Culture

Culture – we’ll start close. Culture begins at a family level. My family’s culture has taught me to be open-minded and see all sides of a story, to be a committed, hard-working person, and to treat all people with love, compassion, and politeness. It has shown me that the world is generally a good place, while keeping in mind the hardships that many go through each day. This is the level that has influenced me the most throughout my life, and though I moved out of the house and into slightly different towns and family cultures, the basics of those values were consistent.
And then I moved to England. In August of this year, I boarded a plane that landed in the London Heathrow Airport. I was picked up and taken to the SPEC Center, which is a retreat center for young people in the Westminster Diocese that I am volunteering at this year. This was all orchestrated through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Young Adults in Global Mission Program who prepared me quite well to be in British culture. I knew not to ‘jump the queue’ and to be ready to drink lots of tea, but what I wasn’t as prepared for was the multitude of cultures I would encounter here at SPEC. The 30 volunteers here are from 9 different countries – each with our own unique set of customs, values, and history books.
Initially, I don’t think we really knew what to do with each other – what do we say? Can I really ask questions about the snow in Sweden? Will it be all right to ask Anthony about his family back in Zimbabwe? What if I offend someone? What we have found as time has gone on, is that we are all curious about each other’s cultures, and all very excited to share our own. Through that discovery, there has begun a rapid exchange of stories, pictures, and customs that has taken my open-mindedness to a new level of understanding.
Hearing about Zimbabwe in the news is nothing compared to hearing about Anthony’s experiences back home and his sentiments about living in England. His appreciation for having water at the turn of a knob and his amazement at the peace in England shows so much more than a news story ever could. It is so real to hear his mom’s voice on the phone and to see the relief on Anthony’s face when he gets the confirmation that they are still all right.
Anthony’s is one of the many cultures I have been privileged to encounter. They has all opened my eyes not only to how different cultures work, but that my own, while appropriate for its time and place, is not the definitive one. I have never claimed its dominance, but have always felt comfortable in its effectiveness, and gaining an understanding of other backgrounds really challenges that. My culture, customs, and core values, the way of life I know so intrinsically probably would not apply, nor survive in other places. That’s quite a wake-up call to a girl that has always assumed she could survive anywhere and do anything.
To live, learn, and share culture is my contribution to our global world. By being open to learning about other cultures, and both sharing and challenging my own, I can help create that beautiful tapestry that the ebb and flow of diversity creates. This open door policy for cultural exchange and acceptance applied not only to the global cultures I am encountering right now, but the more detailed cultures of individual families and different types of social, racial, and economic backgrounds. These are the differences we encounter in one another every day, and the ones we must celebrate in one another to effectively communicate and co-exist.