Assignment 1: Personal Cultural Reflection

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Words: 1500

Date: 7/04/2019

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The personality of an individual is influenced by both genetic and environmental components

that lie in the individual’s surroundings. When we try to understand the influence that our

environment has on our behaviour and decisions, the majority of these outcomes depend on the

cultural practices that we come across. These cultural methods are transmitted into our thoughts

and behaviours through the language that we share with the others around us and the fact that

we belong to a particular historical juncture in the history of mankind. Cultural factors have

shown more prominence in shaping our life choices and decisions than biological determinants

(Triandis & Suh, 2002). The way a child has been treated by the parents will decide whether

the child will grow up to be an individual with self-confidence and a positive outlook towards

life. If the child is constantly treated with rejection and criticism, the child will grow up to be

an individual who is aggressive, indifferent and has lack of empathy towards others. Hence,

culture as a factor has a strong influence on the way we behave and the decisions we arrive at

different junctures of life. This essay will thus act as a reflection over the different cultures and

sub-cultures that I have come across in my own life and how they have had an impact over my

though processes, emotions, subjectivity and professional life.

Throughout my childhood, I accompanied my father on his frequent business trips to Japan.

Though in the eyes of a Westerner, this might not be considered an extreme cultural change as

we are visiting one Asian country while being the citizen of another, but Japan and China have

stark cultural differences. Japan is considered mostly as a culturally homogeneous country

since the last few decades. Hence someone who is not accustomed with the cultural

connotations over there might end up feeling like an outsider. Multiculturalism is an effective

way of adjusting with the excessive cultural diversity that exists in today’s globalised world.

Yet, multiculturalism also creates conflicts of attitudes when people discard their heritage

values to move on towards a more universal culture. This universal culture would be a way of

proving an allegiance to the mainstream community and might be a way to escape the alienation

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that they had first felt when they came in contact with a new cultural environment (Verkuyten,

2004). The cultural shock that I went through for the first time that I visited Japan affected my

capability to open myself to others, being vulnerable to new experiences and enjoying

socialization with new people. I came to learn through my years in Tokyo that Japan as a

country is very strict about its immigration policies and hence this resulted in the extreme low

number of immigrants in the country. Over the years, the accepted ways of behaviour and

cultural connotations in Japan have remained extremely homogeneous in nature.

As I explored the different possibilities in each trip to the different hotspots of Japan, I started

attending different festivals and especially the ones in the summer as this is the time my father

would mostly make these business trips. I observed how the Japanese have a unique way of

dressing for these summer festivals and I learnt that this type of dress is known as Yukata.

These Yukatas are very different from the normal Kimonos which we know as an embodiment

of Japanese clothing. Clothing of a particular place belongs to the broad dialogues between the

sociology of material culture and the sociology of consumerism that exists in that particular

culture and nation. Symbolic values are developed which through circulation become the part

of the cultural production of the nation (Crane & Bovone,2006). As an outsider, I could be

visualized as both the traveller and the consumer situated in this territory I was trying to

explore. The fabric of Yukatas is different from the silk fabric of the Kimonos which make

them better suited for the summer weather in Japan. In the eyes on an outsider, such clothing

differences might feel negligible at the first glance but after knowing the proper meaning of

each clothing, it gives one the scope of connecting with the culture. Objects such as clothing

hence become ways to experience the social life and understand the values of a community

through their material culture (Crane & Bovone,2006). I was more interested to learn that the

Japanese Kimono had been influenced from the Chinese traditional clothes which were worn

by royal members of the Qing Dynasty. This threads of connections between my own

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background and the one that I was trying to assimilate into gave me further inspiration for

exploring further.

Throughout my travels and close contact with another Asian culture, I never lost the touch of

my own soil. My parents believed that the important part of travelling was to keep oneself

rooted to one’s own heritage even if one branches out to reach and come in contact with the

culture of the others. My mother kept me rooted in my Chinese heritage and cultural knowledge

through the number of stories from Chinese mythology that she had narrated to me during my

formative years. The stories of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, is the one that I can never

forget. Legend says that this monkey was extremely naughty in nature and Buddha had to

dedicate years to bring the monkey under control. This monkey becomes the most loyal

companion of a famous monk later and follows him to India and back to China on all his

perilous journeys. This story had inspired me into believing how people can change and how

we should never have fixed ideas about anyone. Everyone is susceptible to change and thus

identities should be seen as fluid. This story had given me hope and inspiration in some of my

toughest moments as I struggled to socialize in an unknown place with traditions and beliefs

that I did not understand. Storytelling hence becomes a major component in the transmission

of cultural values. The stories of Chinese Mythology that had been internalized by me over the

years shaped my social behaviour and understanding of the people around me during my

formative years.

The second cultural shift that I came across was very recent and a major event of my youth.

After the formative years of my life was spent in exploring the cultural, social and educational

aspects of China and my brief traveller’s moments in Japan, I decided to take another life-

changing decision. I arrived in Australia for my higher studies. Australia along with Canada is

known as the countries which are the most receptive towards immigrants among all the Western

Nations. The communities in Australia are extremely supportive of the process of immigration

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though simultaneously reports of intolerance have also emerged over the years (Markus,2014).

Here, within the student community, I was not just interacting and attempting to understand

one culture but many cultures at once. Unlike my experience in Japan, I found people here who

were going through the same experience and alienation that I was facing in this new country.

The student community acted as my safe place within the larger Australian community.

Through my fellow peers, I have learnt about cultures, traditions and beliefs of places that I

have myself never been to. We have celebrated each other’s festivals and always respected the

cultural or traditional belief that one might like to maintain. Multiculturalism creates students

who are more effective citizens in the globalized world and the cultural diversity in the

classrooms leads to a more multicultural form of education (Banks,2015). The practices that

take place outside the classroom within the set of culturally diverse students can also be part

of the education in an innovative way.

This essay has been a reflection over how the cultural values around me have inspired my

behaviour and life choices. My experience of multiculturalism has made me more open-

minded, thoughtful, compassionate and capable of empathizing with others. My experience

with a homogeneous cultural country has taught me the perils of assimilation and how difficult

it can be to overcome culture shock. On the other, the student community in Australia has

reversed my fear of socialization and made me more open to the effects of cultural exchange.

The cultural background of origin and all the other cultures that I have come across in my life

until now has framed my perspective and outlook. I do not believe that cultural differences

matter when people are determined to work as a group as well as respect each other’s beliefs

and traditions. Conflicts will only rise if one strives to prove that their culture is superior to that

of others. In an overall way, coming in contact with such diversity of cultures has made me

more curious about many more communities that exist in the world and the beliefs that they

uphold.

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References:

Banks, J.A., 2015. Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.

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Crane, D. and Bovone, L., 2006. Approaches to material culture: The sociology of fashion and

clothing. Poetics, 34(6), pp.319-333.

Markus, A., 2014. Attitudes to immigration and cultural diversity in Australia. Journal of

Sociology, 50(1), pp.10-22.

Triandis, H.C. and Suh, E.M., 2002. Cultural influences on personality. Annual review of

psychology, 53(1), pp.133-160.

Verkuyten, M., 2004. Everyday ways of thinking about multiculturalism. Ethnicities, 4(1),

pp.53-74.