Learning from an experience of cultural difference

¶ … Culture is defined by the pattern of collective thoughts and behavior that people living in social groups learn, create and share. Characteristics within culture distinguish different groups from each other and highlight key differences between the human world and the animal kingdom. Anthropology emerged as a field of academic study of human culture in order to understand the diversity of the practices and values of different human populations.

With the advent of advanced technology, communication, and media capabilities, widespread globalization has emerged, resulting in an apparent decrease in the difference between cultures throughout the world. The results of this globalization may be observed in the homogeneity of certain aspects of pop culture, mostly due to media such as television and the internet. Although younger generations of people in different countries on different continents appear to behave similarly in a lot of respects, the question should be addressed as to whether this has caused an actual change in the prominence of the established cultural values of these nations. The histories of various nations often reflect up to thousands of years of existence as diverse cultures. It is this history and the values it instills in cultures that maintain strong identities for nations despite widespread globalization and westernization throughout the world.

Borders between nations have seemed to become less relevant in recent decades as a result of advances in communication as well as increased international travel. Globalization has resulted in more of a global culture, in which individuals across many nations are able to find common ground with each other, in the widespread use of English as a language of communication, and often in the realm of pop culture through the media of fashion, music, television and film, as well as the internet. An examination of this common culture may demonstrate that even though there appears to be a sameness in thoughts and behaviors spreading across the globe, nations still exhibit rich, diverse culture backgrounds that are rooted in several generations of history. The interplay and meshing of the new global culture with the traditional values of various countries allows for a deeper understanding of different groups of people. Cross-cultural communication has emerged as an important aspect of conduct in navigating our current world.

As an Asian-American I have experienced a blending of traditional Chinese values taught and practiced by my family with new Western ideals and values instilled through American media. Adaptation continually needs to take place in the way that it is sometimes difficult to conceptualize a specific cultural identity. I'm beginning to become conscious of the importance in preserving certain aspects of my Asian heritage, like the celebration of traditional holidays such as Chinese New Year for example, in the context of spending most of my time with American friends. A certain balance needs to be established where I can identify with and feel like I'm a part of both Chinese and American culture.

There have been some negative experiences I've weathered as a result of being Asian, which resulted in some feelings of alienation from the American cultural mainstream of my peers. There are few Asians at the school I currently attend, and I have experienced discriminatory bullying because of it. Bullies at school would sometimes steal my lunch and shout "Yeah! Chinese food!" I also have been labeled by some of my peers as a "fake" Chinese because I do not know martial arts and am unable to physically protect myself from bullying. Based on these types of experiences, it may be suggested that globalization results in a cultural one-way street -- in the Western world especially there is an expectation of Americanized ideals being the norm with little awareness of the diverse values and traditions of other cultures.

International travel is one of the most effective ways of broadening one's conception of culture and gaining an awareness and appreciation of the diversity that exists throughout countries of the world despite globalization. Travelling to visit my mother's family in Taiwan helped me in gaining a deeper understanding of my cultural heritage and how my background can be incorporated into my American identity. Travelling to the East to countries like Japan and Taiwan gave me insight into the importance that cultural heritage still has for everyday lives of people in different countries even though they are constantly bombarded with Westernized ideals in the form of language and pop-culture.

In a relatively "new" country like the United States, it is difficult to understand the impact that history has on the cultural beliefs and practices of people of different global nations and how traditional values and are blended with contemporary global influence. For instance, despite the widespread influence of western media, Japan has been able to successfully maintain the importance of etiquette in regular communication. The practices of agreement and bowing in conversation are deeply rooted in the cultural history of Japan, even though they are exposed continually to the influence of Western communication. In Europe, as anothter, traditional culture is expressed through the preservation of art in the form of architecture and local customs, even though values spread by Americanized media are prevalent.