's family have a great affect on self-culture, but so does environment. Who you spend time with, what you do in your spare time, the books you read, your work, and many other things can make your culture different.
On the other hand, one can travel outside of Pennsylvania, outside of one's own country in order to learn about other world cultures. "Culture is a dynamic living phenomena practiced daily by real people, together or alone, as they go about their shared way of life, living and creating their history or civilization. When you cross the border from your way of life into thiers, your challenges become communicating, building relationships, and accomplishing tasks in their language using their set of rules. To acheive these ends you have to manage your language, actions, emotions, beliefs, and values through trial and error---through experience," (Moran). This person is not saying that you have to change your beliefs or way of life. Only that it is challenging to cross borders and adapt to the way of life of another people. Unlike many, it is something that I enjoy. Yes, at times it creates "shock," and even anger. But that is normal until one becomes accustomed to his or her surroundings. Do you ever wonder or care about how immigrants or tourists feel here in our country? Here they are, in the U.S., escaping the trials and tribulations of their own nation or earning money for family members or just seeing evidence of what little history (I said "little," not unimportant) our country has to offer. Then you have the citizens of Small Town, U.S.A. persecuting them because they may not speak "English," nor have the same values, practice the same religion, or think Larry the Cable Guy is funny. (I say "English" because although it is considered one language, there are many dialects of English spoken all over the world, and even in the U.S. Are you going to treat someone from the deep south the same way you would treat someone from Latin America just because you can't understand them?)
I am tired of getting emails and hearing jokes about this crap. You know what I think it is? I think that people are realizing how ignorant they are of the ways of the world and the people who live in it. So, in order to hide it, they start making jokes and assumptions about people who are not from the United States. Would you like to be treated in the same way if, for some reason, you would have to move to Japan? Most would be lost because they do not know the language. Still others would have a hard time understanding that, in Japanese culture, one does not speak until it is his or her turn, that it is considered extremely disrespectful to be late for anything, and that it is customary to think before you speak. Just picture this and then put yourself in someone else's shoes.
I am, in no way, saying that I know all there is to know about the world and its people. However, I will spend my life trying to find out and teaching it to anyone who will listen.
Peace.