Cultural Awareness : Okinawa. Sgt.

A Culture is the language, values, beliefs, traditions, and customs people share and learn according to Larry Samovar and his colleagues (2007). Culture includes two different groups called in-groups which are groups that you identify yourself with and out-groups which is a group of people we view as different (Frings & Abram, 2010; Quist & Jorgensen, 2010). Examples of culture is the foods we eat, holidays we celebrate, the type of music we listen to, or even how we address someone. A co-culture is groups of people banded through beliefs, values, behaviors, and a culture inside a larger culture (Ober & Spellers, 2005). Being a member of a co-culture can be a

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

Family, heritage, ethnicity, beliefs, values, knowledge, experiences, attitudes, religion, education, roles, language, and cuisine are all items encompassing culture. Culture is what influences your outlook on life itself as well as behaviors and rituals. Culture is the way different groups of people do things. While some cultures have overlapping cultural behaviors or aspects, most cultures vary significantly. Culture, for the most part, is something you are born into, your innate programming, however, it some aspects can be changed or evolved. "Only part of culture is conscious" (Spector, 2013).

Culture can be defined as the behaviours and belief characteristics of a particular social, ethnic,

A culture can be defined as a way of life of a group of people- their behaviors, beliefs, values that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. It also includes the customs, arts, literature, morals/values and traditions of a particular society or group (Virginia Encyclopedia). Culture can also be considered as a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in places or organizations. This topic is of huge importance to our society mainly in the state of

The Department of the Army (2014) defines culture as a “Web of meaning shared by members of a particular society or group within a society” (p. 3-1). In a previous version of Field Manual (FM) 3-24 the Department of the Army (2006) defines culture as “A system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another” (p. 3-6). Culture can mean many different things to many different people and societies. To put one definition on it will not work. Over the next couple of pages an attempt will be made to explain culture further as well as consider the culture of Mexico by looking at the Mexican physical geography, military conflict history and their impact on the

One definition of culture from the sheet “What is Culture?” is: “culture…designates what we pay attention to and what we ignore.”

I think that the citizens of Okinawa really have a hard time. I continue still demonstrationg for the government while fighting against such a fear.

At Naoetsu, the Japanese guards stay in the camp, treating the prisoners with kindness because they fear they will testify about their crimes. American planes deliver food, medicine, clothing, and crates full of news and magazines to the POWs. With the bird gone the men don’t attack or harm any of the guards. Frank Tinker introduces a journalist to Louie. Louie tells the journalist that he would rather die than go through experiences of the camp again. The family gives Louie gifts and lots love. Louie acts normally until his sister Sylvia puts on their prized recording of Louie’s broadcast. When the broadcast begins to play, Louie is upset and he wants to have Sylvia destroy the record. After the war a lot of Pacific POWs suffered from extreme

It would be in order to first examine the connotation and exact meaning of culture. Sociologists differ wide in their perceptions in explanting culture and its inter-related concepts. The best definition from the military view point is given by Leslie A. White, who quotes famous sociologists Frank Boas and Melville J. Herskovits. He writes “culture may be defined (as per Boas), as the totality of the mental and physical reactions and activities that characterise the behaviour of individuals composing a social group….”. He further quotes Herskovits and says, “When culture is closely analysed, we find but a series of patterned reactions that characterise the behaviour of the individuals who constitute a given group. Another writer Sapir quoted by Leslie white classified culture as the mass of typical reactions.’ Culture is best summarised as a way of life of the people. It is manmade part of environment. Cultures includes beliefs, ideas, religion, art, customs and other habits which the people acquire while living in a society. Another very important aspect of culture is that it is ever changing by learning and transmitting from one generation to other through a

Culture is defined as “The ideas, attitudes, customs, beliefs, values and social behaviour of a particular group of people or society that are passed on from generation to generation” (Brentnall, A., n.d.).

Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. It includes ideas, values, and artifacts of groups of people (Schaefer, 2006). Understanding culture can be tricky, ever ask “why do people act the way they do?”, “what made me do that”, “what was I thinking?” Physical abilities, educational background, and social background of how I was raised are important aspects of my life. The environment in which I was raised is very important aspect of my life.

It is not easy to define culture because culture is too broad a concept, can be both abstract and specific. However, what is agreed is culture covers all faces of our life as well as direct the way we behave, interact and communicate. (Liu et al., 2011). One popular definition is that “Culture is the total way of life of a group of people, comprising of the deposit of knowledge, experience, belief, values, traditions, religion, and notion of time, roles, spatial relations, worldviews, material objects and geographic territory”. (Liu et al., 2011, p.57). In this essay, I will analyse components and characteristics of culture, and based on that grounds, I will reflect on my own culture-being a Vietnamese. Dodd (1998) considered that culture is made up by three layers which consist of the core layer, the intermediate layer and the outer layer. I will examine what values and beliefs are considered important in my culture. Those are components of the inner core. Then, I will take some examples of the intermediate layer (expression of cultural activities by manifestation) such as communication patterns, customs and festivals.

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).