Learning is growth (by Isabella)
After living in three different countries, I can see that I have learn and experience different things with people from other cultures, some are good experiences and others are bad. Being with people from different cultures was something that I never experienced before college, the closer I got was going to camp in the United States but went with a group of friends all from Venezuela.
When I graduated high school in Caracas, Venezuela I went to college in New York City, I was so happy to move to the greatest city of the world and meet incredible people. When I arrived at the school there were people from around the world, Asia, Europe, USA and more. Me being used to living in a small society where you knew everyone, and everyone knew use was a little hard and kind of a cultural shock to learn that there were many different people. I’m not going to lie at first it was bit scarier. I used to think that I did not have anything and common with those people, that their cultures were super weird and totally different from mines.
In one of my classes the class was full of Asian people, especially Chinese. Most of them spoke on their language, that I was not able to understand any word of it. It was my first time ever being so close with people from Asia. I knew little to nothing about their culture. When class started the professor started to say their names and all of them where in their language, when the professor called, they would say,” Yes I am Xi, but you can call me Sidney”. For me to hear that they change their names was supper funny. I am not going to lie I even laughed about it. However, with time I understood that that is something that is part of their tradition of moving to the States. I stopped judging their culture and was looking forward to learning more about that, I even asked one of my classmates if they could explain to me the tradition behind changing their names when they arrived at the States.
When I was reading William text, “The analysis of Culture” there was one exact quote that really got stuck into my head that is “For it seems to me to be true that meanings and values, discovered in particular societies and by particular individuals, and kept alive by social inheritance and by embodiment in particular kinds of work, have proved to be universal in the sense that when they are learned, in any particular situation, they can contribute radically to the growth of a man’s powers to enrich his live, and to regulate his society” (Williams, 1958, pp.35) What I took from this is that it is very important to learn from other societies in order to growth personally and to help the environment. That is exactly what happened to me I was able to understand their meanings and tradition and I learned more about them.
Williams, R. (1961). The Long Revolution. The analysis of Culture, 32-40. doi:10.7312/will93760
Thank you for sharing your experience Isabella, I think it0's very interesting that you have chosen a quote that actually speaks about culture having both local and universal characteristics. While the experiences you describe show how we all lack cultural fluidity (being able to read and participate in someone else's culture as if it was yours), it is also true that we can still find ways of connecting with people whose culture might seem very alien to us.
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