The Culture Of My Family In Hawaii

When I started writing this, I had no clue what it would be about. I was told “It has to be perfect.” “It has to explain you without you explaining yourself.” “You have to give it meaning without being asked for anything.” “If it isn’t good enough, admission officers won't give your application a second glance.” So, I put off writing it, pondering it over and over in my mind. I’m so glad I put it off, because until recently, I didn’t know what it was keeping me in Hawai’i. My mom lives in Oregon now, and I had the option to move with her because she still has custody. Something kept me here, though, and I wasn’t sure what. Through reminiscing and building more memories, I realized what it was. It was how much I love being Hawaiian. The food,

I always hear how special Hawaii is to the world, that it is where the people take care of the land as well as each other, that its aloha spirit. But I never knew what was the reason why, for me, growing up my parents never showed any signs of the aloha spirits that often, usually they would be very distant with people especially with family members. Since they believed that the only reason they are nice to you is to benefit themselves. So I was very shy and quiet to distant myself from my peers at school because I knew that they might just want to benefit themselves only. But that concept change for me when I was accepted to a college camp here on O’ahu. There I meet people outside my community, which was a new experiences for me because

American Hawaii Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, it’s nice year-round weather, and its culture. Thousands of vacationers come to Hawaii each year to get away from the stressful city and relax. But do they know how cruel the Americans were to the natives? Do they know how we corrupted their culture and their religion? Do they know how Hawaii really became a state? Probably not. When most people think of Hawaii, they think of happy Hawaiian babes hula dancing and palm trees swaying in the warm breeze. Hawaii has still held on to many of their traditions although they were invaded by Americans. But you have to go to a museum to see their old way of life. Hawaii is now populated mostly by Americans.

After taking the assessment form, I scored 32 points, meaning that I have given thought to and are actively involved in talking and addressing some of the issues that was stated in the assessment. I think that this score is spot on for me, because I feel that I am always willing to learn about new or different cultures that are either related or have some types of relation to my own culture, or different from my culture. For example, one of my best friends is Haitian. I learned that majority of Haitians are from African descent because the island was originally used as a port for the North American and South American slave trading industry. One other thing that I learned as my best friend and I grew older, was that in a traditional Haitian

Working with diverse populations it is also important to remember that within a specific race there are different cultures and subcultures. Culture within a race includes knowledge, beliefs, morals and customs as a part of that society. It is important to remember that just because two people have the same skin color and share genetically the same race, culturally they can be very different. In North America Native Americans are unfortunately grouped together based on similar characteristics. Although many Native American tribes due share a great deal not only genetically but culturally, tribes have developed their own set of social norms and culture based on region and possible different spiritual beliefs. To further differentiate within the

According to studies performed by Puncky Heppner, a professor at the University of Missouri, learning about other cultures positively affects communication with others. Although it is important for one to understand his or her own culture, it is equally as important for one to stay informed about other cultures. In the speech “Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective,” Silko compares and contrasts the cultures of the Pueblo Indians to the cultures of those in the audience. In this reminiscently informative speech, Silkoś credibility, examples, and diction help her to introduce the way of life of the Pueblos to an audience who is not familiar with their traditions.

I know that being raised in Hawaii is far more different than being raised in the Philippines. Before you ask, no, I don’t have a filipino accent. Stereotypically, some filipinos would have a unique accent. It was an accent where letters like f was pronounced as p. Growing up as a child, I used to watch a lot of kids shows. Shows like: Barney, Elmo, Dora, etc. Those were shows that aided me in my english as I was growing up. In addition, I grew an interest in liking planes, space, and galaxies. I used to always sit on the balcony and watch planes fly by. Therefore, I had a sense of freedom and independance. Moreover, an interest in space, galaxies, and stars assisted my curiosity in drawing. Ever since then, I drew abundantly.

1.To improve my understanding of different cultures I could study them on the Internet or in person through experience such as travel and I can also engage in events and local groups that celebrate different cultures such as multicultural gatherings and festivals.

My life experiences with different cultures began in my hometown, when Prairie Island Tribal Council members educated students about their culture through lectures, dance, and band performances. This allowed me to appreciate my Mdewakanton classmates’ culture. My exposure to different cultures expanded during an internship at a medical examiner’s office, because death is universal. I learned being culturally respectful and sensitive begins by listening to their stories and experiences before answering their questions honestly and reassuring them the deceased would be treated with respect. As I traveled to rural Honduras on a medical brigade and as a student studying abroad in Italy and Germany, I realized by listening and observing without judgement, I began to understand the cultures. In addition, I discovered generalizations of a culture give an incomplete view and I cannot assume I understand a culture. Instead, individuals are unique based on experiences as well as their culture.

It is a challenge to provide important information about specific cultures without the appearances of stereotyping and many educational programs are focused on helping learners to understand how to communicate with individuals from other cultures or with beliefs and experiences that are different from their own. (Fetters, 2005, p. 1307)

As I entered the home to conduct my interview, I was immediately greeted by very soft spoken female. She’s a 42 yrs old African American female, who’s married with two children. She migrated from the south 30 years ago along with her mother and sister. She’s currently working for the Department of Education as a substitute teacher with aspiration of becoming a child psychologist. The subject was eager to be interviewed. She thought it would be great to sure her views and perspectives of her culture. Culture is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as , the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action. To me culture is rich and fascinating filled with family, traditions, memories, and many dialects.

Normally we look at other culture and try to understand them. But surprisingly in this week’s class I found it interesting how important to take a look at my culture and myself first. My understanding and judgment of other people are based on my perception about them. In working across culture we should realize that our beliefs, expectations and assumptions are not the same as

What happened to the way of life for the Hawaiians, How did they get to Hawaii? It all started with the ancient Polynesian movement people needed to fine a new place to live their home was extremely terrible , so they packed up and moved across the ocean. The reason why they did was because their old terrain was rocky, jagged and hardly livable until they found Hawaii. The soil was more nutrient than their old terrain, they even set up sugar cane as their main crop, they even sold the crop for a hefty price.

tribe located in Shawnee Oklahoma. The descendant of seven families that were forced to relocate from

Culture surrounds us every day, it is in our arts, ourselves, our community and our careers. Everybody has multiple cultural elements that help create the personality of that person along with helping us identify similarities within a community that we individually reach out to be a part of. Casey, my interviewee, is a junior at Washington University of Saint Louis undergoing a Neuroscience major along with minors in music, linguistics, and French. She identifies herself as a Democratic, Christian, Caucasian. These are the three most stereotypical culture identities that most people are aware of and refer to themselves as. She also considers herself a multilingual, vegan, and bisexual. These identities too, are looked upon by other people in which they would like to express and follow in their everyday practices.