For this week's assignment I interviewed three of my colleagues, a woman from India, a Hispanic woman, and an older gentleman. I learned many things from my conversations with my colleagues how different cultures focus on certain aspects to of what we define as culture. When I asked the woman from India what was her definition of culture she started discussing traditions, foods, rituals and language. She described here cultures' many different traditions such as their various festivals and how this week they were celebrating many different festivals and brought in some left over food! When I asked the Hispanic woman what her definition of culture was she discussed more about relationships and respect for your elders, she also mentioned religion playing a large role in culture. When talking with the older gentleman he described culture as a mixture of past and present; meaning the mixture of old and new traditions.
I feel many people at first think of their own surface culture when asked about culture and then eventually get into deeper aspects of their culture. Talking with three different people about culture I have learned that everyone has their own view of culture and what characteristics are more important than others to influence their own individual culture.
Alysse,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I saw that the Hispanic lady that you asked talk about respecting your elders. I have noticed that is some cultures it is highly important to respect the elders and that they are like the matriarch or patriarch of the family. Hispanics are known to have high family values and beliefs that keep them together and so close.
Alysse, I enjoyed reading your post. How neat that you were able to interview folks from such vastly different backgrounds! In my conversations I noted that while some folks discussed culture in general, others were more focued on defining their specific culture.
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