When you live in a culture that is not your own you are unnaturally bringing two cultures together. When I say unnaturally, I mean it feels odd. It seems off, it is weird for your home culture, it is weird for your host culture. But it is also natural, I mean natural in that it naturally happens, you usually can't help it.
One of the most obvious ways it happens is in language. You learn a word for something new and you like the sound of it, so you throw it in to your day to day life. Other ways you bring together cultures can be in your eating habits, in the way you dress, and in the way you organize life. The longer you live in another culture the more "You know you live in (insert place) when...(blah blah blah) happens."
Recently I went home and while I was home my sister, Nadia, bought me a WSU lanyard to represent my school and to compete against Nicole (she goes to UW-the schools are rivals). I don't know how you wear lanyards, but I noticed the cool thing to do in Seattle was to tuck the key part in your pocket and let the lanyard hang free to show your allegiance to whatever (at least I'm assuming that's why you do it). So, being part of the cool crowd myself, that's what I did. And I tried to bring that practice to China. I had quite a few instances where my students or even strangers would come up to me and tell me something was hanging out of my pocket. The first couple times I tried to explain "Oh no, I do it because it looks good." Well, after so many times of blank looks and confusion, its just not worth it and you tuck it in for the time being.
I recently realized why some things in cultures are like water and oil-they don't mix. Once, while I was running for the bus my lanyard snagged on a bush and I almost missed the bus by running back to get it. That was the warning, but enlightenment came when I tried to get off the bus. First, the bus slams on the breaks, so four people fall on me. Then I fight my way through the crowd to get off, cuz in China the bus don't wait for no one. Well, I successfully slide through the crown and am about to hop off the bus when I notice my lanyard has attached itself to a high school girl's backpack.
So I go back and try to pull it off, but its stuck. The driver is tired of waiting for me, so he starts to shut the doors, but I stick out one foot and hold it open and am still pulling on the girls backpack with my lanyard, while saying some embarrassing English words. Finally, I lose patience and let the stress get to me and I pull hard and my lanyard comes lose, but the bus is moving now, no time to wait. So, I jump off the moving bus and the doors slam shut behind me and I look at my lanyard, I had pulled the poor girl's zipper of her backpack.
Lesson learned, sometimes cultures don't mix.
One of the most obvious ways it happens is in language. You learn a word for something new and you like the sound of it, so you throw it in to your day to day life. Other ways you bring together cultures can be in your eating habits, in the way you dress, and in the way you organize life. The longer you live in another culture the more "You know you live in (insert place) when...(blah blah blah) happens."
Recently I went home and while I was home my sister, Nadia, bought me a WSU lanyard to represent my school and to compete against Nicole (she goes to UW-the schools are rivals). I don't know how you wear lanyards, but I noticed the cool thing to do in Seattle was to tuck the key part in your pocket and let the lanyard hang free to show your allegiance to whatever (at least I'm assuming that's why you do it). So, being part of the cool crowd myself, that's what I did. And I tried to bring that practice to China. I had quite a few instances where my students or even strangers would come up to me and tell me something was hanging out of my pocket. The first couple times I tried to explain "Oh no, I do it because it looks good." Well, after so many times of blank looks and confusion, its just not worth it and you tuck it in for the time being.
I recently realized why some things in cultures are like water and oil-they don't mix. Once, while I was running for the bus my lanyard snagged on a bush and I almost missed the bus by running back to get it. That was the warning, but enlightenment came when I tried to get off the bus. First, the bus slams on the breaks, so four people fall on me. Then I fight my way through the crowd to get off, cuz in China the bus don't wait for no one. Well, I successfully slide through the crown and am about to hop off the bus when I notice my lanyard has attached itself to a high school girl's backpack.
So I go back and try to pull it off, but its stuck. The driver is tired of waiting for me, so he starts to shut the doors, but I stick out one foot and hold it open and am still pulling on the girls backpack with my lanyard, while saying some embarrassing English words. Finally, I lose patience and let the stress get to me and I pull hard and my lanyard comes lose, but the bus is moving now, no time to wait. So, I jump off the moving bus and the doors slam shut behind me and I look at my lanyard, I had pulled the poor girl's zipper of her backpack.
Lesson learned, sometimes cultures don't mix.
