Eating Christmas in Kalahari Essay

Culture builds up and shapes how people view the world and the people in it. It determines how we judge and view the way others act, look, and even how they think. In the texts “Where worlds collide”, “An Indian Father’s Plea”, and “Two Kinds”, it is shown that a person’s views of others and the world are solely determined by their culture.

Culture is defined as the traditions, customs, norms, beliefs, values and thought patterning passed down from generation to generation (Jandt 2010). The world consists of many different cultures. In this Ethnographic Interview, I was given the opportunity to explore and learn more about a culture different from my own. Through observation I’ve have seen how people of different cultures differ from mines. For example, the type of foods a person

Instead, Lee was taunted and belittled by everyone for choosing a “bag of bones”. He was even told that the ox he had chosen was going to ruin the Christmas feast, but Lee insisted that he had chosen a beautiful animal and was confident that they would still eat with pleasure. They replied saying, “Of course we will eat it; it’s food. But it won’t fill us up to the point where we will have enough strength to dance. We will eat and go home to bed with stomachs rumbling”(Lee, Eating Christmas with the Kalahari Pg. 2). Lee was also told that the lack of meat would cause a fight over how they were going to distribute it amongst the Ju. The response frustrated Lee to the point that he tried searching for a better ox, but was unable to find another. He decided that he was just going to serve the ox regardless.

In the third grade, I remember bringing noodles to lunch, and all of my white classmates looking at me strangely. Little did I know, Americans did not bring noodles to lunch, but rather simpler things, such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and lunchables. Although my introduction to the western culture was nothing as close to the Ibo people’s introduction to the western culture, it is clear that different cultures often have a hard time understanding the customs of another culture. Okonkwo’s response to new western influences spreading through his clan depicts how the introduction of different cultures can lead to disagreement because of contrasting religious values and customs.

All the !Kung Bushmen’s eyes were fixed on the ox as that cut through the skin revealed two inches of thick white fat. The !Kung Bushmen had played Lee. They all knew that he chose a great ox, but they would never let Lee think he did. Lee began asking some people why they had insulted his Christmas ox choice. Arrogance was their reply.

As it states in the article, in mainstream society we are taught that we are supposed to act appreciative (even if we hate the gift) because the gift is less important that the social relationship at stake. Thus, in Richard’s displeased state he sought for answers as to why he was treated this way, in which after many conversations later he finally came to an answer. He discovered that unlike his original belief that this is how outsiders were treated, this is how everyone was treated. The idea behind the ! Kung is that when a young man kills much meat he come to think of himself as a chief or a big man, and he things of the rest of the tribe as his servants or inferiors.

The article “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari” by Richard Borshay Lee, is an article that explains the differences between two cultures and shows how hard it is to get away from your own personal beliefs. Lee, an anthropologist, writes about his experiences with the ! Kung Bushmen, a South African tribe. This group of hunter and gatherers work together to teach him an important lesson he wasn’t aware of.

Every culture, community, or ethnic group has its own beliefs, values, and notions on how to live their way of life. In today’s society, it is crucially important to understand, accept, and respect other people’s traditions and histories. Most especially, we live in such diverse community. Each Ethnic group somehow relies on what is commonly practiced within their society in order to maintain a strong community, preserve its moral and spiritual values. For example, in “The Green Banana,” Donald Batchelder states that his journey in Brazil provides him an insightful and meaningful experience that the “Green Banana” symbolizes much more than just a simple piece of unripe fruit. He claims that he gains a higher level of understanding as far as

In Richard Lee’s “Eating Christmas in the Kalahari”, he decides to be a kind guest and give a gift to the Kung, which happened to be the biggest oxen he could buy. Later, when he tells the head of the group of his planned gift, he is ridiculed for it. Growing up in a different culture, this came as a shock to Lee. He could not understand why they were being so ungrateful for his generosity. However, what he did not know was the Kung reacted this way, because they, as a part of their culture and societal norms, openly ridicule any major accomplishment made by a group member. As told by the elder of the tribe, they cannot let the people of their group become too arrogant, so they ridicule any accomplishment, mostly criticizing the size of

I am going to imagine that I am going to live in the Kalahari Desert to live a traditional semi-nomadic life with the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen. I am going to discuss the five items that I will take with me and the reason why I want to take these items. Then I will discuss how the semi-nomadic life style affects my sense of home my relationship with my environment and my attitude towards the people I am around and my material possessions.

In the 1800s Europeans discovered Saartjie Baartman, a South African Bushman woman. They called her the Hottentot Venus and exploited her mainly because of her physical and cultural differences. Hottentot, Khoisan, San and Bushmen are all common names for the group of indigenous people of which she belonged. These people have been largely viewed by Western society as “savages who were part human, part animal” and considered to be “the lowest rung in the ladder of human development.” This unilateral yet widespread notoriety has existed since the 1800s and many of the banal conceptions of the Bushmen have remained unchanged through the course of modern history. This paper will be general overview of Bushmen culture. It will describe some of

As I stepped outside, the 102 weather hit me like a ton of bricks. Of all the days, my parents had to pick that day to spend in the Maasai marketplace. I simply could not stand the several hours of continuous heat. However, I was distracted by the screams of the Maasai tribes who were selling traditional weapons, necklaces, and bracelets. It smelt of Ugali, a popular dish we used to make at home. As I walked into the market, I felt like an outcast. I did not speak Swahili, nor did I know certain customs in this part of the world.

Waking up to the aroma of freshly made Chai, a coffee infused with indian spices, with the heat and humidity of India beating down on me. My family and I had gone to visit my grandpa during winter break like we do every year that I could possibly remember. This visit was different from the others for the fact that we had went so close to the time of Christmas, and I was concerned that I would be missing Christmas due to the fact that in India they do not celebrate Christmas as much as they do in the United States. Two days before Christmas I had wondered what I would get as a gift, throughout the day my sister, my uncle, and I had been playing cricket with my uncles, my little sister, my cousin, and myself the day had seemed to being going amazing. Cricket which is the Indian version of baseball was bound to be exciting and suspenseful. It was soon that day that I would know what gift I would be getting.After a while my uncle had hit the tennis ball as far as he could when we were playing and had hit the ball into the neighbor's house, so my uncle and I had gone to retrieve the ball. While we were playing my dad had decided to take a nap after eating lunch, while I was getting the ball I had asked my mom to go get our dad to play with us. My dad had not been playing with all of us because the lunch that we had was very heavy, so my dad had decided to take a nap. My mom had gone to wake him up, but instead of my dad coming out my mom came out in tears and had screamed

Ever since I was younger, decorating our Christmas tree has always been a big deal in my family. We decorate just about two weeks before Christmas, always on a Sunday night after our family dinner. This night has always been special to me, in fact it is probably one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season. My grandparents who are local come over, we turn on Christmas music, and the fireplace. We have Christmas cookies with hot chocolate and just make a night of it. The last part of the night, but arguably the most important, is when my Dad places our glass angel atop the tree. It signifies, to me at least, the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. However, lately, I’ve noticed a recent trend that confuses me. In the past couple years I’ve noticed that people, even those in my own extended family, use items either from popular culture, or just random things they find important, as their tree toppers. My Uncle Mike and Aunt Kelly use a Phillies baseball hat, my Aunt Maureen and Uncle Steve use a personalized set of Mickey Mouse ears from their honeymoon, my friend Nicoletta and her family simply use a plain, old santa hat. I grew up to believe and see Christmas as a religious holiday, we go to mass on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day, it’s just a part of our tradition. Growing up, I just assumed everyone else held these ideas and traditions as well. So to see people so close to me change something I thought was so sacred and something everyone else

In the article written by Richard Borshay Lee, titled Eating Christmas in the Kalahari, Lee wants to provide an ox for the Christmas feast. Lee takes his time in picking the perfect ox that will provide enough meat for all the kung people. After looking for the perfect ox Lee is sure that his ox will have enough meat to feed all the kung people, but surprisingly the kung people tell him otherwise. When Lee is told that the ox isn’t going to be enough for the village people he becomes worried, but soon finds out there true meaning as to what they mean by when they tell him that the ox is too small. Which teaches Lee a lesson that everyone can learn from.