Defining Culture and Expectations
There are millions of cultures across the globe. Culture is the collective way of life that encompasses different social standards, customs, arts, philosophies, and more. All cultures derive uniqueness from the history that coincides with it and the evolution of that culture as history goes on. Our unique perspective on life is heavily influenced and shaped by our culture. From my experiences, at first it can be quite challenging to experience another culture because of drastic differences. Understanding differences expands our global lens and helps us understand these new perspectives. In my opinion, it is quite challenging to truly understand a culture if you do not immerse yourself into it.
Cultural diversity and ignorance are reasons why I am excited yet nervous to go to Spain. This will be my first time truly experiencing and immersing into a culture outside of the only ones I know, the cultures within the United States of America. Although there are different cultures that vary from state to state, and even within a state itself, there are some aspects of culture that may carry across different parts of the globe. There are also stereotypes that go along with cultures. For example, I am from New Jersey and most people assume we have loud accents, Italian heritage, rude personalities, and we like pork roll. Some of these assumptions may be true but you could never know that without personal encounters with New Jersey residents. Each individual adopts a unique cultural identity as they roam through life and daily experiences. Assumption about another culture, without asking, experiencing, and most importantly truly understanding leads to division instead of diversity within a global community.
I am mostly unfamiliar with the Spanish culture, as I have never experienced it myself. I have talked to people or professors from various Spanish speaking countries, including Spain, and have read through our handbook. From what I understand, culture varies drastically throughout any country even if the language is the same, there will be different dialects, accents, and cultures. In Spain's culture, there are magnificent cuisine like churros y tapas, siestas, lots of expression through music, dancing, and lots of verbal and emotional expression through the language. My goal is to go in open minded with no expectations so I can embrace and learn from the culture shock. I look forward to learning all about the culture and sharing my own cultural identity with los Granaínos and especially with my host family. I hope to gain more confidence in speaking and communicating the language effectively. I also hope to have a better understanding of what Spain's culture is and how I can learn from it. Finally, I hope to make connections with Granaínos and talk in Spanish as much as possible!
☺☺☺
Cultural diversity and ignorance are reasons why I am excited yet nervous to go to Spain. This will be my first time truly experiencing and immersing into a culture outside of the only ones I know, the cultures within the United States of America. Although there are different cultures that vary from state to state, and even within a state itself, there are some aspects of culture that may carry across different parts of the globe. There are also stereotypes that go along with cultures. For example, I am from New Jersey and most people assume we have loud accents, Italian heritage, rude personalities, and we like pork roll. Some of these assumptions may be true but you could never know that without personal encounters with New Jersey residents. Each individual adopts a unique cultural identity as they roam through life and daily experiences. Assumption about another culture, without asking, experiencing, and most importantly truly understanding leads to division instead of diversity within a global community.
I am mostly unfamiliar with the Spanish culture, as I have never experienced it myself. I have talked to people or professors from various Spanish speaking countries, including Spain, and have read through our handbook. From what I understand, culture varies drastically throughout any country even if the language is the same, there will be different dialects, accents, and cultures. In Spain's culture, there are magnificent cuisine like churros y tapas, siestas, lots of expression through music, dancing, and lots of verbal and emotional expression through the language. My goal is to go in open minded with no expectations so I can embrace and learn from the culture shock. I look forward to learning all about the culture and sharing my own cultural identity with los Granaínos and especially with my host family. I hope to gain more confidence in speaking and communicating the language effectively. I also hope to have a better understanding of what Spain's culture is and how I can learn from it. Finally, I hope to make connections with Granaínos and talk in Spanish as much as possible!
☺☺☺
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