I decided to go to the Indian cultural event. Truthfully, I chose this one because of the food. Indian food is probably to most unique to me and the way it is made just amazes me. I also figured this would be very colorful. Colors can express someone’s personality or how they are feeling. I would not consider this to be a great way to learn a new culture. It comes off as shallow and conceded. It’s like judging a book by its cover. I always like learning new things.
I took a global citizenship course this semester to just broaden my horizons on new global topics. I do have to say that curiosity did get to me when my roommates first brought this up to me when I was at home. I have to say I did not learn too much about this culture. It did further my understanding with their dance and culture. I did learn that the cow is sacred and holy. You are not to eat it. They worship other deities. For instance, there are three main traditions in Hinduism: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism.
The deities are Shiva, Vishnu, and the most important Shakti (Devi). The most interesting thing to me in a culture is who they worship and why. Hinduism can have a large number of personal Ishvaras or gods. I also learned that traditional Indian food is insanely spicy. I have a deeper respect for their culture and traditions from going to this. I learned that they have the most populated country on Earth. They make do with what they have. They do not have some of the luxuries we have in America. They do have a beautiful culture though.
They respect each others’ religion. I believe it is important to explore and learn different cultures in college because we are becoming a world that works with one another. We can’t assume things about a different culture when we don’t truly know. For instance, I learned that real Chinese food is nowhere near the American stylized Chinese food we have. We have to be more culturally aware of each other. Other ways to seek out experiences in college would be by asking around. I learned about this one from my friends at Atwood.
There are also links that I learned a few things on. The one that was posted with this assignment helped me look at other cultural events for this and next semester. Some key ways to increasing diversity in the world is take a class on it. I have learned so much in my global citizenship class it is crazy. Make new friends with people from different cultures. Ask them to teach you some things. One of my roommates and now best friend is Filipino and her traditions are different but very cool. Watch the news.
You can see how we are affecting other countries or vice versa. I love to watch and see what is happening in Africa and Asia right now with the crisis. I will be working in a nursing field where I will be helping people of all cultures and working with them. I have to be culturally aware in the future. It will also help me get to know people better and some things not to do, like never touch a Hmong female on top of her head, it is considered disrespectful. It is little things like that that can make my job much easier to handle.
