Culture

This week I have been thinking about culture. All of us are part of different cultures. We do not think a lot about it because we usually travel from one culture to another really easy.

Each of us is part of a culture because of our family roots. How we act around our family will be different than we do around other people including our friends.

My father’s father grew up in England while his wife grew up in Nebraska so there is a different culture all together. My grandfather came to United States after spending a little time in Canada. My grandparents first settled together in Bremerton and then in Tacoma. My mother came to Seattle after growing up in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Also, she spent time in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada as well as Paris, France. Her mother’s family was English while her father’s family was part English and part Scottish. So I have mostly English in my background along with Scottish, and a little Danish from my father’s side.  So my cultures are mixed because of English and Canada primarily along with being American.

I have to say that most people in United States are very similar having mixtures of cultures; however, living in different parts of the country brings different cultures as well. For example, if I met someone from New Orleans and we traveled together to France the people there would see a difference in us. The only thing we likely have in common is being American. We would have common values to because we are Americans. The differences may confuse the French unless they have done some traveling to different parts of the United States.

My relatives in Canada we have some similarities but differences as well. People would see the differences because of our accents but may see similarities as well like how we look or smile.

Every city has a culture of its own as well. For example, though we live real close and only a few miles away from each other Gig Harbor and Tacoma have different cultures. For examples, Gig Harbor cost of living is higher on average than Tacoma. Also, Gig Harbor has fewer minorities than Tacoma. There are more minorities in Gig Harbor now than there were when I was growing up, however, whites still make up over 90% of the population. Tacoma on the other hand has a lot of minorities. So the culture in Gig Harbor and Tacoma are different for those reasons plus.

I see other cultures that are different as well. For example, if I go into the coffee I regular attend the culture is different than the culture I become part of when I go into the public library. People in the library are expected to act a certain way while in the coffee shop it is not expected to be the same way. I am sure those who go into the library go frequently to the coffee shop. I like the coffee shop more because I do not have to worry about being quiet while others may prefer the library.

What I am mainly saying is that we should embrace the diversity in all the different cultures. We should not stay away from a culture because they are different than what we may be accustomed to.