When I Joined A New Group

People from different cultures can have a good relationship The movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” mentions how can people who live abroad maintain their traditions but at the same time accepting some of their new society’s traditions. For example, Gus always tries to keep on his Greek traditions while he is living in different culture. In addition, the movie mentions some relationships issues such as in some cultures, parents ask their children to marry people who are from the same culture. For instance, Toula’s father wants her to marry Greek man and when she wanted to marry an American man he refused at first just because that man not from their culture.

One way that my family helped to socialize me to my culture’s norms and values was by making me hang out with other kids. Both my parents urged me to interact with others so that I could learn different things. I learned that everybody has a different view on culture and that opinions can differ.

I have connections with many cultures, mainly because of how I was raised. I grew up in the church and was taught to love and respect all. My environment, my personality, my race, my ethics helped make these connections possible. Even though there are many cultures that don’t generally take time to get to know one another for many reasons. Tradition, beliefs, financial background, and peer pressure are just a few reasons why people isolate or exclude themselves. Different cultures only communicate in school when its needed. For example, in my Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 class my junior and senior year we had culture day. Everyone was broken down into groups and assigned to a specific

However, belonging to the culture may not be necessary to understanding it. In some aspects of understanding culture, it can be required to spent time socially or observing other individuals that come from the chosen culture. An example of a social situation, was when a team created an

relationship and that some female we’re the head of the household among many popular classes

M is a descendant of Swedish and Norwegian heritage. Her family does not practice any traditions from these descents, but she fits the stereotype physically with her natural blonde hair and blue eyes. Even though M does not practice traditions related to her heritage, she does have many traditions with her family to preserve a strong bond. The family has very close ties and M continues to keep close contact with her family in spite of the distance she has moved away. Her family has shared values with M and she believes in such things as working for what you want in life, to succeed in life you must have experience or education, and you get what you work for. Her family has also passed down her political beliefs of being a firm Republican.

Anastasiya currently lives in a small two-bedroom apartment in the inner city. She shares the residence with her grandmother and her grandmother’s Australian partner, as well as, her mother and step-father who is also Australian. In Ukrainian culture, there is a strong emphasis on the importance of not only immediate family but also extended family, given this belief it’s not uncommon for extended family members to live together like in Anastasiya’s case. It is assumed that the two rooms are occupied by her grandmother and mother along with their partners as Anastasiya currently sleeps on a fold away couch bed in the living room of the apartment. Families in Ukraine have their own traditions and are expected to know these as well as their countries traditions and their family tree well, this, paired with her lack of private space to study could create barriers for Anastasiya educationally.

It’s hard to join a new group when you are afraid to expose even minor details about yourself to others, and worry so much about irritating people that you choose just not to speak. It’s easier that way. My rowing club, which I joined only a month before, and I were on a float in Chicago to cheer and look happy to the onlooking spectators of the Saint Patrick's Day parade. That

I live with my parents and three sisters and every day during the week we all wait for each other to get home so we can eat dinner together and interact with and one another. Growing up my parents always told us how sacred dinnertime is to a family, because it is a chance to talk to your family members about your day and bond with each other. Dinner in my family is not like any other family because it lasts about an hour. The reason why our dinner takes so long is because after were done eating we still sit at the table talking and drinking coffee. Sometimes we move the conversation to the living room and continue talking while watching television. My family is very close with each other, which makes breaking this norm more amusing and fun

For example, in my household, on Thanksgiving day, my mom cooks various of traditional Thanksgiving meals early in the morning. The meal consist of turkey, mashed potatoes, sauteed string beans dressed in shredded garlic and butter. While she is cooking, I sit down in front of the T.V. to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. When my mom is done, which is about 6 p.m., every single guest stands in front of the highly decorated table filled with scorching hot meals waiting to be devoured, and serve themselves. We follow the traditions every

It seems that the generation gaps are always appearing among parent-child relationship. I was brought up by my grandmother in mainland China, but my mom worked in Hong Kong since I was ten. There were few opportunities for me to see my mom. Lacking some of communication, we got problems. To improve the relationship and avoid argument between my mom and me, I try to participate in intercultural communication. After my exploration, I found that we have different culture, including the belief, values, norms, and cultural patterns. In this journal, I would like to share the experiences of exploring the cultural differences of my mom and me, investigating and overcoming the problems as well as examining our “language” of expressing love.

All individuals at times in life can find themselves in association with different groups, whether the group being of common interests, same spoken language, same ethnicity or same shared values. Family is the first group to which majority of people ever belong, the culture and values our family instill in us determine our characteristics initially and as we mature through time, other factors such as our peers, circle of friends and work colleagues also contribute to deciding our characters. Groups shape our identity significantly and the fact that we belong to a certain group sometimes defines who we are, although our own identity may need to be compromised in order for us to belong. Our sense of self is usually shaped and influenced by

William: Honestly, it is refreshing to have you in the group, and if you have to leave you will surely be missed. First off, your humor and attitude has always been qualities that I have felt were great for our group. As you stated in an earlier thread, we agree and have the same perspectives on a lot of things, which has limited our interaction in the group because we wanted to limit the amount of piggybacking. Your own identification of your ability to use humor at the wrong times made me reflect on myself, and realize that I do the same, and that I may need to be more aware of the times in which I do it. William, stay motivated and encouraged, I wish you all the best.

I met Erin in the first day of kindergarten, and she is still my dearest friend. It’s scary to think about what my life would be like if I hadn’t met her, what kind of friends I would have made. My views on life would have been completely different. While growing up I never had a sense of what was culturally acceptable in social or public situations, but Erin always did. Erin’s moral beliefs shaped by her father have extremely shaped who I am and who I want to become. I remember me and Erin coming home from school one day after we both bombed a test and Blair had said well if you don’t want to try hard and work you guys can just stay in Sydney and become hair dressers. Well that hit us like a

I’ve never heard or witness my parents discriminating other cultural groups before. Although my parents’ wishes and wants my siblings and I to date and marry only Hmong indiduvals, the reason behind that, is because they want to be able to communicate with my siblings’ partner and mine. When my parents came to the United States, although they were treated well by others, they felt aliened because they weren’t able to communicate with other cultural groups because they didn’t speak or understand English, Spanish, and etc. So when my two older sisters got married to my Mexican brother-in-laws, my parents were hurt. They felt aliened once again because now they weren’t able to communicate to their own son-in-laws without the help of my sisters. After my sisters got married, both of my parents placed great emphasis on me dating only Hmong men since I was their last single daughter and because there is already a language barrier between my parents and I. When I started dating, my parents were really unsupportive of my relationships with my first and second boyfriends who were Caucasian and Mexican. This resulted in many lectures from my parents about the importance of dating Hmong men.